Garment and related trades workers

How to become a tailor, dressmaker, furrier or hatter

Official title: Tailors, dressmakers, furriers and hatters

Also called: Dressmaker, Furrier, Fur grader, Hatter, Milliner, Tailor

Tailors, dressmakers, furriers and hatters fabricate, fit, alter and repair tailored or handmade clothing. They produce made-to-measure clothing such as suits, overcoats and dresses from textile fabrics, light leather, fur and other material, or make hats or wigs according to customers’ and clothing manufacturers’ specifications.

Main tasks

Making overcoats, suits, skirts, shirts, blouses, lingerie, corsetry, hats, wigs and similar garments, often to clients’ individual requirements
Selecting textile fabrics, leather or fur pelts matching the desired size, colour, texture and quality of the garment; cutting to shape them to garment pattern and arranging them on the pattern according to the design of the garment
Making garment style changes, such as tapering trouser legs or narrowing lapels, and adding or removing padding
Selecting and modifying commercial patterns to customers’ and clothing manufacturers’ specifications and fit
Fitting, altering and repairing tailored clothing, dresses, coats and other made-to-measure garments according to customers’ requests
Making and caring for costumes used in theatrical, television and motion picture productions
Folding, twisting and draping material such as satin or silk, or sewing ribbon or cloth in the form of artificial flowers or bows around crown and brim to shape and decorate hats
Sewing and fastening together materials and hair strands to make wigs
Blending shades of hair to give a natural appearance to wigs, arranging woven hair in specified positions and sewing hair together to form hairpieces
Making, altering, restyling and repairing fur garments and other fur articles

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

Median pay: HK$21,000 a month
About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a tailor, dressmaker, furrier or hatter?

Usually not. Only 8% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a tailor, dressmaker, furrier or hatter?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026