Fashion Designers: The Fabric of Our Lives

William Martin

English III Honors Pd. 5

Mr. Alburger

February 23, 2017

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William Martin

Mr. Alburger

English III Honors

15 February 2017

Fashion Designers: The Fabric of Our Lives

The fashion industry: dedicated to wearable accessories and clothes. The fashion

industry became a social construct in the mid 1800s - and developed in Europe and the U.S.

(Eliassen). For a long time, fashion designers have wanted to use copyright and trademarks to

protect their creations and brands (Cole). To launch a fashion line, the designer needs copyright

and trademarks, but also needs to have lawyers, connections, a certain large amount of money,

but most importantly, creativity. Fashion design - the study of trends and the designing,

sketching and selecting of materials for clothing; has extensive history because the job has

existed for basically all of time, and anyone interested can educate within the topic at many

places.

Its funny how cavemen and women didnt know their real animal pelts would grow to

remain iconic in fashion. Fur coats, enormously popular right now. The only purpose for them,

staying warm. Staying warm? One purpose for fur coats, but mostly just oh so fashionable

(Eliassen). People wore clothes just out of necessity back then. Clothes only represented

practical reasons, to cover up the naked human body. Some may say that Cleopatra represented

the first woman to stand out as a fashion icon. Though, just her jewelry and other accessories

stood out. The garments draped over her body practically meant nothing. The fabric looked

shapeless and looked like curtains. France: Where the garments and materials, fabrics mattered.
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The first couturiers in France were seamstresses who filled out orders for clients, using patterns

from magazines or copying dresses already in style rather than creating their own designs

(Eliassen). Haute Couture means high fashion which comes exclusively from designers and their

lines. Apparel - mass production and less concerned about fashion trends like Nike, Old Navy,

etc. In the early eighteenth century in France, basically all Haute Couture. France, considered

the birth of one of the celebrated and first fashion designers of all time. King Louis XIV,

worldwide, known and remembered for his personal style. His style practically just made up of

things others couldnt afford. Over the top and extravagant jewels and lace. In the seventeenth

century, fashion magazine started up and they told the public what looked good. Later in the

eighteenth century, read-to-wear apparel started becoming as popular as couture because of

these magazines (Breitzer). Marie Antoinette, another revered name in French fashion. Bose

Bertin dressed Marie Antoinette. Fashion during that time mimicked Bertins designs. Most

fashion resemble and mirror the times. For example, Ert? Not even a fashion designer yet,

considered the Father of Art Deco. Therefore, he inspired the designers at that time

tremendously. Fashion in the early 1940s seemed inspired by the war, and loosely resembled the

military uniforms. Right after the war ended as well, old Hollywood glamour made a

comeback. In the 40s, Christian Dior created the new look, as dubbed by Life magazine. The

style remained popular for almost 10 years. The term teenagers started and coined around the

1950s, inspired and based off of what seemed cool and hip. The target audience? These

so-called teenagers. Elvis and James Dean inspired fashion at the time and jeans made a gigantic

and impactful debut (Career). Around this time, haute couture started to scale back. Apparel

started to grow.
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Charles Frederick Worth. The first to make artistic, dramatic, and elaborate designs and

also known as the father of Haute Couture. He put his name on a brand to represent his designs.

Called the father of Haute Couture. Haute means upper-class or elegants. Fashionable. Couture

means the manufacturing of clothes. Haute couture and apparel. Constantly construed as the

same thing. Historically it has not that, though. In the early 1800s, Isaac Singer began selling

sewing machines and basically lead the way for factories and mass-produced clothes.

Ready-to-wear apparel. Produced in the sizes standardly used today. Mass manufactured

clothing, produced in all the sizes the general public know and sold in stores (Eliassen).

This industry and designers pushed apparel in the forefront in the 1950s. Designers

realized they could make more profit from the general population as opposed to making things

for specific people. Mary Quant, in the sixties, a designer that created a chain of retail stores in

America and in Britain. The teenage population loved everything she did for fashion. She

inspired other designers to do this as well (Career). Fashion for the masses. The youth

basically ate out of her hand.

No matter what a person wears; from work shoes, any form of underwear, and even a

prom dress; all designed by a fashion designer. The fashion industry, from sketching to runways,

represents the home for these people. Designers designer every type of clothing for every type

of person. Gendered, gender-nonspecific, baby clothing, suits, swimming wear, wedding dresses

and gowns, and even uniforms. Fashion designers work all over the place too, and many do not

design haute couture clothing. Designers need to know the trends by engrossing themselves in

magazines, watching the wardrobe of the actors on the television screen, and shopping.

The fashion industry exists globally. An industry that sells, manufactures, designs,
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distributes accessories and clothing. Designers varey. From accessories like bags, hats, and

belts; to footwear. Usually, though, they specialize in designing clothing. Some specialize in a

certain field or area like gendered or sporting, maybe even baby apparel (Hughes). When getting

an idea and sketching it; a designer may want to protect their work with copyright. Fashion

designers, for a long time have wanted to use copyright and trademarks to protect their creations

and brands. Slogans, logos, and names protected by trademarks (Cole). Designers use copyright

to protect fashion designers and many more types of designers and artists to protect their

creations from people stealing or copying.

Fashion constantly changes. Style changes like the snap of a finger. Now, tech has

started infusing into fashion. For example: the Apple watch. Wearable devices have merged

fashion designers and the tech world. Fashion tech has recently taken over the industry. That

includes apparel that can glow, and protective streetwear, ect. Though, wearable technology

seems kind of gender specific. Even early fitness trackers, not fashionable nor very feminine

(the bracelets that track things like your steps - called fitness trackers . For example: Fitbit).

Apparently very clunky. The tech to fashion market didnt Fashion, especially womens

fashion, so changeable that apparel manufacture remains a risky business with narrow profit

margins, making low overhead and volume sales the main goals of most companies (Hegel).

One of the reasons why haute couture became a smaller part of the industry; and because of that,

runways and fashion shows have now become more like the showing of ideas rather than selling

what the model wears. The designs could most likely change later, fitted more to the consumers

(Breitzer). Technology, taking over the fashion industry but might not look amazing. Some

technology just does not look fashionable.

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Launching a personal fashion line. A reality that requires creativity, connections, lawyers,

factors, trademarks and an elusive supply of cash (Iredale). A fashion house obviously has a

hierarchy, though. Trainees work in the departments, but they basically live off of minimum

wage for years. Other starting positions: Pattern graders - modify pattern pieces so the size

could change. Pattern makers - self explanatory, make the patterns used for clothing lines.

Trend researcher - they look for new trends and ideas as a result of research. Spec and fit

technicians - they make the final samples in the final size and fits. Sketch artists - draw or sketch

the designs either on a computer or just freehand. The position above all of those: Assistant

designer. Basically, just an assistant and they might make the first samples and patterns and

other things of that sort (Career). Launching a fashion line seems hard and all the employees

have specific jobs.

Some schools that have fashion majors for colleges include The Fashion Institute of

Design and Merchandising, the University of Cincinnati, Marymount University, Syracuse

University, Western Michigan university, Drexel University, and the Columbus College of Art &

Design. Just to name a few. The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising includes an

amazing fashion design program. It totally prepares students for the apparel and fashion

industry. It explores the creative process of fashion design like sketching, pattern drafting,

computer applications, and creative design ("Fashion Design Degree). The University of

Maryland offers a fashion design major as well. They try to get their students to think outside

the box. They even have design competitions that the students compete in ("Fashion Design

(B.A.)."). The School of Design prepares student in the fashion field and grow themselves as a

designer. You study pattern design,knit design, fashion drawing, accessory design, and history
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of art fashion ("Fashion Design and). Western Michigan University prepare the student for a

career in apparel and use their skills in the technical and creative aspects of the fashion career.

The students also have to earn credits by getting at least 300 hours of experience outside of the

school. Drexel University (Graduate), the college of Media Arts & Design has a Masters

program recognized as a top 10 program in the United States, and a top 20 in the world. The

school trains the students the designers in a new, visionary, and creative way at the contemporary

and classic occupation ("Graduate). All these schools sound so interesting and sound like

amazing oppurtunities. The schools really try to go above and beyond to help the students.

Henry Holland did not study fashion in college but he spent every waking moment after

to intern and experience within the fashion industry. Holland says that no two days repeat the

same events in the fashion industry. Also, he states that there more than one way to success

exists. He also gives the advice to stay true to yourself and your own personal brand. His

business, House of Holland, has grown and expanded and developed so much but has always

stayed on-brand. Staying on-brand remains easy if you know your aesthetic and tone.

Personality means so much in your own fashion line and company. The message and what you

want to say with your designs also has a large level of importance. Your point of view and voice

will help launch your brand (Apparel). The designers input matters. The aesthetic and the

message of your brand stands out that the designer establishes this message and aesthetic.

Fashion Designers usually work for manufacturers of apparel. They follow fashion

trends and dont really use their own ideas. They make designs for the mass market. The

general population that will buy their clothes at the mall or other shopping establishments. Some

places, a head designer has a couple assistants that help every step of the process. They pick the
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fabric, come up with their own ideas, and work with the people who make the fashions. As a

fashion designer, one has to conduct a large amount of research. They learn about trims and

fabrics at textile companies, go to retail stores and look around and investigate, read magazine

that specialize in fashion, and attend fashion shows as well as showrooms. A showroom - a

space used to display items on sale. They do this to see what customers take interest in and

purchase. They go to museums and art galleries for inspiration. They have amazing ideas about

color. Other than actual places meant to look around in, designers need to always keep their eyes

open for inspiration (Career). Most fashion designers do not have original ideas because they

work for apparel manufacturers.

Everything starts with an idea. Ideas can come from anything. Celebrities, trends in pop

culture, magazines, current events, and even old movies. Then, a simple sketch. Some can

sketch on a computer, digitally. Most designers choose Paper and pencil, though. They can then

create samples. Patterns drawn up. Next, The mock-ups then fitted to a real-life model. Then

the designer can write-up specifications for production workers. The final step, that a technician

makes the final product and creates the final pattern. The future production of this design will

use this pattern. This happens quite fast because deadlines seem strict. These designers need to

follow (Career). Ideas spark every design. A simple sketch and a vision can go a long way

and can lead to actual outfits.

Before a person can design though, a person must at least sketch their ideas. They should

know how to sketch and know hot to sew. However, most importantly, the designer must have

an obsession with fashion. They have to experiment. Recommended that the designer goes

shopping. Pick out some cheap clothing. When the in-training designer gets home, they need to
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tear them apart. Destroy them. Then, go in and redesign them. It helps an aspiring designers

creative juice to start flowing and its really fun. Its also a good idea to attend fashion shows.

Check out what new clothes they have put on the racks at the mall. Maybe even try to get a job

at a fabric store. An excellent place to learn about trims and patterns, or really a job anywhere

that will teach a person about fashion and merchandising. (Career). Many things aspiring

designers can do to get their creative juices flowing.

Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco represent the biggest fashion areas in the

United States. Smalle fashion centers include other large cities like Dallas and Chicago. In

those smaller cities though, they seem to have smaller numbers of jobs to obtain. Most designers

do not work in ginormous, iconic fashion houses. Most work for factories that try to sell for the

masses. The fashion houses have limited spots and the competition seems large and very

talented. The positions remain widely sought after and hard to obtain. Some companies that

have these large houses though also have also developed clothes for the mass market. Donna

Karan runs DKNY, Giorgio Armani owns an equally as praised secondary label called Emporio.

The big names in fashion do this so they can make more profits. Again though, most do not

work with high fashion labels. Large garment manufacturers do what the secondary high fashion

manufacturers do. They make clothes specifically for the general population mass market. The

large stores like JC Penny, Target and KMart also have in-house designers that make clothes

specifically for that store. Those in-house designers create designs for the racks and custom

orders that come in. These exclusive designs cost extra and no one else can buy. Some jobs that

are also more low-key than that. Also, homemade designers make accessories and sew dresses

and other costume-like things. A smaller group of people work on sets for entertainment like tv
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shows, movies, dance teams or even theatre (Career). Huge companies have hard spots to get

in. Hugely wanted and competed over. Many designers also have many different type of jobs

and many different things they do. Regular fashion varies from costumes.

The atmosphere for these types of jobs may change depending on the type you have. The

difference depends on the type of employer, and the size of the company or industry. The

difference, polar opposites as well. Some, few, lucky people work in spacious rooms that have

nice lighting and work with only a couple coworkers. Most work in workrooms seem crowded

that have poor ventilation and have large equipment to work with (tables, sewing machines,

cutting machines, etc.). Designers usually leave these rooms anyway. They have to often leave

and visit places that give them inspiration to design. Art museums, more fashion stores, fashion

shows, and maybe even other cities or other countries. Some designers also work by themselves

and work in studios by themselves, spend time with people that want to buy their designs and

other designers. They want to give to clients individually. Those types of designers usually try

to stick with one type of clothing like suits, shoes, bags, underwear and other things like that

(Career). These designers seem exciting and glamorous. They inspire themselves by colors,

fabrics, silhouettes, and trims. They have a large following and inspire many. These designers

possess expertise, business savvy, and originality.

A very interesting and special field of fashion design? Costume design. Its different

from regular fashion, obviously. Amazing for talented people that love theatre and film, but

limited though because the designer has to follow the character traits. The designer cant really

make too many personal liberties with their design. A unique challenge though. It requires more

education, qualification, preparation, and practice. The costume has to reflect the time period,
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place, story and the character portrayed. Accuracy is important for the time and where the story

takes place. Also when because you cant have short sleeves in winter. The costume has to move

a certain way as well. Especially dancers. With costumes, the designers has to work closely

with the actors. Know their proportions and what they want. The size of the production or movie

also factors into how close the designer and actor seem. The designers have to help the actors

dress and undress as well. They have to pay close attention to the accessories, the activities done

in the designs and obviously the clothing (Career).

The fashion industry has existed for a long time. The history - long and extensive but

interesting. The schooling leading up seems very informational and fun. The life of a fashion

designer seems so exciting.

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Works Cited

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