How to Become a Teen Fashion Designer
So you're creative, fashion-conscious, and handy with a sewing machine- and your friends and family all say that you ought to be a professional designer. Believe it or not, there's a lot of resources out there for teens who want to become professional designers. If your sewing skills are already well-honed, you should be able to get a jump-start on a fashion design career just by following a few simple steps.
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Things You'll Need
- Internet Access
- Reliable Transportation
- Access to a Sewing Machine
- 4-H membership
- Time, Talent, & Persistence
Instructions
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Make sure that your skills are advanced enough to sew prototypes(samples) or your designs. You must be able to make samples of your designs to enter design competitions, to approach buyers, and to work with manufacturers. If your sewing skills are not up to snuff, take fashion design and sewing courses at school. If your school does not offer these courses, then take them at the local community college during summer vacation.
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Join 4H. 4H offers a lot of exposure to fashion design competitions. You will also have a lot of contact with adults who have a lot of sewing and design experience, and who judge at state level competitions. There is a lot of overlap between the people who are involved with the 4H design competition circuit and the high school competitions.
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Join fashion design associations. Many professional associations offer student memberships at a discounted price. You will receive newsletters, invitations to conferences and workshops, and if you are an active member, you can get to know people who can help you with your career.
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Develop relationships with people you along the way whose work you admire. Always do your best work. People will be impressed and will want to help you. Accept their help.
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Design your own clothes and wear them. Spend a few bucks to have business cards made. You can also make or buy your own clothing labels to sew into your creations. Be sure you have a great logo. When people complement you on your clothes, tell them you designed it yourself. If they want you to make them a copy, give them a business card and accept the job. Charge them enough to make it worth your while. After a while, maybe you will have enough work to quit your job, if you have one. Use the time to make more things and show them off.
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Search the web regularly for stories about teens who are already making it in the fashion industry. Read as much about them as you can. Also read fashion design websites. If your library does not subscribe to fashion industry professional journals, request that they purchase a subscription and read the journals regularly.
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