1. Chapter 7
Designing Fashion
The Design Process
Making Fashion

2. Chapter Objectives Explain the types of fashion designers.
Identify the elements and principles of design used to create fashion.
Name the steps of the fashion design process.
Identify the steps in the garment production process.
Compare haute-couture production and prêt-à-porter production.
Explain how women’s and men’s apparel are sized.

3. The Role of the Fashion Designer
Designers must anticipate what their target market will buy.
They must also produce finished garments or accessories at prices that customers will pay.
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4. The Role of the Fashion Designer
Designers select the appropriate fabrics that will sell.
Designers sometimes supervise assistants who carry out their ideas.
Designers who run their own businesses may spend time on administrative tasks.
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5. The Role of the Fashion Designer
Types of Designers
Self-Employed Designers
Design-House Designers
Designers for Manufacturers
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6. The Role of the Fashion Designer
A design house, may produce a major collection twice each year.
collection a group of clothes designed and produced for a specific season
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7. Elements of Design Color Silhouette Line Fabric Texture
The elements of design are:
Color
Silhouette
Line
Fabric
Texture
The elements must be chosen according to principles.
The elements must be combined effectively to achieve harmony.
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8. Elements of Design
Research has shown that customers respond to color before any other design element.
color a visual characteristic, representing hue and tone, that is one of the most important elements of fashion design
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9. Elements of Design The next consideration is the silhouette and line.
silhouette the overall form, or outline of a garment
line a distinct elongated mark that directs the eye movement when viewing the garment
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10. Elements of Design
Texture is determined by fibers, yarns, and the method of construction.
texture a characteristic of the surface of a material in terms of how it feels and looks
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11. Principles of Design
Besides using the basic elements of design, a skilled designer also applies the principles of design.
principles of design the standards for creating good design that include proportion, balance, rhythm, emphasis, and harmony
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12. Principles of Design Proportion Balance Rhythm Emphasis Harmony
The relationship of all the spaces of the garment.
Balance
The relationship (either symmetrical or asymmetrical) of one side of the garment to the other.
Rhythm
A sense of movement through the repetition of lines, shapes, and colors.
Emphasis
The center of interest, or the focal point, of the garment.
Harmony
Harmony is achieved when the designer has applied all of the principles of design to a fashion design.
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13. Design Process and Schedules
A marketing period is six months before consumers will purchase the merchandise.
Designers schedule merchandise to be ready two to three months before that.
Example: Junior tops in stores for March were ordered in August of the previous year.
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14. Steps of the Design Process
Design Process and Schedules
Steps of the Design Process
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Basic Decisions
Design Concept and Samples
Sales Research Analysis
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Design Presentation
Purchase Orders
Production
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15. Design Process and Schedules
Designers use computer-aided design (CAD) systems as a tool, like a paintbrush, to produce creations.
computer-aided design (CAD) computer programs that perform many design functions to create design
CAD allows for quick production.
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16. Apparel Company Divisions
The three divisions of apparel manufacturers are:
Design Division
Production Division
Sales Division
Each division works with other divisions to produce fashion merchandise.
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17. Interactive Design Production
The designer’s vision must be aligned with the customer’s demands so that manufacturers can use all their resources and staff to successfully market fashion.
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18. Glossy Glamour Online
Fashion magazines are known for their glossy full-page ads, featuring stylish products and beautiful models. These ads are so important that they can make up 60 percent of a fashion magazine’s content. High-quality images are just as important to Internet advertisements.
Operating an e-tail business on an electronic channel—the Web—can be costly, due to design, delivery, returns, and operating expenses.
Though Many larger dot-com companies crashed in the 1990’s, small stores like Harris Cyclery of West Newton, Massachusetts, actually increase sales using a basic Web site. Today, a third of Harris’s bicycle business rides in on the Web to get hard-to-find parts and personal service.
Describe an e-business’s home page to your class after viewing one through marketingseries.glencoe.com.
Fashion companies French Connection UK and Jean Paul Gaultier both have unique Web sites that combine design principles and technology in their advertising.
For more information, go to marketingseries.glencoe.com.
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19. What is the role of the fashion designer?
7.1 1.
What is the role of the fashion designer?
What are the five basic principles of design?
What are the basic steps in the fashion design process? 2.
Quick Check Answers
Fashion designers anticipate what the target market will buy, and they produce finished garments or accessories at prices that customers will pay. They create original designs and select the appropriate fabrics.
proportion, balance, rhythm, emphasis, and harmony
(1) basic decisions, (2) design concept and samples, (3) sales research analysis, (4) design presentation, (5) purchase orders, and (6) production 3.
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20. The Garment Production Process
Because many garments can be made by machine at the same time, the production process is faster and cheaper.
In order to get the process started, a pattern, or blueprint, is made so that the manufacturer can construct samples of the garment.
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21. The Garment Production Process
The fashion industry uses computer-aided design (CAD) systems to complete patternmaking.
patternmaking the process of transforming the design into the appropriate pieces needed to produce an apparel item
Computer systems also facilitate grading.
grading the technical process of increasing or decreasing the sizes of a pattern to correspond to a garment size
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22. The Garment Production Process
A hard copy of the pattern is made, and garment samples are created according to the company’s sizing structure.
Samples are made to a “model” fit size of 6, 8, or 10.
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23. The Garment Production Process
Costing is the process of calculating the production costs of a garment in order to set a wholesale price.
wholesale the price that retail buyers pay for goods they purchase from manufacturers
The wholesale price includes:
Cost of labor
Materials
Markup
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24. The Garment Production Process
Garments are mass-produced and cut and sewn in an assembly-line manner.
computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) a system that automatically moves the garment parts through each phase of the cutting-and-sewing process
Many manufacturers use computer-aided manufacturing (CAM).
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25. The Garment Production Process
After a garment is constructed, an inspector checks it for flaws.
Hangtags attached to garments provide information such as fabric content and care instructions.
Labels attached to garments identify the name of the manufacturer or the line of clothing.
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26. The Garment Production Process
Haute couture is the French term for high-fashion designer clothing.
prêt-á-porter French term for designer ready-to-wear clothing
Prêt-á porter is less expensive than haute couture, but it generates more income for couture fashion houses.
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27. Size Classifications
The different groupings of a sizing system in retail stores are known as size classifications.
sizing system a set of sizes based on common assumptions and methods of development
Standard measurements vary from one manufacturer to another.
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28. Size Classifications
Size categories in women’s apparel are based on the shape of the figure and are identified by numbered sizes.
Standard classifications include misses, women’s, juniors, and petites.
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29. Women’s Size System Misses Women’s/ Large Juniors Petites Styling Age
Conservative adaptation of previous season’s styles
Same as misses with some junior styles
Young, trendy, figure-conscious styles
Same as misses’ styles
Age
25 and up
18 and up
15 to 25
Size Range
Even sizes 0-20
Even sizes W, 16-26WP or higher
Odd sizes 3-15
Petite 0-14
Figure
Fully developed; over 5’4”
Larger proportioned
Not fully developed
Fully developed; under 5’4”
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30. Size Classifications Men’s sizing is more uniform than women’s sizing.
Men’s apparel such as slacks, dress shirts, and tailored apparel are sized with a dual-sizing system, or a combination of two measurements.
Most men’s sports shirts and sweaters are offered in small, medium, large, and extra large.
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31. Size Classifications
A fashion company may reduce production costs by making its sizes smaller.
Vanity sizing gives the customer the illusion of being able to fit into a smaller size.
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32. The Value of Production
Clothing manufacturers:
Buy fabrics.
Design a line.
Produce the garments.
Sell the completed apparel to stores.
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33. What are the six key steps in the apparel production process?
7.2 1.
What are the six key steps in the apparel production process?
What are the production differences between haute couture and prêt-á-porter?
What is the difference between women’s and men’s sizing? 2.
Quick Check Answers
(1) patternmaking, (2) making samples, (3) establishing costs, (4) order taking, (5) garment cutting and sewing, and (6) inspection and labeling
Haute-couture garments are custom-made by hand to fit the customer. Construction is more complex and precise. Prêt-á-porter garments require very little hand sewing.
Women’s sizing is based on shape of the figure and includes numbered sizes. Men’s sizing is more uniform and uses a dual system based on measurement numbers. 3.
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34. Checking Concepts Name at least two tasks of a designer.
When the designer has applied the elements and principles of design to a fashion design, harmony is achieved. 3.
Aspects to consider for the role of color are setting the tone, occasional colors, cultural colors, and seasonal colors. 2.
Answers may include two of the following tasks: creating designs, selecting fabrics, monitoring patternmaking and sample production, supervising assistants, developing contacts, examining equipment and space, performing administrative tasks, reviewing catalogs, and ordering samples. 1.
Identify four aspects of the role of color.
Checking Concepts Answers
Answers may include two of the following tasks: creating designs, selecting fabrics, monitoring patternmaking and sample production, supervising assistants, developing contacts, examining equipment and space, performing administrative tasks, reviewing catalogs, and ordering samples.
Aspects to consider for the role of color are setting the tone, occasional colors, cultural colors, and seasonal colors.
When the designer has applied the elements and principles of design to a fashion design, harmony is achieved.
Explain the role of harmony as a principle of design.
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35. Checking Concepts List the divisions of an apparel company
Divisions of an apparel company include: design, production, and sales. 4.
computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing systems 7.
It is the French term of designer ready-to-wear clothing. 6.
Grading is the technical process of increasing or decreasing the sizes of a pattern to correspond to a garment size. 5.
Define the term grading.
Define prêt-á-porter.
Checking Concepts Answers
Divisions of an apparel company include: design, production, and sales.
It is the French term of designer ready-to-wear clothing.
Grading is the technical process of increasing or decreasing the sizes of a pattern to correspond to a garment size.
computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing systems
Name two computer systems used in fashion manufacturing.
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36. Checking Concepts Critical Thinking
Men’s apparel is sized more uniformly than women’s apparel. There is less size variation in men’s apparel because men’s sizing uses a dual-sizing system, or a combination of two measurements. Women’s sizes also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. 8.
Explain why women’s sizes may be less standard than men’s sizes
Checking Concepts Answers
Men’s apparel is sized more uniformly than women’s apparel. There is less size variation in men’s apparel because men’s sizing uses a dual-sizing system, or a combination of two measurements. Women’s sizes also vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.