How to start a career as a fashion designer

Starting a career as a fashion designer will take years of training, education and experience, but above all, a designer needs artistic talent. Fashion recruitment is not as visible as recruitment for some other careers. This article discusses a few ways to get started in a career in fashion.

How to qualify as a fashion designer

To start a career as a fashion designer, a candidate would need to know whether he has talent and skills in visual arts. A fashion designer needs to be good with shape and colour, to understand the human body, and to appreciate that different fabrics and cuts behave differently when worn. Basic Arts training Taking Art as a GCSE and A level qualification should deliver a wide range of skills and tests of talent and aptitude. Designing or adapting clothes to wear in everyday life will also provide experience and gain useful feedback. Passing the textile option in a Technology & Design exam would be a useful step towards the qualification.

Professional training

One of the best ways to start a career in the fashion industry is to take a university degree in Fashion Design at a specialist and reputable college, often known as a fashion school. Fashion designers are at the top of the industry tree, and need the authority of higher education. Fashion school Fashion school is often the place where first professional opportunities will arise. College competitions and exhibitions are staples in this kind of education, and bring public attention to student creations. During training, students will usually have the opportunity to get into contact with industry practitioners which may lead to building an individual fashion network and even to internships, or design jobs in the UK.

Gaining experience

It may be that university training is not available, perhaps because a steady income is essential from an early age. Jobs in fashion are available through working in a fashion retail. Store management or fashion department retail management are solid careers to aim for those who could allow for training and higher education part-time. Retail fashion careers Retail recruitment is much more transparent and locally available than recruitment inside the fashion industry. Here, design aptitude would be put to good use in the display and customer interaction side of retail, or you can also train as a fashion buyer for a retail chain.