How To Become An Apparel Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an apparel designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Apparel designers are responsible for creating original clothing, accessories, and footwear. They anticipate designs that will appeal to consumers and work with other designers or team members to develop prototype designs. They also oversee the final production of their design and present some design ideas to the creative directors in a bid to showcase them in fashion or trade shows. Apparel designers earn an average sum of $75,000 annually or $36 per hour.

Apparel designers primarily create designs and ideas for clothes and accessories. They are creative professionals who keep themselves updated with the recent trends and events by reading the latest fashion magazines and traveling to shows. They sketch the designs by hand, create technical production drawings, and address buyers as a seasoned marketer. They also collaborate with team members to select seasonal themes and ensure that the product agrees with the business strategy.

It will help to have a bachelor's degree in design, fine arts, or other related fields from an accredited university to become an apparel designer. Employers prefer candidates who took the time to develop their portfolios and complete one or more internships, as this will give them the needed experience and hands-on training.

ScoreApparel DesignerUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,467

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 11.65%

Black or African American 7.34%

Hispanic or Latino 11.90%

Unknown 5.57%

White 63.04%

Gender

female 67.20%

male 32.80%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an apparel designer

Explore apparel designer education requirements

Most common apparel designer degrees

Bachelor's

66.2 %

Associate

23.1 %

Master's

3.7 %

Start to develop specific apparel designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Adobe Illustrator	10.33%
Tech Packs	7.93%
Sketch	6.46%
Apparel Design	5.77%
Technical Design	5.28%

Complete relevant apparel designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New apparel designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an apparel designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real apparel designer resumes.

Research apparel designer duties and responsibilities

Develop marketing and brand awareness initiatives through social media outlets; create and manage company Facebook and Houzz profiles.
Create detailed conceptual and sketch presentations for senior management seasonally.
Prepare PowerPoint documents for client presentation that include furniture and material selections.
Select NYC print studios to handle outsource design projects and monitor progress to ensure work are completed on deadline.

Prepare your apparel designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your apparel designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an apparel designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable apparel designer resume templates

Build a professional apparel designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your apparel designer resume.

Apply for apparel designer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an apparel designer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do apparel designers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Apparel designer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2023

Pros

Creative work feels more like playing rather than working. It's delightful to make something that is from your own imagination that is truly unique. Even when the work it challenging it can still be very rewarding in the end.

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020