Design

How to become a fashion designer

Official title: Fashion designer

Also called: Clothing designer, Costume designer, Textile designer, Apparel designer, Garment technician, Fashion stylist, Textile product designer

Fashion designers design clothing, accessories and shoes. They may design one-off pieces or work in teams to design a range of mass-produced items or seasonal collections.

Main tasks

Design clothing, accessories and shoes
Measure, sew and cut fabric
Create prototypes
Source, select and order fabric and materials
Create technical illustrations
Alter clothing for clients
Develop seasonal design concepts
Market and sell clothing

How to become one

You usually need a qualification and experience to become a fashion designer. You usually need NCEA Level 3 or University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: a bachelor's degree in fashion design; a relevant tertiary qualification in graphics and design studies; a New Zealand Certificate in Apparel and Fashion Technology (Level 3); experience in similar work; a portfolio of work.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Creative Arts & Design degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand
Certificates and diplomas: Entry certificates in manufacturing engineering. TEC links this job to study in manufacturing engineering and technology. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Manufacturing. Usually 4 months. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $36,000 a year one year after study; 27% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $57,000 to $101,000 a year (median $74,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $142,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Decrease (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Fashion, Industrial and Jewellery Designers: 2,793 at the 2018 Census and 3,126 at the 2023 Census (+11.9%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 650 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Fashion, Industrial and Jewellery Designers, 64% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Fashion, Industrial and Jewellery Designers work (2023 Census): Auckland 42.6%, Canterbury 12.8%, and Wellington 11.9%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a fashion designer?

How much does a fashion designer earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $74,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $57,000 to $101,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a fashion designer grown in New Zealand?

It has shrunk: TEC records a decrease in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a fashion designer?

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

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), 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

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine 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. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026