Week 6 Presentation

What is a fashion designer .

By Crystal

The 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 are 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.

Wikipedia,. 2012. fashion design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_designer#History. [Accessed 18 November 13].

What is a designer ? A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object".[1] In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a designer. Classically, the main areas of design were only painting, sculpture and architecture, which were understood as the major arts. The design of clothing, furniture and other common artifacts were left mostly to tradition or artisans specializing in hand making them. With the increasing complexity of today’s society, and due to the needs of mass production where more time is usually associated with more cost, the production methods became more complex and with them the way designs and their production is created. The classical areas are now subdivided in smaller and more specialized domains of design (landscape design, urban design, exterior design, interior design, industrial design, furniture design, cloth design, and many more) according to the product designed or perhaps its means of production.The education, experience and genetic blocks that form the base of a competent designer is normally similar no matter the area of specialization, only in a later stages of training and work will designer diverge to a specialized field. The methods of teaching or the program and theories followed vary according to schools and field of study. Today, a design team, no matter the scale of the equipment, is usually composed by a master designer (the head of the team) that will have the responsibility to take decisions about the way the creative process should evolve, and a number of technical designers (the hands of the team) specialized in diverse areas according to the product proposed. For more complex products, the team will also be composed of professionals from other areas like engineers, advertising specialists, and others as required. The relationships established between team members will vary according proposed product, the processes of production, the equipment available, or the theories followed during the idea development, but normally they are not too restrictive, giving an opportunity to everyone in the team to take a part in the creation process or at least to express an idea.

Wikipedia,. 2012. designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

How to become a fashion designer?Part 1 of 5: Honing Your Fashion Design Skills

1.Develop your skills. Successful fashion designers have a wide array of skills, including drawing, an eye for color and texture, an ability to visualize concepts in three dimensions, and the mechanical skills involved in sewing and cutting all types of fabrics.

2.Learn more. If you can, it makes good sense to get a diploma or degree in fashion design or a related program. You'll learn a great deal, make excellent early contacts and have ample opportunity to show off your skills in a less judgmental environment (although still be prepared to be critiqued!) Do one (or both) of the following

Wikihow. 2012. Become a Fashion Designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Fashion-Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

Part 2 of 5: Working Out Which Fashion is Your Passion

1Decide which designing field is your principal interest. You may need to start at the bottom but you do need to have a goal in mind as to the type of designing you want to undertake lifelong. Are you interested most in haute couture, ready-to-wear, fitness/leisure gear, the mass market or niches such as eco wear? Each has advantages and disadvantages that you'll need to explore before reaching your final decision on which pathway to pursue. Within these major fields, you'll also need to decide on a few sub-set areas for your fashion design. You might wish to straddle a few but to begin with, don't over-extend yourself as it's better to perfect your designing within one area and then experiment when you've already got a good foothold in the industry. 2Plan some key pieces. What is your absolute strength in designing? Perhaps you're a whizz at accesories or a genius with yoga pants. Your passion and skill are an important first part of the equation. Of course, the second part is matching this to what the market wants, which in fashion, is part convincing the market and part noticing what the market is demanding.

Wikihow. 2012. Become a Fashion Designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Fashion-Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

Part 3 of 5:Deciding if the Fashion Industry is Ready for You

1Assess your skills and personality honestly before pursuing a career in fashion design. You may love clothes but clothing is only part of the story when undertaking fashion design. You'll also need excellent communication skills, a willingness to work very hard (often 24/7), a tough hide when criticized, an ability to cope with stress, openness to having many different clients and/or bosses, an acceptance that there will be loneliness or isolation on occasion (depending on how you set up your design business or career) and an ability to be a self-disciplined self-starter.

Wikihow. 2012. Become a Fashion Designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Fashion-Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

Part 4 of 5: Setting Yourself Up for Success

1.Get educated about the business side of fashion. Being a successful fashion designer not only requires talent and creativity, it also requires a sound knowledge of the business and marketing aspects of the fashion world. Keep yourself updated on the happenings in the fashion industry by regularly reading trade journals like Women's Wear Daily and Daily News Record.2.Look for fashion design jobs. There are various ways to find work in the fashion industry as a designer and it depends on the type of designing you're interested in. In some cases, being versatile will help you a great deal, just so that you get the experience and then jump across to your real passion later. And in most cases, you'll need to be persistent and apply to many different places to get your foot in the door.

Wikihow. 2012. Become a Fashion Designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Fashion-Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

3.If running your own design business, be prepared to be financially astute. You may be exceptionally creative but be absolutely certain that if you run your own fashion label, you need to be business savvy. You do need to understand those numbers and the invoices that keep piling up on your table. If you really hate this stuff, there are good options, such as asking your accountant to take care of all things financial but it still pays to keep on top of the whole thing yourself. And if you really, really hate this side of it, look for work as a fashion designer with a fashion house instead of running your own label. 4.Be realistic. You may need to be willing to move to match your market but that depends on how you work and sell. Being realistic means recognizing that it's pointless trying to sell a lot of haute couture to people who only want career clothing in a semi-rural town while it's no good trying to sell bikini to the Inuit. You'll need to focus on where your market is most likely to be and either work out whether it's best for you to live and work in that same area or how to get the distribution from your current area to the place where it's most likely to sell.

Part 5 of 5: Creating Your Fashion Portfolio

Assemble a portfolio of your work. Your design portfolio will be vital when applying to design jobs and internships, as it is your chance to market yourself and your work. Your portfolio should display your best work, and highlight your skills and creativity. Use a high-quality binder to show that you take yourself seriously as a designer. Include the following in your portfolio

Wikihow. 2012. Become a Fashion Designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Fashion-Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

ReferencesWikipedia,. 2012. fashion design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion_designer#History. [Accessed 18 November 13].

Wikipedia,. 2012. designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

Wikihow. 2012. Become a Fashion Designer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Fashion-Designer. [Accessed 18 November 13].

Conclusion

You can see that being a successful fashion designer is not easy , and there is a long history for fashion design

Thank you