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Having spent the last 9 years in seemingly the most glamorous and desirable industry to women, fashion I am often asked about the careers and opportunities for women in fashion and more often what are the best paying careers for women in fashion today?

The beauty about the fashion industry is that it caters for the creative and the business savvy as well as encompassing the back end blood sweat and tears in producing apparel for the Australian and global markets.

Let’s look at the best paying careers for women in fashion

For the business savvy roles for example Brand Manager, Product Manager or Retail Buyer you need a qualification in business, commence, economics or marketing. Candidate perception is often misunderstood with these roles and in the past 4 years they have become the glamour roles of the industry. The misconception largely surrounds the intense business acumen required to be a success. You need to be numbers savvy, have strong skills in product forecasting, budgets, calculation of EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) and have strong analytical skills and margin and profit focus. All too often candidates see for 15% fascination with the product side of these roles and fail to see that 85% of the job is spent behind an excel spreadsheet.

Salaries in Australia for Brand Manager, Product Manager and Retail buyer vary greatly and are very dependent on the size of the company. With this said, some of the larger brands are the poorer payers. Brand Manager, Product Manager and Retail Buyers earn above national average to executive salaries at the top end. Longevity plays a big role in securing top dollar so proving yourself is essential. Your success will be measured on year in and year out results and growth so 18 months here and there is not going to get you into the best paying careers for women in fashion. You need to have some creative edge in these roles, so a sense of style and fashion is essential as much of the creative team is likely to report to you. These roles will see you provide product direction, range planning and product lifecycle analysis as a response to market forces and trends as well as the financial management aspects..

The creative roles in fashion are probably the most deceptive. Design is hard work and again longevity is going to go along way to allowing you to achieve your financial salary goals. My best advice when negotiating a role in design is to negotiate your increases when you commence. One of the biggest problems in increasing salaries once you start working is the lack of a remuneration plan at commencement.

To be a fashion designer you will need to have studied fashion design at any one of the various International Design schools. Getting accolades will also help. Make sure your design projects reflect commercial fashion and if they don’t leave them out of your portfolio. It is very off putting to an employer of a fashion designer to see arty unwearable fashion in the recruitment process.

As a fashion designer you will not only be responsible for the design of the ranges within the product budgets and brand values but you will be responsible for the outcome, market acceptance or rejection! It is very rare for a design graduate to score a top job as a fashion designer but occasionally it does happen. Your career path is however more likely to commence behind the scenes as a designers assistant. You will sketch, source fabrics, trims and accessories, cut samples, prepare range books and coordinate the design timeline with the pattern makers and sample machinists. Not too much creative here but at least you will be close to the action.

Prove yourself and you will be introduced to designing your own portion of a range with a bit of luck (and blood sweat and tears). As a designer assistant (graduate) in fashion expect to earn average national salaries. You will be competing with a big group of graduates all chasing the dream so embrace anything on offer and be realistic about the brand opportunities offered to you. It is no time to be a brand snob when you have just graduated from design school. If you decide to be brand specific be prepared to wait tables as it may be required for a while until the right break comes you way.

As a Range Designer of a visible and market identified brand expect to earn anywhere from average to executive salaries at the end. When so much hinges on the talents of a designer you would expect higher paying salaries, however, simple supply and demand principles unfortunately come into play. The best news is that when longevity kicks in (if you haven’t started your own label) the role of Design Director comes with a hefty pay packet. As Design Director of a fashion brand expect to earn serious executive dollars. Achieve this in fashion design and you have made it!

Let’s look at the engine room; Production Management, Operations and Supply Chain. These roles are the most critical to a fashion operation. Apparel may not be a perishable commodity but if it is late into store it may as well be. With the changes in supply chain and imports the production of apparel in the last 10 years has changed the nature of these roles significantly. In fashion production, operations and supply chain you can expect to frequently travel to operations particularly in the east and work in some quite deceptive conditions. Let me qualify this by saying that your negotiation skills need to be razor sharp and your ability to identify the right sources is essential.

In terms of qualifications you need a fashion production qualification, business or logistics supply chain management qualification or similar. Garment construction knowledge is essential. You will work hands on and be required to make the call on garment construction issues so it is imperative that you know the lingo. At the low end Production Managers in fashion earn just above national salaries with Operations and Supply Chain Managers earning exceptional executive dollars.

Whilst I have purposely focused on the highest paying roles for women within the fashion industry the obvious roles of General Manager, CEO and Company Director form the highest paying roles in the sector. It is difficult to focus on these roles when the opportunities are quite few are far between. Some outstanding women have achieved these roles in fashion with Sue Morphet of Pacific Brands crashing through the glass ceiling some years ago and moving up the scale with full force. Sue is of particular inspiration having conquered such an exceptional role within an established and traditional brand. There are other women like Sue earning exceptional salaries within the fashion sector, but the roles are few and far between. Salaries at this top end can reach beyond half a million dollars including bonuses and share options.

When busy professionals think about putting together an outfit, theyre looking for both style and function and this is especially true for busy professional women. Women want to look nice, but when theyre running around day in and day out, they also need clothing and accessories that are easy to wear and are highly functional.

Watches are one of those accessories/jewelry items that can pull double duty theyre stylish, yet theyre also extremely functional. Telling time with a cell phone might be the way of the future, but the great thing about a watch is that it can replace a bracelet or other jewelry. A great watch doesnt just tell time, it also makes a statement.

Timepieces are important to busy professionals, to whom it is of most importance to stay on time in their busy schedules. Whether youre dropping the kids off for school in the morning or making that 9 AM business meeting with a tray of coffees in hand or picking up your husband from the train after a business trip, staying on top of the time is important, and a great watch will help keep you on time and organized.

For the ultra fabulous working woman, consider a glamorous Guess timepiece. With a gold tone stainless steel case and a black dial, this watch will look great with your classic Chanel suits and your little black dresses, alike, for a night out with the hubby. With a black chain link stainless steel bracelet, Swiss Quartz powers this watch.

Black and gold are two of the most functional and smart colors around gold, as a medal, practically signifies that youre fun and interesting, and lets face it, black goes with anything. In short, this watch is great for the working woman who wants something pretty and sophisticated enough to make a fashion statement, but who ultimately just needs to know the date and time at any time, anywhere.

For those looking for something a bit simpler, consider a watch that looks great for any occasion, like a silver Gucci timepiece with a round silver-tone stainless steel case housing a silver-tone carbon fiber dial. This watch has a silver stainless steel bracelet that is slim and classic looking. It attaches to your wrist and features a large enough face to make a fashion statement without seeming too young or overly ostentatious.

This watch is great for the busy businesswoman who is also juggling her family life at home. Think lawyer, with her wide-leg black pants and Tucker blouse. Shes sophisticated but never tries too hard. If thats the look youre going for, consider a watch like this one.Michael Kors also makes a bevy of great watches for busy professionals, all of which are at once functional and fashionable.

This is a gold stainless steel watch with a large chain link bracelet and an oversized face with an ivory dial and a date window and three subdials. The gold tone of this timepiece gives it an aged yet timeless feel like its at once antique and classic and also utterly modern. Gold is generally thought of as a bit louder than silver and so for this reason, this watch is probably better for those with less businesslike positions.

PR people, those in the fashion industrythis is your watch: Classic and gorgeous but also unlike all the other gold watches out there.Another great option is a stainless steel watch thats done in rose gold. This watch is great for busy creative types who tend to think outside of the box and like to stand out. This isnt the kind of watch that the girl next to you on the train will have its geared toward a specific woman who values individuality and great craftsmanship.

This piece is also beloved for its simplicity; it boasts an ivory dial, three subdials and rose gold-tone hands and markers. This watch is elegant and is sure to stand out, which makes it a great gift for a busy professional woman or a great investment for a woman who buys it for herself. The rose gold color makes it function extremely well as a piece of jewelry, in addition to the functionality of the timepiece.

As you can see, its quite easy to find great watches for busy professionals. Women often assume that if theyre going to buy a watch, it has to be either fashionable or functional they forget that they can get both! But the truth is that there are lots of great watches out there that are both. You can get something that will help keep you on time and organized in your busy professional life that will also look great and will function as an extra piece of jewelry! What are you waiting for? The perfect watch is waiting for you!