Fashion director vs apparel designer

The differences between fashion directors and apparel designers 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 director and an apparel designer. Additionally, a fashion director has an average salary of $117,438, which is higher than the $65,467 average annual salary of an apparel designer.

The top three skills for a fashion director include photo shoots, editorials and market trends. The most important skills for an apparel designer are adobe illustrator, tech packs, and sketch.

Fashion director vs apparel designer overview

	Fashion Director	Apparel Designer
Yearly salary	$117,438	$65,467
Hourly rate	$56.46	$31.47
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	9,325	46,436
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	37	37
Years of experience	6	6

Fashion director vs apparel designer salary

Fashion directors and apparel designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Fashion Director	Apparel Designer
Average salary	$117,438	$65,467
Salary range	Between $60,000 And $229,000	Between $40,000 And $105,000
Highest paying City	San Diego, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Nevada
Best paying company	Tink	Fanatics
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between fashion director and apparel designer education

There are a few differences between a fashion director and an apparel designer in terms of educational background:

	Fashion Director	Apparel Designer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Specialized Sales And Merchandising	Graphic Design
Most common college	Stanford University	Cornell University

Fashion director vs apparel designer demographics

Here are the differences between fashion directors' and apparel designers' demographics:

	Fashion Director	Apparel Designer
Average age	37	37
Gender ratio	Male, 29.2% Female, 70.8%	Male, 32.8% Female, 67.2%
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%

Differences between fashion director and apparel designer duties and responsibilities

Fashion director example responsibilities.

Manage inventory of jewelry and supplies to ensure availability.
Provide creative copy direction and copywriting for pharmaceutical clients' internal corporate communications programs, training programs and sales force meetings.
Monitor checkout stations to ensure that they have adequate cash available and that they are staff appropriately.

Apparel designer example 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.
Design Missy sweater line for domestic sweater manufacturer.

Fashion director vs apparel designer skills

Common fashion director skills

Photo Shoots, 21%
Editorials, 10%
Market Trends, 8%
Gross Margin, 8%
NYC, 8%
Creative Concepts, 5%

Common apparel designer skills

Adobe Illustrator, 10%
Tech Packs, 8%
Sketch, 6%
Apparel Design, 6%
Technical Design, 5%
PLM, 5%

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Fashion Director
Fashion Director vs Apparel Designer

Updated January 8, 2025

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