A fashion designer takes part in the elaboration of an article of clothing or of a collection of articles in the fields of fashion-related industry and commerce : collection of garments, ready-to-wear clothing, accessories. This creative person also takes part in the creation, elaboration and orientation of an article or collection, determining its style, lines, fabrics, colours, taking the technical and commercial requirements into account.
A graduate in fashion design can thus work as a trend setter in a fashion studio, or as a designer in a ready-to-wear company, a department store, an accessory studio, or as a free-lance designer working for several companies.
Applicants must have obtained a secondary degree in art and design, or have attended a one year foundation course. Admittance is granted after close scrutiny of academic records. Shortlisted students are then interviewed and must present a personal portfolio.
After graduation, students can apply for a dsaa (post-graduate) course, teachers' training college preparatory course, the National School of Decorative Arts, or various schools of design abroad.

Besides academic tuition, fashion design provides courses in plastic art and drawing, history of art and costumes, fashion design and sketching, textile design, practical and technical studies, technology.