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While you won't need any formal continuing education courses, it's important that you stay up to date on current trends in the fashion world. Fashion trends change very quickly, and if you fall behind you'll quickly find it hard to continue working in fashion. The best way to keep on top of trends is to immerse yourself in fashion. Read fashion magazines. Publications like Vogue and GQ feature current and burgeoning fashion trends, as well as fashion advice and interviews with designers. Attend fashion shows. If you live in a big city this should be fairly easy, but if you live in a smaller town you can still find shows put on by local brands or retailers. Observe how people and storefronts are dressed. You can people watch in the park, or walk around the big shopping district in your local city, and take note of what people and mannequins are wearing. Follow fashion designers online. If you have some fashion designers whose work you admire, follow them on social media (especially Instagram, but also Twitter and Facebook) to see what they're working on and what inspires them. The specifics of your work will vary, depending on what areas you focus on and which positions you apply to. Generally, if you are working in fashion design, you may start out working as an assistant designer. Duties for this position may include: designing garment instructions (also called "briefs") producing concept and mood boards, which include photographs, fabric samples, and color samples using patterns to design and cut basic shapes (called "blocks") sewing together materials to create garments and accessories If you graduated with an impressive portfolio or have worked for a while as an assistant designer, you may advance to a more creative position. The specifics will once again vary, depending on where you work and what area you concentrate in, but general duties may include: choosing collection themes selecting fabrics, colors, and/or styles for garments using CAD programs to create original designs presenting design ideas to your creative director supervising sample garment construction If your a dedicated designer and you're ready to spread your wings, you may be considering starting your own fashion design label. However, it can be very difficult to get such a venture off the ground. Think very carefully about what you'll need in order to start a business, and consider whether or not this option is right for you. Many designers dream of running a fashion label, but most don't realize that you need a great deal of money and connections. You need to know people who will help you get clients, publish/distribute photo shoots, put on fashion shows, and so forth. If you want to get a ready-to-wear company started, you'll need around $2 million to $3 million to get it off the ground. Fabric samples alone can cost around $100,000 each season. Remember that you'll need a strong business sense to manage your own design label. It's essentially the same as starting your own business: you'll need to hire (and pay) employees, balance your budget, manage expenses, and make executive decisions to keep your business afloat. Be aware that not every label is an instant success. Some labels take years to gain recognition, while others simply run out of money and/or patience after a year or two. Whether you advance to a more corporate position or have a background in business administration, you may decide to work on the business side of fashion. Duties may include: analyzing and predicting fashion trends estimating material and manufacturing costs finding suppliers marketing designs to retailers and/or consumers
Stay up to date on fashion trends. Assist a designer. Create your own designs. Consider starting a label. Work on the business side of fashion.