Career prospects in Fashion Design Industry

Overview about Fashion Design Industry:
The Indian Fashion Design industry is likely to touch Rs.750/crore by 2012 from the current level of Rs.270/crore. This increase is due to:
· Indian companies investing big sums into the industry.
· Consumers increasing demand towards designer wear.
· Exposure to western media and ready availability of designer wear in shopping malls.
· Costume Designers known as Stylists in bollywood are mere atom in ever-evolving body of the Indian fashion industry.

Basic skills required:
For a Fashion Designer:
· A degree in fashion is helpful. It will help to learn about trend forecasts, how the fashion business works and the history of fashion
· In-depth knowledge of fabrics, embroidery, tailoring and color palettes will help immensely in any fashion profession.
For a Stylist:
· Time management skills are required to accommodate the schedules of tailors, photographers, actors, etc
· Technical knowledge of lighting, camera work, production and budgeting is essential while styling for TV, films, and magazine shoots.


Advantages of Fashion designing career:
· One gets to interact and work with glamorous personalities
· One has immense scope to travel abroad for ramp shows or work with international fashion houses
· A formal degree is not required. A knack for design and love for aesthetics is all one needs.

Disadvantages of Fashion designing career:
· High-stress jobs because of unforeseen demands and deadlines
· While styling for big stars and films your time is not yours, so there is no concept of social life or a Sunday
· It’s a challenging job, as you have to be able to communicate your own ideas

Career ladder:
Fashion Designer:
Level 1: Newcomer
Fashion co-ordinator with a export/fashion house. Your job is to do testing, designing, and sourcing
Level 2:
Work in a big fashion house for a year or two or strike out on your own
Rs.20,000/onwards pm

Stylist:
Level 1: Assisting a senior stylist in films, ads, or photo shoots
Rs.7,000/ to Rs.15,000/pm
Level 2: Styling for TV shows, music channels, magazines, etc
Rs.10,000/ to Rs,15,000/pm
Level 3: Freelance as stylist for TV serials, films, magazines, for advertisements
Rs.20,000/to Rs.50,000/pm
Level 4: Senior costume designer
Rs.3,00,000/ per film

Institutes conducting Fashion Designing course:
The institutes are listed below:
1. Amity Institute of Fashion technology (Noida)
2. Apeejay Institute of Design (Mehrauli)
3. National institute of Fashion Design (NIFD), Chandigarh
4. National Institute of Fashion technology (NIFT)
5. Pearl Academy of Fashion, Delhi, Chennai
6. National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad
7. MOD'ART International Institute of Arts and fashion of Paris, Mumbai
8. JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai
9. North India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT), Mohali
10. Sasmira fashion Institute, Mumbai
11. BD Somani Institute of Art and Fashion Technology, Mumbai
12. SNDT's Premlila Vithaldas Polytechnic, Mumbai
13. Sophia Polytechnic, Mumbai
14. CEPZ Instituteof Fashion Technology, Mumbai

Click here further details on the course and here for college comparison