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Fashion Designer Career Interview
Jill Linkus teaches fashion design at Columbia College of Chicago, and she has spent three years working in fashion design in Los Angeles.
Fashion Designer Career Path
Jill started fashion designing at a young age.
“I would make clothes and bags for myself and friends in high school and decided to pursue it further in college,” she says. “I loved being creative, using my hands, and of course fashion design. I love everything about fashion design from color to fabrication and texture to fit and function. It started as a hobby and became a passion.”
Fashion Designer Experiences
Jill worked as an intern for two small fashion companies, which helped her develop her portfolio. After a year of doing this, she moved to Los Angeles to try and find a position with a large company.
“I found one a few months after moving and was hired as a design assistant,” she recalls, “then I worked my way up to an associate designer.”
Since then, Jill has moved to Chicago and teaches fashion design at Columbia College.
Jill received a Bachelor’s degree in fashion design and studied abroad, developing her craft.
“It opened my eyes to other styles and techniques,” says Jill.
Fashion Designer Degree Programs
“More and more companies are looking for four-year degrees with a fashion design focus,” Jill advises. “It may not be necessary everywhere, but the more knowledge you have about the way fashion design works, the better.”
Fashion Designer Job Description
When Jill worked as an associate fashion designer, she worked directly with the head designer in developing every aspect of the fashion products, such as the collection themes, color palettes, type of fabric, and designing the final pieces for each collection.
Fashion Designer Daily Routine
“Every day is different depending on where you are in developing a collection,” Jill explains. “One day could be filled with research, and the next analyzing and developing final looks, and the next meeting with different vendors deciding on trims and fabrics. Research is a huge part of being a fashion designer that one might not think about when first deciding to go into it.”
Fashion Designer: Steps to Success
To be a successful fashion designer, fashion has to be your entire life.
“It may sound silly because it is just clothing,” says Jill, “but you really do have to eat, sleep, and breathe fashion. You have to analyze every design you make and make sure it is the best it can be. You need to have an intuition and eye for design that cannot always be taught.”
“It can be very stressful and fast-paced at times,” she adds.
Fashion Designer Job Opportunities
Because of the many television shows focused on the world of fashion, Jill believes that it is harder to break into the fashion world now more than ever.
“It’s become very exposed to people who might not have thought about fashion design before,” she explains.
Fashion Designer’s Future Ambitions
“I would love to either move to Europe to work for one of the major fashion design houses, such as Prada” says Jill, “or to have my own small business where I can find my niche in the market and run with it.”
Advice for Prospective Fashion Designers
Jill recommends doing whatever you can to get your foot in a fashionable door.
“The more you can get involved with anything having to do with fashion while you are studying the better,” she advises. “Intern when and where you can, read what you can, meet everyone you can, and really try to surround yourself with all things creative and fashionable.”
Meeting the right people is key, because along with most art-relate jobs, people need connections to get anywhere in fashion.
“Nothing is handed out in this industry,” says Jill. “You have to be on top of your game and work hard. Always work on networking, developing your skills, and making fashion part of your life.”
Jill also shares one piece of advice that a teacher imparted to her:
“If you are a fashion designer, dress like one.”
