What skills are required to become a
Fashion Designer
Designing is a very wide term. Every
physical product in the industry has been designed and upgraded from time to
time with the thought of achieving better quality, look, feel, comfort and
utility. When we talk about fashion designing it includes a wide variety of
products from apparel, handbag, shoes, jewelry, accessories & Home
furnishing Items. A designer brings freshness in the same product range with
his creativity and innovation.
Before choosing this career one
should know what are the most needed qualities to become a fashion designer. If
you are creative, have an eye in color texture, pattern with good visualization
power in three-dimension having technical knowledge of Pattern,
cutting & making the apparel with enthusiasm of following the fashion
trends, then you are a perfect candidate for the fashion design
field.
Now we will discuss the role of a
designer, which almost remaining the same in different formats, for example,
Export house, Buying House or Apparel retail organization.
· Analyzing upcoming trends and making fashion forecast from 6 Months to
one year ahead, base on your business requirement. Designers usually work 2
seasons ahead, some fast fashion apparel brands like Zara, H&M, Boohoo work
on a fast pace to maximize business by working at the current successful trends
with shorter production lead time.
· Create the Mood board based on Brand DNA and customer profile. Compile
them in a PPT as a whole season's look to represent to the Buying &
Marketing team.
· Choose fabrics based on approved mood board, color pallet, and brand
positioning. Brand positioning means if a brand is a hypermarket then fabric
selection will be cheap and if it is prêt-a-porter or designer wears then
fabric will be expensive and unique. The selection of fabric will be base on
the brand‘s customer profile.
· Sketches either by hand or by computer to know the look of the Apparel
or accessories post-development. While working on silhouette designer must keep
key fashion element in mind which has been broadcasted by international textile
trendsetter agencies and celebrities. Software is available for better
illustration and implementation of print texture and affects at silhouette.
· Post approval of these silhouettes or illustrations, actual product
development came into the process.
· Once physical collection gets ready, the Buyer or the Selection
committee filter designs based on Budget, range plan, perceive value,
practicality and customer profile.
Sometimes
designers have to go extra miles by working late to meet the deadline of
fashion shows, trade fares, exhibition & client visits. Apart from working
for other some designers believe in launching their In-house fashion label.
From a big bunch of professionals, very few got success and fame which can be
counted at fingers. Some designers prefer to work as a consultant or
Journalist. As per the interest, one has to decide what product range they
choose as there career. Once you invest a few years in a specific product line
then it becomes difficult to change the line as the hiring professionals always
prefer to hire a product-specific designer, if they are looking, experience
people. The selection of the product range can be decided on two criteria. For
example If one decides to work for the apparel industry then one needs to
inspect his true interest, whether it is Men’s wear, women’s wear, Kid’s wear
or Home furnishing field. The same rule applies to the accessories field.
2nd
Criteria is for which class you wanted to design. Haute Couture (Exclusive
designer creation for a big shot), Prêt-a-Porter or ready to wear (Designer
wear which is sold in small numbers) and High street fashion designer (Cheaper
range for the mass market).
Here
again one can create core expertise by choosing the occasion, for which product
will be used by end user, for example, Daywear, evening wear, corporate wear,
Innerwear, Night Wear, Party wear, Sportswear etc.
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