How to Become a Freelance Fashion Designer

A fashion designer combines the different elements of a garment – line, proportion, colour and texture. It is not necessary for a fashion designer to be skilled in sewing and pattern-making, but they are always admired.In a nutshell, as a fashion designer you are given the opportunity to get paid for your artistic visions!

It’s a popular dream making a living designing clothes, though unfortunately it’s a hard dream to succeed in as passion is only the beginning of what is needed, as competition is so fierce. That said, with a good background in fashion design, succeeding as a freelance fashion designer will be much easier. The basic skills required are:

Good eye for detail and colour
An appreciation of beauty
Understanding of the design process, including sewing and pattern making skills

Top tips for success

Studying trends and understanding that final production typically takes around 18 months is a must, as the lengthy production time means that your sketches need to be ‘future proof’. Your sketches will be expected to include colours and fabrics which should be chosen to reflect the colours, notion and textiles of the fashion industry - though more importantly, reflect fashion in 18 months time.

Excellent communication skills will be fundamental in securing contracts and to succeed as a freelance fashion designer. You will be frequently communicating with manufactures, suppliers and customers. Networking is fundamental in the fashion industry and it is often referred to as a ‘who you know’ industry. Potential clients are often are met at trade shows, which you would be expected to attend to keep you ahead of current trends. Trade shows could be anywhere in the world, giving you tremendous opportunities to meet a wide range of people.

When first starting out, you may find some potential clients may not consider working with you unless you have a degree or City & Guilds qualifications. This is because, to some extent, further education is thought as work experience. Along with education you will need an impressive portfolio. This is particularly important for your first few projects, as you build your reputation up. Often you’ll discover an impressive portfolio will secure you a contract over a competitor. It is also key that your portfolio is updated frequently and always reflects current trends. No one would want to invest in a last season fashion designer!

A recent poll by All Art School revealed that almost a quarter of all fashion designers are freelance. This obviously brings risks, as competition for contracts could be high. However this is the same as any contract position and carries the same problems and benefits. Please visit our page on the Benefits of freelancing

Rates of Pay

The average salary of a freelance fashion designer could vary from £13,000 to more than £60,000! Similarly, daily rates can vary from £100 to £1,000 depending on your experience and the nature of the project. Often projects in this industry are carried out at a set price, which will be negotiated at the beginning of a project. Usually it is advisable to have your contract checked out by an expert, to ensure your getting the best deal possible.

Finding a Contract

Most contracts are usually found through word of mouth, so as you become more established, contracts usually become easier to secure. Over the past few years there has a been a boom in 'freelance marketplaces' and these are ideal when starting out, as they give you access to many opportunities which previously you may have struggled to find. A few of these include:

Having made the decision to give it a go, whether full or part time, and whether to set up as a sole trader or limited company, you’re going to need a wide range of tax and accountancy advice and support in the early days when setting up as a freelancer.

The most daunting thing about going freelancing for most people is the thought of having to engage with an accountant. At first glance it’s easy, you go down to your local high street accountant who quotes you anything from £250 to £600 plus VAT to do your end of year accounts for you. This sounds great, however what happens if you want to speak to your accountant for advice throughout the year on things like:

Expenses
Tax allowances
Take home pay
How much you should put aside for your tax bill
Whether you should register for the Flat Rate VAT scheme
If going limited would be beneficial
What’s the most tax efficient way to run your business.

Each time you pick up the phone it is likely you will get charged. In fact, every time your accountant sends you a letter you may charged - and you may even get charged if you call to query your invoice! So by the end of the year you could easily be looking at a bill of over £1,000.

For more information please visit our page on Benefits of an Accountant.

Easy Accountancy charges a fixed fee of only £30 VAT a month

We don’t want our clients to be scared to contact us and potentially lose out on valuable tax saving advice, that's why we only charge a fixed fee of £30 VAT a month. It’s important when you first start out freelancing that you run your business in the best way possible. As a start up you’ll probably have loads of questions, and will really appreciate the fact you can call your accountant as many times as you, like without the fear of racking up large bills.

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Easy Accountancy

Easy Accountancy is the UK’s only national specialist accountancy firm for freelancers, sole traders and small businesses

If you’ve just started out as a freelancer or run a small business, you’ll definitely need a small accountant and there are plenty of options out there! However, most accountants will charge you every time you get in touch with them; for every phone call, email or meeting.

We don’t want our clients to be scared to contact us and potentially lose out on valuable tax saving advice. It's even more important when you first start out as you really need to set your business up in the best way possible. As a start up you’ll probably have loads of questions and will really appreciate the fact you can call your accountant as many times as you like without the fear of racking up large bills.

Our low cost, all-inclusive fixed-fee accountancy service includes unlimited access to your own accountant throughout the year, so you never need to worry about picking up the phone and then receiving a bill afterwards for the privilege, and covers all your business and personal tax affairs needs. All clients additionally receive:

Help to run your business in the most tax efficient way possible
Help so you can understand the taxes you need to pay
Advice on the best ways to manage your business
Updates and reminders so you'll never miss a deadline
Help to ensure you maximise your tax allowances
Provide proactive tax advice throughout the year

We’ve saved our clients up to half on their accountancy bills – if you’d like a quote, click on the quote me button to the right of this page. Alternatively, call us on 0500 234111 / 01442 275767 or email jessica@easyaccountancy.co.uk

We also have a money-back service guarantee - all of your telephone calls and emails will be answered on the same day, or we will refund your monthly fee (another first within the accountancy world).

To appoint us as your accountants, please fill in our Client Agreement Form online.

If you are a contractor working through a limited company then visit SJD Accountancy (our sister company) who specialise in providing tax advice and accountancy services for Limited Company contractors. You can also keep up to date by following the SJD Accountancy Twitter

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