Becoming a fashion designer: building your tool box

Ahh… New York… Paris… What a dream! Imagine, being a fashion designer in one of the fashion capitals of the world. Hold on a minute. That’s a big step. There are a few things you need to learn about being a fashion designer before you make it to the big time.

Let’s say you spent most of your childhood creating clothes for your dolls, yourself, and your friends. You’ve always dreamed of being a fashion designer and everyone loves your sense of style and the way you combine colors, fabrics and accessories. Great! It sounds like you’ve got the makings of a great designer. That innate talent is critical in the fashion world but you’ll need some formal education as well. The world of the fashion designer can be extremely competitive. Not only are there lots of people gunning for jobs at the top design houses, but the most prestigious fashion designer schools only take the best students. That’s not to say you can’t do it. But you’ll need to make sure you have some basic skills and a few tools in your tool box.

First off, can you draw? It’s not necessarily a must have but it certainly will help. You need to be able to translate the designs that are in your head into something people can see. So a good first step in your quest to become a fashion designer would be to brush up on your drawing skills. Next, how about adding a little experience to your tool box? Do you live in a metropolitan center where you can get an internship or entry level job in a design shop? If so, take advantage of the opportunity. If you are free to relocate, try getting an internship in a city that has a vibrant fashion industry. You’ll make valuable contacts and learn more about the industry in a few months than you can in a lifetime of reading books and magazines.

Now the education part. If you are just starting out and you are prepared to go to school to learn how to be a fashion designer, think about what kind of school suits you best. Are you a good candidate for a top notch four year school or would a technical school better suit your needs? Can you move away or do you need to stay near home? Either way, you’ll never regret having the chance to immerse yourself in the fashion designer field and gain a solid foundation of the basics. There is a lot more to being a fashion designer than sketching out ideas. You’ll need to know about fabrics, pattern making, cutting and all those things that go into creating a final design.

Obviously, school is not the only route to becoming a fashion designer. There are success stories of famous designers who started at the bottom of a fashion house and quickly rose to the top. These days we also find overnight fashion designer stars created on reality shows. The fact of the matter is, if you are serious about becoming a fashion designer and you have the drive and talent, the more traditional route will probably be the best. Get some education, build a portfolio, make contacts, and work, work, work. You can do it!

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