Fashion design is probably one of the most fast-paced and exciting fields a person can choose to enter! Fashion moves quickly, trends come and go, and the designers who create the clothes worn by men, women, and children must find a way to sniff out the next hot look before it becomes old-hat.
If you enjoy fashion and style, like to work hard, and have a creative and artistic eye, then a career in fashion design or other aspect of the apparel industry may be a great career choice for you!
There are four fashion design schools in the state of Indiana. The first one, at Purdue University, offers a cooperative education arrangement with Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, one of the leading fashion design schools in the world. Indiana University offers both a certificate and a bachelors degree in fashion design. Ball State University also offers a degree program in apparel design and is, in fact, the most affordable of the three. Also, the Art Institute of Indianapolis offers a bachelors degree in fashion design.
All of these programs offer courses in textiles, draping, sewing, fashion merchandizing, accessories design, color, image consulting mens wear, ladies tailoring, and courses in the fashion business such as sustainable design, advertising and marketing, and running a small business. No specific licensure is needed to work in the fashion industry, but there are several organizations geared to professionals in the industry that may help you prepare for your career.
According to O*Net (2016) Indiana Fashion Designers make a median salalry of $61,720. Although your salary can always differ by job experience and what you specifically do in the fashion industry, Indiana is always looking for inspiration from talented new designers seeking to enter the field and make their mark!
Careers in the fashion industry are numerous and varied. Working as a fashion designer is exciting and demanding work, necessitating that you be able to sketch, drape, sew, and fit, meet with clients and buyers as well as workers who are manufacturing your designs. It is usually the pinnacle of a persons career, after putting in long years either as an assistant in a fashion design house, or as a professional in some other aspect of the industry. Fashion design programs will provide you with training for a career in many different areas of fashion design. You may choose to work in retail, selling and merchandising clothing, and perhaps acting as a stylist to individual customers. You may work directly as a merchandiser, arranging inventory in artistic and attractive ways that catch the customers eye and make them want to buy a particular item of clothing. You may become a buyer, traveling the globe to find the next latest style to have manufactured for your client. Whatever you do, you will work long hours and weeks, particularly right before fashion week and runway shows! Indianapolis is home to Indianapolis Midwest Fashion Week, an annual event that features fashion designs from local and international designers, runway shows, and more. Fashion design is a forever-changing field with an artistic flair. It that fits your talents and your personality, consider developing a career in fashion design in Indiana!
Indiana Professional Licensing Agency
State Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners
402 W. Washington St., Rm. W072
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone Number: 317-234-3031
Fax Number: 317-233-4236
E-mail Address: pla12@pla.in.gov
The Indiana State Board of Cosmetology can help you with replacing a lost cosmetology license, updating a change of name or change of address information, and acquiring out-of-state and other useful forms, as well as answer additional questions about obtaining an Indiana cosmetology license.