What are the best ways to describe your design process in a fashion interview?

1 Know your audience

Before you go to any interview, you should research the company and the position you are applying for. What kind of products do they make? What is their brand identity and style? What are their values and goals? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your design process description to fit their expectations and needs. For example, if you are interviewing for a fast-fashion company, you might want to emphasize your ability to work under tight deadlines, follow trends, and adapt to changing demands. If you are interviewing for a luxury brand, you might want to highlight your attention to detail, craftsmanship, and originality.

2 Use a framework

One of the best ways to describe your design process in a fashion interview is to use a framework that organizes your steps and shows your logic and rationale. A common framework that many designers use is the design thinking model, which consists of five stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. You can use this model to explain how you identify and understand the needs and preferences of your target customers, how you define the problem and the goals of your project, how you generate and select ideas, how you create and refine prototypes, and how you evaluate and improve your solutions. Using a framework will help you structure your answer and demonstrate your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

3 Show your portfolio

Another way to describe your design process in a fashion interview is to show your portfolio and walk the interviewer through some of your projects. Your portfolio should showcase your best work and reflect your style and personality. You should select the projects that are most relevant to the position and the company you are applying for, and prepare a brief story for each one. Your story should include the context and the brief of the project, the challenges and the opportunities you faced, the actions and the decisions you took, and the results and the feedback you received. Showing your portfolio will help you illustrate your design process with concrete examples and visual aids.

4 Be honest and humble

When you describe your design process in a fashion interview, you should be honest and humble about your strengths and weaknesses, your successes and failures, and your learnings and improvements. You should not exaggerate or lie about your skills or experience, or take credit for someone else's work. You should also not be defensive or arrogant about your choices or opinions, or dismiss or ignore constructive criticism. You should be open and willing to admit your mistakes and learn from them, and to collaborate and compromise with others. Being honest and humble will help you build trust and rapport with the interviewer and show your professionalism and integrity.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?