For many of us interested in the glitzy and glamorous lives of fashion and media celebrities, a career in fashion might seem like the ultimate opportunity to work among them. If you pride yourself on your sense of style and want to work with the topmost models and designers, you should become serious about a fashion design career early on.
However, there is a lot that goes on behind the curtains in the fashion design industry. Becoming an established designer can take time, effort, and a lot of patience. You also need to learn more about the industry and choose the right fashion design degree to start your career.
Let’s get a sneak peek into the inner workings of the global fashion industry and what you need to do to become a fashion designer.
A broad overview of the fashion industry
The global fashion industry is one of the largest career domains in the world and employs millions of people directly and indirectly. According to Fashionunited.com, there are more than 3000 billion companies catering to different aspects of the fashion world.
The modern fashion industry in the UK is a gift of global capitalism and emerged in the early 20th century with the rise of factory-style production. Although there are countless facets of the fashion industry, it can be divided into four primary categories: production of raw materials, production of different fashion goods, retail sales and marketing, and advertising and fashion promotion.
What kind of industry trends can you expect from your fashion career in 2022?
Fashion trends rarely last for more than one season. As a fashion designer, it is your job to stay updated on the top fashion trends and create your designs accordingly to stay relevant.
Here are some of the top fashion trends that have dominated the industry in recent years.
- Practicality and comfort are the primary deciding factors for most fashion customers.
- The concept of streetwear is being embraced by luxury brands like Vero Moda or Diesel, who are launching their own streetwear collections.
- The recent trend of work-from-home is bringing back the concept of comfortable business clothes or business casuals.
What kind of qualifications do you require to start a career in the fashion industry?
If you are passionate about a fashion designing job, you can learn the tricks of the trade while on the job. However, gaining a fair knowledge of fashion designing and fashion management can make your job easier.
Today, fashion design enthusiasts have a plethora of degree options to choose from to start a career in the design industry. Most of the fashion design courses in London or other fashion hubs can be categorized into the following:
- Online diplomas or short courses and certifications
- Regular bachelor’s or master’s degrees in fashion designing
- Working internships in the fashion industry
What skills do you require for sustaining a fashion career?
Technical and industry expertise aside, a career in fashion requires you to acquire some essential skills for fulfilling your daily responsibilities. These skills include domain-related knowledge as well as various transferable skills.
Here are some of the most crucial fashion design skills you require in the fashion industry.
- A sense of style: As a designer, you need to have a good sense of style to create appealing designs. Having a good eye for colours and fabrics will help you cater to the demands of your clients and conform to the latest fashion trends.
- Business intuition: Even a creative role like a fashion designer involves some level of customer interaction and commercialisation. Therefore, you need to develop strong business skills and intuition to stay in the game.
- Competitive spirit: The global fashion industry is filled with designers of all levels trying to prove their worth and stay relevant. Therefore, you need to develop a strong competitive spirit to progress in your career.
- Creativity: Copying others’ designs or adapting them can cost you customers and negatively impact your career growth in the fashion industry. You need to be extremely creative to think out-of-the-box and create unique and appealing designs.
- Artistic abilities: A major part of a fashion designer’s job is to take abstract ideas and design trends and turn them into realistic designs on paper. Therefore, you need to have first-class drawing and illustration skills to be a successful fashion designer.
- Expertise in sewing and draping: Artistic abilities aside, you must be able to turn your illustrations into real-life fashion products. Therefore, you should be well-versed in technical skills like sewing and draping.
- Visualisation skills: As a designer, you should be able to visualise a specific design in your mind before you can draw it on paper. Therefore, the role requires strong visualisation skills.
Other important skills include an in-depth knowledge of the latest fashion trends, a willingness to work in a team, a keen eye for detail, and a working knowledge of different designing tools and software.
While you can acquire many of these skills on your own, pursuing a relevant fashion design programme can make it easier to do so. A fashion design programme can also introduce you to qualified instructors and mentors who can serve as inspirational models for different skill sets.
If you are searching for the right fashion design programme, you should check out the BA (Hons) Fashion Design course offered by the London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA). This programme will help you explore different factors that run the fashion world and learn industry-relevant practical techniques like draping and pattern cutting.
The programme is offered in partnership with the prestigious University for the Creative Arts (UCA). The scope of the course will enable you to secure a decent-paying role within the fashion industry.
Click here to apply for the fashion design programme at LCCA today.