Career options after completing a degree in Fashion Design

Fashion is imagination and creativity at its thriving best!

As a child, if you were inclined towards picking perfectly matched shoes with your outfit, pairing it up with the right headband, jewellery, and purse, you’ve had it in you since the very beginning!

While it was playing ‘dress up’ in your early years, Fashion has pivoted to a professional and mainstream career path for those who want to pursue it.

Fashion entails constant evolution of ideas, concepts, construction, and putting together the final product. Fashion is not just limited to apparel, but can include jewellery designing, accessory designing, etc. It is a 360 degree approach towards fabricating what you’ve dreamt of. So, it’s almost like realising your dream!

Fashion designing equips one with adequate training to realise that dream. The course teaches fashion industry aspirants the various processes required to produce a garment. The students work on ideation/moodboard, sketching, identification, and understanding of fabrics, finishing the garment, and finally presenting.

One of the most thriving & ever-evolving industries is Fashion. The field of fashion is lucrative and a degree in fashion design serves as an adequate launch pad for it’s many avenues.

State of the art education at the most sought-after institutes in the country enables young, creative individuals with talent to fulfill their dream of being associated with the Fashion Industry. India, Delhi has the most promising and successful Design Schools. The top Fashion Design Institutes in Delhi educate the finest and the most driven individuals.

The glitz, glamour, and flamboyance that is part of this industry surely allures creative minds to pursue it, however, mainstream designing involves much more :

• Research about the type of garment
• Brainstorm the concept
• Sketch the garment
• Develop the concept
• Source material AND deal with vendors
• Manage a team
• Rework the garments as per feedback
• Final completion of the garment

On completion of the fashion designing course, there are a number of avenues to choose from. Some are listed below.

Fashion Designer: As the course name suggests, the focus area of the degree is to produce Fashion Designers. Creating the garment/product post extensive research and trend analysis is the most important designation at a Design house/brand. It nurtures the student from step one, of conceptualizing to the final product on the ramp. While the competition in the World Of Fashion is cutthroat and there are many other interesting sub-avenues that stem from Fashion Design, you may want to explore a few.

Fashion Stylist: As much as styling is an inherent talent, it’s a skill that requires brushing up with a Design degree. Styling is not merely an art that requires putting together an outfit/concept by adding accessories, it requires understanding of the composition of those elements, and a Design course serves as a pathway for that. Fashion stylists must have an adequate understanding of trends, fabrics, colors, and knowledge of fabric construction in addition to a great aesthetic sense. Design training allows one to get an advanced sense of which fabric to match with the other, makeup, accessories, and the like.

Fashion Illustrator: Basis the concept from the Designer, a Fashion Illustrator is responsible for curating sketches and graphics that help understand the details of the design. These may be digital illustrations or paper sketches, but they must essentially demonstrate the theme/concept as briefed by the designer. He/she must have a specific inclination towards sketching or drawing. Fashion illustrators curate silhouettes, detailed illustrations, graphics for magazines, newspapers and other mediums that require visual display of the designers concept. Working on perfecting this skill will open a great number of avenues for those passionate about the same.

Fashion Journalists: A creative writer whose writing is streamlined towards fashion and trends. Someone who has a keen eye for detail and is up to date with styles and trends. The understanding and study of the intricacies of Fashion enable a Fashion Journalist to write a more evolved and accurate copy. A degree in Fashion Design would enable a Fashion writer to be more articulate and precise in archiving a certain trend. He/she plays an influential role in making everyone notice what’s new and deserves mention or recognition. Bringing Designers to the forefront with their new concepts and collections depends on the creative call that a Fashion Writer takes.

Fashion Coordinator: Research and understanding the consumer psyche are the basic coursework in a Fashion Design degree. Fashion coordinators, popularly known as Fashion Directors at companies are those who keep a close track of design trends, consumer behaviour and are meant to accurately assess the future trends as well. They helm the design sensibility of a Brand/Company. An accurate trend anticipation stems from the understanding of the fundamentals of design. A degree in Fashion Design nurtures one’s confidence and skill to be able to do so. Fashion coordinators play an important role in laying the foundation of a company/brand's design aesthetic. If a qualified designer is on this job, they’d not only adhere to the trend forecast but also be able to rationalise the same.

Fashion Consultant: Similar to Stylists, Fashion Consultants are appointed by companies or retail stores to give professional fashion advice & recommendations to those who require guidance. A Fashion Consultant would be able to develop a more refined understanding of collections, themes, colours, what works for a particular season and what doesn’t after having studied the various aspects of Design. A Fashion Consultant is representative of a Brands Design philosophy. He/she should be able to communicate and put together elements that are symbolic of the same. A design degree enhances his/her ability to do so.

Fashion Visual Merchandiser : While Designers conceptualise and produce the product, Visual Merchandisers augment the environment in which they are displayed, to match the Brand aesthetics & theme. The degree in Design enables a visual merchandiser to create an environment that attracts the buyer to connect the display theme with the product and ultimately incline towards the brand. To be able to construct an accurate set up and theme that seamlessly compliments the garment/product, one needs to have a profound understanding of it. The design details ultimately blend with the store, magazine display/layout, and henceforth play a crucial role in adding to it. It catches the attention of the customer/buyer and results in sales.

The art of designing is a mix of creativity, skill & execution. It is essential to strengthen the Fashion acumen of an individual and make it stronger for any sub-avenue within the boundaries of the Fashion Industry. Once you ace the training in Design, the sub-avenues of Fashion Design becomes relatively easy to pursue.

The most sought after colleges tie up with highly ranked Universities from across the globe to provide the best possible exposure to their students. Along with polishing your design skill, this journey will impart a sense of discipline, the ability to handle pressure and deadlines. An array of internships, exchange programs and interaction with artists and designers from across the world turn you into a well-trained individual to take on the challenges of the chosen career path in the realm of Fashion