How to become a fashion designer in Australia
Fashion Designers plan, design and develop clothing, accessories, footwear or other items of personal apparel considering the form and construction of clothing, historical styles and contexts, contemporary and cultural trends, colour, fabric, and decoration, and the techniques and processes available for manufacture.
Pay and growth are for the wider fashion, industrial and jewellery designers group, which is as fine as the data goes. The all-jobs median is $1,852 a week. Jobs in the fashion, industrial and jewellery designers group are projected to grow 20.9% between May 2025 and May 2035, faster than the 13.3% projected for all jobs. Projections are indicative, not forecasts, and JSA says they don't yet reflect generative AI.
What the job involves
- Determines objectives and constraints of the design brief by consulting with clients and stakeholders.
- Does product research and analyses functional, commercial, cultural and aesthetic requirements.
- Formulates design concepts for clothing.
- Prepares sketches, diagrams, illustrations, plans, samples and models to communicate design concepts.
- Negotiates design solutions with clients, management, sales and manufacturing staff.
- Selects, specifies and recommends functional and aesthetic materials, production methods and finishes for manufacture.
How to get there
What it usually takes. A bachelor degree or higher. This is the skill level Jobs and Skills Australia gives the fashion, industrial and jewellery designers group, and some roles differ.
What people in the job have. Highest qualification held: 50% a degree or higher, 27% a diploma, 7% a Certificate III or IV.
Many jobs also need registration, a licence or a specific accredited course. Check the professional body or regulator before you choose.
Courses that can lead here
Estimate your ATAR and this page shows the gap to each course. Your marks stay on your device.
Victoria19 matches
VTAC lowest selection ranks, December 2025 offer round.
Fashion Sustainability · RMIT, Brunswick72.55 Fashion Enterprise · RMIT, Brunswick60.20Diplomas and other ways in
Showing 9 of 19 matches. Search every course.
NSW and ACT17 matches
UAC lowest selection ranks, December Round 2, 2025-26 admissions.
Bachelor of Fashion Business · UTS91.45 Bachelor of Design in Fashion and Textiles · UTS89.00 Bachelor of Design in Fashion and Textiles Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation · UTS91.40Diplomas and other ways in
Showing 7 of 17 matches. Search every course.
Queensland14 matches
QTAC course pages, ATAR/Selection Rank profile for semester 1, 2026.
Diplomas and other ways in
Showing 6 of 14 matches. Search every course.
Western Australia1 match
TISC Course Search: lowest ATAR offered for 2026 entry and guaranteed offer ATARs.
Bachelor of Design in Fashion Design · Curtin, Perth60.20Matched on course names, 51 across four admissions centres. A lowest selection rank includes adjustment points and moves every year. Check prerequisites and whether the course is accredited for this job.
Graduate outcomes, national
Undergraduates surveyed about four to six months after finishing, in 2025, across all providers. Full-time work is among those available for it. All graduates: 75.4% and $77,000. These are national figures for the study area, not for this course or uni, and a first-year salary says little about later pay. Source: QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025.
Does it fit your interests?
Strongest interest areas for this kind of work: Artistic, Realistic, Enterprising.
From O*NET ratings for "Fashion Designers", the closest US occupation in JSA's correspondence (a good match). US ratings are a guide to Australian jobs, not a measurement of them.
Careers with similar interests
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Share your storyJob data: © Commonwealth of Australia, Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profiles, February 2026 and Employment Projections, May 2025 to May 2035 (Victoria University), CC BY 4.0. Jobs and Skills Australia, ANZSCO 2013 Version 1.2 to O*NET-SOC 2019 Taxonomy correspondence.
Graduate outcomes: QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025, National Report Tables (Social Research Centre, for the Australian Government).
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Curve ATAR has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.