by the team of theeducationindia
Clothing is known as one of life's essential necessities. We clad ourselves in the beginning for protection from the natural world, but new aspirations were incorporated as the times went by. The idea of fashion now goes far beyond mere apparel.
Fashion design has emerged today as a fully-fledged industry. The career is concerned with producing creative and inspiring clothes that strengthen the individual's body, personality and character. For this area, one needs to have a passion for line, form, texture, color, drape and cloth. It is possible to split fashion design into three major branches: dress design, leather design, accessory design and jewellery design.
Fashion Designing Eligibility Criteria
Although the academic requirements are not very high for this career, in order to achieve success in this area, one requires considerable aptitude and talent. To mix colors, shades and textures, you must be imaginative enough.
The applicant should usually have 10+2 (Arts, Commerce, Science)/P.U.C./Polytechnic/equivalent with aggregate marks of 45 percent (40 percent is appropriate for SC/ST applicants).
Fashion Designing Skills & Attributes
You will need outstanding communication skills along with fashion consciousness and imagination to communicate your ideas and listen to the requirements of the consumer. It is also important to have awareness of market trends.
Fashion Designing Job Prospects
The primary areas of work in the fashion industry are:
Designing
In the apparel industry, this is the most significant area of work. This includes the design of apparel for various age groups and particular specifications (for instance, costumes for television, film etc).
Designers are involved in:
Research
Designing according to needs of the clientele (functionality, budget and choice of textile are the key considerations here)
Pattern making
Presentation to clients
Illustration
The designer only starts the design process after extensive market analysis, i.e. knowing the customer/market requirements in terms of features, budget etc. The design process could be conducted by a single designer or a team.
A presentation is made to the client and the production department upon completion of the design. In this step, improvements, if any, are implemented.
Market Research
The worldwide fashion industry is highly competitive, so there is a need to continuously keep an eye on emerging trends. For manufacturing units, retail firms and export houses, market research is critical. Pricing and criteria for goods are directly based on data from market research.
Researchers with at least 5-10 years of apparel industry experience or design experience perform market research.
Manufacturing is an important area of work in the fashion industry. It includes
Purchase of textiles and fabrics
Training
Scheduling
Pattern making
Finishing
Quality control
The phase of development starts with the design receipt from the designer/s. The appropriate textiles are then bought and the manufacturing process starts. The master pattern is produced according to the specified design. In a number of sizes, the master pattern is then repeated. The garment is produced with the assistance of professional workers (such as tailors, assemblers, embroidery experts, etc.).
Machine operators are working wherever machinery is used in the manufacturing process. Quality management is also an important area of focus, especially if clothing is manufactured for the export market. Packaging is an aspect of the production process as well.