Fashion Designers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 43% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 77% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 22% of the time, stays with people.
Design clothing and accessories. Create original designs or adapt fashion trends.
21,450 people do this job in the US. $80,960 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on17 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet14 h
- Stays with people9 h
Fashion Designers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 17 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 14 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 9 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements (about 6 h); Research the styles and periods of clothing needed for film or theatrical productions (about 4 h); Read scripts and consult directors and other production staff to develop design concepts and plan productions (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 78%
- 8%
- 14%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 43%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 20 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.039% to 0.038% (released February and March 2025); 0.03% to 0.039% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.039% | 315 of 708 | 6 of 20 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.038% | 315 of 703 | 5 of 20 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.03% | 313 of 655 | 4 of 20 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.028% | 335 of 672 | 5 of 20 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.039% | 282 of 677 | 5 of 20 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 20 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 20 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 26% of this job's working time as physical work. For 5% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 5% in a purpose-built cell. 0.05 of 3, the 585th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 74%
- No robot shown 21%
- In a purpose-built cell 5%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop a group of products or accessories, and market them through venues such as boutiques or mail-order catalogs.Done more than yearly by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 21% | 3.1 work days6.7 h to 2.1 work weeks | 11%Half by Oct 2027 | |
| Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 15% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Research the styles and periods of clothing needed for film or theatrical productions.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 15% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 61%Half by now | |
| Design custom clothing and accessories for individuals, retailers, or theatrical, television, or film productions.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | 28%Half by Apr 2027 | |
| Read scripts and consult directors and other production staff to develop design concepts and plan productions.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.1 work days | 76%Half by now | |
| Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Adapt other designers' ideas for the mass market.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 96%Half by now | |
| Select materials and production techniques to be used for products.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Attend fashion shows and review garment magazines and manuals to gather information about fashion trends and consumer preferences.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Collaborate with other designers to coordinate special products and designs.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Draw patterns for articles designed, cut patterns, and cut material according to patterns, using measuring instruments and scissors.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Lectra Vector Fashion (Vector iX) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1 work day | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Fashion Designers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 43% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 77% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (68% to 78% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Fashion Designers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Sketch rough and detailed drawings of apparel or accessories, and write specifications such as color schemes, construction, material types, and accessory requirements (96% of the task's time now); Research the styles and periods of clothing needed for film or theatrical productions (61% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Read scripts and consult directors and other production staff to develop design concepts and plan productions (76% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Fashion Designers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Direct and coordinate workers involved in drawing and cutting patterns and constructing samples or finished garments; Attend fashion shows and review garment magazines and manuals to gather information about fashion trends and consumer preferences; and Examine sample garments on and off models, modifying designs to achieve desired effects. Together such tasks are about 22% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Fashion Designers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 6%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Fashion Designers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 26% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 5% of the working time. Its index is 0.05 of 3. One example: Lectra Vector Fashion (Vector iX) for "draw patterns for articles designed, cut patterns, and cut material according to patterns, using measuring instruments and scissors". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 20 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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