Big or small house – where should I start my career in fashion?

Choice might seem like a luxury when hitting the fashion job market, but knowing what you want will never hurt.

By Darya Badiei

So, you’ve just graduated. The deadlines are over, the final crits are done, and for the first time, there are no briefs to follow. Just one question left: What now?

If you want to start your own brand, you already know it’s a bold, expectedly tough route, but one with its own kind of clarity. However, if you’re looking to join another company, the question is: do you go big or go small? Do you try to land a spot at a major fashion brand with a glossy name and big teams? Or do you join a small independent brand with fewer resources, but more responsibilities from day one?

Fashion’s biggest names didn’t all take the same first steps. Jonathan Anderson, for example, started his career in fashion by working at Brown Thomas, a department store in Ireland, then moved into merchandising at Prada before launching JW Anderson. He spent his early years, in his own words, “saying yes to everything” to take the top jobs at Loewe and now Dior.

McQueen apprenticed as a tailor at Savile Row’s Anderson & Sheppard and Gieves & Hawkes before working for Romeo Gigli in Milan. He returned to London to study at Central Saint Martins, where his 1992 MA collection was famously bought by Isabella Blow, a moment that led to the launch of his own label.

Matthieu Blazy’s journey, on the other hand, began with internships at Balenciaga and John Galliano before being hired by Raf Simons after graduating from La Cambre in Brussels. He went on to design at Maison Martin Margiela, Céline, Calvin Klein, and Bottega Veneta, before becoming the Artistic Director of Chanel in 2025.

So, there’s no single ‘right’ way to start. But in an industry that’s more competitive than ever, your first step still counts. To get first-hand insight into the different ways in, we spoke to three designers at different stages of their careers: Julia Hall, Design Director of RTW at Alexander McQueen; Solange Ting, Designer at Ahluwalia; and Nayia Katsis, Fashion Design Assistant at Di Petsa.