I Am...FASHION

Lesson - 1

How to Become a Successful Fashion Designer

Sometimes we feel we have a good flare for fashion, interest in sewing or making clothes, drawing or generally in ‘creating’ things, we feel we can convert it into the profitable business of fashion or be the ‘Fashion Designer’ we see in Vogue. It is true, to the extent that it is a good direction, but not enough to be that successful ‘Fashion designer’ or embark on that fashion venture.

Like every other profession, even fashion comes with a requirement of skill sets and aptitude one needs to excel.

Here are some of the qualities one needs to succeed as a designer-

-Being Creative

You need to have a great sense of style and coming up with new ideas is the life of fashions.

- Drawing Skills

Excellent drawing skills are always a boon to be able to sketch your ideas onto paper for the production process quickly.

-Good Eye for Materials

You have to have an eye for the materials of a garment, as well as the elements that make it unique, such as colour, fabric and trims etc.

-Sewing Skills

One certainly needs to understand the sewing processes so that you can convert your design ideas into a 3D reality. i.e. construct the garments from your design.

-Knowledge of Current Fashion Trends

Fashion is all about what styles are accessible at a particular time. It is essential to be aware of current trends and have a right eye for anticipating what your audience will respond to next.

-Visualization Abilities

One of the highest rated skill and rightly so. Good fashion designers can visualise a garment before putting an idea on paper.

-Good Communication skills

One must have excellent communication skills, as there are many people involved in the creation of a garment and that too of a broad spectrum. One must be able to communicate effectively to everyone to get the results one needs to achieve.

-Team Player

One needs to be able to work amicably with others as part of a team. Designing a garment for production involves the work of many, from pattern making to sewing to shipping. As a designer, you must be able to work well with all involved.

- Business Sense

A successful fashion designer needs to have excellent business skills. You don't just design clothes; you have to be able to sell them profitably to make it a profitable venture. You need to understand budgets, marketing, and sales concepts that are vital to getting designs produced and sold.

Having reviewed this, we may find that this profession needs a diverse skill set, some may come naturally to us, and some we will have to cultivate. It is always wise to ‘know ourselves’ first, evaluate our strengths and weaknesses and work accordingly.

-KNOW YOURSELF

-KNOW YOUR CRAFT (WELL)

-KNOW THE BUSINESS

-KNOW YOUR MARKET

-KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

ACTIVITY

-Carefully examine yourself in the light list above, and write down the qualities and skills you think you possess and the one ones you need to cultivate

-Start observing

What ‘YOU’ consider fashionable.

What you consider a good design

-Start building a ‘Resource book.’

Start collecting pictures of what’s a good design to you- online as well offline.

In this tutorial, you will learn an easy method to draw a baseball cap in 3/4 view angle. This evergreen accessory will help you add some sports spirit to your fashion sketches especially if you are designing a casual or athletic wear collection. So grab your pencils and let’s start!

Step 1: Guidelines

Start by drawing your model first. Draw a 3/4 view angle face and leave enough space in front of the model and above her head. Draw 3 vertical guidelines. 2 of them should be framing the head, and the third one is right before the ear.

Step 2: Where the hat base lays

To mark where the cap touches the face let’s draw a curved line.  The curve starts slightly above model’s ear and ends at the head outline – right where the hairline and the forehead meet. Until you reach the vertical ear line bend the curve downwards. Then go gently up and try to follow the hairline. The line should look simple and graceful.

Step 3: Draw the crown

Next step is to draw a semicircle around the model’s head. Pay attention that the cap outline does not stand directly over the hair. There is some space above the hair. Add the top button of the baseball cap – this is where all the pattern segments join. Use the vertical ear line as a guide to place it properly.

Step 4: Find the size of the visor

Erase all the unnecessary line of the hair. Now draw two dots at the cap base. The first one is on the vertical ear line. The second one is at the vertical forehead line. The third dot is interesting – it is positioned outside of the model. The distance between 2nd and 3rd dot equals half the distance between 1st and 2nd.

Step 5: Guidelines for the peak

This is the really tricky part. You will draw a laying down “8” connecting the three dots from the previous step. Notice the difference in the sizes of its parts.

Step 6: Outline the peak

Follow the “8” shape to draw the cap peak. Pay attention to the place where it connects to the base – there should be a short straight line there.

Notice that the left side of the brim is longer than the right side.

Step 7: Draw the panels

Draw the panels of the cap and top stitches right next to them. Around the peak, there is also the topstitching. At the top of the hat, you can also add a small eyelet if you wish to make it look even more realistic.

Step 8: Add a logo

Time for the fun part – design your logo and put it on the front of the crown. You can erase the whole front panel to provide a better canvas for the logo or applique the logo over it. Make sure the inside of the brim is in shadow.

Hopefully, this tutorial really helped you understand how easy and fun drawing a baseball is and inspired you to create more casual outfits. You can combine with cool sporty clothes in denim fabric, sunglasses and add some sneakers to finish the looks in your collection.