Fashion : Job options

Jobs directly related to your degree

• Fashion designer - works on the design of items of clothing and fashion ranges. Some may focus completely on one specialist area, such as sportswear, childrenswear, footwear or accessories. They produce designs for the haute couture, designer ready-to-wear, and high street fashion markets.
• Textile designer - creates two-dimensional designs that can be used, often as a repeat design, in the production of knit, weave and printed fabrics or textile products. Working in both industrial and non-industrial locations, they often specialise, or work in a specialist context, within the textile industry.
• Retail buyer - responsible for planning and selecting a range of products to sell in retail outlets. The buyer must consider customer demand, market trends, store policy and financial budgets when making purchasing decisions.
• Retail merchandiser - predicts type and amount of fashion items to be allocated to particular shops, monitors sales, responds quickly to emerging patterns or seasonal fluctuations, and may also suggest how items should be promoted or displayed. Usually based in head office of large retail chains.
• Retail manager - runs boutiques, shops or retail departments. In charge of staff and of monitoring sales and targets, suggesting improvements and making commercial decisions which will ensure maximum profits.

Jobs where your degree would be useful

• Magazine journalist/newspaper journalist - in this context, writes for fashion journals and for the fashion sections of magazines, newspapers and, increasingly, websites. May attend fashion shows or events and will interpret and comment on collections, styles and trends in a way that is accessible to a specific readership.
• Public relations officer - may work for fashion houses or retail stores. PR officers liaise with journalists and stylists to arrange publicity and events which keeps their clients’ products in the public arena and increases sales and awareness.

Other options

Designers, stylists and journalists, in particular, should develop their portfolios that would have usually been started during the degree. Your book should not consist only of coursework, but should be on-going. In the case of designers, it should contain themed collections of garments.

Ensure your work is visible - ask friends to wear your creations, post items on fashion websites and organise shows. Also, keep in touch with trends and developments on the retail side: which designers and high street shops are ahead of the crowd?

Work experience or internships are a typical route into salaried employment. Alternatively, a paid job in fashion retail is a good strategy for anyone aiming at a professional career in the business. Team up with others just starting out in the fashion trade, such as photographers, and access all available help for start-up enterprises.

Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it’s not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. Look at your degree... what next? for informed advice on career planning and graduate employment, or login/register with My Prospects to find out what jobs would suit you, a helpful starting point for self-analysis.

Explore types of jobs to find out more about the above options and related jobs.