In the fashion designing process, every individual plays an influential role in creating fashion trends. Right from the designer and stylist to the celebrities, every individual serves as the perfect muse in influencing popular fashion.
In the words of famous German fashion designer Wolfgang Joop, “Fashion is about Suspense, Surprise & Fantasy. It’s not about Rules”. And indeed, fashion is all about setting new trends with surprisingly unique designs and styles.
With that thought in mind, let’s explore a few factors that influence popular fashion.
Fashion Forecast (Colour & Fabric)
Deciding the colour, fabric and look for the upcoming season is something that every designer works on. Designers start working on new styles and patterns a couple of months in advance so it’s ready when the actual season begins.
Here, in the fashion process, fashion forecasters gain inputs from textile designers, colour experts and marketers. The information gathered from them helps designers to create a trend report for the upcoming season. Hence, in one season you could get to see lots of floral motifs and in another, abstract prints. Similarly, at a time swede fabric is seen ruling the market and at another time, it’d be fine net fabric. This cycle of colour and fabric trends are spawned by fashion designers to influence buyers who find them in fashion houses and retail stores.
Celebrities
Celebrities are one of the biggest fashion influencers. Fashion designers and celebrities keep a close connection. Designers specifically design outfits for celebrities to wear in movies, fashion shows, red carpet events, etc. These outfits when seen on celebrities get the attention of the public and become popular.
As fashion designing students, getting an opportunity to design for fashion shows and other events adds to the learning experience.
Movies & Music
The entertainment world is a major influencer of fashion. From Hollywood to the entertainment industries of any nation, movie stars and musicians woo the audience with their fashionable clothing and style.
One of the iconic looks popularised by an actor is Audrey Hepburn’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. In the movie, she wore a black fitting sleeveless gown adorned with a string of pearls. Similarly, in the movie “Hum Aapke Hain Kaun”, actress Madhuri Dixit wore a royal blue saree with heavy embroidery and sequin work, teamed with a backless blouse. This outfit gained immense popularity and was donned by many women in functions and other occasions. Music artists too greatly contribute to making fashion popular. Artists are often seen sporting fancy accessories, jackets, dresses, etc. Many musicians have even started their own fashion brand and are attracting a lot of fans to their outlets.
Fashion Stylist
Fashion and models keep changing but one thing that’s constantly required is the service of a fashion stylist. A fashion stylist is the one who basically decides the entire look for a celebrity for a show or beyond. Behind a successful look or a design, lies the creativity of a fashion stylist. A stylist greatly influences the fashion trend as they are able to visualise which accessory can go with which garment.
Fashion styling can be pursued as a profession. However, this requires thorough training from a fashion design institute.
Economy of a Country
The economy of a country is another factor influencing fashion. When there’s a rise in the price of a fabric, designers may make certain alterations to their designs rather than pricing it high. In most cases, designers use less expensive fabrics considering the adverse weather conditions where the prices of certain fabrics rise. For example, fabrics such as silk, satin and velvet see a frequent price fluctuation.
As a student of fashion design, subjects such as fashion marketing can be best understood by pursuing a fashion designing course.
Required Skills for Fashion Designing
Are you thinking of being an inspiration to others to follow and become a successful Fashion Designer? Then you should have the unique skills to justify the Job responsibilities. Every field needs its own skills to be successful in that particular path. Here are some of the key skills, which are most required by a person to achieve a desired position in Fashion Designing.
- Creativeness
- Artistic thinking
- Strong imaginative skills
- Detailed observation skills
- Innovative skills
- Competitiveness
- Good Communication skills too
What do I need to do to become a Fashion Designer?
To be a fashion designer, you will need to have a good eye for colour and shape. You’ll need skills such as pattern-cutting and sewing. You’ll also need to be able to spot trends.
You will usually need a relevant higher education qualification, such as a foundation degree, HND or degree to be a fashion designer. A course that teaches both design and technical skills will give you the practical knowledge that you need to work in the industry.
It is important to do your research when choosing a course by reading industry literature and speaking to different course providers. You should check carefully what areas are covered over the length of a course and what kind of links the fashion department has with the industry.
You will need to put together a portfolio of your work that you can take to course and job interviews. Your portfolio should include mood boards, designs and technical drawings. There is strong competition for jobs in this industry, so any contacts and work experience you have, for example through an internship, will help when looking for work.
Fashion design as a subject is vast. The more you explore and experiment, the results are surprising! All you need to do is work towards your goal and be creative. Use innovative designing methods which can make your designs popular.
Hamstech, with its experience of over 29 years in the field of creative education, is known as one of the best fashion designing colleges in India. With our curated textile designing courses, you will learn to create stylish dresses, crop-tops, jackets, skirts, anarkalis, lehengas, sarees and so much more. You can master all your skills in designing with our constant support from professionals and getting them reviewed directly from our celebrity mentor Neeta Lulla. Our Fashion Design courses are perfect for beginners and those who want to improve their sketching, designing or stitching abilities.
Join Hamstech’s Fashion Designing course and learn all about fashion from 4-time national award-winning celebrity designer, Neeta Lulla. Enrol now!