Follow Your Heart

It is commonly considered when a child reaches the crossroads of his or her life, that the career that would be selected would be a matter of pride and achievement for the whole family. Typically a youngster is conditioned to believe that the ' respectable ' careers are in the categories of medicine, engineering, software, aeronautical and scientific fields.

A few parents encourage fine arts and some into hotel management, interiors, and architecture. But when it comes to fashion many eyebrows are raised and the very mention of fashion as a career is ridiculed. Why may we ask? What are the generic impressions and opinions so as to speak?

First and foremost, awareness! What is truly lacking still is a sense of awareness and the seriousness of fashion. Fashion is a humungous billion dollar industry employing millions of people worldwide and generating an infinite amount of revenue.
Parents of students who are on the threshold of seeking admission into professional courses need to be informed about the scope of this progressive and fast-growing field. Children who are artistically inclined and those who want to digress into prospective careers of their choice should be motivated to select the course to their liking. Peer pressure and social expectation urge parents to push their offspring into career choices they not necessarily like. Today it is about what one is made for rather than what one should become. It is regressive to pressure the student towards a profession that he is not inclined to.

Fashion is a career choice that has thousands of aspirants drifting towards it. Adolescents and youngsters with a flair for creativity and a panache are flocking to institutes offering Diploma, PG and Graduate programmes. Apart from being self-driven, the students and parents must realize and be aware of one thing. Fashion is not just art. They must not confuse a child's artistic interest and creativity as the path to fashion. No! Fashion is a science as well. It is less art and more technology. It is as level as engineering and medicine.
Fashion is passion driven. An obsession with clothing people and dressing the world and its movers and shakers. A youngster who draws well need not necessarily be drawn to fashion. He or she can be better off in an art school.
People still mistake fashion design as just sketching. They also misconstrue it as a tailor's job. All these preconceived notions have to be abolished by an institute through counselling, seminars, and orientation.

While considering admission, select an institute with strong academic content, project work, industry reputation and placement record.
Beware of just the hype or any hard selling. Check the industry names that frequent the institute and the associations. The subjects taken and the student-faculty interactions also must be considered. Work environment, the labs and the affiliations all must be covered under the same breath.

The most important criteria to join fashion is aptitude. Does the aspirant have enough interest to venture into this field? Does he or she have a futuristic aspiration or is it a fleeting interest. Does the candidate want to be a part of this industry and is he serious about it? If the answers to all the above are yes, then look no further. Fashion waits to embrace you into a world of fantastical opportunities.

Lakhotia College of Design

Abids and Banjarahills

Hyderabad