Fashion designing is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers create clothing, including dresses, suits, pants, and skirts, and accessories like shoes and handbags, for consumers. They can specialize in clothing, accessory, or jewelry design, or may work in more than one of these areas.
Fashion design can be divided into two basic categories: haute couture and ready-to-wear. Haute couture collections are dedicated to certain customers and are custom-sized to fit these customers exactly. In order to qualify as a haute couture house, a designer has to be part of the Syndical Chamber for Haute Couture and show a new collection twice a year presenting a minimum of 35 different outfits each time. Ready-to-wear collections are standard-sized, not custom-made, so they are more suitable for large production runs. They are also split into two categories: designer/createur and confection collections. Designer collections have a higher quality and finish as well as a unique design. They often represent a certain philosophy and are created to make a statement rather than for sale.
Fashion designers work in a variety of different ways when designing their pieces and accessories such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. Due to the time required to put a garment out in the market, designers must anticipate changes to consumer desires. Fashion designers are responsible for creating looks for individual garments, involving shape, color, fabric, trimming, and more. They attempt to design clothes that are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. Some of the things a fashion designer might do include studying fashion trends and anticipating designs that will appeal to consumers, deciding on a theme for a collection, using computer-aided design (CAD) programs to create designs, visiting manufacturers or trade shows to get samples of fabric, selecting fabrics, embellishments, colors, or a style for the products they design.
