Dear Bevy,
I’ve told my mother you’re like my twitter life coach, lol. You’re such a great person who’s honest and loving. But I was just getting down because in the fashion world, its so hard to break through and it does take connections and I don’t have any! And I thought that I wouldn’t be as successful as I know I can be. Do you have any advice on how to break into the industry and actually be successful?
SG, ( A Twitter Mentee)       Advice after the jump…

Dearest SG,

Your first step should be identifying what you want to do in fashion: stylist, editor, writer, visual merchandising, trend forecaster, designer, etc. Once you kind of have an idea (you will probably change your mind at least 10 times about what you want to do and that’s OKAY) of what you want to do, you must identify influential people in that field and find out what education and work experience is needed to secure that kind of position!

Many people think that if they dress well and can pick out the hottest Lanvin dress then they can be stylist or editors. That’s simply not the case; that just means you have good taste and that alone is NEVER enough to break into fashion. Do you really understand what fashion is about? Do you know it’s about money….Anna Wintour is a successful editor not just because she’s fab & fly, no she’s successful because she knows what American women aspire to look like and she understands that in order for her to show couture she also has to feature Gap. It’s not all champagne, town cars and free garments, you have to be educated about fashion! Did you know that before Balenciaga was a major handbag, Cristobal Balenciaga revolutionized fashion in the 1950’s and was called the “MASTER” even by Christian Dior, his designs inspired Oscar de la Renta, Givenchy and many more fashion legends!!!! Have you studied fashion in school or even on your own? Here are a few books/movies, websites that you should check for inspiration (don’t tell me you can’t afford them, the LIBRARY is free!):

BOOKS
The Beautiful Fall – an amazing book about the rivalry between Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent in 1970’s Paris.

The Fashion Book – list successful fashion professionals, from designers, hair & makeup, models, photographers, editors, etc. The book was written in 1998 so there are certain new “fashionistas” that won’t be included but this book is a MUST READ for anyone that’s in the game.

In Vogue- The Illustrated History of the World’s Most Famous Fashion Magazine – this book is exactly what it sounds like, everything about VOGUE since it was created in 1892.

MOVIES
Unzipped – an amazing documentary about Issac Mizrahi designer collections in the 90’s when he was backed by Chanel (did you know he was backed by Chanel once? EDUCATION) MAJOR scenes with a young Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford!

Yves Saint Laurent: His Life and Times – exactly what it sounds like the background on one of a fashion genius!

The Great Gatsby – This movie isn’t about fashion, but it is a great movie adapted from an amazing book of the same title written by one of the greatest American novelist, F Scott Fitzgerald!!! This is important stuff to know because fashion people don’t just sit around and talk about handbags all day, they chat about literature, travel, fine art, etc, EDUCATION! Okay, back to the topic, this is a good movie to watch because Ralph Lauren did the costuming OVAH!

Websites –
style.com: one stop shopping for all things fashion,
nylon.com: one of the best mags in the fashion game, young & edgy
nymag.com : New York is the American fashion capital so you have to know what goes on here
theblayreport.com: a young fashionista friend of mine
interviewmagazine.com: Interview is a magazine created by the GREAT pop artist, Andy Warhol

Now in between watching all those movies, surfing the net and reading books, the other thing you have to do is start working in fashion! No matter where you live there are clothing stores, many of my successful friends in fashion started out in retail, including the Fashion Director of Vibe (worked at Polo Ralph Lauren) and the PR manager of Giorgio Armani (worked at Louis Vuitton). It doesn’t take “connections” to work in retail and be noticed, but what it does take is hard work!

I started my career in fashion at 18 as a receptionist at an advertising agency that specialized in fashion! I didn’t just show up and become Fashion Editor at Large at VIBE or Fashion Ad Director at Rolling Stone, no! I had to pay my dues and get coffee, hang up coats and answer phones but didn’t mind it because I got to be around the industry that I loved, FASHION! By the way, I got that job simply by applying I didn’t have any CONNECTIONS!

I know you said you are going to college, that’s the right path! As a student you are eligible for an internship, as you can see from June Ambrose’s tweets, being an intern is hard work but the reward is you get to be in the mix. You start meeting people, you begin to understand the BUSINESS!

I’m sure you wanted me to tell you a quick way to get in the game, I understand because I want you to tell me how to lose 20lbs without working out, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.com! Unless your mother is Anna Wintour (even her daughter interned) there is no easy strategy, but there is a sure fire formula, DO THE WORK, STUDY YOUR CRAFT and SEIZE YOUR OPPORTUNITIES WHEN THEY COME! Once you have your toe in the door, than we can have another discussion, but for now: work retail, try to intern for a local fashionistas, do fashion on your own terms: create a blog, style your friends, online has opened up the doors, start doing what you love on your own!

members post your career questions at:
bevysays

or email bevy at bevysays at 21hustle.com