Fashion Designer Career Profile and Description

Fashion designers are the professionals who establish themselves by designing clothes that meet the latest fashion sense and trend. Some fashion designers may focus their initiatives in one specialist area, which may include sportswear, children wear or footwear.

They work in the production of designs for couture, or ready-made designs for fashion markets. Fashion designer’s work towards color, dress material or budget will depend on their level of responsibility for the company they work. The main areas for fashion designers usually lie within high street fashion, ready-to-wear and haute couture.

Fashion Designer Duties and Responsibilities

Fashion designers may have major professional responsibilities as follows:

  • Working in teams with other fashion designers to develop products for a brief
  • Close coordination with sales, purchase and making teams on a regular basis to make sure the design and item is suitable to the customer, the market and price
  • Technical understanding of the design includes making patterns, and meeting other technical standards
  • Setting a foundation for purchasing dress material and binding, decorating and trimming them
  • Capable of bargaining with customers and suppliers
  • Organizing activities related to finance, marketing and other business
  • Using a cut pattern to develop sample piece of cloth and control the making of these with proper specifications and adaptations
  • Well informed about the latest fashion sense as well as general trends

Fashion Designer Skills and Specifications

Fashion designers must possess following skills and qualities:

  • A keen observation and awareness about the latest fashion trends
  • Excellent communication and problem-solving skills
  • Capable of expressing your designer thoughts and working on them
  • Using Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) for producing a hand-made design idea
  • Ability to sketch designs since designers have to sketch an example of how the new designer garment or accessory would look like
  • Sewing and patternmaking skills

Fashion Designer Education and Qualification

A Fashion Designer must be qualified with the following degree and training:

  • Bachelors of Fine Arts in Fashion Design
  • Associate degree programs in Fashion Design
  • Internships with manufacturing or designing firms
  • Participation in designing for students or part-time contests

Fashion Designer Salary

With extensive knowledge and growing ideas about the latest fashion, a fashion designer salary may range from $38,000 – $50,000

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