Fashion is a massive industry; the people in the field making the wheels turn can range from technical all the way to artistic. You don’t have to be a great fashion designer to be a success in the fashion industry. If you’re creative, then you can go into textile design, photography, makeup, set design, and so much more. Those with technical talents can focus their efforts on almost every area of fashion as a business, from management to IT.

Though working in fashion may seem like a world away for a high school student, the reality is that it’s right in front of you. To take those first very important steps, follow this guide:

Go to a Fashion College

There are many fashion colleges or at least arts and humanities universities that offer degrees in fashion. Do keep in mind, of course, that fashion-first universities are going to offer a wide range of degrees that allow you to truly prepare yourself for the career route you want. Fashion buying, fashion merchandising, fashion photography, fashion design – all of these can be separate degrees when you go to a university that’s dedicated to the field. As these colleges are specialist, they are rarer, and therefore it’s important that you start your prep as soon as possible.

Start by using a high school grade point calculator to estimate your current GPA and compare that to the admission requirements. If yours are too low, then you’ll need to start working hard to get that GPA up. You’ll also want to see what the true admission requirements are. If there are a lot of applicants for a program, for example, then the minimum requirements won’t be enough to get you in. Knowing the average stats of those accepted into the program is going to be a far more useful metric to keep in mind.

Use Online Resources

Think you can only learn at university? Think again. There are so many amazing resources out there designed for professionals and which can be entirely free for you to use. These include short online courses, reports, articles, videos, and more. Watch documentaries, read books, and join online discussions or watch panel experts talk. You can do all this right now, and for either free, or at least for the cost of a book. The more you get involved in the industry, even as a watcher, the more you will be able to absorb and learn.

Practice Your Passions

You can also learn hands-on skills by simply practicing. Want to become a fashion designer? Start first by learning some practical sewing skills. A simple sewing machine, some fabric, and a pattern are a good place to start. You can then also create sketches and use online tutorials to teach yourself how to draft patterns. Does anything you do right now have to be perfect? Absolutely not, but it will show you’re a self-starter and help you grasp essential basics before you get started on your fashion degree or even in your first job.