Fashion Designer Resume Guide + Tips + Example
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Propel your career with a well-written fashion designer resume. With our guide, you can create a professional fashion designer resume to showcase your skills and present you as a desirable candidate.
Start by editing this fashion designer resume template or explore our 40+ resume templates to find the best one for you.
Fashion designer resume example (text version)
Name: Nora Hutchinson
Brooklyn, NY 11206
(555) 555-5555
example@example.com
Professional Summary
Innovative fashion designer proficient in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator with a passion for creating new fashions. Proven history of successful collaboration with clients, brand managers and executives to deliver seasonal lines and specialized projects. Excellent ability to identify target markets and deliver on emerging trends.
Work History
November 2016 – Current
Macy’s – New York, NY
Fashion Designer
- Develop over 350 seasonal and brand style guides to promote Macy’s women’s clothing.
- Save over 12% in annual expenses by negotiating with vendors on availability, product specifications, distribution, delivery deadlines and price.
- Plan monthly project concepts by researching and studying new trends and information.
January 2014 – October 2016
SBH Fashion – New York, NY
Fashion Designer
- Consulted with five to seven clients per day to discuss preferences, styles and ideas for commissions.
- Created new garments based on established parameters or specific body measurements.
- Repaired garments and corrected construction mistakes.
January 2013 – December 2013
Tommy Hilfiger – New York, NY
Fashion Design Intern
- Assisted in the development of 10 designs for seasonal merchandise assortment to improve category depth and breadth.
- Sketched artistic and fresh designs for consideration.
- Collaborated with materials purchasing specialists to meet production requirements and quality standards.
Skills
- Apparel design
- Shaping and cutting
- Sketchbook
- Attention to detail
- Adobe Photoshop
- Research skills
- Adobe Illustrator
- Pattern making
Education
Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY
Bachelor of Arts Fashion Design
5 essentials of a top fashion designer resume
Contact details
This section will have all the information needed to contact you for an interview. The standard goes: full name, city, state and ZIP code, followed by phone number and email address. Finally, add a professional website, like your fashion design portfolio, LinkedIn profile or any other professional networking profile.
Personal statement
This section is your introduction to the hiring manager. Also called a professional summary, this is where you display your best skills and your related work experience.
In no more than five sentences, you will let the recruiter know: how long you have been in the industry, one or two professional accomplishments and your job-relevant skills. Pick your best to grab the hiring manager’s attention.
Skills
To create a skills section that catches the recruiter’s attention, be sure to include keywords from the fashion designer job description. Then, create a bulleted list of hard skills, like your textile historical knowledge and applique experience, and soft skills, such as teamwork and creativity. If this is your first job in fashion, you can include transferable skills from other employment.
Work history
List it in reverse-chronological order and add the company names, locations and dates of employment. For every job, include a bulleted list of three measurable accomplishments, like leading creative teams for national retailers, supporting and assisting an awarded designer and amount of developed new products for a local business.
If this is your first job, you can include other relevant work experience, like volunteer experiences, community services, professional projects and more.
Education
Create the education section of a resume for a fashion designer using bullet points. Include the educational institution’s name, the degree conferred and graduation year. You can omit the graduation date if it has been over 10 years. If you did not attend college, list your high school and any other post-high school course you’ve completed.
See why My Perfect Resume is a 5-star resume builder
Action words for a stand-out fashion designer resume
The resume of a fashion designer must include action words. Action words add confidence to your accomplishments and show your strength as a candidate. Their directness shows your confidence and strengths as a candidate. Combine these action words with numbers for an unstoppable resume.
Here’s a short list of action words for a fashion designer resume:
- Fashioned
- Designed
- Created
- Founded
- Conceptualized
- Modeled
- Photographed
- Illustrated
- Displayed
- Prepared
Creating an effective resume for a fashion designer is quick and easy with the help of our Resume Builder. It has all the tools you need: you can edit, follow the step-by-step guidance, consider the expert suggestions and download the product once you’re satisfied with it.
Top skills for a fashion designer resume
Review the job description carefully and match the required skills to the skills and traits that fit you.
Your skills might include:
- Creativity
- Sewing
- Marketing
- Textile knowledge
- Business acumen
- Attention to detail
- Communication skills
- Cultural competence
- Adaptability
- Art skills
Certifications for a fashion designer resume
A resume for a fashion designer with at least one certification stands out from the rest, so consider adding one to your professional toolkit.
These are a few examples of certifications for a fashion designer resume:
- Fashion Certificate
- Computer-aided Design certification (CAD)
- Fashion Design Management Certification
- Digital Fashion Innovation Certification
We have more than 400+ resume examples to help you create the perfect fashion designer resume.
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
Fashion designer resume FAQ
1. How do I write a fashion designer resume?
To write a fashion designer resume, follow our tips from this guide. Start with the essentials and include the five primary sections:
- Contact information
- Personal statement or professional summary
- Skills
- Work history
- Education
Ensure the information is accurate and then move on to additional sections, like:
- Professional memberships or associations
- Presentations
- Publications
- Certifications and licenses
- Volunteer experience
- Related hobbies and interests
Always keep the job description in mind when creating and updating your resume to match their skills and requirements. If you need more guidance, use the fashion designer resume sample to start and move on to our Resume Builder for a fast, easy and professional resume.
2. What is a fashion designer cover letter?
A cover letter is a one-page document and an important part of your job application. It allows you to expand on your resume, include important information that could require storytelling and helps you connect with a prospective employer on a human level.
If you’re not sure how to write a cover letter, here’s a quick overview:
- Use a business letter format — Includes a formal salutation and sign off as well as your contact information.
- Opening paragraph — This is your sales pitch. Use your strongest skill and state why you want to work for this company.
- Body paragraphs — Use one or two paragraphs to talk about your career, skills and why the company would benefit from hiring you.
- Closing paragraph — reiterates your value and interest to the employer and uses a call to action to continue.
Our Cover Letter Builder can help you create a cover letter in no time, with step-by-step guidance and industry-specific expert suggestions.
3. How to write a self-employed fashion designer resume?
The format of a fashion designer resume remains the same even if you’re self-employed. If you have a company name, use it and use a title close to your duties.
For example,
Stylist, Self-Employed or
Stylist, FreelancerInclude any notable achievements and important quantifiable projects, particularly those that align with the job description requirements. Also, don’t forget to include your professional website or portfolio as well as any other professional networking website.
Do’s and don’ts for building a fashion designer resume
- Use measurable achievements to describe your fashion designer skills and experience.
- Use action words to make an impact on your fashion designer resume.
- Tailor your resume to your target fashion designer job.
- Use keywords from the job description throughout your fashion designer resume.
- Format your fashion designer resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
- Lie about your fashion designer experience and skills.
- Boast about your “incomparable” fashion designing abilities.
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience that do not pertain to a fashion designer.
- Forget to proofread. A fashion designer resume with errors is unprofessional.
Top 4 tips for acing a fashion designer interview
Research the company or institution before your interview.
Take the time to learn about the company’s history, goals, values and people before your fashion designer interview. Being able to show that you have in-depth knowledge about your potential employer shows interest, dedication and commitment — traits that hiring managers look for in every job candidate they talk to. Plus, having a glimpse of the company culture before you arrive will give you an idea of what to expect on arrival so that you can feel confident.
Practice at home.
Prepare for any scenario by practicing an interview at home. Start by reviewing the most common interview questions, such as:
- Tell Me About a Time When You Failed to Meet a Deadline. What Things Did You Fail to Do? What Were the Repercussions? What Did You Learn?
- Why Should We Hire You Over Other Candidates?
- Which Is More Important to You- the Job Itself or Your Salary?
Ask a friend or relative to perform a mock interview. Look online for possible interview questions, write down the answers and then practice with your interview partner. Once you’re done, ask them for feedback and work with them to improve. Being prepared will boost your confidence and chances of getting a callback.
Pro tip: Practice in front of a mirror. Look at your facial expressions and body language, which hiring managers will notice.
Be proactive and ask questions.
At the end of your interview, you will be asked if you have any questions. As a rule of thumb, have three questions prepared. Hiring managers expect questions during or at the end of the interview. This shows your enthusiasm and interest in the role.
Here are a few examples of questions to get you started:
- What goals do you have for this position?
- Is this a new role? If yes, why was it created?
- If the role is not new, how did the previous candidate succeed and what were they missing?
- Why did you decide to work for this company?
- What is the day-to-day in the company?
- What future projects are you excited about?
Gather your references.
Once you are ready to start sending your fashion designer resume, contact former managers and colleagues to be potential references. They should be able to vouch for your work ethic and skills. Explain to them where you are in the process and let them know they could receive a phone call or email. Ask if they could write a letter of recommendation for you.
If this is your first full-time job, you can request a reference from a mentor, former professor, community leader, volunteer coordinator or classmate that can vouch for your skills.
CV examples for the next step in your fashion career
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Fashion Designer Resume Example
Nilda Melissa Díaz is a Career Advice Writer. She has worked for the Washington Post, Stringr, and Latina Style Magazine. She has a master's in journalism from Columbia University and is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.