Working in fashion

Wendy: The world of fashion never stays still. Styles, colours and combinations change along with every season, year after year. It may look glamorous and fun, but it takes hard work and dedication to make a career in fashion.
Many people now study fashion at college or university in the UK, where they’ll need to understand skills including design, materials, distribution, marketing – and have lots of creative flair. All the people at this fashion shoot have studied at college, but now they’re working, they’re still learning all the time.
Photographer: I went to the London College of Communication. The real training that I kind of got that helps me today is just from assisting photographers, working in studios and just, really, just shooting my own stuff.
Make-up artist: I think I’m still learning every day because there are new products, new people, different equipment …
Alex: I went to the Royal College of Art, where I sort of learned more about textile design and fashion and a little bit more about the industry from a different perspective.
Wendy: Fashion designer Alex d’Arche is now putting that education to practical use.
Alex: I like that. That’s really nice.
Wendy: She now works in the family business, called Daisy Darche.
Alex: That’s really nice.
Wendy: Alex’s business is based in London, where she designs and manufactures her range of clothes.
So, show me some of your work.
Alex: Yes, this is some of my work. So these pieces are from the latest spring/summer collection, and here are some other pieces which are made to order.
Wendy: Where do you get your inspiration from for these textiles?
Alex: I like going to museums, a lot of travelling involved, so I went to India, China, Thailand … really anywhere, even going for a walk in the park, you never know what you can see.
Wendy: Alex hires in the photographer, model and make-up artist for her fashion shoots to show off her range of clothes in magazines and online. But what does it take to work in the fashion industry?
Make-up artist: To be a good make-up artist you need to be a good communicator, creative and tough-skinned for the industry.
Photographer: I couldn’t imagine myself working in an office, you know, 9 to 5. I just absolutely love photography and to make a living with, you know, through my work … it’s fun, yeah, I really, really enjoy it.
Alex: Definitely, you have to have a passion, and you just have to keep going.
Wendy: The training Alex has received has helped her create a successful business.
Do you think for you, you had to go to university to learn what you do now?
Alex: I think, erm, in any industry, I think it’s important to go to university. I think there’s no limit to what you can learn, and I think you can only make yourself better.
Wendy: So, now you’re in fashion, is it all glamour?
Alex: No … but it can be, it can be. It is what you make it.
Wendy: So, as I’ve discovered today, behind the glamour of the fashion world is a lot of hard work and a wide set of skills. The reward for designers like Alex is choosing the styles which people are wearing from season to season.