Fashion design

My Dream Job

Beatriz Almeida
221410 – TÉCNICO DE DESIGN E COMUNICAÇÃO GRÁFICA
What is a fashion designer?

Fashion design is a form of art dedicated to the creation of clothing and accessories, is
influenced both socially and culturally. Fashion designers attempt to design clothes that
are equally functional and aesthetically pleasing. They need to contemplate who is most
likely to wear, what they’re designing, and the situations in which it will be worn. The
choice of fabrics and materials does not only entail how good it will look, but how the
wearer will feel while wearing it. There’s a wide range and combinations of materials,
colors, patterns, and styles to choose from. This type of designer can develop, create,
design, and manage various projects and products within the fashion industry, from the
textile part to all the chains in this sector. They can also work promoting and developing
fashion events. Due to the public’s demand for the new, the designer has to dig deeper
and search for ways to obtain new inspiration for their collections.

Creative Process:

The designer usually begins with an idea of how the piece should look and turns it into
a sketch. There are some steps usually used to translate an idea into the finished
product:

• The brief: One of the most simple ways to begin a design is to follow a brief.
These are usually set by a teacher at a fashion school, by a company, or by a
client. If not by any of those, the designer must set a brief for themselves. The
brief should have some specific ideas and objectives like the occasion and season
(this will impact the choice of colors and fabrics), muse (many designers use a
historical or modern muse for inspiration), costumer and market target, fabric,
and material, costing, practical outcomes.
• Research: The ideas for a new collection can come from many different sources,
and so, research is the best way to get information for the design. In the research
is settled a concept which is the visual inspiration for a design process that will
help develop an identity for the creative work.
What should the process of research require? Structure and shape, color,
texture, details, and surface decoration and print.

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The types of fashion design:

• High fashion or “Haute couture” is custom-made, which means is made to

special order for an individual customer. High fashion clothes usually maintain
high quality because it's made out of expensive fabric.
• Ready-to-wear collections are the cross between Haute Couture and Mass
market, they're not custom made and are made in small quantities. Popular
fashion shows, like the New York Fashion Week, exhibit ready-to-wear. Houses
of fashion exhibit ready-to-wear pieces every season.
• Mass market designers create for a general and broad audience, the items go
under a mass-production process and reach the open market for sale to any
customers interested in purchasing any of them. This type of fashion is cheaper
due to the use of cheaper fabrics and simple production techniques that are
easily done by a machine.
• Sportswear is designed specifically for sports purposes while activewear refers
to clothing that has been designed for exercising.
• Evening wear designers focus on designing party outfits, ball gowns, tuxedos
that customers especially wear for specific events and parties. They're
sometimes custom-made.
• Fashion accessories mostly refer to jewelry, these designers design neckpieces,
bracelets, rings, earrings, etc.
• Footwear/shoe designers sketch the different types of shoes like formals,
casuals, parties, athletic.
• Kidswear designers specialize in garments, accessories, and shoe collections for
kids of all ages.
• Swimwear designers plan bikinis, monokinis, swimsuits, swimming costumes,
bathing costumes… This type of design requires specific fabrics that are
appropriate for water activities, diving, surfing, as well as sun-oriented activities,
and underwater sports.

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 • Sustainable fashion is focused on making stylish clothing from eco-friendly
materials to create a collection and attempt to raise awareness about the
environment.

Fashion areas:

• Stylist: while a fashion designer is responsible for designing and creating

outfits stylists put together pieces of clothing and prepare the ideal for
celebrities and other people. A fashion trend is created by the designer and the
stylist studies the trend and dresses his/hers clients according to it. There are
some skills required for each job.

Fashion designers Fashion Stylist

Artistic and creative
Ability to work under tight deadlines
Goal-oriented
Resilient
Developed business acumen
Innovative and original
Eye for detail
Imaginative
Observant
Persuasive
Good communication skills
In-depth understanding of fashion
Understanding of the market
Ability to deliver what is desired
Informed about the lasted fashion trends
Creative
Good communications skills
Good interpersonal skills
Fashion-conscious
Good understanding of colors and shades
Identifying the client’s requirement
Innovate
Understanding of customer lifestyle
Good problem-solving skills
Friendly
Good time with management

• Fashion producer: is the person who is behind the campaign disclosure

and collection production. They are in charge of organizing and producing
fashion events, choosing models, make-up, sound, lighting, space…

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History:
The first pieces of evidence of fashion creation were found in Egypt and during the
Roman Empire, where the clothes made the distinction between the poor and the rich.
Since then a lot has changed until the fashion design that is known today, mostly in the
20th century.

• The Roman Era: during this era, clothes were considered a status symbol.
Only the wealthy were dressed inexpensive and stylish garments since the poor
didn’t have money for them. The women wore long dresses called stola and the
men wore a draped cloth over their body which was called a toga.
• Ancient Egypt: Egyptians wore clothes made of linen, which is
appropriate for hot weather. Different colors and jewelry were used to show
different statuses. Women wore ankle-length dresses, no matter their social
status, but the upper-class wore pleated dresses, while men wore kilts. Egyptians
used a lot of jewelry, even the needy, as much as they could afford.
• Middle-Ages: The Anglo-Saxon garments were mostly belted ankle-
length tunics, for both genders. There was a difference between the clothes
design for the rich and the poor. For instance, rich women wore layered dresses.
In the 14th century, things changed and women started to wear full skirt gowns.
• Modern Fashion Design: The first sewing machine was invented in 1790,
and with it come lots of new opportunities, such as an increase in production.
The beginning of fashion design was spotted with Charles Frederick Worth,
considered the first fashion designer, he lived in Paris and had his own fashion
house. Design houses started to look for artists who would use their creative
skills to develop patterns for garments and then they would show them to the
potential customers to ask for their opinion. This was a huge change for the
working process.

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Fashion Shows:

A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to show their upcoming

collections during Fashion Weeks. In a usual fashion show, the models walk the catwalk
dressed in designer clothes. The lights and special effects along with the clothes are
planned according to the statement that the designer wants to transmit. Sometimes,
fashion shows take the form of installations, where the models are static, either standing
or sitting in a put-up environment. Fashion Weeks are bi-annual events, that happen
twice a year (once in September for the spring/summer collection and again in February
for the fall/winter collections). They are events of runway shows and presentations to
feature designers’ collections for the next fashion season. The “Big Four” fashion weeks
take place in New York, Paris, London, and Milan.

• New York Fashion Week is organized by WME/IMG and the Council of Fashion
Designers America (CFDA), is attended by more than 230.000 visitors with more
than 300 shows in 7-9 days: a study reveals that New York Fashion Week
promotes over 900 million dollars for the City’s economy yearly. The first New
York Fashion Week took place in 1943 and was created by Eleanor Lambert,
promotional director of the New York Dress Institute. Earlier in Fall 2015, the
New York Fashion Week was at the Lincoln Center when Mercedes-Benz was the
sponsor. Once WME/IMG took over, the two new principal venues became
Skylight Clarkson Square and Skylight Moynihan Station.
• Paris Fashion Week originally took place on November 28, 1973, and was
conducted by the creator of New York Fashion Week, Eleanor Lambert. The
“Semaine des Créateurs de Mode”, the original title of this event, is divided into
three categories: Menswear, Haute Couture and Ready-to-wear. The fashion
week, which is organized by the French Fashion Federation and has over 100
shows by prominent fashion companies such as Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves
Saint Laurent, as well as lesser-known designers. The PFW has a financial impact
of 400 million euros on the French capital, excluding sales in stores.
• London Fashion Week is organized by the British Fashion Council and sponsored
by Mercedes-Benz, showcasing approximately 250 designers' collections to an
international audience through catwalk shows, designer showrooms, and static

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 presentations. An estimated 100 million pounds worth of orders is placed at each
LFW. For many years, London Fashion Week was held in Somerset House in the
heart of the city. However, in recent years, the venue has shifted regularly to
present attendees the diverse sides of the British city. Gucci's 2016 show at
Westminster Abbey, Preen by Thornton Bregazzi's 2016 show at London's City
Hall, and Burberry's 2017 show at Old Sessions House in Clerkenwell are all
notable sites.
• Milan Fashion Week is coordinated in part by the non-profit Camera Nazionale
Della Moda Italiana, which has roughly 70 fashion shows and 90 designer
presentations for an international audience. Following contentious discussions
within the chamber about favoritism and lack of diversity, certain fashion
houses, such as Cavalli, have sharply criticized the institution, while the Dolce &
Gabbana house, for example, has chosen not to hold its shows in combined with
the Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana. Each MFW generates an estimated
€15 million in revenue for Milan's hotels and businesses. This Fashion Week was
recently relocated to three main sites in Milan: the Leonardo da Vinci National
Science and Technology Museum's Spazio Cavallerizze; Palazzo Reale's Sala Delle
Cariatidi; and the Padiglione Visconti, in the heart of Scala Ansaldo Workshop.
Other show venues can be found all across the city, particularly for larger fashion
brands like Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Prada.
• Lisboa Fashion Week is hosted by Associação ModaLisboa and it counts with
over 20 million people to watch the fashion shows. This organization also
developed “Sangue Novo” a project for young designers. Some of the bigest
portuguese fashion designers are Fátima Lopes, Miguel Vieira, Alexandra Moura,
Dino Alves, Filipe Faísca, Nuno Gama, betwen others.

Curiosities:

• There are 40 Fashion Weeks and 100 official events.

• To work as an Haute Couture designer in Paris, one must first be approved by the
Chamber of Syndicale, the fashion industry's regulatory organization. Out of the

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 countless designers we consider haute couture, only 14 fashion businesses have
been certified. Some of the non-approved applicants, such as Giorgio Armani,
are well-known designers.
• Fashion designers used small dolls to display their clothing in the 1500s. Until
1853, there was no such thing as models.
• Fashion designers are starting now to use new technologies such as body-
scanning for a better custom fit, or seamless knitting technologies that can
produce clothing with just a simple push of a button.
• In the fashion sector, computer-aided design (CAD) is becoming increasingly
popular. Although most designers begin by sketching designs by hand, an
increasing percentage of them transfer these sketches to the computer. CAD
allows designers to view garment designs on virtual models in a variety of colors
and shapes, saving time by requiring fewer revisions afterward.
• Some of the biggest fashion designers are Coco Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Calvin
Klein, Donatella Versace, Ralph Lauren, Tom Ford, Betsey Johnson, Sandy Powell,
Domenico Dolce (R) and Stefano Gabbana, Miuccia Prada, and Carolina Herrera.

It could be concluded that fashion designers have an important job in society since they
design clothes which are a part of a daily basis. They need to study the market they’re
selling for, who it’s going to wear their collections as well as where, and when they’re
going to be worn. Most designers usually follow a creative process that helps transform
sketches into the final product. They start by analyzing the brief and then do some
research, mostly to get inspiration. There are mostly eleven types of fashion design
including High Fashion, also known as Haute Couture, Ready to Wear, Mass Market,
Sportswear and Activewear, Eveningwear, Fashion Accessories, Shoes Design, Kidswear,
Swimwear, and Sustainable Fashion. The fashion areas besides designers are stylists
who work putting together pieces of clothing and creating outfits for their clients,
they’re also the ones who create fashion trends. Besides them, there’re fashion
producers who work on the campaign and production of the collection as well as the
production of events. The history of fashion design started in Egypt and during the
Roman Empire and goes on until the present because fashion is always changing and

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evolving. The principal eras of fashion design history are The Roman Era, Ancient Egypt,
Middle-Ages, and Modern Fashion Design. Fashion shows are events where designers
can present their collections. Fashion Weeks are events of fashion shows to feature
designers’ collections. The four principal fashion weeks are New York, Paris, London, and
Milan.