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Whether you’re an aspiring or seasoned designer, a well-crafted fashion portfolio website is a vital tool for presenting your work, attracting new clients, fostering professional development and building your personal brand. While fashion designers like yourself excel in bringing aesthetics to life in everyday settings, transitioning to designing for digital screens can be challenging.
The good news is that you can bypass hiring an expensive web designer by choosing the right website builder. A portfolio website builder can handle most of the work, making it easier to navigate and giving you more time to dedicate to fashion design in the real world.
In this article, we'll guide you through the process of how to make a website and design a fashion portfolio website that's as stylish as you are.
What is a fashion portfolio?
A fashion portfolio is a curated collection of a fashion designer's work. It acts as a testament to the designer’s professional experience, showcasing their creativity, unique skills and experiences, and their design approach. When you make a fashion portfolio of your own, it should effectively communicate your vision as a designer and draw in potential clients, employers or collaborators.
Fashion portfolios can be presented using a variety of formats, including physical portfolios, slideshow presentations and digital portfolio websites. Below we’re going to explore how to make a fashion portfolio website and the many benefits of presenting your work in an online portfolio format.
How to make a fashion portfolio online
01. Choose a portfolio builder
The first step in knowing how to make an online portfolio is choosing the right website builder to get started. Platforms like Wix provide user-friendly drag-and-drop technology to simplify the website creation process for individuals without a background in web design. Using professional templates and custom design features, the best portfolio website builders allow users to design their site and publish it without hiring a developer.
On top of investigating a pricing model that works for you, choose a builder with a sophisticated suite of design, hosting and content management tools. It’s even better if, like Wix, you’ll have built-in SEO and marketing tools, too. Last but not least, given the visual nature of your fashion portfolio, find a builder that supports high-quality imagery.
02. Look for inspiration
You’ve already got an eye for design, but designing a website means entering an entirely new world of form and function. Before you create a fashion portfolio, we recommend exploring existing online sources for inspiration. Make a list of your favorite fashion blogs, online shops and the best portfolio websites.
Pay attention to features you like, such as website formats, written copy and design elements like color schemes, fonts, animation and imagery. This exploration will provide valuable insights when you make your own fashion design portfolio.
03. Prepare your best projects to showcase
You may not fit all of your work into one design portfolio. And even if you could, rule number one is to carefully select which projects to include. Before designing your fashion portfolio site, review your previous work and be decisive about what to add.
You should have at least five and no more than ten projects or categories to start.cFor a great first impression, give visitors a presentation of your best work and focus on quality, relevance and significance:
Include works that are especially meaningful to your fashion career
Use a range of works to highlight your versatility
Add recent projects to reflect your current style and keep your portfolio up-to-date
Definitely add award-winning collections to the mix
04. Choose a customizable template
Find a fashion design website template for your portfolio website that’s chic, functional and has everything you need to share your collections. It’s a good idea to use a portfolio website template with ample white space for your images, this way they can be effectively showcased without clutter or distraction. To ensure a satisfying user experience, select a template that incorporates a menu, provides effortless navigation and facilitates an intuitive user journey.
05. Start customizing your fashion portfolio
Now that you’ve got a template, it’s time to build your fashion portfolio the way you want it. At this point, you’ll enter the backend of your website creator’s dashboard and start customizing the design. Keep in mind that because website creation is an iterative process, you'll likely need to modify some details as you add content and continue building.
Here are some essential steps to customizing your fashion website template:
Choose fonts and colors
Wix, like other website builders, provides a suite of web-safe fonts, ranging from trendy fonts to more classic styles. You can personalize the look of your fashion portfolio with typography by choosing and pairing fonts which reflect your personal style and professional persona.
Creating a cohesive color scheme is equally important to your personal brand, since this will set a consistent tone for your portfolio. Wix offers numerous color scheme presets that can be applied to your fashion website, with the option to customize and edit them.
Add a website background
Choose a background for your web pages that will reinforce your site’s visual style. Whether you opt for a solid color, a dynamic video, or a subtle gradient, it should fit seamlessly with your color scheme. Your portfolio’s website background serves as a canvas for your fashion portfolio, and should enhance the primary content in the foreground.
Create a killer homepage
A homepage is usually the first thing visitors see when they arrive at a website, and it's often the most frequently visited. Ensure that your homepage captivates users, encouraging them to delve deeper into your portfolio.
To do this, key elements to include on the homepage are: your name, a navigation menu, calls-to-action, images and a concise introduction. While a full biography is not necessary, provide enough information for visitors to grasp who you are, what you do, and how to contact you.
Make an about page
A well-crafted About Page is a great way for fashion designers like yourself to provide visitors with insights into your work and distinguish yourself from the competition. It can include a concise bio that outlines your personal and professional experiences. It’s also an opportunity to convey your mission and vision as a designer, detailing your approach and inspirations.
Include a contact page
This simple addition will make it easier for individuals to get in touch with you. Be sure your contact page includes the following:
A well-designed contact form
Your email address (investing in a business email is an easy way to elevate your professional presence)
A current phone number
Links to your relevant social media accounts
06. Build your fashion portfolio pages
In step three, you've already chosen the projects to include in your portfolio. Now, it's time to create a page for each project and add them to your fashion portfolio website. Your portfolio pages represent the crux of your website design—here’s the space where you’re really going to exhibit your capabilities.
It’s important to organize your fashion portfolio effectively, arranging the projects in your portfolio by category, date or season. As you build these individual pages, consider including these key elements:
A short introduction explaining the specific project details
High quality images or videos of your work that are optimized for the web
Images of sketches, illustrations, photographs, technical drawings or fabric swatches that highlight your creative process
Inspirational details about the project, such as your approach or a background story
07. Make a mobile friendly design
According to statistics, almost 60% of global traffic to your site will come from users on mobile devices. That makes it incredibly important to make a fashion portfolio website that’s ready for use on small screens.
If you're building your portfolio with Wix, you'll benefit from an automated mobile-friendly version and an adaptive gallery for your images. While this simplifies the process, regularly checking the mobile editor is crucial to ensure the mobile site generated accurately reflects your design vision.
08. Connect to an official domain
When your fashion design website is ready, connect it to a domain that aligns with your brand. Choose a memorable domain name that includes your name or design company's name. Additionally, select a suitable top-level domain (TLD), for example, the ".com" in Wix.com.
Available TLD options range from the traditional .org, .com and .net to newer options such as .biz, .llc, .tips, .store, .co, .photos, .love, .work, .space, .digital, .club, .tv, .blog, .info, .site, .land, .company, .solutions, .website, .tech, .training, .coach, .world, .party, .yoga, .wiki, .ninja, .directory, .guru, .live, .fit, .studio, .today, .design, .pictures, .expert, .technology, .top, .co.uk .london, .tokyo, .ninja, .email and .xyz.
Many portfolio-building platforms, including Wix, include domain purchase as part of their service package. Once you have your domain, connect it to your website before launching it.
09. Review and publish your fashion portfolio
Before launching your fashion portfolio website, it's essential to review and refine it thoroughly. Start by previewing the design and sharing it with trusted individuals for their feedback. Pay attention to the site's visual appeal, user-friendliness and functionality. Additionally, review the written website copy for grammar and spelling errors.
This stage is also an excellent opportunity for SEO and web accessibility audits. Optimizing for basic SEO elements is necessary for improving your chances of ranking on Google. Additionally, website accessibility involves making your site inclusive and user-friendly for individuals with disabilities, including visual, motor, hearing, cognitive, or situational challenges.
By addressing both SEO and accessibility at this stage, you'll enhance your site's overall quality and appeal to a broader audience.
Once you’re satisfied and confident with your fashion portfolio website, it’s time to hit “publish” and share it with the world.
What should I do after publishing my fashion portfolio?
With your site now live, several strategies can help drive traffic and facilitate business growth. From promotional efforts to ongoing maintenance, here are some ideas to keep your site performing at its best:
Promote your website
There are several cost-effective ways to promote your fashion design portfolio. One way is to harness the power of social media by sharing it across various channels including Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn and more. You can engage followers by including your website address in your profile details, or creating unique posts and advertisements that lead back to your fashion portfolio.
Email marketing is another effective strategy. With well-crafted campaigns, you can regularly engage with your followers and consistently drive new visitors or returning customers to your site. On Wix, an integrated email marketing tool makes it easy to build your mailing list, create optimized emails, automate campaigns and track your results.
Keep it up-to-date
As your fashion empire grows and develops, make sure your online fashion portfolio accurately reflects it. Website maintenance is the essential practice of monitoring your site’s performance and identifying areas for updates and improvement. Keeping a website up-to-date is important for ensuring optimal functioning and engagement with visitors.
A regular review of your live website should include these practices:
Content updates to incorporate new collections, promotions, and relevant fashion trends.
Prompt fixing of bugs and glitches to provide a seamless user experience
Regular checks on website performance, including speed, responsiveness and user-friendliness.
Continuously optimizing for search engines (SEO) to maintain visibility and attract organic traffic
Implementing robust backup and recovery measures to safeguard your website data and minimize downtime
Add an online store
The number of e-commerce users in the fashion industry is forecast to experience significant growth in upcoming years. Hence, you might consider incorporating an online store into your website, allowing you to directly sell your products online. An online store will amplify your sales opportunities, help expand your audience, and allow you to engage with customers in innovative ways.
What are the benefits of having an online fashion portfolio?
If you aspire to make a mark in the fashion industry, making a fashion portfolio is a strategic move that will propel your career forward by enhancing your visibility, credibility, networking and sales potential. With the internet's reach, your portfolio becomes accessible to a global audience, showcasing your unique style and design prowess.
But the benefits don't stop there. A well-crafted website establishes your professional credibility. It demonstrates your seriousness about a successful fashion career and your commitment to sharing your achievements. It’s also an incredible marketing and networking tool that can initiate new connections, fostering collaborations and opening doors to exciting opportunities.
4 great examples of fashion portfolios built on Wix
Below are examples of fashion portfolios built on Wix. Since these are some of the best to learn from, we’ll highlight areas of inspiration so you can gain ideas for how to make a fashion portfolio with a one-of-a-kind experience.
Sillage online
This fashion portfolio by Silage online uses an ultimate modern design that’s crisp, clean and easy to navigate. Each relevant collection, along with the designer’s archives and online store, is accessible from the homepage gallery. Ample white space frames each photo, facilitating a minimalistic design that puts fashion in the spotlight.
Oriens
Oriens’ use of full-width video and photo backgrounds is striking. Not only does this design choice perfectly showcase each item of clothing, it really attracts and holds the attention of visitors. A hamburger menu in the upper right hand corner is a smart way to offer visitors easy website navigation, while leaving room on the homepage for the large and impressive visuals
Freya Simonne
Larger than life images on Freya Simonne homepage allow us to experience her designs in an almost tangible way. The high-quality photos showcase Simonne’s vibrant patterns and textures, enticing visitors to continue browsing and potentially add to their shopping cart.
Yam NYC
Yam’s website functions as both a fashion portfolio and online store, so including strong branding and marketing tools on her site is important. Upon first entering, a chic pop-up window encourages visitors to sign up for Yam’s mailing list in return for a 10% discount. An eye-popping CTA button on the homepage highlights one particular piece of jewelry, taking captivated visitors directly to the product page in a shameless and clever marketing move.
Making a fashion portfolio FAQs
What does a fashion portfolio include?
A fashion portfolio typically includes material that showcases a designer’s skills, experience and design aesthetic. Some of the most crucial elements include:
High quality images and descriptions of relevant collections
Sketches, illustrations and technical drawings
Mood board and other documentation of your design process
Testimonials from previous clients and collaborators
A resume/CV, biography and contact details
How do you introduce yourself in a fashion portfolio?
How many pages should a fashion portfolio be?