Education and Training

• According to the BLS, employers seek individuals who have a 2- or 4-year degree. They must be familiar with fabrics, textiles, ornamentation, and fashion trends. Fashion design futures can be found with a bachelor of fine arts degree or an associate degree program. Fashion designers often combine their degree with marketing, business, or fashion merchandising. The combination of these degrees can help pave the pathway toward their own business, boutique or other retail store. Look for a school that is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
  Basic coursework includes textiles, color, sewing, fashion history, computer-aided design (CAD) and different styles of clothing, such as footwear and menswear.
  
  

Experience

• According to BLS, necessary skills can also be learned through internships with manufacturing or design firms. Designers can also learn through working within retail stores, as tailors or personal stylists. Internship experience can help an aspiring designer gain business experience as well as having a hands-on experience with fabrics and what looks good.
  Experience within a major fashion center, such as Milan, Tokyo or Paris can provide an international edge, as well as cultural versatility.
  Designers can gain exposure, while building their portfolio through entering student or amateur design contests.
  
  

Other Qualifications

• According to the Occupational Information Network (O*Net), aspiring fashion designers must have certain knowledge, skills and abilities to pursue a career within fashion. Their knowledge must be within design, the English language, and production and processing. Should they be working overseas or communicating with others overseas, they must learn the language of that country. Common skills are in time management, critical thinking, coordination, operations analysis and more. Abilities they must have are oral expression and comprehension, originality, near vision, fluency of ideas and more.
  
  

Advancement

• According to BLS, beginning fashion designers start as sketching assistants or pattern makers. Experienced designers may get promoted to positions such as chief designer, department head in design or a supervisor position. Some designers may begin their own business or sell their designs to retail stores. Few designers end up working for high-end fashion designs houses that are geared toward wealthy clients.
  
  

Portfolio

• Building a portfolio is vital for a fashion designer to showcase her work. A solid portfolio is the deciding factor of whether a person gets the job. Despite the advances in technology and the popular use of CAD, good sketchers have an advantage.