High Tea with the Condé Nast College Alumna, Scarlett Baker

Scarlett Baker recently graduated from MA Fashion Media Practice – Fashion Journalism pathway at Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design.

What awakened your passion for fashion writing?

I’ve found that I’ve always been able to articulate myself best through the language of fashion, as I migrate towards words and their cultural value. I knew that I wanted to go into a career in fashion to learn how to expand and mould my authorial voice.

Why have you chosen to study at Condé Nast College?

The course I took is tailored to the individual. Within the College, there is a lot of freedom to be expressive and expand on your most niche interests.

Is it very different experience to be a student at a large university, compared to the College, where the atmosphere is more intimate?

Compared to my undergraduate studies in English Literature, I had much more space to be expressive and lead with my own ideas, which resulted in the curation of work that I genuinely cared for.

How would you compare this in relation to the student life?

The College has this collective feeling. It’s a small environment and we’re all heading into the same industry, so we established friendships that weren’t built out of competitiveness, but out of support. Everyone had a different voice and a different background in what we had studied before, yet somehow we all fit together as this unit of interdisciplinary ideas.

Do you have any memorable experiences that you went through while being a student?

One of the best memories was having really independent tutorials with industry speakers that Johannes, my tutor, brought to our classes. These would be editors of publications with years of experience. Particularly the support of Marcus Agerman Ross and Dr. Kate Nelson Best helped immensely, offering critique while helping us to monitor the scope of our ideas.

We would pitch our final project ideas to them, and they watched our ideas evolve and materialize from a simple idea to a finished product.

How did you secure your placement and did the College help you securing the place?

The support to secure placements has been invaluable. I was able to obtain two during my studies; one at Condé Nast International and my current experience at the LOVE magazine. At CNI, I worked on the editorial operations team, overseeing assets across publications and montoring the database. At LOVE I work as digital intern, producing content for the website. Both of these are so different, but they have allowed me to explore alternative parts of my creative personality.

Was there a challenging experience that pushed you outside of your comfort zone?

For one of our projects, I had to make a portfolio where we had to mock content for different publications. I chose AnotherMag, The Telegraph, and the Business of Fashion so clearly completely different tones throughout. Having to alternate the intent of my voice was difficult at times but I had to just let myself go. I had to maintain the essence of my voice, but not be afraid to step outside of my comfort zone and try a challenging format.

How was the career support at the College?

The career support is the rock of the College, extending their guidance to us throughout our professional endeavours, pre and post-graduation. We built relationships with the tutors who wanted to see us flourish and succeed in our careers and this is what is so profound about the College – it’s like a nurturing unit within the industry.

What is the one skill or piece of advice you have been given that you use at work?

There are two things that I learnt that stuck with me from my time in the College. The first, a saying coined by my tutor Johannes Reponen: ‘You are not Beyoncé, you are Destiny’s Child’, meaning you have your own individual talent but you have to utilise the support of those around you to reach the end goal and to learn from the critique and collaboration of others.

The second advice he gave me is when something isn’t working, come back in the morning with a fresh outlook. He taught me to trust my own eye, to be risky but to be firm in the establishment of my aesthetic and my voice.

What are you most excited about in your current job?

Seeing my name on the LOVE magazine’s website! I’ve written about 20 articles and still every time I get really excited to see my name on the website. It’s a bit of a “pinch me” moment.

What are you plans after this internship?

I always knew I wanted to write, and I have really pushed my analytical voice throughout the course. But I think next, I want to do something a little more editorial that requires me to travel. I want to always write but I want to get involved with shoots and be a part of the creative direction. But the main goal is articles in print, because then I’m there forever!

What do you think when I say Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design?

Adventure
Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design provides students with a world-class fashion education in the heart of London. The College combines academic excellence with unrivalled links to the fashion and media industry Find out more about studying at Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design

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