Changing shape

Fashion designers

Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.

AI Resistance Index 27 of 99

Changing faster than most: more resilient than 27% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it high), and US jobs are projected to change by +0.1% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on creative vision and emotional intelligence.

AI can do many of the tasks, and hiring is expected to grow slower than average or to shrink. The job is likely to change, so build the human parts of it.

Median pay (2025): $80,960
Job growth to 2035: +0.1%
Openings a year: 2,500
People doing it (2025): 32,700
Usual route in: Bachelor's degree

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Where people already use AI for this work

Prepare informational or instructional materials
Promote products, services, or programs
Communicate with others about specifications or project details

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Direct scientific or technical activities
Collect data about consumer needs or opinions
Assemble products or work aids

What the work looks like

Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.
Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.
Determine prices for styles.
Confer with sales and management executives or with clients to discuss design ideas.
Select materials and production techniques to be used for products.

From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects

More of these jobs, as an expected increase in demand for a constant flow of new fashion designs has been accelerated by social media influencers and by retailers advertising and selling directly to consumers online.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

Music directors and composersChanging shape, Index 28, +1.2%
Art directorsGrows with AI, Index 39, +4.2%
Set and exhibit designersChanging shape, Index 35, +1.4%
Landscape architectsGrows with AI, Index 58, +4.4%

Also known as: Apparel Designer, Costume Designer, Designer, Fashion Designer, Apparel and Accessories Designer, Fashion Design Contractor, Fashion Graphic Designer, Fashion Stylist.

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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.