Do you have a keen eye for colours? Are you always up to date with the latest fashion trends? Do your friends and family count on you to give them fashion advice?
If you answered yes to all these questions, you are made for a career in fashion design! In this role, you can use your artistic talent to create timeless designs and visually appealing clothes. Read ahead if you want to learn about different fashion designing courses and careers!
What does fashion designing involve?
Fashion designing involves the use of different design ideas and trends to create visually appealing or message-specific clothes and accessories. Fashion designs are often influenced by different cultures, geopolitical events, or trends in other industries.
The global fashion industry plays a significant role in our daily lives. From shaping our cultures to broadening our horizons, fashion designers across the world push the barriers of art and design every day.
What is the job description of a fashion designer?
Your job description as a fashion designer would depend on the type of fashion department you work for. For instance, fashion designers working for luxury brands have different responsibilities as compared to streetwear designers.
However, the following roles and responsibilities are intrinsic to any fashion designing role.
- Researching the current consumer and design trends in the fashion design industry
- Collaborating with different design teams to develop new fashion products and ideas
- Designing sketches for fashion ideas
- Testing materials and fabrics for the fashion sketches
- Overseeing the mass production of the finalised product
- Creating new designs for fashion festivals and shows
What kind of qualifications do you need to become a fashion designer?
The global fashion industry is becoming an increasingly competitive field. Sustaining and growing in a fashion design career now requires way more than your love for good designs and an easy sense of style.
In your journey to becoming an established fashion designer, you might have to depend upon a formal fashion design degree or fashion programme to provide you with relevant industry expertise.
Fortunately, as a fashion design enthusiast, you can choose from a wide variety of course curriculums and programmes to prepare for a fashion designing career. Here are some of the top qualifications that can land you your dream job.
- A bachelor’s or master’s degree in fashion designing
- A degree in visual arts
- A degree in art history
- A degree in graphic design
What kind of career opportunities can you expect as a fashion design graduate?
There is an abundance of fashion designing roles in the global fashion industry. You may choose to work in apparel creation, designing or even marketing and promotion of different fashion products.
You can expect immense career diversity as a fashion design graduate. Here are some of the most interesting fashion designer jobs in the industry.
- Retail buyers: As a retail buyer, you will be expected to help customers find the right clothes and accessories as per their design preferences and body types. Retail buyers hired by stores also inform the customers about the current and upcoming promotional offers on specific products.
- Jewellery designers: Jewellery designers create exquisite pieces of jewellery and accessories using different precious stones and metals. As a jewellery designer, you should be aware of the top market trends and have an astute sense of style to create timeless pieces.
- Footwear designers: In recent years, footwear has emerged as statement pieces and items to flaunt rather than a necessity. Modern footwear designers work with different fabrics and materials to create beautiful shoes that are both comfortable and stylish.
- Retail managers: Managers of fashion retail stores are responsible for helping store customers find the right products for them and complete the transactions. They also restock merchandise and ensure that the store looks appealing and inviting.
- Personal stylists: Personal stylists help their clients wear the latest fashionable outfits. They mix and match different fabrics, clothes and accessories and help their clients choose the right styles to flatter their body features.
Other intriguing fashion design career roles include make-up artists, fashion photographers, textile designers, and fashion journalists.
Additionally, there are many other exciting careers in fashion like becoming a design coordinator, pattern cutter, or fashion marketer.
A degree in fashion design can also allow you to explore other associated career domains like apparel marketing, fashion business management, or luxury business management.
What kind of salary expectations can you have as a fashion designer?
Well-qualified and talented fashion designers are some of the most well-paid creative professionals in the world. Even as a beginner in the fashion industry, you can start with a decent pay package.
According to salary reports published by Glassdoor.com, the average salary for junior fashion designers in the UK is around £27,964 each year. You can also boost your earning prospects if you compliment your design skills with expertise in fashion business management.
Pursuing the MA Fashion Business and Management programme from the London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA) will help you pursue lucrative job roles in the fashion world. This programme will provide you with the required expertise for a lucrative role in fashion business management.
The course allows you to learn closely from industry experts and develop a solid understanding of different marketing and management techniques. The programme can be a great addition to your profile if you have a previous bachelor’s degree in fashion designing.
Graduating from this course will allow you to work in high-profile roles in operations management, brand management, or fashion PR. The programme can also provide you with the relevant expertise to start your own fashion business.
Click here to learn more about the programme curriculum at LCCA.