In many ways, marketing fashion is the most improbable job for me. My friends were extremely surprised when I got involved in marketing and advertising in the first place, you see, I do not fit the profile for your average fashion marketing executive. Although over the years I have learned to dress pretty well, I am definitely never up on the latest fashion trends – at least when it isn't related to my job. I prefer to dress simply and even conservatively. My clothing has never gotten in the way of me making friends or getting dates, but it is certainly not the driving force behind what people think of me. Most fashion marketers pride themselves on being stylish, but I pride myself on being down to earth.
When it comes down to it, I have carved out an improbable niche for myself in the world of fashion marketing. You see, I have what is known as an outsider's perspective – a rare thing in advertising and marketing. Most people assume that an interest in fashion is necessary to get involved in fashion merchandising. After all, how can you understand what other people want in clothing if you don't particularly crave it yourself?
Well, pretty easily actually. You see, as an outsider I am able to see how clothes are marketed to people simply from the advertisements. Then I can gauge whether or not the ads work by which clothing lines succeed in which ones fail. Because I'm not interested in clothing, in fact, I can even see embarrassing things about fashion trends that most people are afraid to look at. I can see how feelings of elitism, infantile desires, and repressed fantasies play a huge role in the clothing that people wear every day!
How I got involved in fashion marketing is a pretty simple story. I certainly didn't get a degree in fashion marketing – in fact I didn't even go to a fashion design school. Working in an advertising firm I was assigned a fashion account with a minor regional distributor. I was so good at it that one thing lead to another and I made it my specialty. It is really as simple as that. I am good at it, and above all I appreciate the irony .In the world of Advertising firms, a sense of irony and a desire to be rich are the two biggest ingredients. Passion, however, can only get in your way.
|
