How to Become a Fashion Designer

To start with, fashion designers make rough sketches on paper. Fashion designer designs using automated computer-aided design (AutoCAD) or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) software. They design and create clothing items and accessories, such as jewellery and handbags. A career as a fashion designer needs to study the trends of the past and present to come up with effective ideas and predict the future. Fashion designer sketches and study the trend in the designs. 

A career as fashion designer needs to attend trade shows and also visit manufacturers to select fabrics and trims. Designers then transform those materials into various types of clothing according to the market demand and also to the specific requirements of the clients. The product is then marketed to retailers and wholesalers.

Research work

The role of Fashion designer in India needs to research current fashion and also make predictions of future trends. He or she needs to even study past fashion trends so that he or she can easily understand the evolutions of fashion trends over the years. In order to be above the rest, it is important for a fashion designer to do a lot of research work.

Drawing

Fashion designers should be experts in bringing the creative ideas of their minds to a piece of paper or screen. They need to sketch on a paper or on the computer screen to have a visual presentation of their design ideas.

Colour selection

Colours bring happiness and liveliness into a person's life. The colour choice of fashion designers should be excellent. The type of colour a person chooses reflects the inner self of that person. Colour selection is important for colour contrasting and designing as well. Every design does not go with every colour. Designers should have a perfect knowledge of colour combinations which is one of the basic reasons why people get attracted to buying clothes.

Apparel Fashion Designer: Apparel designers are also known as clothing designers. They design different types of outfits such as party, casual, morning, and evening wear. These types of fashion designers' careers need to design clothes for fashion shows, events, and also individual clients for their personal requirements. Designers also make clothes for big brands and for retail stores.

Footwear Designer: Footwear Designers design and create different types of footwear. They work in the manufacturing industry, retail companies, and high street shops. They may also collaborate with apparel designers to bring the best product.

Fashion Accessory Designer: Fashion accessory designers design accessories that complement the entire look. They design jewellery, handbags, belts, and other items. Fashion accessory designers also collaborate with footwear and apparel designers to make a bridge between the whole style statement.

Costume Designer: Costume Designers make costumes for motion pictures and television productions. They research the styles worn during the period in which the performance is taking place. These types of fashion designer careers work with directors who select and create appropriate attire according to their production requirements.

Jewellery Designer: Jewellery designer works to produce accessories that match the dress with precious metals such as diamonds, beads, and gemstones. Since ancient times, jewellers have been there, and in movies and shows focused on ancient history, we can experience it. A career as a jewellery designer is not limited to just drawing.  However, their daily working life includes experience and knowledge of design processes such as cutting, forming, polishing, setting stones, stacking, welding, and engraving.

An individual pursuing a career as fashion designer works for manufacturers, wholesalers, design firms, or themselves. A fashion designer career observes past and present trends and supervises the development of new clothing lines. Individuals in fashion designer jobs coordinate the production of clothes for men, women, and children. Footwear designer looks after the production of shoes and boots and other footwear. An accessory designer designs and coordinate the production of hats, glasses, belts, purses, and other accessories. Some fashion designer specializes in certain types of clothing for age groups, body types, and commercial industries. 

A career as fashion designer works in an office environment that is ideally spacious and clean to allow for spreading out fabrics and cutting patterns. A fashion designer's space must have plenty of good light, ample clothes racks, and dress forms. A self-employed designer may work at home or in cost-effective surroundings until he or she can afford a more spacious workplace. A career as fashion designer directly works with clients, making alterations, and organizing fittings for them to match their requirements. A career as fashion designer requires generally working in a studio or a small workshop.

Does Fashion Designer require travelling?

Not Likely

A fashion designer career in India requires occasional travel. A Fashion designer is required to visit the market to purchase materials for designing such as a piece of cloth, thread, buttons, and other items. Individuals in fashion designer jobs also visit fashion shows and other events. He or she sometimes needs to visit other countries as well. A Fashion designer needs to visit New York, Paris, and Rome as there are the main global fashion centres.

Employment Shifts

Full Time, Part Time, Hourly Basis, Work From Home

An individual pursuing a career as fashion designer gets the leisure of working from home and part-time work. A fashion designer works eight to nine hours a day. It might extend to more than forty hours a week on some occasions. A designer generally works in a nine-to-five office environment. Individuals in fashion designer jobs sometimes need to work longer than office time while preparing for fashion shows and events. 

Employment Nature

Contractual, Permanent

Fashion Designer jobs can be both contractual and permanent. Freelance fashion designers usually work on a contractual basis.

Work Place

Private Offices Factory, Office

A career in fashion designing in India typically requires working in an office setup or workshops with plenty of space and racks to place fabrics. The fashion designer who works from home might manage to work in a smaller area. A fashion designer needs to work for a longer duration when he or she is working for an event or needs to complete a client’s order.

Presence in Geographical Area

Semi-urban, Urban

There are negligible opportunities in rural areas. Fashion houses are located in cities with higher densities of the population such as Delhi and Mumbai. There are also opportunities in other metropolitan cities for fashion designers in India. After researching, it is noted that we can consider Mumbai as the fashion hub of India. But that does not mean that other cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, and Gujarat are lagging. Over the past few years, the fashion industry has developed in these regions as people are getting more fashion-conscious.

Time Pressure

Likely

Fashion designing is more of a creative profession. Fashion designers working on a permanent basis hardly face any time pressure. However, one who works as a freelancer for big design organizations is more likely to face time pressure. Also, in situations such as reaching deadlines or project completion, individuals in fashion designer jobs might be required to handle time pressure and work for long hours in order to manage their work.

Overtime Details

Fashion designing is a profession that requires a lot of creativity which sometimes works as a hindrance in accomplishing the projects. Working overtime is quite normal in the profession. Individuals in fashion designer jobs are generally required to work more than their scheduled time.

Weekly Hours of Work

Min 50 Hours

Fashion Designers get the leisure of working from home and part-time work. Individuals in fashion designer jobs work eight to nine hours a day. It might extend to more than forty hours a week on some occasions. For self-employed designers, part-time work may be possible but for keeping themselves ahead of the competition designers sometimes are required to work for long hours.

When it comes to how to become a Fashion Designer after 12th in India, the first thing the candidates should know is the fashion designer skills required for career opportunities in fashion designing. Some of the essential skills we have mentioned are below.

Creativity: Inclinations for all kinds of creative fine arts, is the basic skill that students should possess to become fashion designers. An inherent sense of creativity is necessary to become a fashion designer. Artistry and imagination provide the urge to convert the material into a magnificent piece of art. 

Communication Skills: Communication skills are required to give instructions and being familiar with clients is necessary. On a particular project, one designer cannot work on his own. The designers need to take the help of others in the field. They require collaboration with other designers as well. While working on a project designers must share their ideas to come out with a good piece of work. 

Time Management: The fashion designing profession requires the ability to multitask to satisfy the demand of the clients, within a specific time limit. Designers need to do overtime to complete the tasks in a certain time span. 

Drawing Skills: Drawing skills are necessary for designers to give life to their imagination. A career as a fashion designer converts a piece of cloth into various styles of apparel. Without the ability of drawing, fashion designers cannot convey their creativity to their clients.

Attention to Detail: Fashion designers don’t just need to be good artists but also need to have a good eye for detail. Fashion designers should be able to take care of the minute and elaborate details of garments. Embroidery should be done extremely carefully and minutely. The best fashion designers have amazing taste and a great eye for all the delicate complexities. The ruffles and pleats formed at the end of a skirt, at the waist of a blouse, or on the sleeves are something that needs to be done meticulously.

Visualization: One of the most important fashion designer skills is visualization. Fashion designers must possess strong visualization skills as they need to work for lots of clients along with other fellow colleagues. With strong visualization skills, fashion designers are proficient to bring the best out of their ideas.

Business Sense: Fashion designers need to have a good understanding of markets and businesses. Fashion designers should know the key business areas such as finance and sales. These components are essential to becoming a successful designer. Although creativity is the basic element to become a fashion designer, without knowing the business, designers will not be able to sustain a profitable fashion brand. 

Also read: Career as a footwear designer

Transform your Career with Popular Online Design Courses and Certifications

• Online Interior Design Courses

• Online Fashion Design Courses

• Online Graphic Designing Courses

• Online Web Designing Courses

• Online Jewellery Design Courses

• Online Product Design Courses

• Online Game Design Courses

• Online Design Thinking Courses

• Online Vlsi Design Courses

• View All Online Design Courses

We have mentioned below certifications that individuals may opt for who want to establish a career as fashion designer.

In this section, we have discussed some of the career options in fashion designing or the types of a fashion designer. 

Seamstress or Tailor: Seamstress or a tailor is a dressmaker or hand sewer. Seamstresses or tailors sew the entire outfit and give it the final look. Seamstresses need to be proficient in all sorts of techniques and tools of the trade.

Fashion Stylist: Fashion stylists work for individuals, fashion houses, and clothing brands. They provide fashion advice; choose and coordinate outfits and accessories for models in photo shoots or actors in television and film. These types of fashion designer careers help the client to dress up according to the occasion using outfits and accessories. To create magnificent looks, the wearer needs to master the art of visual balance by being able to choose the right outfit suiting the purpose, body type, and personality of the particular wearer.

Junior Fashion Designer: Junior fashion designers research fashion trends, and assist with designing fashion ranges and sources of fabric and trims. These types of fashion designers careers work under the supervision of famous fashion designers in big fashion houses.

Fashion Merchandiser: The fashion merchandisers decide what merchandise to stock for a brand by analyzing the past buying patterns of their customers. These types of fashion designer careers often work with the management to plan budgets and products that will bring revenue.

Fashion Director: Fashion directors have an intimate knowledge of various market trends and they use this knowledge to develop marketing and branding strategies and navigate market trends. These types of fashion designer careers need to travel and they are required to attend fashion shows in different countries. Fashion directors can forecast fashion trends, have strong communication skills, and be experts in design and color.

India is a country where ancient clothing and emerging fashion trend play an important role. Fashion designers in India are about fashion photography, pattern making, garment construction, accessory designing, textile research and development, fabric weaving, make-up artists, modelling, fashion journalism or editorial, and also manufacturing. Fashion designers on a number of occasions also collaborate with Costume Designers, Jewellery Designers and Footwear Designers for fashion shows and other such events. 

The Indian fashion industry’s current size is worth Rs. 1,000 crores, whereas the market size is approximated to be Rs.20,000 crore. Because of the large Indian young population, the Indian fashion industry has a bright future. A fashion designer career offers opportunities for hard-working, artistic, and enthusiastic people. The emerging industry has a promising outlook for fashion design graduates. Boutiques, garment store chains, textile mills, export houses, leather companies, fashion show organizers, and jewellery houses recruit graduates of this stream.

Students also liked

• Online Degree and Diploma Courses

• Online Free Courses and Certifications

• Online Short Term Courses and Certifications

• Online Certification Courses

• View List of all Online Courses and Certifications

• Top Certification Course Providers