Difference Between Fashion Designer And Fashion Stylist

Difference Between Fashion Designer And Fashion Stylist

Edited By Sundararajan | Updated on Mar 26, 2025 02:43 PM IST | #NIFT Entrance Exam

Difference Between Fashion Designer and Fashion Stylist: The fashion designer style is the existing style of dress or behaviour of a particular time and place. Fashion is often connected to culture, tradition, and social attitudes. Fashion design is the art of applying design in making clothes or accessories more aesthetically. To know more details about fashion designers and fashion stylists, read the complete article.

Difference Between Fashion Designer And Fashion Stylist
Difference Between Fashion Designer And Fashion Stylist

Difference Between Fashion Stylist and Fashion Designer

The most important basic difference between a fashion stylist and a fashion designer is that a designer designs and creates clothing in the best possible way. The stylist coordinates and styles the client according to the occasion using clothes and accessories.

While both job descriptions require a precise understanding of fashion and trends, the profile for a fashion designer demands a highly technical level of knowledge of fashion, trends, sustainable practices of materials, and production.

The industries and skills in the fashion sector created a new future for the fashion designers and the fashion stylist. Fashion designers create fashion in every way. With their understanding of consumer behaviour and the market environment, the fashion designer style collections are created and then are bought and appreciated by the market or customers.

However, the above system works well for design houses and brands, designing, manufacturing, and marketing on a large scale. For couturiers and bespoke designers, a client's personality and budget are important in designing according to the occasion.

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Fashion Designer vs Fashion Stylist: Skills Required

The main aspect for the fashion designer and stylist depends on their skills. Below are the fashion designer vs stylist features provided in the table.

Fashion Designer

Fashion Stylist

Artistic and creative

Informed about the latest fashion trends

Ability to work under tight deadlines

Creative

Goal-oriented

Good communication skills

Resilient

Good interpersonal skills

Developed business acumen

Fashion-conscious

Innovative and original

Good understanding of colours and shades

Eye for detail

Identifying the client’s requirement

Imaginative

Innovative

Observant

Understanding of customer lifestyle

Persuasive

Good problem-solving skills

Good communication skills

Friendly

In-depth understanding of fashion

Good with time management

Understanding of the market

-

Ability to deliver what is desired

-

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What is Fashion styling?

Fashion styling is the craft of creating looks or images for clients and brands that allow the model or muse to connect with their target audience. Fashion stylists mix and match pieces of clothing to create attractive outfits that are suitable for the event and fashionable for a given season. They are in charge of not only styling the clothes according to the theme and concept but also of directing the shoot’s creative aspects, such as setting the tone and lighting, choosing what goes in the background, and picking props.

Fashion styling as a career is rapidly becoming one of the most desired paths worldwide, but many people still don’t know what it involves. It is not just about putting clothes or outfits together. Fashion styling can be a fun and creative job, but it is also serious and highly competitive. It demands a varied and dynamic skill set, including creativity, artistic vision, practicality, business acumen, drive, determination, resourcefulness, responsibility, professionalism, and communication.

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What is meant by fashion stylist?

Fashion stylist coordinates with clients and creates a look for them as per the occasion. Fashion stylists work for a fashion houses, individuals, clothing brands, movies, music videos, tv commercials, political campaigns, and many more. They need to be masters in the art of visual balance as they have to choose the right outfit suiting the purpose of the event, body type, and personality of the person who wears the outfit. Fashion designer stylist job need to understand fashion trends and need a client.

However, fashion designers create outfits by designing them. The research on consumer behavior and market trends and design a collection that will be purchased by the customer and appreciated in the market. Designers need to understand the trends, be good at sketching and illustration, must have an idea about fabric, pattern making, and sewing. The fashion designer and stylist must have skills in analyzing the fit and grading the outfit. Well if the outfit is for mass production, then there is a third party who collaborates with the factory to produce the garments as per the plan.

If you are a fashion aspirant and want to work in the fashion industry, then I would suggest you enroll in a reputed design institute to obscure the required degree. Well, you may think it is not necessary to have a degree to become a fashion designer or stylist. However, learning a fashion design course will help you to understand the context and principle of fashion designing and apply it in an effective way.

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How to become a fashion stylist

If you aspire to work in the fashion industry as a fashion stylist, I would recommend enrolling in a reputable design institute to complete the necessary courses to become a Fashion Stylist. This will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in this field.

Courses to Become a Fashion Stylist

Course Name

Course Duration

B.Des in Fashion Design

4 Years

B.Des in Textile Design

4 Years

B.A. in Fashion Design

3 Years

B.A. in Textile Design

3 Years

Certificate in Textiles for Fashion

8 - 12 Months

Certificate in Pattern Making & Garment Construction

6 - 12 Months

Certificate in Fashion Designing

12 - 18 Months

Certificate in Pattern Design

6 - 12 Months

M.Des in Fashion Design

2 Years

M.Des in Textile Design

2 Years

Diploma in Fashion Design

1 Year

Advanced Diploma in Apparel and Textile Design

1 - 2 Years
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Difference between fashion designing and fashion styling

The fashion designing field is different from fashion styling. The difference between fashion designing and fashion styling is described as below. The fashion designing part is creating and developing new clothing to fulfill the clothing needs . Fashion designing involves creativity, technical skills, trend analysis, pattern making. Fashion styling is the selection and coordination of outfits to suit the needs of costume industry. The fashion styling involves understanding skills, trend awareness, communication skills and attention towards the style approaches.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Who is a fashion stylist?

A fashion stylist is an imaginative professional who works with clients, photographers, editors, and art directors to develop a visual concept for runway shows, fashion collections, and fashion editorials.

2. What does a fashion designer do?

A fashion designer is an artist who uses their imagination, understanding of current trends, and knowledge of the human form to create clothing, accessories, and other fashion items that are both practical and visually appealing. They combine their artistic vision with technical skills to design garments that are not only beautiful but also comfortable and functional.  

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Questions related to NIFT Entrance Exam

Have a question related to NIFT Entrance Exam ?

Hello,

The Chennai NIFT entrance exam results for 2025 are usually declared a few weeks after the exam date. You can check the official NIFT website or trusted education portals like Careers360 for the latest updates and result announcements.

Make sure to keep your application details handy to access your result easily.

Hope this helps!

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NIFTEE 2025 Result has been released by NTA on 24th April 2025. UG and PG aspirants can now check and download their scorecards through direct links given in this news. The NTA has declared the NIFT 2025 Result on its official website, exams.nta.ac.in/NIFT.

Hello aspirant,

Solving previous year question paper can immensely help in preparing for any entrance exam as it gives you the fair idea of exam pattern, difficulty level and marking scheme.

So to get the previous year question paper of NIFT, you can visit our site through following link:

https://design.careers360.com/articles/nift-last-10-years-question-papers-with-solution-pdf-download-free

Thank you

Hello aspirant,

The nationwide Institute of Fashion Technology offers a nationwide entrance exam called NIFT for admission to its fashion design programmes.

Every course has specific requirements that must be met in order to apply. For NIFT, there is no minimum age requirement, however it is evident that passing the 10+2 exam is a requirement in order to be admitted to any undergraduate programme in fashion design.


You cannot be admitted because you are in class eleven. However, you can apply to NIFT for experience and practice, and if your application is accepted, you can take the entrance exam. If you pass, however, be aware that you will not be able to retain your results for admission.

Thank you

Hope this information helps you.

Yes, for the NIFT entrance exam in Fashion Designing, you are required to give both the GAT (General Aptitude Test) and the CAT (Creative Ability Test). The GAT assesses your general knowledge, quantitative ability, and reasoning skills, while the CAT evaluates your creative skills, including drawing and visualization. Both tests are essential for admission, as they help assess both your aptitude for fashion design and your creative capabilities.

For more details you can visit the link given below

https://design.careers360.com/articles/difference-between-cat-and-gat-in-nift


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