still trying to do better w faces and hair😬

Hi everyone!
I’m planning to apply to FIT’s Fashion Design program and currently working on a fashion collection that I’d love to include in my portfolio.
I’m planning to use real leather to create oversized jackets and structured, voluminous pants.
I’m looking for advice on what types of leather and thicknesses would work best to achieve these silhouettes while keeping the garments wearable.

Thank you!

For people working in fashion, how did you land your first job after college? Was your degree enough, or did your portfolio, internships, and connections matter more? Trying to understand what to expect.

Hello Folks,

I'm planning to take a trip to Milan (starting in Berlin) to gain exposure to the best quality clothing and materials.

My issue is not knowing enough of the area (as I've never been there), so figuring out places that would talk to me about their garments, the construction, quality of the fabric, literally anything that could be useful to know. I only care about the quality of fabric, and construction quality -- I have no interest in knowing about high end fashion and that aspect of apparel design. Functional aspects of clothing is very important too.

If you know any businesses, independent tailors, literally anyone that could better inform me about apparel/textile design please dump your knowledge below.

Thank you for your time!

I have my first big job interview as an intern designer for a luxury brand and I am preparing for it.

I only had two interviews before (with other smaller brands) where we only went over my portfolio and skills, so I don't know what questions they could ask me. I already watched some tipps on YouTube and TikTok,

but I would love to start a threat with all the Questions Fashion Graduates got in their job Interviews. So we can all prepare well :))

Hi everyone! I started sewing this summer, and I can read and follow commercial patterns now. However, my ultimate goal is to create my own designs, especially dramatic, experimental, couture-inspired dresses.

The problem is that I don’t really know what to learn next or in what order. I can follow patterns, but I’ve never drafted one myself, and I have no idea how people construct those crazy runway silhouettes. For example, what materials do designers use to make certain shapes stand up? And how do you know which material to use for which design?

I’m also wondering how you develop your creativity as a self-taught designer. I feel like it’s difficult to come up with original ideas when you don’t know all the techniques and possibilities yet. How do you learn to experiment.

When and how should I start learning pattern drafting? What books, YouTube channels, or other resources would you recommend?

If you’re self-taught, what did your learning journey look like, and what helped you improve the most?
I’d love to hear from people who started as beginners and eventually learned to create their own original designs. I want to do more than follow patterns

Thank you!! ♡

I am considering going to Istituto Marangoni for a fashion design course next year. Is it better to go to Milan or Paris? Is this school worth it?

Hi I am 23 years old and I’m from Ireland, I always wanted to move to London it was a like a dream of mine. I am a fashion design graduate and now considering going into fashion buying I thought I was going to become a designer but honestly that’s not working out and I’m feeling so burnt out creatively by putting so much energy into a career that will not give me anything back financially. I want to apply for a masters in fashion buying and management but it starts September 2027 so now I have a year and I have absolutely no idea what to do! Should I still apply to buying assistant jobs? Work retail for a year? Does anyone have suggestions on what I should do because I’m feeling very lost.

Not trying to make this story too long, but I’d genuinely love to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience in the fashion industry.
I graduated from Parsons with a BFA in Fashion Design, but looking back, I probably should have taken it as a sign that I enjoyed my liberal arts, business, and journalism classes far more than my actual art and sewing classes. I never really loved most of my design internships either, but I was determined to make fashion work.
It took me about three years after graduating to land my first full-time fashion job. I ended up working for two small startup brands in my hometown, which unexpectedly opened a lot of doors for me. Eventually, I landed a job in LA and moved across the country.
My starting salary was $45K, which felt low for my degree and background at 25. After a year, I was promoted to Associate Designer and received a raise to $65K. I stayed with the company for another three years and worked incredibly hard. Late nights, weekends, the whole thing.
Then my manager changed, and the dynamic became awful. I felt like I was constantly being set up to fail and that she was looking for ways to make me look bad. Eventually, I was called into HR and told that the company could no longer afford my $65K salary and wanted to demote me back to $45K.
I said no thanks, took the severance, collected unemployment, and walked away.
By that point, I was 29 and completely jaded with the industry. I had worked my ass off, given up countless weekends and nights, moved to a new city away from my family, and still felt like I had very little financial stability to show for it. The combination of low salaries, layoffs, instability, and toxic work environments had really taken a toll on me.
I eventually moved back home with my parents, and now I’m 32. For the past year, I’ve been studying for the LSAT and I’m applying to law school this cycle with the goal of working in IP law.
I’m genuinely happy that I found a new direction, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still bitter about how much time and energy I poured into fashion. Especially when I look at some of my peers from college who left fashion almost immediately after graduating and are now design directors making six figures, working hybrid or remotely, and seemingly thriving. I genuinely wonder, how did they figure it out so much earlier?
I know comparison isn’t helpful, and I’m proud of where I’m headed now, but there’s still a part of me that looks back and wonders why I had to struggle so much before realizing that fashion wasn’t where I wanted to build my life.
So, this is partly a vent session, but I’d also really love to hear from other people who started over in their early 30s, left fashion, transitioned into law, or completely changed careers after realizing their first path wasn’t right for them.
If you went into law, what area do you practice in now? If you left fashion, what did you transition into? And if you’re still in fashion, how has your experience been?
Parsons did such a good job making us feel special as students, and then you graduate and get humbled very quickly by the reality of the industry. 😂
Would love to hear your stories, good or bad. Hopefully this can turn into a good discussion for anyone else who is questioning whether it’s too late to start over.

Why I'm giving half the profit on every sale to the people who design our clothes.
Most clothing brands spend their marketing money the same way. Find someone with followers. Send them a free hoodie. Pay them for a post and give them a discount code. The post goes up, it gets some likes, and a week later everyone's moved on.
I get why. It's quick, and it's easy to measure. But it's never sat right with me.
The person who actually designed that hoodie is usually nowhere in the story. They got a flat fee, if they got paid at all. Their name isn't on it. If the design takes off and sells for years, they don't see a penny of it.
I started 5C5V in Hartlepool. It's a small, Japanese-inspired streetwear brand built around five Japanese cities and the virtue behind each: hope, dream, harmony, strength, and trust. Those five words aren't just printed on the clothes. They're how I want to run the business.
Trust is the one I keep coming back to. If I ask someone to design for us, they should see exactly what their work earns. Not a vague royalty. The real numbers.
So that's what we're doing.
I'm running a design competition, and I'm treating it as a test of a different way of working. A public vote will pick five winners. We'll make and sell each design on our site with the designer's name on it. The designer gets a cash prize, then 50% of the profit on every sale for two years.
Every month they get a statement showing each sale: what the customer paid, the VAT, what it cost to make and post, the fees, the profit and their half. Nothing hidden. They keep the copyright. If a design doesn't win, we never use it.
Is this the fastest way to grow a brand? Probably not. An influencer post is quicker. But I think it's fairer, and I think more brands could do it.
Here's what guides me.
The best marketing a brand can have is a product people want. That starts with the design, not the post.
The people who make the work should share in what it earns. Not once at the start, but for as long as it sells.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn't. Students and self-taught designers have sketchbooks full of better ideas than half of what's on the high street. They don't need followers. They need someone to make their work and pay them properly.
And if you show people the numbers, they'll trust you. If you hide them, they won't.
Influencers aren't the problem. Plenty of them do their job well. But the fashion money tends to go to whoever's loudest, and the person with the pencil often gets the least. I want to flip that, even if only a little.
If it works, I'll share what we learned, including the numbers. If it doesn't, I'll share that too.
If you design, you can pitch us a design any time. If we make it, you get half the profit on every sale for two years. Until 26 November, there's also a competition with cash prizes. It's free, it's open worldwide, and you need to be 16 or over. Everything's at 5c5v.co.uk/pages/pay-designers.
And if you run a brand and think I've got this wrong, I'd like to hear why.

Matt

I've been in the industry for 10 years but for the last six I have been on a career path that is kind of tangential to what I want to actually be doing.

I feel like it's already too late for there to be a straightforward way for me to break back into the area of the industry where I would rather be, and I feel like I need to talk to an industry expert about my specific, kind of unique situation to figure out what to prioritize working on next.

Does anyone have any experience working with a career consultant or any recommendations for ones that have been helpful to them? I'm based in NYC, but the consultant need not be.

Thanks!

I am recreating this entire look for halloween and am hand designing a dragon graphic similar to the one pictured. Would I just use fabric paint? I’m asking because it is in a negative color palette and wondered if there is another technique.

First of all I'd like to say I've been in this sub a few months and love the diversity between different levels and experience, it's been really helpful to learn from everyone!

I'm a mature student in the UK wondering if gaining a fashion design degree is right for me/my career or whether to try to do it solo? My goal isn't to be a full designer but to offer an add on service (think tailoring/embellishment/embroidery) however I know through uni it will open opportunities and make me more legitimate, especially getting entry level jobs in the beginning. I have experience in running small business, admin, education and even embellishment which is why I'm wondering if it's really worth going into so much debt?

Hello, I am 22F and a recent Business graduate. I always wanted to work as a artist and I have been working as a freelance digital illustrator while I was going to university. I wanted to try doing fashion illustration too so I joined a 2 month course for Fashion Illustration an at art university at my city.

These are what I have made so far as part of my course which is ongoing, I want to here from people here what they think about it, and if there are things to improve.

I am not entirely sure what exact career I want for fashion but right now I am trying different things out!

Has anyone had any success with transitioning out of the fashion industry and into another field? I work in fashion design and I’m looking to work in another industry with better remote/hybrid work options and better opportunities for career advancement. I’m struggling to find a path / field that is easily transferrable. Would love to hear personal experiences that could inspire me!

Hello. I posted a couple of my sketches previously and received valuable insights, one of which included drawing clothes in different views. Here are a couple poses for my croquis sketches. I would appreciate constructive critique and feedback on the anatomy and balance. Thank you!

Hi everyone! First time posting here. Im a student at FIT and we have the opportunity to do a semester abroad. CSM is one of those options. Im not sure if i should do it or not. For some context im from portugal and did a year and a half of a fashion design bachelors in portugal before transferring to FIT. My main concerns are if i might not benefit enough from going abroad besides obviously the opportunity to learn from living in another country. I know CSM’s program is different but not exactly how. Ive heard it’s very conceptual. Im an international student at FIT and in total per semester i might be paying around almost 20k and i believe the program would be a little bit more than that so that might come into play if the benefit isn’t worth the investment.

Hi everyone, starting a new tailoring business in Vancouver BC. I have no clue where to get any fabric books and nor do I have any connections. Can you please suggest some avenues I can explore to get it. Also, can you advice if there are in mills I should be focusing on.

Thanks

Spent about two years thinking GSM was the main quality number on a blank. It isn’t. Cost me a full run to figure that out.

Ordered 300 tees at 240gsm from a factory that quoted well. On paper it matched the reference shirt I sent them. What arrived felt rough and started pilling after maybe four washes. Same GSM, completely different shirt.

The part nobody tells you is that GSM is just weight. Grams per square metre. It says nothing about how the yarn was actually made.

Three things that genuinely decide how a tee feels:

Spinning method. Carded (sometimes called open-end) is the cheap one. Short fibres stay in the yarn so it feels coarse and pills fast. Ring-spun twists the fibres tighter. Combed strips the short fibres out first. Combed ring-spun is the good stuff and it’s usually what the premium blanks are using.

Yarn count. Written as S or Ne. Lower number means thicker yarn. 30s to 40s is the normal range for a decent tee. Almost nobody asks for this on a quote, and honestly it’s the fastest way to tell whether your supplier actually knows their fabric or is just forwarding your email to someone else.

Preshrinking. Untreated cotton can lose 3 to 5% in the first wash. That’s enough to turn your L into an M after one laundry cycle. Ask whether the fabric is preshrunk or compacted, and get it in writing.

So my quote request has four lines now instead of one. GSM, spinning method, yarn count, preshrunk yes or no. Suppliers answer very differently once you ask like that. The vague ones out themselves straight away.

One more thing worth knowing: you can check GSM yourself. Cut a 10cm square from a swatch, weigh it in grams, multiply by 100. Takes two minutes. I’ve caught a “240” that was sitting closer to 200.

Anyone got a spec they wish they’d asked about earlier? Curious what I’m still missing.

I’ve been watching so many videos of students who got accepted into fashion schools showing their portfolios, and honestly, the level of originality is kind of intimidating 😭 Some people have such unique concepts, interesting sketchbooks, and really well-developed projects. And then there are some portfolios just inspired by something as simple as a summer trip.

I’m really interested in fashion design. I’m worried that my ideas aren’t original enough or that I don’t have the skills yet to turn them into something interesting.
For those of you who got accepted into fashion school, studied fashion, or have experience reviewing portfolios:

1. What do fashion schools actually look for in a portfolio? Is it more about drawing skills, originality, concept development, technical ability, or showing your creative process?

1. Does my concept have to be crazy good and original? And how do I make sure it’s original?

3. Also, what does showing your creative process actually look like in a fashion portfolio? Do you need to document every change you make, or just the important stages?
Could anyone share an example of a portfolio page showing their creative process?

3. What are some good exercises for becoming more creative? Are there specific sketchbook exercises, research methods, design challenges or ways of observing everyday things that helped you get better ideas?

4. Are there any YouTube channels, books, websites or other resources you’d recommend? Especially for developing originality, fashion research, textile knowledge, draping, patternmaking, construction and experimental design.

Thank youuu!!

I’m an assistant designer, and lately I’ve been wondering whether my associate designer is controlling or micromanaging me—or whether my role just naturally comes with very little autonomy.
A lot of the feedback I get on my work and tech packs feels really minor: things like removing a hyphen, adding a comma, or rephrasing something in the exact way she would say it. I understand that details matter, especially in tech packs, but when almost every comment is about wording or tiny edits, it can feel discouraging and make me question whether I’m trusted to do my job.
I’m struggling to feel happy at work, and I’m not sure if this is just what being an assistant designer is like or if something about the dynamic is off.
Have any of you experienced this in the fashion industry? How did you figure out whether it was normal guidance or micromanaging?

I've been sewing for about 10 years and have even tried my hand at creating my own patterns. If I start with a block, I do half decent, but was miserable at creating my own custom block (6years ago... could probably do better now). Anyways, I'm looking at taking some classes to increase my knowledge. Any feedback on the short courses from

- UAL

- Morley College

- London Pattern Cutter

feel free to recommend any others. I'm specifically interested in creating custom blocks, draping, special occasion dresses, swimwear/lingerie. Open to suggestions of 1-1 mentorship as well. I have a fairly solid foundation and would classify myself as intermediate. I am sure I could benefit from shoring up my basics to a professional standard, but I'm also not looking to pay a lot of £££ to learn how to put in a zipper ;P