Thanks to film, shows like «America’s Next Top Model, ” media, and social networks, we have grown accustomed to reducing the fashion industry solely to designers and models. Sometimes photographers and stylists are also mentioned. Together with Svetlana Salnikova, an instructor at the HSE Art and Design School, we explore which professions are truly in demand in the fashion industry today.
Fashion in Russia is a massive, rapidly evolving field. You can work in it not only as a designer, stylist, or model. There are many interesting production professions: pattern maker, technologist, tailor, cutter, seamstress, fabric designer, and experimental textile designer. Illustrators can also become fabric designers and create prints. Experimental textiles are one of the major trends for 2026. In this area, you can work on creating unusual textures—it is incredibly interesting.
They learn this, for example, at the HSE Art and Design School in the areas of «Fashion Design» and «Branding in the Fashion Industry.» In «Fashion Design,» students learn to conceptualize an idea from the ground up, curate mood boards, work with trends, and, of course, design and construct clothing. In the first year, they work with paper to create forms, and subsequently reconstruct historical costumes, invent new garments, and present them. They learn about textile creation, explore new textures, and experiment. Gradually, they move toward developing their own collections: third-year students prepare a collective show for the public, and in their final year, each student designs their complete signature collection for the graduation show.
You can learn how to design fabrics and create prints in the «Illustration and Comic» program. This is a niche but timely profession. Brands generally either work with ready-made prints, use vintage or Soviet-era fabrics, or collaborate with an illustrator to design their own patterns. Russian companies often source fabrics from warehouses that are now far scarcer than the number of designers. This is precisely why we see several companies releasing collections made from the same fabric. Brands with their own original prints stand out. The most well-known company for print production in Russia is Solstudio, and I believe there is still time for us to compete with them.
Visual communication is handled by photographers, stylists, branding specialists, set designers, and location scouts. The scouts find interesting locations and interiors and create props to ensure high-quality shoots. Everything related to visual communication and corporate identity is taught in the «Communication Design» track. This includes online and offline branding, packaging and label design, even editorial design for brand publications, as well as animation and motion graphics. Third-year students can choose whether they wish to specialize in motion design or branding.
AI is actively developing and changing the game in the fashion industry right now. Russian brands are generating photos and lookbooks with neural networks instead of conducting real photo shoots, and modeling agencies are creating AI avatars for models. On the «Animation, CGI, and Visual Effects» profile, students learn to create virtual reality projects using artificial intelligence.
The fashion industry operates in a distinct world—retail, which involves selling apparel in stores, shopping centers, and showrooms. This sector requires interior designers who specialize in retail, merchandisers who devise the consumer’s journey through the store, its core concept, and how the collection will interact with the interior, including how the interior evolves from season to season. Roles such as store managers and brand managers are crucial. In the industry’s early stages, it seemed that one designer could handle every facet. Today, the brand manager is responsible for overseeing processes, business operations, and communications, while the designer focuses exclusively on everything related to the clothing itself.
The Bachelor’s program features a specialization in «Environmental and Interior Design, ” where students study the design of urban, personal, and corporate spaces. During their studies, students develop projects for commercial spaces within the fashion industry. After completing this education, graduates can design interiors for stores, showrooms, pop-up shops, or specialize in creating display windows.
Fashion media—magazines, podcasts, Telegram channels—support the fashion industry. Nowadays, brands are increasingly launching their own micro-media outlets and discussing fashion on social media or in their own publications and magazines. This boosts interest in the brand and builds a community around it, which is crucial for maintaining sales. To create micro-media, specific skills in media work, as well as knowledge of history and theory, are required. At HSE, this is taught in the «Media and Design» program.
It may be helpful to determine which specific career path in the fashion industry suits you by reading the material featuring Svetlana Salnikova available at this link.