Fashion design

Designing clothes and accessories is a very popular and competitive field. Most people think haute couture when they think fashion design, but in reality, the majority of fashion designers go to work for mass market design ‘houses’, producing recognisable high-street brands, such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge, H&M, Marks & Spencer, or ‘George’ at Asda.

The work involves drawing sketches (by hand or on a computer), selecting fabrics, creating patterns and samples all to an internal (for example, head of fashion) or external (for example, fashion buyer) client’s brief. Some fashion designers are given very loose briefs (for example, just the colour and fabric) and develop the product from this.

One of the best things about the job is seeing your creations being worn in the street. Trips abroad to fashion shows (for research, of course!), or fabric houses are other perks, plus you’ll be first to hear of the sales at the high-end fashion houses – but you may have to wait a while to rub shoulders with Betty Jackson or Alexander McQueen.

Starting out as a graduate fashion designer

As a new graduate you’ll most likely start out as a design room assistant to gain experience and build your portfolio before being promoted to a more senior position, such as assistant designer. 

There’s a great deal of on-the-job training but you might consider doing a postgraduate course to get ahead. Competition for jobs is fierce and you often have to complete unpaid work experience before getting your first paid job.

'One of the best things about the job is seeing your creations being worn in the street. Trips abroad to fashion shows (for research, of course!), or fabric houses are other perks.'

Fashion designers may be employed or freelance. Employed designers will typically work regular office hours, although long hours may be required sometimes to meet client deadlines. Freelance designers mainly charge per design or per collection.

Skills for graduate jobs in fashion design

Bags of creativity and technical hands-on design skills are essential, along with up-to-date knowledge of consumer trends within your chosen area of design. You will also need a degree of numeracy and commercial awareness to factor in production time and cost - the majority of fashion designers have to design within tight commercial (read ‘cost’) constraints.