How to Become a Fashion Designer in Australia

Do you enjoy mixing things up in the wardrobe? Do you have friends constantly asking your advice on what to wear with what? Do you love skimming through fashion magazines or browsing fashion trends during your free time? If these descriptions fit you, we have great news. You have nearly everything it takes to become a successful fashion designer in Australia.

This role is one of the highly in-demand and most profitable design jobs in Australia for many reasons. According to PayScale, the average fashion designer earns up to AU$30 per hour. This means that you can earn up to AU$62,000 annually. They also get to meet and dress celebrities, models, and superstars. They get the luxury of travelling to many quirky destinations nationally and internationally depending on their clientele.

If you find this role interesting, before we discuss out how you can start pursuing this dream job, please don’t hesitate to save this article in your Pinterest board for safe keeping. Just click the red button to your left or the image below to save this.

How to Become a Fashion Designer

If you really are the sort of person described above, you’ve probably (more than once) wondered about how you can become a fashion designer.

First, no formal education or degree is required to become a fashion designer. You’ve heard about famous fashion designers who neither graduated from art colleges nor had a degree because passion and creativity are the ultimate requirements to succeed in this role. However, getting certified would be a huge advantage.

Studying an online course in fashion design, for instance, can teach you how to design a garment, how to define your style ideas, how to choose materials, how to market your product, and how to start your own fashion design business.

The following steps can help you make the most positive start to becoming a great fashion designer.

Step 1: Improve your design skills.

The first requirement for becoming a successful fashion designer is to have top-notch art skills. These not only include things like drawing and sketching but require a certain degree of visualisation and planning as well.

For you to become a successful fashion designer, you must be able to effectively communicate your ideas. And to do that, you must design, visualise, draw, and show your ideas to the world. Luckily, you don’t need to be good at drawing with a pencil for this.

Today there are several online software and apps that you can use to improve the way you design clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories. The best online fashion design courses and some university courses are designed to help you get familiar with such applications.

Step 2: Choose your design category.

While it’s true that you may see several famous fashion designers in magazines or TV Shows, a majority of designers don’t work in that category. There is a whole wide world out there and a variety of garment categories you can jump into. You can design for casual, formal, winter, summer, sports, party, and other fashion and/or clothing purposes.

You may also choose based on gender or age group. You might also want to showcase your expertise with bridal wear, and a lot more design categories. Just be clear on the category you’ll pursue so you can also formulate a good marketing strategy.

Step 3: Invest in understanding fabric and textiles.

This is perhaps the most important part of being a fashion designer. While you may have outstanding ideas, you won’t be able to carry any of them out if you don’t have a thorough understanding of fabric and textiles.

You’ll need to know which type of fabric to use and buy for your designs. You must also know how each type of fabric is draped, sewn, and processed, what they feel like when worn, and where they come from.

A deeper understanding of these things will help you gain an edge over the competition. It’ll also help you showcase and present your ideas more effectively.

Step 4: Know the industry trends and demands.

If you want to become a fashion designer, then you must be up to date on the different styles and trends floating in the market. Knowledge of the existing trends is necessary for two reasons. Firstly, you’ll need to alter your current designs by them so you won’t sound obsolete. And secondly, staying updated with the trends can help you stay competitive for earning purposes.

Being aware of the consumers’ preferences will help you design your products, generate ideas, and innovate. Practically speaking, it can also help you determine what types of fabric and tools to stock. And if your designs are aligned with what’s in high demand, you’re bound to make it big in no time, opening up numerous design jobs opportunities!

Step 5: Take action.

Although fashion design doesn’t require formal education, the better you know your craft, the more successful you will become in this field.

Some designers work for years, testing and trialing different methods to help establish their names in the industry and have managed to do so with no qualification. Though there is nothing wrong with this path, it can be a bit time-intensive and requires enormous endurance for long-term success.

On the other hand, you could choose to fast-track your knowledge by studying fashion design through Fashion Courses as early as now. There’s nothing wrong with either approach. It just comes down to how fast you want to see yourself and your career evolve. But, once you are clear on all of the above, it’s time to take action and get started, as there’s a long road ahead of you. Enrol through Careers Collectiv to begin your journey in fashion design and watch your career take off.

These are the basic steps on how to become a fashion designer in Australia. All the things in between would depend on your determination to succeed, and your willingness to learn the lefts and rights of the industry.

Meanwhile, If you’d like to go the study route, we’re offering short online courses for fashion design with affordable payment plans starting from just $25 per week. This online certificate course will give you the foundation you need to become a fashion designer. If you’d like to know more, make sure to click the orange button below, and answer our enquiry form.

We hope you found this post useful and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

All the best!