Is a fashion degree yet another gap year?
From a very early age, we are taught that we can be anything we want. In my social circle, that meant graduating 9th grade with good grades and graduating high school with the highest GPA you possibly could. From there on, you would think that the social pressure would decline, but no. What school or university you get into is a whole different thing, and what you study there, oh, do not even get me started on that. It is an evil cycle of never feeling good enough in what you choose to do with your life, and the funny thing is, it is YOUR life.
Last September, I packed down my life and moved to Paris to study a one-year degree in Fashion Business and Digital Marketing at Istituto Marangoni. It takes one Google search to reveal that it was not cheap. I spent all my savings on that year because I wanted to invest in my education. I wanted to attend university for a part of my fashion degree, and we do not have any university degrees specializing in Fashion Business in Denmark. I do not know why, but my guess is that it might not be considered academic enough, or that it isn’t considered needed when there are so many good normal business degrees. That is a whole other talk.
When I told people that I was going to Paris, everyone asked me (EVERYONE), “What do you want to achieve from this?”, “What do you want to do after?” Well, I do not know, I might want to work in the fashion business field. What do you want to do after your normal business degree? Probably work in business, right? I almost forgot all the people who spoke of it as a “gap year.” If I wanted to take a gap year, I wouldn’t study 40–45 hours a week in another language at a university.
I considered taking a normal business degree countless times because I knew that it would be the safest option. Nobody would question me or compare my degree with other university degrees. After graduating in Paris this summer, I started a Danish program in Copenhagen called Design Technology. I would like to get my BA in Fashion Management and hopefully get a cool internship along the way.
"Is it unserious to love clothes?"
I recently listened to the Danish podcast “Fashion Forum” by Carla Christine Bruus Aagaard. She made a chapter in collaboration with journalist and debutant writer Gudrun Marie Schmidt called “Is it unserious to love clothes?” (translated: Er det useriøst at elske tøj). In the podcast, they discussed how it can be perceived as almost unserious to love clothes too much when you have a normal “adult job” and other things perceived as more professional.
It was something that hit very close to home because I never understood why. It is something that we all wear and care about to a certain extent. Something did influence you to pick that specific sweater, and that is actually very interesting. It is something that I care deeply about, and I care so much that I want to study this exact field. This is what I want to do with my life, and I find it freaking cool. Dream big, don’t be trapped in someone else’s cage. Everyone looks at the world differently, but just know that what you love is not embarrassing. Let’s stop being so nonchalant about everything. I care.
Thank you for reading my first blog post. It means everything to me.
See you next week!
