Fashion designing is one of the best career options for people interested in creative and obviously fashion. We see new trends on daily basis which clearly states that fashion industry is one the flourishing industry and can be a great career option. You can choose to specialize in any one of the sub-fields of fashion such as Apparel designing, Jewellers designing, Accessory designing. The options are limitless! The job of a fashion designer is very demanding which involves meeting daily deadlines, traveling dusty roads to reach the local markets for procuring material, dealing with workers and managing a team effectively.
ELIGIBILTY TO BECOME A FASHION DESIGNER
To be eligible for pursuing fashion designing in your career, you must have cleared 12th standard from any recognized board like CBSE, ICSE or State Board. . After completing class 12, you can prepare for the entrance examinations like NIFT, NID. You can also appear in CEED, UCEED, AIEED, and other entrances for admission in UG & PG design courses. For Fashion Designing at postgraduate level, you must have completed your graduation in designing or relevant field/subject. To make a career in this field, other than educational qualification you must have a creative and artistic personality. You should also have good observation and sketching skills, a good eye for detail and Good understanding of market and customer lifestyle.
PATHS YOU CAN TAKE TO BECOME A FASHION DESIGNER
After completing class 12th you can go for undergraduate course in designing like B.Sc. Fashion Design, B.Des.in Fashion design, B.Sc. Fashion design and Technology or BA (HONS.) Fashion Design. After getting graduated in any of the above mentioned courses you can pursue either Masters degree like M.A. Des. Fashion design, M.Des. Fashion designing, M.Sc. Fashion Designing, MA Fashion Designing and MBA Fashion Designing. Other than master degree you also have an option to pursue PG-Diploma in Fashion Designing. You can also choose to opt for higher studies abroad.
The some of the topics covered in undergraduate degrees are – Introduction to Fashion Sketching and Illustration, Apparel development, Computer aided designs, history of fashion, leather designing, Textile science, Fabric dying and printing and many more. Some topics that will be introduced to you while pursuing master’s degree are – Elements of fashion, creative pattern making, Fashion communication, knitwear design technology, design illustration, Apparel Manufacturing Technology.
LEADING INSTITUTES FOR FASHION DESIGNING
There are many top institutes that offer Fashion Designing course in India. Some of them are listed below –
NIFT – NIFT stands for National Institute of Fashion Technology. It is the most renowned institution for Fashion designing. The admission is given on the basis of entrance exam conducted by NIFT itself. You are eligible for the entrance exam if you have passed 12th standard from any recognized board.
Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology – The institute is under the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology is an institute of global excellence known for providing high quality education and opportunities for research in the fields of art, design, media, business, technology, humanities, sciences, law and others.
Symbiosis Institute of Design – It is affiliated to Symbiosis International University (SIU), Pune and approved by the UGC and accredited by the NAAC. It offers B.Des programme in four specialisations to the students. The institute was ranked 9 and 20 for Fashion Design by India Today 2020 and Outlook 2019, respectively.
Indian school of Design and Innovation – Indian school of Design and Innovation institute offers cutting-edge, innovation-focused programmes that enables students to fully exploit creativity, to deliver social and economic benefits through design and to achieve commercial success through innovation. It offers admissions to UG and PG Diploma courses in multiple streams like Design and Innovation, Fashion Business Management, Interior Design, etc. It is known for its Post Graduate Diploma in Design programme.
JD institute of Fashion designing – JD institute of Fashion designing is one of the oldest Fashion Institutes in India. The Institute offers various courses at diploma, advance diploma, UG diploma and PG diploma level, in the field of Fashion Design, Interior Design, Jewellery Design, Fashion Communication, Fashion Business Management, Visual Merchandising, Fashion Photography, and Hair and Make-up Artistry, and so on.
JOB PROFILES YOU CAN GET
There are various job profiles for fashion designers after pursuing a fashion designing course, listed below are some of the profiles you can expect to get –
Retail Manager – A retail manager is someone who is responsible for the management of a retail store. They are responsible for every aspect of the day-to-day supervision of sales, staff, and stock. All employees working in the store report to the retail manager, and the retail manager reports to a district or general manager. In small enterprises, they are also expected to work along HR Department.
Fashion Coordinator – They work with fabric dealers and responsible for quality check, promotions and marketing of the brand.
Fashion Stylist – A stylist is responsible for choosing the entire wardrobe of a fashion show. His/her job is to pick the right pieces from anyone’s wardrobe or from a designer’s collection, which would suit the client’s character, body type, the kind of occasion the dress is getting selected for.
Textile Designer – They are responsible for designing 2D patterns, both repetitive and unique for knit patterns, weave and printed fabrics etc.
SALARY AND SCOPE
The job of a fashion designer includes great imagination and focus. There is a lot of demand of creative and innovative designers in almost every field. Some companies on which you can try your hand are – Raymond, Allen Solly, Adidas, and Spykar, Pantaloons, AND, H&M, Bata, Lifestyle and many more clothing, accessories and designing brands and firms.
As a Fashion designer in career you may receive quite good packages but obviously it varies with your position, firm, skills and other factors. As a Retail Manager you can expect to get somewhere between 1.78 LPA to 9.0 LPA depending upon your experience level and the size of brand you work for. At the position of a Fashion stylist, you may get paid around 1.44 LPA to 12.0 LPA increasing with your experience and skills. And for the profile of Textile Designer you may get around 182 LPA to 6.64 LPA.
CONCLUSION
There is a misconception among people that fashion designing as a career is a very easy profession but actually there’s a lot of hard work and efforts behind all the glamour you see. I hope the article covers all the basic information you might require to understand about Fashion designing as a career.
By: Nupur Bhagat
