5 Fashion Design Development

V. Bhanurekha

FASHION DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

Garments are depictions of cultural symbol, values and ideologies of the society. Garment styles become commercial fashions when they pass through processes that transform them into products that appeal to buyers in consumer markets. Fashion is converted to commercial assets when they are a part of the commercialised economic system. Fashion industries are concerned not only with production of such commercialized garments, but also with the creation and exploitation of the meanings embedded in and surrounding them. So the main purpose of product development process in the garment field targets at ensuring customers satisfaction

Product development is defined as the design and engineering of products that are serviceable for the target consumer, marketable, manufacturable, and profitable. The Product development in garment industry right from designer’s idea or the initial design concept till the production of market ready product is a very long and complex process. With the increase in competition and the complexity, the apparel industry’s focus on measures to monitor the process involves introduction of stringent quality systems.

The globalization of garment production has resulted in a tendency to split elements of the Product development and production processes between different countries based on the resources and skill set involved. The rapid development of Product development technologies and communication technologies has enabled people at multiple locations around the globe to seamlessly integrate, collaborate, communicate, and manage the product development process. Also, it is apparent that not only apparel manufacturers but also apparel contractors, subcontractors, and specialty contractors have launched design and development units within their organizations for the retailers and brands to select designs without spending time and effort in product development.

1. Line planning and research

The product development process is a team effort by a number of people involved from a number of departments in an apparel organization. The initial step of this process is planning a line of products for a particular season or particular time period, depending on the company’s selling seasons or selling practices. The PD team is generally comprised of several people from designing, merchandising, research and development (R&D) and/or raw material development, technical design or product engineering, sales and marketing, finance, graphic design, sourcing, operations, planning, and quality assurance.

The PD team uses the information from research on trends, colors, materials, previous successes or failures, past sales records, experience from previous lines, and mark-down reports, etc. to brainstorm a plan for the new line. The information from this effort will assist the designers and the PD team to formulate a plan for the new line with a positive (brand) image to influence the consumer segment that the company is targeting for its sales.

2. Design concepts: line concept through research

After planning, the PD process begins with the design, which is a critical component in the development of fashion products. The design process begins with a line concept, which explains the mood, theme, and other key elements that contribute to the identity of the line. To develop the line concept, the designers obtain their inspirations for designs by conducting research. This involves market research and fashion research, from which they interpret findings into styles considering the brand and the target consumer.

Designers play a vital role in bringing the textile design ideas. Textile designers get their inspirations from mood boards from the design team, catwalk reports, print suppliers, and observing other fashion manufacturers or retailers. The companies that conduct trend research evaluate what has occurred in the past and project what may happen in the next season, tracking economic trends, social and cultural trends, technological advances, and political influences, which may all have an impact on the product design as well as on consumer behavior and spending. Collaborating with the designer, the merchandiser will review the trends, analyze previous sales, consider the budget allocated and projected sales for the department or account, and come up with the line plan. With the product designs for the line finalized, the design-development process begins.

3. Design development: line development

At this stage the designers interpret the research findings and translate the line concepts into styles considering the sales potential, appropriateness for the brand, target consumer, and product line. The activities involved in this stage are raw material development, testing and approval, color testing and approval, acquisition of sample yardage, pattern-making and fit approval, style evaluation and approval, wear testing, and preliminary costing, leading to finalizing sample specifications and translating the line from sketches to actual product line. Merchandising, marketing, and PD teams will review samples to make decisions on final line adoption. Merchandising team identifies the assortment, makes volume decisions, and establishes pricing and gross margins.

4. Line presentation and marketing

The styles to be adopted in the line are reviewed in the line review meeting attended by executive decision-makers from sales, sourcing, finance, operations, planning, and manufacturing. PD team will order raw materials for more duplicates.

Production planning and control division will carry out detailed costing and develop product specs. Marketing and merchandising teams will develop promotional materials for sales reps. Line is presented at markets to retail channels using sales samples by marketing team. Marketing and merchandising teams will review retail orders, compare with sales forecast, and add/drop styles, colors, and sizes to come up with the final modified line.

5. Production planning: pre-production

During the production planning stage of the PD process, sourcing decisions are made to identify which production facility will produce the approved styles in the line. The functions at this stage of the PD process will depend on what type of contractor will be used for production of the styles. Translating the decided prototypes and first patterns into complete size range for final production will be the next step. PD team will finalize quality, production, and process standards for manufacturing. Production planning and control division will manage grading, marker making, planning, and sourcing of both material and production. Quality, material, and engineering specifications will be finalized by merchandising and production planning and control division.

6. Line optimization:

Merchandising team will review the final line against orders, drop styles with inadequate orders, and replace with new styles, colors, and sizes to optimize the line for profitability. If changes are made, the model will direct to previous phases as appropriate. This phase will continue while production is in progress.

“The concept stage sets the mood & covers everything from targeted demographic, to trend infusion, to color selection.”

• The concept stage in development covers everything from your
• Target Customer
• Present trends to be infused
• Beginning stages of color selection. Freeze the concept or inspiration
• Identify your market and the person you’re targeting.

To start off, begin by researching everything there is to know about the target customer. First identify him/her and try to learn everything about them: demographically, psychographically, and everything in between from the moment they wake up to where they hang out, the things they do and why they do it, their likes and dislikes, etc.

Identify your competition as well and visit the shops where those labels & lines are being sold and check them out. This is another great way to get a glimpse of your customer as well

Finding answers for a few questions about the target customer sets the mood for the concept stage.

Who is the Target Customer?

Why would he/she pick that item?

Are they the type of customer who values fashion over comfort? Do they prefer to be conservative and chic?

What is your target customer’s life stage? Birth era? Baby Boomer or Millennial?

Tell me about their psychographic profile! Are they yoga enthusiasts? Do they go rock climbing? Fashionable entrepreneurs?

How about their buying behavior? Do they prefer to shop in outlets or online?

Understanding your consumer’s purchasing behavior and product usage which are very imperative for starting out.

Once you have them answered, it’ll get easier to design a collection that’s catered to the customer’s taste.

WHAT KEY TRENDS ARE INFUSED?

Trend reports, market analysis, and forecasting are all included in your concept. Collect information on the information given by forecasting services/agencies like Stylesight and Mudpie etc which provide great insight into what is trending in the fashion world. Select some of your favorites! You don’t have to use them all, but it will help you throughout the illustration process.

Example: A big trend this year is monochrome. Season after season, designers showcase monochromatic scales on runway shows and in retail stores. Black and white is a classic, but, what we are seeing in the upcoming seasons, are shades of one color or a single color all together. This is not the trend for the big and bold, but for elegant silhouettes with simple solid lines.

FASHION FORECASTING PROCESS

“Fashion used to come from one source at a time, be it the street, the runways or the entertainment business. The interesting thing about today is that influences come from high and low-everything from couture to Target.” –Michael Kors

FORECASTING SHOULD IDENTIFY:

•  Source

•  Underlying Pattern

•  Direction

•  Tempo

•  Forecasting attempts to project past trends into the future

•  Anticipates future developments by watching for signals of change in current situations

TREND:

• Can be emerging, building or declining

•  It has identifiable similarities across information sources. (styles, details, etc)

•  Characterized by a building awareness among consumers

7 STEPS IN DEVELOPING A FORECAST

1.      Identify the basic facts about past trends and forecasts

2.      Determine the causes of change in the past

3.      Determine the difference between past forecasts and actual behaviors

4.      Determine the factors likely to affect trends in the future

5.      Apply forecasting tools and techniques while paying attention to issues of accuracy and reliability

6.      Follow the forecast continually to determine reasons for significant deviations from expectations

7.      Revise the forecast when necessary

CONCEPT/INSPIRATION

Once you know who your target is, you can identify your concept or inspiration. It can be anything from color, a period in time, a structure or architecture, a smell, a quote, a muse… Once you have identified your concept or inspiration, the next step is to research everything about it, like you did for your target customer and the trend forecasting. Identify the season you are designing for: Spring/Summer, Resort/Cruise, Fall/Winter, Pre-Fall, etc.

COLORS

How will you use color, graphics, and prints?

Here we start to think of how colors and graphics are going to be applied to our collection. Go through Pinterest, magazines, runway shows, google searches, and whatever else you can get your hands on to find imagery that helps to convey your concept. This is really important in displaying your point of view. It allows you to have a clear picture to refer back to later, especially when you find yourself stuck between multiple directions.

While you’re doing your research, start collecting a series of images from which you can draw a mood and key colors. The mood and key colors will be used as reference for choosing the fabrics that will be appropriate for the season and market you are designing for.

DESIGN BRIEF

The key with briefs is to be concise and give a bird’s eye view of the whole design requirement for better understanding to the various teams involved in the product development like the fashion designing team, sourcing, merchandising, production team and also the sales/marketing team etc. A good design brief helps smooth out some of the wrinkles and exactly gives the requirements in a nut shell while allowing scope for the designer to design.

1- Take a look at who you think your target market will be. It may be more than one group of people. Look at age, wants/needs, price points etc

2 – Then write down what they want. You can be specific with garment types, hem lengths but also include the feel it wants to capture such as young and fresh or nostalgic and vintage.

3 – Set out the number of pieces you want for which category of customer. eg you want to design 3 pieces for the young and fresh feel for the target market and it should include 1 dress and 2 separates. For the vintage/nostalgic portion do 3 dresses for daytime and 1 for eveningwear.

Now you should have a design brief because you know WHO your customers are, WHAT they want and HOW you are going to deliver that to them.

This little bit of groundwork will result in a much more cohesive range that will suit not only your customers needs better but suit what you need better as well. Once you have this, identify shapes or silhouettes within the mood and images collected. Begin by experimenting with the shapes, silhouettes and color/ fabric combinations through a series of sketches. When you reach this point, you have officially started the design development process.

FABRICS, SILHOUETTES, TRIMS ETC

The design development process is where you put your creativity on paper.

During this process, ask yourself questions like: Are there clean lines in your concept? Or should there be a print?

Take silhouettes and play with different shapes and volumes.

Alternatively, take a simple shape like a triangle or a rectangle and see how you can play around with it so it fits on the body.

Go back and forth between sketches and experimenting with fabric on the mannequin. Like a sculptor, there is no right or wrong way to the design development process.

It should be fun for you and a time for you to really express yourself and experiment. Just make sure you have exhausted all your ideas before the editing process begins. From 50 sketches to 25 to 15.

Remember to use the best work that conveys your story and is well merchandised.

WHAT IS A “TECH PACK”?

It is one of the most crucial tools to developing the product and making the communication process more efficient between the designer and the manufacturer, yet many new designers overlook this vital step. You may be asking what a tech pack is, why you need it, or how to make one. Let’s break it down:

A tech pack is an informative sheet that designers create to communicate with a manufacturer all the necessary components needed to construct a product. Typically designers will include measurements, materials, colors, trim, hardware, grading, labels, tags, etc. Any crucial aspect of your design needs to be described in your tech pack. The more detailed a tech pack is, the less room there is for error.

WHY DO YOU NEED A TECH PACK?

With a tech pack, designers are more likely to get a sample or product made correctly with minimal errors. Supplying a tech pack to a manufacturer gives them a concrete guideline to your product, so without one it can be difficult for manufacturers to translate your idea into an actual product. It also allows the manufacturer to make a product without having to refer back to the designer several times. When creating products, manufacturers can reference the tech pack to make sure they aren’t overlooking any aspect of your design. Designers can use Adobe Illustrator to create a tech pack, or work with a technical designer. Designers can also find templates online that can format the layout for you.

PREPARING GARMENT PATTERNS FROM TECH PACKS:

A garment pattern is used to literally cut out the fabric. Once a pattern has been made a prototype is constructed. This is just as crucial as the other steps. The physical sample of your garment can highlight flaws not easily seen in a 2-dimensional rendering

Inside a well-detailed technical package you will find colorways, a list of materials and trims, flat drawings with stitch details shown, artwork specifications, and an annotated spec with a point of measure guide. Each of these components help lay the groundwork for creating a more correct pattern, as well as, assist in the sewing process.

Crucial measurements such as body length, sweep, and sleeve length can easily be viewed in the technical package. These measurements allow the patternmaker to create a pattern even if they do not have a block to follow. The garment sketch can also direct the shape of the neckline and overall silhouette. Once all the pieces have been drafted seam allowance can more easily be determined based on the desired construction and finishing.

These same finishing details help the sample maker understand the garment construction. Additionally the list of trims and materials help them prepare and create an efficient order of operations. By starting to secure these details in the earlier stages of development, everything will go more smoothly.These steps are not a definitive process and often need to be repeated, especially when developing a new brand or product category. While we prefer the tech pack–pattern–prototype order, the flip side is that edits may need to be made to the technical package after the pattern and prototype have been completed.

Whether you do the pattern and then the tech pack, or drape the garment and sew it before formalizing the measurements, the process isn’t wrong. It’s dictated by the type of  garment as much as personal preference. The important thing is to understand that under the umbrella ofpattern-making, a lot happens.

Conclusion:

Product development process in apparel firms is growing. Companies concentrate on improving the cost-effectiveness of the process by streamlining and shortening the PD cycle using the latest technologies and improving the market responsiveness. The digital PD process using virtual technologies provides the opportunity for companies to shrink the product development cycle time from months to days. Communicating the standards and specifications among supply-chain partners using tech-packs that were developed during PD, provides the opportunity for quality assurance and control in the garment manufacturing process. Actually the success of a product in apparel industry is determined by the interaction and integration of value, time, cost and quality.

References:

1. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process
2.  http://vuir.vu.edu.au/340/1/05_C4FashionIdeas.pdf
3. https://creativemarket.com/blog/designing-a-brand-identity
4. https://www.dezeen.com/2016/09/14/dress-tents-part-shelter-part-attire-robin-lasser-adrienne-pao-fashion-photography/Lee, JS & Jirousek C, “The development of design ideas in the early apparel design process: a pilot study”, International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology andEducation, ISSN: 1754-3266 (Print) 1754-3274 (Online)
5. https://www.slideshare.net/suniltalekar1/fashion-forecasting-process