BusinessHABFashion Designer Setting Analysis: There is no formal education or certification required to become a successful fashion designer, but that doesn’t make the feat any easier.
To become a fashion designer, you will need to have a combination of drawing, sewing, and design skills, a knowledge of the fashion industry, and unparalleled perseverance.
You’ll also need to create a strong fashion portfolio.
And strengthen your knowledge of business and finance in general.
See also:6 Tips to Become Derrickman
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
1. Develop your skills.
Successful fashion designers have a wide array of skills, including drawing.
An eye for color and texture, an ability to visualize concepts in three dimensions.
And the mechanical skills involved in sewing and cutting all types of fabrics.
- Get excellent sewing tuition if you haven’t already learned this skill well. Being able to sew difficult fabric under challenging situations will stand you in excellent stead throughout your career but you need to work at it – it’s a skill that doesn’t come easily to many people.
- Understand how fabrics move, drape, breathe, react when worn, etc. Your in-depth knowledge of fabric is absolutely essential to using it properly when designing. Also know where to source materials from.
- Learn from existing designers, not just who they are, but their backgrounds, their signature style, the learning that they undertook, where they studied. Knowing this will help you to be a better designer yourself, as you can borrow and build on their ideas.
2.Learn how to create storyboards and product ranges.
Be good at researching trends and finding inspiration from social media, comparative shopping and trade shows.
28 Tips to Become Security Coordinator
3. Start developing these skills at a young age.
Be prepared to devote hours of time to perfecting your craft.
A little bit everyday will make you gain a deep understanding of fashion on the long run.
If you are planning a career. Trying to do all at once might get you discouraged.
4. Learn more.
If you can, it makes good sense to get a diploma or degree in fashion design or a related program.
You’ll learn a great deal, make excellent early contacts.
And have ample opportunity to show off your skills in a less judgmental environment.
Although still be prepared to be critiqued!) Do one (or both) of the following:
See also:14 Tips to Work as Baseline Assessment Consultant
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
5. Get a degree in fashion design.
Most programs are three or four years long.
You will study drawing, color and composition, pattern-making, and draping.
In addition to learning practical skills like these.
You will also be working with industry professionals.
Who may serve as important contacts in the future.
And who can give you first-hand advice and feedback on your work.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
6. Apply for an internship or apprenticeship.
If school is not for you, or if you simply feel that real-world experience will be of more benefit to you.
Then find a fashion internship.
You will need to have an impressive portfolio to apply.
And be willing to start at the bottom; interns are often given menial tasks like getting coffee.
Again, the connections you make through your internship or apprenticeship.
Will be vital as you pursue your career in fashion.
And working with industry professionals will give you an opportunity to pick up important skills first-hand.
Read on:13 Tips to Start Volunteer Elderly Home Care Services
7. Decide which designing field is your principal interest.
You may need to start at the bottom.
But you do need to have some goals in mind.
As to the type of designing you want to undertake lifelong.
Are you interested most in haute couture, ready-to-wear, fitness/leisure gear.
The mass market or niches such as eco wear?
Each has advantages and disadvantages that you’ll need to explore.
See also:14 Tips to Be Facebook Star
Before reaching your final decision on which pathway to pursue.
Within these major fields, you’ll also need to decide on a few sub-set areas for your fashion design.
You might wish to straddle a few but to begin with.
Don’t over-extend yourself as it’s better to perfect your designing within one area.
And then experiment when you’ve already got a good foothold in the industry.
For example:
- Women’s daywear, women’s evening wear
- Men’s daywear, men’s evening wear
- Boys’ wear and/or girls’ wear; teenage wear
- Sportswear/fitness/leisure wear
- Knitwear
- Outdoor, adventure, outerwear
- Bridal wear
- Accessories
- casual
- Costume design for theaters, movies, the advertising industry and retailers.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
Downsize your ego.
Think about real needs prior to think about fame.
Looking cool is fine, but it won’t sell garments by itself.
If you are planning to become a fashion designer.
You will not only make apparel for yourself or for famous people.
You can’t making a living out of that: they’re not even 1% of the population.
Even though you see big names in magazines: it’s advertisement, not the reality.
Read on:Top 18 Romantic USA Destinations for Visit form Nigeria
It doesn’t work that way.
Designers are especially needed for people with real.
Imperfect bodies that still want to look their best.
Having a snob attitude will blind you from making money.
Reality is: you don’t design for yourself, you design for others.
Read on:15 Tips to Sell Illness Diagnosing Tools Online
8. Ask your customers what they need.
Be realistic: if you happen to live in a very warm country.
You will have a tough time selling ski jackets.
Look around you. What do real people need and want.
For example, if you plan on designing a complete collection.
You will need more tops that bottoms.
Because most people have more tops than bottoms in their wardrobe in general.
Tops are great to change your looks while a plain nice fitting pant will match most of your tops.
9. Keep it simple and realistic.
Extravagant sketches are nice on paper.
But great tops and jeans will sell out in more interesting numbers than evening dresses.
See also:19 Best Beauty Supply Business Analysis
10. Make concessions.
Mass market may not sound as glamour as evening or luxury wear.
But it will get you a long way and pay your groceries.
If you have to create a style that will be produced more than a hundred times.
You need to make it right from the start.
It will improve your designing skills as you will have to understand perfectly the garment you are about to sell.
Bad styles will get you returns and cost quite a bunch of money to your boss.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
11. Get inspiration from your competitors.
Observe and note the fabric they are using.
The zipper size they use (for their garments to be strong enough for its usage).
Fabric quality for its properties such as impermeability, comfort, breathability or care.
Colours that sells in your country.
See also:26 Tips to Start Online Kemper Medical Supply
12. Starting from your competitors qualities is not copying: it’s observation.
With taking the best of every piece and analyzing it.
You will understand what makes a “favorite” piece of clothing.
They are usually best-sellers.
Your customers (whether they are buyers for stores or regular people).
Want something that looks good on them in the first place.
Extravagant pieces are worn only a few days a year, they’re great.
But they may not bring you a salary to live with.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
13. Plan some key pieces.
What is your absolute strength in designing?
Perhaps you’re a whizz at accessories or a genius with yoga pants.
Your passion and skill are an important first part of the equation.
Of course, the second part is matching this to what the market wants.
Which in fashion, is part convincing the market and part noticing what the market is demanding.
Read on:30 Tips to Start Selling Clinical Materials Online
14. Assess your skills and personality honestly before pursuing a career in fashion design.
You may love clothes but clothing is only part of the story when undertaking fashion design.
You’ll also need excellent communication skills, a willingness to work very hard (often 24/7).
A tough hide when criticized, an ability to cope with stress.
Openness to having many different clients and/or bosses.
An acceptance that there will be loneliness or isolation on occasion.
Depending on how you set up your design business or career.
And an ability to be a self-disciplined self-starter.
See also:27 Tips Selling Medical Equipment Online
15. Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
Being a fashion designer is probably for you if:
You want to devote your life to this career (it’s your “vocation”).
You don’t mind uncertainty or insecurity.
You are willing to stand up for what you believe in.
You have distinct ideas about what is important in fashion.
You listen to clients well, you know the fashion industry inside out and you live, eat and breathe fashion.
16. Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
Being a fashion designer is probably not for you if:
You can’t manage stress well.
You don’t like uncertainty or instability.
You want a career without too many highs or lows.
You need other people to praise your efforts, you need a lot of guidance.
You hate being financially unstable and you have too many other interests in life.
Read on:34 Tips to Promote Ladies Accessories Shop Online
17. Get educated about the business side of fashion.
Being a successful fashion designer not only requires talent and creativity.
It also requires a sound knowledge of the business and marketing aspects of the fashion world.
Keep yourself updated on the happenings in the fashion industry.
By regularly reading trade journals like Women’s Wear Daily and Daily News-Record.
18. Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
Many fashion design programs include courses in marketing.
Some programs/majors highlight marketing more than others.
So be sure to do ample research on the coursework involved in the program you choose.
If you’ve already undertaken a course but missed the marketing/financial side of things.
Consider doing short courses in these aspects of business.
Read on: 100 Tips to Promote Boutique Business Online
19. Learn beyond design.
There is an entire supply chain involved in the fashion industry.
And you need to understand what each person’s job is.
So that you can see things from their perspective too.
In order to make compromises, meet demands and understand where things get held up.
20.Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
Research what others do, such as buyers, merchandisers, pattern cutters, garment.
And fabric technologists, quality controllers, graders, sample machinists.
Sales people, PR and marketing people, fashion journalists.
Retailers, event organizers, fashion stylists and so forth.
Read on:42 Tips to Start Instagram Marketing Business
21. Know your customer.
This skill is basic and essential and it’s one a fashion designer must never lose sight of.
Know how much your customers spend, what their lifestyles are:
Where they like to shop.
How they like to shop and what they like and dislike.
Know what are absolute needs.
And what are the things that only get bought when disposable incomes are less tight.
If you have done marketing, you should have a solid understanding of how to work out customers’ needs.
22. Know your competitors.
Always keep an eye on what other fashion designers in your area of interest are doing.
At a minimum, keep up. Better still, surpass them while still meeting your customers’ needs.
Trade fairs are an excellent place to develop a deeper understanding of how the fashion industry works.
And what will work for you in terms of meeting customer needs and staying competitive?
See also:8 Tips to Promote Cold Room Business
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
23. Look for fashion design jobs.
There are various ways to find work in the fashion industry as a designer.
And it depends on the type of designing you’re interested in.
In some cases, being versatile will help you a great deal.
Just so that you get the experience and then jump across to your real passion later.
And in most cases, you’ll need to be persistent and apply to many different places to get your foot in the door.
For starters, some places to apply to include:
- Existing fashion houses and designers – look for internships, entry-level paid positions, assistants to designers, etc.
- Costume positions with movie studios, theaters, costume stores, etc.
- Online advertisements through various online job agencies
- Word of mouth––use your college or fashion industry contacts to get you through the door. In an industry that values what people who already are well positioned have to say, this is a good way to get started.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
24. If running your own design business, be prepared to be financially astute.
You may be exceptionally creative but be absolutely certain that if you run your own fashion label.
You need to be business savvy.
You do need to understand those numbers and the invoices that keep piling up on your table.
If you really hate this stuff, there are good options.
Such as asking your accountant to take care of all things financial.
But it still pays to keep on top of the whole thing yourself.
And if you really, really hate this side of it.
Look for work as a fashion designer with a fashion house instead of running your own label.
Read on: 20 Tips to Start Online Bookkeeping Services
25. What type of trader will you be?
There are many possibilities, including sole trader, partnership, incorporated company, etc.
Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages.
That you should discuss with your legal and financial advisers before proceeding.
Be sure that you are covered for liability in all circumstances.
Especially if you’re in a particularly litigious culture.
26. Be realistic.
You may need to be willing to move to match your market but that depends on how you work and sell.
Being realistic means recognizing that it’s pointless trying to sell a lot of haute couture to people.
Who only want career clothing in a semi-rural town.
While it’s no good trying to sell bikini to the Inuit.
You’ll need to focus on where your market is most likely to be.
And either work out whether it’s best for you to live and work in that same area.
Or how to get the distribution from your current area to the place where it’s most likely to sell.
27. Take into consideration the influences around you.
As a creative person, part of your creative process is being around like people.
And sparking off their ideas and suggestions too.
It’s a lot harder to do this alone or working alongside people who aren’t into your fashion approaches.
Remember too that seasonality impacts fashion designing.
And may have an impact on the type of clothing you’re producing and where you wish to sell it.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
28. Consider the power of online selling.
Provided you use good quality three-dimensional images that can be zoomed and turned.
Selling your fashion online to anywhere in the world is another realistic possibility nowadays.
This allows you greater flexibility in where you’ll live and design and can reduce the daily commute to zero.
This may be ideal if you plan on staying with a small fashion label.
Even then, however, you should still make allowances for traveling to major fashion shows.
29. Assemble a portfolio of your work.
Your design portfolio will be vital when applying to design jobs and internships.
As it is your chance to market yourself and your work.
Your portfolio should display your best work, and highlight your skills and creativity.
Use a high-quality binder to show that you take yourself seriously as a designer.
Include the following in your portfolio:
- Hand-drawn sketches or photographs of these sketches
- Computer-drawn designs
- Resume
- Mood or concept pages
- Color or textile presentation pages
- Any other pieces that fairly reflect what you’re capable of doing and evolving into.
30. Gauge the demand for a product.
No matter how much you love something.
It will not sell if there is not a real need or desire for it.
Do some market research. This will allow you to determine whether or not people will purchase your product.
31. Investigate whether people are purchasing a product.
Visit online marketplaces like Amazon or eBay. Amazon has a Best Sellers Page that lists products that sell well.
On eBay, you can do a search for completed sales within a category.
Study how well products did in auctions.
If it sold quickly or there was a bidding war for the item, it might be a product worth selling.
32. Visit Google Adwords Keyword Planner.
Type in keywords related to the products you want to sell.
And see how many searches have been done on these terms.
This can help you to assess demand for a product.
33. Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
Visit retail stores that already sell the product you’re thinking of selling.
Evaluate performance by noticing how long the products have been on the shelf.
And if they sell for full price or only when they’re marked down.
Ask proprietors what their bestsellers are.
34. Read trade magazines and academic journals related to your industry or target market.
These will give you a well-rounded understanding of the market.
Learn about trends in the market. Find feedback about the product you want to sell.
Evaluate the ads that are displayed in the publications.
If someone was willing to purchase ad space for a product, chances are it’s a good seller.
35. Describe your marketing strategy.
Explain how you are going to promote your store on a limited budget and fill it with paying customers.
These strategies may include ads in the paper or direct mail and flyers.
In addition, you could offer coupons or discounts for bringing in new customers.
Finally, networking is a powerful marketing strategy.
Introduce yourself in person to local businesses.
Join the local chamber of commerce, small business associations or local charities.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
36. Wear your own fashions as much as possible.
What better way to promote your clothing than to wear it?
When people ask questions about it, be ready to explain everything in short.
Pithy ways that excite the listener.
37. Be able to take insults.
Nobody is perfect. Take advice from friends and family.
Never give up, you can’t quit your passion!
38. Develop a good logo if running your own fashion label.
Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
39. Learn early on how to pack a decent lunch and snacks.
Hours can be very long in fashion design and sometimes leaving your creativity zone may be impossible.
Your brain needs good nutrition though.
So by remembering to pack healthy lunches and snacks.
You can grab something to sustain all that hard intellectual slog.
And physical running around without starving yourself silly.
40. Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
41. Read widely.
42. Design all the time.
As a way of getting further inspiration and also showing your progression.
This will help potential employers see how you have learned and developed.
Write down critiques you get so you can look over them and make better designs in the future.
43. Do what you can do.
See also:Tips to Become Airline Baggage Service Agent
44. Fashion Designer Setting Analysis
45. Be careful with pins and needles.
Conclusion:
Working as a designer can be a physically strenuous career.
You will need to be willing to work unexpected long hours to meet deadlines.
BusinessHAB