What today's fashion journalists need to know

9 Nov 2021

Like most industries, the smartphone has disrupted the fashion world and editorial shoots that used to be seen exclusively on the pages of a glossy magazine are now too on our personalised screens.

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Whether we’re scrolling through social media or following a fashion influencer’s YouTube channel, we are consuming fashion media in an entirely different way. We’ve moved from the big screen to the small and today’s fashion journalist needs to know how to showcase the latest season’s styles through an Instagram Story.

So says Nande Sulelo, head of Stadio School of Fashion’s media department that offers the very latest in “fashion media” training through its Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Fashion with specialisation in Fashion Media.

“Today’s fashion journalist is no longer pigeon-holed into working for a magazine or brand, they have a vast array of options available to them, thanks to the explosion of digital media. This could mean representing a brand’s label online by becoming their social media manager, or even starting their own fashion platform, thus becoming an influencer themselves who curates their own stories,” says Sulelo. “So even though our media may have changed, the world of fashion remains as relevant today as it did at the height of the magazine era and is still a very exciting career choice.”

Being up to date with current trends

It could be said that fashion is the purest sense of relevance and among the most adaptable industries; it is the epitome of being current and captures the moment’s Zeitgeist. Fashion is news, it is constantly changing and is an embodiment of our times. From the 1800s, when fashion was reserved for the select few, to the current day when we are now wearing tech – it is never static. Fashion journalists must thus evolve and constantly reinvent themselves to make it in the fast-paced and energised fashion media world, believes Sulelo.

It is important then to choose an institution that will best position the fashion journalists-to-be for the realistic world of work. “A writer who can take a sterling photograph can hold the audience of a blog while a fashion reporter who can apply makeup and edit visual content will always have a long list of brands waiting to collaborate. In fact, collaboration is at the heart of everything that the fashion journalist does. It requires different skillsets and is why our degrees train students to be fashion reporters, stylists, photographers, filmmakers, fashion marketers and makeup artists all in one curriculum,” says Sulelo.