Survey of Apparel Design

1. SAD
STUDY OF FASHION DESIGN PROCESS
AT MACRO AND MICRO LEVEL
SURVEY OF APPAREL DESIGN
-Shweta Iyer
College of Fashion Design
and Merchandising

2. • It’s sometimes hard to pinpoint where and
when design happens.
• Does it start when designers assemble
drawings and inspiration boards in their
offices, hoping to make sense of how they
work as a collection?
• Maybe it’s earlier, when designers are traveling
to Europe and a few major shopping districts
in the U.S. (mostly in Los Angeles, New York,
and Miami) to look for inspiration in shoes,
belts, buckles, and accessories.
• Going through the very expensive online
trend forecasting service companies like
WGSN,PROMOSTYL,FASHION
VIGNETTE ,companies paying for the latest
pictures of Milan’s runway shows, the window
displays of Paris’s trendy Le Marais
neighborhood, or a heavily stylized woman’s
“street fashion” in Yokohama, Japan?
DESIGN AT GLOBAL (MACRO)LEVEL
WHERE DOES IT HAPPEN?

3. • When designers synthesize all that “global”
information, they RESEARCH to create mood
boards, they are putting together a storyline about
the colors and materials they will use to imagine
their potential customers. Are they neo-romantics?
Tomboy chic?(Fashion movements)
•
• The drawing process will help those “moods” and
each shoe intersect. Designers must also take into
account which apparels will replace those from
previous collections and develop silhouettes.
• In all of this process, regardless of whether the
conversation is sited within is a shopping trip to
Berlin, an image from a Sao Paulo street, or a
physical meeting in the Pacific Northwest, the same
people discuss information and trend reports;
• Imagine how the many buckles, shoes, watches,
swatches that they bought can become apparels;
correct drawings; discard up to 70% of the
designers’ initial work (for a final collection of 35
shoes, designers draw up more than 100).
DESIGNERS INTO ACTION

4. SILHOUETTES
• The basic outline of the clothing on the
body or the overall shape of the garment
devoid of embellishment. It's about shape
and outline. terms such as "hourglass"
"pear" "apple" "bouffant" are some
standard silhouette words commonly used.
• The best way to understand silhouette is to
take a look at many runway shows: there's
a translucent screen with a light behind it
before the model walks on the runway she
stands between the light and the screen and
you can see the shadow outlining the
clothes. This is the silhouette of the design.
• The silhouette should adhere to many of
the elements and principles of good design,
line, flow, form, proportion and balance. It
should enhance the body and not
overwhelm it.
• The silhouette should tell part of the design
story and work with the materials,
construction details and any
embellishments to make a well
constructed, well designed garment that
looks as good when worn as it did in the
designer's imagination.
APPAREL DESIGN AT MACRO
LEVEL

5. SILHOUETTES THROUGH
HISTORY

6. SILHOUETTES OF VARIOUS
APPARELS-SKIRTS

7. SILHOUETTES OF VARIOUS
APPARELS-SHIRTS

8. SILHOUETTES OF VARIOUS
APPARELS-TROUSERS

9. Production is constant.
It happens simultaneously in
many places. The beginning of
the chain usually starts at
company headquarters on the
West Coast and in New York,
where most of the design team
works (in fact, where most
design teams work—including
those of French Connection,
Kenneth Cole, Coach, BCBG
MAZARIA, Sam Edelman, Frye,
and Steve Madden).
It’s no mistake that designers
cluster together: they need to
socialize and brainstorm with
other designers
WHERE DOES PRODUCTION
HAPPEN?

10. Once that first apparel gets developed
into a prototype, Designers receive an
email with a picture and detailed
information, along with a picture of the
apparel on dummy in the sample room.
After close scrutiny, Designer draw
corrections onto the images. Now the
main factory must triangulate that
information with a development
company that partially owns the factory.
Corrections may last several rounds of
design and material issue changes, but
apparels do not go into production until
the sample is confirmed.

11. Spanish Apparel company Zara, given the nature
of fast fashion, does not bring in products from
Southeast Asia like its competitors; what they
save in transportation costs, they can spend in
salary and technology. As competing countries
like Portugal, Morocco, and Turkey improve their
technology, Zara changes the locations of its
main suppliers
The cycle of production in the fashion industry
has actually intensified lately. The influx of “fast
fashion companies” (like Zara, Forever 21, H&M,
and Topshop) has destroyed the old-fashioned
cycle of four “seasons” with intermittent mini-
collections. Now, if a piece has gone down a high
fashion runway anywhere in the world, the
inexpensive (or less expensive) version of it is
expected in stores within weeks.

12. • Indian fashion industry
estimated 1.8-2 billion
• Fashion design Council of
India estimates industry’s
growth to 10 billion in next
5-10 years
• Core revenue earner for
Indian designers remains
High priced couture focused
on wedding events
• Largely unorganized with
cottage industry style of
functioning
INDIAN FASHION INDUSTRY-OVERVIEW

13. The factories (in this case in China, India, and Mexico) also compete to
participate in this production process. They do so via agents, who coordinate
the match between company and factory by offering to produce samples.
The production to designers like a process flow going on
COMPETITION AMONGST
COUNTRIES

15. • Organized retail and mall culture
• Driven by upper middle and
middle classes
• Increasing awareness about
designer clothing
• Shift of choice from unbranded
to branded clothes
• Changing lifestyle and value
system
• Increase of individual expenditure
on clothing
• Annual market of 25 billion
annually
GROWTH IN PRET SEGEMENT

16. • Potential in RTW market in
India
• Designers face challenge of
scale up-procurement,
people, process and capital
• Active search for strategic
tie-ups with large
corporates to provide
financial support
• Ritu Kumar and Satya
Paul(Genesis Colors took
over the label)in 2001 and
emerged as ‘truly
corporatized” designer label
CORPORISATION OF DESIGNER
WEAR

17. • Raymond and Pantaloons early
movers in this segement
• Raymonds strategy of
corporatization of designer wear
emphasizes affordability,
accessibility and acceptability
with their brand Be.
• Turnover last year was 170-180
million INR with increase of
sales upto 30%.

18. Indian designers showcase in Paris,
Milan, New York
Ritu Beri’s label available in Liberty
London and Nieman Marcus in US
Tarun Tahiliani’s label at Whistles in
London and Fasateel in Dubai
Kimono by Kiran Uttam Ghosh in
RCKC,London
Rohit bal selected to design south asian
uniform for british airways staff
GLOBALIZATION OF INDIAN
DESIGNERS

19. MFA phased out in 2005
China more cost competitive in basic garments category
India can compete through value addition and low volume-high value exports
DISMANTLING OF QUOTAS
UNDER MFA

20. Provide design elements and embellishments such as handcrafted embroidered
amterials,scarves,textured fabrics and accessories
Global design labels as Kenzo,Armani,Galliano,Dior,DKNY among key
clients
SURAFACE ORNAMENTATION

21. India as hotspot for sourcing high-end fashion garments
Big international players as Walmart, JC Penny, Banana Republic, Marks and
Spencer, Nike, Lee have identified India as outsourcing destination
Current export is 10% of total garment exports 790 USD million
SCOPE HIGH FASHION
GARMENTS IN INDIA

22. Research
Theme/ Mood board
Inspiration board
Illustration board
Client board
Accessory board
Flat sketch board / tech pack
Trim and fabric board
Muslin fits (toile)
Actualizing the garment
Costing
Presentation
MICRO LEVEL STUDY OF FASHION
DESIGN PROCESS

23. Type of collection
Trend forecast
Material availability
Theme and inspiration
Season
Story line
Clients profile
Budgeting and costing
RESEARCH IS DONE ON

24. TO BE CONTINUED IN DETAIL..