Ask Fashion Girl

Dear Fashion Girl,

Dear Fashion Girl,

I think being a Freelance Fashion Designer would be great. I'd love to be able to work with different designers. How does someone get started doing that? How do they get paid for their work?

Krystle

DearKrystle

The life of a Freelance Fashion Designer can be very exciting, because you are always working on different projects. A great way to get started being a Freelance Fashion Designer is to go to fashion college and get the technical skills that make you a professional and get you in sync with the fast-paced world of the fashion industry. Then, if the college has an active Career Center, it can help you because they get job orders all the time for freelance designers for men's, women's, kids', and accessories -- every area of design.

Freelance Designers generally get paid on a per-project basis, and occasionally on an hourly basis. Sometimes companies are interested in buying just the design, and other times they are interested in having someone come up with the concept, develop the line, make the pattern, and produce a sample garment. When you are a Freelance Designer, you need to get very good at budgeting, because income can go up or down in any given month.

FIDM has a great Fashion Design program. It helps you learn what manufacturers want to see and how to design for a particular market. You learn things like technical drawing for the fashion industry, which is different from regular sketching. You also learn computer-aided design skills, which are increasingly used in the fashion industry. It has an extremely active, experienced Career Center that can help you get jobs and internships, both while you are in school and after you graduate.

If being a Fashion Designer is your dream, FIDM can get you there! Take your passion for fashion and let it lead you to a career doing what you love.

Sincerely, Fashion Girl