What does a fashion designer do?

Fashion designers are the people who create the clothing and accessories purchased by the billions every year by consumers. In doing this, designers regularly study fashion trends, sketch designs, select colors and fabrics, and oversee the process by which their original designs come to fruition in the form of new clothes and accessories. Some fashion designers specialize in clothing (men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel), footwear (shoes and boots), or accessory (handbags, belts, scarves, hats, hosiery, etc) design, whereas others create designs in all of these fashion categories.

The design process, which typically takes between 18 and 24 months, involves the following steps:

1. Researching future fashion trends. Some designers conduct their own research, while others rely on fashion industry trade groups who publish trend reports that project the particular styles, colors, and fabrics which are expected to be popular for a certain season in the future.
2. Sketching preliminary designs. Although most designers initially sketch designs by hand, a growing number now make use of computer-aided design (CAD) software to translate these hand sketches to the computer. Using CAD software also allows designers to view designs of clothing on virtual models and in different colors and shapes, which will save time by eliminating the need to make as many adjustments later with prototypes and samples.
3. Visiting manufacturers or trade shows to procure fabric samples in order to decide which fabrics to use with which designs.
4. Creating a prototype of the article using cheaper materials and then trying the prototype on a model for design adjustments.
5. Making samples using the actual material and then marketing them to clothing retailers and displaying them at fashion and trade shows. When retailers at the shows place orders for certain items, these items can then be manufactured and distributed to stores.

Depending on their experience level and also on the size of the design firm they work for, fashion designers may have varying levels of involvement in some or all of these process steps. Some fashion designers (about 25% of them) are self-employed. They generally work for individual clients on a contract or on a job-by-job basis. These types of designers tend to have sporadic working hours, often needing to make adjustments to their workday (or work night) to suit their clients’ schedules and deadlines. Other designers are employed by manufacturing establishments, wholesalers, or design firms, creating designs for the mass market. These types of designers generally tend to have a more normal work schedule, although even they will occasionally need to work long hours to meet production deadlines or prepare for fashion shows.

The highest concentrations of fashion designers are employed in New York and California. The global nature of the industry requires constant interfacing with suppliers, manufacturers, and customers throughout the U.S. and the world; as well as regular attendance at trade and fashion shows. As a result, most fashion designers can expect frequent travel. Earnings in fashion design can vary widely based on the employer and years of experience. Beginning fashion designers, who usually start out as pattern makers or sketching assistants for more experienced designers, tend to earn low salaries until becoming more established in the industry and advancing to higher level positions. Salaried designers as a rule earn higher and more stable incomes than self-employed designers. However, a small number of self-employed fashion designers who have become very successful earn many times the salary of even the highest paid salaried designers.

What steps should one follow to become a fashion designer?

1. Learn to draw and sew. Start at home by sketching some clothing ideas. Save these sketches and continually edit and revise them. Also learn about colors and how to mix them effectively. In addition to sketching ability, fashion designers also need to have sewing and patternmaking skills, even if they are not the ones who directly perform these tasks. Designers need to be able to understand these skills so they can properly oversee construction of garments. Also, designs will be more impressive if clients can see the finished item along with the sketch.
2. Learn everything possible about the industry. Research companies that sell fashion and learn what type of fashion each company makes. Learn about fashion trends and try to predict what will be popular in the future. Learn the sales aspects of fashion, in terms of knowing the major department stores and the stores that sell specialty categories of fashion. Also become familiar with shopper profiles (age, income, lifestyles, etc) and what customers are eager to buy.
3. Attend a school. Bachelors and associate degree programs in fashion design are offered at many colleges, universities, and private art and design schools. Plan to spend at least two years in any fashion design program. A list of accredited college-level programs can be obtained from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. A very smart thing to do is to supplement a fashion design degree with a business, marketing, or fashion merchandising degree. Strong sales and presentation skills and knowledge of the business end of the fashion industry are vital to a successful career.
4. Build a portfolio of original designs. A good portfolio of a person’s best work is the best showcase of his/her creativity and can go a long way towards convincing potential employers that the person would be an asset to their business. The portfolio can be started at an early age, well before graduating from school, and should contain the widest variety of work possible.
5. Get industry experience any way possible. This can come at an early age in the form of volunteer work. Costuming for a community theater is one example of how to get started in the industry. An internship with a design or manufacturing firm will prove invaluable in terms of industry experience. A first job as a pattern maker or sketching assistant for more experienced designers may not pay handsomely but will be well worth the time spent in terms of preparation for moving up the career ladder.

How can a person become a GREAT fashion designer?

1. Develop a working knowledge of design-related software programs. In today’s world, CAD-type software and programs such as Adobe Photo shop and Illustrator provide a vital capability to fashion designers. It is important to become familiar with as wide a variety of software programs as possible.
2. Subscribe to trade newspapers and fashion magazines. This is a great way to keep up-to-date with fashion trends. Industry professionals regularly tap into these publications and successful fashion designers should do the same.
3. Make as many industry connections as possible. Many of these relationships can be developed in school. Include people in related fields, such as advertising.

Qualifications to become a good fashion designer include a strong eye for color and detail, a sense of balance and proportion, and an appreciation for beauty. Fashion designers also need good communication and problem-solving skills, as well as sketching ability. But most important of all is knowing what the job entails and the steps one needs to take in order to be successful in this profession. A person who is armed with this knowledge is well ahead of the game in terms of career preparation and can look forward to embarking upon an interesting and rewarding career.

However, researchers in the field of fashion and deign have become increasingly worried and specifically concerned about the direction o their discipline. Their concern is not only with growing debates about the challenges of rigour and relevance as regards fashion and designing today, but about conflict and incommensurability across multiple paradigms.

The emergence of the new millennium as if to announce her arrival opened another page in fashion trend. Year 2007 specifically brought us the latest bleeding chic wrapped in a freshness that relies on revivalist interpretation and an appreciation for Pythagorean precision. Pretty runway bundles, prepackaged and ready-made to be dissected and disseminated in fashion institution all over the globe. Academic writers took a critical view of fashion designers seeing them as spurious in their claims a trivial in the effect. That notwithstanding fashion is indisputably and increasingly seen as having important consequences for changes in our world today with T-Shirt as canvas, eco-friendly design sewing together the cutting edge of fashion and activism, retro-revival cadences injected .into deconstructionists aesthetic, the Japan street scene getting crazy and blurring the lines between graphic designs, science fiction and vintage shopping. This is surely the decade libido lid flies completely off the fashion pot.

The most interesting factor to note is the combination and diffusion of various fashion trends and its extension beyond geo-graphical boundaries respectively. Talk of the tend in vogue; it is no more focused as the spread is served from futurism to old-world romance. Sport wear with high heeled sneakers, hoodies and track pants all gracing the runway. Shoes now go longer, skirts are modernly shaped to be more chic, and plunge has leveled while handbags come in their vanity form. From the over-sized adorable ones to the shrinking size, from animal print handbags, tendi straw and sneakers frame once to sophisticate craftily designed grab bags.

Single strap or double strap, the variety seems endless. In today’s world, we see from ankles to knees and nudes. It is really amazing that flowers grow not only on earth anymore but in the minds of sophisticated designers like Yves Saint Laurent Kenneth Cole and many more. Who see it as an ingredient to consolidate their creative effort.Fashion has ensured that the world become more closely kit together, creating modern means of celebrating and promoting various culture. Although, handmade craftsmanship still reigns supreme, technology is however competing seriously for its phase in the industry.

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Author: Muritala Adisa

It just so happens that dreaming about something and making it happen are completely different things these days, and it takes a special person to push themselves to that limit in the first place.

How Are Your Grades?

All too many aspiring students make the mistake of thinking that grades not matter when it comes to getting into the top fashion school of their choice because they are not applying for interest on a traditional college or university. Things are actually quite to the contrary; getting into the top fashion school in the nation is going to require a great deal of smarts and dedication and intelligence, and good grades are a reflection that a potential student has all of those qualities and more.

If you are not used to having to work hard to get good grades, there will be no success for you at a top fashion school. A fashion school is an art school, and an art school is a type of postsecondary education where degrees are given out once studies have been completed. If you are trying to get a degree, it is important that you do as well as you possibly can to earn good marks and learn everything you can.

How Are Your Skills?

Let’s face it, just because you didn’t going to a top fashion designer school does not mean that you actually have talent. Just because you can style yourself in the morning to school does not mean that a career in fashion industries for you. Perhaps you should be a business owner or a celebrity ensemble artist. People with no artistic skills whatsoever are probably not going to do that well in a top fashion school atmosphere, so is important to keep that in mind.

If you can’t draw but you dream of going to a top fashion school, perhaps you should consider a business in fashion marketing or fashion business; design just may not be your forte. That’s perfectly okay.

Getting into a top school is about more than wanting to do so. It’s about having the drive and the skill and the grades necessary to make the cut. Even people who have all of those qualities and more may not be successful. Only a small fraction of students actually become successful designers, but more than likely attending a top fashion school can help you find your personal niche in the fashion industry.