Spotlight on jobs & industry

The ten most common jobs The number of companies & employees in Belgium Where to find vacancies Jobstories

The 10 most common jobs

1
Product developer
- What do you mainly do? You are the contact person between designer, pattern department and production. You monitor how technical files are used during production and optimise them if necessary. You also provide that information to the designers and the pattern department in order to improve the flow in general.
- Profile: You are a team player, you have product knowledge
2
Production assistant
- What do you mainly do? It is a very varied job. From pattern department to finished piece. One day you work in the cutting department, the next day you help with the preparations. Some stitching or ironing/packing might be part of it.
- Profile: You like to work with your hands, you have product knowledge
3
Stitcher home decoration & interior
- This is the bottleneck profession of 2020, so there is more demand than supply. Why? Because for decoration & interior design, there is still a lot of production going on in Belgium
- What do you mainly do? Stitching of cushions, curtains, … – interior textiles
- Your profile: Basic knowledge (BSO) of stitching is sufficient. You work a lot with automatic machines, you will get this training at the start of your work.
4
Sticher
- What do you mainly do? Model stitching, i.e. assembling complete models
- Profile: Basic knowledge (BSO) of stitching is sufficient, you will get a training on different machines at the start in the company
5
Quality control employee
- What do you mainly do? Quality control during production, follow up that everything reaches the customer correctly
- Profile: You have technical knowledge, you have good language skills, you are willing to travel to production sites to carry out checks
6
Logistics employee
- What do you mainly do? In larger companies, it is mainly receiving goods, stock control, quality control of textiles. In small companies there is an additional quality control on products.
- Profile: You have a lot of technical knowledge
7
Pattern maker
- What do you mainly do? Design & pattern making
- Profile: You have a good knowledge of patterns
- There are few vacancies, because companies do not always post vacancies. Trainees can often get a job after their traineeship.
8
Marketing & e-commerce assistant
- What do you mainly do? Online sales & marketing
- Your profile: You have communication skills, you have good language skills, you have feeling with social media, you have a good pen, you have feeling with market research & strategy, knowledge of production & textiles is a plus
9
Assistant buyer account manager
- What do you mainly do? Sales. You start as assistant, afterwards you can grow to account manager.
- Profile: You have commercial skills, you have good language skills, technical knowledge of production & textiles is a plus
10
3D designer
- What do you mainly do? You design on Avatar, a specific new software. The difference with the known way of pattern making is that the model is now created directly in the 3D Avatar and only then leaves for the pattern department to be updated. In the known method the pattern is first created, and only then goes to the 3D Avatar for the fitting.
- Profile: This is ideal for fashion technologists. Pattern and textile knowledge are necessary here. Either you follow an extra training at Howest in Kortrijk (3D animation) or you can learn 3D design in the company at the start.

Ann tells more about these jobs in 10 minutes

Do you have any questions about jobs and/or the Belgian fashion sector?

Then contact Ann Collier, founder & ‘mother’ of Young Patterns. And let’s say she knows the industry inside out.

She was a production assistant at Staels NV for 10 years & worked on productions in Tunisia, she has a lot of experience in pattern drawing. And then started as a project manager at IVOC. She lets her be guided by her love for sustainable production and projects.

– She knows which companies are open to our new generation.

– She will be one of your mentors if you follow a duo internship through Young Patterns.

Do you have a question for her about the industry or about a job?

Send her an email or give her a call:

02 481 53 56

a.collier@ivoc.be

The provincial division of companies & employees in Belgium

Curious about the number of employees & companies in our Belgian clothing & apparel industry? The figures below give an overview of the 3rd quarter of 2020 and can look different every year.

Provinces
Namen
Luxemburg
Waals Brabant
Henegouwen
Luik
Vlaams Brabant
Limburg
Brussels Gewest
West Vlaanderen
Oost Vlaanderen
Antwerpen
TOTAAL

Companies
24
16
43
89
110
126
165
209
268
282
345
1.677 companies

Employees
92
38
192
332
426
890
957
848
2.276
2.903
2.633
11.587 employees

Where to find vacancies

VDAB

You’ll find the most objective presentation of jobs on the website of VDAB, including jobs for technical functions that are not highlighted on the other sites.

Fashion United

Fashion United is a private, international organization, they go a bit broader, but completely focused on fashion.

Creamoda

Creamoda is the employer organization of the Belgian clothing and clothing companies. On their website you will find vacancies at the member companies of Creamoda.

Careerstyler

Careerstyler is a private organization, with exclusive job service.

Flanders DC for fashion

Flanders DC is the promotion centre for the creative sectors in Flanders, financed by the Flemish government. Besides jobs, you can also find internship opportunities on the website.

MAD Brussels

MAD can be seen as a Belgian version of Flanders DC, strongly focused on Brussels fashion and design.

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