Career in Textile Designing

Fashion designing, carpet manufacturing, or any other cloth related field is a branch of textile designing. A textile designer blends creativity and knowledge to create patterns and design to vision the manufactured product. With the significant aspects of woven, print, embroidery, design, and surface embellishment, the global textile industry is expected to grow by 45%  as per US News. It is clearly a very lucrative industry with a plethora of job opportunities. The art of textile designing is a systematic creative process that utilizes various clothing prepared by methods of weaving threads or yarns. Let’s explore everything you need to know about textile designing.

Eligibility Criteria for Textile Designing

In order to get into a recognized college, textile design aspirants are required to meet the minimum eligibility criteria. Because of the intense curriculum, it is important to have some form of skills or previous experience at a beginners level.

Undergraduate Textile Design Course

• Must have a qualified 10+2 examination or an equivalent from a recognised board or university with relevant specialisation
• The criterion of minimum marks varies, but an aggregate of 50-60% is required by most colleges.

Postgraduate Textile Design Course

• Candidates who graduated in the design (BDes) are eligible to apply for the PG courses in Textile designing. However, a candidate from a different stream who has the required skills, and knowledge are also eligible to apply.

Course Curriculum for Textile Designing

Although the general curriculum for textile designing varies from one institution to another, there are few common systematic significance in each of them. Here are a few of the most popular and in-demand courses in the field of textile designing.

• Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
• Colour Mixing 
• Fine Arts
• Embroidery
• Design Software and Illustration
• Art History
• Merchandising
• Printing
• Pattern Making
• Weaving
• Knitting Skills
• Digital Design
• Dyeing
• Marketing 
• Home Furnishing
• Yarn Craft
• Geometry
• Colour Theory

Also Read: Career in Textile Engineering

Top 10 Textile Universities in the World

By taking in the aspects of the academic curriculum, quality of education, scholarships offered and admission requirements, the best textile universities in the world have been categorized by QS World Ranking 2022 as follows:

1. North Carolina State University (USA)
2. University of Nebraska – Lincoln
3. University of Manchester (UK)
4. University of Leeds (UK)
5. The University of Bolton (UK)
6. Dresden University of Technology (Germany)
7. De Montfort University (UK)
8. Loughborough University (UK)
9. Saxion University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands)
10. Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh (UK)

North Carolina State University (USA)

A public, co-educational, and research-based University based in the state of North Carolina, N.C is one of the largest universities in the US that offers a Master’s degree in Textiles. The undergraduate courses in this Textile Designing Department include:

• Polymer and Color Chemistry,
• Textile Engineering,
• Textile Technology,
• Fashion and Textile Design and
• Fashion and Textile Management

While the Postgraduate courses are more research-based and fit in the curriculum for preparing aspirants to face real-work scenarios. These includes:

• Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management Department Masters (Master of Science in Textiles, Master of Textiles)
• Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science Department Masters (Master of Science in Textile Chemistry, Master of Science in Textile Engineering)

University of Nebraska – Lincoln

Being one of the top public universities in Lincoln, United States, it is also the state’s oldest and largest university that consists of a textile designing department. The versatility of the textile department to enthuse the analysation of gender, class, ethnicity, aesthetics, religion, and technology into fabrics stands out as the trademark work of this University. Here is a list of both the undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Nebraska for textile designing.

• Merchandising: Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
• Textile Science: Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
• Textiles & Apparel Design: Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
• Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design / Communications: Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
• Graduate Certificate (Quilt Studies): Certificate
• Master of Arts (Apparel Design, Material Culture & Textiles Studies): Master of Arts (M.A.)
• Master of Science (Merchandising, Textile Science): Master of Science (M.S.)
• Doctor of Philosophy (Apparel Design, Material Culture & Textile Studies, Merchandising, Textile Science): Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

University of Manchester (UK)

Recognised by its trademark red bricks, the University of Manchester has always been well-renowned for its textile design degrees. Its students and alumnus creating art in International and London Fashion Weeks, the department of textile designing in this university is one of the most competitive ones to get into. If you are interested in applying for a course here, you can choose from the following:

• BSc Fashion Marketing
• BSc Fashion Management
• BSc Fashion Technology
• BSc Fashion Buying and Merchandising
• MEng Materials Science and Engineering with Textile Technology

Also Read: Textile Design Courses

University of Leeds (UK)

Mostly known for its textile engineering department, the University of Leeds is the largest public university in the city of Leeds, United Kingdom. Other than the national ranking, the university is also ranked at #91 in the QS Global World Ranking. If you end up pursuing a textile designing degree from here you would also earn an extra feather in your academic resume for graduating from a renowned university. Here are a few popular courses from the textile engineering department at the University of Leeds.

• BA Art and Design
• BA Fashion Design
• BA Fashion Marketing
• BA Graphic and Communication Design
• MA Advertising and Design
• MA Design
• MA Fashion, Enterprise and Society
• MA Global Fashion Management
• M.Sc. Textile Sustainability and Innovation

The University of Bolton (UK)

Bolton University is one of the most popular and ancient universities in the United Kingdom. Their textile designing department offers part-time FdSc (Foundation Degree) which allows students to learn about designs and manufactures, health and safety, product evaluation, supply chains management, product development, and marketing all under one curriculum. Another perk of studying here is due to the fact that the course is recognised by the Textile Institute and the graduates are automatically eligible for the award of LTI (Licensiateship of the Textile Institute). Few other textile related courses in this university are:

• BA (Hons) Textiles and Surface Design
• BA (Hons) Fashion with foundation year
• BA (Hons) Fashion
• BA (Hons) Animation and Illustration
• BA (Hons) Graphic Design

Career in Textile Design

You can never go wrong regarding your future career prospects upon choosing a textile designing course because the fashion industry has a lot of scope for creativity and versatility. Working hard to gain the right skills and acing in a few specializations will definitely assist you in making your career brighter in this field. There are plenty of options when it comes to choosing a designation in the textile industry such as freelance textile designer, spatial designer, fashion designer, and much more. Here is a detailed list of all the top designation and their duties: 

Job Profiles

Job Profiles	Roles and Responsibilities
Textile Designer	The role of the textile designer is to make different and creative designs and patterns on various kinds of textile and clothing such as bedsheets, household clothing, carpets, towels, sarees and dresses. They are also responsible for working on printed fabrics and developing yarns, trims etc.
Fashion Designer	The role of a fashion designer includes wide-ranging tasks, from managing design work from the initiation point up to the styling point. They are also responsible for conducting market research to be updated about trends and fashion. They also have to take care of the production. They have to work with the other team members and maintain coordination among the designers.
Fabric Analyser	A fabric analyser must handle the selection process of the fabrics that are required for designing purposes. They have to make sure that the fabric meets the requirements for which it has to be used, and they have to test it accordingly. They manage the quality and production of different fabric collections.
Home Furnishing Designer	Home furnishings designers work on designing the interior’s furnishings and decorations on things like furniture, sofa and various other things found in a home.
Design Consultant	A design consultant advises other designers and anyone who is involved in the work of textile designing about the designs, weaves, trends, fashion, fabrics, prints, interior decoration, furnishings, market trends, client expectations etc.
Fabric Resource Manager	A fabric resource manager must know about marketing and art & craft. Fabric resource managers are hired by manufacturers of furniture, fashion designers, rug makers and others involved in the textile business.
Freelance Textile Artist	Growing trends in the work ways have brought out many opportunities for freelance artists. A freelance textile artist is self-employed and works on their conditions, either online or offline.They are responsible for creating designs and patterns for various textiles and clothing according to their client requirements.They also can put up quotations according to the skills that they possess and are asked by companies and clients to work for them if their quotation is approved.

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