clothing fashion designer
Clothing fashion designers create concepts and make sketches of their creative ideas by hand or by using software. They analyse and interpret fashion trends in order to propose new ideas with high aesthetical value. They perform forecasting and market research to put together collections. They build collection lines by operating mood or concept boards, colour palettes, materials, drawings and sketches considering among others ergonomical criteria, etc.
clothing fashion designer clothing fashion designers create concepts and make sketches of their creative ideas by hand or by using software. They analyse and interpret fashion trends in order to propose new ideas with high aesthetical value. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include properties of textile materials, portfolio management in textile manufacturing, create technical sketches for footwear, draw up costume sketches, create mood boards.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £36,848 a year for Clothing, fashion and accessories designers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3422). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only clothing fashion designer, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Design
- Computers and Electronics
- Production and Processing
- Sales and Marketing
- English Language
- Fine Arts
- Administration and Management
- Personnel and Human Resources
What you'd actually do
- Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
- Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
- Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
- Select materials and production techniques to be used for products.
- Provide sample garments to agents and sales representatives, and arrange for showings of sample garments at sales meetings or fashion shows.
- Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does clothing fashion designer do?
Clothing fashion designers create concepts and make sketches of their creative ideas by hand or by using software. They analyse and interpret fashion trends in order to propose new ideas with high aesthetical value. They perform forecasting and market research to put together collections. They build collection lines by operating mood or concept boards, colour palettes, materials, drawings and sketches considering among others ergonomical criteria, etc.
What skills does clothing fashion designer need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include properties of textile materials, portfolio management in textile manufacturing, create technical sketches for footwear, draw up costume sketches, create mood boards, manage briefs for clothing manufacturing. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace clothing fashion designer?
Our AI-durability model gives clothing fashion designer a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.