15 Elements of Good Clothing Design in 2024
Want to launch an apparel brand but don’t have a fashion design background? This blog was created by Amanda Rango of ARD Fashion Consulting, a designer with over 23 years of experience who helps fashion founders launch and scale their fashion businesses. You’ll be provided with essential information about clothing design so you can confidently begin your fashion design journey.
What is Clothing Design?
Clothing design is the process of creating garments from scratch. This process usually begins with a form of inspiration, whether that may be art, history, personal expression, or even current trends in the marketplace. What starts as a sketch to visualize ideas becomes a physical garment. There are a few essential elements to consider when designing clothing.
Essential Elements of Good Clothing Design
1. Fabrics
As you design clothing, it is important to keep in mind the target fabric that your design is intended for. Certain fabrics can affect the retention or draping of your garment, ultimately affecting the fit you want to achieve. It will also impact things like cost, durability, and sustainability.
Fabrics will dictate texture which can create visual interest and influence seasonality.
2. Color
Color can be one of the most commercially impactful choices you may make within a design. Color has the selling influence which is easily driven by consumer demand.
For example, there was a resurgence of the color pink during the Barbie movie’s premiere in 2023 claiming, “In footwear, unit sales of pink sneakers for adults grew 15% in the second quarter versus a year ago” (CNN).
You can predict seasonal color trends by observing history and runways. As a contract designer myself, I use pantone.com to ensure my color standards meet industry expectations. Pantone is a great resource to learn about color and establish a global standard across multiple clients.
3. Silhouette
The silhouette is what shapes the overall appearance and style of your garment. It will drastically influence the identity of your clothing.
Take this exercise for example- think of a tank top.
If I had to guess, everyone reading this might think of a regular tank top differently than the next.
Is it cropped, classic length or full length?
Is it fitted to the body, boxy, or flowy?
Are the straps thin or thick?
What about the neckline? Scoop, V-Neck, Henley details?
As you can see, there’s a lot of silhouette manipulation that can be done that results in an entirely different garment.
4. Construction
The construction of your garment is the pattern and techniques that your manufacturer will use to create your piece. It is so important to have a seasoned, experienced, technical designer who knows how to communicate the construction and quality direction to your manufacturer.
Construction will influence the overall durability and perceived quality of your garment. Many construction choices come at an additional cost. For example, certain seam constructions are more costly to produce than others.
Specialty construction will also dictate the types of factories you work with. Not all manufacturers have the same capabilities or machines to achieve your desired construction. That’s why we use Deva Fashion Consulting to support our clients in finding the best vendor match for the construction and quality we want to achieve.
5. Fit
The ultimate selling factor for most customers is fit. A garment may be beautiful, but if it’s only crafted to fit one body type, you are likely missing sales opportunities. Fit and grading is a crucial part of the design process that takes time.
At ARD, we use industry-standard Alvanon fit forms to follow modern-day fits modeled after true human anatomy. Alvanon states that they use, “the latest technology and body shape data to advise the world's leading apparel brands and retailers on fit and sizing strategies.”
Understanding Design Principles in Clothing Design
Design Principles are fundamental concepts that give designers a framework to make cohesive clothing design choices. The principles are not strict rules but rather guidelines to influence creative decisions in fashion.
6. Balance
Balance is the visual distribution of space within a garment. If you were to split a garment down the middle from head to toe, a symmetrical (or balanced) garment would have the same elements on the left and right sides.
Symmetry creates harmony, but asymmetry can also be used inversely as a design choice. An asymmetrical balance draws the eye because it will visually stand out to customers. See below for an example from We Are Showstoppers of how balance can influence clothing design.
7. Proportion
Proportion is the spatial relationship of all parts of a design to each other and the garment as a whole. Not only does a good proportion have a positive visual appearance, but it also will determine how a garment flatters its wearer’s body.
In design, the golden rule is a historically accepted ratio between two numbers that equals approximately 1.618. See below for an example from the Disha Fashion Institute that demonstrated the golden rule in practice.
8. Emphasis
Emphasis is the intentional choice a designer makes to create a focal point within a garment. It is a principle that guides the viewer's eye throughout a garment.
There are a variety of design elements that can be used to create emphasis like color, line, and texture.
9. Rhythm
Rhythm is the repetition of elements to create movement within a design.
Rhythm can be achieved with a variety of methods.
Repetition: Repeating the same element, often a pattern, throughout the garment. It is predictable.
This polka dot skirt achieves rhythm through repetition.
Alternation or Opposition: Changing between two or more elements within a sequence. It is unexpected but executed in such a way that it maintains order.
In this example, color is used to create opposition as the light color cuts into the blue body and a contrasting navy pocket.
Gradation: The gradual, or slow, change in elements. It is done in a smooth progression
Radiation: Elements radiate outward from a central focal point
The center twist in this dress creates a radial effect.
All of these methods of rhythm are great ways to give your design life and a dynamic persona!
10. Harmony
Similar to balance, harmony is when a design achieves overall visual unity. Harmony is created when elements of design meet the principles of design to complement the garment wearer.
Factors to Consider in Clothing Design
Outside of design elements and principles, there are a number of factors that will be important to consider for the commercial viability of your product.
11. Target Market
Your identified target market should be at the center of all of your design decisions. Demographics like age, gender, and income are all crucial to the look you want to achieve. Psychographics such as beliefs and goals are also relevant factors.
A clear target market establishes a strong brand identity. It ensures that the designs, marketing, and overall brand message are consistent and aligned with the audience’s expectations.
12. Functionality
We’ve all seen crazy runway styles that look impossible to wear in everyday life that really leave you scratching your head.
However, your customers will expect your garment to fulfill the intended function of the clothing. It allows people to wear your clothing frustration-free.
In a more literal sense, activewear for example should include sweat-wicking functionality in the design process.
13. Sustainability
Sustainability is an ever-evolving topic in the fashion industry. New generations expect sustainability to be at the forefront of design choices and I agree! It’s so important to factor sustainability into the clothing at the beginning stages, rather than meaninglessly at the end of the production process.
Everything from fabric choice to labor conditions impacts sustainability and the mark that companies leave on the world. Sustainability is necessary to make this industry thrive long-term.
14. Cost
Cost will define your garment’s competitiveness in the market. You need to price your product at a ticket price that will provide you with a healthy margin to feed into other areas of the business. Margin rate will vary greatly according to brand positioning and goals, but I try to reach a 50-70% margin rate for most of my ARD Clients.
Managing costs is a responsible practice for business owners to be agile in unpredictable market conditions. I see far too many cases of businesses that cannot survive periods of increased costs as demonstrated by the 2020 Pandemic and its uncharted precedence of high transportation costs.
15. Fashion Trends
Finally, trends are an ever-evolving process to manage. As crazy as it is to admit, trends influence a lot more of fashion design than you might realize. There is a delicate balance between leaning into trends and avoiding blatant duplication.
It is fun to watch trends ebb and flow throughout the years. I would've never thought low-rise flare jeans would be flying off the shelves in 2024!
Carefully placed trend elements can bring modern relevance and a new audience to your brand.
Resources for Fashion Apparel Design
I know all this can sound scary if it is your first time diving into the world of clothing design. I hope this guide provided you with an idea of what to expect as you begin your journey!
If you’d like assistance designing and producing your fashion apparel collection, ARD Fashion Consulting is a full-service design and production firm that helps clients launch their brands from concept to creation. We work in all of the areas of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel with decades of industry experience at the corporate level.
Check out our website at ard-consulting.com to schedule a discovery call or read more informative blog posts like this one!
