Cosmo Careers Fashion Masterclass - Manchester

The second Cosmo Careers Fashion Masterclass events took us to the University of Manchester, with a new panel of fashion experts to share their industry insight and tips.

Meet the Fashion panel
Rio Maddison – Designer at Missguided
While studying a Fashion Design degree at Northumbria University, Rio secured a 3 month placement working as part of the design team before moving to London to work as a CAD Assistant Designer for Burberry for two years. She has now worked as Womenswear Fashion designer the past 12 months.

Emma Pitt – Fashion Buyer for Morgan Clare
While studying at the University of Manchester, Emma was also able to gain experience through a weekend job, working at a local luxury boutique where she was able to work her way up from Denim Buyer to Head Buyer. She is now a full-time Fashion Buyer for Morgan Clare where she has been given the opportunity to travel all around the world.

Laura Puddy – Former Cosmo Fashion Stylist and columnist
Laura previously studied sociology at university and explained despite not being related to fashion, her time at university gave her other valuable skills, including; time management, organisation and team work. She moved to London with her boyfriend and applied for a 2 week unpaid internship with Cosmopolitan magazine and from that was offered a 1 year placement! She currently has her own CatwalktoCurvy Column as well as working as a freelance journalist.

Read Laura’s lastest column - CatwalktoCurvy

Katie Curran – Head of PR at Boohoo.com
Prior to working for Boohoo, Katie gained experience working in as Womenswear PR manager for ASOS. She also gained experience working within Fashion Design while studying at university however, decided that Fashion PR was more for her. During the event Katie explained how important it is to communicate and networking with people - and is surprised at how reluctant people are to pick up the phone to have a conversation.

Niki Proctor – Head of PR at Gorgeous Couture
Instead of attending university, Niki gained experience working at JD Williams and the Manchester Fashion Network before co-founding Gorgeous Couture. She now runs he own PR company and spends half her time in Manchester and the other in Cyrus (Personally, I am very jealous!)

“How important is it to go to London?”
Laura Puddy - freelance journalist, explained for a career in magazines the hub of the media world is in London and that she wouldn’t have been able to get half of the opportunities without moving to the capital. “It’s tough. It takes a lot out of you but is a great place to get started. If you can survive in London, you can survive anywhere” agreed Katie - Head of PR at Boohoo.
Missguided Designer Rio mirrored this by talking about her experiences at Burberry and how it helped to develop her career.

“What has been one of the best parts of your career so far?”
"I've seen all of One Direction in their boxer shorts!!" Laura excitedly explained that she’d been luckily enough to meet the boys while interning as a stylist on their series of X Factor. “I also love making a difference through my column by boosting women's confidence".
Fashion Buyer Emma said, "As a buyer the best thing is travel, to Paris, Milan and attending clothes shows” and Niki explained it is a mixture of everything - “Helping other people, working with celebrities, travelling, but the main thing is doing something you love every single day. It doesn't even feel like work.”

Advice
“You have to put your heart into it” Niki explained, “The fashion industry will eat you up and spit you out if your heart isn't in it. At the same time don’t be afraid to surround yourself by brilliant people and celebrate your successes”. Laura agreed, "It's not going to be handed to you on a plate. You have to work hard and if someone gives you a task, no matter how big or small, always do it to your best ability".
Emma said, "Teat people how you'd like to be treated” and explained how their can be a lot of people who think they know everything, who don’t like to be told what to do, but the industry is so small and everyone knows everyone so chances are you may have to work with them again." While Rio inspired the audience by saying "If you really believe in something just go for it. And believe in yourself".
"You don't have to have a degree. You can get your foot in the door through experience" Louise Court, Cosmopolitan Editor added, "If you've not studied fashion, you need evidence to show you're passionate, by blogging, or designing clothes"