Comments on: Wanted: freelance fashion designer

By: Setting terms when you become a freelance designer

Setting terms when you become a freelance designer — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:46:48 +0000

[...] This was left in comments yesterday: I’m currently the senior designer for a well know handbag company in Manhattan. I’m relocating to Boston for personal reasons but have discussed with the corporation continuing on with them remotely. As a corporate company they do not encourage this, so they have requested that I stay on as a freelance designer. I’ve been told to come up with an hourly rate that will be sufficient for my new lifestyle as a freelance designer, travel expenses, & health insurance but something that will be acceptable as well considering it will be consistent work (daily communication with my current boss via phone/email/skype). I’m looking for some input from other designers who are in similar situations because this is new for me and I want to be able to make a substantial living, while still being fair to my current employer. Any thoughts will help! thanks!! [...]

By: Jodi

Jodi — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:40:11 +0000

I’m looking for some advice…
I’m currently the senior designer for a well know handbag company in manhattan. I’m relocating to Boston for personal reasons but have discussed with the corporation continuing on with them remotely. As a corporate company they do not encourage this, so they have requested that I stay on as a freelance designer. I’ve been told to come up with an hourly rate that will be sufficient for my new lifestyle as a freelance designer, travel expenses, & health insurance but something that will be acceptable as well considering it will be consistant work (daily communication with my current boss via phone/email/skype). I’m looking for some input from other designers who are in similar situations b/c this is new for me and I want to be able to make a substantial living, while still being fair to my current employer. Any thoughts will help! thanks!!

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:48:49 +0000

In addition to my book (right side of the page) which answers questions many don't know they need to ask, you can find some useful information in this entry.

By: Sundal

Sundal — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:31:34 +0000

I’d appreciate an answer to orly’s question too as I may be in a similar situation myself. I haven’t finalised details yet, but I have a made-to-order line and a startup wants to collaborate with me, i’m meeting them day after tomorrow so would love to know what you came out with, orly.

By: orly

orly — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:27:09 +0000

Question:
I’m entering into an aggreement with a private label manufacturing company.
They will be using my one of a kind designs as samples to sell to mass market stores across the country. So, i will be responsible for all design details, and et final approval on the production sample. but the company will take care of all details after that.
i.e. Selling the line and manufacturing the order, placing whatever label the store requests.
I will be getting a back end commission on all sales. So my question is, does anyone know what commission rate i can request. I heard that for licensing it’s generally 7-9% but that’s when they are using the name as well. In this case they knocking off my custom line, to create mass market reproductions, under private labels. Do i request a per piece, sample fee AND a commission?
My final meeting is tomorrow…please help?

By: ayomide

ayomide — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:23:35 +0000

HI, I was browsing your site to see if you had any info on a non-compete clause. That states as a freelancer you will not work for the competition while working or after working ( usually a year or more) for the company you are contracted with.

I have never seen this while freelancing until now. I have a guy that contacted me about designing handbags for kids. His company is just starting off and he and his partner are new to the fashion industry. They have a concept they think will sell and are contracting the job out to several designers for a designer face off ( whoever gets the design he is looking for will get the job. He wants each of us to do about four designs. All that sounds okay until I got his consulting agreement with the non- compete clause. I told him I wouldn’t sign the contract with the clause included. I had a lawyer look at the contract and said I should ask the guy to make changes. So after some back and forth with emails he says that he will change the clause to say that I couldn’t work for their competition that produces an handbag for kids using their type of concept. What do you think about non-compete clauses?

By: Sharrina Witherspoon

Sharrina Witherspoon — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:33:05 +0000

Hello, I googled a question in regard to how much to charge for a freelance project I was presented. The job consists of me designing a group of high end couture ensembles for a woman who’s used to paying 4,500 for suits. My responsibility would be to design a group and then have her choose the ones she wants from that group. My questions are 1) how many choices should I be giving her 2) how much should I charge for the presentation which will include fabric swatches & trim 3) how to charge for each ensemble she chooses? Thank you for any and all responses.

Sharrina Witherspoon

By: Ian MacGraw

Ian MacGraw — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:18:01 +0000

I’m a small organization in a town of 300,000 on the East coast. we design mainstream apparel for chains and independents. My designer is moving and I wonder how I will attract someone to this rural town. And what will I pay someone with 5 or 6 years design experience? Any advice?

By: intoit

intoit — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:12:24 +0000

i’m a new freelancer and have been working this way for the last three months. I have always been a fulltime designer but have had enough weirdness from my last fulltime job. Everything on the surface looked wonderful: I was designing two contemporary divisions for this company and loved the look and vibe of the lines. I was designing the clothes as well as the prints, big job but I enjoyed every phase. I also had the highest respect for my design team (design asst, patternmakers, sample makers, cutter), all of whom I had the luxury of handpicking myself. They really are so dedicated and professional. However, due to an absentee owner and a sloppy production staff, the light was diminishing quickly. That scenario got a lot worse when the absentee owner appointed one of the sales reps to help oversee the divisions since I was getting too involved and frustrated with the lack of production flow. There is the rare sales person who can look at the big picture and be a contributing professional to the entire cycle of garment anufacturing, but this rep wasn’t one of those gems.
Oh, and to add a very Aaron Spelling situation, one of the assistants I hired was sneaky and overly ambitious, and was taking credit for designing the lines. She would tell buyers as well as different showrooms (that had walked up to our booth and asked who the designer was.)
So, with all that weirdness I walked away from a huge salary and am now freelancing for two clients. It is scary, though, because though these clients came to me through references, I never know if it will be a continuous thing or if the next check due really will come.
Is there any way to come up with a fair design fee? I mean, fair to myself as well as to the client. I’m a really strong designer because the clothes retail well, but is there a freelance designer’s code of fees so that we don;t undersell ourselves and then that adversely affects the rest of us?

By: Ragga Katla

Ragga Katla — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:44:34 +0000

I’m a bit shocked at the rates mentioned in this article. I’m in Los Angeles doing patterns and samples freelance out of my studio, and while my rates aren’t as high as my colleagues who have been in the industry a lot longer than me – I know that they charge at least $70/hr for patterns (I know someone who recently raised her rates to $100/hr for pretty standard patterns for knitwear). You might be making $15/hr if you were starting out as a design assistant or a completely inexperiences in-house sample maker but thats pretty much it. In fact when I think of it, $14 is what the cutter was making at my former workplace – a typical L.A. sweatshop that was notorious for being cheap in every way (not mentioning any names here).

As far as I know in-house patternmakers make close to 100K annually, and senior designers at least 60K. In my understanding designers go through a period of proving themselves that can almost be regarded as internship before they start to earn decently and I’m thinking thats whats bringing the average salary down.

I think its really important to refuse work thats underpaid and I think us freelancers have to unite on that issue. Just like someone mentioned here theres a lot more involved for us, there is off season (almost all my clients have had a really bad habit of ordering fabric late or simply not designing the line until a few weeks before market), then theres time you spend on the project that you cant directly charge for (phone calls, emails etc). You have to update equipment, pay rent or mortgage for your studio, update software… Spend time interviewing potential clients that may or may not come through. When you’re in-house you’re being paid for every minute you spend in there. Thats not the case when you’re self employed.