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The differences between apparel designers and assistant designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an apparel designer, becoming an assistant designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an apparel designer has an average salary of $65,467, which is higher than the $52,475 average annual salary of an assistant designer.
The top three skills for an apparel designer include adobe illustrator, tech packs and sketch. The most important skills for an assistant designer are sketch, tech packs, and adobe illustrator.
| Apparel Designer | Assistant Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $65,467 | $52,475 |
| Hourly rate | $31.47 | $25.23 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 46,436 | 47,598 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 37 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
Apparel designers, also known as clothing or fashion designers, conceptualize and produce items of clothing. They frequently specialize in one type of design, like active, casual, or evening wear. Typical duties include monitoring current fashion trends and forecast future ones, sketching new designs, choosing patterns and fabrics to utilize in garments, and supervising production. They may present items to creative directors, clients, or retailers to determine if the garments are to be conventionally designed or mass-produced.
Assistant designers act as administrative support to senior designers in creating innovative designs by negotiating with the vendors about the prices of decoration materials. They are keen and up-to-date to the latest fashion and trends by conducting surveys and research. They are exceptionally creative and innovative and have excellent IT skills as they use illustration, typography, and photography layouts in the design process. However, being an assistant designer, career development relies on his/her /her specialism, reputation, and experience depending on how its opportunities are influenced by the company he/she works for.
Apparel designers and assistant designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Apparel Designer | Assistant Designer | |
| Average salary | $65,467 | $52,475 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $105,000 | Between $37,000 And $73,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Washington |
| Best paying company | Fanatics | PVH |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Construction |
There are a few differences between an apparel designer and an assistant designer in terms of educational background:
| Apparel Designer | Assistant Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Cornell University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between apparel designers' and assistant designers' demographics:
| Apparel Designer | Assistant Designer | |
| Average age | 37 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.8% Female, 67.2% | Male, 28.3% Female, 71.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 11.6% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 18% | 13% |