The top 5 future fashion jobs The Director of Education at Domus Academy spoke to nss magazine about it
The concept of constant change is deeply rooted in the fashion industry. Not only in terms of collections and trends, but also on that of the most requested professional figures, as Mark Anderson, Director of Education at Domus Academy, highlighted, interviewed by nss magazine. "Students need to approach the profession with the desire to continue learning, being open and absorbing everything they can," Anderson said, stressing that it is often necessary to combine the technical skills learned during their studies with the so-called soft skills:
«Creativity, perseverance, passion and infinite curiosity are the most important. [...] For fashion professionals, creativity must be accompanied by a knowledge and understanding of current creative production but also of the past. [...] Some of the current and more technical skills revolve around the use and integration of technologies in the design process and in various parts of the fashion supply chain».
These new skills, reflecting cultural, economic and technological changes, are already having immediate repercussions on brand recruiting. Perhaps one the most striking and necessary is the move towards a representaton of diversity. For example, «some companies, such as H&M, have already established the figure of the Diversity and Inclusiveness Manager to promote inclusion policies at the company level», but also on the campaign side many brands «have used black or transgender models to promote a new inclusive approach». With the result of a change in recruiting and casting policies - a change that has invested the world of communication in a greater sense in which «much more importance will be attached to the storytelling of the brand to convey who it is and what it represents, more than the product itself. Authenticity and credibility will be key values in an environmentally-conscious and also economically and socially sustainable approach.»
A new world whose challenges and needs may seem disoriented to those who face it for the first time. For this reason, nss magazine asked Mark Anderson to draw up a list of the top five future fashion jobs.
Virtual Showroom Designer
«The pandemic has pushed consumers towards online shopping. This trend will not clearly end with the current situation and consumers will increasingly have to make use of online shopping tools such as virtual showrooms - interactive spaces with digital rendering where consumers can see the collections online and try them out. A useful tool also for brands that can thus rethink all the management of the wholesale and warehouse part. The goal is to make the experience in virtual showrooms more stimulating and engaging than that of the physical showroom. In addition, these platforms often allow you to leave messages and comments that can give important indications to brands in real time».
Data Editor
«This increase in ecommerce traffic, combined with supply chain outages, staff reduction, underscored the importance of the Customer Experience Manager's role keeping consumers informed about their orders across markets, time zones, and social channels. In addition, as the growth of ecommerce will continue to grow even after the pandemic, this type of resource will still be valuable to any brand in a long-term strategy. But the Customer Experience Manager is not only a professional from a point of view of control and management: he must also have a proactive and empathic approach to establish an "complicity" with the consumer even in a cold communication like the one remotely, to make the end customer live a real "tailor-made" experience».
