–Chetna Shetty Dikkar, Asst. Prof., MGM IFD
With now almost 13 years in fashion design with eight years being in fashion design education, when I look back I realize that I had no clue why I got into fashion design. It was during the process of training and working professionally that I realized, I was good at it and enjoyed it. Back then there were very few who wanted to be in this field and with even fewer institutes training students for fashion design. But now-a-days with the growing glamorization and media awareness, more and more people are getting attracted towards this field and wish to pursue it as their career.
Though this field looks very attractive and promising, it is equally skill based and highly competitive. In this blog I would like to list down the core skills you require to make yourself successful in fashion design.
– Visualization Skills: A good fashion designer needs to have a great sense of visualization and imagination. A fashion designer has to visualize the entire process of creation of garment from inception to finish. This visualization helps the designer in preplanning the design, sourcing raw materials, pattern making, planning the sewing and finishing etc. One such aspect of visualization is fashion illustration, where the design is visualized in every possible detail in form of a sketch.
– Eye for Detail: Detail is something that creates a point of emphasis and increases the design value of the garment. Then it can be an exaggerated sleeve, a tailored collar, a unique fabric or an unusual surface ornamentation. Details transform garments from ordinary to extraordinary. A good fashion designer should not only have sound knowledge about color, texture and details but also should be able to use them aptly in his/her designs.
– Business Sense: Design creation if not for self is driven by the sole purpose of sale and profit generation. Hence a good fashion designer should not only be aware of the design process but also the financial side of design creation. Fashion designers always work on a budget given by the client or buyer (mass production). So all costs incurred during design creation plus the designer’s profit margin should not exceed the given budget.
– Communication skills: Fashion design is more of a social business than a desk job. A fashion designer has to be in constant contact with the suppliers for fabrics and trims. He/she has to also communicate with tailors, embroiderers and dyers to get work done according to his/her vision. A fashion designer has to also communicate with clients to understand their needs in order to deliver designs accordingly. Good communication leads to effective design creation.
– Creativity: Last but not the least the most essential, ‘Creativity’. Now creativity is neither tangible nor it can be measured. So how will one come to know they are creative or not. He/she can simply ask themselves questions such as do I have inclination towards creative and fine arts, do I often exhibit out of the box thinking, do I constantly feel a need to reinvent and innovate. If the answer is yes you have the creative bug in you.
As Coco Chanel has rightly said, ‘In order to be irreplaceable you need to be different’. Today’s fashion scene is very competitive as there are a lot of designers and a plethora of options. So if a fashion designer can constantly adapt to the changing trends and demands of market, the only he/she can survive. Constant adaptation and innovation is the key to success.
So, these were the key skills you require to make it big in field of fashion design. If you have them, you are ready to embark on your fashion design journey.