The Art of Asking Questions Can Shake Your Doubts - Sophia Mozzali

Sophia Mozzali


You have to develop your ideas and not be scared to write/to tell them out loud; you will have had to think outside the box and approach the problems.
Be modest.

Don't be afraid to ask something that might seem stupid or not interesting enough or simply if you don't understand, just ask your teacher and don't care about your classmates.


What is your background and what training have you had?


I’ve studied languages and economy in high school. I knew since I was a little kid that I wanted to work in fashion, my only problem was what area. Thankfully I’m interested in technology and communication, so when it was time to decide a course, I chose media and communication. 

For a series of random events I was selected to go for a year in the UK, long story short, I never return to Milan. I was going back just for summertime and internships. Then I decided to apply to my dream school, Central Saint Martins, for my master. I got accepted, and now I see the fashion industry from a new perspective.
    


What’s it like working in the fashion industry?


Every day is different. I loved every single experienced that I had, even the one that was a copy of "Devil Wears Prada". I have to admit that my favourite part is to connect with people, so my internship for an Italian PR agency was, so far, one of the best things happened to me. I liked to plan and to run around just to create something big that people from all over the world would watch in person or online. I loved to interact with designers and seeing how their mind works. 

I enjoyed every moment spent to help journalists, stylists and influencers with creating looks or suggesting the best one for their next shooting. But even calm days where you have to write reports or press releases are just perfect.


How important is developing a network of professional contacts in your career?


It's vital! You have to build a reliable network of people that are in all the fields, even the ones that you think are useless for you. I was timid before, and consequently, I was scared to talk with people that someone I know didn't introduce me. 

Luckily when I started to work, I changed and now trying to contact someone is my favourite thing to do. An important lesson learnt is that most people want to help others (unexpected) and think that the worst-case scenario that could happen is that X won't answer or talk to you.
 

What three skills would you advise university students to develop which they can’t directly develop on their fashion courses, to help them in the industry?


Be critical, be modest and ask people everything from help to the silliest question ever.

You have to develop your ideas and not be scared to write/to tell them out loud; you will have had to think outside the box and approach the problems.
Be modest. I saw many people both in university and in the office thinking they were superior to everyone teachers and CEOs included, no one of them had long life…

The last one communicates! Don't be afraid to ask something that might seem stupid or not interesting enough or simply if you don't understand, just ask your teacher and don't care about your classmates.



Who is your favourite fashion influencer & why?


I can't say just one name, because both Danielle Bernstein and Camille Charriere are my favourites ones. I love both of their styles, but they separately wouldn't suit me 100%, so I mix the two of them to create my "ideal" outfits. Apart from fashion inspiration, I admire them because they created a name/brand for themselves. Danielle made an empire from zero, as she explained in her book. 


While Camille is everything from a podcaster to a consultant… and she has this ability to make every task look chic.



Which is your favourite book and why?


The book is not directly fashion related, but I love everything from Fitzgerald. If I've to name just one title would be "The Great Gatsby", before the movie I had my version of everyone and everything in mind, now unfortunately not anymore. 

This book is timeless! A person can use the plot in every decade, and it would be matching the population of the time, Fitzgerald understood what people are and that everyone wants to recreate themselves to appear as a better version.





Interviewed by - Mukund M