Fashion designers are responsible for coming up with new designs for everything from department store brands to haute couture fashion houses. Fashion designers research trends in colors, shapes and styles, in order to come up with design sketches that balance innovation and conceptual design with the restrictions of the production process.
Designers choose the specific fabrics that will be used and may be responsible for overseeing a support staff of seamstresses and pattern-makers. Fashion designers typically specialize in a particular area of design, like shoes, lingerie or haute couture design.
Careers in Fashion Merchandising
Fashion merchandisers are responsible for determining which brands and styles of clothing a store will carry during any given season. They must stay on top of upcoming design trends and determine which styles of clothing best fit with the stores marketing perspective. For example, a fashion merchandiser for Macys will choose different styles and price-points than a buyer for Wal-Mart.
Fashion merchandisers must also understand principles of consumer psychology in order to create a store layout and collection that encourages customer buying. Some merchandisers are responsible for negotiating deals with suppliers, while some stores hire separate buyers to perform this task.
Careers in Fashion Marketing
There are a number of different careers within the field of fashion marketing. For example, a fashion writer might review the latest styles for publications like Vogue or Marie Claire, while a fashion photographer might take the images that appear in these publications. Fashion promoters are typically employed by designers and fashion houses to attract media attention to their brands. They may solicit celebrities to wear a designer’s gown to a major awards show or advertise a fashion house’s upcoming runway show.
Support Careers
The fashion industry can’t survive on designers alone. Once a designer has come up with a new sketch, a whole team of seamstresses, pattern-makers and other assistants is needed to translate the design into a physical garment. Seamstresses are responsible for putting together test garments and fitting finished products to models’ measurements. Pattern-makers work from test garments to put together the blueprints that manufacturers will use to mass-produce garments, and assistants work to take care of the designers administrative responsibilities so that they can focus exclusively on design.
Costume Designers
If you have an eye for fashion, but don’t want to spend your days in the pressure and stress-filled world of high fashion, you might want to consider a career as a costume designer. Costume designers are employed by regional and national stage productions, TV shows and Hollywood movies, and are typically in charge of selecting outfits for actors and their characters. Depending on the production, they may need to research the historical authenticity of a particular costume piece, or design and produce new costumes if the right piece can’t be found. Costume designers must also take a number of different factors into consideration, including how a costume will appear from a distance and whether or not it can be removed quickly for a fast-change scene.
