What exactly does a Fashion Designer do?
There are a lot of different fashion design roles. I touched briefly on some of them in my last post. So i can't give a definitive answer. What I will do is focus on what a High-Street or Mass-Market Fashion Designer does in their working role, as this is the field I have spent the most time in. This will have similarities to many fashion design roles and at the same time can be very different, hopefully I can try and explain some of the differences in this post.
Firstly the role of the fashion designer depends on the responsibilities of the role. So a Junior Designer may spend a lot of time doing trend research, creating presentation boards and not much actual designing. Where as a Fashion Design Manager may not spend much time designing as they are focusing mainly on managerial tasks and structuring apparel ranges.
Below is a list of general responsibilities as a Fashion Designer:
- Colour and Trend Research
- Mood Boards
- Designing Collections
- Presenting Ideas
- Tech Packs
- Developing Product
- Sample Fitting
- Sales
Here is an overview of what these jobs involve.
Colour and Trend Research. Usually as a fashion designer you will be designing an item of clothing or a range of clothing for a particular market. Your job may be to work out what that means. Who will wear the clothes? What are these people currently wearing? What will your angle be? To do this you can use the internet, magazines, store research you can be as focused or conceptual as you need to be to get the inspiration that you need for the collection. I like to use WGSN which is a company that focuses on fashion trends to help with seasonal colours and ideas. I also like going to art exhibitions and travelling for inspiration. It is important for most commercial roles to spend time looking at similar companies to see what they are doing or not doing well.
Mood Boards. Once you have all your research you will need to narrow down all your ideas. The best way to do this is to create mood boards to visually present your ideas to colleagues or clients. Mood Boards can be presented in a number of ways. I tend to make mine on the computer in Illustrator or Photoshop. If its a big meeting i can then either project them or print them out. In large meetings its often useful to make large physical boards. Which usually incorporates sticking images you've cut out or created on to a large cardboard board, big enough for everyone to see and examine. They can then sit around the studio as a source of reference for the duration of the season.
Designing Collections. Or designing a product usually comes after your research. I personally start with sketching and then move onto CADs using Adobe Illustrator. Some designers don't use computers, some don't draw, so its a matter of preference. In the world of mass-fashion and large high-street companies, in my experience most are using computers for designing at some stage. It helps for speed to build up your own library of designs and to create tech packs later.
Presenting Ideas. Usually during and after the design process you will need to present your ideas to someone. That may be Design Managers, Product Managers, Company Boss, Sales People. Everyone has an opinion. So as a designer your job will be to focus these ideas and incorporate into your design work. At the end of a season the designer will generally have to present the finalised ideas to the company or client with the hope of getting them signed off...often there will still follow a round of changes.
Tech Packs. These have different names in different companies. After the product is designed it needs to be sampled. To do this you need to create Technical Packs that can have all the information needed to create a sample. Tech Packs usually have measurements and detailed drawings or every element from fabric to graphics.
Developing Product. This role doesn't always come under the role of the designer. Many companies have dedicated developers that liaise with factories and suppliers to create a physical product from the tech pack. The designer will still have a role to play to make sure that the product matches the vision.
Sample Fitting. When the sample comes back it needs to be fitted. The designer and developer will work together to check the product over, make sure the measurements are all correct and everyone is happy before the product goes into production.
Sales. So generally this role shouldn't be the responsibility of the designer but sometimes it is part of the job role. The sales part for the designer may involve presenting the collection to buyers or promoting the product.
If you have any more questions you would like me to answer or opinions on this post feel free to leave a comment.
photo by Kelly Sikkema https://unsplash.com/photos/o2TRWThve_I
www.graphicstakeaway.com
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