There are many exciting careers in the fashion industry. Over the past 10 years, the amount of careers in fashion and different job titles has grown tremendously. Although getting into the fashion industry can be difficult, there is much room for growth once a fashion career is started.
I explored the job outlook for a fashion buyer and a visual merchandiser by researching fashion careers at http://www. fashion-schools. org. The results I found were very interesting.
To become a fashion buyer you must have a sense of style, knowledge of fashion trends, and an understanding of your target customers needs and wants.Fashion buyers typically work for department stores, clothing distributors, or smaller retail stores. Fashion buyers are responsible for purchasing apparel and accessories from manufacturers, designers, or wholesales for retail sale. The salary range for this job is up to $100,000.
The outlook for this position in the next 5 years is classified as good to excellent. Once you start as an assistant buyer, you have a good chance of becoming a buyer or even a merchandise manager in 3 to 5 years. To become a fashion buyer, you must have a college degree in Fashion Merchandising or a related field. You must also have retail sales experience.A successful buyer is a fashion lover with knowledge of fashion history and trends, someone who has excellent budgeting and planning skills, and you must have the ability to deal with deadlines and stress. Visual Merchandisers are responsible for conceptualizing, designing, and implementing window and in-store displays for both online and traditional retail stores.
There main goals are to create an image for a store that will catch their targeted customers attention, increase customer traffic into the store, and guide their customers browsing through merchandise placement and store layout that will all ultimately result in a sale.The salary range for this job is $21,000 for entry level up to $60,000 plus for top level positions. The outlook for this job is in the next 5 years is classified as good to excellent. Experienced visual merchandisers may have the ability to start their own firms specializing in visual merchandising or move into managerial positions.
To become a visual merchandiser, you much have a bachelor’s degree in visual/fashion merchandising. You must also have retail sales experience and an internship with a visual merchandiser is also helpful. A successful visual merchandiser is creative and has knowledge of fashion and art/design industry tends.
