A fashion collection is a selection of outfits and individual garments that fashion designers put together every season and that reflect predictions of upcoming trends, including color, cut, line and proportion. A collection will usually include a variety of styles, from evening wear to sportswear to outerwear.
What is a Fashion Collection?
The cut, coordinating colors and design elements of each style usually tie the items together. It’s likely that a fashion designer will have two collections per year — one for the fall/winter season and one for the spring/summer season. The number of pieces included can range from as few as 30 pieces to as many as 120.
After the collection is finished being created and tailored, the designer usually puts on a fashion show. This allows potential buyers, such as distributors or retailers, to see each piece to see if they are interested in buying any of the garments. In the majority of fashion shows, models walk down a runway dressed in pieces from the collection.
Models in fashion shows often wear outlandish hair, makeup, and accessories to represent the designer’s artistic vision about the clothing. Each garment itself usually is designed to be functional and appealing to the general public, also known as the mass market, although this can vary by designer. People’s tastes change so frequently that fashion collections usually are designed with the idea in mind that the style, colors, and cuts will be out of style within one to two seasons.
Some designers specialize in haute couture, garments made to order for one individual customer. Money usually is no object when it comes to such pieces, and expensive fabrics and design techniques are used. Ready-to-wear collections are a cross between mass market design and haute couture. Although the pieces in a ready-to-wear collection aren’t created for individual customers as haute couture is, the designs and price points likely will not appeal to the general public.
Fashion students often have to present a fashion collection as part of their graduation requirements. Successful designers and fashion houses sometimes attend graduate student fashion shows, particularly at well-known art and design schools, to scout out future employees. These schools often are location in cities known for being centers of fashion, such as New York, London, Chicago, and Paris.
Key elements every strong fashion collection should have
Designing a commercially successful collection is not a melee of all the things you would like to wear/have yourself or your friends. But sadly this often is the case.
To create a collection that really sells (regardless of the above-mentioned type of collections), you will need to develop each of these key elements:
The Statement Piece/Press Communicator: Statement pieces should be bold and eye-catching. They could be a one-off piece that never makes it to production or you make a very small run. This is a piece that grabs the attention of the press, the buyers, and your clients.
A piece that has the WOW factor, that people talk about and that draws attention to your brand, and gets people through the door. This often can be your most expensive piece in the collection.
You don’t have to have many statement pieces. One or two per collection is enough.
The Gateway Piece/Bestseller: These are the pieces in your collection that you sell the most of (or, if you are designing your first collection, that you think you will sell most of, based on research of your target audience).
Designs that showcase your signature style and hold the collection together. This would be the bulk of what a buyer will spend time on looking at and selecting from. These pieces usually fall right in the middle of your collection’s price range.
The Up-Sell/Add-On Piece: These pieces are usually entry price point products that allow a new buyer to your collection to enter into your brand world. They are products that are priced at the bottom of your price structure and are easy to by as gifts, be an impulse buy or last minute add on to your already selected purchases.
Regardless if you are a collection or item designer, you can use all of these elements as you develop your collection.
When you have designed your fashion collection try to merchandise it into looks and think as a buyer. How would a buyer buy your fashion collection and how would they merchandise it in their store? How many pieces should they buy at a minimum to be able to represent you best as a designer? Different shops have different aesthetics. Play around with your collection and imagine how different shops will buy. In the process, you may see if you are missing anything or have too much of something. Adjust accordingly.
Resources: