How To Make It In Fashion.

by Charlotte Povey
 

Designs by Daisy Harris-Burland, OP (founder, Dumpster Design)
(from the British Fashion Week seminar, hosted at Portsmouth Grammar School, October 11 2013)

The Fashion Industry internationally is renowned for being the toughest industry to make it large in.  Its brutality and exposure to the voicing of any criticism possible can seem downgrading once your self esteem has been bullied into the emptiest hole possible, but it’s the people who turn their hole into a tower that make it large. And in this exploration I’m going to unveil the key requirements for contribution to an attitude that will leave you with only one choice but success in fashion.
 
Talk to anyone who has a sustainable career in Fashion and you will recognise instantly that they have a burning passion. You won't be able to recognise this passion because they’re flaunting it about or screaming it from the hills, it's such a strong passion that they will probably exploit it in way that’s so cool and calm it seems ridiculous to make a fool of the topic so tender to their heart. 


Sharing their passion for fashion with PGS pupils
(L to R): Old Portmuthians: Simon Ward, Misli Akdag, Maisie Skidmore, Daisy Harris-Burland,
Emily Garrod and Emily Morgan. With Portsmouth North MP, Penny Mordaunt (right)

So the first piece of advice is to find that vital balance of enthusiasm and passion but to make sure you don’t trip yourself into becoming the annoying wannabe no body wants to waste their time with. So making sure you present your passion understatedly is sometimes necessary when on unstable grounds you could be mistaken for a "keeno". Let's face it: fashion is glamorous and anyone who cares about it wants to protect and maintain this glamour; they will definitely not let some "keeno/wannabe" destroy it.
 
This leads onto the crucial point of having an opinion, of not being afraid to disagree. 
Simon Ward OP offers advice to PGS pupils

This is a good way to substitute looking keen for interested and individual.  Fashion is about catching someone’s eye and holding onto it. By disagreeing with something you are more likely to gain attention; if you stand out in the crowd you are half way there, just make sure you don’t advertise an arrogant personality while doing so. Making sure you are confident and open-minded will really help when discussing an opinion, but again it’s about finding a balance of attitude between being stubborn and being a pushover.



Emily Morgan OP (left) and Maisie Skidmore OP (centre) encourage PGS pupils in their aspirations
 

See also Phoebe Warren's article, The British Fashion Council Comes to PGS

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