What is fashion design to you? It could be a limitless source of creativity, an impressive challenge but it can also be an abstract goal if you don’t know where to start. If you care about the steps to building a fashion collection then this is the article for you!
This article will be based on my personal experience and from other fashion design students that I personally know. If you have any other ideas or opinions, don’t hesitate to share with me!
6. DESIGNING THE PROTOTYPE
The next thing you need to do is to make a visual collection of, well, your collection. This depends on whether your reference will be 2D or 3D.
So what is the design prototype? To put it simply, a 2D prototype is a flat drawing of the design and is also a template for that product. They are drawn and cut on the cover/paper according to the shape and details on the design. The silhouettes are then placed on the cut fabric and sewn according to the seams to a predetermined size (seam allowance). If your design is not correct, the stitching design is also not standard and prone to error in proportions. However, not everyone's design process is the same. There are students who are used to working with 3D stamping because of its modernity and creativity. For 3D patterning, you will directly test your design with fabric on a mannequin, it's also known as Fashion Draping. The stamping process also gives you ideas for the necessary adjustments to the collection as well as the final materials.
7. MAKING THE PROTOTYPE
When the sketches and silhouettes are complete, testing the prototype on raw or final materials is the most important step in the later processes. Raw materials are usually cheap (17000 - 36000 VND). If you find anyone selling them at 80000, then switch your seller immediately!
When assembling the prototype garment, you’re going through the same process as creating the final garment. This is an extremely necessary step to determine how precise your design is and if there’s any adjustments needed to the final materials. Usually, when the prototype isn’t the way you expected it, the problem may source from your design or sewing process. From there, appropriate changes are made.
8. PREPARING MATERIALS
At this point, you need to have a clear idea of what materials and tools to use when making your collection. What you need to do is start finding where these materials can be obtained and that process isn’t always easy.
With less materially elaborate designs or common fabric usages, it normally takes only 2-3 hours to browse fabric at the market. Sometimes it only takes me 30 minutes to 1 hour at the fabric market if I already have a clear idea of what I need to use. However, finding materials can take days or weeks if you have to go further away than Ninh Hiep market or prepare intricate material processes. Especially, if your collection needs production of accessories and requires contacting specific manufacturers, then this process can take up to months depending on the variety of needed materials.
9. ASSEMBLING THE FINAL GARMENT
I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but for me, this is the most stressful part of building the collection. This is the part where I need to avoid mistakes at all costs when working with the final materials. Especially when your materials are one of a kind, the cutting and sewing process needs a lot of attention and precision.
When working with the final materials, you need to pay attention to the measurements, size of needle and other parts of the sewing machine. With intricately designed or fragile garments such as thin fabric, elastics or degradable… Then you should switch needles and machine paddles. If your outfit has lining, you also need to pay attention to how to sew it upside down to hide excess thread and seam in. There are stages in the actual sewing process that will be quite different from the carpentry process, so we should choose materials that are similar and as close to the real fabric as possible when making carpentry prototypes.
10. PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR COLLECTION
IMAGE: @MARCJACOBS
Finally, after a heavy and arduous process of designing and sewing, we all look forward to visually documenting our final garments. Fashion photography is not the only way you can record designs, it is the portfolio material with which you prove your creative strength in future work. To brainstorm photoshoot ideas, pick the concept based on the main inspirations of your collection. All the things you need to consider include the location (outdoor/indoor), lighting, backdrop, accessories, crew (photographer/makeup artist/model...). You need to plan ahead your photoshoot 2-3 weeks so that everything falls into place. However, the photoshoot itself may take less than 3 days. There are no few fashion photoshoots that use basic backgrounds but still provide a compelling visual effect. The important thing is that you need to know what type of photo setting will fit your collection and the photographer will also have a significant influence on your work.