Clothes Make the World Go ‘Round
You may be wearing a simple t-shirt with a graphic design on the front or you may be wearing the latest fashion produced by Dior but you are making a statement about who you are by the clothes you wear.
Retail sales of clothing reached an astonishing $150 billion for 2009 in the United States. If you want to pursue a career in fashion design here are some tips and guidelines on how to do this.
What Does a Fashion Designer Do?
Fashion designers are responsible for creating the wide variety of dresses, suits, shoes, and other clothing articles that consumers purchase at retail outlets and exclusive fashion design houses.
The concept of a retail clothing design to the production of the clothing line takes about 18 to 24 months. Fashion designers must have a sharp eye for future trends in clothing styles and must be able to produce fashions that will be in vogue at the time of their release.
What Are the Qualifications for a Fashion Designer?
Fashion designers should be proficient in using computer assisted design software and have a bachelor’s degree in fashion design.
Internships with clothing manufacturing companies or design houses provide important career training experience for aspiring fashion designers.
Fashion designers must have a good eye for aesthetics related to color, proportion, spatial relations, creativity, and an intuitive sense for what looks fashionable. Although computer design software is useful for creating art for fashions, the importance of being able to hand sketch fashion ideas and designs cannot be overemphasized.
The Employment Outlook for Fashion Designers
Job openings in fashion design positions will increase by 1 percent from 2008-2018. The competition for these jobs will be extremely competitive. A solid portfolio of design sketches is crucial for job interviews.
Receiving the proper education at a graphic design school or fashion design college is important in qualifying for positions in the fashion industry. In some cases brilliant talent in combination with the right contacts in the industry may open opportunities in fashion design.
Fashion designers make a mean annual wage of $71,400 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2008).
Adam
Fashion design is unbelievably competitive, take a look at the reality shows they have for it! That and modeling go hand in hand. Not much growth either…but if you have a passion for it you have to follow it! What are some of the top fashion design schools?
no. 2 pencil
Hi Adam,
Here’s a link that may point those who are interested in fashion design on the right path: http://teenfashion.about.com/od/fashioncareerseducation/a/fashionschools.htm.
Of course these are the more high profile fashion design schools, but there are quite a few others that may fit the needs of future fashion designers but aren’t as high profile.
Best bet–do research online and compare. You may save some money and time by doing so.
Thanks for your comments. :D