I had an interesting experience that I wanted to share and get some opinions on. I think it is safe to assume that some of the members here work in the fashion industry and I also assume that a fair amount of you are over 30 years old.
I myself am well into my 30's and I am the Advertising and Marketing Manager at a web design firm. Prior to my current position, I worked in fashion retail both in sales and upper management over the years, and designed costumes for nightlife performers. My love affair with fashion has been constant since I was a teen and I am ready to circle back around to it professionally and add all my talents to the Marketing Division of a fashion brand.
For the last year I’ve taken a few continuing education classes at FIT and this Fall, I am currently taking a continuing education class at Parsons to compare the 2 schools.
Last week at the end of class, I approached my instructor and asked for her professional input on my next steps. She has worked in the industry for 30+ years including teaching. She's held positions as a Merchandiser, Buyer and Product Manager for national contemporary brands. I figured with all this experience, she would be a wealth of knowledge. The resulting conversation was a surprise to me.
I told her what I wanted to do and asked her opinion on it and her first question was. "How old are you?" (Not "What sort of experience do you have?") And she went on to say "You need to move fast because you don't have much time." When I asked her what she meant by this, she said there is ageism in the fashion industry and that I would have to compete with younger people for the same position. Then she proceeded to tell me her story of how she was laid-off time after time so that upper management could bring in a younger person and pay them less to do her job. She is 53 years old. Apparently this happened to her and to several of her peers and this is why she teaches. According to her, she makes 1/3 of what she made working for a brand.
This became a personal rant for her and I departed feeling a confused. Since then, I have come to a few conclusions.
a) Maybe I caught her on a bad day but regardless, I think she handled the conversation poorly. She forgot she was talking to a student. The conversation was not productive at all. I wasn't looking for her to sugar-coat anything, but she tried to make her issue, my issue.
b) I think that part of the problem with ageism is that people accept it. But I DO NOT accept the idea that a 22 year old is of more worth to a company then I am. There is this thing called EXPERIENCE and it is valuable and I refuse to get over looked or walked on because of how old I am. That's just pure bullshit to me.
c) I don’t select my jobs based on money. I select my jobs based on the people I am working with and what we are creating. I need to believe in our mission. I am not expecting to become Donald Trump working in Marketing. On the other hand, I want the company I work for to understand that experience is worth paying for.
Isn’t it?
I’m sad that my instructor feels discarded by the fashion industry and I am also mad at her for not fighting back.
So... the reason I decided to share this is because I would like input on the idea of ageism in the fashion industry. Have you been a victim of it? Have you witnessed it? If so, how did you handle it? If this is the first time that you’ve really given ageism in this segment of the fashion industry any thought, how do you feel about it?
Let me end this be saying I have no issues with people younger than me and I have no issue bowing out gracefully to someone who is more experienced than I am or if they’re a rocket scientist or far more clever etc... But making it about age - that is unacceptable.
I myself am well into my 30's and I am the Advertising and Marketing Manager at a web design firm. Prior to my current position, I worked in fashion retail both in sales and upper management over the years, and designed costumes for nightlife performers. My love affair with fashion has been constant since I was a teen and I am ready to circle back around to it professionally and add all my talents to the Marketing Division of a fashion brand.
For the last year I’ve taken a few continuing education classes at FIT and this Fall, I am currently taking a continuing education class at Parsons to compare the 2 schools.
Last week at the end of class, I approached my instructor and asked for her professional input on my next steps. She has worked in the industry for 30+ years including teaching. She's held positions as a Merchandiser, Buyer and Product Manager for national contemporary brands. I figured with all this experience, she would be a wealth of knowledge. The resulting conversation was a surprise to me.
I told her what I wanted to do and asked her opinion on it and her first question was. "How old are you?" (Not "What sort of experience do you have?") And she went on to say "You need to move fast because you don't have much time." When I asked her what she meant by this, she said there is ageism in the fashion industry and that I would have to compete with younger people for the same position. Then she proceeded to tell me her story of how she was laid-off time after time so that upper management could bring in a younger person and pay them less to do her job. She is 53 years old. Apparently this happened to her and to several of her peers and this is why she teaches. According to her, she makes 1/3 of what she made working for a brand.
This became a personal rant for her and I departed feeling a confused. Since then, I have come to a few conclusions.
a) Maybe I caught her on a bad day but regardless, I think she handled the conversation poorly. She forgot she was talking to a student. The conversation was not productive at all. I wasn't looking for her to sugar-coat anything, but she tried to make her issue, my issue.
b) I think that part of the problem with ageism is that people accept it. But I DO NOT accept the idea that a 22 year old is of more worth to a company then I am. There is this thing called EXPERIENCE and it is valuable and I refuse to get over looked or walked on because of how old I am. That's just pure bullshit to me.
c) I don’t select my jobs based on money. I select my jobs based on the people I am working with and what we are creating. I need to believe in our mission. I am not expecting to become Donald Trump working in Marketing. On the other hand, I want the company I work for to understand that experience is worth paying for.
Isn’t it?
I’m sad that my instructor feels discarded by the fashion industry and I am also mad at her for not fighting back.
So... the reason I decided to share this is because I would like input on the idea of ageism in the fashion industry. Have you been a victim of it? Have you witnessed it? If so, how did you handle it? If this is the first time that you’ve really given ageism in this segment of the fashion industry any thought, how do you feel about it?
Let me end this be saying I have no issues with people younger than me and I have no issue bowing out gracefully to someone who is more experienced than I am or if they’re a rocket scientist or far more clever etc... But making it about age - that is unacceptable.
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