Finding the Best Fashion Jobs London Has to Offer

About Fashion Jobs

Working in the best fashion jobs London can provide is a dream come true for many haute couture enthusiasts.

To make this dream a reality for you, we put together a guide for finding the best jobs in London’s fashion industry. Among other things, you’ll learn about the duties, work conditions, and education requirements for this sector.

What Do Fashion Jobs in the UK Entail?

Workers in the fashion industry have a wide variety of tasks depending on their station. A lot of them have responsibilities outside of the fashion industry itself. For instance, some fashion jobs with no experience requirement in London may also involve doing things not necessarily related to fashion (fetching coffee and the like). Having a job in fashion can cover everything from the designing and manufacturing of clothes to distributing, selling, and wearing them as a model.

Fashion Job Duties

Let’s cover the responsibilities of employees in this sector in more detail. Again, there are a plethora of different job types in this industry. As such, we’ll discuss the duties found in the most prominent jobs in the fashion world.

• Create a visual styling for clothing products

This usually falls within the remit of fashion jobs like art directors and fashion designers. Every article of clothing needs to have a kind of style, from casual to upscale. It’s up to fashion employees to give clothes an artistic direction and realise it through material/colour selection.

• Purchase and sell clothing articles

Fashion retail jobs, like buying agents, entail purchasing clothes from wholesale manufacturers. Workers in this field need to select the items most likely to sell well. They also keep inventory sufficiently full and varied to maintain a store’s sales.

• Research the fashion market

Fashion trends change all the time. People in fashion marketing jobs in London and beyond keep tabs on the fashion world’s shifting tides. They predict trends and suggest how to best capitalise on them.

• Modelling

The best way to sell any piece of clothing is to show how good it can look on people. Jobs in fashion, such as modelling, make sure clothes look as appealing to customers as possible. They pose for photographs, go on runways at fashion shows, and appear in fashion-related media.

Types of Fashion Jobs London Has to Offer

In this section, we’ll cover the most common roles in fashion and what responsibilities they entail.

• Fashion Model

Models are a vital part of fashion advertising. They pose for photos that are featured in magazines and websites related to fashion. Furthermore, models walk on runways at fashion shows and appear in commercials and other promotional materials. Modelling fashion jobs in the UK are often sporadic, featuring long stints of unemployment and intense work periods.

• Photographer

Fashion photographers take pictures of models and clothing that appear in fashion-related media. Nine times out of ten, fashion photography jobs in London and other cities involve collaborating with art directors and designers. They need to work closely to align a fashion’s house brand image with the photographs’ artistic direction.

• Fashion Market Researcher

In fashion, a market researcher analyses current trends and predicts what’ll be popular in the future. People working in fashion research jobs in London devise ways to profit off present and upcoming trends.

• Fashion Writer

Fashion writers create written content for fashion outlets. Be they physical or online, they’re responsible for a wide range of materials. The fashion writer jobs London and UK agencies are looking to fill involve writing marketing copy, journalistic pieces, blog posts, reports, and more.

• Designer

The fashion world employs several kinds of designers, primarily fashion, textile, and graphic designers. They’re in charge of conceptualising and crafting articles of clothing out of the best possible materials. For the most part, fashion design jobs in London and the wider UK require certain computer skills.

• Purchasing/Sales Agent

Sales and buying agents largely deal with the distribution of manufactured clothes from wholesale providers. They usually work in retail, using business resources to get the merchandise their stores need.

Fashion buyer jobs London companies offer typically entail a lot of travelling. Not only do they visit manufacturers and fashion shows, but they also need marketing or business degrees.

• Art Director

An art director creates the visual style for a fashion product or product line. They usually help out in building a brand image, too. London fashion jobs of this type require a strong imagination and a lot of creativity.

• Stylist

Stylists give fashion advice and choose and combine outfits for models and actors during photo shoots. Most fashion stylist jobs in London have workers working closely with clothing brands, stores, or even individuals.

• Public Relations Specialist

Much like every PR agent, public relations specialists in the fashion industry maintain an apparel company’s public image. They write press releases, talk to the press during conferences, and interact with the media. One needs journalistic experience and skills to be eligible for fashion PR jobs London employers post listings for.

Work Environment

The kind of working conditions fashion workers face depends on the exact job they do.

For instance, employees like models or sales agents don’t really have an office from which they do their job. Moreover, many entry-level fashion jobs have employees running errands for their mentors. They likely have an office, but their work overwhelmingly drags them outside for much of their working hours.

Other fashion careers involve working in wholesale factories, retailers, apparel companies, and design firms. The quality of these environments can vary quite a bit. For example, working in a marketing office is usually more comfortable than working in a factory.

Injuries and Illnesses

Certain injuries and illnesses are more prominent in some UK fashion jobs than others.

For example, eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are rampant among models. On the other hand, clothing factory workers risk exposure to dangerous chemicals, loud noises, and machinery.

Lastly, some jobs in the fashion industry are gig-based. That means a lot of workers in the field suffer from the long-term effects of stress due to an unstable source of income.

Work Schedules

Most jobs in the fashion industry veer from the standard 9-to-5 model. For example, fashion assistant jobs in London often entail running errands ‘round the clock. On the other hand, designers often need to keep a flexible work schedule due to meetings and project deadlines. Models have a similar work style, with drawn-out photo sessions and long bouts of unemployment.

However, one kind of fashion job London doesn’t have in spades comes with incredibly long work hours. Textile factories, especially in developing economies, often force their workers into gruelling shifts of up to 17 hours.

In the United Kingdom, there are also plenty of opportunities to find part-time fashion jobs. These range from sales consultants to warehouse packers. Moreover, many personal assistants to designers, directors, or agents do their jobs part-time.

Retail jobs, such as cashiers and customer service representatives, are relatively easier to get due to them requiring fewer credentials, and these jobs usually require you to work a fixed schedule.

How to Get a Job in Fashion

Depending on the job you’re after, you may need certain skills or certifications to join the fashion industry. Given the diversity of this sector, the skill set required to succeed is similarly extensive.

As expected, some jobs in the fashion world are easier to attain than others. For example, retail jobs in London for those with no experience are more readily attainable than high-level positions like art directors.

Important Qualities

If you want to work in the fashion industry and do well, you’ll need a few qualities, which we’ll outline in the next section.

• Eye for Detail

If you intend on working as a fashion designer or art director, you’ll need a good eye for detail. Even the tiniest changes to a clothing’s design can greatly alter the impression it leaves. Those looking for fashion designer jobs in London must have the ability to notice minute details and how they affect a clothing item’s overall design.

• Strong Fashion Sense

Of course, someone working in fashion should really have a good eye for fashion. Knowing how to combine certain pieces of clothing to create interesting looks will help you get far in the industry.

• Willingness to Work Overtime

A lot of the fashion jobs London is hiring for call for overtime. In many cases, this is due to employees needing to attend meetings or finish projects on time. Many textile factories also demand regular overtime, though this is more common in developing economies.

• Good Drawing Skills

For designers and art directors, drawing is an essential part of work. Whether you’re in senior or assistant fashion designer jobs in London, you need to have a knack for putting your visions down on paper. Particularly, knowledge of technical drawing is important for designers.

• Strong Communication Skills

Sales agents, PR experts, and those in fashion receptionist jobs in London must excel in communication. Agents communicate effectively to leverage sales to their advantage. On the other hand, PR specialists keep a company’s image positive in the public’s conscience, which calls for a silver tongue.

• Good Visualisation

In particular, luxury fashion jobs in London require a knack for creating bold outfits. This means coordinating colours, outfits, and accessories in one’s mind before actually trying it. Doing so saves time otherwise spent trying out combinations that likely won’t work.

Education Needed for Careers in Fashion

If you want to work in the fashion industry, having a degree from a fashion school is extremely helpful. Otherwise, the growing competitiveness in the market makes it harder to enter the industry without a degree.

If you’re interested in attending a fashion school and landing one of the many fashion graduate jobs that are hiring, the following are worth looking into:

• University for the Creative Arts
• Kingston University
• Edinburgh College of Art
• Nottingham Trent University
• Central St Martins
• University of Westminster

Conversely, entry-level fashion jobs in London, such as in retail or manufacturing, rarely need a degree. In these jobs, workers can gain experience in the industry and aspire to progress in their careers.

Additionally, other degrees that aren’t necessarily fashion-centric can still help you land a job in the industry. These jobs usually relate to business or marketing. For example, working in fashion head office jobs in London often calls for a business degree.

Other degrees that can prove helpful include:

• Bachelor in Multimedia Design and Development
• Bachelor in Design Management
• Bachelor in Graphic Design
• Bachelor in Digital Media
• Bachelor in Fashion Marketing and Design
• Bachelor in Fashion Marketing

Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations to Land a Fashion Job in the UK

Beyond a college degree, many jobs in the industry require no certification or license. They usually only demand experience in the field and offer room to progress if you have enough skill. That said, textile and fashion design certificates help, especially if you have no provable experience in the field or if you want to work in luxury fashion jobs.

Here are a few good quality certificates:

• Bayswater College Fashion Styling Certificate
• Adams Academy Fashion and Lifestyle Blogging Course Certificate
• London College of Fashion: Fashion History — the Evolution of Style
• UAL Introduction to Fashion Design

Advancement

Fashion jobs in London that are part-time are commonly entry-level positions. This usually entails working as an assistant. Alternatively, newcomers to the industry can start off working in retail stores. From there, they can get promoted and advance their careers. On the other hand, more experienced workers can aim for fashion head office jobs, senior roles, or starting their own company or retail store.

Pay

The pay for fashion workers varies based on the job in question. For example, someone working as a model may earn more than those working in fashion admin jobs. Here are the average salaries for the major occupations in fashion:

• Fashion Model

Fashion models earn £41,550 annually on average. The gap between the minimum and maximum average pay is wide, with a £20,000–£90,000 disparity.

• Fashion Market Researcher

The average fashion marketing salary in the UK is £24,694 per year. However, trend researchers in fashion earn anything between £21,000 and £27,000 annually.

• Photographer

On average, fashion photographers get paid £22,750 per year, making it one of the somewhat poorly paid fashion jobs in London. The bottom 10% earns around £18,000 annually. Meanwhile, the top 10% of fashion photographers make an average of £30,000 every year.

• Fashion Writer

If you work as a writer in fashion magazine jobs in London, you tend to receive a minimum yearly salary of £18,000. On the other end of the spectrum, highly paid writers enjoy a salary of about £42,000. The average pay for this profession is £36,566 annually.

• Fashion Designer

Fashion designers earn £28,228 annually on average. Lower-paying positions, such as fashion design assistant jobs in London, pay roughly £18,000 every year, while senior designers earn about £47,000 annually.

• Purchasing/Sales Agent

The average pay for sales agents in the fashion industry is £25,865. However, salaries can be anywhere within the range of £16,000 to £34,000.

• Art Director

Art directors typically earn £47,050 per year. These fashion jobs UK and London have to offer can pay anything from £32,000 to £67,000.

• Stylist

The average salary for fashion stylists is £27,369 annually. Newcomers in the field looking for graduate fashion jobs in London in this profession can look forward to a £20,000 yearly salary. However, if they tough it out for long enough, stylists can earn up to £42,000 on a yearly basis.

• Public Relations Specialist

PR and marketing experts in fashion can expect an average yearly salary of £43,479. Jobs down the salary ladder, such as paying fashion marketing apprenticeships, may pay around £29,000. The highest-paid PR experts get up to £61,000 per year.

Job Outlook

The fashion industry’s job market is highly competitive, especially due to the sector’s rapidly changing trends. As such, getting your foot in the door isn’t easy. Moreover, the industry’s job growth is relatively slow, with a decreasing number of fashion jobs in East London and the UK overall.

Job Prospects

As with so many industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the fashion industry. Globally, the apparel market has shrunk by £214 billion.
On the brighter side, the industry is changing in some positive ways, too. The abolishment of animal cruelty and environmentally harmful materials are some of the key emerging trends. There’s also an increase in apprenticeship positions to boost the industry’s amount of talent at affordable costs.

Frequently Asked Questions