Design Your Career In The Fashion Industry

As new collections are still fresh in the fashionistas minds, and await store arrival Creative Skillset has some top tips on getting into the world of fashion design.

There is a wide range of job opportunities in the fashion design industry, whether you want to start a career in designing clothing, fabric, footwear or accessories. Job roles include in-house designers, design consultants, freelance designers, couturiers and bespoke tailors.

For aspiring designers the competition for jobs is tough but the opportunities are there. So what can you do to get a head start? Hard work, enthusiasm and a bit of luck will all help, but there are things you can do that will get you on the right track.

Fashion designers have an exciting and often demanding career in a competitive industry, so it’s important to have the relevant skills and interests. This includes having a creative eye for colour and shape, having a keen interest in fashion trends past and future, the ability to draw and convey designs effectively and developing the technical skills specific to your area of the industry.

Whether you aspire to work in a couture fashion house or for a high-street retailer, all fashion design companies need designers who have a mix of creative and technical skills. Many companies will look for people with relevant qualifications, such as a degree. When choosing your study route it is important to find a course that will give a range of both practical (drawing) and technical (sewing and pattern-making) skills, as this is what employers are looking for.

Vocational routes are also available and apprenticeships are a new and exciting route into the fashion and textiles industry. You’ll have the opportunity to learn on the job and develop the specialist knowledge and skills specifically required by the industry, whilst gaining a nationally recognised qualification.

Creative Skillset fashion and textiles apprenticeships cover 12 sectors of the industry:

• Apparel
• Product Development and Sourcing
• Dry Cleaning
• Saddlery
• Footwear
• Tailoring
• Laundry
• Technical Textiles
• Leather Goods
• Textile Care Services (Laundry and Dry Cleaning)
• Leather Production
• Textiles

And Creative Skillset has just launched the first ever Higher Level Apprenticeship in Fashion and Textiles that will provide level 4 training (equivalent to the first year of university). Building on the existing level 2 and 3 apprenticeships, the Fashion and Textiles Technical Higher Level Apprenticeship is currently available in two routes: Technical Textiles and Product Development Sourcing. To be kept informed of apprenticeships news and vacancies, sign up to our fashion and textiles apprenticeship Facebook page.

If you are looking at either apprenticeships or university courses, one way to be sure that you’re going to get the skills and knowledge needed by the industry is to Pick the Tick. The Creative Skillset Tick signposts courses and apprenticeship programmes that have earned industry approval for providing the most up-to-date relevant training available. Browse the fashion and textiles apprenticeships that have been awarded the Creative Skillset Tick.

Many students also find that undertaking work experience in a fashion design company can be a good way of gaining entry into a career in fashion as you can build up key industry networks and contacts. It’s also important to build up a design portfolio of your work that you can take to interviews.

Find out more about the different routes into the fashion and textiles industry on the Creative Skillset website. You can also stay up-to-date with careers and fashion and textiles industry news by following Creative Skillset on twitter @SkillsetSSC.