Fashion magazine editors need to have excellent communication skills, sharp fashion sense and a meticulous writing ability; while they do not do much writing themselves, they must oversee all the content that goes into the magazine. Since the career is extremely competitive, experience gives students an edge. One option for experience is working on campus with available college media, thus honing skills and creating a portfolio for potential employers. Another option is completing an internship, especially one within the fashion industry.
Hofstra's Department of Journalism, Media Studies and Public Relations educates students to work in a wide range of careers, including print. Hofstra's faculty work in their relevant fields and teach a variety of specific classes, including copy editing, magazine production and layout and design for journalists, all of which correspond to specific skills fashion magazine editors must cultivate. Being so close to media capitol New York City, Hofstra offers choice internship opportunities, including editorial internships with top fashion magazines. Hofstra's college media include NewsHub, a state-of-the-art multi-media facility, and Long Island Report, an award-winning website.
Newhouse at Syracuse University features an award-winning journalism school with numerous areas of specialization. Indeed Newhouse offers a journalism degree specifically for magazines. Faculty who come from top publications work with students to develop their areas of specialty. In fact, Newhouse has courses directly for magazine editing. The campus runs 18 student media publications including several magazines. Graduates of Newhouse have gone on to work at major magazines, including fashion publications such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Marie Claire.
An alternate path for becoming a fashion magazine editor lies in focusing on fashion as much as journalism. The Academy of Art University in San Francisco in fact offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fashion Journalism. While journalism programs naturally focus on the writing and editing aspect of the field, AAU's program focuses on fashion. Students still take journalism courses for editing and writing, including blogging. However, many of their core courses focus on the creation of fashion and the fashion business. Students have access to fashion-related facilities and internships in the fashion industry.