Fashion is an extraordinary industry, where talent and passion meet a dynamic and ever-changing market. But it is also a competitive world that rewards those who can face it with preparation and awareness.
Understanding how a company works, what the key roles are and what skills are required is the first step in turning your aspirations into reality.
This is why the following was born Guide to Fashion Professions, a project designed by Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda ETS in collaboration with Gian Maria Spinella, Head Hunter and Talent Scout in the Fashion & Luxury industry, presented during the 2024 edition of Fashion Graduate Italia and will continue to be enriched with new and updated content. Our Guide is constructed as a true road-map that can provide you with practical knowledge and useful tools for your first entry into business.
We will understand together the main dynamics of the industry, discover professional paths you may not have known, and analyze the inner workings of a fashion company, dwelling on the organization of the different departments, the figures who ensure its success, and how they work in synergy to transform a creative idea into a Collection.
A visual guide to understanding all the stages of developing a Fashion Collection and the different company Departments involved.
You have to imagine a fashion company as a complex machine, where each cog plays a key role in its operation.
The cogs consist of the people, teams, and business departments that work together to achieve common goals. If even one gear fails, the machine suffers and is likely to stop.
In this organized structure, each professional figure occupies a job role -that is, a well-defined job role- within a Department specific. The position one holds is also determined by the seniority level, a term indicating the degree of experience, responsibility and autonomy.
Seniority is like a ladder: those who are early in their careers, such as an intern or junior, focus on operational tasks and have limited autonomy, working under the guidance of more experienced figures. As they move up the ladder, their decision-making skills, responsibilities, and influence on the work of the team increase. At the top are managerial and strategic roles, which define long-term visions and goals.
This system, made up of well-structured roles and levels of experience, ensures that each professional figure brings his or her contribution clearly and that all Departments work harmoniously together to achieve common success.
From internship to the highest level of strategic and creative responsibility, we can identify 6 levels of seniority.