If you’re a fashion student with an interest in learning more about the business side of the industry, chances are that you’ll be trying to arrange an internship. As with all types of unpaid work experience, this involves trekking to an office, shop or warehouse to spend a couple of weeks doing whatever work they can find for you that doesn’t require loads of training, and you have to just hope that you’ll have got some useful knowledge out of it by the end. Well, times have changed, my friend. Independent boutique brands Kiss Me Deadly and Paolita have come to the rescue with a series of seminars that are billed as “practical steps from people who’ve been there and done that!”
These seminars – aimed at students – aim to improve your overall fashion industry knowledge, will make a great addition to your CV and are also a good grounding in issues relevant to starting your own brand. Seminars will be held from 6.30pm until 8.00pm the 3rd Monday of every month at the Paolita and Kiss Me Deadly boutique in Marylebone, London. They are open to all and each seminar is independent so you can attend whichever ones take your fancy. Each seminar costs £15 and you must buy a ticket in advance. The subjects of the seminars are as follows:
- 16th July – Statistics. Basic statistical ideas that help you work out sizing distributions, demographics, and making marketing people cry!
- 20th August – Public relations. What do we mean by PR, why is it important, how do you initiate and cultivate communication with the press?
- 17th September – Brands. Why are brands important? What makes something a brand? How do you go about setting up, developing and protecting a brand?
- 15th October – Sales. Even with the best design skills, without some sales technique, it will never be something you can make a living from!
- 19th November – Social media. With print figures falling, social media offers a different way to find publicity and customers. So what social media can you use, and how?
- 17th December – Customer relations. Finding customers, keeping them, and handling any hiccups along the way.
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