Uzma Umer

A fashion designer understands that clothes are much more than protection from the elements. Clothes can make people feel confident or powerful. Or they can be comforting. Clothing can be an artistic expression—a projection of the image people want the world to see. While good fashion design will probably never bring about world peace, fashion can make a person feel better. Far from being purely superficial, fashion can have profound effects, to both individuals and to the world at large. Whether you think of royalty or rock stars, you visualize their appearance and presentation. What people wear projects who they are. The sophisticated and often over-the-top styles found on the runways of Paris and New York do not represent the full spectrum of fashion designers' work. In reality, there are a multitude of opportunities in fashion design, from sportswear, to children's clothes, to haute couture. If you can wear it, someone has designed it.