2018 celebrates 65 years of Missoni, and 21 years of Angela Missoni at the helm. Her first few collections with their fitted silhouettes, deep necklines and slick ad campaigns immediately gave Missoni a sexy, bold edge, plunging the knit brand into the heart of the naughties. In 2017, a parade of pink pussy hats took over the Missoni runway—a celebration of female solidarity in honour of the Women’s March that was taking place at the same time. Over the years, Angela Missoni has continued to build on the legacy her parents began while fearlessly ushering it into the present. She’s managed to not only stay in tune with the zeitgeist, but also with her own aesthetic and vision as a businesswoman. In 2018, the Missonis sold 41.2 per cent stake of their company to a private equity firm, but retained full creative control and the majority stake, even as her daughter Margherita Missoni was appointed creative director of M Missoni—they found a way to navigate through and thrive in a difficult industry and a tricky market. From Angela Missoni, one of the leaders of the fashion industry, here’s a step-by-step guide to finding your place here.

Step 1: Find your passion, find your talent

First of all, go to design or fashion school. If you love fashion, that’s great, you now have to figure out which of the hundreds of jobs in the industry, is for you. If you figure that out you can do very well and be very satisfied. Not everybody is a designer. You need to figure out what your talent is and follow that (styling, merchandising, writing, etc) and for this industry to run we need all of this. And, no matter what, just try to follow your passion.

Step 2: Learn to work as a team

Use your time at school to learn how to work as a team; when you start working (even if it’s your own thing), you will realise that you cannot build anything alone. So if you’re good with working as a team, your professionalism will be very well recognised. And that will help your creativity and you will get to be part of beautiful projects.

Step 3: History is the key to finding your voice

You cannot judge fashion if you know only the last three collections or the last five years. You have to start from the beginning, and trace the evolution of fashion right from the start. There’s a lot of things that can inspire you, not just the works of other designers. You should know who’s doing what and why, and who is referencing whom. You admire a designer, figure out who they admire and so on. Knowledge and information are very empowering.

Step 4: Curiosity made the designer

When I was teaching at a fashion school in Milan, the first thing I would ask the students to do was to take pictures of anything and everything that intrigued them for a week and present it to the class. They had to show me their work, their world, their interests—I wanted to see how curious they were. Because, curiosity is where all creativity begins.

Step 5: Hands on experience is everything

If you have the chance to get into a studio, go for it immediately—this is when you truly start learning. School doesn’t prepare you for the many chances and realities of the real thing. Experience is everything.

Step 6: You endure, you succeed

It is a very stressful job, so you need to have the physical and mental capability to deal with the levels of stress. You’re putting out work every six months (and with fast fashion, capsule collections etc, even sooner); you are judged every six months. Think of the great sportswomen and men—it’s never physical capacity alone, it’s mental capability that makes someone a winner.

Step 7: Be true to you

My parents have been revolutionary; they invented something that is rare and unique to them. And they taught me my biggest lesson—to be yourself, and do your own thing; and finally, to never be a follower. To find your own voice, you first have to know yourself.