Influential Careers in Fashion: Fashion Consultant
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by Sarah Clark
Fashion School Review Columnist

April 20, 2007

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It seems every industry has a cadre of consultants angling for its business. And the fashion design business is no exception. Retailers and apparel makers rely on fashion consultants to help them stay on top of emerging trends.

Fashion consultants travel around the world, seeking out what's cool and discovering what's passé. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on their importance to the fashion industry. Fashion consultants look to street fashion to predict next season's hottest items. They focus on styles cultivated by hip urban youth around the world, from Tokyo to London and Barcelona to Brooklyn.

A Career in Fashion for Style News Junkies
Fashion consultants love news. And by news I don't mean the E! celebrity gossip channel. Globe-trotting fashion consultants witness the news firsthand by attending leading fashion industry trade shows and fashion shows. They watch trends in clothing sales among style-setting urban youth. Their fashion intelligence is based on both hard statistics and a sharp-eye for radar-evading street trends.

Fashion School for Consultants
What degree is needed for a career in fashion consulting? You might attend a fashion school that is more business-oriented than design-oriented. You might also combine your fashion design education with a degree in communications, marketing, or journalism. Consultants carry out a variety of duties, so a broad-based degree could be useful.

As you can see, there are many academic paths to a career in fashion consulting. But to make sure you get the optimal fashion training for the career you want, talk to someone who's doing the job, or read their professional biography online. You may learn something important about climbing the fashion design-career ladder.

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

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