THE DESIGN PROCESS
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The design process begins within the design department,
whose primary purpose is to develop a successful
product. This complex process requires a radical
knowledge of what is going to sell and what are often manufactured at a profit, also because the ability to make new
and interesting styles.
Product Development
Product development takes place within the design studio. Generally the planning studio may be a room or group
of rooms with tables for patternmaking and cutting
and machines for creating sample garments.
The designer is liable for all aspects of the
design process. during a small firm, he or she may very well
do all the work. In larger firms, a staff of designers,
assistant designers, sample makers, pattern makers,
and graders, each with specific skills and responsibilities, share the work under the supervision of a head
designer. Many firms haven't any design department or
operate with skeleton staffs that believe freelance
designers or stylists for designs and design-related
services.
Product development, or the creation of latest
styles, involves a spread of specific operations:
developing design ideas, selecting fabrics that are
available and appropriately priced, making the
first pattern, making a sample garment or
prototype, evaluating and refining the fit and style , computing the value , making a production
pattern, making duplicates, and grading the professional
From Idea to First Pattern
The designer begins with a radical knowledge of
the firm’s target market, its target customer, his or her
buying habits, and many ideas and sketches
from many sources. Design ideas fall under three
categories: (1) modifications or new fabrications of
successful styles from the present or previous season
and adaptations of current trends; (2) knockoffs or
copies of costlier , high-fashion designs; and
(3) original, trend-setting designs.
Most designers make a croquets or sketch, as
shown in Figure 1, to explain the planning and clarify the concept. If the designer is making the primary
pattern or working closely with the patternmaker,
the croquets may have little detail. If the croquets will
be turned over to an assistant, first patternmaker,
or freelance patternmaker, it'll be more detailed
and very accurate. it'll clearly represent the designer’s ideas for the silhouette, seams, and darts;
such style features as sleeves, cuffs, collar type and
shape, yokes, and pockets; and such design details
as belts and epaulets, fastenings, and trims. It may
also include notes on construction methods.
The first patterns for many designs are made using
the firm’s slopers or body shapes. The slopers are
basic patterns for blouses, shirts, pants, skirts, dresses,
and jackets that reflect current fashion styles. They
have a selected fit and silhouette and are used
successfully within the past. If the planning is entirely different, a replacement sloper is developed from the essential block
or foundation pattern or from another sloper. The
basic block follows the natural line of the target customer’s body shape.
The Sample Garment
Once the new pattern is formed , it's wont to cut a
sample or trial garment. In some workrooms the
sample garment is cut by the assistant designer or
patternmaker; in others, by the samplemaker. If the
design is totally new, it's cut from muslin. If it
is a remake of a previously successful style, the
sample garment is usually cut from a sample cut of a
material being considered for production.
Generally the pattern pieces are placed on the material and secured with weights. Then chalk or a wellsharpened pencil is employed to trace the pattern onto the
fabric. Although the sample are often cut without chalking the outline, careless cutting at this stage can damage
the original pattern also because the sample itself.
Next, a talented seamstress or samplemaker, who
requires no instructions or assistance, assembles the
garment. The samplemaker is liable for sewing
the entire garment precisely and for advising the
design team if the pattern pieces don't fit together
properly.
The samplemaker must have extensive knowledge of industry methods for production , even
though he or she often modifies them within the sample
room. Here are some reasons for such modifications:
1. The sample room is never equipped with
special attachments or automated machines.
2. The goals are different. Because the sample
will be used as a guide for creating the
production pattern, it must be as on the brink of
perfect as possible. to realize this goal, the
samplemaker frequently uses basting aids and
more underpressing than would be costeffective in final production.
3. the talents are different. The samplemaker can
perform many operations successfully but is
rarely as fast or as proficient as factory operators
who perform just one or two operations.
After the sample garment is completed, it's first
tested on a dress form then fitted on a live or fit
model, whose measurements correspond to those
for the firm’s sample size. The sample is evaluated
for fit, silhouette, and design; then it's corrected or
modified until the planning is perfected.
When a replacement silhouette is being developed, this
process could also be repeated several times before the
design is approved due to the necessity to work out
the exact dimensions of the assembly pattern for
the selected material.