You hit it spot on the head regarding pay vs. creative roles. I saw this happen as well- I paid for college myself.t The companies that people really want to work for paid so low that I couldn't afford to work there. The fashion industry is NOT glamorous. It's packaged as glamour but the work is hard, dirty, long hours, competitive, relatively low pay for the cost of living in the areas the industry are most located. I can't tell you how many friends in the industry gave up after 5 years because they grew to hate it. I started my career in technical design because the pay was amazing for entry level role but I hated working at that place because of the company culture. I have learned over time that sometimes the money is less important than my overall happiness and fit with the company. I love this content you are sharing. It's spot on for what the up and coming industry members need to know I wish something like this was around when I was starting out. Things might have been much different!
I prefer to NOT refer to myself a fashion designer because there is nothing fashionable about what I do. . . I prefer to call myself an Apparel Designer or Technical Apparel Engineer. I even refer to the industry as the Apparel Industry. That is how I make the distinction between the two Worlds.
