Below are some of the potential career options that are open in the field of fashion:
FASHION DESIGNER
A fashion designer is in charge of creating garments, lines or collections of garments according to the identity and positioning of a brand. Fashion designers have to determine the general orientation of a collection, create color palettes, design the shapes and lines of the garments, imagine details and finishing, choose the right fabrics, follow the prototypes production. Depending of the size and organization of the brand, a fashion designer can work on complete collections or be specialized on a particular type of clothes. Free-lance fashion designers have work for various companies and have to adapt their personal creative skills to them.
TEXTILE DESIGNER
A textile designer creates fabrics by choosing materials and yarns and designing weavings and finishing or imagines motifs and patterns with a matching color range to be reproduced on printed fabrics. Creative skills as well as strong technical knowledge of textiles are required.
PATTERN MAKER
A pattern maker must be able to convert the designer’s idea into a 3-dimensional shape. He or she is the link between design and production. He or she makes sample garments including the technical and practical requirements concerning its construction. He or she must excel in either pattern making or draping and be skilled with computer assisted drafting. The pattern drafter also takes responsibility for production through the fittings, final alterations and collection production follow-up.
TAILOR
A tailor is someone who sews, joins, reinforces, or finishes clothing or other items. They may create new pieces of clothing from patterns and designs or alter existing garments to fit customers better. They work for textile and apparel manufacturers, department stores, and dry cleaners.
FASHION RESEARCHER/ANALYST
Market research analysts conduct research and study market conditions to make recommendations on effective marketing strategies. As a fashion analyst, you’ll deal with different fashion sectors to come up with an analysis that can predict future trends in the ever-changing fashion marketplace. Analysts perform something called fashion “forecasting,” in which they predict the mood and behavior of consumers. You’ll need to be keenly aware of buying habits, trends, pop culture and the seasons. You’ll study why and how people buy clothes, accessories, and household items based on their culture, mood, beliefs, and their location around the globe.
TEXTILE BUYER
A textile buyer manages the supply of various materials used in creating garments. In collaboration with the product manager and fashion designer, he or she places fabric orders necessary for completion of collections and follow the orders delivery. The textile buyer needs good knowledge of fabrics and the technical aspects of production, along with good organization and negotiation skills.
DRESSMAKER
As its name suggests, it refers to the assembly of specific types of dress, or clothing items, particularly women’s clothing. A professional dressmaker also referred to as a seamstress, can work in a variety of positions, ranging from freelance bridal dressmaking to being employed by a fine clothier. Professional dressmaking involves the ability to be precise (i.e. for measuring and marking); good communication skills for working with clients, co-workers and apprentices; adeptness concerning measurement; proficiency regarding trade tools as well as the ability to evolve both technologically and artistically.
HEAD DESIGNER
The Head designer is the link between the Art Director and the teams in charge of designing the collections and products. He/she must understand and communicate the Art Director vision and lead the designers to translate it onto real products. Both creative and team management skills are required.
INDEPENDENT DESIGNER
An independent designer is the founder and art director of a new brand. He/she has to design collections according to the positioning and the identity of the brand he/she has created and promote it. An independent designer must have a global vision of his/her brand and must be able to work closely with managers in order to develop the brand according to this vision.
ART DIRECTOR (fashion)
The Art director manages all the creative aspects of a fashion brand. He/she is responsible for the coherence between the products, the image and the identity of a brand. He/she is in charge of various collections (pre-collections, catwalk collections, accessories…etc) and the different ways the products are shown (fashion show, adverts, store concepts, visual merchandising…). The Art director has to mix a very strong creative and visual universe with good communication skills and an analytic approach of brands.
ART DIRECTOR (press/advert)
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, marketing, publishing, publishing…etc. The Art director is in charge of the overall visual appearance and how it communicates visually, stimulates moods, contrasts features, and psychologically appeals to a target audience. The art director makes decisions about visual elements used, what artistic style to use, and when to use motion.
VISUAL MERCHANDISER
A Visual Merchandiser must combine creativity and artistic flare with a technical approach of light, materials, space organization…etc in order to design and implement window and in-store displays. He/she should create eye-catching product displays in coherence with the identity of a brand or that follow the Art Director requirements and that appeal to their target customers.
FASHION JOURNALIST
A fashion journalist has to research, find and propose fashion related subjects for articles or reports, write and edit articles, conduct interviews, formulate commentaries for fashion shooting and editorials. Fashion journalist can work for very various media such as magazine, newspaper, website, blog, television…etc. A very good knowledge of the fashion industry as well as networking skills are required.
FASHION EDITOR
A fashion editor supervises the process of creating, developing and presenting content for the fashion department of a magazine, website, newspaper or television program. His/her work includes supervising other editors and writers, writing or editing articles themselves, formulating and styling fashion photo shoots, choosing photos for publication, choosing fashion items and trends for publication, researching trends in the fashion industry and networking with industry professionals including photographers, designers and public relations professionals.
PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER
A public relations manager uses all form of communication and media to build a brand image and reputation. A public relation manager is in charge of defining and developing a PR strategy, writing and communicating press release to targeted media, organize events and liaise with editors, journalists, bloggers and all influential people than can create a brand reputation. Strong interpersonal skills are required.
FASHION STYLIST
A Fashion stylist is someone who imagines themes, selects the clothing and accessories and builds the silhouettes for published editorial features, print, catalogs, or television advertising campaigns, music videos, concert performances, and any public appearances made by celebrities, models or other public figures. Fashion Stylists are often part of a larger creative team assembled by the client, collaborating with the fashion designer, photographer and director.
COMMUNICATION MANAGER
A communication manager develops the brand’s communication strategy including advertising, marketing materials, and the organization of PR events and product launches. He/she works closely with advertising agencies to construct promotional campaigns and works closely with the fashion media.
FASHION ASSISTANT
The role of a fashion assistant is to lend practical support to a fashion designer or a team of fashion designers. A fashion assistant has to organize and schedule the different steps of a collection realization, such as meeting, suppliers orders, delivery following, fittings…etc, but can also be in charge of the first creative researches for trends or colors and of the shape of boards and portfolios or technical documents.
PRODUCT MANAGER
A product manager has an important role within the different sectors of the textile apparel network. He or she must define, manufacture and sell garment lines to buyers. He or she watches over the commercial performance of his products and is responsible for their profitability.
PRODUCTION MANAGER
A production manager must determine production objectives (cost, quality, quantity) and is responsible for the production of a garment or line of garments. To be a production manager, strong management skills and knowledge of manufacturing and logistics are necessary.
E-COMMERCE SPECIALIST
An e-commerce specialist is responsible for collecting, supervising data loading, and maintaining and developing the corporate websites for the marketing department. Another key responsibility of an e-commerce specialist is Search Engine & Affiliate Marketing optimization and to ensure optimal SEO and Affiliate marketing.
SHOWROOM/STORE MANAGER
This job entails being responsible for overseeing all aspects of a store or showrooms operations. A showroom/store manager is involved in everything from approving visual displays, television advertisements, and handling employees. He or she should not only have knowledge of the fashion industry but also business acumen and interpersonal skills.
BRAND MANAGER
A brand manager will plan, develop and direct the marketing for their particular brand or product. He or she will monitor market trends and advertising activities, their aim is to create a lasting good impression for their brand.
FASHION COORDINATOR
A Fashion Coordinator’s responsibilities are filtering and mediating the diverse needs of the company in order to gain coherence from a style or communication. He or she arrange and supervise the marketing of fashion clothing for manufacturing houses, textile firms and retail stores, promoting garments to the press and public.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
A Project Development Manager is responsible for overseeing every aspect of a manufacturer or designer’s products, from design and construction through to selling and distribution. He or she researches the fashion market in order to identify new trends, fabrics etc.
RETAIL NETWORK MANAGER
A retail and network manager focuses on driving sales and maximizing profitability. He or she needs to be able to manage, develop and motivate a sales team, while still devising strategies to assist in achieving targets.
FASHION BUYER
A buyer finds the best products at the best price while respecting his company’s buying strategy. He establishes buying plans, negotiates prices with manufacturers, and tackles logistical problems. He or she chooses garments according to his clients’ requests with the aid of fashion trends and past sales records. The buyer is also responsible for quality control.