FASHION DESIGNING AND LATEST FASHION TRENDS

Journal of Textile and Fashion Technology (JTFT) Vol. 1, Issue 1, Jun 2015, 33-40 TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. FASHION DESIGNING AND LATEST FASHION TRENDS SRIKRISHNAN 1 & P. Kandhavadivu 2 1 Assistant Professor (Senior Grade), Department of Fashion Technology, PSG College of Technology, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 2 Associate Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Fashion Technology, PSG College of Technology, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India ABSTRACT Fashion industry is a global industry and is one of the fastest emerging industries of India. The industry has made an outstanding performance in the recent years and has the potential to make a mark internationally. A lot Indian fashion shows are organized every year at the metropolitan cities of India. All top designers of India exhibit their designs to make clients and earn appreciation at such a popular stage. India is the epicentre of textiles and handicrafts industries; there are many handicrafts industries in the towns and small cities of India. India is the largest exporter of textile garments and fabrics and second largest producer of silk. Today Indian fashion designers are largely inspired by the simple but elegant apparel designs of these small scale industries. They use silk and cotton in their apparels time to time. These designs are also appreciated internationally for their uniqueness and elegance. KEYWORDS: Beauty, Design, Fashion, Style INTRODUCTION The pace of change accelerated considerably in the following century, and women and men's fashion, especially in the dressing and adorning of the hair, became equally complex and changing. Art historians are therefore able to use fashion in dating images with increasing confidence and precision, often within five years in the case of 15th century images. Initially changes in fashion led to a fragmentation of what had previously been very similar styles of dressing across the upper classes of Europe, and the development of distinctive national styles. These remained very different until a counter-movement in the 17th to 18thcenturies imposed similar styles once again, mostly originating from Ancien Régime France. Though the rich usually led fashion, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance sometimes uncomfortably close for the elites a factor Braudel regards as one of the main motors of changing fashion.fashion designing is a highly paid job and with the advancement of fashion designing industry there is ample scope for amateur fashion designers. Designer clothes, shoes and accessories have become a symbol of status. A series of designer stores have opened in the metropolitan cities of India where you would find collection of extravagant designer items and accessories. Figure 1 With the spread of fashion among the Indian masses, several export houses, textile mills, boutiques, garments stores and factories have formed their business in the market. Multi National Companies have also come up with their apparels and accessories in the Indian market to lure fashion freaks. Fashion industry has become a billion dollar industry around the world. A lot of young aspirants are eager to make a career in fashion designing which has given rise to a series

34 Srikrishnan & P. Kandhavadivu of fashion designing institutes in different parts of India. Many Indian fashion designers have also exhibited their designs at the international arena with the beauty contests and fashion shows which took place in a foreign soil. They have designed clothes for the supermodels of India and beauty queens who go to various countries for their ramp shows and contests. Figure 1 Figure 2 FRUITY FASHION FOR 2012 Fashion is always a multi-way process; including the customer's perception, current trends, designer's creativity, and runway displays. Runways and catwalks posses the vibrant melting pot known as panache which proves to be a source of inspiration for customer's to set their choices. Fashion designers stimulate their creativity making a colorful wardrobe. Key fashion trends for 2012 indicate the obsession of fashionistas for a full blown fruit fashion for apparels, and fashion accessories. Cherries of crimson, succulent strawberries and other eye catching; exotic tropical fruits fill the runways making their way into apparels and accessories. Runways are blazing with frutilicious prints. A bowl of citrus, oranges, and grapefruits walk on the runway; although inedible. Zingy citrus prints in double split and backless silk dress and pleat insert versions make a fruity summer trend. Debuting on the runways, fruity trends of apple, cherry, lemon, and orange are making their way into jewelry, shoes, clips, earrings, handbags, headbands, scarves, and many more. Fruity fashion accessories with well placed appliques, and juicy colors give a flirty and girlish inspiration. Fashion's likeness for creativity has filled the coming season with delicious fruity prints. Fruits are delicious, appealing, and a major fashion trend for 2012. TYPES OF FASHION Haute Couture Until the 1950s, fashion clothing was predominately designed and manufactured on a made-to-measure or haute couture basis (French for high-fashion), with each garment being created for a specific client. A couture garment is made to

Fashion Designing and Latest Fashion Trends 35 order for an individual customer, and is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric, sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques. Look and fit take priority over the cost of materials and the time it takes to make. Ready-to-Wear Ready-to-wear clothes are a cross between haute couture and mass market. They are not made for individual customers, but great care is taken in the choice and cut of the fabric. Clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they are rather expensive. Ready-to-wear collections are usually presented by fashion houses each season during a period known as Fashion Week. This takes place on a city-wide basis and occurs twice a year. The main seasons of Fashion Week include, spring/summer, fall/winter, resort, swim and bridal. Mass Market Currently the fashion industry relies more on mass market sales. The mass market caters for a wide range of customers, producing ready set by the famous names in fashion. They often wait around a season to make sure a style is going to catch on before producing their own versions of the original look. In order to save money and time, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques which can easily be done by machine. The end product can therefore be sold much more cheaply. NATURE OF THE WORK IN DESIGNING Fashion designers help create the billions of dresses, suits, shoes, and other clothing and accessories purchased every year by consumers. Designers study fashion trends, sketch designs of clothing and accessories, select colors and fabrics, and oversee the final production of their designs. Clothing designers create and help produce men's, women's, and children's apparel, including casual wear, suits, sportswear, formalwear, outerwear, maternity, and intimate apparel. Footwear designers help create and produce different styles of shoes and boots. Accessory designers help create and produce items such as handbags, belts, scarves, hats, hosiery, and eyewear, which add the finishing touches to an outfit. (The work of jewelers and precious stone and metal workers is described elsewhere in the Handbook.) Some fashion designers specialize in clothing, footwear, or accessory design, but others create designs in all three fashion categories. The design process from initial design concept to final production takes between 18 and 24 months. The first step in creating a design is researching current fashion and making predictions of future trends. Some designers conduct their own research, while others rely on trend reports published by fashion industry trade groups. Trend reports indicate what styles, colors, and fabrics will be popular for a particular season in the future. Textile manufacturers use these trend reports to begin designing fabrics and patterns while fashion designers begin to sketch preliminary designs. Designers then visit manufacturers or trade shows to procure samples of fabrics and decide which fabrics to use with which designs. Once designs and fabrics are chosen, a prototype of the article using cheaper materials is created and then tried on a model to see what adjustments to the design need to be made. This also helps designers to narrow their choices of designs to offer for sale. After the final adjustments and selections have been made, samples of the article using the actual materials are sewn and then marketed to clothing retailers. Many designs are shown at fashion and trade shows a few times a year. Retailers at the shows place orders for certain items, which are then manufactured and distributed to stores. Computer-aided design (CAD) is increasingly being used in the fashion design industry. Although most designers

36 Srikrishnan & P. Kandhavadivu initially sketch designs by hand, a growing number also translate these hand sketches to the computer. CAD allows designers to view designs of clothing on virtual models and in various colors and shapes, thus saving time by requiring fewer adjustments of prototypes and samples later. Depending on the size of their design firm and their experience, fashion designers may have varying levels of involvement in different aspects of design and production. In large design firms, fashion designers often are the lead designers who are responsible for creating the designs, choosing the colors and fabrics, and overseeing technical designers who turn the designs into a final product. They are responsible for creating the prototypes and patterns and work with the manufacturers and suppliers during the production stages. Large design houses also employ their own patternmakers, tailors, and sewers who create the master patterns for the design and sew the prototypes and samples. Designers working in small firms, or those new to the job, usually perform most of the technical, patternmaking, and sewing tasks, in addition to designing the clothing. (The work of pattern makers, hand sewers, and tailors is covered in the statement on textile, apparel, and furnishings occupations elsewhere in the Handbook.) Fashion designers working for apparel wholesalers or manufacturers create designs for the mass market. These designs are manufactured in various sizes and colors. A small number of high-fashion (haute couture) designers are selfemployed and create custom designs for individual clients, usually at very high prices. Other high-fashion designers sell their designs in their own retail stores or cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create a mixture of original garments and those that follow established fashion trends. Some fashion designers specialize in costume design for performing arts, motion picture, and television productions. The work of costume designers is similar to other fashion designers. Costume designers, however, perform extensive research on the styles worn during the period in which the performance takes place, or they work with directors to select and create appropriate attire. They make sketches of designs, select fabric and other materials, and oversee the production of the costumes. They also must stay within the costume budget for the particular production item. Figure 3: Fashion Designers Study Trends and Design Clothing and Accessories for Consumers

Fashion Designing and Latest Fashion Trends 37 Table 1: Projections Data Occupational Title Projections Data from the National Employment Matrix SOC Code Employment, 2008 Projected Employment, 2018 Change, 2008-18 Number Percent Fashion designers 27-1022 22,700 22,900 200 1 Detailed Statistics THE FASHION DESIGNING INDUSTRY AS OF TODAY Today fashion designing is a fully established field all over the world. There are countless designing schools which offer this course. Fashion world has become a huge business. As you must have seen in your neighborhood there are several boutiques coming up because many youngsters are interested in fashion designing rather then medicine or M.B.A. Students who are interested in art and who are very creative are opting fashion designing as their career. Fashion designing field is growing rapidly and there is a bright career to it, the number of students in recent years for fashion designing has increased tremendously. In olden days people didn t pay much of attention to their clothes and styling. They used to wear clothes according to their comfort. Earlier there were no readymade garments available like today, all the clothes were been stitched. All the clothes were stitched by local tailors and the design and pattern were inspired by the clothes worn by royalty. Royalty were the inspiration of the locals and hence local s clothes too signified their rulers. This tradition to copy the designs of royalty had become a trend. Some of the clothes were also inspired by environment and animals. People were used to wearing such designs and clothes until in 19 th century a Paris based designer named Charles Fredrick Worth set up his first boutique. He was the first designer who literally told his customers what to wear instead of hearing their demands. Figure 4: Fall 2012: Fashion, Style and Beauty Figure 5: The Ultimate Guide to Living it up in London

38 Srikrishnan & P. Kandhavadivu London celebrates its heritage with couldn t-give-a-damn street cred. A multi-ethnic English eccentric, the British capital invites you to eat and shop your way around the globe, sending you home sated and educated. Amid gloriously groomed parks and gritty secret side streets, England s capital effortlessly edifies with monuments and museums galore, galleries both soothing and surprising, and a food and drink scene as popular for its classics as its contemporary stars. The Perfect Coats to Flatter EVERY Body Figure 6: Perfect Outfit: For Every Style, Every Season, Every City, Every Occasion - Find your Perfect Outfit Truly Walkable Pairs of Comfy Heels Figure 7: The Perfect Outfit Figure 8: Styling Tips Figure 9: How to Find the Right Shade of Red for you

Fashion Designing and Latest Fashion Trends 39 Figure 10: Makeup Ladylike Fashions of the '50s & '60s Another popular trend on the Spring & Fall 2012 runways is a sort of 1950's housewife look (for spring) sometimes shown in sweet, candy-colored pastels that has now morphed into a sort of polished uptown look that is very lady-like, grown up and proper (for fall). What does this all mean and where is this trend coming from? Although one can never be sure, I would venture to say that even though feminism still has a long way to go, lately women are feeling stronger. Figure10: Spring Summer 2012 Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012; Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images.The tables are turning my friends, more and more women are out-earning their male counterparts and are holding down powerful positions. I think there is a general feeling among women that it's OK to embrace their soft, feminine side again. Also, after years of casual dressing in the workplace, it seems like fun to start dressing up again. One has only to look to popular retro TV shows like Mad Men, to see that the program is popular not just for the clever story line, but also for the 1960s costumes and for seeing how people once put themselves together to go to work every day. No "Casual Fridays" in sight, it's just about dressing to impress. And there's something nice about that. CONCLUSIONS Fashion is a multi-billion-dollar industry that has considerable impact on the way ordinary people clothe and present themselves. But there is more to fashion than the different articles of clothing, fashion is made up of designers, buyers, retailers, editors, and columnist. While all parties work together to create an image, all of these parties can simultaneously

40 Srikrishnan & P. Kandhavadivu be affected by outside forces, especially blogs. Fashion is trend-driven and fashion blogs provide a new way to follow and oversee these fast-paced trends, it is likely that the blogoshepere will have a considerable long-term influence on the industry, as the number of fashion based blogs continue to grow. The fashion world has realized the importance of going green and designers and artists worldwide are making a mindful effort to keep the earth s natural resources. The promotion of Eco-fashion is by doing eco-green statements through celebrities,political figures and people of all over the World by wearing eco-friendly clothes,jewelry and accessories. Every day there is a new innovation made in eco-green fashion. An innovative designer creates an incredible line of eco friendly clothes and accessories. Eco-green fashion is not only fashionable and classy that it is the best style statement that anyone could make in today s world. REFERENCES 1. Supriya Belwal, Latest Trends in Fashion Designing Industry, fibre 2 fashion, April 23, 2011 2. http://www.merinews.com 3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Fashion Designers, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos291.htm (visited February 14, 2012). 4. Fashion blog encyclopedia 5. The Inspiration Behind 3 Current Fashion Trends, KQED, Zoe vice< april29 2012