Quitting my job to work in fashion

fredfred: lots of good info here.

I have a mediocre contact at Gilt, and a couple small designer friends that dont make any money. I did PR for about 1 year after college. Could I assume that 1 year experience and a rockstar reference from my old boss would get me in the door in an entry level position? I'd be living in NYC, so I could probably scrape by on $45k, maybe $40k - is that fairly typical of the salaries for a entry level fashion PR job?

Also, no I dont have money saved. I'd need to find something what was salary, or at least a paid internship where i can bartend nights.

Originally Posted by WoodyStylee

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fredfred: lots of good info here.

I have a mediocre contact at Gilt, and a couple small designer friends that dont make any money. I did PR for about 1 year after college. Could I assume that 1 year experience and a rockstar reference from my old boss would get me in the door in an entry level position? I'd be living in NYC, so I could probably scrape by on $45k, maybe $40k - is that fairly typical of the salaries for a entry level fashion PR job?

Also, no I dont have money saved. I'd need to find something what was salary, or at least a paid internship where i can bartend nights.


I don't think you'll get that

Since I'm trying to do the same thing, it's ALL about connections. I'm currently working retail here in NYC and while the money, especially with season starting makes for a passable living, getting from the sales floor (even with 2 degrees, buying / planning experience, excel / database expertise and ) is very hard... to say nothing of the fact that you have no retail experience or experience with clothing.

The amount of morons that working in buying and planning where I work is un-*******-believable. Sr. Assistant shoe buyers that don't know what a Goodyear welt is. Assistant and associate clothing buyers that don't know what a curtained waistband is, etc.. and they don't understand Excel, to say nothing of basic algebra. They aren't even able to pair looks together intradepartmental, to say nothing of cross-departemental. But, they knew someone and got the job.

And as aforementioned, people will lie, cheat and steal to screw you, so you better be good at escalation, but hopefully if you have intelligence that should help you outmaneuver what comes at you.

Originally Posted by Da Luis Vuitton Don

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more importantly: it took you this long to come out of the closet

This would be much funnier if we were all 15 and semi-marsupialed. Except we're not.

Originally Posted by Flambeur

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This would be much funnier if we were all 15 and semi-marsupialed. Except we're not.

This.

Plus, the poaster's name is 'Da Luis Vuitton Don'

Originally Posted by Flambeur

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This would be much funnier if we were all 15 and semi-marsupialed. Except we're not.

replying to my remark was a gay test, congratz bro!

Originally Posted by imageWIS

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This.

Plus, the poaster's name is 'Da Luis Vuitton Don'

that statement shows how much you pay attention to obvious things around you!no my name has no affiliation with the designer of LV

Originally Posted by Da Luis Vuitton Don

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that statement shows how much you pay attention to obvious things around you!no my name has no affiliation with the designer of LV

Just chose the name based on lyrics of one of the most popular "closet cases" in entertainment... not that it matters though...

Back to the OP...

Quitting your job and moving to NYC without savings is...interesting...

Originally Posted by CouttsClient

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Back to the OP...

Quitting your job and moving to NYC without savings is...interesting...

no, its dumb

You're passionate about fashion? I would give you the same advice I gave to my daughter who is passionate about music. Get a job that allows you the financial freedom to play music for fun.

She's earning a comfortable living as a RN and still enjoys her music as a hobby while her music friends struggle and have a love/hate relationship with their passion. And going to NYC with these nebulous plans and no money is naive to put it kindly. Stick to business and go shopping or something fashion related as a hobby.

Originally Posted by Bellum

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You're passionate about fashion? I would give you the same advice I gave to my daughter who is passionate about music. Get a job that allows you the financial freedom to play music for fun.

She's earning a comfortable living as a RN and still enjoys her music as a hobby while her music friends struggle and have a love/hate relationship with their passion. And going to NYC with these nebulous plans and no money is naive to put it kindly. Stick to business and go shopping or something fashion related as a hobby.
I can't fully support this... there many incredible artists who wouldn't be contributing to society at large if they didn't take chances... HOWEVER...the OP doesn't need to make it more difficult than it needs to be. Not sure why you can't set a goal of setting aside enough money to go without salary in NYC for 1 year and THEN pursue your dream. Fashion doesn't have an age limit

I don't know about actually getting a job at a "fashion PR firm".

I do know that large PR firms charge about $10,000/month as a retainer.

SO... if you get 8 clients at the paltry sum of $500/month, you'll be grossing $48K/year. A small business would see $500/month as the cost of hiring a specialty employee.. per month.. well in NYC anybody with knowledge costs $14/hr. You have special knowledge, so you are worth more than that. $20/hr... for the $500/month they'd expect 20+ hrs of work. You'll be giving them that value, but you can leverage what you do for one client for another client, so you don't have to do 20 hours of work for them each month.

What they'll really expect is enough SALES resulting from your PR to cover your costs. If you are generating PR and they cover their costs (or get close, as they'll expect repeat sales) they will be happy.

It's as simple as that.

You could throw in a monthly "review session" with them where you hand them a report that shows all the mentions you've gotten on blogs, twitters, what not. Stuff they *could* do themselves but probably aren't.

The point is to make yourself value-able to them. That is - you give them more value than they are paying for. That's what will make them happy.

I figure anybody who has the guts to move to NYC without a job lined up is either:

- An idiot who'll be run out of town out of money within a year OR
- Somebody who is confident enough to make what I'm talking about work

My friend just got a job at Gilt. Then again she is like a brilliant ex-consultant taking a 200% pay cut to do it. She is amazing, and she barely got in the door.

Good luck...

Originally Posted by fredfred

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I don't know about actually getting a job at a "fashion PR firm".

I do know that large PR firms charge about $10,000/month as a retainer.

SO... if you get 8 clients at the paltry sum of $500/month, you'll be grossing $48K/year. A small business would see $500/month as the cost of hiring a specialty employee.. per month.. well in NYC anybody with knowledge costs $14/hr. You have special knowledge, so you are worth more than that. $20/hr... for the $500/month they'd expect 20+ hrs of work. You'll be giving them that value, but you can leverage what you do for one client for another client, so you don't have to do 20 hours of work for them each month.

What they'll really expect is enough SALES resulting from your PR to cover your costs. If you are generating PR and they cover their costs (or get close, as they'll expect repeat sales) they will be happy.

It's as simple as that.

You could throw in a monthly "review session" with them where you hand them a report that shows all the mentions you've gotten on blogs, twitters, what not. Stuff they *could* do themselves but probably aren't.

The point is to make yourself value-able to them. That is - you give them more value than they are paying for. That's what will make them happy.

I figure anybody who has the guts to move to NYC without a job lined up is either:

- An idiot who'll be run out of town out of money within a year OR
- Somebody who is confident enough to make what I'm talking about work
Every business I've ever started I did with less than $1000... I lived with friends until I got the first off the ground... You have to be kind of a nut but being a talented nut helps