Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between fashion designers and fashion stylists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a fashion designer and a fashion stylist. Additionally, a fashion designer has an average salary of $54,265, which is higher than the $45,524 average annual salary of a fashion stylist.
The top three skills for a fashion designer include fashion design, sketch and apparel. The most important skills for a fashion stylist are editorial photo shoots, product knowledge, and customer service.
| Fashion Designer | Fashion Stylist | |
| Yearly salary | $54,265 | $45,524 |
| Hourly rate | $26.09 | $21.89 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 49,476 | 13,031 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Fashion designers design and assist with the making of shoes, accessories, and clothing. They identify trends and styles, colors, and trims of a clothing collection. The designers keep an eye on travel shows and read fashion magazines to spot trends and interpret specific patterns, color palettes, and prints for each season. They sketch designs by hand, address buyers as a seasoned marketer, and create technical production drawings. It is part of their responsibilities to collaborate with team members to make edits to lines, select seasonal themes, and create new concepts.
Fashion is an integral part of society classified as a multi-billion dollar industry. The fashion stylist is an expert in the fashion industry and can advise the perfect attire to wear in any given situation. Someone's fashion can sometimes determine how society views that person. Industries that heavily rely on a fashion stylist's talents are in the media industry, filmmaking, advertising, and customer relations concerns. Fashion stylists must have a good grasp of trends and fads, mix and match different styles, and have an overall sense of taste and fashion.
Fashion designers and fashion stylists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Fashion Designer | Fashion Stylist | |
| Average salary | $54,265 | $45,524 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $78,000 | Between $31,000 And $65,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | - |
| Best paying company | Ralph Lauren | - |
| Best paying industry | Retail | - |
There are a few differences between a fashion designer and a fashion stylist in terms of educational background:
| Fashion Designer | Fashion Stylist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Graphic Design |
| Most common college | Cornell University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between fashion designers' and fashion stylists' demographics:
| Fashion Designer | Fashion Stylist | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7% | Male, 20.8% Female, 79.2% |
| 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, 7.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 11.6% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 18% | 18% |