Future expectations of trainee fashion designers: Meet four students

What do tomorrow's fashion designers dream of? Four young twenty-somethings, graduates of the Bachelor of Fashion Design and Pattern Making programme at Mod'Art International Paris, share their doubts, ambitions and relationships with the professional world. Between creative passion, desires for freedom, ecological awareness and entrepreneurial aspirations, their sincere and spontaneous testimonies outline the contours of a new generation in search of meaning.

Future plans after bachelor of fashion design and pattern making

Gabin Le Roch: I'm heading towards the Digital Fashion Design course at Mod'Art. I'll also be doing a six-month internship as an image stylist at Monoprix. I think I'll be working on preparing shoots; choosing the type of model, the shots to brief the photographer on, the general atmosphere and creating mood boards.

Jade Troles: I'm looking for a work-study placement as part of the Master's degree in Art Direction and Collection Management at Mod'Art, so I'm having interviews. I like lots of different sectors: pattern making, but also styling or photography. I want to try several of them and then focus on one particular area. For example, for my work-study search, I've looked at booking agencies, styling agencies and pattern-making agencies. Lots of different things.

Léa Servo Dos Santos: I'm looking for a work-study placement. On the personal project side, I'd like to continue with my brand on social media to raise my profile. It wasn't my primary ambition, but I realised when creating my final-year collection that I really enjoyed it. Thanks to my Instagram account, I could see that it was very popular. I'd like to launch my brand on social media to continue raising my profile. Selling isn't my main objective.

Anthony Cancelmo: I'm continuing at Mod'Art, on the Master's in Digital Fashion Design.

Plans after graduation

Gabin: I'd love to work as a stylist for emerging designers. I think these are companies where you're freer to do a bit of everything. That's what drives me most in fashion: not just working in one single branch of activity, but doing several things. Ideally, I'd also like to create my own brand. I have a very particular style that I'd like to develop to sell products.

Jade: For the moment, regarding the work-study placement, I'm mainly looking at small-to-medium sized businesses. Perhaps I'll have the chance to do more things there. I haven't tried a large fashion house yet, so I might have the wrong idea.

Léa: I'd rather join a luxury house, like Rick Owens for example. It would be the holy grail if I could work with them. But I'm open to anything. I'll see what I'm offered and what it can bring to my collection.

Anthony: I wouldn't mind working for a brand or for someone, but I'd especially like to work freelance. This would allow me to change, discover new universes, adapt and do several things. It would also allow me to work from home and travel. I really want to discover new cultures. Later on, I'd also like to get involved in branches of fashion that you don't necessarily think of, like cinema, which already inspires me a lot. I want to experiment with lots of things.

Ideal role in five years

Anthony: What I love is art direction, the very beginning of the collection, when you imagine it, the search for trends, inspirations, colours, linking it all together in a mood board. Pattern making is also very important, but I don't intend to make my professional career in this branch.

Gabin: I find it hard to project myself, to have a precise idea of what I want. I go a bit where the wind takes me because I prefer not to get too many ideas, at the risk of being disappointed later. Ideally, I'd love to style artists. For example, I really like Shy'm's universe and style, and I'd love to style her one day.

Jade: I'd be more on the styling side, creating mood boards. And maybe continue pattern making on the side, selling one-off pieces. But for work, I'm thinking more about styling.

Léa: I don't see myself doing anything specific yet. I see myself in art direction, or as a stylist for artists, I'd really like that.

Concerns about finding a place in the industry

Anthony: Yes, I'm very apprehensive. At the moment, we have to find a work-study placement. Some people are also looking for internships for next year, and I know it's complicated. Few people have found their work-study placement. So I'm a little scared for the future, when I have to find a job. That's why I'd like to get involved in other branches of fashion, not just art direction or trends. I'm open to anything, so if I don't find my place somewhere, I can change.

Gabin: I think it's a difficult environment to get into, where you have to assert yourself and stand by your choices and ideas. So yes, I'm a little apprehensive about how it's going to go, but I've always had confidence in my projects, so I'm not worried. You have to stay positive in your way of thinking. If you're positive and determined, it will go well. And you have to be patient, things take time. You have to accumulate experience.

Jade: I'm a little worried in the sense that it's still a fairly closed world. We know that networking and connections play a big part, and as I find it a bit difficult to approach people, I think that could perhaps hold me back. I'm worried I won't be able to sell the work I do.

Léa: I'm not particularly worried about standing out, because by combining tattooing and fashion (editor's note: Léa developed her final-year collection around tattooing and latex), I've managed to find what I'm passionate about, and I've seen that it's popular.

Changes needed in the industry

Anthony: Internships and work-study placements are really cool, but you can quickly become disillusioned because of the behaviour of some employers. They need to be more attentive.

Gabin: I know that our generation has a totally different way of thinking about the world of work, with a mindset that says "we don't live to work, but we work to live". We want there to be a better work-life balance. Our way of thinking isn't going to please the generation before us. Each generation needs to adapt to the other and find common ground. But I think things will change.

Jade: I've recently had several negative replies to my application for a work-study placement, indicating that they prefer to give priority to people with more experience. I understand, but it's quite frustrating for those arriving in the sectors, since we don't have enough experience and at the same time it's difficult to get any. So it's not easy, especially as the aid allocated to companies to take on work-study students is decreasing.

Expectations from a future employer

Anthony: I expect a future employer to listen to their employee. During internships, I felt that we were sometimes just the "intern", and that's a shame. We're young, we don't know much, we perhaps have a utopian view of the professional world, and they take advantage of us a bit. But I also expect creative freedom. We're young, we have lots of ideas, we want to do lots of things. They should let us create a bit, even if it means going back over the ideas to adapt them. Ultimately, I expect respect.

Gabin: Recognition for the couture professions.

Jade: As far as creative freedom is concerned, I think it's more up to us to adapt to companies. But otherwise, I expect recognition, because it encourages and motivates you to work, and trust. I know that when I'm trusted, I'm able to invest myself more.

Léa: Stability and recognition, but also interest in the brand I plan to develop.

Thoughts on remuneration

Anthony: I know that if I go freelance, my income won't be the same every month, and that it will depend on my work and my requests. Salary is something I think about, especially as we see prices rising everywhere, and everything is becoming more and more expensive. My generation wants a lot of free time for leisure, and what bothers me isn't just the money, but rather the relationship between the number of hours worked and the salary. We're looking for a perfect balance so we can enjoy the money we've earned. But if we want to work less than one hundred percent, the salary will have to follow.

Gabin: I know that in pattern making and couture, we're less well paid and less recognised, whereas these are the people who should be paid the best, because there wouldn't be any clothes without them.

Jade: As I'm just starting out, I don't have any expectations yet. I want to try different sectors and see what I like. I'll see later if what I create deserves more.

Desire to create own brand

Anthony: I loved creating my final-year collection for the school. As it was my collection, I could do whatever I wanted and I had no limits. So, later on, creating my own brand appeals to me, or even a creative studio, why not graphics too, as I love typography. But I'd like to have more experience and knowledge.

Gabin: I strongly defend the LGBT queer community in my creations, because I find that our society is going backwards, and that it's important to be able to defend this community. Older generations fought so hard for our rights and freedoms, they must be preserved. So I'd like to highlight this in my brand, with great freedom of expression, an eccentric universe where we have fun and let loose, because I find that this type of brand, a little "crazy" from a creative point of view, is lacking - perhaps for reasons of profitability. Fortunately, there are designers who do it, like Jeanne Friot, Weinsanto, Pressiat.

Léa: In a few key words, my brand can be summed up as: tattoo, authentic, second skin and transparency.

Meaning of "success" in fashion today

Anthony: I think the word success has changed a lot in recent years, since my generation has been entering the world of work. I think that today, success is about fulfilment, loving what you do and no longer seeing it as work.

Gabin: I think success means bringing something good to society and the environment, whether in terms of the message you deliver or in terms of ecological responsibility.

Jade: When we talk about a brand, that we immediately see who the designer is, I think that's important. We don't always see who the designer is behind a successful brand, and that's limiting. Success also means being able to sell your creations and already having a clientele waiting for them and wanting to see the new products.

Léa: Success comes through recognition. Success on social media would already be good. In other words, making a name for yourself.