Become a Fashion Designer

The top end of fashion design brings fame, riches and one of the most glamorous lifestyles around. But very few people make it to the highest level, and even those who work in fashion design on a day-to-day basis – designing clothes for high street stores, for example - have beaten off severe competition to do so.

But if you’ve set your heart on working in the rag trade, how do you start, and how do you progress? There are 2,500 fashion graduates who emerge into the working world every year, yet few jobs for them to go into - and these often aren't formally advertised.

You don’t have to have a degree to become a fashion designer, but it certainly helps. The story that Helmut Lang opened his own clothing store when he couldn't find a T-shirt he liked makes entering the business sound far more straightforward than it is.

If you choose to do a degree, it’s crucial to take one with a work-placement element, to prepare you for the business side of things. Talk to your school’s careers officer, or visit Connexions or Aimhigher to find the right course for you.

While on your course, try to cultivate a broad range of skills, such as research, flat pattern cutting, tailoring, modelling on the stand, garment construction, drawing, illustration and presentation skills. You need to gain any advantage you can over rival aspiring designers.

Don’t restrict yourself to just one field of fashion design. There are many areas, from lingerie, knitwear, footwear and accessories, to children’s wear, womenswear, menswear, textiles and millinery (hats). Don’t confuse tailoring with fashion design. Tailoring is a craft best learnt by being an apprentice to an established tailor, and is dominated by menswear. Fashion design is, arguably, an art - and one that follows the seasons and changes every six months.

It’s important to be realistic about what you can achieve in the business. No one should go into it just for money, and you have to be genuinely passionate to succeed. You need talent, originality, versatility and a keen sense of business.

To secure your crucial first job, you need to keep knocking on doors. It’s no good sending just a CV to a potential employer. You need to take a portfolio of your work so that people can see your potential.

While design studios do take on young talent, there are more jobs designing mass-produced high street clothes.

Newly qualified designers usually need to begin at a junior level in order to build up experience. They may first be employed as design room assistants, then progress to assistant designers, with responsibilities such as drawing up technical specifications for manufacturers, making up ‘mood boards’ (drawings of designs), and possibly taking responsibility for a small area of a range.

It could take up to five years to progress to the position of designer.

According to the British Fashion Council, a designer just starting out can expect to earn between £14,000 and £16,000. Experienced designers may earn from £25,000 upwards.

Of course, some fashion mavericks don’t go to college at all. You can start off designing clothes and selling them on a market stall or adapting vintage clothing.

But if you go down this route, you need to not only have all the requisite design talents, you need a good head for business, too. If you don’t have that, team up with someone who does. Otherwise, you’ll become one of the hundreds of British designers who fail each year because of lack of business skills.

Further information, check out the following sites from the Design Council, Department of Education and Skills and the Chartered Society of Designers.