Fashion designer
Fashion designers produce new clothing and fashion ranges using their creative and technical skills.
- Starter salary£24,000 a year
- Experienced£40,000 a year
- Typical hours40 to 42 a week
What you'll do
As a fashion designer, you could:
- identify trends in fabrics, colours, prints and shapes
- develop new concepts and mood boards (a collection of items to capture a mood, like photos, fabric pieces or colour samples)
- create sketches and designs by hand or with computer-aided design (CAD) software
- work with product development teams to manage quality and costs
- supervise design assistants and patternmakers when making up product samples
- present ranges to production managers, merchandisers and customers
Working environment
You could work in a workshop or in a creative studio.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- design skills and knowledge
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- the ability to use your initiative
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- thinking and reasoning skills
- the ability to work well with your hands
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be flexible and open to change
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently
How to become a fashion designer
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- a college course
University
You'll usually need a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree.
Courses are widely available and include:
- fashion design
- art and design
- garment technology
- textiles
You should look for a course that covers both design and technical skills to get the practical knowledge needed by the industry.
Several universities and colleges that run courses are members of the British Fashion Council, which promotes strong links with employers in the fashion trade.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
College
You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need to work in the fashion industry as an assistant.
Subjects include:
- fashion
- fashion and textiles
- craft and design
Once you've gained some experience with an employer, you may be able to do further training to become a fashion designer.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
Volunteering
You'll need to get as much work experience as you can, for example through an internship , as there's strong competition for jobs in the fashion industry.
This can help you get a better understanding of the role, and to meet people who may help you to find paid work later on.
The British fashion industry supports initiatives like the National Saturday Club for young people aged 13 to 16, looking to learn about fashion careers.
Career path and progression
With experience you could become a:
- senior designer
- head of a fashion department
- creative director
You might specialise in particular collections, for example childrenswear or sportswear, or move into other parts of the fashion business like marketing or buying.
You could develop business skills and go freelance, or start your own fashion company.
You may wish to pass on your skills and knowledge to students by teaching fashion design at college or university.
Career tips
You can create a portfolio of your design work to showcase your skills, which will help you in course and job interviews.
Your portfolio should include mood boards, designs, technical drawings and examples of completed fashion items you have made.
Guides for this industry
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