Simon Seivewright - Research and Design for Fashion

Maison Martin Margiela haute couture Spring/Summer 2015

Introduction

Research is vital to any design process, as it will provide you with the foundations with which to build and develop your desired creative outcomes. Research involves the initial hunt and collection of ideas prior to design. It should be an experimental process; an investigation to find out or support your knowledge of a particular subject, market, consumer, innovation, or technology.

Research is an essential tool in the creative process and is one that will provide you with information and creative direction, as well as a narrative to a collection. Research is about a journey of discovery that can often take weeks or even months to collate and process. It is also a very personal activity, which provides the viewer with an insight into the thinking, aspirations, interests, and creative vision of the designer.

By conducting in-depth and broad-ranging research, a designer can begin to interpret a series of garments or to evolve a collection. Silhouettes, textures and fabrics, colors, details, prints and embellishments, and market and consumer all have their place in the process of design and are found or directed by the research gathered.

This new edition of Research and Design for Fashion leads you through the essential stages of research and the translation of these stages into fashion design ideas. It discusses crucial elements in the research and design process, such as the brief and the constraints that it can sometimes impose. It explains the importance of identifying both your target market and customer, and of understanding the different levels and genres of fashion before setting out on the creative research itself. It then discusses the many possible avenues for research and the need to set a theme, concept, or narrative to your collection.

You then explore how to translate your research into early design ideas, looking at both 2D and 3D approaches. The book provides useful exercises for you to do that explain how to bridge the gap between the research and design outcomes. Design and collection development is broken down into a series of elements that then provide a foundation for expanding your ideas into a well-considered, cohesive, and balanced collection. Finally, the book shows and explores a variety of approaches to communicating and rendering your design work.

Interviews at the end of each chapter, featuring established international fashion designers, a trend forecasting agency, and fashion educators will inspire you on your creative journey throughout the book, and provide you with valuable insights into what it means to get into, work in, and succeed in the fashion industry.

Research and Design for Fashion will provide you with the basic fundamental skills and knowledge that you need to start you on your journey of designing an in-depth, innovative, and creative collection all of your own. Good luckand above all, enjoy the discovery of the creative design process!

Sadly, the original author of this book, Simon Seivewright, died in 2013.

I get my ideas out of my dreams... if youre lucky enough to use something you see in a dream, it is purely original. Its not in the worldits in your head. I think that is amazing.

Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer, 19692010