Clothing, fashion
and accessories designers
Clothing, fashion and accessories designers plan, direct and undertake the creation of designs for new clothing and related fashion accessories.
- Employees (UK)
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- Median annual pay
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- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal 8.7/10 Very high strict reading, with tools is 8.7/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.0/10
- Wage exposure
- - -
Higher exposure than 3% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's models. Roles like this are being rebuilt, usually not by disappearing but by one person using AI to produce what several did.
If you are in this role
Be the person doing the rebuilding. People who learn to run this kind of work with AI become very valuable, and the ones who wait tend to have the change made for them.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
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Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
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Determine prices for styles.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
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Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
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Determine prices for styles.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Fashion Designers" (27-1022.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 20 tasks, unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
What still needs a person
20 of 20 tasks
Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
Determine prices for styles.
Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
Select materials and production techniques to be used for products.
Provide sample garments to agents and sales representatives, and arrange for showings of sample garments at sales meetings or fashion shows.
Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments.
Develop a group of products or accessories, and market them through venues such as boutiques or mail-order catalogs.
Identify target markets for designs, looking at factors such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Draw patterns for articles designed, cut patterns, and cut material according to patterns, using measuring instruments and scissors.
Collaborate with other designers to coordinate special products and designs.
Attend fashion shows and review garment magazines and manuals to gather information about fashion trends and consumer preferences.
Sew together sections of material to form mockups or samples of garments or articles, using sewing equipment.
Purchase new or used clothing and accessory items as needed to complete designs.
Design custom clothing and accessories for individuals, retailers, or theatrical, television, or film productions.
Research the styles and periods of clothing needed for film or theatrical productions.
Visit textile showrooms to keep up-to-date on the latest fabrics.
Adapt other designers' ideas for the mass market.
Test fabrics or oversee testing so that garment care labels can be created.
Read scripts and consult directors and other production staff to develop design concepts and plan productions.
Tasks via O*NET "Fashion Designers" (27-1022.00).
What AI can already do
16 of 20 tasks, with tools
Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
Determine prices for styles.
Select materials and production techniques to be used for products.
Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments.
Develop a group of products or accessories, and market them through venues such as boutiques or mail-order catalogs.
Identify target markets for designs, looking at factors such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Draw patterns for articles designed, cut patterns, and cut material according to patterns, using measuring instruments and scissors.
Collaborate with other designers to coordinate special products and designs.
Attend fashion shows and review garment magazines and manuals to gather information about fashion trends and consumer preferences.
Design custom clothing and accessories for individuals, retailers, or theatrical, television, or film productions.
Research the styles and periods of clothing needed for film or theatrical productions.
Visit textile showrooms to keep up-to-date on the latest fabrics.
Adapt other designers' ideas for the mass market.
Test fabrics or oversee testing so that garment care labels can be created.
Read scripts and consult directors and other production staff to develop design concepts and plan productions.
What still needs a person
4 of 20 tasks
Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
Provide sample garments to agents and sales representatives, and arrange for showings of sample garments at sales meetings or fashion shows.
Sew together sections of material to form mockups or samples of garments or articles, using sewing equipment.
Purchase new or used clothing and accessory items as needed to complete designs.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Associate professional occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons