Most Lucrative Careers to Explore in Fashion

A trillion-dollar ever-changing industry, fashion has created some amazing opportunities for creative individuals across the globe, and it continues to create more. In today’s time, fashion not only offers opportunities but also a career that can be very successful if you put your mind to it. To help you navigate your journey in the world of fashion, we have curated a rundown of the highest paying jobs to explore in the fashion world right now.

1. Fashion Designer

By using your creativity, vision and skills as a fashion designer, you will be able to create styles for customers and the general market.There are primarily 3 types of fashion designers—fast fashion designers or high-street fashion designers who create designs and garments that are produced and manufactured at a large scale, ready-to-wear designers who work on ready-to-wear garments but are manufactured at a small scale, and lastly, haute couture designers, who use their expertise and creativity to create iconic looks for runways, fashion shows or celebrities.

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Each fashion designer brings in their unique skill set and creativity to their work. Some unleash their art with footwear, accessories or clothing designs, while others cater to designs for all of these categories. Being a fashion designer also means that you will need to study current fashion trends and read up on research papers on industry-led trades. As for the salary of a fashion designer, it varies greatly on the experience, skill, category, and creativity. The salary in jobs in the fashion industry for freshers will depend on company to company, but if you were to become a creative director of a fashion group or house, that can result in you taking home a good amount.

2. Creative Director

Ideally, in larger fashion houses, a creative director is the one who heads and manages the work of a group of designers. To get there, you require years of experience, leadership qualities, a unique eye for exceptional fashion moments and style, and a creative approach. Being at a creative director’s level also takes a collaborative effort with several heads of the company including merchandisers, buyers, art designers, marketeers and creative executives. Along with a strong background in design, here you will require a good grasp of the market trends and consumer choices.

3. Jewellery Designer

A jewellery designer is a visionary who creates a complete look of a jewelled piece before it is created. As a jewellery designer, you will need to understand all kinds of gemstones and materials used to create coveted jewelry pieces. It will also require you to have practical knowledge on wearability, composition, materials, techniques and market trends for commonly worn metals like silver, gold, diamonds and platinum. Depending on the company, jewellery designers either create designs that will be produced and sold on a large scale basis or create coveted and unique designs using rare stones.

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The salary of a jewellery designer depends on the company, experience, unique creativity and skills they’re bringing to their work. It is also extremely possible to earn a high salary if you’re working as a designer for a well-known precious jewellery house. Most jewellery designers also pursue the path of self-employment to run their own business and create a brand marked by their work and designs.

4. Textile Designer

If you have a keen eye for patterns and designs, textile designing could be the field for you. Textile designers are highly creative individuals with a good grasp of print and pattern designs. As a part of one of the most lucrative fashion industries, you will be crafting a lot of patterns, drawing them and putting down the layouts in a computer-aided design program to attain the desired outcome. For any textile designer, market research on trends, latest designs and competitive research is of extreme importance. Along with that, you need to have knowledge regarding colour palettes and design styles.

A textile designer with a creative vision, skills and experience can grow immensely in this field. The salary usually depends on the project, company or client. It also greatly depends on the experience and creativity showcased by the designer. Textile design is a crucial part of today’s fashion industry, and if you have the art, you can definitely climb the ladder to success in this field.

5. Fashion Stylist

Another up-and-coming career choice in the fashion industry business! Long gone are the days where only high-end fashion houses would hire a fashion stylist to style their looks for fashion shows. These days, a fashion stylist is present for every shoot and every release. Each and every event including fashion shows, shoots, social media events, celebrity parties, etc. requires a fashion stylist. In addition to that, a fashion stylist works with production houses to style actors and models for television commercials, movies and advertising campaigns. If you have a keen eye for styling, being a fashion stylist is really in demand in today's industry.

Fashion stylists are extremely creative individuals that catch a person’s visual aesthetic to create a look that works on-camera or even off-camera. They play around with colours, patterns, styles, fabrics to make their models look appealing and fit for the occasion. Primarily, a fashion stylist’s job is to synchronize and create looks that make their clients look the best. They can work with clothing, accessories, footwear, jewellery, hairstyle and makeup for a given project.

Most fashion stylists work independently rather than joining a company on a salary basis. That way, they can branch out into various genres of fashion and gather the experience to improve their portfolio presence. Fashion stylists also work with a large fashion team varying from project to project, including photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, models and a lot more.

The pay scale and salary for a fashion stylist varies to a great extent depending on whether a stylist is hired under a company or working independently. If you are self-employed, you will surely be able to earn higher. But, working independently initially will require networking and creating contacts in the industry. Safe to say, it’s also worth it.

6. Fashion Buyer

If your choice of fashion garments and accessories is top-notch, you could consider being a buyer. Buyers work with retail stores, fashion houses, garment businesses, department stores and e-commerce businesses to buy fashion items that will appeal to the customers. Buyers are always on top of their game with fashion trends and they are well-connected with designers, merchandisers, manufacturers and wholesalers in order to provide their clients with only the best garments. As a buyer, you need to have a keen eye to spot fashionable items and also know how to establish connections in the fashion world. Buyers are often spotted during fashion shows, collection launches, influencer and celebrity parties, and of course at retail stores.

7. Trend forecaster

Last one but definitely not the least. A trend forecaster basically conducts all the market research on ongoing and upcoming trends in fashion. As one, you will be keeping track of all the running consumer and purchasing trends and studying how these trends impact the social and economic demographics of the customers. Trend forecasters also develop new looks, keeping in mind the current fashion trends for fashion shows and performances. Along with a strong background in the fashion industry, these professionals need to establish connections with retailers and designers.

Find anything that appeals to you yet? Well, a career in fashion might be the new thing on the horizon, but it does demand a lot of hard work. To begin with, we suggest getting a degree or a diploma to start off your professional journey. Still confused? Then maybe try a few workshops or short courses on various fashion subjects. Think about where your passion lies and what are your strengths and then go for the field that appeals most to you. Pro tip? Don’t stop seeking opportunities, no matter how big or small. That is the only way you’ll garner experience to become one of the top players in the fashion industry business.