Costume Designer - a career for creative mind

Overview

A costume designer is a professional who designs costumes for the characters of the film, stage show, or television show. The main responsibility of a costume designer is to design the costumes for the characters as per the theme of the movie or show. He works closely with the writer and director to understand the characters and finalize the designs. They need to keep in mind the budget also with other things.

Eligibility

There is not specified education required, but a degree/diploma in costume designing or fashion designing can help you in pursuing this career. The aspirant should join other courses like drawing, tailoring, fashion history or pattern design, etc. to earn the other desired skills.

How to be there?

• Get a relevant degree/diploma/certificate
• Earn other skills like drawing, sketching, etc. with short term courses
• Watch movies/tv/stage show and observe and analyze the costume design to get an understanding of costume designing
• Start designing and create a portfolio of your best designs
• Try to make connection with people working the industry
• Start looking for the job opportunities or join an already established designer as an assistant to gain experience

Skills Required

A costume designer must have following skills:

• Should be creative and imaginative
• Should have excellent design skills
• Strong communication skills
• Team management skills
• The ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Good research skills

Who should choose this career?

This is not a career for everyone. A costume designer must have a creative mind and should come up with the innovative ideas to please clients. If you have a creative mind, and good imagination skill, then you can try your luck in this field.

Salary

It totally depends on the design skills, knowledge about the concerned field and the employer. A beginner can get an average salary between 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh. After that, it's all about your experience, skills and how much name you earned in this field.

Career Scope

Costume designing is a growing career path. The aspirant can find jobs in theatre, film or tv show production companies or can start work as a freelancer also. The job locations are limited in this field and only available in the cities where the film and tv industry is thriving.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Handsome earning
• Chances of travel to different places
• Work with celebrities
• Have fame also if got excellent design skills

Cons:

• Lots of hard work required to get success
• High competition
• Jobs at specified locations only