The fashion industry is one of the most sought-after careers out there, and for a good reason. The lifestyle is enviable, the rewards are lucrative, and there are endless opportunities for traveling around the world, and grow your skills and experience in your niche. Fashion design is an amazing career. There’s a line in the 2010 film The Social Network that nails the fashion industry: “Fashion never ends.” It’s 100% true and means that – as long as you’re talented and passionate – you’ll never be out of work. Here’s how budding fashion photographers can get their career off the ground.

Build an Online Following
When you’re devising your plan as a fashion guru, you need a place to put the results. Launching a website is an absolute must, as it provides unlimited space for you to showcase your best work, be that your designs, or photoshoots of your pieces. A website will enable anybody who wants to hire your services to find your work on the web and contact you directly. It’s the perfect calling card and should be backed up with social media accounts.
Regardless of the type of work you are presenting, creating a Facebook page is a must, as it is the largest social network at 2 billion members, meaning that more people have the opportunity to find your work than via any other platform. Another must-have social media platform is Instagram. There are currently 515 million posts under the Hashtag ‘Fashion’. This highlights how popular the industry is on social media, and why your work should be featured alongside the rest.

Build Your Portfolio
As many freelancers will tell you, sometimes you have to build your portfolio before you land the big clients and lucrative deals. This means you may have to do some free work for a while. If you have friends who love modeling, actors in your friend circle, or want to shoot music artists and bands, get in touch with them and offer your services to them. If you need to improve your brand, look to services such as Mike Sansone Photography for the perfect headshot. A strong, confident website aesthetic is vital for first impressions. If the people visiting your website like what they see, they’ll be coming back for more, and others who see your work will want to hire you. That’s when you can start building a following.
Head to the web and contact people and agencies to see if you can get a bit of experience, offer your services and maybe even snag an internship, and work extra hard to get an amazing experience and make the contacts you need to build your network.

Get the Best Kit You Can Afford

While you can shoot amazing quality photos on your smartphone these days, there is no substitute for getting professional kit, and if you are serious about making a career out of fashion, you need to ensure you have the best equipment you can afford in order to give your natural talent the professional boost that it requires. While agencies and potential clients may be impressed by a good portfolio, good quality goods will be what gets you the opportunity you need to make a long-term career out of this, and the difference is in the detail. You won’t regret it, and your work won’t suffer as a result.