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Fabric Choices
How to Make Shower Curtains : Fabric Options for Shower Curtains
From fabrics to Clothing
Throughout history there have been associations between clothing and fabrics. This relationship is not only simply one of being connected, in many ways they are inseparable. When considering one it is very difficult to ignore the other. This intimate bond between the two ultimately,if not immediately, have some impact on the other. Perhaps now more than ever, the relationship is at its closest, largely due to technological advances, great changes in lifestyle and the growing sophistication of consumer demands. The current rage for futuristic influence reflected in textiles and fashion goes hand in hand with advances in related technology and scientific research. A phenomenon mirrored, perhaps, in an earlier time when Du Pont's development of Nylon led to the craze for nylon stockings in the 1940s. It is evident that fabrics and fashions are marked with and indelible seal indicating their era and mutual origins.
The complex interrelationship between clothing and fabrics was at one time apparent through health issues that led to developments in both spheres. In the late nineteenth century at the International Health Exhibition of 1884 in London, the dress reformer E.W.Godwin expressed in a lecture:
"As architecture is the art and science of building, so dress is the art and science of clothing. To construct and decorate a covering for the human body that shall be beautiful and healthy is as important as to build a shelter for it when is covered that shall be also both beautiful and healthy." (Godwin,1884:1)
The intricacies of the complex bond between fashion and fabrics are steeped in history. The relationship between fashion and fabrics involves association between fashion designer,textile designer, fibre industries, colour authorities,global commerce, the consumer and the medias industries to mention but a few. As the raw material of fashion,textiles constitute a complex system of primary industries comprising fibre and fabric producers of both natural and artificial materials and including the research,development and finishing industries. The fibre and textile industries have grown and expanded rapidly in recent years, facilitated by technological and mechanical advances in everything from the origination of new fibres through to innovative methods of production. These important and sometimes groundbreaking changes, in turn, continually provide the fashion industry with a vast assortment of materials to choose from.
Trends in fibres and fabrics develop from information gathered from professionals in fashion, textile mills, and other industry experts. Initial judgments and choices in textiles focus on colour. Views and opinions are drawn industry experts. The fibre and fabric industries also resolve issues of texture, production and construction, which are typically informed by demands within fashion.
The fashion designer's relationship with fabric can be intensely personal. This intensity is very apparent at haute couture level, more so than at any other level, and is largely due to the fact that indulgence and personal expression can be afforded at this level. Designers can develop designs ideas by draping with a fashion fabric,real material, rather than toiling with a fabric substitute like
calico. In the late 1940s and early 1950s Jacques Fath, Parsian couturier to royalty and movie stars, would create designs by moulding fabric directly onto a model, responding to the fabric as he worked, rather than sketching first. Contemporary examples of designers eternally searching for the 'right' fabric and communicating their personal philosophies through their collections.
The size of a fashion company, and the designer within that company, dictates the attitude they have toward fabrics. For example, a company with a large market share will excersie a safe policy of 'repeat' ordering. Successful fabrics from previous seasons are ordered at a very early stage in the design process. Operating this way, the designers in these larger companies are familiar with the performance characteristics of chosen fabrics and are able to avoid the draping part of the design process. Draping being a normal way to find out how the material behaves on the body. This is in stark contrast to the smaller fashion design company that offers its clientele something original and unique. As a consequence of using a greater variety of fabrics and less repeat fabrics, they need to assess the draping quality of fabrics more than large companies. The designer within a large company is able to sustain good relation with fabric producers facilitating communication about characteristics sought or the nature of emergent trends, this can result in the manufacture of new fabrics in order to update the company's ranges. In contrast smaller companies tend to focus on the individuality their products imply, achieving this through fabric selection as well as silhouette. The fashion designer's fabric selection are relative to the market they are supplying and they will ultimately choose the materials they judge to be most appropriate for their consumer. This is reflected in the individuality, material variety and choice offered by the smaller company, as opposed to other big companies.
Apart from being emotive, the fashion designer's relationship with material can also be subject to their personal philosophy and belief, which they choose to express through fashion.
When a fashion designer considers how today's lifestyle makes demands on the modern fashion consumer, fabric choice plays an integral part in the design process. Although on first impression these designers appear to be worlds apart and granted they certainly are very different from one another in terms of design philosophy, similarities arise between them in their consideration of the needs of the traveler.
Of the various tasks that a fashion designer has to deal with, fabric consideration, selection and delivery take up the bulk of a designer's time. After fabrics have been selected at fairs or through mills for specific designs, the designer goes back to their studio and begins to sample (prototype a garment) rather than toile (develop in a mannequin), in fabric similar to the real one purchased. This helps the designer to understand how a fabric will behave when used in a particular design. At this stage other issues can dominate the process, sometimes overriding design decisions. For instance, concerns about fabric price, supply, delivery or minimum order quantities may end up compromising a design. There are also lead times to deal with, which again vary according to the mill that supplies the fabric. Delivery is relative to the type of fabric requested, therefore decisions about prints or embroidery and fibres need to be made prior to material selection as they take a longer process.
The different levels of fashion designers span the breadth of the fashion industry, from high fashion or 'name' designers at the top end of the market to stylist designers and freelance designers at the lower end. In each of these categories, the designer has to make creative and economic decisions to meet of their particular market sector. Although the cost of fabric is a concern at all levels, it is less of an issue at the higher end of the market, at this level fabric expense, to a certain extent is allowed for in the price of a garment. The tight economics involved in mass production of simpler apparel at the lower end of the market make fabric price more of a critical feature. A stylist-designer usually takes and modifies designs at the higher end market and produces low cost versions in cheaper fabrics. To draw the mass-market consumer, this requires the stylist-designer to comprehend systems of fabric
and garment production. The freelance designer has no real involvement in the selection of fabrics or production decisions; their participation in the design process begins and ends with a sketch. So fabric costs, together with labour and other overhead expenses in the construction of a garment, are fundamental considerations for a company in order to maintain required levels of profitability.
About the Author
Completed ISC from a reputed English medium school in Kolkata in the year 2002 with 85%+. Fashion & beauty is in my blood as my mother who is sole inspiration of Eslarr Enterprise, incorporated in the year 1978 is now a renowned manufacturer and exporter of Indian Ethnic Dresses.
I have also studied kathak for 6 years while I am in school. I am experimented with whatever seemed interesting. I will try anything once. I believe that if God gives you talent, don't be ungrateful. Use it.
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