Do I Need a Degree to Start a Fashion Line?

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Fashion is a glamorous industry; possibly the most glamorous industry there is, if rather grueling. Like any such arena, it can be hard for newcomers to tell where the advertisement stops and the product begins. A fabulous runway launch in Milan or Paris might cost a design house millions, or it might be making them millions: it's hard to know. And that means it is hard to figure out how to make your dreams of a fashion line into a reality.

The Education of The Great Designers

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Many fashion designers emerged from very non-traditional educations. Coco Chanel grew up in an orphanage and had little schooling. Liz Clairborne “unschooled” in European painting studios; so did Oscar de la Renta; Christian Dior left school to run an art gallery. Even those who went to school often did not study design: Gianni Versace, for instance, studied classical history and architecture. Empire-builders like Donna Karan who actually have a degree in design are something of the exception to the rule.

This makes good sense. Fashion is necessarily a world of bold concepts; it is constantly getting re-invigorated from outside the field. To be sure, any fashion designer needs to understand fashion, but backgrounds in other fields of the arts, or elsewhere, seem to be a major source of inspiration. Vera Wang, for that matter, attributes some of her design inspiration to her early career as a figure skater!

The Business Behind the Runway

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Inspiration, however, is only half the battle. Indeed, Edison suggested that it is only 1% of the battle. So it is worth noting that Ralph Lauren, probably the most successful fashion designer in history, studied business, not design. Many other design leaders, such as Hilfiger and Dior, got their early education though doing business on a shoestring. And once you start to look not at the giant legends of the industry, but at the overall picture, it becomes clear that a business degree is the most secure entrée into the industry.

Conclusion

Studying business for fashion design makes plenty of sense. The same air of glamour that attracts people to fashion works against good business judgment. How many new pieces do you need for a season? A given show or magazine might have an enticing mystique, but does that translate into sales? Do you need investors? These are the types of question that all designers face, and a business degree prepares you for; a design degree, not so much.

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