Fashion design
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
 |
This article includes a list of references, but its sources
remain unclear because it has insufficient inline
citations. Please help to improve this
article by introducing more precise citations. (April
2012)
|
Finale of
fashion show, 2009
Fashion design is the art of the application of
design and aesthetics
or natural beauty to clothing and accessories.
Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied
over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing
and accessories. Some work alone or as part of a team. They attempt to satisfy
consumer desire for aesthetically designed clothing; and, because of the time
required to bring a garment onto the market, must at times anticipate changing consumer tastes.
Fashion
designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing.
They must consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which
it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work
with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though
most clothing worn for everyday wear falls within a narrow range of
conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions,
such as evening
wear or party dresses.
Some clothes
are made specifically for an individual, as in the case of haute
couture or bespoke
tailoring. Today, most clothing is designed for the mass market,
especially casual and every-day wear.
[edit] Structure
Fashion
designers can work in a number of many ways. Fashion designers may work
full-time for one fashion as 'in-house designers'[1]
which owns the designs. They may work alone or as part of a team. Freelance
designers work for themselves,[2]
selling their designs to fashion houses, directly to shops, or to clothing
manufacturers. The garments bear the buyer's label. Some fashion designers set
up their own labels, under which their designs are marketed. Some fashion designers
are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion
designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These
designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established
fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel
manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for
the mass market. Large designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such
as Abercrombie & Fitch, Justice,
or Juicy
are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction
of a designer director.
[edit] Designing a garment
Fashion designers
work in different ways. Some sketch their ideas on paper, while others drape
fabric on a dress form. When a designer is completely satisfied with the fit of
the toile (or muslin), he or she will consult a professional pattern
maker who then makes the finished, working version of the pattern out of card
or via a computerized system. The pattern maker's job is very precise and
painstaking. The fit of the finished garment depends on their accuracy.
Finally, a sample garment is made up and tested on a model to make sure it is
an operational outfit. Myriam Chalek, owner and founder of Creative Business
House explains that most of the time fashion designers only have a fashion
concept; the technicality and construction is not thought through during the
visual conception and sketching process. Hence, the fashion designer needs to
meet with a pattern maker and sample maker to figure out if the sketch on paper
can be brought to life according its vision.
[edit] History
The Chéruit salon on Place
Vendôme in Paris, 1910
Main article: History of fashion design
Fashion design
is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first
designer to have his label
sewn into the garments that he created. Before the former draper set up his maison
couture (fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely
anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from that worn at royal
courts. Worth's success was such that he was able to dictate to his customers
what they should wear, instead of following their lead as earlier dressmakers
had done. The term couturier was in fact first created in order to
describe him. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied
by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 could be
considered as fashion design.
It was during
this period that many design houses began to hire artists to sketch or paint
designs for garments. The images were shown to clients, which was much cheaper
than producing an actual sample garment in the workroom. If the client liked
their design, they ordered it and the resulting garment made money for the
house. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead
of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.
[edit] Types of fashion
The garments
produced by clothing manufacturers fall into three main categories, although
these may be split up into additional, more specific categories:
[edit] Haute couture
Main article: Haute
couture
Until the
1950s, fashion clothing was predominately designed and manufactured on a made-to-measure
or haute
couture basis (French for high-sewing), with each garment being
created for a specific client. A couture garment is made to order for an
individual customer, and is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric,
sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming,
hand-executed techniques. Look and fit take priority over the cost of materials
and the time it takes to make.[3][4]
[edit] Ready-to-wear
(pret-a-porter)
Main article: Ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear
clothes are a cross between haute couture and mass market. They are not made
for individual customers, but great care is taken in the choice and cut of the
fabric. Clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they
are rather expensive.[5][6]
Ready-to-wear collections are usually presented by fashion houses each season
during a period known as Fashion Week. This takes place on a city-wide basis
and occurs twice a year. The main seasons of Fashion
Week include, spring/summer, fall/winter, resort, swim and bridal.
[edit] Mass market
Main article: Mass market
Currently the
fashion industry relies more on mass market sales. The mass market caters for a
wide range of customers, producing ready set by the famous names in fashion.
They often wait around a season to make sure a style is going to catch on
before producing their own versions of the original look. In order to save
money and time, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques
which can easily be done by machine. The end product can therefore be sold much
more cheaply.[7][8][9]
There is a type
of design called "kutch" design originated from the German word
"kitschig" meaning "ugly" or "not aesthetically
pleasing." Kitsch can also refer to "wearing or displaying
something that is therefore no longer in fashion."[10]
Often, high-waisted trousers, associated with the 1980s, are considered a
"kitsch" fashion statement.[11]
[edit] Income
 |
The examples and perspective in
this section may not represent a worldwide view of
the subject. Please improve
this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2010)
|
Median annual
wages for salaried fashion designers were $61,160 in May 2008. The middle 50
percent earned between $42,150 and $87,120.[12]
The lowest 10 percent earned less than $32,150, and the highest 10 percent
earned more than $124,780. Median annual earnings were $52,860 (£28,340) in
apparel, piece goods, and notions - the industry employing the largest numbers
of fashion designers.[13]
[edit] Fashion education
A classroom
filled with sewing machines and Dressforms.
A student fashion
show, 2007
There are a
number of well known specialized art schools and design schools worldwide that
offer degrees in fashion design and fashion design technology. Some colleges
also offer Masters of Fashion courses. Though it is not a requirement to have a
Masters level degree, it is recommended by those already working in the
industry to study at this level.[14]
The most
notable design schools in Europe include:
- London
- France
-Mod’Art
-Esmod
-the Fashion
Federation PARIS
-Parsons Paris
- Scotland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Belgium
-Antwerp
Fashion Academy
- U.S.
-Fashion Institute of Technology in
New York City, New York
-Parsons The New School for Design
in New York City, New York
-Pratt
Institute in New York City, New York
-Academy of Art University in San
Francisco, California
-Savannah College of Art and Design
in Savannah, Georgia
-Virginia Commonwealth University
in Richmond, Virginia
-Otis College of Art & Design
in Los Angeles, California
-Fashion Institute of
Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California
-School of the Art Institute of
Chicago in Chicago, Illinois
-Columbia College Chicago in Chicago,
Illinois
Elsewhere in
the world, the National Institute of Fashion
Technology in India, Shih Chien University in Hong Kong, RMIT
University in Melbourne, Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan and
the Asian University chain, Raffles College of Design and
Commerce, all have reputable fashion design courses.
There are many
universities that offer fashion design throughout the United States, usually
within the context of a general liberal arts degree. The major concentration
incorporating fashion design may have alternative names like Apparel and
Textiles or Apparel and Textile Design, and may be housed in departments such
as Art and Art History, or Family and Consumer Studies. Some schools, such as
Parsons, offer a major in Fashion Management, combining fashion education with
business courses.
The only Ivy League
University having a Fashion Design undergraduate program is Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York, a program offered by the department of Fiber Science &
Apparel Design. Cornell also offers a PhD program in apparel design.[15]
An updated list
of fashion design masters and PhD programs can be found at ITAA.org.[16]
The programs are intended to address the needs of academia, industry, and
research by considering apparel design as an applied science that embraces
design, technology, physical sciences, the humanities, and social sciences in
order to meet the human needs for clothing.
[edit] Areas of Fashion Design
|
Area
|
Brief
|
Market
|
|
Women's Day wear
|
Practical, comfortable,
fashionable
|
Haute couture, ready-to-wear, mass
market
|
|
Women's Evening wear
|
Glamorous, sophisticated, apt for
the occasion
|
Haute couture, ready-to-wear, mass
market
|
|
Women's Lingerie
|
Glamorous, comfortable, washable
|
Haute Couture, ready-to-wear, mass
market
|
|
Men's Day wear
|
Casual, practical, comfortable
|
Tailoring, ready-to-wear, mass
market
|
|
Men's Evening wear
|
Smart, elegant, formal, apt for
the occasion
|
Tailoring, ready-to-wear, mass
market
|
|
Kidswear
|
Trendy or Classy, practical,
washable, functional
|
Ready-to-wear, mass market
|
|
Girls' Wear
|
Pretty, colorful, practical,
washable, inexpensive
|
Ready-to-wear, mass market
|
|
Teenager Girl Wear
|
Colorful,comfortable,glamorous,pretty,
|
Ready-to-wear, mass market
|
|
Sportswear
|
Comfortable, practical,
well-ventilated, washable, functional
|
Ready-to-wear, mass market
|
|
Knitwear
|
Right weight and color for the
season
|
Ready-to-wear, mass market
|
|
Outerwear
|
Stylish, warm, right weight and
color for the season
|
Ready-to-wear, mass market
|
|
Bridal wear
|
Sumptuous, glamorous, classic
|
Haute couture, ready-to-wear, mass
market
|
|
Accessories
|
Striking, fashionable
|
Haute couture, ready-to-wear, mass
market
|
[edit] Star system
Designers work
within a hierarchical system.
"The
designers are most stratified in the French system of fashion [...] Fashion
ensures the functioning of a system of dominant and subordinate positions
within a social order. Fashion is ideological in that it is also part of the
process in which particular social groups, in this case elite designers,
establish, sustain and reproduce positions of power and relations of dominance
and subordination. The positions of dominance and subordination appear natural
and legitimate, not only to those in positions of dominance, but also to those
in subordinate positions. Fashion and the medium of fashion, that is clothing,
offer means to make inequalities of socioeconomic status appear legitimate,
and, therefore, acceptable."[17]
A
"mythical conception of a designer as a 'creative genius' disconnected
from social conditions"[18]
is central for the working of the fashion system and for the reproduction of
fashion as ideology. Creativity is socially constructed and not an innate
given, i.e. many may be gifted but no one can become a famous designer without
being legitimized by the fashion system and its gatekeepers.[19]
The star system
is as essential for the fashion industry as for any Culture
industry. "Genre and the star system are attempts to produce something
analogous to brand names in cultural industries. [...] Stars are indispensable
because it is part of the ideology of creativity that creative works must have
an identifiable author."[20]
[edit] World fashion industry
Fashion today
is a global industry, and most major countries have a fashion industry. Some
countries are major manufacturing centers, notably Indonesia, Philippines,
China, Bangladesh,
South
Korea, Spain, Germany, Brazil and India. Five countries
have established an international reputation in fashion: France,
Italy,
the United
Kingdom, the United States, and Japan.
Lately, there have been great designers coming from Turkey and Spain as well.
[edit] American fashion design
The majority of
American fashion houses are based in New York, although there are also a
significant number in Los Angeles, where a substantial percentage of high
fashion clothing manufactured in the US is actually made. There are also
burgeoning industries in Miami, Chicago, Dallas, and especially San
Francisco. American fashion design is dominated by a clean-cut, urban,
casual style; reflecting the athletic, health-conscious lifestyles of American
city-dwellers. A designer who helped to set the trend in the United States for
sport-influenced day wear throughout the 1940s and 50's was Claire
McCardell. Many of her designs have been revived in recent decades.
[edit] British fashion design
London has long
been the capital of the UK fashion industry and has a wide range of foreign
designs which have integrated with modern British styles. Typical British design
is smart but innovative yet recently has become more and more unconventional,
fusing traditional styles with modern techniques. Vintage styles play an
important role in the British fashion and styling industry. Stylists regularly
'mix and match' the old with the new, which gives British style that unique,
bohemian aesthetic that many of the other fashion capitals try to imitate.
Irish fashion (both design and styling) is also heavily influenced by fashion
trends from Britain. Famous British brands and designers include Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Mulberry, Stella
McCartney and Vivienne Westwood.[21]
[edit] French fashion design
Main article: French
fashion
Most French
fashion houses are in Paris, which is the capital of French fashion.
Traditionally, French fashion is chic
and stylish, defined by its sophistication, cut, and smart accessories.
Although the Global Language Monitor placed it 3rd in
the Media, after Milan
and New York,
French fashion is internationally acclaimed.
[edit] Italian fashion design
Main article: Italian
fashion
Milan is Italy's
capital of fashion. Most of the older Italian couturiers are in Rome. However, Milan and Florence are
the Italian fashion capitals, and it is the exhibition venue for their
collections. Italian fashion features casual elegance and luxurious fabrics.
[edit] Swiss fashion design
Most of the
Swiss fashion houses are in Zürich.[22]
The Swiss look is casual elegant and luxurious with a slight touch of
quirkiness. With it being highly influenced by the dance club scene.
[edit] Japanese fashion design
Most Japanese
fashion houses are in Tokyo.
The Japanese look is loose and unstructured (often resulting from complicated
cutting), colours tend to the sombre and subtle, and richly textured fabrics.
Famous Japanese designers are Yohji
Yamamoto, Kenzo, Issey
Miyake (masterful drape and cut), and Comme des Garçons's Rei
Kawakubo, who developed a new way of cutting (comparable to Madeleine
Vionnet's innovation in the 1930s).
[edit] Soviet fashion design
Fashion in the Soviet
Union largely followed general trends of the Western world. However, the
state’s socialist
ideology consistently moderated and influenced these trends. In addition,
shortages of consumer goods meant that the
general public did not have ready access to pre-made fashion.
[edit] The New
Economic Policy (1920s)
The New Economic Policy’s authorization of private
business allowed Western fashion to enter the Soviet Union.[23]
However, Bolshevik
ideology opposed Western fashion consumption as an intrinsically capitalist
practice. Western fashion both emphasized economic status and gender
differences under a system that sought to deemphasize both.[24]
In the early
1920s, Party-sanctioned magazines like
Rabotnitsa
(“The Working Woman”) and Krest’yanka (“The Peasant Woman”) offered
limited yet confused discourse on fashion. Covers displayed women in plain work
clothes, yet the magazines often contained advertisements for private companies
selling stylish attire.[25]
By 1927, however, the magazines’ message was consistent: women should be judged
on their capability for work, not their appearance. Fashion, as a beauty aid,
was therefore bourgeois
and detrimental to socialist society.[26]
In its place,
the state commissioned projects to engineer a new Soviet type of dress, which
drew on traditional clothing, constructivist forms, and technological
facility.[27]
Constructivists like Varvara Stepanova and Aleksandr Rodchenko agreed that fashion driven
by the market was inherently harmful.[28]
They employed the simple geometry of cubism to design
clothing that was functional, easily mass-produced, and sometimes unisex.[29]
Due to lack of adequate material and machinery, however, this prozodezhda,
or “production clothing”, did not find the proletariat
audience for which it was intended.[30]
Designs were only available to the most privileged members of the intelligentsia,
who ultimately preferred Western fashion to the highly experimental prozodezhda.[31]
[edit] Stalin Era
(1930s-1950s)
During the Stalin era,
anti-fashion sentiments dissipated. Party-sanctioned magazines now promoted
fashion and beauty as necessary parts of a Soviet woman’s life. Rabotnitsa
included fashion advice in almost every issue and regularly reported on new
fashion houses opening across the Soviet Union.[32] Krest’yanka
even organized traveling shows to bring fashion to the countryside.[33]
The promoted aesthetics were highly varied, ranging from urban polish to ornate
decoration.[34][35]
This new
interest in fashion was connected to Joseph
Stalin’s assertion that “life has become better and more cheerful”.[36]
Persistent images of plain women and quaint peasants were thought to propagate
the capitalist
view that socialism engenders poverty.[37]
Fashionable and beautiful clothes were a signal of culture and quality of life
equal (or superior) to that under capitalism. Stakhanovites,
as foremost examples of successful workers, were expected to adhere to
particularly high standards of appearance. They were often photographed wearing
fine clothing even as they went to the factory.[38]
In reality, the
touted fashions were beyond most citizens’ means. Soviet industry was unable to
produce fashionable clothing in significant quantity, and what did exist was
not available for general sale.[39]
During World
War II, the Soviet fashion industry went on hiatus.[40]
If the average Soviet citizen desired a particularly stylish item of clothing,
they were usually forced to commission a private tailor.[41]
Day-to-day fashion was often self-produced, and magazines consistently advised
women to take a do-it-yourself approach to their appearance.[42]
[edit] Khrushchev Era
(1950s-1960s)
The Khrushchev
Thaw brought a greater representation of Western fashion to domestic media.
Journalists were sent abroad to report on the
latest international fashion trends.[43]
However, state-owned fashion institutions and magazines moderated these trends
for Soviet audiences. Fashion “crazes” were rejected in favor of classic,
long-running styles.[44]
In addition, moderation and modesty were stressed.[45] Coco Chanel’s
signature style, for example, was particularly admired as a symbol of
timelessness and simple sophistication.[46]
An article in the New York Times from 1959 slammed Soviet
fashions as unremarkable, “clumsy copies” of outdated Western forms.[47]
Availability of these styles, however, was on the rise. Shops like the newly
reopened GUM department store now carried the new
fashions, albeit at high prices.[48]
The state’s new
approach towards fashion was carefully calculated. The promotion of exorbitant
fashion that occurred in the Stalin era, and the contrast to actual
availability, had led to public resentment. In the Khrushchev
era, the state-owned clothing industry was still unable to produce mass
amounts of fashionable clothing.[49]
However, simplified fashions, rejection of excess, and high prices gave the
industry a measure of control over consumer demand.[50]
By the early 1960s, the middle class’s standards of appearance had risen such
that Moscow
street fashion was nearly indistinguishable from that in a Western city.[51]
At the same
time, counterculture fashion movements grew among elite
youths. The stilyagi,
or “style hunters”, originally based their look on media portrayals of Western
(especially American) fashions. Men wore items such as Hawaiian
shirts, sunglasses,
narrow slacks, and pointed shoes, while female stilyagi wore miniskirts
and maintained a childlike demeanor. These styles were labeled as “excessive”,
and Komsomol
groups would sometimes raid stilyagi hideouts and cut off their hair and
pant legs.[52]
[edit] Brezhnev Era
(1970s-1980s)
By the end of
the 1960s, Soviet fashion institutions, like the centralized fashion bureau
ODMO (All-Union House of Prototypes), were embracing increasingly novel Western
trends.[53]
At the same time, there was still a need to establish distinctively Soviet
fashions. “Space fashion,” for example, fit directly into state ideology by
glorifying a triumph of Soviet science.[54]
Reality,
however, differed from ODMO’s designs. Soviet industry could not keep up with
the demand for fashionable goods, and supply in USSR shops was worse than in
other socialist countries.[55]
The public was also dissatisfied with the available items. For example, Soviet
women so disliked promoted designs involving Russian ethnic prints
that the style ultimately became more popular in the West than in the Soviet
Union itself.[56]
The middle
class increasingly fetishized Western fashion, as it was visible but not easily
obtainable.[57]
American-made blue jeans
were an especially desirable item.[58] Secondhand
stores were one source of Western fashion, as visitors from the West could
import goods and sell them for high profits. The retail chain Beriozka also
sold some Western clothing, but only to the privileged few who could pay in
hard currency or foreign exchange certificates. Foreign exchange certificates
and Western clothing were also available on the black
market.[59]
[edit] Gorbachev Era (1980s)
Under perestroika,
varied fashion became acceptable. In 1987, Gorbachev
allowed a Russian edition of Burda
Fashion magazine to be produced and distributed.[60]
The next year, Zhurnal Mod began a new run as the first “proper” fashion
magazine in the Soviet Union. In content, it was virtually indistinguishable
from a Western fashion magazine, although ODMO provided all the styles.[61]
When the
nineteenth party conference met in the summer of 1989, they passed a resolution
to increase the production of consumer goods. Fashionable clothes were
mentioned specifically in the proceedings.[62]
Despite advocates for fashion at the highest level of bureaucracy, real changes
in production failed to take place. The Ministry of Light Industries set quotas
for the creation of new products, but textile factories recycled older patterns
and products instead.[63]
Meanwhile,
relaxation of censorship under glasnost made the middle class even more aware of their
Western counterparts. They felt that they deserved fashionable clothing as a status
symbol, but still could not easily obtain it.[64]
[edit] Fashion design terms
- A fashion
designer conceives garment combinations of line, proportion, color,
and texture. While sewing and pattern-making skills are beneficial, they
are not a pre-requisite of successful fashion design. Most fashion
designers are formally trained or apprenticed.
- A technical
designer works with the design team and the factories overseas to
ensure correct garment construction, appropriate fabric choices and a good
fit. The technical designer fits the garment samples on a fit model, and
decides which fit and construction changes to make before mass producing
the garment.
- A pattern maker (or pattern cutter)
drafts the shapes and sizes of a garment's pieces. This may be done
manually with paper and measuring tools or by using a CAD computer
software program. Another method is to drape fabric directly onto a dress
form. The resulting pattern pieces can be constructed to produce the
intended design of the garment and required size. Formal training is
usually required for working as a pattern marker.
- A tailor
makes custom designed garments made to the client's measure; especially
suits (coat and trousers, jacket and skirt, et cetera). Tailors usually
undergo an apprenticeship or other formal training.
- A textile
designer designs fabric weaves and prints for clothes and
furnishings. Most textile designers are formally trained as apprentices
and in school.
- A stylist co-ordinates the clothes,
jewelry, and accessories used in fashion photography and catwalk
presentations. A stylist may also work with an individual client to design
a coordinated wardrobe of garments. Many stylists are trained in fashion
design, the history of fashion and historical costume, and have a high
level of expertise in the current fashion market and future market trends.
However, some simply have a strong aesthetic sense for pulling great looks
together.
- A fashion
buyer selects and buys the mix of clothing available in retail
shops, department stores and chain stores. Most fashion buyers are trained
in business and/or fashion studies.
- A seamstress
sews ready to wear or mass produced clothing by hand or with a sewing
machine, either in a garment shop or as a sewing machine operator in a
factory. She (or he) may not have the skills to make (design and cut) the
garments, or to fit them on a model.
- A teacher of
fashion design teaches the art and craft of fashion design in art
or fashion school.
- A custom
clothier makes custom-made garments to order, for a given customer.
- A dressmaker
specializes in custom-made women's clothes: day, cocktail, and evening
dresses, business clothes and suits, trousseaus, sports clothes, and
lingerie.
- An illustrator
draws and paints clothing designs for commercial use.
- A fashion forecaster
predicts what colours, styles and shapes will be popular
("on-trend") before the garments are on sale in stores.
- A model
wears and displays clothes at fashion shows and in photographs.
- A fit model
aids the fashion designer by wearing and commenting on the fit of clothes
during their design and pre-manufacture. Fit models need to be a
particular size for this purpose.
- A fashion journalist writes fashion
articles describing the garments presented or fashion trends, for
magazines or newspapers.
- An alterations
specialist (alterationist) adjusts the fit of completed
garments, usually ready-to-wear, and sometimes re-styles them. NOTE:
despite tailors altering garments to fit the client, not all
alterationists are tailors.
- An Image
Consultant, wardrobe consultant or fashion advisor
recommends styles and colors that are flattering to the client.
