Our five-pronged approach focuses on your individual strengths to develop your unique qualities towards making you an exemplary pi- designer.
Saili Sawantt
14/05/2025
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The year 2025 has brought about a seismic shift in the fashion design industry, prompted by digital innovations, sustainability mandates, and changing consumer behaviour. With many students now enrolling in a fashion design course with fashion modules, the design field has expanded into a multifaceted journey. The range of roles within the industry varies from traditional atelier to virtual fashion environments.
In this article, we have curated a comprehensive guide to walk you through the career opportunities in fashion designing, delving into emerging opportunities as well as conventional practices, salary trends, educational pathways, and regional insights to help you make your next move in the world of fashion.
The current state of the fashion industry is fogged with uncertainties due to the evolving state of economic and consumer values. The BoF-McKinsey report, published in Business of Fashion 2025, records that as much as 80% of the established fashion designers in the industry do not anticipate an improvement in the industry conditions and less than 20% of consumers will be spending the same or less on fashion products, indicating a focus on affordability and value.
The fashion industry spreads massively worldwide, with a value of over 1.7 trillion dollars globally. However, the recorded growth is inconsistent throughout the market. While the developed economies are performing a constant growth, emerging markets such as India and Southeast Asia are performing slowly but steadily with a foresight for expansion. In 2025, Fibre2Fashion recorded that over 67% of fashion executives believe in the emerging market of India and are willing to invest in the high-growth.
The conventional sectors have defined their ways of work and have stayed true to the methods, resulting in slow hiring. Whereas, the digital and sustainability-focused roles are drastically rising. The evolving mindset of consumers and a shift towards technology have brought about demand for specialists in e-commerce styling, virtual sampling, and sustainable material sourcing.
According to data derived from PayScale India, Ambition Box, and Glassdoor India for 2025, the current salary trends approximately look like:
➤ Ready-to-wear Designer (Mid-Market): ₹6,00,000- ₹12,00,000 anually
➤ Haute Couture Designer: ₹12,00,000- ₹30,00,000+
➤ Technical Designers: ₹7,00,000- ₹11,00,000
➤ Digital Fashion Roles: ₹8,00,000- ₹14,00,000, varying with skillset and software fluency.
The saturation for the fashion industry favours capitals such as London, Paris, Milan, and New York, leading as key hubs for innovation and legacy brands. Delhi, Mumbai, Lagos, and Seoul are recently gaining traction, expanding rapidly and offering ground for local talent and global recognition.
The established paths in the industry continue to lay the foundation of fashion careers. The runway and retail have a major impact on the following paths:
The ready-to-wear is one of the largest sectors in the fashion industry, which operates across various levels, including luxury, mid-market and mass production. The role of professionals involved in this sector includes decision-making and planning of seasonal releases, keeping abreast of the trends, developing cohesive collections, and liaising with production teams.
To work in this sector, an individual requires a fashion design course or equivalent certification, proficiency in software tools such as CAD, textile knowledge, and strong visual communication skills. A career in the ready-to-wear sector can take you from an assistant designer, junior designer, head designer, and finally to a creative director in the order.
According to a study posted by team Careers 360, the remuneration varies by segments, with the mid-market professionals in India bagging up to ₹8,00,000 annually, along with international travel opportunities and performance bonuses. Masaba Gupta and Anita Dongre are renowned designer collections offering an illustration of the role.
Haute Couture is a realm of designers operating from ateliers, running exclusive labels. Unlike the mass-produced fast fashion, Haute Couture displays a range of garments built from scratch and often handmade. It gains the name from the experience it offers to the clients with one-on-one consultations, fittings done to every specific client’s body shape, and custom sketches to fit the garment to the client’s expectations.
Haute Couture ateliers offer apprenticeship opportunities to designers looking for hands-on expertise with premium labels. The apprenticeship extends responsibilities from the design niche to managing PR and sourcing elite clientele for the brand. The role demands entrepreneurial acumen.
The creations are often displayed at events with high visibility to relevant clientele, extending the role of designers to collaborate with stylists and publicists. In India, Rahul Mishra, Gaurav Gupta, Sabhyasachi Mukherjee, Ritu Beri, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra, Anamika Khanna, Masaba Gupta, Neeta Lulla, and Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla +more! represent this segment.
Technical careers are the backbone of the fashion industry in this age. They ensure that creative visions translate into wearable garments. Certain technical specialists include:
Brands such as Raymond, Aditya Birla Fashion, or Uniqlo offer opportunities for such technical roles in India.
The scope of fashion designing has experienced a drastic rise with tech-integrated roles and expanding consumer needs. Here is a glimpse at the emerging career paths in the fashion industry that are gaining momentum:
With metaverse fashion weeks and digital avatars gaining prominence, virtual roles are in demand. Certain high-traction virtual roles are:
A virtual fashion designer is responsible for curating displays and collections for digital platforms, avatars, and NFT wearables. Such as Soumya Jain (XR Couture), Accidental Cutting India Collaborations, Neha Singh (Founder, Tria), The Fabricant, Amber Jae Slooten, etc.
A 3D clothing animator dominates the fashion in the gaming and virtual industry. The animator is responsible for designing digital garments for characters in gaming and VR. For instance, Toonz Animation India, Kaarigar Studio, Blue Zoo Animation Studios, Burberry X Mythical Games, Balenciaga X Fortnite are some of the prominent designers in animation.
A digital fitting specialist uses body-scanning tools and simulation software to enhance virtual try-on experiences in order to assist online shopping platforms.
These roles emphasise software skills and technical training. Softwares such as Clo3D, Blender, or Marvellous Designer are widely sought. The technological dependence in these roles makes it possible to explore remote opportunities within the sector.
The future of the fashion industry will be dominated by evolution in sustainable practices, technological advancements, and interdisciplinary learning. Certain predictions for the future of the industry are:
Certain job titles, such as AI fashion trend analyst, circularity officer, and augmented reality visual merchandiser, have seen to be on a rise.
The industry will give rise to a demand for various skills, such as digital literacy in CAD, AR/VR platforms. A knowledge of biodegradable and regenerative materials will be a preference with the rising sustainability demand among consumers and brands. The industry will observe data-driven decision-making in the coming years.
The Future of Jobs report published in the World Economic Forum 2023 predicted that by the year 2030, nearly 40% of fashion careers will demand hybrid skills combining design, tech, and business.
From blockchain for supply chain transparency to AI-generated prints, innovation is central to new fashion jobs.
Designers are expected to champion circular design, ethical sourcing, and a reduced carbon footprint.
Choosing the most compatible career requires you to study your strengths. RTW is more suitable for people who believe in staying up to date with the current trends, whereas couture suits detail-oriented artisans. Digital fashion is a match for tech enthusiasts.
Fashion designing is the best career choice if you are adaptive and passionate. The BLS predicts a steady 3% growth for design occupations and tech-integrated roles.
Drawing is a helpful skill not but not necessary. Many designers opt to use alternative software tools and collaborate with illustrators.
It can span various domains, from runway shows and brand collaborations to costume design and digital spaces. Many fashion designers also branch into entrepreneurship by launching their labels or consulting for fashion-tech startups. Additionally, with the rise of AI and virtual fashion, designers are now exploring roles in avatar styling, 3D garment development, and immersive retail experiences.
Build a strong portfolio, complete a fashion design course, attend fashion weeks, and apply for fashion design internships to gain real-world exposure.
Leverage platforms like Bof Careers or Fashion Workie, and actively network at fashion events or through alumni. If you have any more questions check out this article: Navigating the World of Fashion Internships: Top 9 Questions Answered.
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