Modern Challenges Aspiring Fashion Designers Have To Face

Fashion design is one of the most creative and innovative jobs in the whole world and can be a lucrative career for top designers.

The global fashion market has an estimated value of $8 Billion, where world-famous fashion brands like Chanel and Burberry are making a huge amount of profits. Starting out in a career in fashion design can be very exciting, but it is not an easy path to tread.

Here are five modern challenges aspiring fashion designers have to face:

1. Obtaining The Requisite Qualifications

Whilst famous early designers may have learned their trade in their family’s tailoring shops, these days the best way to get into fashion design is to study it at university. A fashion design degree will provide students with the opportunity to sharpen their skills, to learn how to use various computer design programs, to study the history of fashion design, and about different textiles and tailoring techniques.

Alongside the creative aspects of fashion design, students can take courses that teach them about fashion as a business. They will learn about sales, merchandising, marketing, social trends, and retail management. To be an attractive graduate to fashion companies, it is vital for aspiring designers these days to be well-rounded students, whatever their ultimate aspirations.

2. Gaining Experience

Once they have gained all the theoretical knowledge and skills needed to start their career in fashion design, the next challenge for aspiring designers is to gain the necessary experience to get a foot on the ladder. Very few design graduates are going to walk straight into the design team at Hermes, so it is important to choose the right first step in a new design career.

There are many internships at big fashion houses as well as opportunities in smaller design firms or with individual stylists. Whether a young designer starts out designing trendy new socks like those in this selection or working at a couture wedding dress shop, early practical experience is vital in building the foundations needed for a successful career in fashion design. It does not matter if a designer’s initial jobs are in the area they ultimately want to work in. All experience is vital and there are lessons to be learned at every stage of a new career.

3. Learning About Fashion As A Business

Most aspiring designers will already be talented artists to be successful in the fashion industry requires much more than superior sketching skills or a good eye for design. Fashion is an enormous industry and designers that flourish understand far more than how to come up with a cool outfit. As mentioned above, a reputable fashion degree will provide students with a good overall understanding of how the industry works and it is very important that designers keep up that study as they start out on their fashion careers.

Aspiring designers should educate themselves in all the aspects of the fashion industry, especially as one day they may want to start their own fashion business or line of products.

4. Building A Winning Portfolio

A fashion designer’s portfolio is their most important weapon for demonstrating their skills to potential employers and clients. It is vital for aspiring designers to build a winning portfolio that showcases their talent. Students should start to build their portfolio whilst they are completing their degree and continue to add to it at each stage of the burgeoning career. The portfolio should demonstrate all of the designer’s skills like technical drawing, knowledge of fabrics and colors, as well as practical skills like stitching.

5. Staying Ahead Of The Curve

Fashion is all about trends and thus is perhaps the fastest moving industry of all. What was hot yesterday is not today and it is pivotal that aspiring fashion designers stay in touch with the latest trends. Fashion changes seasonally and designers always need to be looking to the next season to make sure they are on trend or even ahead of the curve. Designers must be a sponge for information and keep their eye on the most influential fashion magazines and trendsetters to ensure that they are on point with the current trends.

Fashion design is a fantastically rewarding career and a great way for talented individuals to explore their creativity and make a name for themselves in an innovative and influential industry. Modern fashion designers need a huge range of strings to their bows and it is very important that they build solid foundations with a good degree from a reputable design school. Fashion designers never stop learning because fashion never stops evolving and even the most experienced designers are always checking out their competition and exploring what the big players are doing. To be a successful fashion designer in the modern industry, aspiring designers must familiarize themselves with every aspect of the business, and then they will have the best chance at being successful.