This week Latest Sale covers Fashion Designer insights for the luxury Fashion Business Directory. We cover a topic often asked by many fashion aficionados; how easy is it to become a fashion designer? Is talent alone sufficient?
Becoming a fashion designer requires dedication, wide skills and sheer determination. A key factor often overlooked however is the ability to raise funds for this demanding discipline. Talent is a good starting point but many other factors can lead to the success or failure of a fashion designer in the making. In this blog post we cover two criteria that we consider fundamental to the success of a fashion designer; funding and natural artistry/ talent.
Finance
Fundraising is the key to a fashion designer’s success, whether funding is required for training and to take fashion design courses or for developing fashion collections. Next, we consider the importance of promoting collections, and having a simple line sheet may not suffice. To present a seasonal collection whether this showcase is held in front of buyers or potential private buyers, a fashion show may be de rigeur and this is when costs build up. There are of course many ways fashion designers can take advantage of other scheduled fashion show programmes so that they are not bearing the full cost.
The development of designs, research and ensuring that they are commercially viable all tie into the essentials of funding. The wrong fashion collection launched at the wrong time, to the wrong market or at the wrong price can spell the end of a fashion designer’s success even before it really has a chance to grow.
Latest Sale suggests fashion designers who are showcasing their garments at trade shows or fashion events insist that a few of their garments are on show on the catwalk. Fashion Designers will save a considerable amount of their critical Marketing budget by working closely with event organisers in this manner. This strategy is helpful to fashion designers for the following reasons;
- No need to source models, stylists, hairdressers, accessories including jewellery, shoes and hair extensions or hair clips.
- No need to worry about make- up artists, professional photographers or videographers.
- No need to worry about music rights, lighting engineers, health and safety, staging, production and props that will have already all been organised by the fashion catwalk organisers.
With much of this groundwork completed and the budget secured, fashion designers can then focus on micro Marketing programmes; inviting buyers or press to the catwalk show where their garments will be showcased, secure in the knowledge that the event will also already be well attended by other opinion formers, blogger and a diverse set of buyers.
Natural artistry and flair
Fashion designers are typically artistic and this can manifest itself in many ways. Having a natural ability to pull together an outfit with flair and create attention-grabbing attire are skills that designers must excel in. Fashion designers pull together various assets and skills to develop bespoke garments. These include clearly identifying the correct use of colours, complimentary fabrics and textures as well as an ability to sketch designs and think strategically about how fabrics and colours may be mixed and matched. Fashion designers must take into consideration the effect and overall design of each garment in relation to the overall collection when various styles from different eras are combined to produce a highly effective and original design.
Attention to detail that leads to tight finishing and stitching of garments is especially important especially in the case of handmade garments. This natural artistry and flair is the essence of great fashion design and coupled with good financial backing, a fashion designer can begin the process of succeeding whether this be with the development of their own collection or else working with another more established designer to develop a Fashion House or retail brand collection.
To address the various challenges of this topic, we can summarize by asking, if fashion designers can succeed without finance or if finance is necessary to the success of a fashion designer? The Latest Sale conclusion is no matter how talented the fashion designer may be, the funding aspect should be addressed first and foremost with talent and artistry being the support that leads to success.