Developing a collection

178 Pages·19.269 MB·English

by  Elinor Renfrew, Colin Renfrew

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BASICS BASICS
Publisher’s note
Elinor Renfrew
FASHION DESIGN FASHION DESIGN
Colin Renfrew
04 04
Ethical practice is well known, taught Featured topics The Basics Fashion Designseries EB Elinor Renfrewgraduated with an
and discussed in the domains of research and development comprises a collection of titles that, linas MA in Fashion from Central Saint
market research oic
medicine, law, science and sociology identifying the customer together, cover the key elements r Rs F DEVELOPING Martins College of Art and Design and
but was, until recently, rarely trend forecasting of fashion design: Research and ea worked for over 15 years at all levels of
discussed in terms of the Applied conceptual fashion Design, Textiles and Fashion, nfrsh the industry, including having her own
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children’s wear e 0
footwear and accessories forms a comprehensive reference n4 College of Design and Communication
AVA Publishing believes that our f
knitwear tool for students and anyone interested re she set up the successful placement
world needs integrity; that the briefs w
ramifications of our actions upon designing from your research in the art of fashion design. programme. She joined Kingston
portfolios University in 2004 as course director of
others should be for the greatest Fashion collections vary depending
v n the renowned BA Fashion course and is
happiness and benefit of the greatest Featured contributors on market level, product type, season,
grow or cause to grow a group of accumulated also responsible for sponsored projects
number. We do not set ourselves Bill Amberg customer and retailer. Developing a and become more mature items of a particular kind
Banana Republic and international student internships.
out as arbiters of what is ‘good’ or Collectionexamines all of these in advanced or elaborate
Holly Berry
‘bad’, but aim to promote discussion Brooks Brothers more detail and follows the Colin Renfrewgraduated with a first-
in an organised fashion for an Will Broome development process from initial D class honours in Printed Textiles at
Giles Deacon E
individual’s understanding of their design ideas through to the final Glasgow School of Art and went on
DKNY V
own ethical inclination. Shelley Fox outcome: a collection’s exhibition E to study fashion on the MA course at
Ian Garlant and sale. Developing a Collectionis L Central Saint Martins College of Art and
By incorporating a ‘working with Sophie Hulme O
divided into five chaptersthat cover Design. Colin has 27 years’ experience
ethics’ section and cover stamp Nicholas Kirkwood P
Eley Kishimoto everything the fashion student in fashion education in the UK, Australia,
on all our titles, AVA Publishing aims Jens Laugesen needs to know about developing IN Sri Lanka and Russia. He is also a
to help a new generation of students, Markus Lupfer G
a collection, including an overview visiting professor at the Beijing Institute
educators and practitioners find Kenneth Mackenzie
Richard Nicoll of the development process;the A of Fashion Technology and the China
a methodology for structuring their Red or Dead common themes used by designers; C Academy of Art. Colin is now the Dean
thoughts and reflections in this Reiss
different market levels, from haute O of the School of Design and Technology
vital area. Sibling
William Tempest couture to the high street; specialist L at the London College of Fashion.
Ohne Titel collections and finally, approaches LE
Topman
to designing the student collection. C
John Varvatos
Vivienne Westwood Underpinning eachchapter are T
I
interviews with designers from all O
over the fashion industry. N
ISBN-13: 978-2-940373-95-6
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BASICS
Elinor Renfrew
FASHION DESIGN
Colin Renfrew
04
DEVELOPING
A COLLECTION

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An AVA Book
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ISBN 978-2-940373-95-6
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Design by Sifer Design
Cover illustration courtesy of Giles Deacon
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2 / 3
1

1 Collection designed by
Poppy Dover.
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Contents
Introduction 6
How to get the most out of this book 8
Collections and Collections designed
What is a collection? 10 their influences 52 for different markets 78
How to start a collection 12 Background 54 Haute couture 80
Research and development 18 Conceptual influences 56 Ready-to-wear 84
The team 26 Form and function 58 Mass market 90
Showing the collection 32 Futuristic influences 62 Home shopping 96
Global influences 64
Interviews Political influences 66 Interviews
Giles Deacon 38 Archivism 68 Ian Garlant 98
Shelley Fox 40 Jens Laugesen 100
Richard Nicoll 42 Interviews Ohne Titel 102
Markus Lupfer 44 James New 70 Emily Craig 104
William Tempest 46 Kenneth Mackenzie 72 James Spreckley 106
Colin McNair 48 Sophie Hulme 74 Simon Kneen 108
Louis Armadola 50 Will Broome 76 Gordon Richardson 110
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4 / 5
Specialist collections 112 The student collection 138
Children’s wear 114 The brief 140
Footwear and accessories 116 Your portfolio 146
Knitwear 120 Research and development 148
Fashion jewellery 122 Presentation 156
Corporate collections 124
Interviews
Mark Eley 126
Sibling 128
Katie Greenyer 130
Holly Berry 132
Bill Amberg 134
Nicholas Kirkwood 136
Glossary 160
Featured designers 162
Useful resources 164
Acknowledgements and picture credits 168
Working with ethics 169
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Introduction 6 / 7
1 Backstage at Prada A/W08.
‘I also like to work on fabrics that supposedly don’t sell, Catwalking.com.
like kid mohair. I was forbidden to use it but of course it
became a best-seller for us.’
Miuccia Prada
All designers go through the same stages when
developing a collection. Whether they have their own
label or are employed by a large company, the starting
point and processes are invariably the same: research,
design, development, editing and presentation.
Basics Fashion Design: Developing a Collection
will guide you through the different aspects of the
development process. The first chapter asks ‘What is a
collection?’ It provides an overview, explaining who and
what is involved. Chapter 2 looks at the common themes
used by designers, from global and political influences to the
more abstract themes of humour and fantasy. Chapters 3 and
4 introduce different types of collections: looking at market
level, from haute couture to the high street; and specialist
collections, such as children’s wear and jewellery. The
final chapter is focused on you, as a student, to give
you guidelines and inspiration for designing your
own degree collection.
Underpinning each chapter are interviews with designers
from all over the fashion industry, who share their own
experiences of developing collections. These exclusive

interviews include illustrations and archive images.
Basics Fashion Design: Developing a Collectionis richly
illustrated with images from international collections, both
on and off the catwalk, in addition to archive material.
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How to get the most out of this book
This book introduces different aspects of developing a collection.
Each chapter provides numerous examples of collections by
leading designers, annotated to explain the reasons behind the
choices made.
Key fashion design and development principles are isolated
so that the reader can see how they are applied in practice.
Captions Examples
These provide image Imagery accompanying
details and commentary the content, visually
to guide the reader in the describing design
exploration of the visuals development and
displayed. inspirational collections.
What is a collection? 26 / 27
The team The designer
1 Yves Saint Laurent in his The development process is cyclical and dependent upon a The designer is the central member
design studio in Paris, 1965. number of team members and specialist activities. The team will of the team and he or she is ultimately
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and graphic designers. stetaafmf t oo fc aresasitset afunrttsh eorr rtehsee satrucdhi o
or feedback for development.
As the number of collections being developed increases, so too will
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divisions to cater for the business demands and development suppliers and textile designers
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for a very specific product area, such as men’s casual knitwear for all decision making and amendments
or women’s jersey separates. Ttoh ea nayb ailistyp etoc tc oofm thmeu pnricoactees sis. just
as important as being creative; in
fact, it is often key to success.

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8 / 9
Clear navigation Headings Additional information
Each chapter has a clear These enable the reader to Box-outs elaborate on
heading to allow readers break down text and refer subjects discussed in
to quickly locate areas of quickly to topics of interest. the main text.
interest.
What is a collection? 28 / 29
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