Fashion designer
Fashion designers design clothing and fashion ranges.
Salary range: £20,000 to £80,000
How to become a fashion designer
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
University
You’ll usually need a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree.
Courses are widely available and include:
- fashion design
- art and design
- textiles
You should look for a course that covers both design and technical skills to get the practical knowledge needed by the industry.
Some universities and colleges are members of the British Fashion Council.
Entry requirements
You’ll usually need:
- 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
More information
- equivalent entry requirements
- student finance for fees and living costs
- university courses and entry requirements
College
You could do a college course, which will teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need to work in the fashion industry. Relevant subjects include:
- Level 2 Award in Fashion – Sampling Fashion Techniques
- Level 2 Diploma in Skills for the Fashion Industries
- Level 3 Extended Diploma in Fashion Design and Production
Entry requirements
You’ll usually need:
- 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course
More information
Apprenticeship
You may be able to do an advanced apprenticeship in fashion and textiles and work as an assistant in a design studio. You could then develop your design skills on the job.
Entry requirements
You’ll usually need:
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More information
Volunteering and experience
You’ll need to get as much work experience as you can, for example through an internship, as there’s strong competition for jobs in the fashion industry.
It will help you get a better understanding of the role, and to meet people who may help you to find paid work later.
More information
Career tips
You can create a portfolio of your design work to showcase your skills, which will help you at course and job interviews. Your portfolio should include mood boards, designs and technical drawings.
Further information
You can find more details about working in fashion from:
- Creative Choices
- the British Fashion Council
- Discover Creative Careers
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You’ll need:
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- the ability to use your initiative
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- to be flexible and open to change
- ambition and a desire to succeed
- the ability to organise your time and workload
- thinking and reasoning skills
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
What you’ll do
Day-to-day tasks
Your day-to-day tasks may include:
- working to design instructions
- analysing or predicting trends in fabrics, colours and shapes
- producing concept and mood boards (a collection of items to capture a mood, like photos, fabric pieces or colour samples)
- producing designs by hand or by using computer-aided design (CAD)
- developing basic shapes (‘blocks’) through patterns
- estimating costs for materials and manufacture
- finding suppliers
- supervising the making up of sample clothing items
- making in-house presentations, for example to finance departments and merchandisers
Working environment
You could work in a workshop or in a creative studio.
Career path and progression
With experience you could progress to senior designer, head of a department (like head of women’s wear design) or design director.
You could also go freelance or start your own company.