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Skills that get you hired over the next person

• Pattern making and draping

  The single most valuable technical skill. Designers who can make the pattern get listened to.

• Technical design

  Writing the spec sheet a factory works from. Less glamorous, steadier work, and always hiring.

• 3D garment software

  Digital sampling tools now cut the number of physical samples a brand makes. Brands ask for it by name.

• Sustainability and materials

  Sourcing, recycled fibers and supply chain rules are now a specialty of their own.

• Costume design

  Film, television and theater hire designers who can research a period and build to it.