The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 12 letter word TRENDSETTING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
R
E
N
D
S
E
T
T
I
N
G
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "What clothes designers may be good at" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case what clothes designers may be good at = trendsetting.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.