I’m going to cover the 6 steps to your fashion portfolio in a weekend, and I’m also going to answer common questions like:

• What (and how much) to include? (3-5 projects can be enough.)
• Can you include client work? (Probably yes, but I’m not a lawyer!)
• Is it ok to include self-directed projects? (Yes.)
• Do I need a website? (No, create a PDF.)
• How to easily keep your portfolio updated? (Easy – remove all dates.)
• Where to get feedback on your portfolio? (Ask jobs you didn’t get.)
• The best place for portfolio examples + inspiration? (This guide, and these examples.)

Here’s your timeline to create your fashion portfolio in just 2 days:

DAY 1: Organize Your Work

• 3-4 hours: Gather Your Work
  • Pull together assets for 3-5 projects or collections
• 3-4 hours: Outline Your Portfolio
  • Visualize how you want each project to look in your book

DAY 2: Put Your Portfolio Together

• 2-3 hours: Edit Your Content
  • Make sure every item passes the Portfolio Golden Rule (more on this in a sec!)
• 2-3 hours: Lay Out Your Content
  • This should be easy once you’ve done all the other work
• 2-3 hours: Convert Your Content
  • Turn your physical book into a digital one (PDF) or vice versa. Do the format you’re more comfortable with first, and then convert to the other.

Here are the 6 steps we’ll cover:

Step 1: Gather Your Work

Step 2: Edit Your Portfolio Down (using the Portfolio Golden Rule)

Step 3: Customize Your Portfolio for Different Roles and Level of Experience

Step 4: Portfolio Format Tips: Digital & Physical

Step 5: Organize Your Content

Step 6: Ask for Portfolio Feedback

Before we dive in, you need to know my Portfolio Golden Rule.

This concept comes from years of coaching thousands of freelance designers, interviewing hiring managers and recruiters, along with 15+ years of fashion industry experience. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.

Any question you have about your portfolio? The Portfolio Golden Rule will help you answer it.

The Portfolio Golden Rule

“This [project/collection/design] speaks to the brand, tells them that I understand their market, customer, and aesthetic, and visually shows them that I am the right [designer/TD/PD/etc] for them.”

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Fashion Portfolio

Step 1: Gather Your Work

What kind of work should I include?

Use my Process Portfolio strategy: show the process you go through as a designer, not just the final products.

Brands want to see how you work – where your ideas come from, how you develop them, and what makes your point of view unique.

What exactly should The Process Portfolio include?

Here are things you can include:

1. An About Page
2. Mood Boards & Collages (color, style, print, trim inspiration)
3. Hand Sketches / Design Iterations / Sketch Book Pages
4. Fashion Illustrations
5. Digital Fashion Flats
6. Spec Sheets / Tech Pack Snippets
7. 3D Renderings (CLO, Tukatech, Browzwear)
8. Photos of Finished Garments (flat lays, mannequins, models, mock-ups)

Let’s go through each one in detail.

1. An About Page (optional, but recommended!)

While not necessarily part of the “process” – your about page is a great way to introduce yourself and add context to your work. Keep it short – mention who you are, your niche category/service, your design philosophy, and any key experience or specialties.

Here’s a great example:

If you’ve worked with recognizable brands, the about page is also a great spot to add a logo collage.

2. Mood Boards & Collages (color, style, print, trim inspiration)

The inspiration part of your fashion portfolio is non-optional, even if it means you have to create it after.

(Because sometimes, we’re handed trendy pieces for “inspo” instead of actually creating from scratch.)

At the very least, you should have a collage of inspiration. This may be just for the product + color, or you can include other inspiration / collages for things like trims and prints.

3. Hand Sketches / Design Iterations / Sketch Book Pages (optional)

Not everyone sketches by hand – I don’t! So I don’t include this kind of stuff. 

If you do hand sketches or have sketchbook pages with ideas, include them. They can be rough and done in pencil on scrap paper with barely legible callouts. If they show your process, include them.

4. Fashion Illustrations (optional)

Be critical about including illustrations. Are they really good? Are they relevant to your category? Do they enhance your work?

When I interviewed hiring manager Bjorn Bengston on my podcast, he said including “meh” illustrations was one of the biggest mistakes newer designers make.

Illustrations in portfolios can add value for high-end or luxury brands, but usually don’t for the majority.

P.S. Here are the best digital fashion illustration apps if you want to  get started.

5. Digital Fashion Flats (REQUIRED!)

Pretty much every brand wants to see your CAD work to know you can sketch digitally. 

Unless you’re offering freelance services that don’t include fashion flats (like consulting or sourcing), flats are required! You need to show that you can create accurate flats with correct details (stitching, trims, where there is fullness, what kind of pleats, etc.) that can be understood by vendors.

6. Spec Sheets / Tech Pack Snippets

For most design roles, I don’t think you need to have a ton of these, but you should include a couple examples. If you’re a technical designer, or tech packs are a core part of your freelance services, then include more.

P.S. Tech packs are one part of your portfolio that I do think should be self-directed (or crop the pages to ensure you’re not sharing any proprietary data like POMs or BOMs with supplier info). 

You can even add a footnote: “Tech pack examples are self-directed to avoid sharing proprietary info.” for self-directed projects.

7. 3D Renderings (CLO, Tukatech, Browzwear)

Including 3D renders shows you’re staying up to date on new technology and software. As I see more and more brands wanting designers, TDs, pattern makers, etc., with 3D experience, I believe it’s slowly becoming a required skill.

(I also see freelancers in my FAST program with 3D skills land clients faster than those without.)

Pro Tip: CLO, Tukatech, and Browzwear are some of the more popular 3d design software options. The learning curve can be steep, so a quick way to show you’re up to speed on technology is to use AI. I love NewArc.ai (affiliate link), an AI tool that creates photorealistic images from fashion flats in seconds. 

8. Photos of Finished Garments (flat lays, mannequins, models, mock-ups)

If you have these, great. If not, that’s ok. If you do include them, make sure they’re professional. Do not include DIY self-modeled photos of handmade garments, or photos of designs on mannequins. This works for Etsy (where I found these examples below), but they do not belong in your portfolio

If you have photos that look professional, include them.

You can also DIY some quick pics with your phone camera.

Here are some examples of pics I took with my iPhone when I only had a fabric submit (I mocked up a few different colors of the fabric in Photoshop). It’s much better to show a mock-up this way than just the fashion flat.

Here’s a fashion portfolio checklist of what to include:

Step 2: Edit Your Portfolio Down (using the Portfolio Golden Rule)

One of the biggest fashion portfolio mistakes is creating one giant, generic portfolio with a mish mash of different categories and projects, and sending it to every brand.

Think about it: Would the same portfolio land you a technical design job at H&M and a fashion design role at Dior? NO way. 

Understand this about your fashion design portfolio:

Footwear brands don’t care that you’ve designed best selling denim collections.Kidswear brands don’t care that you’ve designed evening gowns that showed at NYFW. Menswear brands don’t care that your lingerie brand won awards.

Remember the Portfolio Golden Rule

“This [project/collection/design] speaks to the brand, tells them that I understand their market, customer, and aesthetic, and visually shows them that I am the right [designer/TD/PD/etc] for them.”

How much should you include in your fashion portfolio?

A good starting point is to include 3-5 projects in your portfolio, with 2-4 pages per project. If you’re earlier in your career, 2 may be enough. If you’ve been doing this forever and have 6 or 7 that are fantastic and relevant, you can include more.

Just make sure everything you include matches the position and the brand’s aesthetic. Focus on quality, not quantity. 

Hiring managers spend a few seconds looking at each candidate. The statistic is 6 seconds for a resume. I’m not sure what it is for a portfolio, but it can’t be much more.

If you’re applying to bigger fast-fashion brands (like Zara or H&M), they might want to see a broader range of work since they handle a huge variety of products. For more niche roles (like a Sustainable Performance Outerwear Designer at Patagonia), keep it specific and tailor your work to that category.

If you really want to include projects from different categories, just make sure to put the most relevant work first. But I truly believe that less is more.

Step 3: Customize Your Portfolio for Different Roles and Level of Experience

If you’re a mid-career fashion designer cruising along in the same category, jump to step 4. Otherwise, you may want to customize your portfolio depending on your experience, goals, or role.

Check out these guides based on your unique situation:

1. Portfolios for Fashion Design Students and Entry-Level Jobs
2. Fashion Portfolios for Non-Design Roles (with 6 examples)

Step 4: Portfolio Format Tips: Digital & Physical

I believe a digital portfolio is required for everyone. But you’ll only need a physical one if you’re applying for in-house roles.

Physical Fashion Portfolio Tips

Use mid-weight paper like Bristol board or cardstock. Choose a size with an impact, like 11”×14″ or 14”×17”. Print and cut out your projects so you can arrange them like a collage with repositionable tape.

Bristol board works great because you can use the pages over and over.

Repositionable tape allows you to easily tweak it for any opportunities.

Use your creativity to assemble the pages in a way that represents your aesthetic. Just remember to follow the Process Portfolio, and show one project from start to finish.

Here’s some inspo:

You can also incorporate these tactile elements into a digital portfolio by scanning or photographing them like this.

Digital Portfolio Tips

I feel really strongly that you *don’t* need a website. I have seen thousands in my 15+ years in the industry, and here are a few reasons why I don’t think you should create one:

• Most portfolio websites are confusing and hard to navigate (even when you use a template)
• Most look unprofessional (again, even when you use a template)
• Most are overloaded with too much content (it’s a lot easier to constrain yourself in a PDF)

Instead, create a PDF. It’s a lot easier to walk someone through the journey and your Process Portfolio this way.

For years, I used a simple PDF portfolio for my freelance career. It’s what I teach my FAST students to do as well. And MANY of them are extremely successful without a website. 

When sharing your digital portfolio:

• Don’t attach it. Use a free Dropbox or Google Drive account. That way, you can update the file without having to send a new link.
• Share clean links in your emails. Highlight the text you want to link, click the “link” icon, and paste the URL. This looks much more professional than a long string of text.

• Don’t send a massive PDF. Keep your portfolio file size reasonable (ideally, under 20MB) by using a free online PDF compressor before sending it.

In my 10+ year freelance career, I never kept a “physical” portfolio. I only did true remote freelance (not abusive “temp jobs”), and clients came from referrals and networking. We often never meet in person! If I did, I brought catalogs or physical samples. 

I’m not an exception – most successful freelancers I know don’t have physical portfolios and rarely update their digital ones, like FAST grad Alexandra Agreda. Alexandra sends a PDF and her clients LOVE it! “Literally every time I link a few of those PDF bad boys from my dropbox into an email I get such amazing feedback, clients are always so impressed!”

If you insist on creating a portfolio website, here’s my best advice:

Pick a platform and move on. It’s about your work, not the platform.

There are a lot of fashion portfolio website options out there including:

• Wix
• Behance
• Coroflot
• StylePortfolios (part of StyleCareers)
• Adobe Portfolio
• Wordpress
• Squarespace

They all work fine. So just choose one you’re comfortable working with – spend one hour max looking at the options, make a decision, and move on. Just make sure to follow the Portfolio Golden Rule and don’t include too many projects.

Step 5: Organize Your Content

Do not organize by work type (i.e., all mood boards / technical flats / tech packs categorized together). 

Instead, arrange your portfolio by collection or project, showing the full process from concept to final outcome.

Looking for inspo? Here are 12 Fashion Portfolio Examples That Resulted in Paid Work.

Step 6: Ask for Portfolio Feedback

If you’re working with a recruiter, that’s a great place to ask for feedback.

If you have an internship, surely someone there would be happy to help you out. 

Your network is another amazing option. Even small cities have people in fashion or creative industries. Check local meetups, events, or LinkedIn to connect with others.

The best place to get feedback is from jobs or opportunities you didn’t get.

Here’s a script you can use:

Dear [NAME],

Thank you so much for the opportunity to [interview / apply] for the [job role] at [brand name]. No hard feelings that it wasn’t the right match.

Would you be able to do me a small favor? I am working really hard to find a new opportunity in [category / market] and it would be really helpful to get some feedback on why it wasn’t a good match.

Can you let me know what was missing from my [resume / portfolio / interview] that would have made me the perfect candidate? No matter what it is, I won’t be offended, but the feedback would help me know what skills I can work on improving.

Thank you so much!
[NAME]

You might not hear back, and if you do, it might be the generic “you just needed more experience.” 

But sometimes, you’ll get gold: specific, actionable feedback that tells you exactly what to improve.

The worst place to get feedback is from friends and family.

Unless any of them work in other creative design industries, they’ll just say, “oh, it looks so good, don’t change a thing!”

How to ask the right questions for constructive feedback.

When you ask a generic question, you get a generic reply.

Here are a few terrible, generic questions you can ask about your fashion portfolio and the replies you can expect:

QUESTION: What do you think?
REPLY: It looks great! You did an awesome job.

QUESTION: Do you like it?
REPLY: It’s perfect! Nice job 🙂

These questions solicit positive replies that don’t do you any good. Instead, here are the three questions you should be asking to get quality, constructive feedback.

1. What’s confusing?
2. What’s missing?
3. What do you want more of?
4. What do you want less of?

Take a day or two and decide what to do with the feedback. You don’t have to implement every piece of feedback, but most of the time, you’ll know deep in your gut if the feedback is right (especially the negative stuff).

Make sure to graciously thank whoever gave you the feedback, and share the updates.

It goes a really long way to ensure that person will help you again.

Final Thoughts: Done is Better Than Perfect

A guy named Nathan Chan of Foundr says:

“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

It rings true for pretty much everything I’ve done in my fashion design career and life.

My first fashion portfolio would not pass the Portfolio Golden Rule today.

I included photos of my friends modeling handmade clothes. I didn’t have real-life experience. My flat sketches weren’t accurate. And I didn’t show I understood construction. But somehow, the enthusiasm, ambition, and drive I poured into it got me my first dream job in fashion.

Some people might call that luck – and for a long time, I did too. But here’s what I’ve learned:

As much as we focus on being the most talented designer…
As much pressure as we put on ourselves to have the perfect portfolio…
And as much as it feels like your portfolio alone will make or break your career…

Enthusiasm and ambition and drive go a long way.

Show that you’re the kind of designer who goes above and beyond simply because you care that much.

Show that you’re the kind of designer who identifies what needs to be done and takes action – without waiting to be asked.

Because that, combined with your “not perfect but good enough” portfolio, is what will get you ahead in this insanely cutthroat industry.

And if you don’t look back in a year or two and feel embarrassed about the first (or even just the previous) version of your book?

Then you, my friend, launched your portfolio too late.

FAQ

1. How many pages should a fashion portfolio be?

There’s no hard limit! A good rule of thumb is to include 3-5 complete projects, with 2-4 pages per project. Somewhere around 8-15 pages is sufficient. I’ve seen 1-page portfolios that left me wanting more and 40+ page ones were overwhelming. 

2. Can you bring an iPad to a fashion interview (instead of a physical portfolio)?

This is a judgment call depending on the brand. The more “fashion-y” a brand leans, the more important it’ll be to have a physical book and create a tactile experience during your interview. If you choose to go digital only, compensate by bringing sample garments to show during an interview. (This is actually a great strategy even if you have a physical book.)

3. Can you include client / company work in your fashion portfolio?

I’m not a lawyer, but generally, if the work is already out in public, it’s usually okay to include, but check if you’ve signed an NDA just to be safe. If you’re unsure, ask for permission – or create a sample project to show off your skills without any risk.

4. Can you include group projects in your portfolio?

Yes, just be clear about your role. If you worked on specific tasks (like creating flats or laying out boards), include a simple disclaimer so it’s clear what you contributed – brands appreciate honesty and teamwork.

5. Can you include self-directed projects in your fashion portfolio?
   
   Yes, self-directed projects are great for many reasons, like breaking into a new category or showing more updated work after time out of the industry. Just don’t label them “self-directed” or “example project.” Make up a brand and slap it on there! The only self-directed part of your portfolio that should be labeled is tech packs: “Tech pack examples are self-directed to avoid sharing proprietary info.” Most brands appreciate this as it shows you will keep their info private as well.
6. How often should your fashion portfolio be updated?

You shouldn’t need to update it often, and if you do, an afternoon should be enough. To make updates easier, avoid adding dates to your projects and use a PDF stored in Google Drive or Dropbox so you can update the file without needing to resend links.

7. What’s the best way to protect a fashion portfolio from being copied?

The truth is, there’s no guaranteed way to stop your portfolio from being copied, but that shouldn’t stop you from sharing it. Instead of worrying, focus on creating new work to stay ahead. Sharing more of your process and behind-the-scenes work (process portfolio!) rather than just final pieces also makes it harder for others to replicate your ideas.