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

What is an apparel fashion designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Mary Elliott

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an apparel fashion designer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.1 an hour? That's $58,450 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an apparel fashion designer?

Dr. Mary Elliott

Instructor and Internship Coordinator, Louisiana State University and A&M College

Thank you so much. We will be sure to feature your response in the article and send a draft over for your review before we promote it.

ScoreApparel Fashion DesignerUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $58,450

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 80.77%

male 19.23%

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 fashion designer

Explore apparel fashion designer education requirements

Most common apparel fashion designer degrees

Bachelor's

73.7 %

Associate

15.8 %

Master's

5.3 %

Start to develop specific apparel fashion designer skills

Skills	Percentages
CAD	35.46%
Market Research	28.60%
Design Packages	17.98%
Adobe Photoshop	17.95%

Complete relevant apparel fashion designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New apparel fashion 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 fashion designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real apparel fashion designer resumes.

Research apparel fashion designer duties and responsibilities

Customize technical packages with POM specifications, manage grading standards, assisting in costing the BOM, etc.
Refine the initial concept into a functional high fidelity prototype capable of meeting design objectives verifiable through user testing.
Used AutoCad/Cadworx for modeling and isometric extraction.

Prepare your apparel fashion designer resume

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

Build a professional apparel fashion 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 fashion designer resume.