Character traits to become a successful fashion designer
Over time, you can develop a wide range of skills that will help you to thrive in your job. In addition, some innate or trained character traits can boost your chances of becoming a successful fashion designer. Here are a selected few
Confidence
The fashion industry is well known for its hard work environment where you may experience rejection as part of your job. It takes a lot of confidence to present your projects to retailers, stakeholders, buyers and other designers. Remember that this is a long-term race and it takes time and effort to develop a reputation in the industry, and you will need tons of confidence to reach your goals.
Perseverance
As we mentioned, it takes blood, sweat, and tears to become a renowned fashion designer. The shooting star cases are extremely rare in the industry; you will need to arm yourself with patience and never give up when adversity comes.
Personality
If a designer has a lot of personality and persuasion, it will be easier for him/her to deal with customers, the press and decision makers. This doesn’t mean that a designer who decides to stay away from the spotlight can’t succeed on his/her talent alone; however, he or she will need someone else to do the promotion and delivering his or her messages to the right ears.
These qualities can be learned and nurtured to transform you into a better designer.
Do I need a degree to become a fashion designer?
Although fashion designers use their creativity and talent to create product, getting an educational degree is still highly recommended. A formal education in fashion equips you with theoretical knowledge on the industry and some level of practical knowledge if it is combined with internships or apprenticeships or real-life professional projects.
Often though it neglects some of the fundamental hard skills and in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of the industry for the glamour of fashion brand management and marketing. And it doesn’t yet incorporate enough technology skills into the curriculum.
So remember that it is not just all about sketching and the glitz of the catwalk; you will have to work hard and develop a solid foundation and learn new skills and qualities during your career if you want to keep up with the pace of change in the industry.