Skip to content
Singulariki

Fashion Designers vs Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Fashion Designers and Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Fashion Designers Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$80,690
$67,670
Employment · BLS OEWS
20,910
2,860
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
84th pct
26th pct

At a glance

Dimension Fashion Designers Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers
Median pay $80,690 $67,670
Employment 20,910 2,860
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+2.0%) Declining (-10.2%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 2,300 300
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies High · 84th pct Low · 26th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 65th pct · 35% of tasks 21st pct · 17% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Augmentation-leaning (45.1%) —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman Yes Yes

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Design, Originality, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Written Comprehension, Oral Expression, Fluency of Ideas, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Time Management, Oral Comprehension, Visualization, Near Vision, Speech Recognition, Reading Comprehension, Written Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Deductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Monitoring, Inductive Reasoning, Writing, Speech Clarity, Production and Processing, English Language, Information Ordering.

Specific to Fashion Designers

  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Coordination
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Persuasion
  • Negotiation
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Instructing
  • Service Orientation

Specific to Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers

  • Mathematics
  • Mathematical Reasoning
  • Number Facility
  • Finger Dexterity
  • Education and Training
  • Perceptual Speed
  • Selective Attention
  • Mathematics

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Graphics or photo imaging software , Desktop publishing software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Computer aided design CAD software , Electronic mail software , Word processing software .

Specific to Fashion Designers

Specific to Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Fashion Designers or Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

    More comparisons

    Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

    Sources for this page

    Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

    Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

    Cite this page
    Plain

    Singulariki. "Fashion Designers vs Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/fashion-designers-vs-fabric-and-apparel-patternmakers

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Fashion Designers vs Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/fashion-designers-vs-fabric-and-apparel-patternmakers

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-fashion-designers-vs-fabric-and-apparel-patternmakers,
  title  = {Fashion Designers vs Fabric and Apparel Patternmakers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/fashion-designers-vs-fabric-and-apparel-patternmakers}
}

    Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.