Education needed for a fashion designer
This is a profession for which a person decides from a very long time maybe in their early teens or even as a child. This is a profession where the person has to have flair and an artistic bent of mind. This artistic nature is better nurtured through education. There might be some fashion designers who would have tasted success without any formal education in fashion designing, but those are few and far between.
• Most aspiring fashion designers would need a two years associate degree or a four years bachelor’s degree.
• Most of the course work in fashion designing would include color textile, sewing and tailoring, fashion history, pattern making, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), and design of different types of clothing, such as sportswear, men’s wear, or footwear. It could also include coursework in human anatomy, mathematics and psychology.
• Some follow this up with a degree in business, marketing or fashion merchandising especially for students who are keen to open their own business or retail store.
• The National Association of School of Art and design accredits programs in art and design from about 300 post secondary institutions.
• These accredited institutes generally require a basic art and design courses as a pre requisite for entry into their fashion design schools.
• They also check the sketches and other artistic endeavours of a design at the time of admission.

Salary and Remuneration
The salary of a fashion designer depends on their talent and the years of experience that they have put into this job. There are other factors too that has an impact on a fashion designer’s salary such as the industry that he works in, the school that they have attended to get their training , how fashionable the city that they work in is, among others. The average salary that a fashion designer gets is between the range of $ 31,396 and $ 94,108 and this is inclusive of bonus, commission and profit sharing.
• Years of Experience

• Experience of less than one year the salary range is between $ 20,892 and $ 50,547 and the hourly wage range is between $ 9.83 and $ 15.26.
• Experience between one to four years the salary range is between $ 29,933 and $ 62,676 and the hourly wage range is between $ 8.04 and $ 27.57.
• Experience between five to nine years the salary range is between $ 40,293 and $ 84,164 and the hourly wage range is between $ 11.23 and $ 53.83.
• Experience between ten to nineteen years the salary range is between $ 44,102 and $ 99,665 and the hourly wage range is between $ 8.21 and $ 90.60.
• Experience of more than twenty years the salary range is between $ 41,217 and $ 193,934.

• Industry

• A fashion designer working in the clothing industry gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 34,311 and $ 92,551 and an hourly wage rate between $ 8.02 and $ 53.33.
• A fashion designer working in the apparel industry gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 33,433 and $ 82,140 and an hourly wage rate between $ 14.00 and $ 50.00.
• A fashion designer working in the fashion industry gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 31,844 and $ 88,063 and an hourly wage rate between $ 9.81 and $ 54.25.
• A fashion designer working in the women’s apparel industry gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 35,454 and $ 101,404 and an hourly wage rate between $ 12.00 and $ 57.50.
• A fashion designer working in the apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics and home furnishing industry gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 34,106 and $ 85,275.
• A fashion designer working in the apparel manufacturing industry gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 37,881 and $ 86,809.
• A fashion designer working in the retail, apparel industry gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 39,478 and $ 92,531.
• City

• A fashion designer working in New York, New York gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 37,874 and $ 90,208.
• A fashion designer working in Los Angeles, California gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 31,271 and $ 90,763.
• A fashion designer working in San Francisco, California gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 30,968 and $ 86,358.
• A fashion designer working in Seattle, Washington gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 34,765 and $ 80,822.
• A fashion designer working in Dallas, Texas gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 29,866 and $ 101,367.
• A fashion designer working in Chicago, Illinois gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 29,087 and $ 80,231.
• A fashion designer working in Portland, Oregon gets an average annual salary between the range of $ 39,866 and $ 96,975.

• School Attended
• Fashion designers who have attended the Fashion Institute of Technology would get an average annual salary between the range of $ 38,768 and $ 95,014.
• Fashion designers who have attended the fashion institute of technology would get an average annual salary between the range of $ 38,134 and $ 73,046.
• Fashion designers who have attended the new school would get an average annual salary between the range of $ 33,704 and $ 80,000.
• Fashion designers who have attended the Otis College of Art and Design would get an average annual salary between the range of $ 32,149 and 73,046.
• Fashion designers who have attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) would get an average annual salary between the range of $ 31,627 and $ 108,496.
• Fashion designers who have attended the University Of Cincinnati (UC) would get an average annual salary between the range of $ 51,923 and $ 80,000.
• Fashion designers who have attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) would get an average annual salary between the range of $ 45,000 and $ 77,500.

There are more females than males in this profession though the big names in this industry are males. The ratio of females to males working in this industry is 88%:12% and the average annual salary that females receive is between the range of $ 43,892 and $ 70,302 and the males receive an average annual salary between the range of $ 49,888 and $ 76,151.

About Fashion Designers
Clothes do more than just protect you from the elements. The threads that one wears make a statement, a fashion statement and that is what a fashion designer knows and exploits. Clothes do not make a man is not true in its entirety as the clothes that you wear has a profound effect as they can make one feel confident and powerful. They can make a person feel better about themselves. If you think of a rock star or royalty you would immediately get a picture of the type of clothes that they would be presented in accordance to their personality and image.
The clothes that one see in the top fashion magazines and the big fashion houses and names associated with them are not the be all and end all of fashion designing. There are so many behind the scenes designers who produce new fashions everyday from accessories to sportswear to children’s clothes, men and women’s fashion lines, casual wear, trendy wear, haute couture and so much more.
The clothes, the shoes, the belt, that you are wearing have been designed by some fashion designer. They examine the trend of the clothing people are wearing and draw designs. They may design for individuals or they may design for apparel wholesalers, or manufacturers or design for top fashion houses. They may cater to specialty stores or high fashion department stores or have their own stores and line of clothing.
They have to be good at predicting trends as they design clothes six months to a season or two in advance. They mould the public’s idea of what they should be wearing in the coming fall season, even while they are showcasing their summer collection. They are involved not only in conceiving the idea for a garment, but are involved at every step of the creation process, bringing new fashion to the attention of the people.

Duties and Responsibilities of a fashion designer
As a fashion designer the duties could include various tasks. This also depends on who they are working for, which part of the industry they are in, whether they are self employed. The general duties and responsibilities that a fashion designer would have are enumerated below.
• Research: Researching the fashion trends and staying current with the styles that are in vogue.
• Prediction: Predicting what the future trends would be and designing clothes for those markets.
• Concept and Vision: A finished piece of clothing or accessory is due to the fashion designer’s visualisation, thought and idea. It is the responsibility of the fashion designer to be clear what they want from the word go.
• Select Material: Once the conceptualising phase is over the material has to be selected and the design sketched. Various materials are used from leather to soft free flowing fabric as required by the design and look. They choose the colours and their variants for suitability to the fashion conceptualised.
• Prototype: A working model of the design is made from cheaper material to see how the concept would look as a finished product. All the nips and tucks will be done on these models before the final product is taken on hand. Sometimes the design is thrown out when it does not work on the prototype and then the fashion designer has to go to plan B.
• Sample Items: Once the fashion designer is happy with the prototype a few samples are made. These samples end up either on the catwalk of a fashion show or in some stores to gauge how it would be accepted.

Licensure and Certification
There are no requirements for holding any license to work as a fashion designer. There are many certification courses in fashion designing but candidates should make sure that they take admission from only reputed and accredited institutions.

Skills and Abilities
• Should have good aesthetic sense i.e. an eye for color and detail.
• A sense of balance and proportion.
• And an appreciation for anything beautiful.
• Must have good communication and problem solving skills.
• Even though computer aided design is generally used, a flair for sketching is a definite advantage in the fashion industry.
• They should also have pattern making and sewing skills even though they might not personally use it but would be helpful to give clear and concise information to the craftsman.
• Must have the gift of the gab to sell fashion products to the discerning clients and must know all the catch phrases in vogue in the fashion industry.
• Must have great adaptation qualities to work with others on the team and be able to work in highly stressed situations throwing the least amount of tantrums.