Fashion designer

Fashion
Designer

INTRODUCTION
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF THE FASHION DESIGNER
CHAPTER 1
THE EVOLUTION OF FASHION
CHAPTER 2
FASHION DESIGNER AT WORK
CHAPTER 3
FASHION DESIGN TECH AND TRENDS
CHAPTER 4
FASHION INDUSTRY SWEAT AND SHEARS
CHAPTER 5
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT
CHAPTER 6
KIDS ASK, FASHION DESIGNERS ANSWER
CHAPTER 7
FASHION DESIGNER FOR A DAY
APPENDIX
MORERESOURCES FOR YOUNG FASHION DESIGNERS
INDEX

Some people just seem to naturally have
a gift for style and an eye for fashion. Maybe it’s the girl in
your homeroom who was the fi rst to wear handmade, jeweled
fl ip-fl ops. Maybe it’s that uncle of yours whose colorful shirts
are the talk of every family reunion. Or maybe it’s you who
jumpstarts the fashion trends at your school. Always thebestdressed one in the room, that person can walk into any closet and throw together an unexpected combination of garments and accessories that look amazing together. A few of these trendsetters even turn out to be famous fashion designers.
The world of fashion design is, in reality, a fi ercely competitive
profession with very little room at the top (picture a big,
old pyramid) for anyone butthe most mind-blowingly talented
designers who combine artistry with hardheaded business
sense. Still want to climb this glass pyramid? Suit yourself!
Truly talented designers often do not see their career path as
a choice; many are unfazed by the diffi culties they face getting
to the top because they have always believed that fashion,
whatever else it may be, is their life VirtualApprentice: Fashion Designer lets you experience,
fi rsthand what it’s like to work in this creative, challenging,
and competitive profession. Find out how a design concept moves from the fertile brain of the designer onto the runways at Fashion Week and finally onto the racks at Bloomingdale’s. Travel from the haute couture fitting rooms of Paris to the funky fashions on the street, and along the wayyou’ll learn about the latest trenes and exciting new technologies in this field. Hear about fashion icons and fashion emergencies, and find out if you’ve got the goods (and how to get them) that you’ll need to be on the cutting edge of this fabulous career.
Fashion looks to the future but draws upon the past for inspiration.
So we’ve reserved you a front-row seat under the tents for
a whirlwindtour of the history of fashion design.

Fashion functions as a means of social
communication, a way of telling other people something important about you: what your job is (as the old song goes, “I see by your outfi t that you are a cowboy”), how rich you are,
whether you’re married or single, gay or straight, and what your interests are. As British designer Katharine Hamnett says, “Clothescreate a wordless means of communication that we all understand.” Whether you’re aware of it or not, you constantly judge other people by what they’re wearing; you “size them up”: Cool or uncool? Nerd or jock? Trendy or Goth?
What you wear is infl uenced by your own tastes but also by
where you live and go to school, your age, your religious beliefs,
and many other factors.
Early humans beganmaking and wearing clothing for a
very practical reason: They were cold! But fashion today is
both an elaborate system of communication and an art form
that developed as human cultures evolved and grew more sophisticated.
During the Elizabethan Age (1558–1603), when Queen
Elizabeth I was on the British throne, regulations called Sumptuary Laws provided strict guidelines for what people coldand could not wear. Individuals belonging to the lower classes were not allowed to wear certain colors such as purple, crimson (a rich red), deep black, and pure white, because the dyes used to create
them were very expensive. Working
people could wear yellow, green,
or pink garments, but never gold
or silver. Only members of royalty
could wear clothing trimmed with
ermine fur. Punishments...