The fashion industry relies heavily on networking - who you know and who you are known by can make all the difference in landing those jobs.
Treat everyone you meet as a potential source of work - they may not seem to be of any help now, but you never know what they will do in the future or who they might know.
It may seem quite daunting at first, but you neglect the social aspect of fashion journalism at your peril - the fashion industry is a small, close knit group and it is important to have a recognised profile if you want to succeed.
Where to start?
Aside from the inevitable contacts that you will make as part of your work experience, try to attend every fashion related event that you can. Not only will this give you the opportunity to make contacts within the fashion industry, but the experience will help to broaden your understanding of fashion as a whole and may form the basis of potential articles (See Resources).
If you live near to a university or college, find out if they offer a course in fashion or fashion design and attend their graduate fashion shows (the designers of the future?).
If you can, get tickets for a show at London Fashion Week, or attend the Clothes Show Live.
Lectures and Exhibitions
Similarly, most higher education institutions provide seminars or lectures which are open to the public to attend - remember that you need to develop a solid grounding in fashion as a sociological medium, so don't just look to see what the fashion department offers, but also check out other faculties such as history, politics, social policy, religion and art to see if they run seminars on fashion related topics.
Many large museums have fashion related exhibitions which are also worth visiting, if nothing else to help you learn more about fashion.
Once you have made contacts, then keep them up to date with what you are doing so make sure that you maintain your contact details (i.e. don't change your email address every few months) so that if they want to find you, then they can.
Finally, don’t neglect online networking - social networking sites such as MySpace allow you to meet and exchange ideas with other like minded people from around the world from the comfort of your own living room.