Are you ready to follow your dream of becoming a fashion designer? Earning your online Bachelor of Fashion Design degree is a great start. After graduation, how would you like your degree to benefit you? Do you have a career path in mind?
The obvious career choice for a graduate of an online bachelor’s degree in a fashion design program is, of course, to become a fashion designer. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the average salary for a fashion designer was $73,790 annually, as of May 2019, with a 1% job growth rate between 2018 and 2028, slower than average for all occupations. A decrease in job growth from past years may be contributed to the mass amounts of garments that are manufactured overseas; however, new technology has recently encouraged future positive job growth in the U.S. in this field. As expected, your salary will be commensurate with your talent, experience, and client base.
At this point, you have received adequate training to earn an entry-level position within a design firm or merchandising establishment. Fashion designers sketch their originals ideas, create patterns and select fabrications, as well as, sew their designs into beautiful clothing articles. Fashion designers also create accessories, such as jewelry, handbags, and footwear. You can also choose to design costumes for theater productions.
Where will you offer your services? Well, that depends on the job options available in your area. Many recent graduates accept career opportunities in the field of garment manufacturing, retail sales companies, notions merchant wholesalers, or in entertainment production companies. If there are fashion design firms in your area of the country, naturally, you should express your interest in getting started there, by providing them with an exceptional portfolio of your work, combined with, your online bachelor’s degree in fashion design. You may begin as a sketch assistant or pattern maker.
As fashion design jobs can be competitive, you must allow yourself time to get established, get your name out there, and do as much networking with others in the field as possible. Typically, most fashion designers who aspire to surround themselves with the best contacts and mentors relocate to California or New York City. If you don’t get the specific job you want right away, don’t give up! Your hard work, in whichever branch of fashion you can obtain employment within, will look good on your resumé, as well as, provide you with invaluable experience.
You’ll eventually have several opportunities for advancement. After you have some experience under your “designer belt,” so to speak, you may choose to become an independent contractor, as you share your original designs with individual clients who are requesting couture designs. If you work within a fashion design firm, you may be promoted to a chief designer or the head over a department within the firm. Would you like to open your own clothing specialty shop or boutique? Your online Bachelor’s of Fashion Design degree program will, without a doubt, provide you with the education you need in design, as well as, prepare you for the business operations and accounting knowledge to run a business correctly and for profits.
With an artistic mind, you can do many types of design work, such as graphic design, web design, or gain a position as an art director for a fashion magazine or website. Other creative outlets include modeling, floral design, jewelry designer, or a fashion buying agent.
If you are curious about this exciting career opportunity in fashion, please see our selections for the Best Online Schools for Bachelor’s of Fashion Design Degree Programs.