Career Opportunities in Fashion Industry

Career Opportunities in Fashion Communication

Are you creative, imaginative and passionate about latest trends and lifestyles? If you also possess excellent communication skills and media excites you, then Fashion Communication will surely cater to your career goals. Here you learn how to use your creativity for your fashion audience by using media and communication tools. If you have a fervour for writing in various formats, interest in photography and deep sense for understanding visuals, then this area can be your destination. With the increasing online shopping and boom in the fashion industry, this area is expanding at exponential rates.

WHAT IS FASHION COMMUNICATION?

Fashion Communication is considered as an interdisciplinary study which enables you to be placed in the media, fashion and culture industries like graphic design, fashion photography, fashion journalism and publication, product launches, public relations, exhibitions and event management. It is a unique area where one can understand the psychology, philosophy, sociology and economic factors that influence fashion industry of any country. If you are a self-motivated person, it can develop in you media literacy and excellent communication skills. Besides it makes you a creative person who can build and popularise brands by addressing various audio-video and photographs according to the cultural demand of this ever changing fashion driven society. If you wish to develop the identity of a fashion brand or a campaign to promote some products, this field enables you to develop conceptual, audio- visual and written communication skills. It also makes you excel in art direction, photography, graphics, fashion styling, copywriting, fashion journalism and advertising.

APTITUDE FOR FASHION COMMUNICATION

If fashion fascinates you, ask yourself about your strongest qualities. You must have skills like creative and critical thinking, the art of appreciation, awareness of various surroundings, understanding of contemporary and historical cultural content. You must be good in investigating, analysing and evaluating content, market, graphics, photography and text. Besides deep interest is needed for product management, consumer behaviour and market research.

PLACEMENT

After completing this course, you can become Graphic Designer, Visual Merchandiser, Creative Director, Content developer, Brand designer, Advertising Manager, Social Media Strategist, Fashion Stylist, Fashion Writer, PR and Event Manager, Fashion and Lifestyle Journalist or Fashion Consultant. Fashion communication lands you on a platform from where you work about writing anything related to fashion trends, covering events and writing reviews. Only a few institutes specialise in this interdisciplinary course which needs an understanding of both- fashion and media. The premier institute in this field is National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

FASHION COMMUNICATION FROM NIFT

NIFT is a statutory Institute governed by NIFT Act 2006, under the  Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. Every year National Institute of Fashion Technology, popularly referred to as NIFT, conducts entrance examination for the candidates, who desire to seek admission in Bachelors of Design (4 years) with specialization in Fashion Design, Leather Design, Accessory Design, Textile Design, Knitwear Design, Fashion Communication, Bachelor of Technology (Apparel Production) along with Masters of Design, Masters of Fashion Mana-gement, and Masters of Fashion Technology programmes across 16 campuses. NIFT online registrations for Admissions 2017 normally starts in November, 2016.

Eligibility for NIFT Entrance Exam

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) entrance examination is considered as the most competitive entrance examination of its field. For this entrance examination, you are required to follow the below-listed eligibility criteria-

*You should have successfully passed 10+2 or equivalent examination with a minimum of five subjects from any recognised Central/State Board of Secondary Examination or National Open School or Any Public School/Board/University Examination in India or in foreign countries recognised as equivalent thereto by the Association of Indian Universities. Or

*You should possess 3 or 4-years of diploma recognised by AICTE or a State Board of Technical Education. Or
*You should have passed General Certificate Education (GCE) Examination (London/ Cambridge/Sri Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level.
*Your maximum age is restricted to 23 years as on 1st November of the year of admission with a relaxation for SC/ST/PHP Candidates.

Thousands of candidates make a dream to get into NIFT. This entrance competition level is very high and it takes hard practice to qualify in the examination. The competition tests the candidates for reasoning ability, reading & Comprehension, Fund-amental General Knowledge, Mathematics ability and Writing Skills etc. You need to make a good study plan to score good in the entrance competitive examination.

*NIFT entrance exam consists of 2 papers
*GAT (General Ability Test)
*CAT (Creative Ability Test)

The GAT tests each student’s ability in Quantitative Math, Analytical Reasoning, English Communication, English Comprehension and General Knowledge

The CAT tests each student’s ability in Design Problem Solving, Visual Sense, Observation & Perception, Environmental Awareness, Mental Ability and Communication skills through a range of visual and textual questions.

Syllabus

GENERAL ABILITY TEST (GAT)

This test will comprise of various sections.

Quantitative Ability : This section is designed to test the quantitative ability of the candidates which include questions on Addition, Multiplication, Division, Fractions, Percentage, Rate of Interest, Work and Task, Ratio and Proportion, and Distance.

Communication Ability: This section is aimed at testing the language ability of the candidates in day to day communication in English. It includes questions on synonyms, antonyms, words with corresponding meanings, singular, plural, one word substitutes, idioms and phrases, correct spellings etc.

English Comprehension: This section aims to test the candidate’s ability to comprehend a situation from a given passage and test of fundamental English language.

Analytical Ability: This section test the candidate’s capacity for ability of inference and logic from the given information.

General Knowledge and Current Affairs: This section test the candidate’s general knowledge and current affairs.

CREATIVE ABILITY TEST (CAT): For Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) and Master of Design (M.Des.) This test is administered to judge the intuitive ability, power of observation in concept development and design ability of the candidate. An important aspect of the test is the creative and innovative use of colour and illustration skills.

Some prominent institutes that offer similar kind of course are :

*National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Campuses across India

*National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad

*Srishti School of Design, Bangalore

*Symbiosis Centre of Design, Pune

SEVEN SUCCESS MAN-TRAS FOR SUCCESS IN NIFT

 For any competitive examination, we pass through five stages and NIFT exam is no exception. These are:
I.Planning
II.Preparation
III.Practise
IV.Perfection
IV.Performance

1. EXPLORE YOUR TALENTS AND FIND DIRECTION: You should make your decision on the basis of your ability. Be sure this course is meant for you. When you make this decision yourself, this propels your efforts. Try to find your own deep, solid and compelling reason to crack this entrance exam.

2. MAKE A REALISTIC PLAN: “Plan your work and work your plan” is the best strategy adopted for a long time. Also plan your time to make a balance between study, sports and social commitments. The entrance exam is all about working smart along with hard work. Study consistently covering all dimensions of the examination.

3. KNOW THE GAME AND CLEAR YOUR FUNDAMENTALS: You should be very clear about question paper, its style and clear understanding of all parts of the entrance examination. Speed and accuracy are the basic tools and that you can achieve through mock tests and drills. Always try to understand the underlying concepts behind a given topic.

4. CREATIVE AND CRITICAL THINKING: To maximise your score, you must concentrate and follow the requirements of the question. Besides, make understanding of all aspects and ensure that you tailor your answer to the question asked. You must read the requirements at least twice and decide what information you should provide in an appropriate format. More the time you spend in practising, better is the efficiency in the examination.

5. KEEP A POSITIVE FOCUS: In NIFT exam we noticed that success comes to those students who enjoy preparation for it. So put in your hard work and see how  it helps you make your dream a reality. Focus on the positive things to come, after your examinations which definitely motivate you to accelerate your study.

6. TIME MANAGEMENT: You should distribute balanced time to each section and more time for practice should be given to that part which you feel yourself weak. Start with your best area first and attempt that part later which you might be less confident about.

7. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF: Low self-esteem and self-doubt always set you back and these feelings will inhibit your study programme. Overcome these feelings by motivating yourself and reading good literature.

All human beings are blessed with creativity but all of us are not so fortunate in grooming our creative ability. This ability makes us imagine and invent, create and communicate and solve problems in a creative manner. Creativity and creative problem solving is an art. Fashion communication is a platform for your creativity. When creativity in you grows, money does not remain a problem. You start living your life with freedom, you do what you like to do, what excites and inspires you.