i'm
MARIA
HEDIAN
Here's what nobody tells you about breaking into fashion: the people who get ahead fastest aren't always the most talented. They're the ones who figured out how the industry actually works before it cost them anything to learn.
I spent over two decades figuring that out myself. Volunteering backstage at New York Fashion Week because that was the only way in. Building a production career from scratch after nearly a decade inside Ralph Lauren, because corporate credentials meant nothing in a world that runs on contacts and credits. Working with FIT, Parsons, the Amsterdam Fashion Academy and eventually stepping into the role of VP at my own alma mater, LIM College.
I founded Into the Fashion Industry because none of it came with a roadmap. All of it taught me something. And everything I built exists so your path is shorter than mine was.
i'm
MARIA
HEDIAN
Here's what nobody tells you about breaking into fashion: the people who get ahead fastest aren't always the most talented. They're the ones who figured out how the industry actually works before it cost them anything to learn.
I spent over two decades figuring that out myself. Volunteering backstage at New York Fashion Week because that was the only way in. Building a production career from scratch after nearly a decade inside Ralph Lauren, because corporate credentials meant nothing in a world that runs on contacts and credits. Working with FIT, Parsons, the Amsterdam Fashion Academy and eventually stepping into the role of Vice President at my own alma mater, LIM College.
I founded Into the Fashion Industry because none of it came with a roadmap. All of it taught me something. And everything I built exists so your path is shorter than mine was.
YOU LANDED HERE FOR A REASON
Whatever brought you here, you're in the right place.
Whatever brought you here,
BREaking in
For the Job Seeker
You're doing everything right and it's still not working. You're applying, following up, saying yes to things that scare you and nobody is telling you why it's not clicking.
The truth is, breaking into fashion isn't about working harder. It's about knowing the things most people never get told. The unwritten rules, the insider moves, the real way this industry works. That's what everything here is built around.
work with me
For the Professional
You don't need more information. You need someone to look at exactly where you are, tell you the honest truth, and build a real plan with you. Someone who has hired people, been hired, produced Fashion Week, and sat in corporate offices at the highest level of this industry.
Not generic advice from someone who read about fashion. Real strategy from someone who lived it.
bring me in
For the Organizer
Your audience can tell the difference between someone who studied the fashion industry and someone who actually built a career inside it. They feel it the moment a speaker walks into the room.
I bring more than twenty years of real industry experience to every stage, every campus, and every conversation and your audience leaves with something they can genuinely use the very next day.
free resources
the
Fashion
Vault
You shouldn't have to figure it out the hard way just because nobody handed you a roadmap. I spent years collecting everything this industry never bothered to write down, then I put it all in one place and made it free.
01
NETWORKING
40 Questions to Ask on your next informational interview
02
COLD OUTREACH
How to find the exact contacts you need to grow your network
03
APPLICATIONS
The cover letter guide for fashion internships
04
CONNECTION
100+ Fashion Professionals to Follow right now
NETWORKING
40 Questions to Ask on your next informational interview Cheat Sheet
COLD OUTREACH
How to find the exact contacts you
need to grow your network
APPLICATIONS
The cover letter guide for fashion internships
CONNECTION
100+ Fashion Professionals to Follow right now
THE WORK
more than
TWO DECADES
Every number below is proof, not a highlight reel.
If you're trying to figure out whether someone can actually help you - whether that's landing your first internship, building a real strategy for your career, or trusting me on your stage - these are the receipts.
Not because the numbers themselves matter, but because of what it took to earn them. Showing up backstage unpaid, season after season, before anyone knew my name. Sending the cold emails that got ignored, then sending more. Teaching a masterclass to three people before I ever taught one to three hundred. Staying long enough in an industry that chews people up to actually understand how it works.
100+
Masterclasses taught - in person and online, globally
32
Seasons backstage working at
New York Fashion Week
500+
Events worked and produced
across hundreds of companies
80k
Fashion professionals in the
ITFI community worldwide
100+
Masterclasses taught - in person
and online, globally
32
Seasons backstage working at
New York Fashion Week
500+
Events worked and produced
across hundreds of companies
80k
Fashion professionals in the
ITFI community worldwide
WORK with me
Ready to stop guessing
Ready to stop guessing and
and start moving?
start moving?
I've sat on both sides of this industry - as the student who had to figure everything out alone, as the corporate employee inside Ralph Lauren, as the show producer running backstage, and now as the Vice President who advises fashion students for a living.
That means when I tell you what a hiring manager is actually looking for, or why your resume isn't landing, or what a recruiter sees in the first six seconds - I'm not guessing. I've been on every side of that decision.
I know what makes the difference between the person who gets the job and the one who doesn't.
1:1 Resume Review & Revision
A recruiter spends less than ten seconds scanning a resume before deciding whether to keep reading. If yours isn't instantly communicating why you belong in the role, it's working against you before you even get the chance to interview.
I'll go through your resume line by line and tell you how to rebuild it into a clear, compelling document that tells a results-driven story. This is the same caliber of feedback I give the candidates I personally evaluate for hiring.
LinkedIn Profile Makeover
Your LinkedIn profile is one of the first impressions a recruiter or hiring manager has of you, before they read your resume or meet you in person. If your profile is outdated or doesn't reflect the type of professional you actually are, you're losing opportunities you don't even know exist.
I'll work with you to transform your profile into something that actually attracts recruiters and industry insiders, instead of sitting there hoping someone notices it.
Interview Coaching & Prep
Competitive fashion roles and internships are about more than just qualifications on paper, they come down to how you carry yourself and tell your story under pressure in the room. This session goes beyond generic interview tips.
I'll help you build a strong, authentic personal narrative, sharpen your responses to the questions fashion employers actually ask, and walk in prepared to leave a lasting impression instead of a forgettable one.
Fashion Career Accelerator
For the person who wants every piece working together instead of fixing one thing at a time. This bundles resume revision, LinkedIn strategy, and interview preparation into one complete package, built specifically around your goals and timeline.
It's the fastest way to go from feeling unprepared to walking into your job search with a complete, professional toolkit behind you.
Signature Course
Fashion Career
Blueprint®
A resume audit fixes one thing. A LinkedIn refresh fixes another. This is the program for the person who wants the entire system built once, used for the rest of their career. Strategic networking, career fundamentals, and interview mastery, taught the way I wish someone had taught me at twenty.
No recycled advice. No theory without application. Just the exact framework I've used to help students and early career professionals go from invisible to memorable in rooms that don't open easily for anyone.
module 01
Finding Your Place in the Fashion Industry
module 02
Building Your Fashion Career Toolkit
module 03
Connecting With Confidence
module 04
Stepping Into Your Fashion Career
*4 modules · self-paced · lifetime access · includes audio files, templates, worksheets, and bonuses
the itfi career podcast
Featured In:
The podcast for people serious about a fashion career.
The podcast for people serious about
a fashion career .
Twenty years of industry knowledge, distilled into episodes you can act on immediately. The networking strategies that actually get responses. The cold email approach that opens doors. The mistakes that quietly end careers and the moves that accelerate them. All of it, in your ears, completely free.
Every episode is built for the person who is done with generic career advice and ready for something real, whether you're trying to break in for the first time, level up from where you are, or figure out what your next chapter looks like.
CAREER READINESS
How ready
are you,
really?
It's one thing to want a career in fashion. It's another to know exactly where you stand - what's working in your favor, what's quietly holding you back, and what the actual gap is between where you are and where you deserve to be.
This quiz gives you clarity. Not a generic score, a real picture of where you are in your fashion career journey and the specific resources that match exactly where you need to go next. I built it because I've watched too many talented, driven people stay stuck simply because they didn't know which move to make first. That ends here.
Takes less than 2 minutes to complete.
from the fashion career blog
Real talk.
Real industry insight.
If you've ever Googled "how to break into fashion" and closed the tab feeling more confused than when you opened it, this is where you actually want to be. I write about the things that move careers forward - how to network when you don't know anyone, how to write a cold email that gets a real response, what hiring managers are genuinely looking for when they review your resume, and what it looks like backstage at the industry's biggest events.
Every post is built from twenty years of being inside this industry, not on the outside looking in and guessing. Whether you're trying to land your first internship, figure out your next move, or stay ahead of what's actually happening in fashion right now, there's something here for you.
If you've ever Googled "how to break into fashion" and closed the tab feeling more confused than when you opened it, this is where you actually want to be. I write about the things that move careers forward - how to network when you don't know anyone, how to write a cold email that gets a real response, what hiring managers are genuinely looking for when they review your resume, and what it looks like backstage at the industry's biggest events.
Every post is built from twenty years of being inside this industry, not on the outside looking in and guessing. Whether you're trying to land your first internship, figure out your next move, or stay ahead of what's actually happening in fashion right now, there's something here for you.
FASHION WEEK
Backstage at Fashion Week: The Roles You Need to Know
Everyone watches the runway. Almost nobody knows what's happening twenty feet away from it - the producer running traffic through a headset, the stylist's run-of-show board, the dresser who has ninety seconds to get a model into her next look. This is the breakdown of who actually makes a fashion show happen, and exactly which role is your way in.
FEATURED POSTS
MINDSET
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome to
Become a Confident Fashion Professional
"I feel like I'm lying, and like the things I've done have just been luck." That's a direct quote from one of my own students and every single person I've ever taught has admitted to feeling some version of it, myself included. If that voice has ever told you that you don't belong in the room, this is the one to read.
NETWORKING
What I Wish I Knew About Networking in the
Fashion Industry
What I Wish I Knew About Networking in the Fashion Industry
Nobody teaches you how to network in this industry, so most people either avoid it completely or do it in a way that makes everyone uncomfortable. This is everything I had to learn the hard way - the outreach that actually gets a response, and the strategy that turned cold contacts into a real career.
INTERNSHIPS
How to Land Fashion Internships: Insider Tips
and Strategies
How to Land Fashion Internships: Insider Tips and Strategies
The internship advice most people give comes from outside the process. This comes from someone who has actually been on the other side of the table deciding who gets the offer - the real strategies, the organization tools, and what separates the candidates who get called back from the ones who don't.
the freelance archives
Over two decades of shows, seasons,
and rooms most people never enter.
PRODUCTION
Backstage & Freelance
32 Seasons, New York Fashion Week
Runway shows for Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Stella McCartney and dozens more. Large-scale events for Bergdorf Goodman, amfAR, and the Tribeca Film Festival. This is where I learned the industry has unwritten rules and started writing them down.
CORPORATE
Inside the Brand
8 Years, Ralph Lauren Corporate
PR, marketing, styling, events and eCommerce - every function it takes to protect and grow an iconic global fashion brand from the inside. This is where I learned what corporate fashion actually demands of the people who work there.
EDUCATION & LEADERSHIP
Running the Room
Vice President Career Services, LIM College
CEO/Founder, Into the Fashion Industry
I lead the department responsible for getting an entire generation of fashion students hired. Also teaching early career professionals globally through Into the Fashion Industry. This is where everything I learned becomes something someone else can use.
Oscar de la Renta • Vera Wang • Stella McCartney • Prabal Gurung • Rodarte
Jeremy Scott • Bergdorf Goodman • Rachel Zoe • Giorgio Armani • Vivienne Westwood • Zac Posen • Marchesa • Rebecca Minkoff • Zadig & Voltaire • Celine • Kith
Oscar de la Renta • Vera Wang • Stella McCartney Prabal Gurung • Rodarte • Jeremy Scott • Bergdorf Goodman • Rachel Zoe • Giorgio Armani • Vivienne Westwood • Zac Posen • Marchesa • Rebecca Minkoff
• Zadig & Voltaire • Celine • Kith
speaking and partnerships
Bring the real
industry insider
into the room.
Bring the real industry insider
into the room.
There's a difference between someone who talks about the fashion industry and someone who has lived it - backstage at NYFW, inside corporate boardrooms, in university classrooms, and on stages across New York and beyond. I've done all of it. And when I speak, people leave with something they can actually use the next day.
I don't read from a script and I don't deal in theory. Every talk draws from twenty years of real experience and is built around what the people in that specific room actually need to hear - whether it's a conference full of industry leaders or a campus full of students who don't yet know how extraordinary their futures can be.
Most Recently
Delivering Good Women of Impact Summit - "Designing a Career With Purpose"
Delivering Good Women of Impact
Summit - "Designing a Career With Purpose"
June 2026 · Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC · Alongside CEOs & industry founders
June 2026 · Fashion Institute of Technology,
NYC · Alongside CEOs & industry founders
also featured
Sarabande "What Now?" · Amsterdam Fashion Academy · LIM College · FIT · Parsons
University stages, masterclasses & international engagements
Featured Topics
STAY CONNECTED
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INSIDER VIEW
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