Fashion Design and Merchandising Chapter Notes | Home Science for Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Introduction

• Fashion design and merchandising are exciting career options, particularly in India, where textile industries have thrived for centuries.
• The recent boom in fashion designing has opened new opportunities in garment and accessory design, enhancing the scope of the industry.
• The fashion industry fulfills both creative aspirations and materialistic needs, offering a platform for artistic expression and economic activity.
• Fashion merchandising involves planning, buying, and selling, evolving from early barter systems to complex trading practices.
• Historically, trading progressed from bartering products to selling available goods, with no initial complications in distribution systems.
• The concept of "ready-to-wear" emerged in 1920, marking a significant shift as retailers recognized the profitability of selling such garments.
• Fashion apparel quickly became a dominant merchandise category in department stores, leading to the specialization of fashion merchandising.

Significance

• Fashion design and merchandising provide insights into the workings of the fashion business, encompassing production, retail, and consumer interaction.
• The field involves processes from raw material production to creating apparel and accessories, culminating in retail sales to the public.
• It includes learning about textiles, such as fabrics and the fibers used to create them, which are integral to fashion design and merchandising.
• Fashion merchandising involves understanding what, why, and when a style becomes a fashion, assessing its suitability for specific retail operations.
• It determines the duration a style remains relevant in the market, ensuring alignment with consumer demand and retail goals.
• Fashion merchandising is defined by three core activities: planning, buying, and selling, which drive the industry's commercial success.
• Historically, women did not wear jeans until the 1950s, illustrating how fashion trends evolve and influence merchandising strategies.

Basic Concepts

• Fashion is a major global industry employing millions in design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, retailing, advertising, communications, publishing, and consulting.
• Understanding fashion design requires knowledge of the nature of fashion and its operational mechanisms.
• Fashion fundamentals involve recognizing how fashion interacts with influencing factors, such as culture, technology, and consumer behavior.
• Grasping the relationships between fashion and these factors is essential for effective design and merchandising.

Fashion Terminology

• Fashion refers to the style or styles most popular at a given time, reflecting current trends and consumer preferences.
• Style is a specific look or characteristic in apparel or accessories, which may go in and out of fashion but retains its distinct identity.
• Fads are short-lived fashions that may last only a single season, lacking design strength to sustain consumer interest, e.g., hot pants, baggy pants, and unmatched buttons.
• Classics are styles that remain accepted over extended periods, characterized by simple designs that avoid becoming dated, e.g., blazer jackets, polo shirts, and the Chanel suit.

Fashion Development

• Understanding the fashion industry requires knowledge of how fashion has evolved historically, informing present and future design decisions.
• Ideas from the past are often reinterpreted to create contemporary fashion, blending tradition with innovation.
• Fashion, as known today, is relatively modern, with styles in ancient and medieval times remaining unchanged for centuries.
• During the Renaissance, exposure to diverse cultures, customs, and costumes accelerated fashion changes, driven by new fabrics and ideas.
• The Industrial Revolution introduced technological advances in textile and apparel production, increasing fabric output and accessibility.
• Inventions like the spinning jenny and power looms revolutionized the American textile industry, supporting mass production.
• Growing trade and industry created a middle class with disposable income, increasing demand for fashionable clothing.
• The sewing machine, enhanced by Isaac Singer’s foot treadle in 1859, transformed apparel production, making fashion more accessible.
• Sewing machines were initially used for producing Civil War uniforms, marking the shift from handcraft to industrial production.
• In 1849, Levi Strauss used tent fabric to create durable pants for laborers, later known as denims, which have remained largely unchanged for 150 years.
• By the 1880s, women began wearing separate skirts and blouses, facilitating the production of ready-to-wear clothing with adjustable lengths and waistlines.
• In the 19th century, affordable fashions were sold through fairs, bazaars, and general stores, with traveling merchants and retail stores meeting growing demand.
• Prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear) clothing, introduced in the 1960s by Yves Saint Laurent, offered factory-made, standardized garments as an alternative to bespoke couture.

France - the Centre of Fashion

• France’s dominance in international fashion began in the early 18th century, establishing Paris as the fashion capital of Europe.
• Before the Industrial Revolution, society was divided into wealthy and poor classes, with only the wealthy affording fashionable clothing.
• King Louis XIV’s court set trends, supported by French cities supplying silk fabrics, ribbons, and laces to the royal court.
• Fashion required intricate hand-sewing and was custom-made to fit individual measurements, emphasizing exclusivity.
• France’s fashion leadership was bolstered by royal patronage and a robust silk industry, fostering the development of couture.
• Couture, the art of dressmaking, was led by male couturiers and female couturières, symbolizing high craftsmanship.

Fashion Evolution

• Fashion evolves in a cyclical pattern, described as the fashion cycle, which tracks the rise and fall of a style’s popularity.
• The fashion cycle is represented by a bell-shaped curve, illustrating stages of introduction, rise, culmination, decline, and obsolescence.

Introduction of a Style: Designers translate research and creative ideas into new apparel by altering elements like line, color, shape, fabric, and details.
Increase in Popularity: As consumers purchase and wear the new style, its visibility increases, boosting its popularity.
Peak of Popularity: At its height, the style is in high demand, prompting manufacturers to produce copies or adaptations at various price points.
Decline in Popularity:​

• ​Overproduction leads to consumer fatigue, causing fashion-conscious individuals to seek new styles, with declining styles relegated to sale racks.
• Rejection of a Style or Obsolescence: Consumers adopt new looks, marking the end of the cycle and the start of a new one.

Fashion Merchandising

• Fashion merchandising involves planning to ensure the right merchandise is available at the right time, place, price, and with appropriate promotion to maximize profits.
• A fashion merchandiser converts inspiration into designs, using technology to plan, produce, promote, and distribute fashion products to meet consumer demands.

​​​​Manufacturing: Merchandisers influence fabric choices, applying historical and socio-cultural knowledge to realize a designer’s vision while considering price and target market.
Buying: Merchandisers purchase fashion items for stores, requiring expertise in trend analysis and forecasting to ensure accurate ordering aligned with the target market.
Promoting: Merchandisers promote designers’ products to stores through fashion shows and visual merchandising, targeting specific markets like children’s or department stores.
Selling: Merchandisers sell fashion items to stores for consumer retail, providing recommendations on production and display based on market trends and forecasting.

Levels of Merchandising:

• Retail Organisation Merchandising: Involves internal planning to ensure adequate merchandise is available and sold at profitable prices, moving products from designers to retail floors.
• Buying Agency Merchandising: Provides consultancy for goods procurement, identifying vendors, negotiating costs, and ensuring quality control, saving time and costs for exporters.
• Export House Merchandising: Involves buyer merchandisers, who liaise between buyers and manufacturers, and production merchandisers, who ensure production meets schedules and buyer requirements.
• Target Market: The consumer category targeted for sales, identified through market segmentation to focus on those most likely to purchase.

Market Segmentation: Divides markets into subsets with common needs, using:

• Demographic Segmentation: Based on population, age, sex, occupation, education, and income.
• Geographic Segmentation: Based on cities, states, regions, and climate, influencing clothing choices.
• Psychographic Segmentation: Based on lifestyle, social activities, interests, and leisure pursuits.
• Behavioural Segmentation: Based on opinions and usage rates of products or services, informing improvements.

Merchandising Rights:

• Right Merchandise: Retailers must stock products that customers want.
• Right Place: Merchandise location ensures accessibility to consumers.
• Right Time: Seasonal merchandise must be available when needed most.
• Right Quantity: Balances sales volume with inventory levels for profitability.
• Right Price: Prices must yield profit while remaining competitive and meeting customer expectations.
• Right Promotion: Balances investment with appealing promotional strategies to attract customers.

Fashion Retail Organisations - Overview of Retailing

• Small Single-unit Store: Typically a neighborhood, family-operated store catering to local demands.
• Department Stores: Comprise separate sections for clothing, sporting goods, automotive supplies, health and beauty products, electronics, and sometimes food.
• Chain Stores: Retail outlets sharing a brand, central management, and standardized business practices.

Major Divisions:

• Merchandising Division: Handles buying, merchandise planning, control, selling, and fashion coordination.
• Sales and Promotion Division: Manages advertising, visual merchandising, special events, publicity, and public relations.
• Finance and Control Division: Oversees credit, accounts payable, and inventory control.
• Operational Division: Manages facility maintenance, store and merchandise protection, personnel, customer service, and receiving/marking of merchandise.
• Personnel and Branch Store Division: Operates separately for large store operations, focusing on staffing and branch management.

Preparing for a Career

Forecasting Ability: Essential for predicting fashion trends, requiring knowledge of past and current trends, industry changes, and marketing’s role in trend creation.
Analytical Ability: Involves analyzing economic conditions, company finances, and consumer budgets to ensure profitable style selections.
Communication Ability: 

• Critical for negotiating with manufacturers, selling fashion choices, and creating advertising copy, press releases, and consumer communications.
• Fashion designers typically need an associate or bachelor’s degree in fashion design, often combined with business, marketing, or merchandising degrees for entrepreneurial roles.

Certificate or Diploma Programmes: Last 6 months to 1 year, focusing on practical merchandising skills, ideal for quick entry into the field.
Associate Degrees: 2-year programs combining liberal arts with fashion and business courses, offering a balanced education.
Bachelor’s Degrees: 4-year programs with extensive liberal arts, fashion, and business coursework, suitable for those seeking broad education and promotion opportunities.

Scope

• The fashion industry attracts aspirants due to lucrative income opportunities and the potential for self-employment, with about one-third of designers being self-employed.
• Fashion designers leverage innate artistic and creative qualities to develop unique design concepts for various applications.
• Constant demand for specialized fashion designers encourages focusing talent in specific areas like clothing, interior design, or merchandise displays.
• Market and fashion trends evolve rapidly, requiring designers to continuously generate fresh ideas to stay relevant.
• Visual Merchandise Designers: Design window displays, arrange store merchandise, create props, organize clothing placement, style mannequins, and lead marketing campaigns.
• Fashion Designers: Create clothing and apparel designs, working with established designers or managing their own labels.
• Set Designers: Conceptualize designs for movies, television, theater, trade shows, and museums, aligning with scripts or directors’ visions.
• Interior Designers: Combine form and function to enhance the beauty, safety, and functionality of spaces in retail, residential, office, hospital, or hotel settings.