Creation Processes; Design and Trends.

The clothing industry

A design process

Apparel Designers: In addition to receiving advice from retailers, apparel designers must stay up-to-date on fashion trends. They also need to understand the manufacturer's production requirements and what the factory is capable of producing. This way, they can offer designs that can be realistically produced and satisfy the perceived consumer need. This process is not as easy as it seems. Changes happen rapidly in fashion, and design ideas are constantly proposed, discussed, and modified. A contract for a series of garments cannot be confirmed until the fabric type, color, and design, finishes, silhouette, and cost have been decided. Even after all this, the garments continue to be developed, as the technical aspects of fit, grading, construction, and performance are considered.

Design Process

The clothing design process can be divided into four stages.

1. Design Initiation - The first stage is to assess consumer needs and use them to determine the color, silhouette, style, and design of the fabric.

2. Design Concept - At this stage, many design options are explored. Designs that meet perceived consumer needs are produced as design offerings.

3. Decision-making process - Design proposals are considered and used to develop a range of designs. Decisions are made regarding the choice of designs, fabrics, finishes, etc.

4. Technical Design - Finally, the accepted design proposal must be refined so that it precisely meets the garment's fit, construction, performance, and production requirements.

A clothing designer will modify a garment during the design process.

When designing new products, an inspiration board can be used to capture a feeling or express a theme.

Design Research: There are several types of research that need to be conducted during the apparel design and production process. Initially, market research is necessary to discover consumer likes and dislikes. Designers conduct research to inform their ideas. They often develop a mood board, which involves researching color schemes, fabric types, images, consumer preferences, and so on. After conducting sufficient research, designers can begin sketching out their ideas and perhaps creating a prototype.

A prototype is a model of an idea. It is made to test how well the idea works. In clothing design, a prototype is important to ensure that the pattern pieces fit together correctly and that the garment has the correct look or feel. Garment prototypes are often called toiles. Toiles are usually made of calico or a similar, inexpensive fabric. Initially, a toile may be placed on a mannequin, which is a wooden or plastic human doll. The mannequin's size can be slightly altered, but a model (or the customer) would need to try on the toile to ensure an accurate fit.

You'll also need to create a prototype pattern, especially if the design is complex. Pattern pieces are pinned or glued together to represent how the item will be joined. While paper doesn't hang the same way as fabric, it's more cost-effective to test and modify a paper pattern than to discover you need to make changes after the fabric has been cut.

Clothing samples: The prototype pattern is used to make a sample garment. This process is performed by a qualified machinist, who determines the best way to join the pieces. After the sample garments are completed and the production process is defined, production costs can be estimated. Quality and performance tests are then performed on the garments, and the pattern pieces are produced. These are used for classification and process marker planning .

Finally, a product specification can be written. It contains precise details about the part so that it can be reproduced on a large scale.

Let's understand some fundamentals of fashion design:

1. Historical Reference and Reverence

They say those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In the fashion world, those who don't learn from history are doomed to waste an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Three key pieces in the fashion world that are constantly restyled are corsets, aprons, and kimonos.

2. Emulation and Innovation

Emulating styles from the past often contributes greatly to fashion design, as everything eventually returns. The elegance of Greek dresses, immortalized forever in stone, is a prime example of the power of a fashion idea that not only survives but thrives in the imaginations of fashion designers throughout history.

3. Last but not least; sorry, there are many points to analyze. TRENDS: ON, OFF, AND ADJACENT:

Although trends are no longer dictated, design houses invest significant time and money trying to predict trends and/or implement them. Designers seeking to find their place in the market need to know whether they intend to be on trend, close to it, or completely outside of it. They must consciously decide whether to lead, follow, or ignore a trend. While trend-conscious designers ride the wave of media and public clamor for examples of the latest trends, designers who intentionally miss the wave sometimes find that their independent perspectives inadvertently trigger trends or countertrends of their own. Trendy collections will be teeming with the concept. An alternative approach to the latest trend may be to find smaller, more subtle ways to embrace it without making it the focus. The consumer disintegrates in the same way, and a designer who has a clear understanding of their position in relation to trends will connect with the right audience for their product.

Trends generate processes; processes are our creations, and thus fashion unfolds and becomes self-absorbed. We talk about what we want; what we feel; what makes others love the collections, etc.; we must be patient for processes to emerge and trigger fashion prototypes and collections. Market research and clarity deserve our utmost attention! Creating a mood board with ideas that reach the target audience is, to say the least, a crucial way to understand this unfolding of trends, fashion history, and clothing innovation.