Fashion School Review
Home   |   Fashion Design Schools   |   Fashion Merchandising Schools   |   Fashion Articles
Fashion School Review > Add to Favorites
How Do Fashion Editors Influence Clothing Design?

by Sarah Clark
Fashion School Review Columnist

September 15, 2006


Send Article to Friend Send to a friend | Printable Version

What do fash
Launch Your
Fashion Career
from
The Art Institutes

The Art Institute
ion editors of top fashion magazines like Vogue, Elle, and W do to shape trends and support the clothing design industry? They may act as both fashion critic and fashion public relations and marketing executive.


Fashion editors hold some of the most enviable and influential positions in the fashion industry. In public, they are most often seen on the front rows of runway shows throughout the world's fashion capitals. There they spot upcoming and current fashion design icons and witness the career descent of once notable fashion designers.

Promoting and Critiquing Clothing Design
The majority of the work of a fashion editor takes place behind the scenes, far from the public eye. Editors may oversee production decisions, such as whom to feature on magazine covers. They may decide which up-and-coming designers to spotlight. In these ways, they can significantly advance a designer's career in fashion.

They may also be involved in putting together fashion layouts, working with a fashion photographer, designer, and corps of models to produce a spread of fashionable clothes that will influence and guide women keen to follow seasonal trends.

Fashion editors are often very subtle as critics of clothing design. Their editorializing on fashion tends to favor certain designers while leaving others unnamed. They may themselves be influenced by their readership, seeking to appease them by including content on fashion designers known to appeal to mass markets.

Fashion School and Editors
Unlike clothing designers, fashion editors typically don't attend fashion school. It's not that fashion school couldn't be valuable to fashion editors, it's just that most pursue training in journalism or a related field. To prepare for a career in fashion, they pursue a career in publishing.

Many might start their careers as an assistant to an editor, not unlike the author of the now infamous tell-all book The Devil Wears Prada. Others may work in journalism before moving toward a career in fashion publishing.

As a fashion school student, it's important to stay current on the activities of fashion editors. They can help a talented designer's career in fashion take off.

About the Author
Sarah Clark is a freelance writer specializing in career development and postsecondary education.

Additional Stories

> Fashion Designers Try Their Hand at Interiors
> Playing Fair in Fashion Design
> Socially Responsible Clothing Design
> Fashion Riding the Coattails of Art
> Haute Hotel Fashion Design

Featured Fashion Cities

> Los Angeles, CA
> New York City, NY
> San Francisco, CA
> Chicago, IL

Fashion Schools

US Fashion Schools
> Arizona
> California
> Colorado
> Connecticut
> Florida
> Georgia
> Illinois
> Indiana
> Michigan
> Missouri
> Nevada
> New Hampshire
> New Jersey
> New York
> North Carolina
> Ohio
> Oregon
> Pennsylvania
> Tennessee
> Texas
> Washington

International Fashion Schools
> Canadian Fashion Schools
> London Fashion Schools
> Study Abroad Fashion Schools

> Online Fashion Schools

> All Fashion Schools