How Do Fashion Editors Influence Clothing Design?
by Sarah Clark
Fashion School Review Columnist
September 15, 2006
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What do fashion 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.
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