Fashion designers are inspired from a wide range of cultural influences and are the creative minds behind clothing lines and accessories, often supplying the latest trends to high-fashion retailers. They are the creative people behind each season’s hottest looks and are not only involved in designing clothing they can also design accessories like shoes, belts, jewelry, watches, sunglasses, and handkerchiefs. Designers are exclusively trained to design clothes either on a custom basis or for the mass market, applying art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of the time.

Fashion designers often work hard for one to two years to deliver their best designs of the season. Fashion design is both an art and a science by fusing art with textile, and designers use their knowledge of fabrics, style and colors to create clothing people will want to wear. Designers must know how to draw and illustrate, sew, and be aware of trends. They also need to be artistic, creative, possess ability to translate ideas in sketches, and have keen sense of color. Fashion designers are known to work long hours, especially during production deadlines or before fashion shows. An associate degree or bachelor's degree from a reputable fashion design college is a usual requirement for this field of work.

Designers usually specialize in a type of garment or accessory such as men or women garments, kids clothing, swimwear, lingerie, handbags, or footwear. While designers who work for apparel manufacturers do less original work, they often adapt fashions by other designers for the mass market. Designers primarily work independently but spend much of their time coordinating with workroom personnel, buyers, sales personnel, and other artists. Excellent problem-solving skills, communication skills, and computer literacy are a must. Design professionals that demonstrate exceptional talent and managerial skills may become head designers, and may later advance to supervisory and management positions.

Fashion designers are involved in every phase of designing, showing, and producing of all types of clothing, the ones who create all the elegant, whimsical, fun, silly, and often expensive clothes we see parading down runways throughout the year. They are by their nature extremely creative people, with a highly developed visual sense. At the heart of the fashion industry, fashion designers are the ones with a desire to create both innovative and interesting designs. As fashion becomes more recognized as an established art form, and as more media companies are covering the fashion world, fashion design is becoming a more desired profession.