Fashion designers must anticipate trends, select fabrics, and produce designs at affordable prices. They create original designs using elements like color, silhouette, and texture based on principles of design such as proportion and balance. The apparel production process involves basic decisions, design concepts, sales analysis, presentation, orders, and manufacturing. Haute couture is custom-made by hand while prêt-à-porter is mass produced. Women's sizing varies by figure type and age while men's uses standardized dual measurements.

1. Designing Fashion
1
Chapter 7
Designing
Fashion
The Design Process
Making Fashion

2. Designing Fashion
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Chapter Objectives
Describe the three divisions of apparel manufacturers
Explain the roles and types of fashion designers.
Identify the elements and principles of design used to
create fashion.
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. Designing Fashion
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Apparel Company
Divisions
The three divisions of apparel manufacturers are:
Section 7.1
Design
Division:
Buy Fabrics/
Design a line
Production
Division:
Produce the
garments
Sales
Division:
Sell completed
apparel to stores
All divisions work together to make it happen!

4. Designing Fashion
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The Role of the Fashion
Designer
 Designers must anticipate what their target
market will buy
 Select the appropriate fabrics that
will sell.
 Produce finished garments or accessories at prices that
customers will pay.
 Create original designs and choose appropriate fabrics
 Supervise assistants who carry out their ideas.
 May also spend time on administrative tasks.
Section 7.1

5. The Role of the Fashion Designer
Section 7.1
Types of Designers
Self-Employed
Designers
Design-House
Designers
Designers for
Manufacturers
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6. Designing Fashion
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Elements of Design
The elements of design are:
Section 7.1
Color
Silhouette
Line
Fabric
Texture
The elements must be chosen
according to principles.
The elements must be combined
effectively to achieve harmony.

7. Designing Fashion
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Elements of Design
Research has shown that
customers respond to
color before any other
design element.
Texture is determined by
fibers, yarns, and the
method of construction.
color a visual
characteristic, representing
hue and tone, that is one
of the most important
elements of fashion design
texture a characteristic of
the surface of a material in
terms of how it feels and
looks
Section 7.1

8. Designing Fashion
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Elements of Design
The next considerations
are the silhouette and
line.
silhouette the overall
form, or outline of a
garment
Section 7.1
line a distinct elongated
mark that directs the eye
movement when viewing
the garment

9. Designing Fashion
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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
Section 7.1

10. Principles of Design
Section 7.1
The relationship of all the spaces of the garment.
Proportion
The relationship (either symmetrical or asymmetrical)
of one side of the garment to the other.
Balance
A sense of movement through the repetition of lines,
shapes, and colors.
Rhythm
The center of interest, or the focal point, of the
garment.
Emphasis
Harmony is achieved when the designer has applied
all of the principles of design to a fashion design.
Harmony
10

11. Design Process and Schedules:
Marketing period is 6 months before customers will purchase…
Designers have it ready 2-3 months before that!
Section 7.1
Steps of the Design Process
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Step 4 Step 5 Step 6
Basic
Decisions
Design
Concept and
Samples
Sales
Research
Analysis
Design
Presentation
Purchase
Orders
Production
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12. Designing Fashion
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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
Section 7.1
CAD allows for quick
production through
technology and machines.

13. Designing Fashion
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The Garment
Production Process
The fashion industry uses
computer-aided design
(CAD) systems to complete
patternmaking.
Section 7.2
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

14. Designing Fashion
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The Garment
Production Process
Costing is the process of
calculating the production costs
of a garment in order to set a
wholesale price.
Section 7.2
wholesale the price
that retail buyers pay for
goods they purchase
from manufacturers
The wholesale price includes:
Cost of labor
Materials
Markup

15. Designing Fashion
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The Garment
Production Process
Garments are mass-
produced and cut and sewn
in an assembly-line manner.
Section 7.2
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).

16. Designing Fashion
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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.
Section 7.2

17. Designing Fashion
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The Garment
Production Process
Haute couture is the French term
for high-fashion custom made
designer clothing.
Section 7.2
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.

18. Designing Fashion
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Size Classifications
The different groupings of a
sizing system in retail
stores are known as size
classifications.
Section 7.2
sizing system a set
of sizes based on
common assumptions
and methods of
development
Vanity sizing
gives the customer
the illusion of being
able to fit into a
smaller size.
Standard
measurements vary
from one manufacturer
to another…

19. Section 7.2
Women’s Size System- based on shape of figure
Misses
Women’s/
Large
Juniors Petites
Styling
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 25 and up
Size
Range
Even sizes 0-20
Even sizes
16-26W, 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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20. Designing Fashion
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Size Classifications-
Men’s sizing
 More standard than women’s sizing.
 Men’s slacks, dress shirts, and tailored apparel
are sized with a dual-sizing system,
or a combination of two measurements.
 Example: pants – 30/32 (waist/length)
dress shirts – 16, 34/35 (neck/sleeve length)
 Most men’s sports shirts and sweaters are offered in small,
medium, large, and extra large.
Section 7.2

21. Designing Fashion
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What are some roles of the fashion designer?
Anticipate what target market will buy, produce finished products at prices
customers will pay, create original designs, select appropriate fabrics, supervise
What are the five basic principles of design?
Proportion, balance, rhythm, emphasis and harmony
What are the three divisions of apparel
manufacturing and what do they accomplish?
Design Division: Buy fabrics, design a line
Production Division: Produce the garments
Sales Division: Sell completed apparel to stores
1.
2.
3.
Section 7.1
7.1

22. Designing Fashion
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What are the six key steps in the apparel
production process?
Basic decisions -> Design concepts and samples -> Sales research analysis ->
Design presentation -> Purchase orders -> Production
What are the production differences between
haute couture and prêt-á-porter?
Haute-couture garments are more precise, custom-made by hand (hand sewn)
to fit the customer. Pret-a-Porter garments require very little hand sewing and
are mass produced in ready-to-wear styles and sizes (not custom)
What is the difference between women’s
and men’s sizing? Women’s clothing is based on shape of the
figure and includes numbered sizes. Men’s sizing is more standard and uses a
dual sizing system based on measurement numbers.
4.
5.
6.
Section 7.2
7.2