Clothing design is the artistic craft of applying style, aesthetics, fabric construction and harmony to clothes and its accompanying accessories. It has varied and ebbed over the years and geographical location, and is influenced by cultural norms and current trends. Clothing design involves not only designing clothes to be comfortable but also making them look appealing and appropriate for the given occasion. Clothing designed is usually worn to enhance a person’s appearance. The clothes may be worn as a way of social expression and as an accessory for adorning one’s self.
Clothes designers work in various industries including apparel manufacturers, apparel wholesalers, clothing importers, apparel distributors, designers and textile engineering companies. The main industry is the apparel industry. Many clothing manufacturers depend on the services of fashion designers at trade shows to exhibit their latest designs and to make new designs. Trade shows are important events in which many interested people from a wide range of industry verticals attend. Attendance at trade shows or fairs gives the manufacturers a chance to display their wares. Exhibitors in the clothing industry can exhibit their latest designs, both new and old, in variety of sizes and colors.
Fashion designers usually develop their ideas into exciting and innovative designs for clothes by sketching out the designs and then trying them on clothes in different styles and colors. Designers who are hired by clothing companies to develop and manufacture their clothing line usually use computer aided design (CAD) programs. Software programs help them to create physical designs of the clothes. After they have developed the designs, the CAD program is used to create detailed images of each stage of the design process. The clothes are made according to the designs painted onto the cloths.
Some fashion designers create their designs using only the computer. Clothing producers sometimes choose this method because the finished product does not have the texture, depth, and colors of a handmade garment. Computer generated designs or computer aided designs are becoming more popular with fashion designers creating unique and original designs. These may consist of fabrics, stones, beads, and even computer generated fibers.
The clothing produced by fashion designers is considered to be trendy or up-to-date in style. The fashion industry uses fashion trends to determine which fashions will be popular among consumers. Clothing designers can influence fashion trends in both the domestic and global market. They can predict which products will become popular in particular countries. By buying popular items in foreign countries, fashion designers can send their clothing products to consumers in that country.
Clothing manufacturers rely on fashion designers to provide them with fabric and raw materials to produce their clothes. The manufacturers sometimes hire additional people to assist the fashion designers in the designing and conceptualizing stage. Clothes designed by clothing designers may be sold in showrooms or directly to customers.