“Applying yourself and dedicating 110% in the short term is so worth it and you will thank yourself in the long term!”

– HANNAH ALTINIER

Tell us a little about your experiences since. Where have you worked? Where do you work now?

After graduating, I had very big hunger to work in the field of fashion however I didn’t know which particular field was perfect for me. However, I knew I had to get my foot in the door some way or another here in Perth.

I begun by trailing for fashion retail positions at a few local business and luckily scored a casual position at Highs and Lows. As soon as I begun working for HAL, I was instantly warmly welcomed and soon my eyes were opened to the world of International street wear, e-commerce, marketing, styling and everything in between. I quickly worked my way up from casual to full time to store manager. After around 2 years of customer service work and learning the ins and outs of how the business worked, I gained a keen eye for the buying side of the business and was super intrigued and enthralled at this particular role.

I gathered a lot of information from those around me, and shadowed our buyer at the time and I soon learned a buyers role was not only analytical but also very creative, intuitive, communicative and extremely important for a fashion retail store.

I soon heard that HAL was going to open a women’s clothing and footwear side to the business, a level 02 above the current 01 (men’s offering), and I quickly expressed my interest in being the sole women’s buyer for this side of the business. I have now been in this women’s clothing and footwear buying role for just over a year and loving it! My job has me interacting and making relationships with people all over the globe within the industry and it has also taken me to Melbourne, and I will be going to Paris for fashion week this June.

This career path is completely genuine to my interests and my abilities and although I didn’t study ‘Buying’ my education at TAFE definitely set me up with some crucial and meaningful attributes to get me here. I would highlight these three:

1. Events: continuously organising, liaising, creatively directing and making fundraiser events / runways come to life was extremely helpful for my confidence in this role.Daily, I am using these skills to manage all of our vendors and different departments to making collection rollouts come to life as well as activations in the store to accompany these rollouts.

2. Creativity/design process: research, innovation and development was huge at TAFE and I can truly say these processes are critical in my role with backing up my decisions and creatively supporting my ideas

3. Industry connections: we were so often introduced to people within the field and I truly believe this helped me by not only personally knowing some people to gain knowledge from but also to know how to professionally communicate and create meaningful relationships

How did you get your first design job or solo exhibition?

Local industry associations!
I cold dm’d on instagram a manager of the store that I wanted to work at, and it worked! My resume helped me over the line for sure, but the personal associations is how I pay my respect to getting my job today.

What advice would you give to current Art & Design students studying at NM TAFE right now?

Keep a very open mind. Perth is limited as to what exact field you can study in - for example we don’t have a dedicated textile course / buying course / fashion e-commerce course. However if you apply yourself enough to the broader course, the skills you can learn and the assets you leave with will be enough to get your foot in the door anywhere if you are willing to try hard enough. Applying yourself and dedicating 110% in the short term is so worth it and you will thank yourself in the long term!

What can Perth and Western Australia do to support graduating diverse range of Art & Design students more?

I think modernising the conversations around what ‘fashion’ or ‘design’ means is super crucial. Fashion is so ever changing and the roles within are completely endless and ever growing!

It would be awesome to see more grad programs for fashion students within Perth be set up within local business and even initiatives with Australian Fashion Week or further international contacts.

I didn’t want to leave Perth after graduating and the thought of finding a job here was so scary since the word was that there really isn’t anything in Perth. However I can confidently say I have gained enough friends and contacts interstate and international to be able to get a job if I wanted elsewhere, it’s all about the connections and Perth is definitely not without.

What do you think are the most important qualities in an emerging designer or artist?

Again, keeping an open mind! I think creating meaningful conversations and connections is just as important. Perth is small and word of mouth is very present here, it’s important to create an ever lasting impression on others in the field and talk to as many people as possible.

Please list some awesome new developments happening right now in the Art & Design industry that you are excited by.

I think sustainability within Fashion is a huge conversation at the moment and for the foreseeable future.. I believe Secondlife Markets are spearheading this conversation and their views and steps they take are going to help shape this conversation within Perth.
Again, the scale of jobs within the fashion industry is continually and quickly growing, which is so great! I think really giving students the opportunity to explore all angles of fashion careers within the course will be crucial in them feeling set up and ready for the industry post graduation.