As a recruiter in fashion & also not studying fashion previously myself, I try and help candidates at all levels get into the industry whilst giving them confidence that you don’t need to have a fashion degree or even a degree at all in some cases to be a success within the fashion industry.

Below are a list of fashion brand owners who either didn’t study fashion as a degree or didn’t even go to university at all & they’re probably some of your favourite go to brands.

Natalie Khoie & Shadi Kord - founders of Meshki - both studied Archtecture & started Meshki as a side hustle

George Heaton - founder of Represent- studied graphic design

Abderrahmane Trabsini, Hussein Suleiman and Jefferson Osei - founders of Daily Paper - the brand started as a small fashion blog covering local fashion and music in Amsterdam, to a global contemporary streetwear brand

Arianna Ajtar- founder of Mars the Label - dropped out of university to start the brand

Ross Worswick & Scott Shashua - founders of Couture Club - Scott was previously a Lawyer before setting up Couture Club & Ross used to be a club promoter

Ben Francis - founder of Gymshark - studied Business whilst starting Gymshark from his bedroom

It’s also not just brand owners, I speak to people working for fashion brands who work in Buying, Merchandising, Marketing, Ecommerce or other areas & haven’t studied fashion to get into their positions. One of my friends studied Law & she’s now a Senior Womenswear Buyer at JD Sports. A hiring manager I used to recruit for is a Merchandising Director at Boohoo & he studied History in university. I also recruited an ex midwife who had really strong Excel skills into a Merchandising role when she decided she wanted a career change.

You don’t need to study Fashion to make it in Fashion so don’t ever let that stop you from wanting to get into the industry!

Be ready to speak on:

• Target customer (age, lifestyle, price point)

• Competitors (Zara, H&M, ASOS etc depending on brand)

• What they’re doing well

• What you would improve

Example “I’ve noticed your occasionwear is really strong, but there’s an opportunity to expand everyday basics to increase repeat purchases.”

This shows you think like the business, not just an employee.

TIP 2. Come up with ideas and show them

Depending on the role it could be a Product Idea (trend or category). A Marketing idea (tiktok content, influencer angle or instagram feed). A website/UX improvement (relevant for ecommerce roles)

TIP 3. Show your personality. Be warm and confident & show genuine interest in the role, team and brand.

Ask thoughtful questions but also check if you feel like it’s a team you also want to work with too.

Good questions to ask: “What is the dynamic of the team and what charasterics would be a good match for this team and role?”

“What would you have wanted to know prior to starting in this role and brand?”

“What advice would you give to someone joining?”

“Do you do anything socially as a team outside of work?”

TIP 4. Know the tools relevant in the role

Depending on the role:

• Google Analytics / Shopify (performance)

• WGSN (trends)

• Excel / reporting

• TikTok / Instagram strategy

Even mentioning them lightly shows you understand the ecosystem.

TIP 5. Prepare for the right interview questions

Questions you can ask them:

• What does success look like in this role in 6 months?”

• “What are the biggest challenges the team is facing right now?”

• “How does this role contribute to the wider business goals?”

Questions they may ask you:

• “What would you do in your first 3 months?”

• “What brands do you think we compete with?”

• “What would you improve about our website/product?”

• “How do you stay up to date with trends?”

Kookaï was originally a French brand that was founded around 42 years ago and launched in the UK in 1990. In 2013 they closed their business after struggling with profitability.

Earlier in 1992, Australian Entrepenuers Robert Cromb and Danielle Vagner introduced the brand in Australia and New Zealand as licensees after seeing a gap in market for the female Australian customer and would be the same ones to buy it in 2017✨

Today, Robert and Danielle still sit at the heart of Kookaï, guiding the brand’s evolution as hands-on owners and the vision behind its creative direction🤍

They have now come back to the UK and have debuted their UK store on Canarby Street in London which is so exciting for brand✨

The Australian fashion brands are definitely taking over the industry with brands such as Kookaï, Dishh & Meshki offering trend-led, timeless & premium pieces🤍

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to work in Fashion. I’m from a really small town and I felt really embarrassed when I was younger to say that I wanted to work in Fashion because I didn’t really know what it meant & it didn’t feel like a serious career. I loved shopping but I genuinely had such a fascination of the brands & the product. I used to be obsessed with Fashion Police on E! & I’d like to think that my friends and family see me as someone who takes pride in their appearance and to put it simply, I just love Fashion. Passion for Fashion has been seen as such a “cringey” thing to say but I genuinely think I have that ha ha!

When I was younger, I put a lot of energy into wanting to work in Fashion. In University and after graduating, I applied for a role in almost every brand’s head office in the UK & I didn’t get my first job in a fashion brand until I was 26 years old working for Boohoo.com. I always thought I’d be a fashion buyer when I was younger because it was the first role introduced to me by a family friend but working in recruitment is probably the best role for me & I completely fell into it.

I’ve recruited for so many brands across the world now- Boohoo in Manchester, Jaded in London, Fashion Nova in LA, Next in the Midlands and so many others. My agency now means I work as a third party company helping brands but working at Boohoo as part of their internal recruitment team changed everything for me & it’s where I decided I could really help more people get into fashion.

These are some of my top tips for getting into your dream fashion brand:

1. Understand the Industry: Trust me, Knowledge is power! Some people struggle to find a role without experience & I try and share entry level roles that don’t require any experience but what’s going to help you is having a strong understanding of the career you want to get into. What do Buyers or Merchandisers do & what systems do they use? Get clued up on Excel - V lookups, Pivot Tables. If you want to work in Social Media, create a instagram feed on Canva that is relatable to the fashion brand you’re applying for!

2. Tailor your CV: A tailored application will help you stand out amongst the crowd. Mention the brand and the role in your application, show your transferable skills and don’t send a generic CV that you send to 100 brands hoping one sticks. I’ve made that mistake so many times & speaking as a recruiter, your tailored CV will make a huge difference!

3. Use LinkedIn: LinkedIn has helped me so much with my career & I think it’s genuinely an amazing tool to network and secure a role in the industry. You can search for jobs, search for people and also learn about what’s going on in the industry. I post all my networking events on LinkedIn & I’ve been able to get guest speakers off the back of LinkedIn as I’d like to think people can see my credibility from my profile. You can literally connect with anyone from any fashion brand to send your CV & speak to them, don’t be afraid of it!

4. Be proactive & reactive: Have job alerts set up so you can be reactive to jobs that are being advertised but also be proactive in sending out your CV and emailing people even if you’re unsure if there’s a job advertised or not. Think about different ways to apply for a role, drop your CV off into the office itself or ask friends if they know anyone working for a fashion brand. Sometimes you can create the opportunities for yourself by having a proactive approach.

5. Preparing for an interview: Do as much research as you can on the brand whether it’s going into their store or on their website & looking at their products (regardless of what role you’re applying for), it will genuinely help you build a better understanding of the company. Look at their recent campaigns, social media posts, the people who are interviewing you, the history of the brand and of course, the job role itself.

   From your favourite fashion recruiter! x

   

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Some people don’t like being defined by their careers but I feel like my career has given me the biggest sense of purpose in my life so far & helped me in so many more ways than I could even imagine.

I’m a fashion recruiter & right now my biggest goal is to help & inspire people wanting to get into the industry whilst also supporting people already in the industry.

I’m also currently running a company on my own and some days I find hard. I went from working in a huge organisation to another huge organisation to a tiny company with 12 people and now it’s just me. But I don’t take any day for granted any more and even on the days I find hard, I will find a reason to smile & be grateful.

I want this to be a space of people interested in fashion, community building, running a business, being a digital nomad (I still have mixed feelings about calling myself that) and my favourite buzzword of all time - manifestation. Because I’ve definitely become more ‘woo woo’ these past few years & I have journalling to thank for that because what you write & channel your energy into, can absolutely come true (good and bad).

But this is going to be a positive space for anyone who wants to be inspired whether it’s turning your side hustle into your full time career or how to relocate to another country & re-build your life again and just everything in between! x