Background
“The way to get started is to quit talking and to begin doing" - Walt Disney. I truly believe in this quote, and it has been a great inspiration for this project. My passion for fashion design began when I was 8 years old and has been a part of my life every since. Throughout many years, fashion for me became more than just a strong interest, it developed into an attachment. Being aware of my age and amateur approach to this massive industry of competition, this quote was a great source of motivation.
Fashion being a long term interest, I have gained knowledge on diverse areas. The primary aspect in designing, begins with the conceptual sketches which gives you the ability to display your ideas on paper. The mandatory skill for this is being sufficient in drawing in order to express yourself. My additional knowledge of drawing comes from the books I have read such as; Fashion Design Studio written by Chris Hart and How to draw like a Fashion designer, by Celia Joicey & Dennis Nothdurft. Another step in fashion design is developing your technical sketches. The technical sketches are done digitally and show the graphic placements of the garment. The following step is identifying fabrics, according to the age group and purpose. Designating the correct fabrics is crucial as the appearance of a garment is highly influenced by the fabric utilised for construction. Lastly, after attending a three week program at UCLA, studying fashion design and business of fashion, I learned how to write a fashion business plan, how to finance your business, and how to create brand awareness.
My goal is to design, have assessed and create a winter clothing collection, which will be presented to a pop-up event company. This fits into the Global Context of personal and cultural expression because I will be exploring the ways in which I am able to express my ideas and feelings. Through the designing stage, I will also be extending my creativity and revealing my emotions through the art of fashion design.
The challenges for this goal to be met, begins from the designing process to the public relations and the business aspect. I will be presenting my collection to a very famous company, Doğuş Holding to sell at a three day long pop-up shopping event. The steps in the process of launching the collection will all be individual challenges for me. Developing initial, final and technical sketches is a creative obstacle which will require the implementation of the drawing skills I developed through my time at UCLA. Subsequently, I will also need to find fabric stores in Istanbul with appropriate prices and indicate a manufacturing workshop to work with. Moreover, I will have to make correct measurements for sizing, indicate the best fit fabrics for each design, gain knowledge about pricing and create a presentation to present, to Doğuş. Through this process I must contact many different businesspeople, tailors, fabric stores and also constantly stay in touch with my experts.
Research
To start my project I identified key questions that had to be answered:
1.What makes a successful collection?
2. Where will the clothes be made?
3. What fabrics will be chosen to be the best fit?
4. How can I measure the quality of the collection?
5. What qualification do I need to join this event?
6. Will I follow a specific theme?
7. How many pieces should be in the collection?
8. How can I use this project to inspire others to fulfil their goals?
9. What is the total budget I am planning on spending?
10. Do I only want to ask ZUBIZU as a company or should I have other alternatives?
Below shows my brainstorm which stemmed from my research questions. By thinking critically, and analysing my key questions, I further developed and identified more specific inquiries, and also came to logical and creative conclusions.
“The way to get started is to quit talking and to begin doing" - Walt Disney. I truly believe in this quote, and it has been a great inspiration for this project. My passion for fashion design began when I was 8 years old and has been a part of my life every since. Throughout many years, fashion for me became more than just a strong interest, it developed into an attachment. Being aware of my age and amateur approach to this massive industry of competition, this quote was a great source of motivation.
Fashion being a long term interest, I have gained knowledge on diverse areas. The primary aspect in designing, begins with the conceptual sketches which gives you the ability to display your ideas on paper. The mandatory skill for this is being sufficient in drawing in order to express yourself. My additional knowledge of drawing comes from the books I have read such as; Fashion Design Studio written by Chris Hart and How to draw like a Fashion designer, by Celia Joicey & Dennis Nothdurft. Another step in fashion design is developing your technical sketches. The technical sketches are done digitally and show the graphic placements of the garment. The following step is identifying fabrics, according to the age group and purpose. Designating the correct fabrics is crucial as the appearance of a garment is highly influenced by the fabric utilised for construction. Lastly, after attending a three week program at UCLA, studying fashion design and business of fashion, I learned how to write a fashion business plan, how to finance your business, and how to create brand awareness.
My goal is to design, have assessed and create a winter clothing collection, which will be presented to a pop-up event company. This fits into the Global Context of personal and cultural expression because I will be exploring the ways in which I am able to express my ideas and feelings. Through the designing stage, I will also be extending my creativity and revealing my emotions through the art of fashion design.
The challenges for this goal to be met, begins from the designing process to the public relations and the business aspect. I will be presenting my collection to a very famous company, Doğuş Holding to sell at a three day long pop-up shopping event. The steps in the process of launching the collection will all be individual challenges for me. Developing initial, final and technical sketches is a creative obstacle which will require the implementation of the drawing skills I developed through my time at UCLA. Subsequently, I will also need to find fabric stores in Istanbul with appropriate prices and indicate a manufacturing workshop to work with. Moreover, I will have to make correct measurements for sizing, indicate the best fit fabrics for each design, gain knowledge about pricing and create a presentation to present, to Doğuş. Through this process I must contact many different businesspeople, tailors, fabric stores and also constantly stay in touch with my experts.
Research
To start my project I identified key questions that had to be answered:
1.What makes a successful collection?
2. Where will the clothes be made?
3. What fabrics will be chosen to be the best fit?
4. How can I measure the quality of the collection?
5. What qualification do I need to join this event?
6. Will I follow a specific theme?
7. How many pieces should be in the collection?
8. How can I use this project to inspire others to fulfil their goals?
9. What is the total budget I am planning on spending?
10. Do I only want to ask ZUBIZU as a company or should I have other alternatives?
Below shows my brainstorm which stemmed from my research questions. By thinking critically, and analysing my key questions, I further developed and identified more specific inquiries, and also came to logical and creative conclusions.
Identifying sources
In order to accomplish my highly challenging goal I not only have to design a successful clothing line, but also have to present it to a company. Therefore research is a very essential aspect to the whole of my project. When I first began researching, my skills were limited to online sources and books. I did not consider interviews, meetings and other types of primary sources as a possibility. However, as I identified key questions that had to be answered, I came to the realisation that I had to extend my research skills and step out of my comfort zone in order for my project to be a success. Through this project my research skills developed, as I mainly focused on various primary sources I could find and contact which were relevant to my goal. My first research topic was the fabrics which are considered the most important element in fashion. Fine and good quality fabrics are fundamental for every garment. Fabric being an extremely large topic, I decided to break down the process into parts. Below I have attached a diagram which shows my thinking process through this stage.
Excellent investigation skills are portrayed through the connections and links being made advancing from a source, a topic or an idea to another. This is evidently represented in the flowchart I made prior to the substantial analysis. As seen to the left, my initial research for this topic began online, where I chose the most appropriate websites, to educate myself on the basics of fabric types. I looked at 2-3 websites in order to validate the information I was reading. I found that the educational article published on, Textile School, was the most beneficial and valuable one. My further evaluation on that source can be seen on my process journal #1. I then linked my research to a subtopic, which was the availability of fabrics in the current markets, and where I can find the most suitable prices. This step, allowed me to collect and analyse data in order to identify solutions and make informed decisions that would affect the future of my project. I looked at what the separate stores had to offer, and their limitations, which lead on to organising them individually and indicating the most fitting selections. The sources are high quality since they are primary sources. Another example of my exploration of different sources are shown with my investigation on learning about other stores rise to success. I read a book called, The Rise of Fashion and the Lessons Learned at Bergdorf Goodman. As written about in my process journal entry #2, it is an autobiography, which is a valuable primary source explaining personal conflicts and thinking strategies needed to find the best solutions. From the brainstorm I did, I came to the conclusion of needing to read about the steps to success from another brand, as one of my key questions were, “what makes a clothing line successful?” Through this process I became comfortable with conducting interviews and organising meetings. Therefore, I helped my peers in class who were struggling with communicating and reaching out to the people relevant to their Personal Project's. The evaluation of my sources are demonstrated in the Process Journal entries: 1, 2 and 3. My investigation skills will continue developing throughout the project.
In order to accomplish my highly challenging goal I not only have to design a successful clothing line, but also have to present it to a company. Therefore research is a very essential aspect to the whole of my project. When I first began researching, my skills were limited to online sources and books. I did not consider interviews, meetings and other types of primary sources as a possibility. However, as I identified key questions that had to be answered, I came to the realisation that I had to extend my research skills and step out of my comfort zone in order for my project to be a success. Through this project my research skills developed, as I mainly focused on various primary sources I could find and contact which were relevant to my goal. My first research topic was the fabrics which are considered the most important element in fashion. Fine and good quality fabrics are fundamental for every garment. Fabric being an extremely large topic, I decided to break down the process into parts. Below I have attached a diagram which shows my thinking process through this stage.
Excellent investigation skills are portrayed through the connections and links being made advancing from a source, a topic or an idea to another. This is evidently represented in the flowchart I made prior to the substantial analysis. As seen to the left, my initial research for this topic began online, where I chose the most appropriate websites, to educate myself on the basics of fabric types. I looked at 2-3 websites in order to validate the information I was reading. I found that the educational article published on, Textile School, was the most beneficial and valuable one. My further evaluation on that source can be seen on my process journal #1. I then linked my research to a subtopic, which was the availability of fabrics in the current markets, and where I can find the most suitable prices. This step, allowed me to collect and analyse data in order to identify solutions and make informed decisions that would affect the future of my project. I looked at what the separate stores had to offer, and their limitations, which lead on to organising them individually and indicating the most fitting selections. The sources are high quality since they are primary sources. Another example of my exploration of different sources are shown with my investigation on learning about other stores rise to success. I read a book called, The Rise of Fashion and the Lessons Learned at Bergdorf Goodman. As written about in my process journal entry #2, it is an autobiography, which is a valuable primary source explaining personal conflicts and thinking strategies needed to find the best solutions. From the brainstorm I did, I came to the conclusion of needing to read about the steps to success from another brand, as one of my key questions were, “what makes a clothing line successful?” Through this process I became comfortable with conducting interviews and organising meetings. Therefore, I helped my peers in class who were struggling with communicating and reaching out to the people relevant to their Personal Project's. The evaluation of my sources are demonstrated in the Process Journal entries: 1, 2 and 3. My investigation skills will continue developing throughout the project.