Fashion consultants provide guidance to individual clients or businesses about fashion related topics such as brand development, trend forecasting, collection development, technical design, and more. Their area of expertise may be specific or a combination of some.

What Does a Fashion Consultant Do?

If you google the term “fashion consultant job description,” you’ll mostly find fashion stylist or personal shopper descriptions. Yes, this is a type of fashion consultant. But there’s much more to fashion consultancy beyond styling. 

Here are some of the most popular fashion consultancy services:

• Trend Analysis: Analyzing fashion trends and market demands
• Brand Development: Helping fashion brands build their brand identity and strategies.
• Collection Development: Advising on design direction, fabric choices, color palettes, and sourcing manufacturers.
• Technical Design: Providing expertise on garment specs, measurements, and construction details.
• Product Development: Guiding clients through material sourcing, prototyping, and manufacturing coordination. 
• Market Research: Helping brands understand their audience and develop products that meet demand.

It’s also common for freelance fashion consultants to work with multiple clients. Consultants generally do not execute the job, but rather give advice on the best way to do it. So, it’s possible to work with several clients and do regular check-ins to see if everything is working out fine.

Here’s what the team at CMT Studio, a collective of experts that help launch and grow fashion brands, has to say about their daily work.

“No day is the same as we have clients with varied needs. Some days are focused on design projects. Some days are focused on communication, administrative, or project lead tasks. Other days are for visiting facilities or conducting consultations.”

Fashion Consultant vs Fashion Designer (or TD, PD, etc.)?

Consultants advise while designers and product developers execute. For example, fashion consultants might work with a startup brand and tell them that leopard print with pops of neon are trending, but they wouldn’t actually design the collection. They may do some line reviews and consult them on what edits to make, but they’re not the ones executing.

A fashion designer would be the one drawing the flats and putting the range together.

Fashion consultant Sophie Morin Stapel explains the role as broader than just designing collections – it’s about strategic brand direction. Here’s how she breaks it down:

👉🏻 Trend & Market Analysis: Researching macro/micro fashion trends, competitors, and consumer behavior to guide product and brand strategy.
👉🏻 Brand Identity & Positioning: Defining brand DNA, storytelling, and long-term vision to align with market needs.
👉🏻 Creative Direction: Overseeing visual branding elements – logos, color palettes, content strategies – without directly executing them.
👉🏻 Style Guides & Collection Frameworks: Creating structured guidelines for new collections to maintain brand consistency.
👉🏻 Product Line Development: Advising on the right product mix, adapting concepts across different categories, and ensuring cohesive brand storytelling.
👉🏻 Training & Editorial Work: Some consultants also train fashion professionals, write industry articles, or contribute expert opinions to fashion media.

Here’s a link to Sophie’s original LinkedIn post.

How to Become a Fashion Consultant: A Step-by-Step Guide

1. Find Your Niche
2. Gain Industry Experience
3. Create a Consultancy Portfolio
4. Build a Professional Network

1. Find Your Niche

Consider what aspect of the fashion industry excites you the most that can be beneficial for other people working in or wanting to enter the fashion industry. This could be anything from the list I shared with you above, to any other fashion-related expertise you might have. 

If you need help figuring out your services, here’s a section in my Ultimate Guide to Being a Freelance Fashion Designer that will guide you on finding your niche.

2. Gain Industry Experience 

Fashion Consultancy is one of the careers where you do not necessarily need a fashion degree but you do need experience.

In fact, I know a lot of fashion designers (TDs, PD’s, etc.) who started working as fashion consultants on the side for different clients. 

For example, Krystal Peto, one of the fashion consultants we surveyed for this article, works as a full-time technical designer and project-based fit model in NYC while doing freelance consulting on the side. 

Her technical design and fit model work includes:
👉🏻 holding sample fittings, executing fit comments
👉🏻 reviewing sales reports and new developments with other departments
👉🏻 managing workflow and team projects.
👉🏻 attending go-sees and providing feedback on samples she fitted

As a fashion consultant Krystal works on:
👉🏻 product development and design
👉🏻 material / manufacturer sourcing
👉🏻 managing factory and customer communications

It sounds like a lot (and it can be!) but that’s the awesome thing about working freelance – you get to choose what type of job (or jobs!) you want to do without being tied down to a single company.

If you also notice, most of Krystal’s work is on product development and technical design, so even if she works “multiple jobs” they are all still connected to her field of expertise.

If you have zero experience, look into internships, entry-level positions, or freelance opportunities (and yes, you can start freelancing even as a complete beginner). 

You can also start by creating your own projects and collaborating with people around you to start building your network and portfolio. 

3. Create a Consultancy Portfolio

Build a portfolio that speaks for you. For example, if you want to work as a Fashion Brand Development Consultant, show a project where you helped a brand from its inception to launch. 

Make sure that your portfolio reflects your niche and highlights your ability to solve fashion-related challenges creatively.

For more help, check out my Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Fashion Portfolio.

4. Build Your Network

I know it sounds generic, but after surveying hundreds of fashion consultants before writing this article, the #1 tip I heard back was the importance of building a strong network.

You can do this by attending fashion events, industry seminars, and trade shows to connect with fellow professionals, designers, suppliers, and potential clients. 

You can also use platforms like Upwork and Linkedin to connect with industry professionals (and even score clients!).

Vinicius Gennari, a freelance menswear designer and consultant, shares why he thinks networking is an important part of the job:

“‘Networking’ sounds silly, and probably is. But letting people know what you do, talking to folks in your day-to-day, can unexpectedly lead to more business. You never know who also works, or used to work, or knows someone who works in the same industry as you. So don’t be shy when talking about your work.”

Christine Corbin, a marketing/SEO consultant for fashion brands, was laid off from her corporate fashion job in 2020 (at the start of the pandemic), and began taking on freelance projects. Fast forward to 4 years, she’s now running her own consulting business:

“Networking is key to start picking up project-based work. I would say, if you want to start freelancing, share that goal far and wide with your community! I’ve gotten so many great clients through my network.”

For more inspiration, check out this interview I did with Aashika, who’s using LinkedIn to build her career as a specialist lingerie and lace design consultant.

How Much Money Does a Fashion Consultant Make?

Most fashion consultants I surveyed earn around $100k – $150k yearly working remotely and flexibly. 

Paige, a freelance apparel designer and creative consultant, charges $85/hr for her work. She specializes in commercial and custom apparel design and her niche is kids & womenswear. Even during the pandemic, Paige had fashion brands lining up to work with her!

Sophie Morin, a lingerie expert from Paris charges a base fee of €800 a day as a freelancer. As a consultant, she helps her clients on brand positioning. Sophie’s expertise, coupled with her insider perspective from residing in a fashion capital, has solidified her position in a niche that clients look for.

Not everyone has the advantage of living in a fashion capital, but I show this as an example of how having a niche can help you gain advantage in fashion consulting. It doesn’t have to be living in a fashion capital, but having something unique and useful you can offer can set you apart.

(If you want to know more about salary ranges in fashion, I have a list of 100+ real-life examples of fashion freelancer rates here.)

Becoming a Successful Fashion Consultant

I have never met anyone who works in-house as a fashion consultant. They’re all freelancers. Which means if you want to do this role, you’re going to freelance. So, first, gain experience in whatever niche of consulting you want to work in. Then, learn how to become a freelancer!

The best way to do that is with my free Ultimate Guide to Freelancing in Fashion.