Monday, February 24, 2020

What skills are required to become a Fashion Designer



                                    

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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