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copyright by Serena Lanji-Krsti

TYPES OF FASHION DESIGN
Serena Lanji - Krstic
Textiliorg Fashion Consulting Agency, Serbia
serenalanji@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Subject of this paper is a description of the differences between the forms of fashion design in recent decades and
the development of fashion. Fashion design has been existing with a lot of diversities, but there
are general fashion fields identified with their specific features. It is essential to define these features to those who
are in fashion as professionals, and consumers, who can often be misled. The aim is to describe in simple way
the basic picture of the general field of fashion.

Keywords: High fashion, clothing, mass clothing, fashion designers, fashion designers.
1. Introduction
Fashion design is applied in different ways and in different volume, depending on what customers and what end it is
intended to, and above all limited and defined by economic sustainability. Once the economic factor did not
limit and define the purpose and use of modern design to such extent as it does today. The main guiding
principles of fashion design used to be creativity, purpose and objectives. With really great offer, potential
buyers are often misled; they can quickly get the wrong impression about what each kind of fashion design is and
who it is intended to. So we have three important, general areas, which cover the entire area of fashion
design and that, in their own way, affect the appearance of people, at the present time. These are: high
fashion, garments (ready to wear) and mass ready-made clothing.
[18]

2. High fashion (Haute Couture)
The term haute couture is very often misused. Under this term various forms of fashion design are
considered which hardly ever fall into high fashion. High fashion is almost unique implementation of an idea,
usually made to order for a specific client. During the manufacture of high fashion garment special attention is
paid to the precision of the workmanship and finishing. It is made of premium materials and the price is not
a limiting factor. It is understood that multiplication of such garment item is not possible. Haute
couture was dominant until 1950 in the last century, by which time "created to the measures" approach to fashion
design was prevalent. Today, many companies claim to produce haute couture but they do not fulfill the criteria. The
term haute couture is initially tied to the work of English designer Charles Frederick Worth, who was active in
Paris in mid XIX century [2]. Later in modern France, haute couture officially becomes a protected term, with
clearly defined standards. Association of Parisians high fashion dates back to 1868 when it was founded. It
still exists in the French Fashion Federation, among ready to wear" and haute couture fashion
designers. The Federation was founded in 1973 and also includes a men's fashion association-union ("ready to
wear"), and women's fashion association-union , "ready to wear fashion designers and "fashion worker" tailors-
(eng . couturier). Both unions are associations established the same year as the federation. The Federation has had its
own school for education of professional staff since 1928. Today, the Federation is responsible for
contracting dates and location of the French Fashion Week. A very important activity of the said Federation today is
to establish and dictate industry standards of quality and use of the word "haute couture". Members of this
federation are now almost all the names of the fashion world that dictate the trends. Some of the most famous
names would be: Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Costume National, Elie Saab, Emanuel Ungaro, Escada, Givenchy,
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Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier, Kenzo, Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, Nina Ricci, Rochas, Sonia Rykiel ,
Stella McCartney, Valentino and many others.
[3]
Today, the vast majority of these names survive thanks to the
leadership teams of designers and reorientation towards other directions of modern design. Unfortunately, for almost
none of the above names the field of high fashion and the dominant direction is no longer the main source of
income, because very often the benefit is much lower than the production costs. High fashion today is
only complementary to their aura of luxury products like perfumes, shoes, etc. and is a promotional tool for
their ready-made collection of which they make very high profits.
[20]

2.1. Fashion creators
How did fashion creators become fashion designers and what it actually means to be a fashion creator? Fashion
creator is a term the use of which is beginning to become obsolete, because even those who once were
essential fashion creators, when at the time of great productivity and creativity influenced the fashion world are
becoming fashion designers. Fashion designers are limited by the market laws and a key factor that limits even their
creativity and productivity is the economic factor, the money. The main measure of their success is the profit
they make with a collection consisting of a fully non-creative solutions, because the largest mass of people are
not willing to take great challenge of fashion value, therefore most of the profit is made with ordinary, already seen
things. Fashion designers are like a small army that can be at a time replaced by a new generation, because there
are clearly established, postulates what is required, what is the deadline for it and the only responsibility is
reflected in the amount of profit the designer brings to the company. Fashion creators were skilled in their jobs and
have earned name in fashion over their quality. The quality was reflected in the development except in the sense of
creativity or style, a combination of form, color and material. This kind of quality that true fashion creators once
provided, of course is not accessible to the general population and therefore today large profits cannot be made out
of quality. Quality level of the creators is simply not economically justified and is completely unprofitable option.
When the fashion creator gained fame and respect of his peers, he would directly influence the fashion, everybody
would tend to look up to his conception of the next season. Today, fashion houses tend to fit
into forthcoming trends forecasted by experts in which you cannot find fashion designers but creators you can.
[17]


Picture no. 3.2 Dior, Philip Treacy, Thierry Mugler [8; 9; 10]
Value of fashion creators and of their high fashion creations can be seen today in museums around the world while
the work of fashion designers, unfortunately, ends up as a recycling secondary raw material or as a second
hand (used) clothing. The application of high fashion innovativeness and creativity reaches its maximum in relation
to other areas of fashion design.

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Picture no. 3.3 Museums of high fashion: Exhibitions of Capucci`s [12] and Valentino`s work [11]
3. Ready to wear (Pret-a-porter)
This area of fashion design is a transitional area between haute couture fashion design and mass market fashion
design the so called mass-produced readymade clothing.

Picture no. 3.4 Women [13] and men styles [14] ready to wear
This term shall mean items of clothing that are made with minimum or no manual phases; all made
in mechanical, industrialized production stages. Quality level is relatively low, not to mention the thousands
of pieces and that is why this group falls in the middle, or mid-high pricing category of clothing you can
buy from the furthest, individual customers.
Most often, manufacturers, fashion houses in the field of fashion design of this type present their new collections
at fashion weeks or in the form of internal presentations to their already established regular customers
and distributors.
[4]
Most companies now on the market of the fashion world fall in this group because it is the
fastest turn of profit. It is known in this field that there are no deviations from the design which needs to be classic,
sometimes sporty, and always representing a trend of fashion or pronounced direction in it. They are using pre-
established forms, simple cuts. Styles always come in standard sizes, and there is no possibility
of modifications and alterations to suit the client or customer desires. Offered sizes fit most people. Manufacturing
costs are reduced to a minimum. Typically, companies in this field over time either switch to the mass-
produced clothing or decide to limit their series, although not offering a unique, but yet clothing of higher quality
than the mass-produced ready-made one. Most often all the big names of high fashion sooner or later step into
this realm of fashion design since it provides the best source of funding because of the frequent
turnover (minimum 4 times per year). When companies move from 4 to 12 or even 13 collections a year
(including a festive collection which is produced for the intended period around New Year) they usually decide to
move to mass-produced ready made clothing. Today's freelance fashion designers dealing
with exclusively copyrighted work could also be classified in the very beginning in rankings of all members in this
field of fashion design. Their creations are usually made in very small quantities. There are
honorable exceptions that make just one piece in one size and they are designers who can be included in high
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fashion. Unfortunately, fashion designers who work in the field of ready to wear clothing, but keep to their
copyright activity with authentic personal touch, all over the world, usually end up in other fields of fashion design
because of the economic non-profitability of the author's work. In addition to profit, the largest spending funds on
advertising and marketing are found in this area.
[19]
4. Mass market fashion
Mass market fashion is a term that appeared only recently. Previously there was no production in the range of mass-
production, what is today the production reality. Mass fashion is intended for a large number of people and the
same models are sold in several countries, sometimes on different continents. Fashion brand name brand in
production and market terms misses the point because the labels are attached and removed if necessary; selling the
same piece under another name is the reality. This ready made clothing industry starts production of at least several
thousand pieces of a garment, for less than thousands of pieces is not possible to start the production as it is intended
solely for mass sales, and so it is the only way how it can be profitable. This type of fashion design covers a
wide range of customers, ready-made is available in standard sizes, usually made of cheap materials and not
so satisfactory quality.
[6]

Picture no. 3.6 Mass market fashion is often presented like goods on market and often is sold on markets [15]
The main criterion is to produce "affordable fashion, to make the fashion available for the lowest classes of society
also. Most often the creations of famous names in fashion are only simplified for their cheaper production, which
sometimes create the paradox that, for example one shirt is cheaper than bread which people need to eat every
day. Creativity factor practically does not exist because recycling the creations of the existing competitors in other
areas of fashion design is the main idea. Minimum prices lead to a complete reduction of importance of the design
in this area; design becomes virtually meaningless because it is reduced to the margins of existence. Sometimes they
wait for a season to pass to confirm which models are the dominant trends and popular names in fashion and then
the modified designs are put into production. There is no possibility for any of the textile and clothing
products not to be marketed; even after one or two seasons such a collection can be found at much lower prices. One
of the most known brands in the field is H &M, for this brand has been designed by famous names of the fashion
world such as Stella McCartney, Cavalli and others.
[7]
In this way good creations become available for everyone,
you can wear something designed by a top expert in fashion and get it for less money. The quality, of
course, cannot be measured but the need to wear the brand, something that has a known name, something that is
fashionable, trendy and comfortable for everyone, is absolutely and completely satisfied. By cooperation of
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the top names in fashion and companies of mass market fashion this area of design is further
promoted and customers who once move into this area hardly ever decide to buy something of a better quality
coming from other levels of fashion design.

Picture no.3.7 Example of mass market fashion [16]
In this field of fashion design least attention is given to funds that are spent on advertising and marketing, because
price is the only key criterion that attracts many customers even with the minimum advertising funds. Thanks to this
area of modern design you can see people dressed uniformly; it no longer matters whether you have gone abroad
to buy an article of clothing because as soon as you return you see the same article of clothing worn by someone
who bought it at a nearby market. Also, you can buy an article of clothing in a boutique in your country for
an affordable price while your friend bought the exact same piece in, for example America, at a very high
price. For such a low price category it would be really too much to get a unique, but the current fashion and comfort,
with no emphasis on quality, you can have for sure with the massive market fashion.

Picture no 3.8. Examples of mass market fashion [5]


5. Conclusion:
These general areas of fashion design influence each other, they will be transformed in the future. They will
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intermix, some will completely die and some will lead to the formation of new fields. A trend of individualization,
diversity and possibility of creating own style by the client out of already offered solutions that are adaptable to
everyone is to be expected. Does this mean that anyone who wants so will be able to taste the fruits of high
fashion? It remains to be seen. Until then, it is important for consumers and people in the profession to be
educated in the general characteristics of the fashion design fields.
References:
[1]www.textilesindepth.com
[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ration_fran%C3%A7aise_de_la_couture
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_couture
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready-to-wear
[5] http://www.telugu-news.com/life-style/fashion-design.html
[6] http://www.examiner.com/women-s-style-in-national/fashion-powerhouses-are-going-to-the-mass-market
[7] http://live.drjays.com/index.php/2010/12/03/wishful-thinking-the-high-fashion-x-mass-market-collaborations-
were-hoping-for/
[8] http://shandynicole.blogspot.com/2010/09/frist-center-golden-age-of-couture.html
[9] http://coutureovercoffee.blogspot.com/2010/08/hats-off-to-philip-treacy.html
[10] http://coolandchic.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html
[11] http://designerplanet.org/2007/07/07/valentino-garavanis-haute-couture-collection/
[12] http://news.ruckstuhl.com/2009/06/case-study-museum-fondazione-roberto-capucci-in-florence-italy/
[13] http://www.lalaluxesalon.com/2010/09/26/whats-hot-for-fall-2010/
[14] http://www.selectism.com/news/tag/marc-jacobs/page/2/
[15] http://www.superstock.com/preview.asp?image=1848-
455280&imagex=1&id=15502441&productType=3&pageStart=0&pageEnd=100&pixperpage=100&hitCount=1&f
ilterForCat=&filterForFotog=
[16] http://www.bestofcostaricarealty.com/?p=572
[17] Milan Gaovi, (1998). Fashion marketing, second edition, IZDAVAC, Belgrade
[18] Marina Kocareva Ranisavljev, (2010). Fashion and clothing, first edition, Slubeni glasnik, Belgrade
[19] Mike Toth, Jennie D`amato, (2003). Fashion Icon, Rockport, Gloucester-Massachusetts-USA
[20] John Loring, (2003).Tiffany in Fashion, Harry N. Abrams, New York -USA