9 Chapter The Fashion Design Segment

Objectives Explain the price market categories of apparel. Define designer collection showings. Describe how designers capitalize on their name recognition. Summarize the designing process for fashions. continued

Objectives Identify the world’s fashion centers and their specialties. Recognize some influential fashion design names and labels. Cite U.S. fashion associations and awards.

Chapter 9 Fashion Design Fashion design is the art of combining beauty and function into new clothing and accessory creations Fashions are designed and produced at various price levels The designing process is based on needs of the market combined with creative inspiration

Fashion Insights Fashions, particularly women’s garments, are grouped into five main price levels designer bridge better moderate budget Price levels were distinct in the past, but are now blending into one continuum

Designer This price level is the highest, involving a small couture segment that provides original, high-priced fashions for the tiny “class” market Garments are custom-made and offered at many thousands of dollars These are prestige fashions created by name designers who need international recognition for success

Bridge Bridge lines are “secondary” lines of well-known designers They sell for many hundreds of dollars Bridge lines offer the most expensive ready-to-wear apparel produced Ready-to-wear (RTW) refers to garments produced in factories according to standard sizes, rather than individually custom-made

Better Better garments have high quality but more reasonable prices They are designed by talented experts who are unnamed on the label sold in selected specialty and department stores These RTW garments are more accessible to consumers

Moderate This category includes medium-priced merchandise with well-known brand names This apparel is widely available and worn by most people Items are sold through department, chain, or specialty apparel stores Retailers sell higher volumes of this level and have lower margins (profit per item)

Budget Budget is the lowest-priced apparel category Garments are manufactured inexpensively in large numbers and mostly made overseas Low-priced chain and discount stores carry this apparel This category may include downscaled knockoffs, or direct line-for-line duplicates of designs

Collection Showings Garments from a designer or apparel manufacturer shown in a specific seasonal presentation are called a collection A line is a group of styles and designs produced and sold as a set of new selections for a given season At the top designer levels, spring and fall showings are glitzy runway extravaganzas continued

Collection Showings Most of these showings are held for publicity and prestige To cut costs, top design firms stage their shows at one common site Designer RTW collection showings are the most important fashion events Depending on retail orders, only about half the designs of each collection are produced continued

Collection Showings The major showings are held twice a year Couture collections are shown about three months ahead of the fashion seasons Ready-to-wear collections are shown earlier to allow time to place and fill orders The individual showings are spaced so important clients and the press can attend each one

Industry Facts Top fashion designers have specific creative reputations and personal trademarks for which they are known These give the products a perceived difference, the idea that items stand out from others usually because of image and quality Designers capitalize on name recognition to make a good profit with ready-to-wear lines

Capitalizing on Name Recognition Each designer strives to have his or her signature, initials, logo, label, or garment type instantly recognized A logo is a symbol representing a person, firm, or organization seen on clasps of purses or embroidered onto chest pockets of shirts Several ways to promote name recognition are described in the following slides

Lower-Priced Lines Designer secondary lines have almost completely replaced custom-made fashions Designer RTW (bridge) garments feature top quality fabrics and construction They are carefully distributed worldwide so only a few items appear in the same consumer market Some luxury design firms also create lines for discount and chain stores

House Boutiques House boutiques are small retail shops owned by the designers They are located in fashionable areas of cities They feature RTW designs as well as high-priced, high-quality accessories The merchandise is designed by the designer or a design assistant and manufactured by outside producers

Licensing Licensing is a legal arrangement whereby manufacturers are granted the exclusive right to produce and market goods that bear the famous label of a designer The designer gets a percentage of wholesale sales For manufacturers, using the status symbol of a designer’s name is very profitable For retailers, name products sell well continued

Licensing Smart designers take an active role in assuring the quality of their licensed products Some well-known designers produce specially licensed goods for low-priced mass merchants Celebrity licensing links the name of a celebrity to products Cartoon characters and copyrighted products or logos may also be licensed

Franchising Top designers also supplement their businesses with franchises Franchising is a contract arrangement in which the designer grants a retailer the right to use his or her famous name and trademarked goods within a particular area In return, the designer receives a set amount of money or royalty payments continued

Franchising Franchising allows store owners to get their businesses off the ground quickly with instant name recognition The designer or firm (franchisor) does not own the franchise or help run the business The franchisee is the owner (person or group) of the business Franchise stores of designer fashions are often located in exclusive shopping areas

Sewing Patterns A few designers sell the patterns of some creations to commercial pattern companies Examples: Vogue, McCalls, Simplicity These designer patterns are reproduced and featured in pattern catalogs at fabric stores where the patterns are sold Skilled home sewers can use the patterns to make their own designer clothes

The Designing Process Most designers in the RTW fashion industry are not well-known to the general public Ready-to-wear designers work for more moderately-priced manufacturers plan their company’s lines almost a year before the apparel is bought by consumers Styles selling well now are modified into fresh interpretations for next season

Industry Facts U.S. firms generally make “safe” decisions with designs that are known to be popular Most copied designs are “toned down” to have wider appeal and to meet various price ranges Copying designs saves money for companies and dominates the lower-price markets Fashion piracy is the stealing of design ideas The U.S. has no legal protection against it

Sources of Inspiration Forecasting services Art movements, new stage plays, popular movies and television shows, and celebrities Fashion-forward styles noticed “in the streets” Foreign and U.S. fashion magazines and shows Consumer attitudes and purchasing patterns Fabric innovations or unusual textiles from other cultures

Using Technology in Fashion Design Traditionally, designers made sketches of their ideas before creating a pattern Most companies now use CAD systems Through global networks, digital images can be transmitted anywhere for instant reaction CAD enhances the creative process and shortens product development time

World Fashion Design Centers Most major cities of the world have several talented, exclusive fashion designers Countries are eager to export their fashions to other countries and host their own exhibits and trade fairs Designers and apparel companies have promotional trade offices in major cities Retail buyers watch trends before buying merchandise to sell in stores

Industry Facts The U.S. has gained worldwide recognition for fashion creativity New York City is the U.S. fashion capital Designer fashion shows are held twice a year in Manhattan during periods called fashion week More than 50 designers spotlight their collections Other fashion hubs include Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago

France The city of Paris is considered the world fashion leader Haute couture is the name for its high-fashion designer industry Trade buyers, retailers, and pattern companies must pay a high caution fee to attend French designer showings Prêt-à-porter is the name of its RTW industry

Italy Italy is known for beautiful fabrics, sportswear, sophisticated prints, knitwear, and menswear Its high-fashion design industry is called alta moda It is a fashion leader in the design and manufacture of leather accessories Fashion collections are often promoted with fashion fairs showing different categories at different times

Great Britain London is Britain’s major fashion center It is famous for custom-made “Savile Row” top-quality menswear and elegant women’s apparel for royalty Its strengths are high-quality RTW men’s tailored apparel, fine rainwear, and far-out “punk” fashions Bond Street is now the creative area

Other European Fashion Centers Germany produces well-made, conservatively styled, high- to moderately-priced RTW for women and men The Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland are renowned for woolens Spain excels with leather, suede, and beading

Canada Canada’s fashions are mostly at the high-and moderate-price levels Its fashion industry is centered in Toronto Besides apparel, especially outerwear and furs, Canadian designers create decorative household linens The Fashion Design Council of Canada promotes their fashion design industry

Central and South America Governments of these countries market their apparel products to the world Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Bogota, and other major cities are fashion markets Some fashion products involve each country’s national ethnic heritage of crafts Many products are made to North American company specifications at lower production costs

Japan Japan sends medium- to high-priced clothing to other countries Some designers have fashion businesses in Paris Other Japanese designers make and sell their clothing lines all over the world Tokyo’s semiannual Japan Fashion Week introduces Japanese designers to buyers, the press, and the public

China and Hong Kong China is a high-volume producer of textiles and lower-priced apparel items sold throughout the U.S. Hong Kong produces its own designs It offers exotic fabrics, especially beautiful silks It is the world’s largest exporter of fashion apparel Fashion collections are shown during the annual Hong Kong Fashion Week

Taiwan The country is an important source of low-priced apparel for America’s mass retailers It has textile and apparel factories, especially for making sportswear of manufactured fibers Recently, Taiwan upgraded its mass-production quality The industry has organized to showcase Taiwanese products to the rest of the world

South Korea Korea has young designers who create apparel for their country’s fashion-conscious market Most designers concentrate on RTW such as volume-priced knitwear, menswear, and sportswear Most production follows specifications of companies in other countries that are taking advantage of South Korea’s low labor rates

Other World Locations Annual Singapore shows feature the creations of designers from Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines Australia’s fashion industry also has many talented designers India has cotton and silk textiles and fashions Eastern Europe and Russia produce apparel through contracts with Western design firms

Some Influential Fashion Designers Most designers and their firms are known for particular specialties In some cases, well-known names of designers are maintained for the fashion house after that person has died or retired Examples: Chanel, Dior, Nina Ricci, and Anne Klein New designers are hired to continue their high-fashion traditions with new creations

U.S. Fashion Awards and Associations The most prestigious U.S. fashion awards were the Coty Awards in 1940s through the 1970s Many of today’s designers were named to the Coty Hall of Fame, the highest fashion honor of the past These same awards were continued as the Cutty Sark Awards through the early 1980s, then discontinued continued

U.S. Fashion Awards and Associations Recently, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has presented the most important fashion awards in several categories The highest industry honor today is the CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award, which is controlled by CFDA’s member designers Other awards include VH1 Fashion Awards and MTV awards

In Summary New fashions are produced at different price levels The most important collection showings are held twice a year Collection showings are very pricey, but important for publicity Designing for RTW starts about a year before the apparel will be sold to consumers continued

In Summary Many different inspirations affect designers of today’s fashions CAD systems streamline the design process Important fashion centers are Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Milan, London, Tokyo, and other world-class cities The Council of Fashion Designers of America presents the most important fashion awards