11 Fashion Jobs You Didn’t Know Existed

When it comes to career possibilities in fashion, people often associate the role of the fashion designer with the industry. But of course, to move one of the biggest economies in the world, there are many more professionals than just the fashion designer involved. While you might be familiar with the most popular careers such as the one of the buyer, stylist, editor, photographer, graphic designer… there are many other people working behind the scenes. 

If you want to break into the fashion industry and pursue a career outside of these mainstream jobs, and you wish to explore more career opportunities, come and learn about 11 fashion jobs you probably didn’t know existed.

11 Fashion Jobs you Didn’t Know Existed

Product Developer

In case you thought that only designers are part of the design team, in reality, there are many more roles involved in the design process. For example, the role of the product developer. Placed within the design and production departments of a fashion company, a product developer is involved in the complete product development from initial drawings to final samples with the aim of bringing a fashion product from concept to completion, thus translating design ideas into feasible and marketable products. They are responsible for planning, developing, and presenting fashion-focused products for a specific market within a company. Such as accessories, footwear, lingerie, or womenswear. Product developers must ensure that the products are produced efficiently, meet quality standards, and align with the designer’s vision, brand’s aesthetic, and market positioning. 

The daily tasks of a product developer in the fashion industry typically include working closely with the technical construction and design team to develop seasonal collections from design concepts to prototypes, creating tech packs, collaborating with internal and external designers and giving them recommendations on design modification, manufacturing techniques, construction, and materials, communicating with different factories globally to source the best materials needed for your product, working with manufacturers by monitoring supplier performance and delivery schedules, negotiating prices, and analyzing product costs. The role of the product developer requires a lot of other tasks and skills. We wrote an article about it that you can read here if you want to start working as a product developer. 

Hard Luxury Manager

Each role in fashion can have different shades, especially when it comes to the same role but applied to different categories (ready-to-wear, bags, shoes…). The Hard Luxury Manager is a product developer specializing in the hard luxury categories (jewelry and watches). They build strategies in collaboration with Commercial team members. Such as Business Development & Account Management, and with Private Client, Operations, and Marketing teams.

Modellista/modeliste 

A modellista is a professional who works within the design team by helping designers translate their vision of a product into a prototype. So unlike product developers who create a finished product, modellistas are mainly requested during the prototyping stage. Their role thus requires to analyze the product idea, the functionality and technical risks, and then manage the production of all prototypes and samples, ensuring the technical feasibility while keeping it aesthetic. Modellistes research and develop technical proposals, and propose modifications to quality/construction/cost issues. In order to create the prototypes easier, they work closely with product developers, collection merchandisers, manufacturing workshops, and other roles involved with product development.

Wholesale Manager

Wholesale is a popular division within the fashion industry. This term is used to define a business-to-business agreement made between a company (the store) and another (the brand) to distribute the collection. So there is a company standing between the brand and the customers. Net-a-Porter for example, buys in bulk products from Saint Laurent, to sell them in their online store to customers. 

The wholesale manager works closely with the sales team on local product knowledge clinics, assists the team in preparing wholesale reporting and visual guides, tracks and organizes sample requests between all departments and clients, and compiles shipping and sales reports, among other tasks.

Head of Customer Experience (CX)

Understanding the customer is fundamental for any business to offer products and services that adapt to their needs and increase their loyalty. In fashion, the Head of Customer Experience leads on the global End-to-End Customer Experience strategy and execution, in order to maximize the number of customers and Customer Lifetime Value. Working with multiple cross-functional teams and key stakeholders being Commercial, Digital, Marketing, Supply Chain and Logistics, Customer Care, Finance, Customer Insight, the Head of Customer Experience guides cross-functional development and management of a compelling and seamless customer experience that supports the company’s strategic and commercial goals.

Product Sustainability Partner

Sustainability has become an important aspect of the  fashion industry. So brands are growing their sustainability teams to deploy environmental efforts. Among the different sustainable fashion jobs, one that perhaps you didn’t know of is the Product Sustainability Partner.

The Product Sustainability Partner supports both product and supply chain sustainability. This job involves dealing with  materials, manufacturing processes and environmental compliance with customer engagement. They are responsible for driving the adoption of new innovative sustainable fibers & materials, reviewing, developing and implementing a process to manage sustainability certifications, working closely with fabric sourcing, fabric technology and legal teams, as well as suppliers, buyers, and the design team.

Sustainability Communication Manager

Another role available in the sustainability field is the one of the Sustainability Communication Manager who ensures harmonious coordination between the Communication and Sustainability teams, so that sustainability is smoothly integrated in the framework of the brand’s overall communication strategy. The Sustainability Communication Manager takes care of defining the communications strategy to raise brand employees’ awareness and engagement, manages all the sustainability content production – reports, videos, photo shoots, etc. the organization of internal and external sustainability events and proposes and manages sustainability digital publications/ campaigns in coordination with the social media team.

Trend Forecaster

In order to identify new trends and predict how they will shape the fashion industry, there is a special role that takes care of that: trend forecaster. They analyze everything from silhouettes, textures, graphics, and colors to fabrics that will be trendy the next season and in the next 5-10 years. Their job also involves analyzing sales figures. And recording patterns or trends that are emerging while attending events like trade and fashion shows. Trend fashion forecasters are usually based at a forecasting agency such as the well-trusted WGSN. But they also work in fashion companies – from fast fashion to luxury brands.

Inclusivity & Diversity Manager

Making the fashion industry more inclusive is another big goal of fashion companies. And they are hiring teams who take care of this exclusively. The Inclusivity & Diversity Manager works transversely across the company with the HR and Senior Leadership Team as well as other stakeholders, to navigate all the different needs and opportunities together. They are also responsible for delivering Inclusivity communications as well as developing learning and growth programmes to raise awareness about inclusivity and diversity issues in the company culture.

Project Manager

Project management is a job that exists in fashion just like in any other industry. A fashion project manager oversees the whole life cycle of the project. For example, an event, the launch of a new product, or a new sustainability initiative. They collaborate closely with cross-functional teams (designers, art directors, marketing managers…) as well as external stakeholders, to define project scope, objectives, and deliverables. So this role requires of strong communication and organizational skills. Because you have to check in with the different teams and ensure good coordination between them. They then develop detailed project plans, set timelines, manage the budget, monitor project progress, identify risks and handle any issue that may arise in the way to ensure the project is delivered in a successful and timely manner. 

Event Production Manager

Depending on the company and scope of responsibilities, an event production manager can be responsible of organizing any kind of event for the brand: runway shows, in-store events, product launches, photoshoots, etc. They are basically project managers but specializing in events, supporting the process from conceptualization to execution. This involves planning the calendar, managing the budget, communicating with different stakeholders part of the event organization (creative director, PR…), supervise the teams and their deliverables, control the logistics, support the building of contracts with the legal team.

This multi-faced and highly responsible role requires a lot to stay up to date on industry trends and competitor events, and client experiences. Event production managers can either work at a brand or an event production company (i.e Bureau Betak that organizes fashion shows for many luxury brands). So keep this in mind if you want to expand your options when you look for a job in fashion events management.

I hope this post helps you explore the different, less-known careers in fashion. Did you spot a role you like? You might also like to read about fashion Jobs that are in high demand in 2023.

If you are at the beginning of your career, you can replace the word “manager” with “assistant” or “intern”. And yes, you can find internships and entry-level positions in all these fields, and you will likely assist your supervisor and senior teams with the mentioned tasks to one extent or another, plus you may be assigned additional tasks depending on the role and the company.

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