Fig.1
Fig.2
The Struggle of New Fashion Designers
Cesar Chavez
University of Texas El Paso
Abstract
Every fashion designers dream is to have their own line of clothing, but many don’t succeed and close down their business. Fashion designers face many struggles to start and stay in business. The designer needs plenty of money for production, fashion shows, advertising, and work place. Fashion designers are always going to be put down for trying to start their fashion lines in small or home towns. New designers are also competing against the big fashion names that have been going on for years. Many of the new designers are people that have been in the spot light and already have the necessary tools to throw high-end fashion collections. A lot of designers struggle to keep their brand and unfortunately the have to close down their shop. There are so many problems that new fashion designers face and a lot of them don’t know what they are getting themselves into. A lot of these aspiring fashion designers come from small towns and from different coulters that prevents them from following their dreams. There should be more programs that help new fashion designers achieve their future at a college level.
The Struggle of New Fashion Designers
Rising New Designers
Every fashion week there are new designers hitting the runways and it takes more than a few shows to get noticed by fashion editors to critique your fashion lines. A lot of designers don’t take in consideration that to be your own company you need plenty of money to throw a collection for one season. Plenty of these new fashion designers have to face challenges to keep on showing their beautiful clothing. These designers work day and night to create clothing samples to hope buyers order their clothing line. A new designer has to put in most of the work to make sure his line gets out there, but there are some organizations that could help him succeed. You need to know who you are and who you’re selling to as new designers, and some people will love or hate your collection. There’s plenty of things upcoming designers have to consider before they launch themselves as new designers. Fashion designers need to pursue higher education for their future and in order to do that they end up leaving their families to follow their dreams.
The Fashion Designer Struggle
All of our greatest fashion designers have raised to the top for decades, but have struggled to maintain the business and label. “Turning a label into a business that can stage a show deserving of the industry’s energy is a years-long process, a very small part of which is devoted to actually designing clothing. Sustaining a business and forging relationships with the industry’s veteran players is an exhausting dance that few designers relish, and even fewer master.” said Amy Odell for The Cut. Every new season there are new designers launching lines and throwing fashion shows, but how many continue after three or four seasons? “If someone’s standing out in New York Fashion Week, it’s not the first time folks have heard about them,” says fashion publicist Umindi Francis, who is known for her work with up-and-coming labels. “It’s kind of naive to think you can come out of obscurity and all of a suddenly rise to notoriety.” (Odell for the Cut). Many of the new fashion designers are facing various problems when they start their own fashion line and trying to create a name for themselves. “Chadwick Bell showed in Lincoln Center for the first time this season, to a crowd that included the stylist Mary Alice Stevenson and Elle style director Kate Lanphear. “It’s a one-brick-at-a-time business," he said a few days before his show. "You have to know your client and know what their needs are and meet them, meet their friends. You can do shows all you want but at the end of the day you have to sell clothes.”(Odell for the Cut). Fashion designers have to know the backside of the industry in order to be successful and creative on their designs.
There are some success stories that are inspirational for new designers to make them not give up on their dreams. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen have started their own fashion empire since they were sixteen, and now they are high-end fashion designers for their fashion line The Row as seen on fig.1. “As a child, Brian Cresson would sneak around his mom to hide the outfits he really planned to wear at school in his backpack. Now the 30-year old fashion designer is about to launch his newest clothing line with a show in March. Cresson will present his newest label Free Ego on March 7 and 8 at his first fashion show. The show is titled “Free Ego Presents Struggle: An original clothing brand launch, performance, fashion show and reception.”(Taylor Seely for the Downtown Devil). It’s very different though if you’re starting out from nothing and your name isn’t well known. New designers are facing a struggle but they can also make an impact on the runway. “W editor Stefano Tonchi says he always takes the time to “go and see somebody new” at Fashion Week. But many of the new designers he sees have been around for seasons (he cited Juan Carlos Obanda, who is hardly fresh out of the gates). And while editors laud New York for the many funding schemes and sponsorships available to emerging designers, most of those require designers to have sold clothing to stores already and been in business for at least a couple seasons.” (Odell for the Cut)
The Biggest Issues
As new upcoming fashion designers are hitting the cat walks a lot of them are hitting the streets and closing shop to work for the bigger names in fashion. There are a lot of issues a fashion designer must decide before they consider they want to dedicate their whole life to their fashion empire. Fashion designers must choose whether they’re for or against child labor laws in other countries for the production of their garments. They must choose what types of fabrics and textiles, if they’re into eco-friendly fabrics, and if they are for or against using animal fur and leather. “High overheads are threatening the future of bricks and mortar retail, while online shopping in Australia continues to grow. With more than 20 top designers gathering in Melbourne for fashion week, industry experts are taking the opportunity to encourage them to try new strategies to keep their shops open. The Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia has hosted a panel discussion featuring academics, designers and retailers.”(Jacqui Peak for ABC news). A designer must stay true who they are as designers, while keeping in mind who they are selling to.
Many of these upcoming fashion designers have been in the fashion and spotlight industry for decades and launch their own clothing lines. Victoria Beckham recently launched her clothing line shown in Fig.2, and have succeed by showing several times at fashion week. A lot of the new fresh out of school designers have to prove more than designers that have money and know the industry. “T magazine editor Sally Singer urges designers to carefully consider if showing is the right move for their label. “I think it’s a mistake to put everything into a show and to believe that that will launch your business if you don’t have money for production and if you don’t have money to actually show to the buyers,” she says. “You can have an impact, but it’s hard ... you have to almost be a parasite to a bigger show. And then you have to have money to make the clothes. So often people put all their money into their show samples and they don’t have any money to take the orders. You’ve got to be ready to spend money to hopefully, one day before you're 80, make some money."(Odell for the Cut)
Fashion Education
Going to school to study for fashion design is a hard thing to break to a family especially when you come from a family with different cultures and social class. Students that dream of being fashion designers from small towns don’t have the access to fashion education, and have to move to bigger cities where rent and tuition are so high. The University of Texas at El Paso does not have a fashion design program, and El Paso Community College dose offer a major in fashion design and merchandising. Why are they keeping that away from a city that is right on the border and many foreign students cross the border every day to go to class? Bringing a fashion program to The University of Texas at El Paso would benefit the Hispanic community and inspire them to succeed on their dreams.
Summary
The fashion industry has a dark side that a lot of new fashion designers are not aware of and is bringing their empire to close shop. This community report explains the different problems that new fashion designers are facing and have to face. There are plenty of issues that new fashion designers should consider before they want to dedicate their life to establish their fashion line.
Fashion designers have to give up a lot to pursue their career in the business, and education plays a big part on a designer especially if they have to move out of state. There should be more programs to help out the education of fashion designers because everyone has a different vision and esthetic.
REFERENCES
The Associated Press (2014, March 19). Death Of Designer L'Wren Scott Is Ruled A Suicide : NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=291411246
Carey, A. (2013, December 4). Diane Linston leaves struggles behind, makes fashion designer dream a reality: Fashion Flash (slideshow) | cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2013/12/diane_linston_leaves_struggles.html
Lee, J. J. (2005, October 11). Struggling to succeed in Paris - The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/10/style/10iht-rindie.html
Odell, A. (2012, February 15). Hungry for Attention, New Designers Struggle Through Fashion Week - The Cut. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/02/new-designers-struggle-through-fashion-week.html
Peake, J. (2013, September 3). Fashion designers setting new business trends in struggling retail market - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-03/fashion-designers-setting-business-trends/4931982
Seely, T. (2014, February 12). Grand Avenue designer to release clothing line in debut fashion show | Downtown Devil. Retrieved from http://downtowndevil.com/2014/02/12/54760/grand-avenue-designer-to-release-clothing-line-in-debut-fashion-show/
Sweeney, B. (2012, July 2). Crain's Chicago Business : Subscription Center. Retrieved from http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120630/ISSUE01/306309986/local-fashion-designers-find-no-fast-buck-in-chicago
Cesar Chavez
University of Texas El Paso
Abstract
Every fashion designers dream is to have their own line of clothing, but many don’t succeed and close down their business. Fashion designers face many struggles to start and stay in business. The designer needs plenty of money for production, fashion shows, advertising, and work place. Fashion designers are always going to be put down for trying to start their fashion lines in small or home towns. New designers are also competing against the big fashion names that have been going on for years. Many of the new designers are people that have been in the spot light and already have the necessary tools to throw high-end fashion collections. A lot of designers struggle to keep their brand and unfortunately the have to close down their shop. There are so many problems that new fashion designers face and a lot of them don’t know what they are getting themselves into. A lot of these aspiring fashion designers come from small towns and from different coulters that prevents them from following their dreams. There should be more programs that help new fashion designers achieve their future at a college level.
The Struggle of New Fashion Designers
Rising New Designers
Every fashion week there are new designers hitting the runways and it takes more than a few shows to get noticed by fashion editors to critique your fashion lines. A lot of designers don’t take in consideration that to be your own company you need plenty of money to throw a collection for one season. Plenty of these new fashion designers have to face challenges to keep on showing their beautiful clothing. These designers work day and night to create clothing samples to hope buyers order their clothing line. A new designer has to put in most of the work to make sure his line gets out there, but there are some organizations that could help him succeed. You need to know who you are and who you’re selling to as new designers, and some people will love or hate your collection. There’s plenty of things upcoming designers have to consider before they launch themselves as new designers. Fashion designers need to pursue higher education for their future and in order to do that they end up leaving their families to follow their dreams.
The Fashion Designer Struggle
All of our greatest fashion designers have raised to the top for decades, but have struggled to maintain the business and label. “Turning a label into a business that can stage a show deserving of the industry’s energy is a years-long process, a very small part of which is devoted to actually designing clothing. Sustaining a business and forging relationships with the industry’s veteran players is an exhausting dance that few designers relish, and even fewer master.” said Amy Odell for The Cut. Every new season there are new designers launching lines and throwing fashion shows, but how many continue after three or four seasons? “If someone’s standing out in New York Fashion Week, it’s not the first time folks have heard about them,” says fashion publicist Umindi Francis, who is known for her work with up-and-coming labels. “It’s kind of naive to think you can come out of obscurity and all of a suddenly rise to notoriety.” (Odell for the Cut). Many of the new fashion designers are facing various problems when they start their own fashion line and trying to create a name for themselves. “Chadwick Bell showed in Lincoln Center for the first time this season, to a crowd that included the stylist Mary Alice Stevenson and Elle style director Kate Lanphear. “It’s a one-brick-at-a-time business," he said a few days before his show. "You have to know your client and know what their needs are and meet them, meet their friends. You can do shows all you want but at the end of the day you have to sell clothes.”(Odell for the Cut). Fashion designers have to know the backside of the industry in order to be successful and creative on their designs.
There are some success stories that are inspirational for new designers to make them not give up on their dreams. Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen have started their own fashion empire since they were sixteen, and now they are high-end fashion designers for their fashion line The Row as seen on fig.1. “As a child, Brian Cresson would sneak around his mom to hide the outfits he really planned to wear at school in his backpack. Now the 30-year old fashion designer is about to launch his newest clothing line with a show in March. Cresson will present his newest label Free Ego on March 7 and 8 at his first fashion show. The show is titled “Free Ego Presents Struggle: An original clothing brand launch, performance, fashion show and reception.”(Taylor Seely for the Downtown Devil). It’s very different though if you’re starting out from nothing and your name isn’t well known. New designers are facing a struggle but they can also make an impact on the runway. “W editor Stefano Tonchi says he always takes the time to “go and see somebody new” at Fashion Week. But many of the new designers he sees have been around for seasons (he cited Juan Carlos Obanda, who is hardly fresh out of the gates). And while editors laud New York for the many funding schemes and sponsorships available to emerging designers, most of those require designers to have sold clothing to stores already and been in business for at least a couple seasons.” (Odell for the Cut)
The Biggest Issues
As new upcoming fashion designers are hitting the cat walks a lot of them are hitting the streets and closing shop to work for the bigger names in fashion. There are a lot of issues a fashion designer must decide before they consider they want to dedicate their whole life to their fashion empire. Fashion designers must choose whether they’re for or against child labor laws in other countries for the production of their garments. They must choose what types of fabrics and textiles, if they’re into eco-friendly fabrics, and if they are for or against using animal fur and leather. “High overheads are threatening the future of bricks and mortar retail, while online shopping in Australia continues to grow. With more than 20 top designers gathering in Melbourne for fashion week, industry experts are taking the opportunity to encourage them to try new strategies to keep their shops open. The Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia has hosted a panel discussion featuring academics, designers and retailers.”(Jacqui Peak for ABC news). A designer must stay true who they are as designers, while keeping in mind who they are selling to.
Many of these upcoming fashion designers have been in the fashion and spotlight industry for decades and launch their own clothing lines. Victoria Beckham recently launched her clothing line shown in Fig.2, and have succeed by showing several times at fashion week. A lot of the new fresh out of school designers have to prove more than designers that have money and know the industry. “T magazine editor Sally Singer urges designers to carefully consider if showing is the right move for their label. “I think it’s a mistake to put everything into a show and to believe that that will launch your business if you don’t have money for production and if you don’t have money to actually show to the buyers,” she says. “You can have an impact, but it’s hard ... you have to almost be a parasite to a bigger show. And then you have to have money to make the clothes. So often people put all their money into their show samples and they don’t have any money to take the orders. You’ve got to be ready to spend money to hopefully, one day before you're 80, make some money."(Odell for the Cut)
Fashion Education
Going to school to study for fashion design is a hard thing to break to a family especially when you come from a family with different cultures and social class. Students that dream of being fashion designers from small towns don’t have the access to fashion education, and have to move to bigger cities where rent and tuition are so high. The University of Texas at El Paso does not have a fashion design program, and El Paso Community College dose offer a major in fashion design and merchandising. Why are they keeping that away from a city that is right on the border and many foreign students cross the border every day to go to class? Bringing a fashion program to The University of Texas at El Paso would benefit the Hispanic community and inspire them to succeed on their dreams.
Summary
The fashion industry has a dark side that a lot of new fashion designers are not aware of and is bringing their empire to close shop. This community report explains the different problems that new fashion designers are facing and have to face. There are plenty of issues that new fashion designers should consider before they want to dedicate their life to establish their fashion line.
Fashion designers have to give up a lot to pursue their career in the business, and education plays a big part on a designer especially if they have to move out of state. There should be more programs to help out the education of fashion designers because everyone has a different vision and esthetic.
REFERENCES
The Associated Press (2014, March 19). Death Of Designer L'Wren Scott Is Ruled A Suicide : NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=291411246
Carey, A. (2013, December 4). Diane Linston leaves struggles behind, makes fashion designer dream a reality: Fashion Flash (slideshow) | cleveland.com. Retrieved from http://www.cleveland.com/style/index.ssf/2013/12/diane_linston_leaves_struggles.html
Lee, J. J. (2005, October 11). Struggling to succeed in Paris - The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/10/style/10iht-rindie.html
Odell, A. (2012, February 15). Hungry for Attention, New Designers Struggle Through Fashion Week - The Cut. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/thecut/2012/02/new-designers-struggle-through-fashion-week.html
Peake, J. (2013, September 3). Fashion designers setting new business trends in struggling retail market - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-03/fashion-designers-setting-business-trends/4931982
Seely, T. (2014, February 12). Grand Avenue designer to release clothing line in debut fashion show | Downtown Devil. Retrieved from http://downtowndevil.com/2014/02/12/54760/grand-avenue-designer-to-release-clothing-line-in-debut-fashion-show/
Sweeney, B. (2012, July 2). Crain's Chicago Business : Subscription Center. Retrieved from http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120630/ISSUE01/306309986/local-fashion-designers-find-no-fast-buck-in-chicago