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Boston Career Explorer

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media

Fashion Designers

Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.

Also called: Apparel and Accessories Designer, Apparel Designer, Costume Designer, Designer, Fashion Design Contractor, Fashion Designer

Median pay in Greater Boston
$106,630
$51.27/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
480
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+7.9%
70 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Bachelor's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$69,790$85,200$106,630$138,880$178,250

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • 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.
  • 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.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure60 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 60
  • Language-model AIOE 59
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 61

Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is moderate, and observed AI use is currently some. AI tools may help with sketching and drafting ideas. Fitting garments on models, choosing materials, and working with clients and sales teams rely on people. Federal projections expect more jobs because demand for new fashion designs keeps growing.

Likely to change

  • Sketching rough and detailed designs
  • Writing up design specifications

Still relies on people

  • Fitting samples on and off models
  • Talking through ideas with clients and executives

What federal projections say

“Demand change - share increases as an expected increase in demand for a constant flow of new fashion designs has been accelerated by social media influencers and by retailers advertising and selling directly to consumers online.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

4 programs near Boston

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