Fashion –An Eye to the Creative Mind

While the layman’s idea of careers in fashion may be that of a model or a fashion designer, the field of fashion isn’t quite as limited or shallow as people seem to think it is.

In fact, I’ve seen many a people raise an eyebrow if they hear about people going to fashion schools. Those nagging old ‘aunties’ also seem to think that people go into the fashion industry because they didn’t have the grades to make it to med school or law school. Well, to all of the condescending folks out there, fashion isn’t all about pretty clothes and skinny girls, fashion is ubiquitous, whether you like it or not!

So you see, the scope of fashion isn’t to become as anorexic as possible, the fashions industry is booming, strong and hard. And careers in fashion can let you do a lot of things that a regular 9-5 job won’t.

For starters, fashion schools are absolute hubs of creativity and talent. While rocket science just needs the right aptitude, fashion needs creativity, artistic abilities, originality, uniqueness, an understanding of patterns, colours and hues… In essence, fashion is an insight into creative mind.

And if you manage to break into the fashion industry (a hard feat in itself), then you get to meet scores of people. While any profession will of course enable you to meet new people, in fashion, everyone’s a bit crazy an creative and quirky. You will be surrounded by brilliant minds that think outside the box, walking that thin line between madness and genius (and of course, sticking to the genius side).

You will get to travel, and see the world. You will get to create novel ideas. You will live with a constant adrenalin buzz. Fashion is a vision, a vision into the future, the past, and the present. And don’t you dare let any of them old aunties tell you otherwise!

Branding and Its Comprehensive Process- (Part 2)

In discussion to my last post, here’s a low down on the various aspects of the branding process:

Branding fundamentally is a pact between the advertisers and consumers, grounded in a promise of satisfying experiences from the brand usage.  

The best advertising conveys the brand message by telling a story, believes pros at fashion schools. Generally, this involves presenting sympathetic characters that encounter a problem that can be fixed or solved with the product or service offered by the company. Good advertising includes a clear brand message and may also include a direct call to action. Because so many companies, political campaigns, and non-profits currently use advertising, it is important that your ad attempts to stand out from the crowd by being unique, powerful and uncomplicated.                            

So much is the importance of Branding and advertising in this society, that numerous institutions have come up with equally numerous brand management courses. In order to take admission in management course, desirous candidates must complete their graduation in any discipline and appear for the entrance examinations like CAT (Common Admission Tests) or MAT (Management Admission Tests).

To sum it all up, for all you aspirants who are looking forward to fascinating careers in fashion, brand management career highlights the many benefits of identifying the significance of the brand manager whose job is to recognize brands, which would cater to the consumers and thereby come up with different marketing strategies for establishing those brands in the market. It also includes the analysis of the major competitive brands present in the market, understanding the requirements of the consumers and devising promotional tools that would highlight the USP that is the unique selling propositions of those particular brands and Voila! You are good to go!

Good luck…Do well!

Branding and Its Comprehensive Process- Part (1)

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” 

― Coco Chanel

Being a girl, it is not rare to find oneself ogling at the other girl’s ‘Prada” or her “Gucci”, it is not very soon that you realise, you had your mouth wide open all through the time this tall super rich women, with her huge “Gucci” bag walked past you, so what is this infatuation for? Is it for the Gucci bag? Is it the way the girl carries it? Is it because she is richer than you, or simply because it looks super good on her? This is what one would call “branding”, what one would call “advertising”, something that makes a product look good. A High end luxury purse would be branded or advertised by probably a high end beautiful model, similarly a superbike would be advertised by a rusty looking..Six pack abs physique model. This shows us how important branding of a product is, So without wasting time, let’s start with the importance of branding and advertising.

Brand management course starts with a comprehensive knowledge of your “brand”. So, what is a brand then?

A brand represents who your company is and what it stands for. This includes the name, logo, messaging, merchandise, design, and any other feature that identifies your company and its products and service and makes it different from others. With your brand you are developing a promise, conveying the message of this promise and then maintaining it.

Brand management is the science of crafting, molding and sustaining a brand. This means defining the brand, positioning the brand, and delivering the brand value constantly. Branding creates customer commitment to your business. A robust brand differentiates its products from the competitors and gives your business a leg up on the others, allowing you to increase sales and grow your business.

Brand management includes handling both the noticeable and intangible characteristics of a brand. When it comes to product brands, this includes the product itself, packaging, pricing, availability, etc. With service brands, tangibles include customers’ experience. The intangibles include emotional connections and expectations with products and services. For eg: The Way Tata Salt has come up with the idea of “Desh ka Namak”. Branding also involves assembling a blend of the right marketing campaigns i. e advertising to create and reinforce your identity. If done right, you can even create a brand that is able to break through the crowd and create brand loyalty.

Advertising is to do with persuasion. It is commonly accepted that the function of advertising is to persuade people to buy something.

Make a Living Off Loving Shoes

Do words like Oxfords, Pumps, Wedges, Kitten Heels, Stilettoes, Moccasins, Loafers, Sneakers, Boots, Ballet Flats, and Espadrilles form the crux of your lexicon? 

Does the very idea of a new pair of strappy and glossy heels make your eyes pop with desire? Do you rock those thigh-high leather boots every winter, and trade them in for the most trending sandals come summer time? Do you live for the day you can have your very own walk-in closet just like in the movies, with a wall-to-wall sky-high rack full of shoes of all shapes and colours? 

Well, if you’re nodding in fervent agreement, then you’re a crazy obsessed shoe junkie and proud of it! 

Who could possibly elude the lure of those brand new pumps on the window at Aldo or Steve Madden? Have you absolutely maxed out your credit cards with the guilty pleasure of a positively enviable collection of footwear? 

You know what, you don’t need to be a closet shoe junkie anymore! If you’re into shoes just that much, why don’t you make a career of it? Imagine making those little beauties! 

If footwear fashion is just your kind of thing, then you could get yourself enrolled in a fashion university and make a living off of loving shoes. Could there be anything better? There are many fashion schools that have absolutely amazing footwear design courses. But you know what? It gets even better, at the footwear design & development institute, footwear is everything. 

With a mission to become one of the world’s largest players when it comes to footwear design, the 8 campuses of the footwear design & development institute with a pan-India presence gives its students the best a fashion university could. 

So don’t sit around and wait for the next trend in footwear –go out there and create it!