Fashion Designers
Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Time Management
Key knowledge
- Design
- Computers and Electronics
- Production and Processing
- Sales and Marketing
- English Language
- Fine Arts
- Administration and Management
- Personnel and Human Resources
What the work involves
- Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments.
- Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
- Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
- Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
- Identify target markets for designs, looking at factors such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
- Attend fashion shows and review garment magazines and manuals to gather information about fashion trends and consumer preferences.
- 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Artistic, Realistic, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (50.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (25.7%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (31.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Fashion Designers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 78% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 60% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 90% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 85% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 69% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 78% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 59% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 96% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 21.75%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.94%
- Contact with others most of the time: 31.78%
- Constant contact with others: 42.53%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 16.95%
- Fairly important: 7.22%
- Important: 32.08%
- Very important: 29.52%
- Extremely important: 14.24%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 13.04%
- Important: 39.92%
- Very important: 30.91%
- Extremely important: 16.13%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 12.75%
- Limited freedom: 40.15%
- Some freedom: 22.97%
- A lot of freedom: 24.14%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 21.12%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 48.32%
- Every day: 30.56%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 14.24%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 37.08%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 42.59%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5.52%
- Every day: 0.57%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 26.25%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 16.48%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 7.83%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 35.83%
- Every day: 13.61%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 27.75%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 9.89%
- Very serious: 1.37%
- Extremely serious: 0%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 27-1022.00 · SOC 27-1022 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8