You must have been researching on how to get started in fashion design business and as well run the business successfully. This post describes in details what you need to do in order to get your fashion design business up running. It also presents some Computer Aided-Design software packages you can learn and use for your designs.
Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social attitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories such as bracelets and necklaces. As a fashion designer, you must attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing to your customers. They put into consideration who is likely to wear the garment and the situations in which it will be worn. You will need a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear falls within a narrow range of conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions such as evening wear or party dresses.
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Do I need to be a graduate to be a fashion designer?
If you are interested in making fashion design as a field, you can earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in fashion design. You can enroll in computer-aided fashion design course, and study the history of fashion, textiles, figure drawing, and pattern making. You may also complete degrees in fashion merchandising to train for a job, which has a curriculum that covers merchandise planning, retail sales promotion, consumer behavior, retail management, and product development. However, you can also apply for an internship in a good firm for at least 2 – 3yrs training on fashion design.
Ideas and Tips to become a successful Fashion Designer
An American businessman, Thomas J. Watson says: “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart”. Below is a list of humorous ideas and tips that you can apply to make a different in your fashion business.
1.) A Competitive Spirit
To create innovative designs, a competitive spirit is necessary. You don’t want to lag behind the competition or follow their lead. You want to be a trendsetter, and having a thorough understanding of the economy and the fashion industry will keep your ideas fresh.
2.) Ability to Work Well With a Team
A strong sense of collaboration and camaraderie between departments at a fashion house allows creativity to flourish and contributes to its overall success.
3.) Strong Visualization Skills
A good designer must have strong visualization skills. It can enable you to translate ideas onto paper, so that you can have a sense of the work toward a finished product.
4.) Understanding Texture, Color, and Fabric
Design requires a good sense of texture, color, and fabric. For instance, you will need to know whether a garment would work best in silk chiffon or another material. You’ll also need to know which combinations of colors will be most flattering on a piece of clothing. It is these differences that make a design stand out.
5.) Strong Drawing Skills
Do you like to draw? If so, that’s good news because you’re going to need this skill as you pursue being a fashion designer. Strong drawing skills are a must in fashion, as designers need to be able to take a concept and get it down on paper.
6.) Highly Creative & Artistic
Are you known for being artistic? Do you have a unique sense of personal style or appreciate the fine arts, music and dance? An innate sense of creativity is extremely important in the fashion world. Together, artistry and imagination can give you the instincts necessary to turn raw materials into a beautiful finished product.
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7.) Study Computer Aided-Design (CAD) Software
CAD specifically refers not only to the design process, but furthermore to the manufacturing, which is defined as being “advanced”. Manufacturing firms utilizes these CAD packages to pattern-make and design. The first CAD package for clothing came out in 1985, which significantly helped to decrease inefficiencies in making and readjusting panel patterns. Since 1985, computer clothing design software packages have made tremendous advancements.
Main functions of Computer Clothing Design software
- Draping
- Grading;
- Fashion drawing;
- Fashion trends and forecasting;
- Trade sketching;
- Embellishing garments
- Using electronic fashion design tools;
- Interacting/networking with the fashion design industry
- Quality assurance
Some of the Computer Aided-Design software are:
CLO
CLO 3D is a design software that is really easy to use, with an intuitive interface. It is allowing to get renderings from 2D patterns.
TUKA 3D
Tuka3D is an easy to use 3D fashion design software develop by Tukatech. This amazing software allows you to scan your fit model, and to adjust it with the diverse options of measurements available.
MarvelousDesigner
MarvelousDesigner is a software allowing to create 3D virtual clothing. With this platform, you can create any clothes, from basic shirts to really detailed and complex dresses or suits. The goal of MarvelousDesigner is to make the fashion design process more accessible, with many options and realistic renderings.
Another way that technology has contributed to the fashion industry is in the manufacturing process. Many garments today are produced through outsourcing in other countries. A way to do this efficiently and effectively is through Tech Packs. Tech Packs contain 9 pages of information that help the manufacturer communicate with the designer.
