Interview

Within my interview, I decided to question my classmate and good friend, Isha Ansari. Isha is also studying marketing with a minor in fashion design. 

Mariel: What are some of the biggest challenges you face in the business/fashion industry?

• Isha: I do not have much experience and just started, but it is difficult to network and talk to other people. I feel like sometimes the business industry can be intimidating. There is a formality, you have to look good for people. Linkedin is also a very good tool to administer. Although Mike Illitch Business School expects students to communicate and go to career fairs, not everybody can. Coming out of high school and immediately being placed into this category, it feels fast and I am being put on a lot of pressure, because I constantly have to be doing something. Within the business school, there is a bad stereotype, because the work seems easy, but it is very frustrating. We always have to be searching for something, and have all parts of our life being integrated in business. Within our identity, it Can be intimidating to find jobs, because, like me, people don't like the social aspect of business. People think it's tough socially, but it's more about how you are as a person, rather as academics. Right now I work at Platos Closet, and the challenges here are that people can make a stereotype based on you dress. For entire fashion industry. always trying to look good for other people is very important but high pressure. Dressing up for business is also very important to look presentable, but not hard. People also steal ideas from others, contributing into a phony effect of marketing. Designers also get into a creative block, which can be difficult. 

M: How do fashion and business overlap in the working world?

• I: So, my major is marketing, and my minor is in fashion. Fashion can work in any business, because business is moving a product and promoting a product. In a business, customers buy items and influence decision making. The whole point of fashion is to design clothes to make it look good and people wanting to buy it. While fashion design is actually creating the designs, marketing is the most creative major business wise. This mixture go towards creating designs to sell to people, through marketing, and what business is. Any industry can work with fashion because of design and business. Fashion marketing is promoting clothes through social media. Brand logos make brands look very good through advertising, social media, graphic design, communications. 

M: What motivates you to take part in this career?

• I: I have felt very interested in art and fashion since i was young, wanted to major in something to art. I also considered business because it has a broad career selection and is not too difficult to find jobs. I can combine my passion for marketing with fashion design. I love dressing up and designing clothes that express my style and personality. I want a career that expresses your creative side and not being put into a box, and choosing what I want to do. When found herself, I expressed herself through clothes. When we get older, we are also expected to dress better. I have also always been into drawing and painting. Fashion design does sketches, which is something she can use her artistic skills for. 

M: How is the idea of identity present in your major/workplace of fashion/business?

• I: People using fashion and business to express creativity, dressing up, and looking her best that helps. Working with fashion can help dress people up and dress in this style. Business has a little bit more rules because people are networking and looking best for jobs, cant have much of an identity. Marketing is more creative and still very follows the rules. With amount of jobs, we can have room to do what we want. With fashion design, identity is whatever clothes you make, identity shines through clothes. Business are promoting their identity, and is based on sociality and be our own person. We have to set ourselves apart. Identity is very important for fashion and business. Within my Henna Business, I feel that I can express my creativity and culture while also learning about the ideas of business itself.

M: What are your future career plans in this field?

• I: For my career, I hope to get opportunities based in New York and Chicago, or even Detroit, which is the main goal. For example, working for Carhartt or Shinola is something I am interested in. I hope to find an internship based on these companies alike as well. In my opinion, NYC is the fashion capital. However, this is scary to me because it is such a new feeling and place. It also depends on if I get married. From a person of color perspective, it is hard for me to move out from my family's house on my own. overall, my future career depends on if I want to move away, obtain a masters, and if I achieve a stable job. 

M: Thank you!