The Future of Fashion with Alexa Chung (Vogue Series 1)

As fashion students its pretty certain that the majority of us have either read or at least own a copy of IT by Alexa Chung which we've purchased from our local Urban Outfitters store. She was the IT girl of the noughties and is still today having an effect on the fashion industry in her own way, especially in the world of Vogue to be specific. Therefore, in this post I wanted to talk about the short online documentary 'The Future of Fashion' starring Alexa Chung who we see visit different parts of the industry, to talk to experts about what they do, how they got there and what it takes for regular students like myself, to go far in the industry. She even discusses some of the jobs in fashion that many people wouldn't think about doing but now due to the expansion of the industry and new in depth courses available which aren't necessarily fashion design, there is so many more diverse roles for aspirational fashion students to take on such as PRs, buyers, retailers, social media managers and event producers. Even fashion psychology is an area which more students are having access to which could create new potential careers for future fashionistas to delve into.

As for Chung herself, she has worked in the fashion industry since she was fifteen as a model and has experience within photo shoots, editorials, presenting and being one of Britain's biggest style icons to ever exist in the 21st century.

We see Alexa Chung, interview the likes of Christopher Kane, Paul Smith, Olivier Rousteing and students of the top fashion school Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts) who all explained what interested them in fashion. One thing that specifically stood out for me was that Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain who took on the role at the mere age of 24, had never intended to go into fashion at all. Instead, Rousteing went to Law school with the intention of working within the professions of legality one day. However, he quit in order to follow his dreams, explore his style identity within the industry and create major success for one of the leading French high end brands in the world. Although the brands maintains a vision of French aesthetic, Rousteing has added various oriental and Asian flares to the identity of the brand to reflect the nature and origin of a huge part of the brands buyers.
If Olivier carried on his studies of Law would the Kardashians have the Balmain wardrobe that they own today? My guess is probably not!

We also see Chung interview the British Fashion Council journalist Sarah Mower who is a great idol of mine as I find myself endlessly reading the articles that she writes for Vogue magazine every so often. During the conversation between Chung and Mower, Mower even confesses the unbelievable fact that the fashion industry exceeds the automotive business by far due to its worth of £28 billion in the UK. Saying that everyone needs to wear clothes don't they?

Whilst on the subject of the British Fashion Council, Mower also explains about the crucial role that the council plays in young individuals lives as it actually focuses giving these individuals the opportunity to study fashion and embrace their creativity via scholarships so that the talents of the future can be birthed into the industry without the fear of going into debt or being unable to afford their desirable education.

Upon meeting Christopher Kane, the designer explained to Chung that having a determined team behind you is the key to going far in the industry and is one that worked extremely well for Kane and his sister, Tammy who is the co-creative director and collaborator of his brand.

"It's all about having this depth of knowledge behind the scenes. Me and Tammy have all these amazing ideas but how do we get there? I know how to draw bags and handbags, but I don't know how to make them! Practically you need those amazing, key knowledgeable people that are really hard to get but once you find them they're like gold dust."   Christopher Kane

Another thing that interested me was that whilst she visited the University of Arts London, Chung briefly discussed the list of short courses within the university which individuals who are interested in fashion can study. I was actually lucky enough to study one of these courses for ten weeks during my gap year which covered the area of brand management. Considering I had just came from A Level subjects, this course definitely opened my eyes up to attributes in the industry which I was not aware of and provided me with knowledge to compliment my current study of Fashion Communication and Promotion at Nottingham Trent. Therefore, if your looking at advancing your already knowledge of the fashion industry or wanting to start somewhere, I would definitely recommend enrolling yourself onto one of these courses as it helped me so much.