FASHION

Monday, May 19, 2008

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FASHION DESIGN



Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.

Fashion design differs from costume design due to its core product having a built in obsolescence usually of one to two seasons. A season is defined as either autumn/winter or spring/summer. Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first person to sew their label into the garments that they created. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.

Fashion designers design c are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. Designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, or Sean John are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director.




Fashion accessories are decorative items that supplement one's garment, such as jewelry, gloves, handbags, hats, belts, scarves, watches, sunglasses, pins, stockings, bow tie, leg warmer, leggings, necktie, suspenders, and tights.

Accessories add color, style and class to an outfit, and create a certain look, but they may also have practical functions. Handbags are for carrying, hats protect the face from the elements, and gloves keep the hands warm.

Many accessories are produced by clothing design companies.

Accessories may be used as external visual symbols of religious or cultural affiliation: Crucifixes, Jewish stars, Islamic headscarves, skullcaps and turbans are common examples. Designer labels on accessories are perceived as an indicator of social status.

Types of fashion

There are three main categories of fashion design, although these may be split up into additional, more specific categories:

Haute couture The type of fashion design which predominated until the 1950s was "made-to-measure" or haute couture, (French for high-fashion). The term made-to-measure may be used for any garment that is created for a specific client. Haute couture, however, is a protected term which can only be officially used by companies that meet certain well-defined standards set by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. Nonetheless, many ready-to-wear, and even mass market labels, claim to produce haute couture, when in fact, according to established standards, they do not. A couture garment is made to order for an individual customer, and is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric, sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Look and fit take priority over the cost of materials and the time it takes to make.

Ready-to-wear Ready-to-wear clothes are a cross between haute couture and mass market. They are not made for individual customers, but great care is taken in the choice and cut of the fabric. Clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they are rather expensive. Ready-to-wear collections are usually presented by fashion houses each season during a period known as Fashion Week. This takes place on a city-wide basis and occurs twice per year.

Mass market These days the fashion industry relies more on mass market sales. The mass market caters for a wide range of customers, producing ready-to-wear clothes in large quantities and standard sizes. Cheap materials, creatively used, produce affordable fashion. Mass market designers generally adapt the trends set by the famous names in fashion. They often wait around a season to make sure a style is going to catch on before producing their own versions of the original look. In order to save money and time, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques which can easily be done by machine. The end product can therefore be sold much more cheaply.


Fashion education
A classroom filled with sewing machines and mannequins.
A classroom filled with sewing machines and mannequins.
A student fashion show, 2007
A student fashion show, 2007

Most fashion designers today have attended some kind of art school. There are a number of well known fashion design schools worldwide. Possibly the most famous is Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Alumni of St Martins include John Galliano, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan. Other notable London Fashion Schools include the London College of Fashion,The Royal College of Arts in London and the University of Westminster, whose alumni include Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Bailey, and Stuart Vevers.

Notable American fashion design schools include Pratt Institute, Parsons The New School for Design and Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) in New York City, Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts, Drexel University and Moore College in Philadelphia offer fashion design programs, The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (F.I.D.M) and A.I.U. in Los Angeles alumns include Uriel Saenz and Ashley Paige, and more specialized in French Haute Couture techniques, Academy of Couture Art in West Hollywood. According to the annual survey from US News, Parsons has recently lost its position as the top school in the U.S. for graduate art programs; now The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (S.A.I.C) has shifted up in the list and taken its place. This is being attributed to Parsons' loss of Tim Gunn as a faculty member of their fashion program, who resigned to become the Creative Director for Liz Claiborne. SAIC: Founded as the Chicago Academy of Design in 1866 by a collective of studio artists, the institution went through many changes before the turn of the century, some necessitated by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The collecting arm of the School was founded in 1872, and The Art Institute of Chicago was born in 1882 to accommodate a distinct museum and school. The Art Institute moved to its current iconic location on Michigan Avenue after the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, and it remains the largest museum-school partnership in the country. Notable fashion alumi include Halston, Gemma Kahng, and Cynthia Rowley.

The most famous institute on the Indian subcontinent is National Institute of Fashion Technology (N.I.F.T.). NIFT has 8 centers across India and their New Delhi Center is regarded as the best fashion school on the Indian subcontinent. NIFT is planning to come up with at least 2 more centres in the North Indian city of Patna and in Kerala in South India. The School of Fashion Technology (SOFT) in Pune has a three year degree course in fashion apparel design. It has diploma courses as well. The Pearl Academy of Fashion has 5 centres in India and one in the UAE.

Most fashion design courses last for three years. As well as teaching students about the artistic and technical side of the subject, some courses include a year working in the fashion industry, to give students a taste of commercial fashion design. Others offer the chance to visit fashion houses abroad. At the end of their final year most students produce a collection which is then shown to buyers and prospective employers at the college show. To keep cost down, each collection consists of around three to eight outfits (the number varies from college to college). To put across a consistent and memorable look within this limited range of garments, students specialize in one particular area. Many colleges enter students for design competitions, sponsored by clothing or fabric companies.

Most of the time, people who want to become top designers will work with other designers and gain hands-on experience.


Bag Size


Bag Size Designers at Debenhams purple puff sleeve dress £45/€70 from the range called Jeans by Jasper Conran. J Jeans by Jasper Conran cork buckle platforms £40/€62; Red Herring slouch bag £25/€38; Mood bracelets £4/€7.

Fashion accessories update a look more than anything else. This oversized bag shown left and from Debenhams puts this photograph firmly into 2007. Read more about 2007 fashion trends in big bags here.

Left Designers at Debenhams purple puff sleeve dress £45/€70 from the range called Jeans by Jasper Conran. J Jeans by Jasper Conran cork buckle platforms £40/€62; Red Herring slouch bag £25/€38; Mood bracelets £4/€7. Images courtesy Debenhams PLC.

Remember whilst accessories do update an outfit it's also wise to keep your fashion look to one or two main more quirky statements a season.

Clutch fashion bags are an instant update and luxury features such as suede linings add a high end feel. If choosing a designer bag always carefully observe the hardware buckles, chain and catches and opt for bags with both a quality trim and a custom look. If you are over a woman over 40 go for quality and ensure the rest of your outfits are based on classic items. Occasionwear bag from Debenhams For certain events a heavy large handbag might sometimes be wrong and a smaller bag a better choice. Whilst for a casual situation, a straw, raffia, shell or bamboo bag may look much more the correct accessory than a polished business like designer leather frame bag.

Instead of a formal handbag the best alternative for some circumstances may be great jewelled evening purses in hard or soft fabric styles.

This 'Occasionwear' evening purse right and from Debenhams has the convenience of an underarm bag and the look of a clutch. It's studded with oversized square crystals following the latest designer catwalk trend of the season. Great value too for any event with a hint of occasion about it.

Jewellery effects have been moving onto plainer evening bags for some time. These are not traditional bugle beaded bags of old, but bags with jewel trim finish or actual hardware jewel object especially on the minaudière or along chain clutch like this one from Dune. Dune 'Mintow' clutch bag perfect for evening, £50/€70. Right - Image courtesy of Dune - Dune 'Mintow' clutch bag perfect for evening, £50/€70.

The decoration has the look of a clutch with a flower corsage attached, but of course worked in beads.

Those who own fabulous large gemstone jewellery brooches or 1980s costume jewellery can simply pin one to a plain clutch and give it an instant update.

Jewellery


The fashion trend for designers using oversized chunky Swarovski crystals on clothing has also spread into jewellery styles.
Many manufacturers produce crystal, but Swarovski crystal is top notch. This Swarovski necklace with heart and bow pendant is from Vivienne Westwood available from Harrods combines several looks. Right - Vivienne Westwood bow and heart pendant £89.95 - Rhodium plated white metal and Swarovski crystals.

Watches and jewellery are also going through a period of record growth. Even though the price of precious metals has soared gold sales for example are still increasing annually. The market for luxury goods is seeking rarity or distinctive qualities that makes an item stand apart from the norm.

Strong jewellery trends include zoological influenced jewellery designs with owls, bugs and butterflies.


Eyewear
Spectacles & Sunglasses Accessorize Sunglasses.


Various actresses have been seen adopting spectacles not just as vision requirement, but purely as an accessory. Just as women have for decades bought clothes to reflect their mood so now they are opting for wardrobes of spectacles just as they have rows of fashion handbags especially it bags.

Glasses are becoming as important to some women as shoes with no one pair of spectacles identifying a woman’s look.

Inter season cruise collections are a real hint of trends we will see later in the shops when the real season occurs. Although the optical field is still dominated by metal frames the oversized sunglass trend means that the influence is passing to other eyewear.

Big Jackie O sunglasses like these right and from house of Fraser may be a fashionable alternative to the Raybans.

Ray-ban wayfarers sunglasses are the frames of now. But even if Raybans and oversized sunglasses are all the rage, ask yourself, 'do they suit me?' Nothing is more unflattering than a spectacle frame that is wrong for your face.

Mobile Phones


Fashion designers have been slowly moving into designing mobile phones. Not content with adding watches and jewellery to fashion clothing ranges Versace, Dolce&Gabbana and Kate Spade have all designed for mobile phone companies. Now Prada has joined these designers to produce a sleek black mobile phone. This is a contrast to the gold branded cellphone that Dolce&Gabbana produced with Motorola.

Style has become increasingly important to mobile phones regarded by many as accessories rather than a communication tool. This is not surprising when one realises many people leave the house not with a huge 'it' bag, but just a mobile phone hanging from a wristlet.

As mobile phones have become smaller and more unnecessary features have been tagged on, so the numerals for keying have become miniscule. Cellphone designers take note - those who need reading glasses are very irritated by small mobile phones, but with already undersized numerals forced out by other add-ons. With baby boomers turning sixty this year someone or some company could make fortune if they designed a classy looking mobile phone with easy to read numerals without the user having to burrow for their reading spectacles.
 

Top Twenty New Fashion Looks for Spring and Summer 2008

Of these top twenty fashion trends, just 3 or 4 will probably have some real impact on your wardrobe.

1. VOLUME - Short full dirndl swishing skirts - Belted volume, fluid dhoti pants cropped or long

2. SHOES - Colour & print, wedges, Gladiators, espadrilles, peep toes, cone wooden heels, straps

3. ROMANCE - Tiered ruffles , frills and roses on skirts, dresses, tops, blouses, necklines

4. LE JARDIN - BOTANICAL - DOLLY PRINTS - Retro florals, 40, 50s, 70s flower print blouses

5. ARTIST BRUSHSTROKES - PAINTERLY PRINTS - Graffiti like scribbles and smears, Ombre dip/tie dyed

6. FABULOUS FROCKS - Asymmetric draped dresses, tea dresses, maxi dresses

7. UNDERWEAR EFFECTS - Transparent chiffons - layered sheers, see through construction dresses, jackets

8. CITRUS BLOCK COLOURS - Orange, tangerine, mandarin, peach, yellow, gold, lemon, yellow, citrus green

9. TRIBAL EARTH - AFRICAN Traditional prints - Earthy Asian textures, animal and feather fabrics

10. TOP COLOURS - PURPLE REIGN - Violet to lilac - sugar almonds - soft tints - neon shocks

11. ECLECTIC PATCHWORK - Multi coloured mixed materials in frocks, t-shirts and footwear, jarring to exquisite

12. JUMPSUITS - The all in one jumpsuit go anywhere outfit, cut for evening and day, deluxe or safari style

13. TROUSERS - HIGH WAIST FLARED JEANS - Coloured skinny jeans, cropped narrow jodhpurs, wide trousers

14. MILITARY SAFARI - Practical pockets, easy shirt stand summer dresses, military touches

15. THE NEW DENIM - DENIM BLUE - Frayed and faded with white shirts or whitework Victoriana prairie blouses

16. NAUTICAL TAILORING - Blazers, trims, shoulders, tuxedo shawl collar white narrow/wide pants suits.

17. AMERICANA - Traditional stripes, spots and celestial stars. Navajo and Rockabilly looks

18. DECORATION - TRIMS or BRAIDS - Folkloric embroidery, cutwork, laser cutting, bead embellished fringes

19. LUXURY MATERIALS & FABRICS - Leathers, satins and silks, fine embroidery, fabric flower roses

20. ACCESSORIES - Clutch/small handbags, cuffs, bangles, big sunglasses, scarves, skinny belts.

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