Fashion Designer Resume: Examples & Writing Guide [20+ Tips]

You don't just wake up and tell everyone what to wear. Unless you're Christian Dior, you need to get a job first.

And that's where things get tricky. You might have the most mouth-watering portfolio of fashion illustrations, but no one's hiring you unless you can prove that you can convert your sketches into actual business results.

For this, you need a fashion designer resume that’s like a power suit: sleek and classic while still highlighting your unique features. Here’s how to write one.

This guide will show you: 

• A fashion designer resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a fashion designer resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a fashion designer resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a fashion designer to get any job you want.

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Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume samples here.

Targeting a specific job in the fashion industry? Check out our guides:

• Fashion Resume
• Fashion Stylist Resume
• Model Resume
• Event Planner Resume
• Photographer Resume
• Video Producer Resume
• Performing Arts Resume
• Retail Resume
• Sales Associate Resume
• Store Manager Resume
• Visual Merchandising Resume
• Graphic Designer Resume
• Best Examples of Resumes for Any Job

Fashion Designer Resume Example

This is how to make a fashion designer resume worthy of the next Karl Lagerfeld:

1. Choose the Best Format for Your Fashion Designer Resume

To paraphrase a Karl Lagerfeld quote—

A respectable resume appearance is sufficient to make recruiters more interested in your skills.

Here’s how to make your fashion designer resume template look bold and beautiful:

• Start off with a resume header that stands out. Use it to present your personal information on your resume.
• See to it that the resume section titles are reader-friendly and well visible.
• Go for the most effective resume format. Most often, the chronological resume layout will serve you best.
• Select good resume fonts. What are these? Easy to read, not too fancy, and ATS-compliant.
• White space is your friend, so avoid cramming in too much into your fashion designer resume.
• Confused about the resume file format? Here’s the PDF vs Word resume rule. Stick to PDFs unless you’re asked to deliver an MS Word file.

2. Write a Fashion Designer Resume Objective or Summary

Want to be sure your fashion designer resume makes an unforgettable impression on the hiring manager?

Get your professional profile right. Write either:

A professional summary is the right option for candidates with over 2 years of experience. A resume summary contains about 2 or 3 sentences focused on your past duties and key accomplishments.

A career objective will usually top a fashion designer resume for freshers. In contrast to the summary, it’s all about the skills you’ve learned and how they turn you into a perfect candidate for the position.

Regardless of what type of intro you write, make sure you include specific examples and justify them with numbers and percentages.

Pro Tip: Don’t start writing your fashion designer resume with this section. First, write your entire document, and then write the short version.

3. Create the Perfect Job Description for a Fashion Designer Resume

Now—

Let’s describe your work experience on a resume.

The trick is to focus on what’s relevant to the position.

Follow these tips to make a bespoke fashion designer resume:

• Put your latest position up top and follow it up with the previous ones.
• Each entry should consist of your job title, company name, location, and dates.
• Describe your experience using bullet points. Stay below 8 bullet points for each job.
• Your fashion designer resume must be made to measure. How? A tailored resume focuses on your relevant experience.
• Start each bullet point with power verbs, such as designed, built, collaborated, managed, oversaw, etc.
• Back up your experience with numbers and percentages whenever you can.

Pro Tip: Having a hard time quantifying your experience? Select up to 3 things you can quantify and single them out in a separate key accomplishments subsection.

4. Make Your Fashion Designer Resume Education Section Shine

Let no detail escape the recruiter’s attention on your fashion designer resume.

Listing education on a resume is just as important as everything else and can be done in a flash.

Here’s how:

• If you happen to have >5 years of professional experience, list your degree, school name, and the graduation year. You’re done.
• Under 5 years of experience? Consider adding information on your GPA (if you scored more than 3.5), academic achievements, extracurricular activities, or relevant coursework.

Pro Tip: You can put your professional certifications on a resume in a separate section to increase their visibility.

5. Highlight Your Fashion Designer Skills

Use the list below as a source of inspiration to make sure you always put your best suit forward:

Fashion Designer Resume Skills

• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Budgeting
• Client support
• Colorways
• Commercial fashion
• Construction techniques
• Draping
• Excellent sense of style and color
• Fabrication
• Leather
• Luxury fashion merchandising
• MS Office
• Presentation
• Pressing
• Sewing
• Silhouettes
• Trim
• Adaptability
• Analytical skills
• Attention to detail
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Communication
• Conflict resolution
• Critical thinking
• Decision making
• Design and conceptual skills
• Leadership
• Multitasking
• Organization
• Problem solving
• Schedule flexibility
• Teamwork
• Time management

Make sure to focus on the relevant skills.

Here’s how to pick out the best skills for your fashion designer resume:

• Prepare a list of all your skills and abilities. Include your soft and hard skills, as well as technical strengths.
• Go back to the job posting to see what skills the employer is after specifically.
• Now consult your list to see if you have the skill set required for the position.
• Populate the key skills section of your resume with up to 10 of your best skills.
• Focus on your strengths. Don’t pick the skills you only have a basic understanding of. This way you’ll avoid the presenter’s paradox.

Pro Tip: Put your skills throughout your entire resume, not just the skills section. Your resume summary, objective, or job description are just as good!

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Fashion Designer Resume

Want to look better than the rest? Add extra sections to your fashion resume, to show what you have up your sleeve.

Add info on your:

• Professional achievements
• Personal interests
• Languages
• Volunteer experience

7. Attach a Cover Letter to Your Fashion Designer Resume

Cover letter or not?

Just think about it:

Half of the recruiters want to read your cover letter. And you can never be sure which half your fashion designer resume will end up with.

So, do write a resume cover letter. Follow our tips to do it in no time:

• Decide on the right covering letter format.
• Start with a killer cover letter opening sentence.
• Describe what you have to offer. Not what you want.
• Remember that the ending a cover letter should include a call to action.

Plus, learn how long a cover letter has to be.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to write a follow up email for a job to boost your chances.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Here we are!

That’s how you write a job-winning fashion designer resume.

Are you writing a fashion designer resume for the first time? Or perhaps you’re a seasoned pro eager to help the rookies out? We’d love to hear from you, leave your comment below!