Fashion designers can work in a number of ways. Fashion designers may work full-time for one fashion company, known as in-house designers, which own the design. They may work alone or as part of a team. Freelance designers work for themselves, and sell their designs to fashion houses, directly to shops, or to clothing manufacturers. Some fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s and children’s fashions for the mass market.

A trained fashion designer can work in areas like

• Design development
• Garment technology
• Design production
• Quality control
• Planning
• Fabric design
• Printing
• Fashion merchandising