Top 7 Emerging Career Opportunities in the Fashion Industry

When you think of fashion careers, or going to school for fashion, people may look at you like you’re crazy. Some first thoughts that come to mind about fashion careers are:

• Becoming a personal stylist
• Becoming a clothing designer
• Starting your own clothing company
• Getting into manufacturing of clothing

But little do people know that fashion careers span a whole lot more opportunities in the industry. Since clothing is a necessity in life, the industry of fashion includes a ton of different career opportunities, from sales to engineering. Believe it or not, almost any field of work in the world can be applied to fashion.

Here are the top 12 emerging career opportunities in the fashion industry:

Fashion Chief Executive Offices and Management Roles

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Job Titles: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Financial Officer, anything in Management

Average Salary: $100,000+

What the Career Path Looks Like: Getting this gig will involve a lot of schooling and hard work. A Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree is almost always required, as well as several years as a Senior in a company before being promoted to CEO. Be prepared to work extra hard and network.

All fashion and clothing companies must have a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Operations Officer, etc. If you’re good at and love business, people, networking, and leading, this is a great opportunity to get into. Of course, becoming a CEO of a major fashion company like Vogue or Chanel will require you to be very good at what you do. There are also management roles like Sales Manager, Department Manager, Planning Manager, Product Manager, Research and Development Manager, etc. Land one of these in a fashion company and you’ve got yourself a fashion career!

Marketing for Fashion Companies

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Job Titles: Marketing Director, Art Director, Product Manager, Brand Manager, Advertising Director

Average Salary: $40,000 – $100,000+

What the Career Path Looks Like: If you can get experience in the marketing field, especially if you can show the results you produce with your marketing efforts, you might be able to land a nice fashion marketing gig without going to school. However, once you get a Bachelor’s and even a Master’s Degree, it will make things easier from you from then on.

All fashion companies need someone (or a department) to help market their products. Job titles in the fashion industry could be Marketing Manager, Marketing Specialist, Marketing Director, Consumer Psychologist, or Data Scientists. Consumer psychologists deal with knowing how consumers buy products. Having this knowledge will help the marketing department develop strategies and tactics for selling more clothes. Data scientists help the fashion industry by analyzing large amounts of numbers and data in order to gain more information about what’s selling the best, which marketing strategies are working the best, etc.

Fashion Stylists and Graphic Designers

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Job Titles: Fashion Stylist, Graphic Designer, Personal Stylist, Costume Stylists, Photo Stylists,

Average Salary: $25,000 – $100,000+

What the Career Path Looks Like: Earn an Associate’s Degree, get experience, and get certified. Do everything you can to learn about how to style the best way, add your own flair to the process, and make a lot of friends. You may be able to land a gig as a personal stylist for a famous celebrity.

One of the most obvious fashion career opportunity is a clothing or fashion designer. You could help with graphics, designing the fabric, designing costumes, jewelry, or accessories. You’d do great if you’re creative and love expressing your opinions and thoughts in your art and clothing. People as a personal stylist or designer also take into account the fundamentals of style in their work.

Manufacturing Clothing & Accessories

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Job Titles: Manufacturer, Machine Operator, Manufacturing/Production Technician, Manufacturing Engineer, Machinists, Production Supervisor

Average Salary: $25,000 – $50,000

What the Career Path Looks Like: Almost anyone can become a Manufacturer since all it takes is simple training. Find jobs in manufacturing companies and apply with a resume to get interviewed.

Another seemingly obvious fashion career opportunity is working in the manufacturing of clothing product. This involves actually working in a factory and aiding the production and sewing machines in creating the actual products from scratch.

Retail & Sales in the Clothing Department

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Job Titles: Sales Associate, Merchandise Manager, Store Manager, Store Assistant Manager, Associate Merchandise Buyer

Average Salary: $25,000 – $40,000

What the Career Path Looks Like: Almost anyone can get a job in the retail industry here as well, however you’ll have a lot more chances of getting hired if you have some sort of previous retail, customer service, or sales experience background on your resume. Even if you haven’t gotten a job before, a side project or volunteering would still be helpful.

Probably one of the easiest jobs to get hired from but has endless opportunities is in Retail and Sales. Retail and sales is all about selling the finished goods. You can work anywhere from Macy’s, Belk, and JCPenney to Chanel and Louis Vuitton. People in this field are in the front lines of customer service. They are the first ones that customers see and get the first impressions on when entering a boutique or a store. One thing to posses in Retail and Sales is a great attitude, a beautiful smile, and a go getter personality. With these, opportunities are endless for you in the career field.

Fashion Research and Development

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Job Titles: Research and Development Manager, Chemical Engineer, Industrial Engineer, Analyst, Fashion Research and Development Director

Average Salary: $60,000 – $100,000+

What the Career Path Looks Like: Going for any technical research, you’ll need to have a Master’s or Ph.D. Studying psychology, consumer behavior, and survey methods will also help.

Research and development involves working as an engineer or researcher in product, fabric, and process innovation. If you’re an engineer or researcher, you’re trying to find new and better ways of producing clothes and accessories. If you like working with cutting-edge equipment and technology, this is the fashion career path for you.

Sustainability Expert for Forward-Thinking Fashion Companies

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Job Titles: Sustainability Program Director, Community Crew Supervisors, Project Leader, Research Analyst, Environmental Engineer, Sustainability Coordinators

Average Salary: $45,000-$62,059

What the Career Path Looks Like: Getting a Bachelor’s Degree is highly recommended. Gain experience and get certified. The International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) provides certification and professional membership for career advancements.

Sustainability and environment-friendly careers are relatively new. This work involves taking production processes and turning them into and sustainable workflows that help the environment. An example is researching and finding alternative fabrics from recycled materials to produce clothes. If you’re extremely passionate in helping Earth, this is the career path for you.