When most people think of students in fashion design schools, they assume that we are all filthy rich children of suburban America who have been indulging in all the excesses of fashion couture since we first turned 13. Although there are some students that definitely fit the profile, for most of us this couldn't be further from the truth. Fashion designers, in fact, are some of the most creative and eclectic people that you will ever meet. Although we vary tremendously, we all share a reverence for the beauty of the human body. When it comes down to it, no one becomes a fashion designer simply because they want to make money, or even because they want to live a glamorous life. That is simply not enough to make it in the field.
We all hear gossip stories of famous fashion designers now and then, chuckling at their extravagant activities and strange, out of touch lifestyles. The reason that these stories make it to the press, however, is not because they are common but because they are so sensational. Your average fashion designer, as a matter of fact, is a pretty down-to-earth human being. Most of us liked to make our own clothes as children, or at least to decorate them with patches. Some of us were punks who viewed conventional ideals of beauty with scorn, while other ones of us were much more mainstream in our fashion sensibilities. The one thing that we all share in common is that we view clothing as more than just something to cover and protect the body. Clothes are a way that people can create an image and a persona around themselves – a true form of self-expression that carries into the everyday world. That is what makes designing fashion so important.
Of course, if you want to be a really outstanding fashion designer, you have to know a good bit of fashion marketing. By the time we finish our fashion designer degree programs, in fact, few of us don't have some savvy and practical knowledge about how the world of fashion works. After all, the most important thing for a fashion design professional is to get people to wear his or her clothing. To do that, you have to understand the current trends and what people want out of their clothing. Once you get those facts down and master some basic design principles, anything is possible.
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