Analysing What Makes a Good Fashion Design



Analysing What Makes a Good Fashion Design

When you have selected a specific piece or collection by your chosen designer, then you need to analyse it in detail. These are the things which you need to ask yourself when analysing your piece or collection:

• Who is the target market? Who will be wearing the garment?

• Where will they be wearing it? If it is a fabulous gown to be designed for a celebrity to wear to the Oscars, then the designer has to think about completely things than if he or she was designing a little summer dress to be worn casually in the afternoon.

• What will the cost be and will the end user be able to afford to buy it?

• Will it be durable? Will it wash well without the dye running or will it fall apart in the wash? Sports wear, for example would have to be washable and durable. Is it comfortable to wear? Is it safe to wear?

• What fabrics are to be chosen? Light sportswear has to let the body breathe for example, and something to be worn in wintertime has to be warm. There are very many fabrics to choose from and the designer has to choose the right one for the design. Sometimes, advancements in technology have a great effect on fashion as new fabrics are created. For example, nylon tights were a great technological breakthrough for fashion.

• Sometimes the designer wants to make a social or political statement with their clothes and so this is a consideration with their designs. For example, the Punk movement was all about rejecting the existing rules. The existing rules of fashion were also rejected.

• Design also often reflects the concerns of society. Today, designers might be aware of ecological issues and might want to use recycled materials, or might want to raise awareness about certain issues using their designs.

• Often, the designer uses specific sources of inspiration such as earlier periods in history or other cultures or costumes.

• Does it look good? Or in other words is it aesthetically pleasing? Is it cut well to work with the shape of the body? Do the colours and textures work well together? Does it enhance the form of the body?

Further reading

Today we dress first, accessorise and then decorate ourselves later. This was not always the case. Our early ancestors wanted to adorn themselves before they properly designed shelters, interiors and functional products. From earliest times we have painted the body, dressed in animal skins and furs and learned to create clothing for different occasions and a wide range of functions.

Although fashion has existed for centuries, what we call fashion design today really only started in Paris around the middle of the nineteenth century. When Charles Worth, an English designer working in Paris, put a label on the garments he designed he started the idea of the designer brand so common in today’s world of fast changing fashion trends. Worth established a ‘maison couture’ (fashion house), a term still used today to describe the most influential designers.

Fashion designers create clothing and accessory designs. This can cover a huge range of things that we wear and use such as men’s and women’s wear, handbags, shoes, swimwear and lingerie. Some haute couturiers (high fashion designers) create for individual clients with high quality fabrics, detail and finish. They produce collections which are shown on the catwalk at fashion shows. Some work directly with speciality stores and others create ‘apparel’ which is about adapting high fashion designs for the mass consumer market in the high street stores. Designer brands such as Diesel, Versace and Armani are likely to be produced by a team rather than an individual. Designers working for the mass-consumer market generally produce ready-to-wear items created with inexpensive materials and simpler production techniques.

These are:

• Target market

• Function

• Use of materials/technology

• Sources of inspiration

• Aesthetics, style (how it looks)

• Health and safety

• Visual elements

• Form

• Working methods

Target Market

If your selected designers are best known for women’s evening wear then the target market might well be women who wish to look glamorous, sophisticated and appropriately dressed for the occasion. The success of the design will be how well it meets these needs. The target group would be mature women who can afford haute couture. If they are best known for designs of men’s sportswear then the target market might be sporty types. The needs would be for comfort, function, practicality, safety, wearability and washability.

Fashion magazines, television and Hollywood film brought fashionable models to an ever expanding audience. The expansion of chain stores, shopping malls, mail and online ordering has brought the fashion designer and their target markets closer together. Fashion and textile design also includes costume design for performances. In this case the garment would have to be durable enough for intensive use, comfortable and functional for performance.

Materials and Technology

Changes in society have also affected fashion as well as changes in technology which brought about new materials for designers to experiment with and use creatively. Before the twentieth century most fashion was made by hand-sewing, knitting, weaving and printing textiles. Silk and cotton were widely used materials that had to be imported.

Advances in the technology and materials used in fashion textiles have provided more comfortable, cheaper and attractive items for a larger proportion of the population. Advances in technology have led to changes in manufacturing processes which has resulted in new materials for the designer.

Sources of Inspiration

Find out if your selected designers have talked about sources of ‘inspiration’. If it is not directly asked for you can still include sources of inspiration when discussing approaches and use of materials. Fashion and textile designers draw their inspiration from many different sources. Elsa Schiapparelli was inspired by Surrealist art while Mary Quant’s designs have been inspired by the pop art of the 50s and 60s.

Fashion designers will often take a single source as the inspiration for a whole collection. John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen are all designers who have done this and continuously source their work by looking at previous trends and forms of fashion. Some designers like Zandra Rhodes, take their inspiration from natural sources and other cultures.

In fashion and textiles design questions, you will gain marks by identifying sources of inspiration and explaining how these contribute to the effect, appeal and quality of the design.

Innovation

Have your selected designers been responsible for any great ‘innovations’ in fashion design? Have they been the first people to try something new? Have they brought a whole new way of thinking to fashion design? If so then bring this in to your essay.

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