What it takes to become a successful fashion designer

What is the definition of a fashion designer? Are they people who have studied fashion? Fashion schools assess students through a series of events, from inception to the runway. Starting with a mood board which is exactly as it sounds, a collection of images that inspired the final work, sketches, production process to model selection. By the time designs make it to the runway, everyone knows the amount of grunt work involved. Except, not all designers are made from this mould.

Does not studying fashion eliminate some players unfairly? Take Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs and Victoria Beckham. Ridiculed for years by fashion’s inner circle as nothing more than pop celebrities with no right to strut the hallowed runways of the fashion capitals, they were mocked, laughed at, humiliated and shunned. Until their brands were so spectacularly successfully, the industry would be wrong not to invite them to the table.

The staying power Puffy and Beckham displayed may have been their secret to achievement.

We know tailors are not designers. But what should we call people who are so gifted at modifying and deconstructing  designs?

Is one form of creativity superior to the other? What about the sea of designers who work behind the scenes for the global names in fashion? They will never take to the runway but they make everyday functional clothes that dress the world. Do lingerie designers and their itsy bitsy clothing qualify to be called designers?

Where does that leave celebrity collaborators like Beyonce, Kanye West and Rihanna and the Kardashians and all other red carpet stars who co-design and launch products worth millions of dollars that can easily shift a company from the red? Or those who launch clothing lines such as Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez and Kate Hudson? Are they not designers?

SCHOOLED DESIGNERS

Or people who download and modify Ankara catalogues, passing them off as originals?

Aside from the question, is there anything new under the sun, what is the title for such grafters with a copy-paste model. Is the creative process fixed from mood board to runway? If so, highly acclaimed designer David Tlale would be a genius. Everything happens inside his head. Never mind that he went to, and even taught at, Vaal Institute of Technology.

Is being a fashion designer inviting young designers to work inhouse, under the supervision of a master who directs their vision as they remain ghosts while the master takes a bow in New York, Milan, London and Paris? Is one only a designer if they can submit to the impractical haute couture whimsies where a whole new brand of creativity exists?

The tech industry loves citing Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates as dropouts. Fashion also has legends who did everything but study fashion, some building billion dollar companies. Coco Chanel (cabaret singer), Diane von Furstenberg (studied economics, assistant to photographer’s agent) , Tom Ford (actor, studied architecture), Manolo Blahnik (fashion buyer, magazine journalist), Giorgio Armani (military, window dresser, salesman), Christian Dior (art dealer), Muicca Prada (PhD political science, mime artist, feminist), Vivienne Westwood (primary school teacher), Gianni Versace (apprenticed with his mother, studied architecture), Ralph Lauren (military, tie salesman while in high school).

But these big names in fashion did not sidestep school. Tom Ford became a design assistant by calling his future employer every day for one month till she agreed to an interview. Diane von Furstenberg’s epic wrap dress results from an apprenticeship with a textile manufacturer. Ralph Lauren became so good with ties it launched his career.

He also declared he wanted to be millionaire. Giorgio Armani polished his skills as a freelance designer. Chanel optimised her social network and orphanage-learnt sewing skills becoming a licensed milliner before moving to dresses. Prada joined the family business.

Some creatives think instead of fees, students ought to take that money and go into business. This perspective requires a more thoughtful resolution. I recommend reading two books: Mastery by Robert Greene, and Originals by Adam Grant. They illustrate how multiple skillsets combine for greatness. Frequently, when I meet young people almost always two things happen.

They will introduce themselves. Then tell me they have “a passion for fashion.” The fascinating ones prove themselves. Most, though, are not keeping informed. Passion requires curiosity and pragmatism or it burns itself out. If you have no experience of this it is a sure sign of someone who needs to get schooled.