Bryan Jimenez

Professor Ellis

English 1101

11 May 2015

I am Bryan Jimenez, a student currently enrolling a Fashion Marketing major at The New York City College of Technology, even though I am enrolled in marketing classes now, I plan to transfer to The Fashion Institute of Technology where I will be enrolling their Fashion Design major. Fashion Marketing is a great major for me because it can help me manage and market my business one day, but the major I always wanted to pursue is Fashion Design. Fashion Design is the best career for me because it is a really wide industry and there are many opportunities for individuals with passion like me, it’s a field where I can develop my creative skills, it makes me happy, and the pay is really good if one gets to a high position.

The Fashion Design major I want to enroll in FIT can be very helpful in all types of ways regarding my dream. Just a two years degree can help me a lot, according to the FIT’s major catalog “students will learn the fundamentals of professional draping, patternmaking, and sewing techniques. Students will also master computer aided design, and learn how to take a design from concept to finish garment.” (FIT, p.3) Draping, patternmaking and sewing are crucial skills in the fashion design major, I quite know how to make patterns and sew but these classes FIT offers will help me take my skills the next level of greatness. After earning a degree in my major there are a lot of job opportunities available according to the FIT’s major catalog “The major in Fashion Design offers qualified students the opportunity to prepare for positions as designers, assistant designers, technical designers, stylists, or fashion executives.” (FIT, p.1) Using what I learn at FIT and the connections I make through it will help me acquire these positions I listed above.

Fashion Design is the best career for me because it is a wide field with many opportunities. A lot of people think designers only have 2 opportunities in life, either design for their own brand or designing for someone else’s brand, in fact, that is not the case because designers have many opportunities in the Fashion Industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics “The employment, or size, of the fashion design occupation in 2012 was 22,300.” (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014) within this number there are designers designing for other established and/or underground labels also other jobs such as stylist, creative director, product manager, and modeling. Creative Director is the job title I am aiming for. A creative director is the highest position a designer can be assigned to if in their own fashion house or someone else’s fashion house, a creative director does not design, instead they give orders to their designing team on to how to design and which concept to use when designing and creating fabrics.

 Another reason why I believe Designing is the best career for me is because Fashion is a field where I can develop my creative skills. During my sophomore year of High school I was going throughout a hard time trying to decide what I wanted to pursue as a career. I went from wanting to be a lawyer to a cop and from a cop to an artist. The primary reason I wanted to work as a lawyer or cop was because of the money involved and the many more changes to get into that major, but my family convinced me to do what I loved and what makes me happy. Artists and Designers are in the same category, both think of an idea and make it into a statement (garment/piece) that touches someone’s heart. I am always thinking about ideas of how to make a simple garment into a statement. I believe I have a gift of creativity, a reason for this is the fact that most of the garments I’ve created I didn’t have to plan or even think about it for long, it just comes to mind, I sketch it and construct it and I’m only going to get better at these strategies by doing internships while attending to FIT. According to the FIT’s student catalog “an internship at a leading fashion house gives students the experience and valuable connections. Internships sites have included Donna Karan, Ralph Laurent, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, among others.”(FIT, p.8) Being a FIT students will give me the opportunity to intern at fashion houses which are very hard to acquire if one doesn’t have the right knowledge. These internships will not only help me perfect my craft but will help me connect with big names in the industry.

I’ve been fortunate to have a family that allowed me the freedom to pick my own path in life. A lot of Hispanic parents would not look at fashion or art as a path, but my family does. When I finally decided that I wanted to pursue this major a lot of friends and close individuals tried to convince me that it wasn’t the best major to do since it’s a very hard industry to get into, instead I did not pay mind to their comments and went after my dream. I make a lot of mistakes while making a garment some are sewing where I wasn’t supposed to, not following the line in which I was supposed to sew into, sewing pieces the wrong way, and much more. These mistakes can become tiring after some time but one thing is that I always find the way to fix them and finish the project. Instead of these mistakes I make put me down and make me think I’m not good enough they inspire me to keep moving forward, they flatter me to the point where all I want to make is perfect and at the end that is what I always strive for.

The fashion industry is full of glamour, therefore there is obviously a lot of money involved within these jobs. The jobs I am personally aiming for after graduating from FIT are either Merchandiser, Buyer, Stylist, Independent Designer, or Creative Director. According to Fashionista.com these are the paying average for each position: “Merchandiser $64,700 per year, Buyer $69,800, Stylist $141,700 per year, followed by Independent Designers $155,400 per year, creative director $191, 00 or more per year.” (Sherman, 2013) The pay within the fashion industry are decent compared to other majors and jobs but it is what I love and dream to do one day therefore the money involve in this industry is not my main focus but it is my side focus. The education I learn at FIT is going to be crucial for my success.

I recently interviewed a Menswear stylist who works with GQ Magazine. Stephen Campbell is his name, “I attended FIT pursuing the fashion design dream, 2 years later I graduated and started my own womenswear line, which did not work as much as I intended it to but on the midst of this nightmare I was going through I started looking for fashion jobs other than designing. I found a stylist position at GQ which I took which is the position I am currently on. Throughout that job I started networking with well recognize designer which now I work for as their fashion show’s stylist.”(Campbell, 2015). Campbell is a living example of how a designer can success without having to design or have their own brand. I meet people like Stephen every once in a while at Zara which is my work place so I can only imagine the people I will be able to meet as soon as I start attending FIT. According to the occupational outlook handbook “fashion designing jobs are decreasing on an average of 3% from 2012 to 2022.”(Bureau of labor statistic, 2014).  Fashion Jobs are decreasing job by job, this tells me that I need to work really hard to become the fantastic, different and outstanding designer I want be. I now have to make a change and work as hard as I can to stand out and be different.

If an individual is really passionate about something they will go after it no matter what stands in front of them.  Nowadays there’s a lot of young people wanting to be designers but their work is so effortless, it’s literally a Hanes T-shirt with some prints on and that’s it. For one to be a real designer/fashionista there needs to be real effort put into the craft, creativity, among other factors which I don’t see on this young people’s clothing lines. The first advice I’ll give someone who wants to do this major at this age and time is do research. Doing research on this major teaches one the ways of this industry, it helps understand what’s the real role of a designer, how much creativity is needed and the history of how fashion became fashion.

Works Cited

 Campbell, Stephen. Personal interview. 2 may 2015

Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). “Fashion design.” Fashion institute of technology undergraduate programs. Web. 9 May 2015

Laurent, Sherman. “How Much Fashion Jobs Really Pay.” Fashionista, 2014 edition, web. 9 May 2015

United States. “Fashion Design.” Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition, Fashion Designers, web. 9 May 2015