Fashion Journalist: How to Become a Fashion Journalist & Career Outlook

Become a Fashion Journalist and thrive in your Career!

Since the majority of individuals who have become fashion journalists work in the media and entertainment sector, is predicted to create more than 2.7 lakh jobs over the next three years, therefore, a career in fashion journalism could be financially rewarding in the future.

A student can earn a qualification in several fashion design courses at the associate, graduation, post-graduate, or certificate level to work as a fashion journalist. Candidates must enroll in courses like BSc in Fashion and Apparel Design, BDes Fashion Communication, and many more in order to become fashion journalists. Each institute has a different set of course fees. An estimated INR 50,000 to 20,000 is the typical course fee range.

Many career opportunities exist in fashion journalism. A fashion journalist might be a fashion writer, editor, stylist, communication manager, etc. Any company related to fashion journalism will allow a person to work as a freelancer or a full-time fashion journalist.

Useful Facts to know about Fashion Journalism

Related Industry: Fashion Industry

Eligibility Criteria: The candidates must have earned a degree in journalism or fashion at the graduate level. It would be good if the candidates had experience in both streams. Companies favor applicants with master's degrees for job profiles with more job responsibilities.

Selection Process: Entrance Exam, Merit, Personal Interview.

Average Starting Package: INR 1.5 Lakhs P.A to 2 Lakhs P.A

Career Opportunities: After completing the course program, the aspirants find career opportunities in publishing companies, the entertainment industry, print media, magazines, newspapers, blogs, the fashion industry, fashion-focused businesses, etc.

What a Fashion Journalist has to do?

**Here we have listed a few of the Job Roles and Responsibilities of a Fashion Journalist:**

Fashion journalists are employed by businesses because the fashion industry is very dynamic and everything inside it is continuously changing. As a result, businesses require someone who can inform the public about shifting trends.
Fashion journalist makes use of their expertise, passion, talents, and imagination to inform the interested audience about current trends and breaking news in the ever-evolving world of fashion.
To acquire the most recent knowledge in the sector, the position calls for strong networking abilities.
The fashion journalist must network with everyone (industry insiders and clients) to obtain their perspectives on fashion, which are crucial to understanding.
The writing articles for magazines, editorials, television, websites, blogs, etc. is the responsibility of fashion journalists.
Many fashion writers frequently collaborate with a variety of photographers so they can cover all that is happening in the sector while also having the benefit of using real-time images.
Moreover, a fashion journalist attends fashion photo shoots, collaborates with top stylists, and conducts regular interviews with fashion designers.

Here comes the part of the Blog you have been waiting for!

How to Become a Fashion Journalist – Must Follow steps:

To become a fashion journalist, you must take a few basic yet crucial steps. The candidates must be very interested in news relating to fashion. To be able to handle a career with so many highs and lows, the student needs to have a positive personality, creative vision, and passion.

Following are the steps you must follow to become a Fashion Journalist:

Decision-Making Abilities:

Making decisions must start at the high school level. To pursue a career as a fashion journalist, the student must be well-versed in the numerous decisions they must make. The student has to start developing a variety of different abilities that will be useful in their fashion journalism profession. In order for aspirants' eyes to become accustomed to the color scheme and patterns, they must begin drawing and designing. Similar to this, candidates must choose which stream to enroll in for their 12th class in order to lay a strong basis for their future careers. Those who are interested in becoming designers should try to master programs like Photoshop and CorelDraw. Additionally, begin reading numerous blogs, posts, articles, news, and other materials regarding art and fashion design.

Choosing Subjects:

Subject selection in the 12th must be made in a way that will allow candidates to lay a foundation for the future UG or PG courses they plan to pursue. Despite the fact that there is no specific track for fashion journalism, candidates should aim to have a solid background in English and must select it as a required topic. Strong verbal and written communication abilities are also required. Therefore, picking vernacular as an optional topic in the 12th would be perfect. Consequently, one can pursue a Bachelor's degree or a certification in fashion journalism after passing the 12th from an accredited board. Online short courses are widely offered for budding fashion journalists. Few related courses are also available like B.Des. in Fashion Communication, B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication, B.Sc. in Fashion and Apparel Design, etc.

Preparing for the Entrance Exam:

Varied institutions have different requirements for admission to their specific programmes. Everything relies on the candidate's willingness to pursue the chosen path. There are many entrance exams, including those for the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Pearl Academy, Symbiosis, School of Fashion Technology- Common Entrance Test (SOFT-CET), Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Xavier Institute of Communication - Online Entrance Test (XIC OET), Jamia Millia Islamia, and others. These tests evaluate the candidate's aptitude. Some institutions provide merit-based direct admissions. The student is taken into consideration for admission to the course if they pass the cut-off set by the college. The candidates must prepare for the entrance exam by downloading the previous year's test questions from the agency's website or other third party websites. Moreover, candidates should use the internet to get various study materials and prepare using various reference books.

College Selection:

Similar courses are provided by several universities to applicants so they can seek careers as fashion journalists. In order to pursue a career in fashion journalism, a student must attempt to gain admission to the best universities. The candidates must research the college rankings published by organisations like NIRF, India Today, Outlook, etc. in order to do that. The candidates should get in touch with some of the former students of the various colleges and inquire about the various requirements, including admission requirements and tuition costs. Indian Institute of Mass Communication (Delhi), National School of Drama (Delhi), Film and Television Institute of India (Pune), Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (Pune), Xavier Institute of Communications (Mumbai), and International Institute of Fashion Technology(Delhi) are a few of the top universities.

Post Entrance exam:

Admission requirements varies amongst universities. According to the merit list, students are admitted to some institutions without taking the entrance exam, but at other universities, a student's skills must be evaluated through an entrance exam and an interview. Once these are qualified, the students must participate in the college selection process and the counselling process. They must next submit the amount requested by the college in order to be admitted.

What are the Job and Career Prospects in Fashion Journalism?

For your reference, a few of the broad classifications and categories in the field of Fashion Journalism job profiles are discussed below:

Fashion Writer:

A fashion writer always maintains an eye on the newest trends and news in the industry. A fashion writer must have strong writing skills and a strong foundation in fashion. Writing copy for media sites, blogs, and articles is the main duty of fashion writers. After that, their work is published in periodicals, newspapers, websites, blogs, social media channels, or television. Fashion writers' duties also include conducting interviews with various models, designers, and influencers and disseminating their ideas and insights to readers. They also express, interpret, and promote fashion ideas through writing.

Fashion Editor:

As a fashion editor, you will be responsible for managing the creation of all fashion-related material. Articles, blogs, photoshoots, television shows, and other types of content are all possible. Aspirants who want to work as editors must make sure that the written material is accurate. The fashion editor's other duty is to watch out for rules governing taste and style while making sure the layout is accurate and the material is precise. One may choose to specialize on a different industry, such as accessories, beauty, or fashion.

Fashion Photographers:

Here, the primary objective is to demonstrate creativity by using photography to promote clothing and other fashion accessories. An online platform, celebrity, fashion house, magazine, or newspaper are all possible clients for a fashion photographer. A fashion photographer improves the process of delivering stories about fashion-related news or trends. A fashion photographer is also given the task of using different picture or video editing tools, which aids in the creation of advertisements for their own business or that of a client. As a fashion photographer, you might be hired by a fashion magazine or work independently.

Fashion Reporter:

Reporting on popular fashion trends among celebrities, stylists, designers, and regular people is the responsibility of a fashion reporter. Additionally, they give the public access to recent and continuing industry news from the industry.

Fashion Critic:

Regarding fashion and style, there are a wide variety of ideas, viewpoints, and perspectives. It is the job of the critics to express their views on various fashion news, trends, and styles. Finding undiscovered fashion talents and promoting them to the world's attention is another duty of the fashion critic. The fashion reviewers frequently participate in evaluating various items presented by designers during fashion weeks and offer a thorough assessment.

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Conclusion

Therefore, as a Fashion Journalist, you can apply for a position as a fashion journalist for TV news and youtube channels, a newspaper, a fashion magazine, a fashion website, a fashion blog, etc. Because of the variety of scholarships that many organizations provide to eligible students, it has become very convenient for aspirants to pursue a Fashion Journalism course. The requirements for receiving a scholarship differ from college to college. NIFT, Pearl Academy, Asian College of Journalism, among other institutions, are some of the ones that provide scholarships. In addition, the main benefit for fashion journalists is that they frequently visit stunning locations. They also get to socialize a lot and develop their creative abilities.

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