Fashion’s Most (and Least) In-Demand Skills

Rima Makhoul, a recent graduate from New York University, has an eclectic résumé.

An aspiring luxury brand strategist, she wants employers to know that, yes, she is proficient in Microsoft Office and completed an internship at Yoox Net-a-Porter, but also that she is adept at “working with diverse teams” and “building trust-based relationships,” and that her personal interests include Arabic, jazz music and backgammon.

Makhoul said her goal is to signal that she has a diverse skill set that would fit a variety of employers and positions. She’s casting a wide net, firing off dozens of applications for roles at fashion heavyweights like LVMH and Richemont’s Chloé, but also Colgate-Palmolive and Meta.

“It’s a time where you have to be open minded and, for me, the priority is not so much what the job is … but what are the values that place represents,” she said. “Is it somewhere that’s going to offer a lot of support in terms of professional growth, and where I could build a robust skill set?”

It turns out, many employers in the fashion industry are thinking along the same lines. Companies that once screened candidates based on “hard skills” such as machine learning and data analysis are increasingly prioritising qualities like critical thinking and interpersonal communication.

The thinking, shaped by years of hybrid work and rapid technological change, is that mastery of the latest customer relationship management software or data analytics tools can be taught. The abilities to adapt to a fast-evolving retail environment, collaborate with and mentor diverse teams, and help brands resonate in a value-driven consumer climate are far more critical.

“It’s extremely important to hire super smart people, but smart looks different today,” said Karen Harvey, founder and chief executive of business consultancy Karen Harvey Consulting Group. “It’s the ability to marry intellectual abilities with curiosity.”

Skills That Endure

Today, the most durable skills are those that enable people to embrace newness — rather than prove they can grasp any one tool or platform. Skills like communication, creativity, critical thinking, curiosity, and adaptability keep companies on the cutting edge. While technical capabilities and other hard skills remain important, an overemphasis on these things (especially at the expense of critical thinking) can saddle a person with proficiencies that can become perishable quite quickly.

“The durable skill is for any young worker to be curious, which is a mindset,” said Louise Clements, chief marketing officer at WorkJam, a software application for retail workers

In some ways, the emphasis on softer skills reflects a “return to basics” across retail, Harvey said.

An industry-wide reckoning — where digital-first companies like Farfetch and many direct-to-consumer brands face an uncertain future — is leading fashion firms to reprioritise their stores and skillsets like customer service. Meanwhile, fashion companies are learning from past haphazard investments in trendy technologies like the metaverse or cryptocurrency, which proved fruitless.

The best-in-class fashion retailers are seeking “cross-functionality,” or an ability (or past experience) to work across multiple business areas such as stores, supply chain, merchandising and ecommerce, Harvey said.

“Being somebody who’s really flexible and able to work cross functionally is something I found mentioned a lot in job descriptions,” Makhoul said.

Getting Personal

There’s a reason young job seekers like Makhoul highlight personal interests in areas like sports and the arts on their résumés: fashion companies are increasingly looking to tap into the industry’s intersection with culture.

Last summer, LVMH announced its historic sponsorship deal with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Beauty brands like Mielle and contemporary fashion brands like M.M. LaFleur have inked new deals with WNBA teams, athletes and the league itself. Meanwhile, musicians like ASAP Rocky and Cardi B have served as creative directors at major fashion brands, and Pharrell Williams’ made his legendary debut as Louis Vuitton men’s creative director last year.

“It comes down to what’s driving demand and desire among consumers — as Gen Z is going into this world, they’re no longer thinking of these brands as fashion houses,” said Rebecca Robins, a global brand advisor and author of “Five Generations at Work.” “It’s fashion, it’s art, it’s lifestyle, it’s sport — the edges of things have completely blurred.”

More traditional skills like communication are evolving, too. Fashion firms increasingly need talent who can speak “fluently” on issues like diversity and sustainability when it comes to external marketing but also in day-to-day interactions within highly-diverse workforces, Robins said.

“There’s a sense of greater responsibility among organisations to hardwire the skill sets around sustainability — especially in fashion, which continues to be one of the biggest contributors to the climate crisis,” she said.

The introduction of generative artificial intelligence that can create images and audio alongside AI tools like ChatGPT that enhance written text have also put a new premium on creativity and critical thinking, Harvey said.

“The one skill that will be durable is creativity,” she said. “ChatGPT isn’t going to give you that … Creativity is part of critical thinking. It’s part of using your mind to stretch outside your normal framework to think about how to mitigate AI where it’s not useful, and to integrate AI where it is useful.”

The Pandemic Premium

For many people, pandemic lockdowns and subsequent remote work models have spurred decline in social and interpersonal skills — such as making eye contact and attentive listening, experts say. Some talent leaders suggest the deficit is most pronounced in Gen Z talent who, for at least two years, missed out on the early workplace rituals (from happy hour to one-on-one meetings with their managers) that can set employees up for long-term success.

The result is that companies are placing a premium on capabilities like empathy, active listening and collaboration in junior and mid-level talent while also prioritising hiring and retaining leaders with strong mentorship skills — such as an ability to build relationships, teach, and shape cultural awareness, experts say.

“The smart companies are starting to figure out where they can connect the generational diversity around skills and knowledge so that people are learning with and from each other,” Robins said.

It’s been about three weeks since Makhoul became “aggressive” in her job hunt – so far she’s had one interview and another rejection from a company where her experience wasn’t a match. She’s cautiously optimistic and hopes she can find a place — and a manager — that matches her goals as much as her values, she said.

“It’s about having [a manager] who’s actually invested in you and helping you be as successful as possible,” Makhoul said. “That looks like someone who’s willing to take a little bit of time out at the end of the week, for example, to have a catch up with you and tell you what you’re doing well, and what you could work on.”