Everything You Need to Know About Fashion Journalism

The fashion industry is a billion-dollar enterprise. From models to designers to photographers, it generates thousands of jobs every year. At the heart of this industry lies Fashion Journalism, it is an artistic form of news reporting focused primarily on fashion news, trends, shows, and designers. Fashion Journalism is a powerful tool with millions of active audiences. If you are passionate about writing and fashion then this field is perfect for you. Keep reading to know more about this unique career!

Also Read: Career in Fashion Photography

What Does a Fashion Journalist do?

Fashion journalists are responsible for publishing and producing articles, blogs and news pieces related to trends in the fashion industry. From covering major designers to newcomers to fashion icons, this form of journalism is purely entertainment and promotion-focused. A fashion journalist performs a plethora of responsibilities or duties such as:

• A fashion journalist has to do immense research work and digging up about the recent as well as the old trends.
• Fashion journalists are also expected to assist with the styling of the models, interviewing major personalities and upcoming fashion icons in the industry.
• Fashion journalists assist on photoshoot sets and cover various events like fashion shows, promotional launches and major fashion events.
• They produce fashion articles/news for magazines and social media.
• Fashion journalists often take pictures and using photoshop to manipulate them
• They work as teams under senior fashion journalists and editors.
• They are required to attend fashion and press events around the world and gather content such as photographs, news, articles, etc.

Also Read: Career in Accessory Designing

How to Become a Fashion Journalist: A Step-Wise

Step 1: A Graduate Degree

Firstly the aspiring candidate must complete their 10+2 level of education with at least 50% aggregate in any stream. Candidates are required to give entrance exams held by different universities for journalism and fashion in order to qualify for different courses. This helps in gaining skills and knowledge required in the fashion industry. After this, the aspirant can either work an entry-level job or continue further studies by taking up a diploma course or master’s programme without a gap year.

Step 2: Work Experience and Internships

Once a person is done with their bachelor’s degree, they can step in the industry with an entry-level job and over the years can gain experience to become a senior journalist, publisher or fashion critic. They can start off as working as an intern with stylists, publications or local newspapers like fashion magazines like the Times of India, Femina, Hello, Vogue India, GQ and many more. 

Step 3: Impressive Portfolio

Gaining experience and the right set of skills over the years can help in building the perfect portfolio which demonstrates your creativity, imagination, hard work and knowledge of the subject. You need to make a photographic compilation of all of your best works. You can showcase old projects you’ve worked on or any freelancing work that you may have done in the past.

Step 4: Grab Opportunities

Never limit yourself to the same job if it is not helping you to grow in what you do. As a fashion journalist, you will get many opportunities to travel the world or do extra work. A job in this career requires one to step of their comfort zone and pushing yourself for better opportunities even if it requires relocating to a larger city do it.

Fashion Journalism Courses in India and Abroad

The most prominent fashion journalism courses are mentioned below.

• BA in Fashion Journalism 
• B.Des (Fashion Communication)
• BA hons Fashion Journalism and Content Creation
• BA Hons Mass Communication and Journalism
• B.Sc in Fashion and Apparel Design
• MA Fashion Communication
• MSc in Costume Design and Fashion

Must Read: How to Become a Journalist?

Top Global Universities for Fashion Journalism

Top Universities abroad to pursue Fashion Journalism:

Name of University	QS World University Ranking 2023
University of East London	801-1000
London Metropolitan University, London	801-1000
University of the Arts, London	–
University for the creative arts, London	–
University of Winchester, London	–
Fullerton College, USA	–
Academy of Art University	–
Fashion School of Fashion and Design, France	–

Top Universities in India

Top Universities In India to pursue Fashion Journalism:

1. Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
2. Xavier’s School of Communications, Mumbai
3. Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi
4. National School of Drama, Delhi
5. Whistling Woods International, Mumbai
6. Zee Institute of Media Arts, Mumbai
7. Garden City University, Bengaluru
8. Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
9. Annapurna International School Of Film And Media, Hyderabad

Also Read: Best Fashion Designing Colleges in India

Job Profiles in Fashion Journalism

• Fashion Writer: A fashion writer is a person with competent knowledge about fashion trends and possesses excellent written and verbal communication skills. They are extremely talented storytellers through their write-ups on fashion and whatever they write has to be truthfully factual. They write about fashion events and galas happening all around the world.

• Fashion Editor: Editors have a critical eye and make sure whatever the writers have written is error-free, eye-catching and informative. They manage the planning, creating and presenting fashion-related content which goes out for publishing or on social media.

• Fashion Photographer: Photographers play a major role in making the content visually pleasing. Their technical and creative work helps in enhancing the displays and apparel.

•  Fashion Critic: A fashion critic is a person of opinion who supervises what content is appropriate and gives suggestions for the room for improvement and betterment of the quality of the content.

• Freelancer: Freelancers work by choice and do not work with any companies. They perform activities mostly to gain knowledge and provide service at their comfort and will.

Salary Structure of a Fashion Journalist’s Career Paths

Job Profile	Average salary
Writer	$34k-$63k (INR 27 lakh to INR 51 lakh)
Freelancer	$31k-$75k (INR 25 lakh to INR 61 lakh)
Blogger	$25k-$50k (INR 20 lakh to INR 40.7 lakh)
Photographers	$26k-$51k (INR 21 lakh to INR 41.5 lakh)
Fashion Critic	$42k-$80k (INR 34.2 lakh to INR 65.2 lakh)
Editor	$35k-$60k (INR 28.5 lakh to INR 49 lakh)
Fashion Reporter	$26k-$45k (INR 21 lakh to INR 36.6 lakh)

Best Companies for a Fashion Journalist 

• Vogue
• Harper’s Bazaar
• MTV
• Marks and Spencer
• Glamour
• Elle
• The Times of India
• Couture Asia
• Lifestyle
• Freelook
• Liberty

Skills and Relevant Experience 

Fashion journalists need to have certain qualities or skills to become famous. Let us see some of them:

• Language skills are integral to this industry. Good command of your language is a must.
• Ability to vision your piece and find relevant photo ops
• Ability to follow fashion trends
• Communication skills 
• Interpersonal skills
• Networking skills
• Ability to possess good Microsoft and photoshop skills

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fashion Journalism

Advantages: A fashion journalist gets to enjoy whilst working as they get to travel all over the places and explore beautiful cities. You get paid well at senior positions and it is a very glamorous job. Most times you get free clothes and even designer stuff. People look up to people working in the fashion field and you get to socialize a lot.

Disadvantages: Being a fashion journalist you are expected to be creative all the time which could be tiring and exhausting for the human mind. You always have to be nice to people in order to maintain contact even if the person is being ignorant or arrogant. There is not a very fixed schedule and a person has to work on the terms and times whenever the employer asks.

Also Read: How to Build a Career in Footwear Designing?

FAQs

Fashion Journalism is a very popular and beneficial course because of the tremendous growth in the fashion industry. It is a glamorous platform for interacting with famous people, designers, models, and celebrities. For any further queries, you can either comment down below or contact an expert at Leverage Edu on 1800 572 000 and we’ll be happy to answer them.