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ONE day it's Milan, the next Shanghai ­ anyone who wants to climb the fashion career ladder should expect to spend plenty of time aboard an aircraft.

"People have to be flexible, with good coping skills," says Claudia Ollenhauer-Ries, spokesman for the Wurzburgbased Association of German Fashion and Textile Designers (VDMD).

In a globalised market, travel is an important tool in building a career. And it's not just to European cities ­ trips to India and Vietnam are routine.

That makes language skills another important prerequisite for anyone planning to enter the field. A lot of textile final assembly work is done in Asia, meaning that learning those languages, particularly Chinese, is not a bad idea.

"English is a must. Italian and French are nice. But with Chinese, one certainly has many opportunities," says Ollenhauer-Ries.

A few basic qualities are needed for anyone who wants to make a living in fashion.

"One must have an affinity for the beautiful things in life," said the manager of the fashion label Ambiente in Monchengladbach, Peter Boveleth, who added that a feel for colours, cuts and questions of style are also necessary basic talents.

"You simply need to have the eye," he said.

Designers are the traditional creative force behind the fashion industry but Boveleth says there are not enough people with a good comprehensive knowledge of the industry.

"It's a great job to be a designer, but one has to be very creative. That sets a high bar for young designers competing internationally.

"Those that show they can compete are often given ample creative space by their design houses."

But not everyone has to become a designer. "There are production, technical and handcrafting jobs," said Boveleth.

And not least of all, the creative fashion industry needs well-trained salesmen and women who can keep their eyes on the business.

Many companies allow people to intern while they are studying or before they sign on for an apprenticeship. Some vocational colleges with fashion and textile curricula also have an inter nship semester integrated into their bachelor and master degrees.

The Lower Rhein Vocational College in Krefeld, near Cologne, and Monchengladbach has one of the best recognised fashion cur ricula. Other high ranking schools are based in Reutlingen and AlbstadtSigmaringen. These schools do not focus on design, but on textiles and garment technology.

The focus is on textile technology, technical textiles, thread and cloth development and decorating technology.

Garment technology helps create specialists for managing gar ments and developing new products.

Some fields including tailoring, sewing, textile darning, textile production mechanics, technical packaging and textile labour require an inter nship or apprenticeship.

A whole series of jobs that do not require for mal education, but desperately needed to be filled include merchandisers: the people who make sure stores present collections according to the company's wishes.

For these people entering the workforce, contacts are absolutely necessary.

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