Life Lessons From Fashion Week

Melbourne Fashion Week Lei Lady Lei Blog

It doesn't matter which fashion week you attend, Paris, New York, Melbourne or even Perth, you can gather many life lessons attending fashion week. Here are my five that I’ve learnt

Be Gracious

This is the main lesson I learnt from attending fashion weeks. Always be courteous, kind, and pleasant, to everyone. You never know who they are and whether they might become a key contact now or later in life. We are told to not judge a book by its cover, so why judge people?

2. Master Your Elevator Pitch

You introduce yourself over and over during fashion week so mastering the thirty-second elevator pitch is important. You need to be able to sell yourself, your talents, what you do and can offer without sounding obnoxious. While self-deprecation may suit other occasions, leave it at the door when it comes to selling yourself and networking at industry events.

3. Networking is Key

So that brings me to the next life lesson: networking. Use the time to meet and chat to people. Whether it's fashion week, a conference or the footy grand final, you might discover someone useful to your area of work. Again be gracious as you never know who you might be talking to.

4. If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get

This is a big one for life and career. Women, in general, are not as good asking for what they want as men are. I definitely hesitate when asking for what I want but it’s a necessity to get to where you want to go. For example at the fashion festival, rather than assuming they don't have seated tickets available for me, I asked the PR agency I had been speaking to all week and they gladly gave me front row seats to a few of the shows. I was always nice, easy going to work with and would arrive with a smile on my face so they were glad to give me a ticket and from there I shot some of my best images of the week.

5. Confidence

Style and body language helps with confidence. Wear something that makes you feel great. An outfit can really make you stand-out from the crowd. If you're in the front row, sit up straight, don't look bored - remember you are on display almost as much as the models on the runway.