What is Fashion
Fashion design isn’t just about making clothes. It’s about understanding different cultures and showing who you are through what you wear.
This blog explores the exciting world of fashion, starting with its history. You’ll learn about India’s amazing traditional textiles and how the fashion industry has changed over time.
We also dive into the business side of fashion, looking at how brands are created, how products are sold, and what styles are popular.
Getting a Fashion Design education teaches you all about design rules and how to put them into practice. It prepares you for many different jobs in the fashion world!
When you hear the word “fashion,” you probably picture beautiful clothes, cool bags, and fun accessories. You might also think of interesting patterns, fancy embroidery, and lots of different colors. And of course, glamour and even Bollywood often come to mind!
Now, when you think about Fashion Design, you might immediately think of famous designers like Manish Malhotra, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, and Sabyasachi. It’s totally normal to remember those big names in the design world!
But what exactly is Fashion Designing? Is it just about the clothes and accessories we make to wear? Or is it only about the famous designers everyone knows? Well, yes, it includes those things! But those are only two small parts of it. Fashion design is much, much bigger than that.
Fashion Show
Fashion has always been a big part of our lives. What we wear is like an extension of who we are – it shows our personality, who we are right now, and even who we want to become. These days, many of us want to make a statement with our clothes. We think about what we wear, how we wear it, and why we choose it. Just by looking at someone’s outfit, you can often guess their style, their culture, their social status, and sometimes even their job. You can even tell what time period someone is from just by their clothes! Basically, Fashion Design gives us the freedom to express ourselves. It helps us fit in with a group or stand out and show off our unique identity.
In India, fashion design is actually the oldest type of design and also the most popular! This makes a lot of sense because India is super rich in colorful arts, crafts, and traditions. Every part of the country has its own special textiles and clothing styles that have been passed down for generations.
In the past, getting clothes meant a lot of custom tailoring. People either made clothes at home or hired tailors, sometimes called ‘masterjis,’ if they could afford it. But after India gained independence, especially in the last 30-35 years, the way clothes were made really started to change. It became a huge industry with lots of new ideas! We saw exciting new fabrics and ways to make clothes. Old traditions like printing and embroidery were brought back to life, and classic Indian styles were updated to fit what people wanted in India and around the world today. All these changes, plus having many skilled artisans (called ‘karigars’), better sewing machines, more factories making lots of clothes, a growing middle class that went to school, and seeing fashion from all over the world, helped India become a really important center for fashion design. In fact, the last 20 years have been amazing for the Indian fashion business! We’ve seen a big increase in large clothing stores, the growth of shopping malls, and many talented Indian designers starting their careers. This is all thanks to the many new schools focused on Fashion Design and technology that have opened up.
Everything You Need to Know About Business of Fashion?
Now that we know fashion design is important and isn’t going anywhere, let’s figure out what it’s really about and how it all works. Think about your favorite outfit. Why do you love it so much? Is it the color? Does it fit perfectly? How does it feel on your skin? Does it make you feel super confident? Is it a classic style that never goes out of fashion, or is it really trendy right now? All these things are what a fashion designer thinks about when they’re creating clothes for people. In fact, there’s a whole step-by-step process a designer follows to create that perfect outfit you adore!
It all starts with an idea! A designer gets inspired and comes up with a concept for a collection of clothes. Then, they do some research. They figure out what colors, shapes, and fabrics will be popular soon. They draw their ideas as sketches and illustrations. Next, these drawings are turned into patterns. These patterns are then used to cut the chosen fabric. The designer also creates detailed technical drawings for the artisans or factory workers who will make a sample (or first version) of the garment. Once the sample is made, a model tries it on. The designer then makes changes and adjustments to the outfit. These changes are sent back to the factory to be fixed. This process of making changes is repeated many times until the designer and everyone working with them are happy with the sample and approve it as final. From concept development to drawings to fabric selection to pattern making to sample creation to finalisation, the designer goes through every stage carefully and painstakingly to create the finished product.
Now, let’s think about how that favorite outfit got into your closet! How did you even find out about it and then buy it? There are many ways this can happen. Maybe you saw a picture of your favorite celebrity wearing it on a fashion blog after an awards show. Or perhaps you spotted it in a movie. You might have seen an advertisement in a magazine with a model wearing it. Maybe a cool display in a store window at the mall caught your eye, and a mannequin was wearing it. Or maybe it was just a color or style you thought was “in fashion” and you really wanted to own it. No matter how you saw it, you can be sure that the designer’s merchandising, public relations (PR), and sales teams worked hard! They made sure you saw the idea behind the collection and the outfit many times. Their goal was to make you want to visit the nearest store, whether it was a small boutique, a main brand store, a chain store, or an online shop. The merchandising team also made sure the price was just right so you could buy it and they could still make money.
