Are you an aspiring fashionista? Perhaps you’ve grown up perusing the pages of Vogue and are seriously thinking about pursuing a career in the fashion business. Lovelyish talked to Jenna, a fashion professional in New York City, about what “the job a million girls would kill for” is really like.

Q: What made you decide to go into fashion?

I always enjoyed working in retail. It’s fast-paced and constantly changing, so you’re never bored. Even from when I was little, I picked out my own outfits and mixed patterns.

Q: What are the different areas of fashion that people can get involved in?

A: There’s design, merchandising, finance, planning and allocation (the financial distribution of merchandise to stores), production and sourcing (obtaining materials like fabric and trim), legal, and marketing.

Q: What was your first step in pursuing your career in fashion?

A: First I worked in retail. There you learn how to work with customers, how things function on the floor, math, promos, the fast-paced movement of the business. Then, once I graduated from college with a degree in public relations, I decided to go to graduate school in retail merchandising, because it doesn’t limit you to just fashion and you get good exposure to the marketing side of things: consumer behavior, finance, etc.

Q: How did you obtain your current job?

A: I was systematic. I knew I wanted to go to New York, and I made an Excel chart of every company in NY, and I went through regularly and contacted them for internships. I got three interviews that were of interest, and some that were not so promising, like unpaid internships. I got them all! I decided on the job I have now because it paid the most and it had an ending date for the internship, when I could possibly be up for a permanent job. And it did: I’m now an assistant buyer.

Q: What is working in the fashion industry really like?

A: It’s long hours. It’s a lot more like “The Devil Wears Prada” than they say it is! The glamour is only there from the outside.  A typical day is spent in lots of meetings and team meetings, because everything’s cross functional. Any fashion company is big on this: one department, say shirts, will have a buyer, a designer, etc. For important things, you can have a meeting that goes from 9 to 5, and then when you get out you, still have to do your daily work!

Q: What advice would you give for high school or college students who want to get into the fashion industry?

A: Work in retail, starting in high school. Be good at math. Be prepared to work long hours, because if you won’t do it, someone else will. You need to have a good work ethic. Major in fashion or business in college. You have to be driven and have a sense of urgency. As a buyer, you manage all the samples and coordinate them and get them out to stores across the country. You have to be very detailed.

Q: Do you think it’s more important for people to get experience or a degree?

A: Experience is definitely more important. For me, it was having the master’s that helped, because I didn’t major in fashion in college. But companies are looking for workers with established skill sets, and having knowledge of how the business actually works, and networking contacts, is priceless.

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