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Career Exploration

Fashion Designers

Also called: Costume Designer, Designer, Fashion Designer, Product Developer

What they do:

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

On the job, you would:
  • 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.
  • Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
On the job, you'll need:

Engineering and Technology

  • design

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Manufactured or Agricultural Goods

  • manufacture and distribution of products

Basic Skills

  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Social

  • changing what is done based on other people's actions
  • understanding people's reactions

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say

Ideas and Logic

  • create new and original ideas
  • come up with lots of ideas

Attention

  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Artistic

People interested in this work like activities that include creating, designing, and making your own rules.

  • Attention to Detail
  • Innovation
  • Dependability
  • Initiative
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Achievement/Effort

Computer aided design CAD software

  • Autodesk Revit
  • Trimble SketchUp Pro

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Graphics or photo imaging software

  • Adobe Creative Cloud software
  • Adobe Illustrator

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Average.

New job opportunities are likely in the future.

Median Annual Salary: $76,700

Education

Associate's degree or some college is usually needed.