Fashion collections are created by designers to showcase the designs created by them and may include clothing, shoes, handbags, and other accessories. But how do fashion collections work?
Traditional fashion seasons were spring to summer to autumn winter and displayed at Fashion Weeks in Paris, Milan, and New York; but now designers offer Resort and Pre-Fall collections that bridge both seasons.
Seasonal
Fashion Season refers to the period between when designers exhibit their Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter collections at Fashion Week and when these designs go into stores – an effective system meant to ensure uninterrupted design, production, and distribution processes.
Fashion designers begin planning for Winter, Summer, and Autumn designs well in advance of their seasonal debuts. A designer could even have spring/summer samples ready by mid-November of the previous year!
Some brands are even forgoing the traditional fashion season calendar entirely and opting instead for a seasonless approach, releasing designs throughout the year depending on customer demands and buying cycles.
Fashion seasons can be confusing due to designers not being able to complete an entire collection at once; rather, their work must be spread out over several months. When their collection is complete, designers need to submit it for approval by manufacturers before waiting for samples to arrive and starting production – a process that may take up to six months from start to finish.
As mentioned above, Resort and Pre-Fall collections create an intermediate transition from winter to spring; designed originally as vacation collections for skipping school during cold months, these intermediate collections (also referred to as cruise, first summer, Pre-Spring, etc) serve to bridge this chasm between seasons.
Subtle Collections tend to be less costly than main collections and offer a smaller selection of styles that are easy to incorporate into a customer’s wardrobe. As a result, they have become increasingly popular, particularly among shoppers accustomed to fast fashion’s quick journey from catwalk to store shelves – leading them to impulse buy items that might not fit with their long-term fashion vision or that may exceed their budgets. It may also lead to overconsumption; customers feel pressured into stockpiling new clothing before their favorite pieces become obsolete!
Extensive
Many luxury fashion designers produce multiple collections each year, in addition to spring, fall, and couture collections. Resort and pre-collection offerings may also be included as each collection typically contains 12 looks/items – this creates a tremendous amount of product that has no time to sell itself out or establish consumer trust before being released for retail sale.
An effective fashion collection is key to operating a profitable clothing or luxury product-based business. Whether it is sold directly to consumers, or sold wholesale to retail and wholesalers who will resell in their shops, a commercially strong fashion collection forms the cornerstone of success for any successful clothing or luxury product-based venture. A good collection is one that maintains its signature style despite changing over time; something which a Master of Fashion Collection Management degree can assist in accomplishing.
Diverse
Fashion brands have had to navigate through many inclusion challenges in recent years, from #MeToo to Black Lives Matter and other movements advocating racial justice. Fashion brands must deal with diversity through models, clothing lines, and stores. This is an important part of how do fashion collections work.
As the world is an extremely diverse place, fashion should reflect this reality. Unfortunately, however, the fashion industry is failing to do enough to truly represent people from various backgrounds; therefore, diversity advisory councils have had to be utilized in order to effect superficial changes; though these councils provide good initial steps towards greater representation within the fashion industry.
Diversity covers more than just skin color; it encompasses sexuality, gender identity, and ability, among other attributes. Therefore, the fashion industry needs to become more inclusive and ensure all people are represented fairly.
Designers must ensure their products are suitable for all kinds of bodies by offering more size options or designing adaptive fashions to accommodate those with various disabilities. Furthermore, designers must employ diverse teams of employees who can offer feedback about designs created.
Fashion shows featuring spring collection fashion shows held around September of each year showcase numerous clothing pieces to signal trends for the next season’s clothing fashion scene. While these shows have been hailed for being among the most racially diverse ever, more needs to be done before all people are fully represented on stage.
Some fashion brands have already taken steps toward inclusiveness by offering unisex collections or working with plus-size influencers, both of which are great steps forward, yet it is vital that this movement doesn’t become just another passing fad that fades after several months. Furthermore, discussions should expand into issues like height diversity and accessibility to reach more people and encourage them to back the fashion industry’s efforts.
Cohesive
How do fashion collections work? Establishing an engaging fashion collection can be one of the greatest challenges associated with running a fashion brand. Whether selling directly to consumers or through wholesalers who then retail the products in their own stores, an impressive and commercially sound collection lies at the core of business success.
Establishing a clear vision for your collection is the first step to designing it and making sure it all fits together harmoniously and attractively. While creative inspiration plays an integral part in this stage, numbers and analysis also come into play to ensure the final product meets consumer demands.
The collection theme is the central idea that unifies all designs in one season, whether that theme is historical period or natural feature based. But its overall look and feel must remain consistent with its brand image and ethos.
Once the collection design phase is completed, its results are unveiled at fashion shows for retailers and magazines to view the collections before making their decisions about which garments to stock. Collections typically overlap; pre-fall collections usually appear shortly after autumn/winter collections while resort/cruise seasons will usually follow shortly afterward – yet these should remain cohesive enough so as to be sold as individual ranges.
