The Role of a Fashion Designer

What, exactly, does a fashion designer do?

Basically, with splashes of style, originality, and inspiration, the role of fashion designers is to create sketches of clothing and accessories. Most fashion designers usually focus on one line of apparel such as men's apparel, swimwear, lingerie, children's garments, handbags, and even shoes. The role of fashion designers might also be setting the groundwork of the creation and promotion of their creations.

Many famous fashion designers prefer to outfit their clients on a personal basis. Some provide services to high-fashion department stores or to specialty stores. It’s the high-profile fashion designers that establish fashion statements by setting the colors, silhouette, and type of materials that are worn each season.

The role of fashion designers that are employed by clothing manufacturers is to just adapt fashion statements set by other designers for the market.
 
Both types of fashion designers sketch unique garments and follow certain trends in fashion. Likewise, both need assistants who should get used to the fast-paced schedule of the fashion business.

In detail, these fashion designers execute the following tasks:

• Create their unique designs.
• Create patterns for sample garments.
• Choose textile and accessories.
• Apply tailoring and basic dressmaking principles along with draping techniques and flat pattern works.
• Fit and alter the completed product, if necessary.
• Set-up a fashion show.
• Compare the performance of the merchandise against the competitors.
• Keep self up-to-date of latest fashion trends.
• Keep self updated of latest fabrics.

There are several levels of fashion designers as you can see below:

Lead or Head Designers

The role of these fashion designers is to take care of the executive and creative tasks.

Assistant or Apprentice Designers

They usually make patterns and sample garments. They may also teach sample makers how to make patterns and designer garments.

Specialty Designers

They coordinate with other designers about special lines of garments.

Costume or Theatrical Designers

They usually create costumes used in theater and movie productions on a contractual basis.

It takes more than talent and desire to become a fashion designer. You must have a good education too. A good designer must have good technical skills such as the use of technical blueprints, drawings, plans, and models. Designers must have the ability to approach problems creatively and resourcefully in order to analyze implications of new information and materials at hand. They need to consider the requirements of design execution. And as with most jobs, they must be able to handle people and understand the inner workings of an organization.

Fashion designers must have business management skills, and a good formal education helps acquire the secrets of the trade. In fact, graduation from a college or school that provides training on fashion and design is highly recommended in the industry, to keep incoming designers updated on the advent of new techniques and technologies.

However, some leaders of this industry view vocational training schools and community college as more capable of producing competent artists because these institutions work along with clothing industries.

Vocational schools provide trainings in sketching, draping and grading, pattern making, garment construction, textiles and trimmings, costume history, principles of design and color; and how to plan and market seasonal fashion lines.

If you are a high school student and want a career in fashion, you should finish basic courses in arts, sewing, mathematics, speech, English, and business.

Usually, vocational institutions provide a two-level program with certificate that is on level of an Associate of Arts degree. For those who want to enter the fashion field immediately, a first level certificate of proficiency is provided. The second-level of proficiency requires a greater time of completion. But upon graduation, artists are considered competent enough to aim for positions as Assistant Designers. The role of fashion designer can be financially, creatively, and emotionally rewarding, so if that is your dream, go for it.