How Much Do Freelance Fashion Designers Charge ?

267. Freelance fashion designers generally charge around £30 – £60 per hour. A junior designer may charge less, while a senior designer may charge significantly more – Up to around £160 per hour.

Pricing Models.

There are various pricing models for freelancers to choose from. Some charge an hourly rate, or a day rate. Others prefer a flat rate for the project, or charge for each design that they provide the client with. The prices vary considerably depending on experience, location, and project type.

In the UK, London is the most expensive area for freelance fashion designers, being a world renowned centre for fashion and fashion design, and it is the area with the best freelancers, and the most choice.

Charging By Time.

Charging an hourly rate or daily rate, is still popular with freelance fashion designers, especially new freelancers, or if working in-house. It is the most simple way to work, and just needs the working time to be itemised accurately. But this method is not so popular with clients, who like to know how much things will cost in advance.

The hourly rate for a freelance fashion designer can vary significantly depending on experience and the designers role. A junior freelance fashion designer in London generally charges around £30 – £45 an hour. An intermediate designer would charge £50 – £65 per hour, while a senior designer would charge anything up to £160 per hour.

Some freelancers would charge by the day or half day, and many would add their travel time and expenses on top of the standard hourly rate. The most important thing as that everything is open and transparent, and that both parties know exactly how the charging works in advance.

Charging By The Job Or Project.

Some clients are put off by a higher hourly rate, while others care more about what they get for their money. When pricing by the job, some designers would even say that their hourly rate was higher than it was, so that the client thought they were getting better value when the highly paid freelancer produced the same value of work as the lesser paid one.

The first thing to determine when pricing for the job is understanding what the job actually is, and what the designers function is within the project. For a large brand this is not difficult, but a startup or smaller brand may require something different than a larger brand.

The larger brand will have a very specific role in mind for the designer, but the smaller brand may just want a professional designer to give advice on designs that have already been created. Or they may want someone to manage the entire project. An experienced designer should be knowledgeable about every aspect of clothing business, so are ideal for project management.

Often a freelance fashion designer will take on a project and price it not realising its true extent. Mission creep is common, especially after the job is done and the client needs the designer to resolve issues with the designs long after the project is finished.

Charging Per Design.

Some freelance fashion designers just produce a ton of designs, then show them to clients who are interested in buying off the shelf designs. Sometimes they have ready made patterns to go with those designs, so you are paying for the pattern and the sample development too. This works better for some types of clothing than for others.

Value Based Pricing.

valued based pricing is a fixed fee project where the price is determined by the value of the outcome to the clients business rather than the time it will take to complete. This value can be based on either how much the client stands to make, but also how much they stand to lose if they hired the wrong person for the job.

This particular pricing model only really applies to high risk, high value freelance projects, so would not generally apply to the very top end of freelance designing.

daily rates . weekly rates. monthly retainer. fixed fee project. value based pricing

startups need a project manager

You may already have some designs of your own that you need to be assessed by a professional

want to employ a designer just to

But in order to determine a rate correctly, it is important to know what exactly the job entails. A fashion designers job may be

London is a leading centre of fashion, so there is no shortage of freelance fashion designers, and no shortage of clients

Freelance fashion designers in London

hourly billing

Working In-House.

When working in-house, normally an hourly rate works best for both parties, because the designer may have to deal with all sorts of things that are not part of the basic design process. Things like dealing with pattern cutters, sample machinists, or factories. Or fit meetings.

Working in-house you may have to travel every day, so you will need to take this into account when calculating your rate, but you won’t have the same overheads, and non work distractions to consider.

Working From Own Studio.

When you are working from home or from your studio, you will have all sorts of distractions, and you may not be concentrated on just one design project. Because your client is not able to see you at work, there may be some doubt as to the hours you put in.

There are so many ways that you could be diverted from your normal work that accurately noting every minute spent on any project becomes almost impossible. So, charging a flat rate for the project, or a piece rate may be a better option.

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average salary £30000 – £60000 a year

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premium rates

junior – mid level – intermediate – senior

Freelance fashion designers in the UK

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