UK bound Los Angeles Fashion Designer

Hi everyone!! I have literally just found this site and signed up, that is how excited I am about this. I currently live in Los Angeles CA, and am working in the fashion industry doing design. I have a handful of amazing British friends in town, and would love to live in a country surrounded by even more. I want to live in London somewhere I think, but I am just recently (in the past few weeks) looking in to making all of this happen. I also write, and plan on writing a novel in part or full while I am there in my spare time. I realized a few days ago I had more questions then I knew what to do with, and a local Brit suggested I find the American equivalent for Brits in LA, and here you are! I am so excited that this exists and cannot wait to start perusing the site. Any advice would be appreciated on any topic I might need to know, from how much to save up before I go, to at what point should I be looking at jobs. I know there are job sites I can look in to, but I am not sure how the job hunt goes when I live here. Cheers to the start of a great adventure!! xxx   

Are you doing freelance design work or working for a company?

The easiest thing (which isn't that easy) is to work in America with a company that has links to England and then get posted to England.

If you want to be hired by a company in the UK you'll need to pass the resident labour market test, basically you need to be able to do a job that no one in the UK or the Eurozone can fill as fashion designer isn't a shortage occupation. You'll need to very talented and experienced to get a look in.

You can come on a tourist visa and to look for jobs, but you'll have to return to the US to apply for a visa if you are offered a job.

My SIL is quite a accomplished fashion designer and when she was looking at freelance work in England while living in Europe they needed her to fly into London to show them her portfolio in person. I imagine if you apply for jobs from the US this will be what they will expect from you as well.

At the moment I am doing freelance, but that is only recently. I would rather be doing full time, and was going to be job hunting soon for a job that would be a better fit for heading that way to the UK next. Thanks so much for all the advice! I figured I would really have to stand out to get there, since like you said there isn't a shortage of fashion designers. If anything there are many more who want to be doing it then actually are working in the industry. I had read about this work for a company that also has offices in the UK, and that sounds like the best way for sure. I am not sure how to find out what companies meet those requirements, as a lot of details about the fashion industry in that respect are difficult to find. Did your SIL end up getting a job in the UK? I wonder if it would be smart to go for a while with a travel visa and try to talk to people, or just do it all from here and then go interview if someone wants me. A friend interviewed for free people in Philadelphia from Los Angeles, and they did everything via web until after a few projects. Then she interviewed with a person here, and then flew out to HQ for the final interview and offer. Do you know what the labour market test is all about?

In order to offer a job to a non-UK or non-EU citizen an employer must prove that there is no one in the UK or EU who can fill the position.  That's about 500 million people.  That's the resident market labor test.