Fashion Designer Resume Examples + Guide + Tips
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Fashion designers are responsible for designing and producing everything from haute couture runway garments to everyday wear and accessories. Fashion designers use their creativity, artistic abilities and knowledge of textiles and trends to create unique and visually appealing designs that are both functional and fashionable.
Fashion design is a highly competitive industry and having a well-crafted resume is crucial to standing out from the crowd and landing your dream job. We’ll provide the tips, tricks and examples you need to create a standout fashion designer resume.
We’ve got you covered from crafting an attention-grabbing summary to highlighting your design portfolio. With our guide, you can create a professional resume for fashion designers that will make a lasting impression on recruiters.
Start by editing these fashion designer resume samples or explore our collection of professional 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 resume for a fashion designer
Contact details
This section of your fashion designer creative resume will have all the information required to contact you for an interview. Include your 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 profiles that you have.
Professional summary
A professional summary is a 2-3 sentence section at the top of your resume highlighting your most relevant skills, experience and qualifications.
Your fashion designer resume summary should include how long you have been in the industry, one or two professional accomplishments and your job-relevant skills.
Here’s an example: “Highly creative and detail-oriented fashion designer with over seven years of experience designing and developing women’s apparel for high-end fashion brands. Skilled in creating technical sketches, fashion illustrations, and mood boards using Adobe Creative Suite. Proficient in pattern-making, draping and garment construction.”
In today’s job market, a professional summary is typically preferred over an objective statement. However, if you are a recent graduate or just starting out in the fashion industry, you may still want to use a fashion designer resume objective.
Your beginner fashion designer resume objective should be a concise statement that outlines your career goals and what you hope to achieve in your role as a fashion designer.
Skills
To create a skills section that catches the recruiter’s attention, be sure to include keywords from fashion designer job descriptions. 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.
Fashion designer skills for resumes can include creativity, attention to detail and the ability to work well under pressure. Technical skills such as pattern-making, draping, garment construction, and knowledge of textiles and fabrics are also crucial.
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly in Illustrator and Photoshop, is essential for creating technical sketches, fashion illustrations and mood boards. Other important skills to include on a fashion designer resume include research and analysis of fashion trends, collaboration with cross-functional teams and project management.
Work history
List your professional history 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.
For example, “Designed and developed a successful women’s apparel collection for XYZ fashion brand, resulting in a 20% increase in sales and positive customer feedback.”If this is your first job, you can include other relevant work experience, like volunteer experiences, community services, professional projects and more.
Education
To create the education section of your resume for a fashion designer, 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.
To become a fashion designer, you typically need a degree in fashion design or a related field. Many fashion designers earn a bachelor of fine arts (BFA) or a bachelor of science (BS) in fashion design, which typically takes four years to complete. Some may also earn an associate of arts (AA) degree in fashion design, which takes two years to complete.
In addition to formal education, fashion designers also need to have a strong portfolio showcasing their designs and technical skills. This portfolio can include sketches, illustrations, photographs of finished garments and other examples of their work.
See why MyPerfectResume is a 5-star resume builder
Action words for a stand-out fashion designer resume
The resume of a fashion designer must include action verbs. Action verbs confidently showcase 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
Some fashion designers may also choose to pursue additional certifications or training in specific areas such as pattern making, draping, or textile design. These can be earned through trade schools, fashion institutes or colleges, or through workshops and seminars.
Overall, a combination of formal education, hands-on experience and a strong portfolio is essential for success as a fashion designer.
We have more than 800+ resume examples to help you create the perfect fashion designer resume.
Pair your resume with a matching cover letter
Fashion designer resume FAQ
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, such as the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) or Fashion Group International (FGI).
- Presentations
- Publications in lookbooks, catalogs, fashion magazines or fashion blogs.
- Certifications and licenses
- Volunteer experience at charity events, fashion shows or mentoring programs.
- 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.
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 signoff as well as your contact information.
- Opening paragraph — This is your sales pitch. Use your strongest skill, such as creativity, trend awareness or attention to detail, 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.
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, Freelancer
Include 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.
How should a fashion designer resume look?
A fashion designer’s resume should be visually appealing and showcase the candidate’s creativity and design skills. Use a simple and professional layout with clear headings and bullet points to make the resume easy to read. Choose a font that is easy to read and ensure plenty of white space.
The fashion designer resume template you choose will depend on the resume format you want to follow and your stylistic preferences. We have a variety of resume templates to choose from in chronological, functional and combination formats to suit your needs.
Do’s and don’ts for building a fashion designer resume
- Use measurable achievements to describe your fashion designer skills and experience. For example, “Increased sales by 25% within six months of launching a new collection.”
- Use action words, such as conceptualized, developed, designed or presented, 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. For example, “trend analysis,” “design software,” “product development” or “pattern-making.”
- 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. Instead, highlight concrete examples of relevant experience, such as creating prototypes or overseeing production.
- Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
- Add skills and experience that do not pertain to a fashion designer. Only include skills that are relevant to fashion design, such as sewing, fabric selection and trend prediction.
- 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.
Look at the company’s previous collections and designs to understand their style and aesthetic. This will help you tailor your portfolio and application to match their brand. Research their target audience and market to understand their customers’ needs and preferences.
Research the company’s competitors to understand their position in the market and how they differentiate themselves from other brands. This will help you understand the company’s unique selling points and tailor your application accordingly.
Stay up-to-date on the company’s recent news and developments, such as new collections or collaborations, to show that you are familiar with their brand and are genuinely interested in working with them.
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.
In addition to common behavioral interview questions, prepare for job-specific questions, such as:
- Can you tell us about your design experience and background?
- How do you stay up-to-date with the latest fashion trends and inspirations?
- Can you walk us through your design process, from conceptualization to final product?
- How do you approach designing for a specific target market or audience?
- Can you share your experience working with different fabrics and textiles?
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?
- How does the company stay up-to-date with the latest fashion trends and incorporate them into their designs?
- What kind of growth opportunities are available for designers within the company?
- Can you talk about the company’s target market and how they design specifically for that audience?
- What is the day-to-day in the company?
- Can you tell me about the company’s upcoming projects or collections and how designers are involved in the process?
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 who can vouch for your skills.
How we reviewed this article
Since 2012, we have helped more than 11 million job seekers. We want to make your career journey accessible and manageable through our services and Career Center’s how-to guides and tips. In our commitment to bring you a transparent process, we present our Editorial Process.
Sources
- Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising. Article. 5 Skills Every Aspiring Fashion Designer Needs
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Career Outlook Handbook. Fashion Designers
- Learn.org. Article. Fashion Designer: Career Definition, Occupational Outlook, and Educational Prerequisites
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Fashion Designer Resume Example
Elizabeth is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches. She is committed to helping job seekers navigate the job market and succeed in their careers.
More Articles by Elizabeth Muenzen, CPRW