How To Become a Fashion Designer

The words fashion designer may evoke a world of heady glamour, replete with beautiful models and the popping of champagne corks. Although that world does exist, there are more down-to-earth ways of using your talents to become a fashion designer.

We all need clothes, ranging from the most casual to the most formal. Clothes to work in, to play in, and to lounge around in are needed by billions of people worldwide. These clothes all need to be designed, and fashion designers who work in these mass-markets or "apparel design" far outnumber the designers of unique and fabulously expensive creations. You can also find opportunities to design more specialized garments for department or specialty stores.

Fashion designers create design sketches, either by hand or using computer design software. They then select colors and fabrics so designs can be developed and completed. As a fashion designer you will need to combine an awareness of costs and timescales with a strong sense of what the market wants.

What skills do Fashion Designers need?

You will need some talents in design and drawing, as well as the hands-on skills to create sample clothing from your designs. You also need a thorough understanding of the properties of different types of fabrics and the discipline to design clothes that meet cost and production requirements.

Fashion Designer Training Requirements

You should aim for a degree at at least associate level, and a bachelor's degree is of course even better. Expect to study design and drawing topics as well as many aspects of fabrics and textiles.

What is my job outlook as a Fashion Designer?

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 15,000 fashion designers working in 2002. The constant requirement for new designs should maintain the demand for well-educated fashion designers although a decline in apparel manufacture may reduce future job growth.