Studying fashion design, being a "fashion designer"... What is fashion? How do you become a "fashionist"? I am writing based on my experience. Most importantly, I'm being honest: The information you learned or will learn at school will not fully prepare you for the "real" fashion world.

In order to study fashion design, the following process starts before school starts: When we say drawing courses that start before the end of high school, then prepared portfolios, interviews, consultants, applications, we actually start education before we start school. When we are far from business world and even real world problems, we dream, we think that we will become great designers, maybe even famous. We can go after dreams that we are not sure about when we enter university anyway.

My story is not far from what I wrote. Even though I had the chance to experience the textile world at a very young age due to my family's job, it seems that life was not like at university at all. You ask why? Because there is so much we can never learn in a fashion design department, and I have taken it upon myself to make it clear.

WHAT'S ON, WHAT'S NOT?

Many courses that inspire fashion history, such as methodology, art, philosophy, and history, are in the fashion design curriculum of most schools. Although sewing lessons, handmade projects until the morning and end of the year fashion shows sound like fun, they actually mean serious competition, effort and of course excitement. Where is the problem, while you present your designs to the instructors and wait for approval, no one will sell you the collections you create, the harm these products can cause to the environment, the cost of the quality of the fabric you choose, the landfills, workers' rights, economic cycles, the "developing" and "undeveloped" and "undeveloped" ones we know from those textbooks. ” will not tell about the experiences of the countries, the working hours of the workers, how fast the world of fast fashion is, how the six-season collections that appeared in fashion shows were copied and therefore trying to keep up with the changing trends. While preparing for school projects, it will be one of her duties to follow big brands and fashion shows, to research with great curiosity about who has done what, and to try to stay up to date. A "sustainable" world won't come to mind because you may never be taught the importance of it - unless you're researching it personally. Although what I have written so far has not been very heartwarming, changing all this is an option, even a brand new field with a lot of things to do.

HOW DOES?

Experience, experience, experience: After education, the most important thing is experience. You may be against the world of fast fashion, but there is nothing like experience to learn in this field. In other words, try them too to speak up and defend something on purpose. You can think about how you will transform this area according to the experiences you will gain, and you can improve yourself. Experience the environmental pollution created by the fast fashion system in order to change it instead of just learning from numbers and texts. Every new conscious approach can bring a new transformation. Knowing that studying design is a field that sets you free, observe and experiment by taking steps in different directions.

One step ahead: Although creativity may seem like the key to success as a fashion entrepreneur (at least from the outside), your ability to think ahead, find solutions and observe is actually the characteristics behind this creativity. In other words, the issue of creativity is essentially making smart designs. You can start from somewhere, without wasting the materials you have, without making too much waste, or even by transforming an already existing material into another design. While making a design, you can think about the pieces of fabric, accessories and other materials that go to the trash and find smart solutions accordingly. You can even think one step ahead and design clothes and accessories that last longer based on user experience. More conscious designers mean more conscious consumers.

Face the facts: The first competition in the industry will start at school. It's up to you to turn it into a positive direction. Most likely, you will never think about the production part, as you only make the clothes you design for once. You can prepare yourself for the “real world” by researching how and under what conditions you can produce your designs and what the situation is in the real world. Learning about textile workers may help you understand how insignificant competition is before you jump into the industry.

Matter of standards: Sewing, embroidery, size charts… Bodily freedom and diversity is not a subject in most school curricula. Single and standard size designs will be requested. All students will work to the same extent. Knowing that there are different sizes, colors, and diversity in the real world can give you a chance to think in another way. You can start breaking taboos on your own at school.

After setting eco-friendly, zero-waste, conscious design and production goals, researching these issues, knowing that the fashion world is actually not far from the textile world, reading the labor behind every garment is the best graduation project you can do. Let your first goal be to get to know the world, not to be a world-famous designer.