A Day in the Life of a Fashion Designer Careers
Ever wonder what Giorgio Armani, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan, and Ralph Lauren doall the time? Work! Few other professions depend so much on keeping on top of fickle popularopinion and watching what competitors produce. The life of a designer is intimatelylinked to tastes and sensibilities that change at a moment’s notice, and he or she must be ableto capitalize on or—even better—influence those opinions. Designers reflect society’s sensibilitiesthrough clothing design. “You have to know just about everything that’s been donebefore so that you can recognize it when it becomes popular again,” wrote one respondent.Fashion designers are involved in every phase of designing, showing,and producing all types of clothing, from bathing suits toevening gowns. Those with talent, vision, determination, and ambitioncan succeed in this difficult, demanding, and highly competitive industry.Fashion design can be more glamorous than a 1940s Hollywood musical or drearier thana bank statement, but it’s always taxing. A designer’s day includes reading current fashionmagazines, newspapers, and other media that reflect current trends and tastes. He or shelooks at materials, attends fashion shows, and works with other designers on projects. Adesigner should be able to communicate his or her philosophy, vision, and capabilities clearlyand comprehensively through sketches, discussions, and, occasionally, samples. No matterwhat his or her personal style is, a designer must produce a creative, exciting, and profitableproduct line.As in most professions that produce superstars, it is easy for a competent but otherwiseunremarkable designer to wallow in obscurity, designing small pieces of collections, genericlines (the plain white boxer short, for example), or specialties (cuffs, ruffles, etc.). The personalitythat raises itself above this level must be as large as the vision of the designer; perhapsthat’s why the word “crazy” showed up in more than 75 percent of our surveys as a plus in fashiondesign.
Paying Your Dues to Become a Fashion Designer
People entering the field should have a good eye for color, style, and shape, an ability tosketch, and some formal preparation in design. An excellent portfolio is a must for the jobsearch. A two- or four-year degree in fashion design is helpful, as is knowledge of textiles anda familiarity with the quirks of a variety of fabrics, but no formal certification is required.Candidates should have a working knowledge of business and marketing. The hours are longfor a fashion designer, and the initial pay is very limited. This is one of those hit-or-missoccupations where beginners work as someone’s assistant until, when they can muster upenough confidence in their abilities and sell that confidence to their superiors, they design afew pieces themselves. The superstar rise is an unlikely event, but it happens. Based on thenumber of “international star designers” in the last 10 years and the number of people whohave entered the profession, the estimated odds of becoming an internationally famousdesigner are roughly 160,000:1.
Present and Future Outlook for Fashion Designer Careers
With the invention of the sewing machine by Elias Howe in 1846, cheap reproduciblegarments became available to the public. Individuals could rapidly design and commissiontheir own wardrobes. Fashion opened up to the public. At its highest levels, called “couture,”fashion is available only to the wealthy—couture dresses and gowns can sell for more than$20,000 each. But the concept of fashion, applied to the world at large, has become a democraticprinciple.As the fashion market expands, some predictors hold that pockets of smaller, moreunique brands of clothing will be marketed over television, the Internet, and the mail. Theability to reach large numbers of people for little cost will determine if this future is real ormerely a pipe dream dangled in front of young, aspiring fashion designers.
Quality of Life
PRESENT AND FUTURE
Surprisingly few people (less than 8 percent) leave the profession in these roughearly years, perhaps because they are prepared for the rigorous, unremunerativeentry-level jobs. The hours are long, and the duties are ill defined; one day the dutiesmay include tracking down magazine articles on the resurgence of 1970s style, and on anotherday, duties may include finding the phone numbers of five dance clubs and finding outwhich night is most popular with the 19–27-year-old crowd. Connections and networking areimportant during these early years; most designers learn as much about the business as theycan. Some of them take part-time jobs in other fields to pay the rent.
FIVE YEARS OUT
Frustration with the slow pace of progression, a leveling of responsibilities for peoplewho have failed to rise, and increased competition for the few available jobs arecited as the main reasons for a massive professional exodus; nearly 50 percent leavethe profession at this point. Individuals who remain are actually designing partial lines andsimple pieces. Designers gain valuable experience around this time working with productionand advertising people.
TEN YEARS OUT
As competent and proven “senior designers,” 10-year veterans have specialized areasof responsibility. One may be in charge of shepherding all designs through the productionprocess. Another may be in charge of scheduling lines based on season andavailable fabrics. A third may be in charge of overseeing the young designers and their partiallines, scouting for talent. They become both producers and educators, as newer designerslook to them for advice and guidance. Wages are solid, the hours are long but manageable,and connections are extensive. The constant challenge 10-year designers face is in reinventingthemselves and proving themselves relevant in the fast-changing world of fashion design.
