In the previous blog, we listed out certain job profiles that you can opt for after becoming a fashion degree graduate. Let’s have a detailed look at profiles that matches your interest:

1. On the top of the list is the designation of a FASHION DESIGNER – working as a fashion designer one has to create garment collections. This profession includes research of current trends and designing for the upcoming seasons. The process of designing starts with taking inspiration to design and creating original clothing ideas. The operating systems differ from company to company and also depend on the size of an organization. The designer might work for an exporter, manufacturer or wholesaler. In a big organization, designers work with a team headed by seniors of the field. In smaller companies, they might work as an individual designer with responsibilities for the complete design process. As a fashion designer, there are areas of specialization according to clothing categories such as women’s wear, menswear, kid’s wear, sportswear, knitwear, external clothing etc. depending on the interest and choice of the individual.

   

2. FASHION MERCHANDISER - The companies or businesses that require a fashion merchandiser are

• An export house
• Apparel manufacturing
• Wholesaling
• Retailing
• Buying houses
• Liaison Offices

The job of a merchandiser is to take care of the products from the designing stage to the end product till it reaches the final customer/consumer. The merchandiser's work starts with taking orders from buyers then placing orders to suppliers, overseeing production costing, presentation of products, and keeping the focus on target customers. A merchandiser also has to analyze changing market trends. In retail, they have to take care of the number of products in the store along with developing marketing strategies to enhance the sale and to sell the clothing at appropriate prices. The key skills of a merchandiser are communication, leadership, planning and time management. The merchandiser has to coordinate with all the other departments of the company.

3. FASHION ILLUSTRATOR - The job responsibilities of a fashion illustrator would be to present new ideas in a visual form through sketches and other artwork as specified. The required skills of an illustrator are sketching, visualization, knowledge of computer-aided designing, detail orientation, observation and creativity.

   

4. COSTUME DESIGNER – The role of a costume designer is very important in the television, cinema, theatre and nowadays online web-series. Costume designer creates the character’s complete look to go with the specific scenes and the personality that is being portrayed in the storyline. The costume designer works with the whole creative team of the production house starting from the director, stage & lighting, sound designers, makeup and hairstylist. Research work is an integral part of a costume designer’s skills that helps in creating the right image/character.

   

5. FASHION STYLIST - The fashion stylist’s job is to bring together various pieces of an ensemble, accessories, hairstyle and makeup that best suits a collection or a client to make them look fashionable and appealing. A stylist works for media, celebrities, designers, models etc. A stylist should be well versed with the body types, skin tones, colour combinations, variety of makeups and hairstyles to make visual impact. Travelling is a part of a fashion stylist’s job profile and working hours depend on the client, event and photo shoots.

6. PATTERN MAKER – Foundation of the whole production system of apparel manufacturing is pattern making that includes grading & draping. The pattern makers create pattern pieces of a specific design. Nowadays there are a number of pattern making software’s that are being used in the apparel industry, thus they help the pattern maker convert the drawing/sketch of a design into separate pieces of pattern for laying and cutting on the fabric. As a pattern maker one can work full time, part time, self employed or freelance.

   

7. VISUAL MERCHANDISER – The visual merchandiser takes care of every product that is on display in the store's window as well as inside the store. A visual merchandiser responsible for promotion of the products, as well as image of the store/organization. As a visual merchandiser one has to create and plan window displays as well as all the goods inside the store/shop and its complete ambience. The display changes according to the season, occasions, festivals, and selling cycle of the store. The visual merchandiser works in store closing hours so that consumers are able to see the complete display only.

8. SURFACE DESIGN DEVELOPERS - There are opportunities at every place that requires creativity. A Surface Developer’s job is to add value to a fabric through various techniques for example fabric manipulation, dyeing & printing, painting, embroidery etc. A surface developer should create or explore new ideas and techniques of the surface design.

   

9. FASHION FORECASTER – Fashion forecasters are the astrologers of the fashion industry predicting all about clothing, fabrics, colors and fashion accessories, etc. For fashion forecasting one has to be research oriented with an in-depth knowledge of the fashion industry, follow new developments, emerging trends, and current affairs, political and cultural shifts. A forecaster is mostly 2 years ahead of any season.

10. FREELANCE FASHION DESIGNER – Freelance fashion designer is the one who works on design projects for fashion companies. They are free to work on multiple projects on same time as well as with different companies. Students also prefer to gain experience through freelancing while they study fashion. There are Top Fashion Design Colleges in Madhya Pradesh that provides the opportunity to connect with the industry experts to the students. Working as a freelancer has its advantages like flexible working hours, working from designers' own space/studio. There are some disadvantages too like irregular income, no job security and sometimes difficulties in finding freelance projects.

   

11. CAD OPERATOR – Full form of CAD is computer-aided design, as the name suggests cad operator should be well versed and up-to-date with CAD software. They work with designers to create sketches and other designs, translate hand sketches to computers for view on virtual models in various colours and shapes thus saving time by reducing adjustments on samples.

You will get to know the details of the remaining job profiles in our next blog. Keep reading.

Written By: Amar Mithapalli, Fashion Designer, Educationist & Fashion Choreographer
Shikha Kapur, Fashion Designer