If you want to work in the fashion industry, it's important to know which career path to choose, depending on your passions and the level of training you're looking for.
Choosing the right course of study to work in fashion right from high school
Specialized fashion vocational courses
At the end of ninth grade, you can choose to specialize in clothing and accessories design.
The BEP and CAP métiers de la mode allow you to work in textile product design. You can specialize in a particular field, such as millinery, leather goods and ready-to-wear.
Accessible after the third year of secondary school or after a CAP in fashion, the bac pro in fashion offers opportunities in the manufacture of textile products and in the monitoring of large-scale production runs.
General streams
The STI bac specializing in applied arts is an ideal course of study if you're interested in art applications and clothing design.
If you're looking for a more general education to help you think about your future career, you can opt for the literary stream, which is very often represented in higher education in marketing, communications and journalism.
The S stream is popular for technical subjects, but it also opens up the majority of career paths.
ES, L and S students take an introductory course in fashion and applied arts to prepare for fashion studies.
Higher education courses
BTS
This course lasts two years. You can opt for a BTS in fashion, textile and environmental design to work as a stylist or researcher of colors, materials and patterns. For example, the BTS innovation textile trains textile production technicians, and the BTS métiers de la mode enables you to become a leatherworker or pattern maker.
Professional degrees specializing in the fashion industry
If you're naturally self-reliant and organized, then you can turn to a Licence pro design de mode or métiers de la mode. The University offers a Licence Pro in fashion that leads to a variety of professions such as product manager, visual merchandiser, boutique assistant, stylist, designer...
In general, universities don't offer much in the way of fashion training, but a number of courses train students for positions in marketing, communications and sometimes design.
Business, art, journalism and fashion schools to work in fashion
After the first two years of "core curriculum", business and communications schools offer specializations from the third or fourth year onwards, leading to careers in the fashion world, such as product marketing manager.
You can also make a creative prep school to take competitive entrance exams and enter art schools offering fashion specializations.
Like ENSAD, which offers a course in textile and material design, or clothing design. The Beaux-Arts can also train you in textile design with a more artistic, "plastic" approach.
By attending a journalism school, you can enter the world of fashion by becoming a fashion journalist, community managereditorial director of a fashion magazine...
Ideal for becoming a fashion photographer, many schools offer photo courses. You'll also find schools specializing in photography, which offer both technical and artistic training, much appreciated in the fashion industry.
Fashion school is still the must-have way to enter the fashion world.
ISAL Paris offers a Fashion, Luxury and Digital Marketing course. You can earn a Bachelor's degree in Fashion and Digital Marketing, followed by an MBA in Fashion and Purchasing to succeed in this field.
ISAL Paris gives you the opportunity to develop your professional network and launch a successful career. It's the perfect way to work in fashion!
Do you dream of working in fashion? Find out with our quiz which fashion profession is right for you. I also invite you to consult our Bachelor in Fashion and Digital Marketing to find out more.
