The New Generation of "Designers"

    When i grow up i want to be...a fashion designer. Since I was a little girl, i always loved design and fashion. I used to style my little brother in my ballet tutus and attempt to assemble wearable art out of scraps of cloth I would find. I would even steal my father's old socks to make dolls which I would also design for...fast forward a decade.

     I'm now a design student at Columbia College Chicago paying $20k a year in hopes of pursuing my fashion aspirations. Thousands of other girls (and guys) like myself dream of this fashion dream their whole lives, and would sale everything they own to make it come true.
     The reality of the media and celebrity obsessed world we live in is changing the terms of the "fashion designer" as we knew it. In the good old days, you would go to school for formal training or find some other unconventional way of teaching yourself to cut, sew, and drape clothes. Or even intern and apprentice your way towards recognition like the fashion greats before us, a la Michael Kors, Hubert Givenchy, Marc Jacobs. However, these days it seems the only prerequisite to having a fashion line is to obtain some type of stardom and have the funds to financially back the line.
    Magazines like InStyle and Elle regularly showcase new designers, whom for the most part, are just celebrities who thought to themselves "oh what the hell why not slap my name on a fashion label to earn a couple extra bucks?" Now some of these lines are credible.
    Victoria Beckham's line is completely authentic; she decided on a signature silhouette, did her research on the industry, and pours her heart into it, and it does well. Nicole Richie's jewelry line House of Harlow, which is now expanded, is equally as well received, well thought out and well conceptualized. Heidi Klum, whom is a world renowned model has two maternity lines, Lavish for Pea in a Pod and Loved for Motherhood Maternity. Both lines are relevant to her as a public figure and are also of quality. Those lines I can completely justify. Along with a select few others, Rachel Zoe for QVC, Jessica Simpson, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's line Elizabeth and James.
     Don't get me wrong, I'm all for branching out of your field and taking advantage of new opportunities. My problem lies with celebrities who use their fame to create fashion lines purely for an extra income. My problem is with the new trend that is sweeping the nation of celebs with clothing lines taking place of formers trends; celebs in rehab, celebs with dogs in the their purses, and celebs turned authors.
     Granted it is a dog eat dog world, and we most do what we need to survive, but what message does that send to aspiring designers like myself? People who in the words of Drake "want this forever"? Who logged the blood, sweat, and tears to get an actual degree? Not everyone can be a doctor, you have to go through years of training, studies, internships etc. But for some reason just anyone can start a clothing line. Shouldn't there be some kind of prerequisite or credibility to be a designer like in every other profession? Or are the standards lowered because our careers are artistically and aesthetically based?
     Should my fellow fashion students at Parson's, Pratt, FIT, and FIDM ditch our student loans and spring for MTV's next sitcom as a platform for our business? My purpose is not to criticized the capitalist ideals our country operates on, but my intentions are to bring attention to the fact the the fashion industry, namely fashion designers deserve the same judgement and work- ethic criteria that journalist, teachers, lawyers and other professions have.#imjustsaying