Fashion design assistant

As a fashion design assistant, you could:

• research fashion tends, fabrics and trims
•  contribute ideas during the development of new clothing ranges
•  produce sketches and designs by hand or with design software
•  help create patterns, samples and prototype garments
•  inspect product quality during the design process
•  add product details to a management system for production and sales
•  deal with customer orders and deliveries

• design skills and knowledge
• the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to organise your time and workload
• to be flexible and open to change
• ambition and a desire to succeed
• the ability to work well with your hands
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role

With training and experience you could become a fashion designer, then senior designer.

You might also move into:

• sales and marketing
•  fashion buying
•  photographic styling for product launches and shows

You could work as a freelance designer and create your own collections.