The first thing that comes to people’s minds when they hear the words “fashion industry” is modeling. One thing that people tend to forget about when it comes to models is that those models didn’t get as glamorous as they all by themselves… most models have a whole team behind them that do their makeup, style them, and do their hair. Another thing that people don’t realize is that the people behind the scenes of the fashion industry have very lucrative businesses of their own.

Some of the stylists to the hottest celebrities have their own product lines and some celebrities have their own product lines as well. Whether it’s hair products or makeup products, a lot of these stylists wouldn’t be in the positions that they’re in today if it weren’t for them starting their own business. If you have a love for the fashion industry but have more of an interest in the behind the scenes action, there are a multitude of career avenues you can go down to get your dream career off the ground.

Getting Started

The fashion industry is a cut-throat industry, first and foremost so in order to make it to the big leagues, you really need to stand out. So, being that today’s world is digitalized, what’s the best way to get your name and product “out there?” A website.

You ever notice how when you go to different businesses and check out their business card, you see a link to their business page? Well, that’s what you’ll need in order for people to see your products and services, whether you have a physical store or not. People today prefer to shop online now just for the ease of comfort in it (not having to leave their home).

The process of getting started isn’t hard either, regardless of which area of the fashion industry you decide to go in. You first want to choose a domain name and e-commerce platform to get your website started on. Then once you have your website laid out and designed how you want it, it will then be time for you to add content to your site. Your content includes things like:

• Product Pages and Photos
• FAQ’s
• Contact Page
• Reviews Section
• Check Out Page “shopping cart”

Now that you know what it takes to get your business up and running, let’s take a closer look into the different careers of the fashion industry that have put celebrity stylists on the map!

Hair Stylists

How many times have you seen celebrities on TV at different award shows and music videos and just imagine what it took for their hair stylist landed that dream job? Well, a lot of them, of course, got their start from posting pictures on their business websites and also by taking full advantage of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

One way that people make their decision on the quality of work you do is based on before and after pictures. People like to see what a person’s hair looked like before you styled it and then the transformation after. It established a certain level of trust in the stylist even though they haven’t even been styled by that stylist… it sparks a curiosity in them to see what kind of work you could do with their hair.

Makeup Artists

With makeup artists, some of the same logic applies as far as your website. You definitely want to post before and after pictures to show your blending techniques and abilities to choose the right foundations to match different skin tones and skin textures. As a makeup artist, if you want to expand your clientele, you definitely want to be able to showcase your capabilities to work on multiple palettes.

You don’t want to be specific to a certain skin tone. There are celebrity stylists who have worked on skin tones similar to Christina Ricci as well as skin tones similar to Lupita Nyongo. You need to be knowledgable about the various undertones and skin types as well. If you want to be a multifaceted makeup artist, the last thing you want is to be type-cast as a makeup artist who only works on certain types of clients or clients with a specific look.

Fashion Designers

If you’re a fashion designer, imagine the places you can go with your unique designs and ideas. Get your own fashion line built up and have friends and family be your model so that you can take pictures for content for your website. Just think about it, every great idea, design, or product that we know and love today all had to get their start somewhere.

To get your clothing line off the ground, reach out to some of your local stores and boutiques and see how much they would charge you to sell some of your items in their store. At that point, you can hand them one of your business cards with your contact information, including the link to your business website. They’ll be able to look at your work, see it on models, and make the determination of whether or not it would be a good fit for their store.

Personal Stylist

As a personal stylist, you don’t necessarily need to have the precise talent of a seamstress but you do need to have an eye for fashion. Some of the most fashionable celebs we know and love who’s fashion sense is out of this world… they didn’t even pick out their outfit… their personal stylist did. It very common for celebs to have personal stylists but it’s also pretty common for everyday people to have stylists as well.

For those busy corporates who don’t have time to go to the mall or just don’t have a sense of personal style, they sometimes need help picking out what to wear. As a personal stylist, it’s your job to really get to know your clients, understand their likes and dislikes, and magically know what to buy to style them to their personal liking.

On your website, you can have a look book for potential clients to look through and see if any of the styles you’ve done sparks their interest.