General networking often focuses on reaching out to those in your shared field. However, the fashion industry has some minor differences! It is less about “showing off” your skills and more about sharing your passion for your work in the fashion industry. Although BYU-Idaho is far enough distance from influential fashion hubs like New York or Los Angeles, you can still become “in the know” and boost your career through online and local networking!
Online Industry Resources
Before you start building your network with professionals in your field, you need to know what the industry is talking about. These websites provide fashion news, trends, and current events:
- Fashion United: This website posts articles on general news in the fashion industry. Examples include up-to-date trends, news, jobs, events, and data in all things fashion!
- Glam Observer: This website is specifically for students to learn how to get jobs in the fashion industry! Examples include online courses, events, podcasts, and blog articles!
- Vogue Business: This website is great for understanding the corporate and technological side of fashion. Their newsletters are excellent for finding “talking points” for networking!
Online Networking Platforms
Along with fashion news, here are some networking platforms you can use to join societies and connect with alumni:
- LinkedIn (Groups & Alumnus Tools): Use the “Alumni” feature on the BYU-Idaho LinkedIn page to find former students working in retail, design, or marketing.
- Fashion Group International (FGI): This website is a global non-profit organization based in New York! You can join this group to learn from industry leaders in fashion, beauty, retail, and lifestyle in student-focused events and webinars.
- StyleCareers.com: This website is a search engine tool to help you find jobs, internships, stores, and freelance work in the fashion industry! You can also create a profile and sign up to their email list to see updated jobs and career fairs in apparel, accessories, beauty, and fashion!
Networking at BYU-Idaho
BYU-Idaho has many events, showcases, and societies to give you the opportunity to expand your network while finishing your degree. You will meet and work with other students, professionals, and employers!
- Apparel Design Society: This is the primary campus organization for your major. You can read this article “The heart of apparel design” from The Scroll newspaper about how joining The Apparel Design Society will help you build your portfolio. They host events like fashion shows (like the recent “Roll out the Red” and “Evening on the Bayou” events). They have also brought in industry guest speakers!
- The Entrepreneur Society (Innovator’s Society): As an apparel entrepreneurship major, this society connects you with business-minded peers who can help you understand the business side of fashion!
- BYUI Connect & CES Network: You can use this website from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to find mentors specifically in the fashion and retail space!
Strategies for Online Networking
As an entrepreneurship major, you most likely won’t have enough time to travel to New York or Los Angeles during your studies. Instead, here are some tips on how to build your network online as a student attending BYU-Idaho:
- Creative Projects: Instead of just asking for a job, create an online portfolio for professionals to follow. For example, you could create a TikTok series analyzing trends or create a video series documenting the process of a current sewing project. Building a following will boost your online network as you get more followers and attention from viewers!
- Quick Interviews: Did you know you can reach out to employers on LinkedIn without applying for a job? Conducting quick interviews can help you meet professionals in the fashion industry and gain essential tips for your future career. For example, a question you could ask is, “How did you navigate the transition from college to your first role/project?”
- Virtual Events: You can research if there are any online conferences, interviews, showcases, or other events online! For example, events like MAGIC (Las Vegas) and COTERIE (NYC) now have online events in addition to their main events in person.
Applying Your Network to Your Future Career
After you have explored, researched, and have joined societies and attended events, here are some additional tips on how to build your network even further in the fashion industry!
- Informational Interviewing: Interview a prospective client or mentor to learn more about the business and industry.
- How to Apply (Example): Reach out to a buyer at a boutique and ask, “How do you decide which new designers to stock?”
- How it Benefits Your Career: You will learn how to network and gain additional experience and insight into your future career, which is essential when you are starting out!
- Collaborative Projects: Work with other peers, employers, and mentors in other related fields.
- How to Apply (Example): Partner with a BYU-I marketing major or Photography student to help you with your capstone collection or portfolio.
- How it Benefits Your Career: In the industry, creative directors and other entrepreneurs don’t just do everything; they direct, manage, and work with a network of specialized talent in other areas of expertise.
- Your Online Portfolio: Collect your work through an online database.
- How to Apply (Example): Document your process (sketches, fabric sourcing, sewing) on LinkedIn, Instagram, or other platforms!
- How it Benefits Your Career: Employers and investors in 2026 want transparency and process as much as the final product.
Conclusion: Your Career Starts in Rexburg
Networking in the fashion industry is less about where you are and more about how you share your passion. By researching online news, platforms, and other networking resources, you can bridge the gap between in-person networking as a BYU-Idaho apparel entrepreneurship student and an inspiring fashionista in the world’s fashion capitals! Whether you are documenting a sewing project on TikTok or interviewing the company you aspire to work for, every connection you make now is a thread in the fabric of your future career!
Works Cited
“BYUI Connect & CES Network,” Church Education System (CES), (2026).
“COTERIE (NYC),” COTERIE by informa, (2026).
“Fashion Group International (FGI),” Fashion Group International, (2026).
“Fashion United,” FashionUnited, (2026).
“Glam Observer,” Glam Observer, (2026).
“LinkedIn Super Connectors,” BYU-Idaho, (2026).
“MAGIC (Las Vegas),” MAGIC by informa, (2026).
“The Entrepreneur Society (Innovator’s Society),” BYU-Idaho, (2026).
“The heart of apparel design,” BYU-Idaho Scroll, (March 2025).
“Vogue Business,” Vogue Business, (2026).