101 Things I Learned® in Fashion School

A guide to surviving and thriving in fashion school, from an award-winning fashion designer and illustrator

Success in fashion school requires more than a passion for fashion. It calls for the student to understand the cultural forces that shape what we wear and why we wear it; to develop a wide range of practical, aesthetic, and intellectual skills; and to work hands-on. This accessible guide assists the aspiring fashion designer on this journey with unique illustrated lessons on such topics as:

how to identify the target customer, set priorities, select fabrics, and integrate details
how to measure the human form, cut fabric, and pivot a dart
why you haven t designed a garment if you don t know how it will be made
how the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima reshaped our understanding of fashion
illustration fundamentals, including proportions, poses, lighting, and rendering
practical information on the industry, including key terms, who doe s what in the industry, and the workings of the fashion calendar

Written by an experienced fashion designer, illustrator, and instructor, 101 Things I Learned® in Fashion School is an essential resource for beginning fashion students, recent graduates, experienced professionals, and anyone looking for a deeper understanding of how and why the clothes we wear or choose not to wear are designed and made.

Leseprobe:

Author s Note

A good fashion design curriculum encourages students to come up with informed, creative solutions to the problem of dressing people for their lives. In my years of teaching, I have found that the greatest obstacle to this goal is not the acquiring of technical proficiency or adequate intellectual information with the availability of information today, the average eight-year-old is likely more sophisticated and fashion-savvy than ever but with accepting the need to design for real people.

The perception on the part of many students (and sometimes instructors) is that reality real customers with real needs, real fabrics that must be constructed into real garments is the enemy of creativity. Real experience, it is feared, means drudgery, compromise, and mediocrity. The result is that most curricula tend toward the theoretical, with practical application addressed only to the extent it is considered unavoidable. Students designs often seem to resemble id eas more than clothing.

It took me years as a working designer to accept the importance of identifying a real living customer and recognizing what he or she will and won t wear. Far from being anti-creative, this realization was for me the beginning of true creativity. For what is creativity if it isn t to take something existing in one s head and give it relevance in the real world?

The central purpose of this book, then, isn t to impart technical proficiency (although we hopefully will do some of that) or to challenge students creatively (though I hope to do that too), but to give readers some ways to connect the two. I hope to provide students with small reminders, touchstones, and catalysts to help them solve real problems creatively, and creative problems realistically.

I hope that students and designers will keep this little book handy while researching, designing, swatching, and illustrating. I hope the history lessons help readers understand that in novation happens in context and through reaction to what came before; that the lessons in organization motivate the development of a holistic design process; that the lessons in illustration demonstrate the importance of communication; and that the business lessons lend a sense of the designer s role in the larger world.

Alfredo Cabrera