Fashion And Textiles Design Jobs
Fashion and textile designers design clothes and shoes and the fabrics used to produce them. Textiles are used for many other things besides clothes, for example, carpets and curtains.
Footwear Designer
Footwear designers design new shoe styles or alter existing ones. They keep up to date with changes in colour and dress fashion. They decide on the heel height, colour, material and shape of the shoe. Experienced footwear designers have the freedom to develop new styles, as well as make changes to existing ones.
Starting from a sketch, the footwear designer makes paper patterns or designs straight onto a computer-aided design (CAD) system.
Textile Designer
Textile designers create designs for woven, printed and knitted fabrics and also for carpets, wall-coverings and soft furnishings.
Textile designers’ duties vary according to where they work. Those working for a small company may spend most of their time reworking traditional designs. In large companies, there is usually a small team of designers who create new ideas.
Designs are prepared using traditional materials such as pens and paints, or computer-aided design (CAD) systems. When the design is finished, a sample is made. If this is satisfactory, it is made into the final product.
Costume Designer
Costume designers work in theatre, film or television production. They design costumes and pick accessories such as jewellery, hats and bags to suit particular characters and settings.
Before they start to design, they read the script and carry out detailed research, especially if they are designing period costumes. They then take measurements of the cast members and create the costumes. They work closely with directors, producers, set designers and performers so that the designs suit the overall look of the production.
Fashion Designer
Fashion designers create designs for clothing and fashion accessories.
Haute couture is the most exclusive area of design. Haute couture garments are produced for individual clients and their seasonal collections influence the rest of the fashion industry.
Fashion designers who work in wholesale manufacturing produce designs that are suitable for mass market production. Their designs are the ones seen in most high street shops and mail order catalogues.
Fashion designers need knowledge of garment structure, pattern cutting and technical processes, even if they are not directly involved in these activities.
Jewellery/Silver Designer
Jewellery/silver designers create designs for jewellery, silverware and other decorative products.
Jewellery/silver designers usually do some research before they begin their designs. This may involve looking at other jewellery products, finding out which materials are available, and deciding what kind of people are likely to buy the products.
Following the research, the jewellery/silver designer then draws their ideas to show what their designs will look like. Many jewellery/silver designers use computers to help prepare these drawings.
The jewellery or silverware is then produced in various ways.