Concept Development in Fashion Design: The Ultimate Guide (2024)
Want to design an apparel brand but don’t know where to start? 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 the beginning stage of fashion design- concept development- so you can confidently begin your fashion design journey.
Fashion design is more than just creating beautiful garments. It involves a structured process of concept development, which serves as the foundation for every successful collection. This guide will walk you through the key stages of concept development in fashion design, exploring its importance and how to apply it effectively to create cohesive, impactful collections.
What is Concept Development in Fashion Design?
Concept development in fashion design is the process of transforming an initial idea into a cohesive design approach that informs the entire creative journey. This phase includes brainstorming, researching, and refining a theme or aesthetic vision, ensuring the final collection remains consistent and impactful. The process typically involves exploring trends, defining the target market, and deciding on the overall mood and feel that will guide design decisions from start to finish.
Importance of Concept Development in Fashion Design
A mood board is a visual tool that gathers images, colors, textures, and inspirations to set the tone for a collection. It serves as a reference point throughout the design process, ensuring that the collection stays aligned with the intended theme.
Creating a mood board involves collecting visual references, such as photographs, fabric swatches, and color palettes, that represent the desired aesthetic. The goal is to curate a mood board that captures the essence of the design concept, maintaining focus and cohesion as the collection develops.
How Concept Development in Fashion Design Works
Mood Boards
A mood board is a visual tool that gathers images, colors, textures, and inspirations to set the tone for a collection. It serves as a reference point throughout the design process, ensuring that the collection stays aligned with the intended theme.
Creating a mood board for fashion design involves collecting visual references, such as photographs, fabric swatches, and color palettes, that represent the desired aesthetic. It’s important to curate a mood board that captures the essence of the design concept, helping to maintain focus and cohesion as the collection develops.
Mood boards are commonly underestimated in their complexity and depth of strategy. Let’s investigate the elements of a great mood board!!
The prompt is: Fall Wedding!
Example 1
Example 2
Summary:
Example 1: Features a warm color story with burnt oranges and terracotta hues. Fall textures, like velvets and ethereal laces, enhance the seasonal feel.
Example 2: Lacks color direction, alternating between warm and cool tones, with fabrics that don’t reflect the season (e.g., linens and summer ruffles).
The clear winner is Example 1, which effectively tells the story of a fall wedding guest, while Example 2 feels disjointed. Mood boards are meant to tell a story that words cannot, evoking all five senses and leaving a person with a cohesive interpretation of the design aesthetic.
Research and Inspiration
Research is the backbone of concept development in fashion design Conducting thorough research helps designers discover unique ideas and find a new angle on existing concepts.
Fashion designers must continually observe the world around them to stay ahead of trends and bring something fresh to their collections. This research phase helps uncover patterns and motifs that can be reinterpreted into their collections, offering something original and authentic.
Inspiration for fashion design can come from an endless variety of sources, both expected and unexpected. Here are some common places where designers find inspiration:
Art and Photography: Many designers are deeply inspired by fine art and photography. The way artists use color, form, and perspective can be translated into clothing designs. Visiting galleries, exploring modern art movements, or studying classic works can spark new ideas.
Film and Literature: Films often serve as a powerful source of inspiration, particularly period films with distinct costumes, set designs, and atmospheres. Similarly, literature can evoke emotions, themes, and imagery that shape a collection’s narrative. A designer might explore a particular character or scene and translate those details into a fashion concept.
Nature: Nature has always been a profound source of inspiration for fashion designers. Many collections are directly influenced by organic forms, patterns, and colors found in nature, resulting in flowing lines, floral motifs, or earthy color palettes.
Architecture: The structure and geometry of buildings can be a rich source of inspiration, particularly for designers interested in creating bold, architectural silhouettes. The precision, form, and function found in modern architecture can influence both garment shapes and construction techniques.
Pop Culture: Pop culture—through music, celebrity fashion, and social media—can provide a snapshot of what's trending and spark fresh ideas. Social media influencers act as real-time style feedback mechanisms, influencing the pace at which fashion trends are adopted.
The key challenge for any fashion designer is translating this wealth of inspiration into a cohesive design concept. This involves sorting through the gathered research to identify common threads or visual themes that align with the designer’s vision for the collection.
Resources for Fashion Apparel Design
Concept development is the critical first step in fashion design, guiding the entire creative process from inspiration to finished collection. By creating mood boards, conducting research, and identifying aesthetic goals, designers can create cohesive, resonant collections that tell a clear story and connect with their target audience.
In a competitive fashion industry, strong concept development allows designers to stay grounded in their vision, communicate effectively with collaborators, and stand out in the market.
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!