Fashion Designing is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Unlike theoretical professions such as accounting, finance which require skill and experience, Designing is a profession that challenges with Talent and Creativity. One must have the passion to chase their goal whilst having all the right qualifications and ability to create something exceptional using talent and innovation.
In Sri Lanka in particular, Fashion Designing has not yet earned its deserved recognition. Older generations simply believe it has everything to do with makeup saloon artists. That’s also one of the reasons why you should pursue Fashion Designing if you’re really passionate about it, because the pitch is still quite empty.
Not everyone can be a Designer, but a designer can come from anywhere. That’s why this article is purely for those who are dreaming to pursuing Fashion Designing in Sri Lanka. Let’s look at the practical facts.
Understand your passion more precisely
Fashion Designing is a complex field of study and creation. Just because you go shopping for trendy clothes wouldn’t make you a successful Fashion Designer. Most Designers in the industry don’t even dress well. They stick to Black and White clothing that’s comfortable, which gives them more freedom to move around swiftly. Take Alexander Wang for an instance, he wears regular clothing just like any of us.
That’s why it’s a must that you understand your passion and the profession that comes with it, more precisely and wisely. Don’t let others influence you either. Below are some basic personality traits of a potential Fashion Designer.
- You have a keen eye for colours and shapes
- You often spot improvement points in regular clothing
- You enjoy sewing and mending clothes for better looks
- You can realistically imagine your designs
If you’ve felt your mind ticking to any of the above points, you might be ready for a career in Fashion. You’re at the very start of the race. Now you need to gear up and get going.
Get yourself the right qualifications
The only way up the ladder in Fashion is the right qualification. It doesn’t matter if you study the most expensive degree available in the world or in the high end fashion capitals like New York or Milan. It’s the quality and skills that you learn that matters in your career. Sri Lanka has some world recognized universities and affiliated institutes that offer reputed degrees and HND qualifications for Fashion Designing enthusiasts.
1. AOD (Academy of Designing)
AOD is one of Sri Lanka’s premier Designing Institutes. It’s affiliated with the Northumbria University in UK that offers reputed degrees and courses in all sorts of Designing.
2. AMDT
AMDT, School of Creativity is a trendy and affordable institute that offers creative courses in different pathways to whoever who wishes to pursue Designing. They are partnered with Pearson’s and Falmouth University in UK.
3. LIFT
Lanka Institute of Fashion Technology is a premier Fashion Education Institute that offers Degrees and courses in Fashion and Art. They are affiliated with the reputed University of Northampton UK.
Keep Practicing your Skills
It doesn’t matter if you’ve started your degree programme or not, it’s all about your talent. The less you practice, the more you forget. For starters, gather up some old outdated clothing and some papers and pencils. Try to create something new with your old clothes. It’ll take time, but someday you’ll get there. It’s better to know something than to know nothing when your journey begins.
Apply for an Internship
Experience is the key to success in any trade. Try to get hands-on experience in Fashion to understand how your professional future will look like. An Internship while studying would be ideal. Plus, it would provide a point to begin, on your resume. You wouldn’t always get the chance to start your own Fashion Store and succeed in numbers, just as you finish school. That’s why getting the right experience would open up opportunities for your future goals.
Learn Basic Management
To be honest, all Fashion Designers dream of launching their own Brand. An own brand is not simply sewing up a dress or a classy bag and putting at a store with a price tag, it’s a business which requires understanding particular customer audiences, marketing techniques and how to bring in sales, profiting and ROIs. You wouldn’t have to deal with it all by yourself (hire some staff for that) but the mastermind strategy has to come from you. So remember to learn the basics of Business Management while at it.
Get done your Portfolio
A tip for all Designers and Creative peeps, your portfolio is pretty much your millions-worth degree. Doesn’t matter how many qualifications you have, or how much you’re passionate about it, if your designs lack creativity, you’ll be stagnated in one place for quite a long time. Take your design assignments very seriously and collect good viewpoints of images as much as you could, include your sketching, pattern-making abilities and stitching as well, it’ll be useful soon after you leave Fashion School looking for jobs.
Keep up with Trends
When it comes to designing, Trends play a major role. These keep changing almost every new season. You must always be aware about the new trends, old trends that have emerged and the trends that are no more. Especially if you have begun your own designing business, understanding and following up with new trends are essential to grow.
Conclusion
There you go! All you need to know about Fashion Designing in Sri Lanka. It’s pretty much common in almost all places but still, in Sri Lanka, the competition is a little low. We still don’t have a fashion iconic like Coco Chanel, but you might be the deal-breaker. Don’t give up on your dreams, keep working hard, someday you’ll get there!