9 the fashion design segment chapter permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.©...

9

The Fashion Design Segment

Chapter

Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.

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.


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


• 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

Fashion Insights


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


• 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

Industry Facts


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

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