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Fashion Designers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.

Related: Commercial & Industrial Designers Costume Attendants Fabric & Apparel Patternmakers Sewers, Hand Tailors, Dressmakers, & Custom Sewers

Industries: Wholesale/Commercial Sales Management Retail Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Purchase new or used clothing and accessory items as needed to complete designs.
Read scripts and consult directors and other production staff to develop design concepts and plan productions.
Draw patterns for articles designed, cut patterns, and cut material according to patterns, using measuring instruments and scissors.
Provide sample garments to agents and sales representatives, and arrange for showings of sample garments at sales meetings or fashion shows.
Design custom clothing and accessories for individuals, retailers, or theatrical, television, or film productions.
Develop a group of products or accessories, and market them through venues such as boutiques or mail-order catalogs.
Research the styles and periods of clothing needed for film or theatrical productions.
Adapt other designers' ideas for the mass market.
Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
Select materials and production techniques to be used for products.
Identify target markets for designs, looking at factors such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments.
Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
Sew together sections of material to form mockups or samples of garments or articles, using sewing equipment.
Read scripts and consult directors and other production staff to develop design concepts and plan productions.
Visit textile showrooms to keep up-to-date on the latest fabrics.
Develop a group of products or accessories, and market them through venues such as boutiques or mail-order catalogs.
Attend fashion shows and review garment magazines and manuals to gather information about fashion trends and consumer preferences.
Collaborate with other designers to coordinate special products and designs.
Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.

Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.

Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

77990/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

37.5/hr

Currently Employed

760

Yearly Projected Openings

Artistic: People interested in this work like activities that include creating, designing, and making your own rules. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Initiative
Achievement/Effort
Cooperation
Adaptability/Flexibility
Innovation

Cloth cutting machines
Curves
Desktop computers
Domestic clothing irons
Full body form or mannequin
Graphics tablets
Ironing machines or presses
Laser printers
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Scales
Scanners
Sewing machines
Sewing needles
Sewing patterns
Shears
Steam pressing machines
T squares
Tape measures

Accounting software
Analytical or scientific software
Computer aided design CAD software
Desktop publishing software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Program testing software
Spreadsheet software
Web platform development software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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