What characteristics and skills do you most associate with those who work in the fashion industry?
Persistence, creativity and self motivation, perhaps?
This was all the sort of stuff that first sprung to mind for me but earlier this week, in a piece for the Guardian's Life & Style section, Elle editor Lorraine Candy pointed out that although creativity is obviously super important if you want to tailor yourself a career as a fashion designer, entrepreneurialism is just as crucial. She cites Christopher Kane as the perfect example of someone who had a strong business plan (including an admirable no-free-clothes-for-celebs policy) from the outset.
The piece is dedicated to providing tips to budding hopefuls, who will little doubt have a forthcoming date heavily highlighted in their designer diaries, as September means one thing — London Fashion Week.
So, to mark this impossibly fabulous occasion, and continue with Lorraine's good work in offering advice, we've invited some professionals working in and with the fashion industry to come online and take your questions, share some insights into their working live and offer some more top tips on how you can bag a role like theirs.
If you're desperate to follow in the stylish footsteps of young British designer Henry Holland (who, you should follow on Twitter — he's very funny), infamous LA stylist Rachel Zoe or influential blogger Scott Schuman (aka The Sartorialist), post your questions now and come back and chat with us on Monday 6 September, 1pm to 4pm.
Our panel:
Kate Carter is Life & Style editor at guardian.co.uk. She is responsible for the site's fashion content and writes the weekly Fashion Statement newsletter, as well as editing and commissioning all the other content on Life & Style. Prior to working at the Guardian, Kate worked in television as a freelance producer and scriptwriter.
Sophie Harper is the UK manager for Red Alert Agency where she looks after brands rush as Jarlo, Rare, Liquorish, Mink Pink and Marc B from their Manchester and London showrooms. After graduating with a degree in fashion and textiles, Sophie was quickly snapped up by the Topshop buying team as their buying admin.
Stephanie Finnan is a careers advisor and owns The Fashion Careers Clinic in London. She runs one to one consultations for individuals, as well as holding lectures and workshops at colleges, schools and universities across the U.K and Europe, focused on a wide range of fashion careers topics, including portfolio development, CV presentation and interview technique. She also recently published careers advice book, How To Prepare For A Career In Fashion.
Jude Ross is fashion and textiles nations manager at Skillset, the sector skills council for creative media. She is responsible for coordinating major strands of work for the fashion and textiles sector, liaising with strategic partners and making sure that employers are represented. Jude has worked in the industry herself as a fashion buyer, who has represented fashion and manufacturing companies across the UK.
