Design & Merchandising

Design & Merchandising Final Review

What influences what one wears? • Celebrities • Friends • Media • Self-concept • Family • Religion • Environment

What do clothes provide? • Modesty • Protection • Function • Adornment (Looking Nice) • Identification • Self-expression

What does the fashion term "Style" mean? • A particular shape or type of an apparel item • Determined by the distinct features that create it's overall appearance • Various styles have been repeated in the history of clothing Styles of skirts: • a pencil skirt • an a-line skirt • a mermaid skirt • a trumpet skirt

Fashion • The display of the currently popular style • The prevailing type of clothing that is favored by a large segment of the public at any given time • Garment – an article of clothing

Design A particular or unique version of a style that uses different fabrics, colors, trims and combinations of ideas • an a-line skirt with patch pockets and lace at the hem • an a-line skirt with a high waist, belt and fly-front zipper

Fashion Movement • The ongoing change in what is considered fashionable. • Everyone from the original designer to the final consumer benefits and encourages the movement of fashion.

Fashion Movement Terms • Obsolescence Factor- the rejection of used items in favor of newer ones, even though the old items may retain their utility value. • Fashion Trend- The direction in which fashion is moving. Something new that is gaining popularity and wide acceptance in the market place.

Fashion Movement Terms Continued • Fashion Leaders- The few "fashion forward" men or women with enough confidence and credibility to start or accept new fashions. Also known as "Trendsetters." • Fashion Followers- Those who wear fashion looks only when they become firmly accepted • Fashion Laggers- Those who are last to adopt a style

Fashion Cycle • A bell shaped curve indicating the rise and fall of a style • Cycles can overlap

Fashion Terms Classic- A style of design that continues to be popular over an extended period of time, even though fashions change. Trend – the way the styles are going Fad- temporary, passing fashion. Great appeal for a short amount of time Flop – never really becomes popular Taste – the prevailing opinion of what is attractive and appropriate for a given person and occasion Dress code – “rules” that tell people what they can and can’t wear Avant-garde- clothes that are most daring wild designs / unconventional

Textiles • Sources of textile fibers: • Natural • Plant • Animal • Manufactured • Plants that require processing • Synthetic • Chemicals

Fabrics are made by: • Weaving • Knitting • Twisting • Felting • Bonding

Fabric Finishes • Change the natural characteristics of the fabric • One of the final touches put on yarns and fabrics • Make fabrics more appealing and useful • Include a variety of ways to enhance a fabric • Decorative Finishes • Printing by hand or machine • Etching, flocking, texturing • Embroidery, quilting, appliqué • Functional Finishes • Permanent press • Antibacterial, antistatic • Stain resistant • Water repellent • Unfinished Fabric – greige goods

Textile Innovations • New textiles are still being invented today • Help meet consumer and industrial needs • Microfibers • Were first developed in Japan • Are made from polyester, nylon, rayon, olefin, acrylic • Are created from manufactured/synthetic fibers • Are 4 times finer than a spider’s web

Textile Terms • Yarn – a bundle of fibers twisted together • Textile – a general term to describe fibers, yarns or fabrics • Fiber – the smallest strand that can be unraveled or untwisted from a textile • Fabric – a flat, two dimensional flexible material made from fibers and yarns • Spinneret – a small nozzle with tiny holes used to make manufactured fibers

Visual Merchandising is: • the physical display of goods in the most • attractive and appealing ways • Goal: • to please customer senses as shoppers enter • and move around the store • Purpose: • to sell goods and promote the store image • to educate consumers about new item trends or show how new • items can be worn or accessorized • to provide pertinent information, such as price or special features • to get attention for the store • to introduce the store to prospective customers • to build goodwill

Visual Merchandising • Décor – the style and appearance of interior furnishing • Merchandise presentation – the ways that goods are hung, placed on shelves, etc.

Fixtures • Shelves, tables, rods, counters, stands, easels, forms and platforms on which merchandise is stocked and displayed for sale. • Capacity fixtures – hold large amounts of merchandise *Usually at rear or interior of floor *May be featured during sales or promotions • Feature fixtures – designed to hold small amounts of merchandise *Face outward, toward customer *Features newest and most exciting items *Refill or change merchandise at least once a week

The drawing that shows the positioning • of all selling and sales support areas • Grid layout – one or more primary (main) aisles running through the store, with secondary (smaller) aisles intersecting with them at right angles. • 1. Provides efficient use of selling space • 2. Provides good sight and security • 3. Simplifies shopping for consumers • 4. Uninteresting atmosphere • 5. Merchandise areas and aisles often have different • flooring surfaces, such as carpet versus tile. • Maze layout – free-flowing arrangement with fixtures in informal, unbalanced placements. • Paths of shoppers are determined by positioning • of fixtures, often taking them past merchandise they would not have seen • 2. Provides more interesting shopping environment • 3. Some selling space is usually wasted Store Layouts

Store Layouts Include: • Selling areas • Sales support areas

Fashion Shows • Purpose: • To introduce new merchandise • To promote a store or school’s program • Types • Production • Special Event • Tea Room Modeling

Retail Stores • Department Store – Large-scale, fashion-oriented retailers that offer many varieties of merchandise grouped into separate departments. Macy’s • Discount Store - Retail establishments that sell merchandise at lower than recognized market-level prices. T.J. MAXX • Specialty Store - Retailers that offer limited lines or related products targeted to more defined customers. A L’Amour Bridal Shop • Wholesale Warehouse Club - Retailers that combine wholesaling and retailing on a “no frills,” cash-and-carry basis. Costco • Chain Store - group of stores that are owned, managed, merchandised and controlled by a central office. Claire’s

Goods Example: Clothes VS • Services Example: Hair styling

The Free-Market System • Competition – many stores want you to buy from them. They are “competing” for your money. • People freely choose what to buy. • Supply and demand determines price. • Profit = Sales - Expenses

Sales Strategies • Prestige Pricing - A policy of setting high prices on items to attract customers who want quality goods or the status of owning expensive items. • Value Pricing - Pricing items below the price suggested by the vendors of the goods. • Promotional Pricing - Advertising special price reductions of goods to bring in shoppers who will then buy other items as well. • Clearance Sale - Selling merchandise at reduced prices to make room for new merchandise . • Pre-season Sale - Reducing the price of new merchandise before a season begins.

Advertising Strategies • Reasons Why - Benefits of products or store are emphasized. • Comparison - Competing brands are in the same ad. • Sensuality - Erotic images are emphasized. • Causes - Associated with public service to help social issues such as fighting cancer. • Testimonial - A famous person endorses or puts his or her name on products.

Fashion Illustration • Croquis - A fashion illustration of a body that can be duplicated to use for designing. • Fashion figures are taller and thinner than the average real person. • Proportion – the relationship of a part to the whole. 3/5 is the “golden ratio”. • Silhouette – the shape of one’s body or a garment.

Principles & Elements of Design Principles Elements Balance Color Proportion Line Rhythm Form Emphasis Texture One can create an illusion by applying the principles and elements of design.

Design • Proportion - a principle of design that concerns the spatial (size) relationship of all parts in a design to each other and the whole • Texture - an element of design concerned with the tactile quality of goods, or how the surface feels and looks. • Harmony - pleasing visual unity of a design created by a tasteful relationship among all parts within the whole. • Emphasis - principle of design that uses a concentration of interest in a particular part or area of a design. • Balance - the principle of design that implies equilibrium or steadiness

Design & Merchandising