Creative & Media
Fashion Designers
Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.
Median salary (BLS)
$80,960
10th–90th percentile (BLS)
$39k – $147k
Job outlook
+2% (about average)
AI exposure
Early-career check: graduates of the matching programs below typically earn $91,000 ten years after starting college — an early-career figure, vs. the all-experience BLS median above. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard.
Plan a path to Fashion Designers
Education
Typical entry: Associate degree
Plan my path to this →Typical progression
Junior Fashion Designers
Entry / Junior
$39,490
~2 yrs to advance
Fashion Designers
Established
$80,960
~3 yrs to advance
Senior Fashion Designers
Senior
$113,915
Key skills
A typical day
- •Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
- •Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
- •Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
- •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.
Fields of study
Any field
Top colleges for Creative & Media
Explore all- University of Southern California12% admit · $86,000 grad pay
- New York University12% admit · $84,000 grad pay
- Northwestern University7% admit · $95,000 grad pay
- University of Chicago5% admit · $91,000 grad pay
Reputation-based selection; stats shown are outcome data per school.