What To Know Before Studying Fashion Design?
It is not about dressing nicely.
When I decided to spend the next four years and a half of my life immersed in fashion, my vision wasn’t entirely accurate.
Since I was ten years old, I have loved fashion, perhaps younger, so my future looked very glamourous because that’s all I saw about fashion growing up. In the ’90s, to see the work of a couture atelier was only possible through tv shows that documented the progress, and, for me, it wasn’t easy to have access to those tv shows, the language barrier was huge.
Arriving at university was a massive impact on everything I knew about fashion designers and so little about fashion design.
If you decide to study fashion design, I leave you eight facts you need to know, and I wish you a great professional path.
“We (fashion designers) are here to make people happy.”
Styling is not fashion design.
As a designer, you’ll create, study shapes, movements, silhouettes, construction of garments, fabric selection, and perhaps to create those fabrics. Fashion houses also take care of the PR in magazines and red carpets; that’s not your job. A stylist puts together certain outfits for their clients, and these garments fit the client’s needs and tastes.
Your job as a fashion designer is to design.
My friends often asked my opinion about an outfit they arranged because I’m a fashion designer, and I had to remind them that it’s not my duty to know if the red high heels look good with a skirt above the knee.
Learn to sew. Don’t fear the sewing machine.
To know how to make things is liberating, and many times you’ll have a clear idea in your head but won’t be able to explain it, not even draw it.
A problem I had during the first semester of my studies was that I designed a one-shoulder dress, completely tight, and when it was time to make it, I didn’t know where the zipper was, how to put it in the body and when I did the corrections the result was a dress I didn’t design.
To sew also works to experiment, perhaps you have a shape in mind and think the construction is very logical, but the reality could be different.
Get to know the local fabric stores.
When it was my turn to buy fabrics, I only knew the three mayor fabric shops in my neighborhood, and they didn’t have the best materials or colors, which hinder my designs because I didn’t know where to buy.
Stay curious.
In mind, the space for creativity is enormous, but it doesn’t look like that when we have creative blocking. The way to break those boundaries is by staying curious. The more information you have, the more visible will be the creative space. One never knows when the Eureka moment will happen or what it will be that undoes the blocking, so we must learn as much as possible.
A way to stay curious is to design about topics we are interested in. For example, I’m curious about embroidery and looms, so I will have in mind the possibility to research that as inspiration and investigate the making process.
Become an observer.
When we observe, we can naturally identify what others need. As a designer, you create, so others have a piece that makes them happy, helps them in a phase of their lives, or makes memories with their loved ones. How to get that answer? Of course, marketing tools help, but in our artistry, we only use our hearts. Through observation, you’ll recognize the most precise needs of human beings.
You could try photography; it makes you a natural observer.
Start making sketches and loosen the hand.
Us designers are visual people, and, as mentioned above, even though we have an idea in our head, we’ll start with technicalities that could make us doubt our design, but having it drawn will help not lose the way.
You’ll need to draw, and when you get to college or university, the professors don’t teach for beginners.
Be original.
One of the most repeated words throughout your studies will be the proposal.
What’s a proposal? It’s what identifies you as a fashion designer — that thing others don’t have.
Don’t be afraid to show your designs.
There will always be people better than you and people less original than you. Do not keep your designs for yourself. I know I did a few times.
Having this information will help you to start your studies with confidence and a sound vision of what’s ahead of you.
