Skip to main content
National Careers Service

beta How could we improve this service? Your feedback will help.

  1. Home
  2. Explore careers
  3. Fashion designer

Fashion designer

Alternative titles for this job include

Fashion designers produce new clothing and fashion ranges using their creative and technical skills.

Average salary (a year)

£24,000 Starter

to

£40,000 Experienced

Typical hours (a week)

40 to 42 variable

You could work

evenings / weekends / bank holidays attending events or appointments

How to become

Explore the different ways to get into this role.

How to become

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • a college course

University

You'll usually need a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree.

Courses are widely available and include:

  • fashion design
  • art and design
  • garment technology
  • textiles

You should look for a course that covers both design and technical skills to get the practical knowledge needed by the industry.

Several universities and colleges that run courses are members of the British Fashion Council, which promotes strong links with employers in the fashion trade.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

More Information

College

You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need to work in the fashion industry as an assistant.

Subjects include:

  • fashion
  • fashion and textiles
  • craft and design

Once you've gained some experience with an employer, you may be able to do further training to become a fashion designer.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

More Information

Volunteering

You'll need to get as much work experience as you can, for example through an internship, as there's strong competition for jobs in the fashion industry.

This can help you get a better understanding of the role, and to meet people who may help you to find paid work later on.

The British fashion industry supports initiatives like the National Saturday Club for young people aged 13 to 16, looking to learn about fashion careers.

More Information

Career tips

You can create a portfolio of your design work to showcase your skills, which will help you in course and job interviews.

Your portfolio should include mood boards, designs, technical drawings and examples of completed fashion items you have made.

Further information

You can find more details about working in fashion from:

What it takes

Find out what skills you’ll use in this role.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You'll need:

  • design skills and knowledge
  • the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
  • the ability to use your initiative
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • the ability to work well with your hands
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

What you’ll do

Discover the day to day tasks you’ll do in this role.

What you'll do

Day-to-day tasks

As a fashion designer, you could:

  • identify trends in fabrics, colours, prints and shapes
  • develop new concepts and mood boards (a collection of items to capture a mood, like photos, fabric pieces or colour samples)
  • create sketches and designs by hand or with computer-aided design (CAD) software
  • work with product development teams to manage quality and costs
  • supervise design assistants and patternmakers when making up product samples
  • present ranges to production managers, merchandisers and customers

Working environment

You could work in a workshop or in a creative studio.

Career path and progression

Look at progression in this role and similar opportunities.

Career path and progression

With experience you could become a:

  • senior designer
  • head of a fashion department
  • creative director

You might specialise in particular collections, for example childrenswear or sportswear, or move into other parts of the fashion business like marketing or buying.

You could develop business skills and go freelance, or start your own fashion company.

You may wish to pass on your skills and knowledge to students by teaching fashion design at college or university.

Current opportunities

Find apprenticeships, courses and jobs available near you.

Current opportunities

Apprenticeships In England

We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a fashion designer right now.

The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.

Courses In England

Fashion

  • Provider: NORTH KENT COLLEGE
  • Start date: 08 September 2025
  • Location: Dartford

Diploma in Fashion & Textiles

  • Provider: SOUTH & CITY COLLEGE BIRMINGHAM
  • Start date: 26 September 2025
  • Location: Birmingham
Find courses near you

Jobs In the United Kingdom

The Find a job service can help you with your search for jobs and send alerts when new jobs become available.

Search further careers

Related careers

Skills assessment

Take an assessment to learn more about your skills and the careers that might suit you.

Speak to an adviser

You can call 0800 100 900 or use webchat to speak to an adviser.

We're open:

  • 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday
  • 10am to 5pm Saturdays and bank holidays

We're closed on Sundays, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Is this page useful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback.

Thank you for your feedback. Click here if you'd like to let us know how we can improve the service.