Often fashion is looked down upon as an industry, with beliefs that it is a superficial environment full of blonde hair airheads and overly camp gay men strutting around the place. It is these perceptions that make it difficult for those who work in fashion to be taken seriously, even in a modern society. As someone studying a fashion journalism degree this is something I find incredibly frustrating.
It is perceived that my degree is just staring at handbags all day and occasionally writing how wonderful they are. It is also thought that my entire student loan is wasted on 'over-priced' bags and I only eat the occasional bowl of lettuce. I would like to state here that none of those statements are true.
The judgemental views on the fashion industry are only fuelled by what is seen in the media. Films such as: The Devil Wears Prada and Confessions Of A Shopaholic give a demeaning view of the industry, and viewers often mistake entertainment for reality! I personally have been told by total strangers on public transport: "Fashion Journalism... pffftt, thats not a real degree" I challenge those who have this prejudice idea of the fashion industry to do my degree and then get back to me on this idea.
In 2010 it was reported that the fashion industry as a whole is worth £21bn to the UK economy, and it creates around 816,000 jobs. So why is it that people believe that fashion is not an important aspect to the world we live in. It is not rare to hear someone say that they're not interested in fashion or that fashion in not important to society, but it is. We all wear clothes, whether we keep up with the seasons trend or not we still wear apparel on a daily basis. Until the day that a majority of the nation are wondering around in their birthday suits I will never see how the fashion industry is a 'pointless' one.
Fashion is fast paced, constantly changing and revolving so for people to think that it is only a job for air heads is simply not true. The constant change of season and knowing new designers is an important role for anyone working or studying fashion, therefore it is not as simple as it is perceived. Fashion is not just about what we wear it is an art form, a construction and most of all something that a lot of hard work and thought goes into before it is produced. Many fashion products are created not to be worn, but to be looked at and adored as a form of art, sometimes it can be too impractical to be physically worn, but is designed to please the eye and show off a designers talents in production and creativity.
This is why anyone who snubs fashion as an industry or a means of importance is to be ignored. Some of the most successful and intelligent people in the world work in the fashion sector and should not be dismissed for their hard work. So if someone looks down on you for a course you are studying in fashion, a blog you write or for working in retail etc, it can be said that they are the ones who are totally lacking in any intelligence as they're totally unaware of the society they live in and stereotyping people is really a demonstration of their intelligence.
Labels: devil wears prada, economy, fashion industry, money, retail, stereotypes of fashion, University
