Do you have a strong passion for design and clothing? Then you should consider working in the fashion industry. If you wish to become a fashion designer, you’ll need to possess post-secondary education, professional experience, and role-related skills. This career path is quite rewarding and you must understand the requirements to pursue it.
In this article, we will discuss what a fashion designer does and how to become a fashion designer. We’ll also discuss the skills and salary outlook of a fashion designer. Let’s get started!
Keynotes:
- Fashion designers are known to create sophisticated designs, select materials, and produce prototypes. As well as select collection themes, and oversee fashion and clothing production.
- To pursue a fashion designer role, you’ll need to obtain a bachelor’s degree, develop a professional network, and create a compelling fashion portfolio.
- Fashion designers often work in a studio and have regular hours. However, you can work extra hours during busy and festive seasons or for a fashion show preparation.
What Does A Fashion Designer Do?
Fashion designers are responsible for making bespoke clothing, apparel, shoes, and accessories. Generally, they design both preliminary designs, and finished products, and also develop complete collections. Fashion designers are known to undertake the following specific tasks. Scroll down!
Developing Designs
Generally, fashion designers make use of manual tools such as pencils and paper, and also digital tools such as computer-aided design programs to develop preliminary designs. Meanwhile, most fashion designers prefer computer-aided designs to digitally change elements, textures, and colors to create a satisfactory design.
Selecting Materials
Upon completion of a preliminary sketch, fashion designers will select the materials for the product. As a fashion designer who wants to choose materials, you will need to consider several factors, like color, texture, durability, and sustainability of current fashion trends.
Producing Prototypes
Fashion designers must have an in-depth knowledge of sketching a design and choosing materials. Furthermore, they will make a prototype or a sample of the complete design. In addition, fashion designers usually work with models who can wear their prototypes to boost their business.
Choosing Collection Themes
Rather than create multiple standalone items, most fashion designers often design different collections of clothing, footwear, or accessories. They will also select themes and develop relevant designs according to the seasons and trends.
Marketing Collections
Upon completion of producing several collections, fashion designers may develop marketing strategies for their designs. They usually market to retailers, who will handle sales and others market directly to consumers. In addition, they will also involve online sales.
Overseeing Production
Most fashion designers usually contract manufacturing houses and skilled laborers for their production process. They manage the production process, which involves visiting the manufacturing facility and checking out finished products.
How To Become A Fashion Designer
We have compiled a step-by-step process on how to pursue a career as a fashion designer. Let’s dive in!
Get A Bachelor’s Degree
If you want to become a fashion designer, you will need to earn a bachelor’s degree in one of the areas listed below.
- Visual art.
- Fashion design.
- Fashion merchandising.
To master color theory and design elements, you must consider studying visual art. Meanwhile focusing on fashion design will allow you to work with different fabrics and also learn how to create clothing and accessory prototypes. Furthermore, if you major in fashion merchandising, you will understand more about the marketing and business aspects of the fashion industry.
Develop A portfolio
After studying fashion design, you can start building a professional portfolio while still practicing design creation. Additionally, you can save images of the sketches you draw, the collections that you created, and the prototypes you develop. This will further enhance your portfolio and you can show the digital format to future employers to prove your accomplishments and style.
With your portfolio, you can also apply for entry-level positions and internships by highlighting your training and skills. Even if you have limited professional experience, you still stand a chance.
Create A Resume
When you’re fully ready to begin your job search in the fashion industry, you should endeavor to create a resume. This is what you’ll share with potential employers. Meanwhile, there are some sections you should consider adding to your resume, scroll down!
- Contact information
- Education
- Skills
- Relevant work experience
- Awards
- Volunteer work
Furthermore, ensure that you review the job description before you create your application documents. This will help you gain a better understanding of what your prospective employer wants in a candidate. As such, you must highlight these credentials in your resume, if applicable.
Apply For An Internship Or Entry-level Role
Ensure that you have done an internship before looking for an entry-level job in the fashion industry. Applying for an internship means that you’re assisting an experienced fashion designer and it can help you:
- Learn some basic job skills.
- Get full knowledge and a better understanding of the industry.
- Endeavor to create connections with important figures in the fashion industry. This could be made possible through networking.
Upon gaining all of this professional experience, you can consider submitting your resume and other application documents to agencies and brands. Then you can start applying for entry-level roles.
Build A Professional Network
To successfully secure a job in the fashion industry, you must search for opportunities to grow your professional network. As such, you can try the following to help you connect with others in your field.
- Attending fashion shows
- Joining professional groups
- Entering amateur fashion contests
With these opportunities, you’ll get to learn about job openings in the fashion industry while also learning from established professionals.
Cultivate Important Skills
One of the ideal ways to become a fashion designer is to cultivate your important skills. As you gain entry-level experience in the fashion industry, it will come in handy when practicing your fashion business. For instance, you can invest in reading fashion magazines and blogs to learn the new trends and updates.
You can also take classes to master essential design programs. Likewise, you can improve your creativity just by pushing yourself a little harder to develop several sketches or designs each week.
Choose A Specialty
To establish yourself in the fashion industry, you will need to choose a specialty. This strategy will give you a unique style where potential employers and collaborators will be able to distinguish your work from others, even in a crowded marketplace. It may also help you cultivate a loyal following. Meanwhile, you can focus on producing any of the following:
- Luxury clothing for women
- High-end accessories
- Unique footwear
- Elaborate costumes
Fashion Designer Skills
Fashion designers usually explore both hard and soft skills to achieve great success. Hard skills are simply the technical abilities that you will need in your daily duties as a fashion designer. These hard skills include:
- Drawing skills
- Sewing skills
- Presentation skills
- Ability to use and design computer programs
- Color theory
- Textile and fabric knowledge
- Understanding of fashion history
- Knowledge of current fashion trends
Soft skills on the other hand are the personality traits that make a professional very good and efficient at their job. These soft skills include:
- Patience
- Creativity
- Attention-to-detail
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Collaboration
Salary Outlook Of Fashion Designers
As a fashion designer, the national average salary is $65,500 per year. They often work full-time and earn a salary instead of getting paid by the hour. Furthermore, the specifics of their salary may depend on their professional environment and other relevant factors, such as
- The level of experience
- Geographic location
- Whether they are independently working or for an employer
