Quitting is for Winners
What does it feel like to leave the fashion job everyone wants?
Mahoro Seward is a fashion writer, editor and consultant based in London. Earlier this year, they left their senior position at a British style title, and they are now building a new career as a freelancer. In this personal testimonial, they reflect on the build-up to throwing in the towel and the dividends their decision has paid since.
‘A million girls would kill for this job!’
For months, this blunt aside from The Devil Wears Prada would loop in my mind whenever I contemplated throwing in the towel. OK, that’s a gross embellishment I’ve allowed myself for the sake of the plot, but beneath layers of hyperbole lies a germ of truth. For five years, I’d had a relatively secure, relatively senior position at a prestigious style title, and for most of that time, the job had felt like a waking dream. However, my enjoyment of the role was soon tainted by an unshakeable feeling of disaffection. On the one hand, I noted my privilege as someone with a full-time gig – at a time, no less, when our entire industry seemed (and still seems) to be circling the drain. A dull ache of dissatisfaction was a fair price to pay for a monthly paycheck and all but guaranteed seats at the shows, no? On the other hand, what was once a simmer of resentment had started to boil over – towards my employer, sure, but also towards myself for the fact that I was ‘sticking it out’ without even being able to justify why.