Fashion merchandising career in San Jose? (Los Angeles, Orland: job openings, buying, school)

[californiadreamer14]

Would San Jose be a bad place to start a career in fashion merchandising? I've always thought of california as the place to be in the fashion industry besides new york but im not sure...

[mir86]

depends what you wanna do. A lot of big name brands have their corporate offices in the area, but they're not in San Jose, so you may need to relocate for jobs.

Check with the community colleges and see if they have a fashion merchandising program. Its waaaay cheaper than FIDM and even though you won't get as much benefits as a student from doing that major in a junior college compared to a trade school, as long as you look for internships and work in the right entry level jobs, you'll be fine. Trust me on this, I went to FIDM LA and I learned the hard way.

What would you like to do? the best way to start is by working retail and from there branching out into other avenues like visual merchandiser/management/corporate level/buyer, etc. You can even get into the industry with a communication or Public relations degree, but it would be more the events and marketing side of things. But this way, at least you have a BA degree and can pursue similar things if the fashion industry becomes unstable, like it is now.

[mrzod]

i wouldn't say fashion is a strong point here in SJ: just look at what people wear. Most are in jeans and a tee ... consider LA? California is HUGE (home to over 30 mil people) and there are niches just like everywhere else. Don't buy into the TV drama..

[californiadreamer14]

Thanks guys, your advice was really helpful.
I could relocate to LA if thats a better place?
What big name brands have their corporate offices in the area?

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by californiadreamer14

Thanks guys, your advice was really helpful.
I could relocate to LA if thats a better place?
What big name brands have their corporate offices in the area?

lots of big name companies do not have corporate offices in California period. If I were you I would google all the designer companies you might be thinking of and see where they are headquartered. When you make this move, will you have several thousand $$ to hold you over until you can get a job? Remember the economy sucks and you are only one of thousands that woud love to break into the fashion industry.
Certainly Los Angeles is a better place to look than San Jose.
Nita

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Within the overall metro (meaning, the Greater Bay Area) SF proper is actually reasonably happening fashion wise. There are two extremes - Gap and Levis at the mass end of the spectrum and a myriad of mom and pops at the other end. SF Academy of Art may be something to check out as a way to get some creds while making contacts. Might want to repost your inquiry in the SF forum, this one is much lower traffic (SJ is somewhat of an edge city, albeit one with a higher population than the central "old" city!)

[mir86]

The Gap has headquarters in S.F. (not everyones fave store, but hey a start is a start!), I believe Macy's West has their regional headquarters in S.F. as well.

American apparel, Forever 21 are headquartered in Los Angeles, but a lot of big name retailers are headquartered in Europe, but you'll know based on the names if its American or not. H&M for example is Swedish. I think Bebe is also headquartered in Los Angeles but I could be wrong. Most Amerian retailers though are headquartered in random places, like Express is in Colombus, OH, American Eagle is in Pennsylvania, Everything but Water is in Orlando, FL., Nordstroms is in Seattle, etc..but you can also find lots of headquarters in New York city. Of course, just like everyone said, if you go to any retailers website, you can find their headquarters and even their job openings.

If you're gonna be in San Jose, Macy's does an internship program in management or buying, but you have to be in school for Merchandise marketing first. I believe their program is in the summer for about 10 weeks. I wanted to do that program myself, but then decided I don't want to work in management or buying..but I think they may also have a visual merchandising internship..just log onto their website and click on "careers' and it should have an internship section. Good luck!

Feel free to message me if you have questions! I used to be a Merchandise marketing major at FIDM so I may be able to answer a lot of your questions!

[batransplant]

You need to be in LA or NY for fashion. San Jose is for nerdy engineers who care nothing about fashion.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Again, SF is not that bad. SJ and SF are both part of the continuous conurbation called "The SF Bay Area."

Repeating advice to the OP, also post this in the SF forum.

The SF forum is the main Bay Area forum, this one is just throwing a bone to the SJ separatists who want to pretend they are not part of the Bay Area, even though satellite imagery says otherwise.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by californiadreamer14

Would San Jose be a bad place to start a career in fashion merchandising? I've always thought of california as the place to be in the fashion industry besides new york but im not sure...

LA or NY. That's it.