Starting a degree brings a number of important questions to mind: There’s the natural uncertainty of not knowing where your degree will lead you in the future. Should you take a general fashion degree, which covers the general aspects of fashion— or a more specialist course which may give you a niche expertise, like a body contour fashion degree?
After teaming up with Cleveland College of Art and Design we thought it would be helpful look at the countless career opportunities that are within your reach after studying a Body Contour Fashion course.
Fashion Designer
Whether you’re looking to become a womenswear, menswear or even childrenswear designer — a Body Contour Fashion course will get you on the right road. It’s undisputed in the fashion world that students attain immense skills while studying a contour design course.
It’s likely that you’ll start your career as a design assistant, but this can lead to a full designer role. Ensure that throughout your studies, you’re keeping your portfolio up to date, as this can separate you from other candidates when you’re battling it out to work at that top fashion firm you so badly want.
Your course isn’t just purely academic – you will be able to gain a wealth of experience of working in the industry while you are studying, as well as working on real-life projects that can make a superb addition to your portfolio in preparation for your next venture in the fashion sector.
The fashion industry is a highly competitive environment and a whole host of skills are required to succeed, but these skills will be attained throughout your university experience. You should have a good eye for colour, texture and shape as this will ensure that you are adept at creating on-trend pieces that you must predict before they even happen. You must be hands-on, using your technical skills for pattern-cutting and sewing.
According to the National Careers Service, a fashion designer’s starting salary is between £20,000 and £25,000. And once you’ve got some experience under your belt, this can go up to £40,000. Highly experienced workers can earn up to £80,000 — while freelance workers will set their own rates.
Fashion Marketing and Public Relations
If you’re looking to get behind the scenes and send a powerful message to an audience, these two job roles go hand-in-hand and could make the perfect combination for any team looking to take over the industry.
You’ll just be starting out in the fashion industry after completing university, so you’ll probably become an in-house public relations officer. Not a bad role to start in at all, because it could help you progress into roles like social media manager and head of communications. If you want to get away from an in-house occupation, you could also consider becoming a freelance advertiser, marketer or journalist.
If you’re thinking of going down this career route, you’ll need excellent writing skills. It’s an absolute must as you’re carrying the weight of an entire brand on your shoulders, and a single mistake could really hurt business. You must be confident and willing to express your feelings and creative ideas on any campaign to ensure that the business you’re working for is getting the best results it can. Strong organisation and time-management skills are essential, as is the ability to work to tight deadlines.
The starting salary for a public relations officer is £18,000 to £22,000 — and once you’ve gained some work experience, this can go up to £24,000 to £35,000, according to the National Careers Service.
Aim high too! Becoming a director could net you a salary of anything between £40,000 and £90,000.
Fashion Illustrator
If you want your creative talent to shine through illustration, becoming a fashion illustrator could be the perfect choice for you. But you’re only likely to become an illustrator if you’ve created a portfolio that shows off your creative ability. Being an illustrator job brings a lot of freedom, although perhaps not as much as you had when you were studying at university! You’ll spend much of your time working to a brief, but allowing your creativity to flow will earn you a good living and unlock more and more opportunities
Becoming a fashion illustrator requires excellent time management — you’ll constantly need to ensure that you can and will deliver projects on time and give yourself enough flexibility to perform to your best. As you’ll be creating front-end products for the world to see, you will need to have an eye for detail and be able to correspond with highly specific briefs— but fear not, the right university fashion course will give you the perfect platform to develop the skills and attributes you’re going to need.
The National Careers Service’s latest figures suggest that the starting salary for an illustrator is between £14,000 and £19,000. It doesn’t seem great, but once you’ve been working a while and become more experienced within the role, you could earn yourself a pay rise of somewhere between £20,000 and £30,000. Those who are highly experienced in fashion illustration can easily earn about £40,000 a year.
So are you determined to make it in fashion? What you put in is what you’ll take out, just keep your options open and you’ll reap what you sow!
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