Let's Talk About: Categories of Women's Fashion

Women's Fashion Categories

When a designer works, are they making fashions for themselves? Rarely. More often the business is focused on a specific target customer and what she wants to buy. It is this person that the designer will produce designs for.

Most fashion companies have a specific type of garment that they are best known for. They don't 'jump' around and produce all different kinds of fashions. They will work hard to become well known in a certain category of fashion that is based on style and price. This is will be available at a limited type of store or web site where the target customer will shop.

How the ideal target customer plans their wardrobe, then finds and pays for it influences the design business. The kind of styles that are being made should fall into a category of fashion that relates to price, quality and where it is to be sold. In women's fashion there are several major customer categories where most apparel is found. The most common categories are:

Designer: This is an affluent shopper with little or no budget restraints. They are looking for unique fashions that are often introduced before most trends. They commonly want designer labels that demand a high price and are sold at high end boutiques or exclusive department stores.

Contemporary or Ready-to-Wear Bridge: This is also a higher priced fashion, but it is more available and less expensive than a designer's top label. This is the category where a famous designer's ready-to-wear fashions can be found. Department stores and boutiques will sell this product to a wider range of customers than the high end designer labels. Some of the types of apparel found in this category are: sportswear items such as tops and bottoms, career wear, dresses, lingerie, knits, sportswear, after 5 and special occasion dresses.

Missy : The missy shopper wants styles that are current in fashion, but not too outrageous or unusual. She loves fashion but doesn’t want to experiment with ideas that are unfamiliar, too sexy or dramatic. She may think the styles she buys are the latest designs because she often too busy to keep up with fashion week, runway reports or high fashion magazines. She has a budge so her price range is moderate and the labels she buys may be a well know brand’s more affordable product. The missy customer also looks for apparel that is easy to maintain, clean and wear. Most women’s apparel is available in this category: careerwear, sportswear, dresses, knits, denim, lingerie, special occasion and active wear.

Budget: This customer is looking for current fashion trends at a low price. They are not concerned with fine fabrics, expensive details and construction elements that might require a higher price. They want styles that look like what they see in the media, but are copied to be less expensive. These are the styles that are popular and favored by many people and could be fads that are happening at the time. Fashions in this category may be sold in chain and discount stores. This price bracket usually offers a more limited product selection: sportswear, tops and bottoms, casual dresses, work-out, knits, maternity, active wear, lingerie and sleepwear.

Junior: Although this is an ‘age’ category, it tends to attract a wide range of target customers who are from the early teens through adults in their fifties. The main criteria can sometimes be fit because the junior category usually has a shorter waist, smaller bustline and more narrow hips than the missy customer. The fabrics, colors and styles in this category are usually not classics. Styles are often those trends in high demand for a short time (fads). Because of the short term of use, this type of apparel may not be practical, durable or functional enough for long term wear. Seasonal apparel is most common with juniors who buy tops and bottoms, knits, casual dresses and special occasion during the holiday and prom season.

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Finding out more:

Now that you have read this article, what do you already know about the categories of women's fashions explained here? Try expanding on this article by listing brands, stores and websites for each category. It's also interesting to compare similar products. For this, select one type of apparel (white "T" shirt or denim jeans is good) then go online to find fashions for sale in various categories and price ranges (don't use sale items, find them at their full price). After looking at this, what category do you feel you would like to work in? Start making a file on this category with the top brands you see selling there and begin to study their product so you can become very familiar with the styles in it.

This original article on women's fashion categories is part 8 of a series on fashion design that are posted here at Pintucks. The contents of this article are the intellectual property of this blog. Please do not copy any content to another blog or digital media without contacting me first. I will ask that you link back to this article and give reference to this source within your feature. If you are using content for a research paper or project, please link back to this page in the traditional academic format, thank you!

the photo shown here is from the mid-1980's

Let's Talk About: Target Customers

the Target Customer

One of the most critical moments in designing fashion is creating a concept that will sell to a specific shopper. This person or group is called the Target Customer. It is for them that designers struggle to find the perfect idea that will make up into the accessory or garment that this shopper cannot pass up and must buy. Without this center figure, the fashions would hang forever, unsold and neglected.

So how does the design room define this person or group? They are different for each company. Every brand has its own ideal shopper. The personality profile includes: age, income, size range, personal style and preferences, lifestyle and location, career and hobbies.

By defining these details, a customer type can be identified. With that in mind, it is easier to eliminate designs that aren’t suitable, and to develop designs that are. Will the customer like this? Will they wear that? These are the questions that the designer will be asked when they present their line to the company manager or owner.

Let’s start with an imaginary target customer. We can easily think of a real person who loves fashion that we know. From this we can identify their age range, financial profile, size and build, likes and dislikes in style, color and trend, what they do for a living, where they live and how they like to spend their free time. This is the core of a target customer profile.

But we need to look further. Where and how they shop is a key issue. What type of retail stores do they buy their clothing and accessories from? Today shoppers go to more than one source, so your target customer might have several stores, both online and ‘brick and morter’ that they like to shop at. They may also be loyal to several brands (and these might be your competition). Identify the brands they like for several garment categories. Also include the price range they pay when they shop.

Our next step is to determine why they are shopping. This can give us clues as to what they will want and how much selection they need to have. Someone whose only coat has torn will be looking for a coat because they NEED one. This is not an impulse buy, it is a requirement of their climate and lifestyle. Whether the coat has an on trend look, or is more conservative would be affected by the target customer’s income, lifestyle and preferences. One example might be that men by their socks because they need them, but women by their socks because they like the style and want them.

Other target customer purchases could be impulse based and might be an item that is attractive but not necessary to the target customer’s survival or life style. So, shopping patterns are important to the design room staff. By understanding these needs they can design a product that will fit the customer’s desires and be easier to sell.

Target Customer Profile

1. Sex and age range:
2. What type of community do they live in?
(Rural/country, small town, urban, large town, City/large town, or other )
3. U.S. region and climate that they live in? Are there climate extremes?:
4. What type of Figure do they have, including their height.
5. What do they do for a living? What is their Job or Career?
6. What is their level of Education or Training?
7. Annual Income, household, what is their income range?
8. What is their marriage status?
9. What is their family status, do they have children?
10. What kind of home do they live in? Do they rent or own?
11. Free time: Do they travel or take vacations? Does this affect their wardrobe?
12. What do they like to do in their free time? Do they have a favorite recreation or hobby?
13. Colors: What are their favorite colors for clothing? They may wear more than one color group, depending on the season
14. Personality type: How does this person relate on a social level? (Outgoing, confident/Quiet, shy/Intellectual, thoughtful/Sexy, social/Classic, traditional/Experimental, innovative)
15. Fashion type: How does this person adapt to trends and new fashion ideas? (Early adopter/Trend setter/ Trend follower/ Late trend follower / Not a trend follower
16. Stores and Shopping: where do they shop for apparel? List those stores. Fashion type: How does this person adapt to trends and new fashion ideas?
17. Brands and Designers: Do they look for certain brands or designers? List those for the top categories of apparel that they wear.
18. Information and Media: Where do they get their information on trends and styles?


The advertisement for Pendleton is from 1956 and shows their ideal target customer at that time, including her car and accessories.

This original article on the Target Customer is part 7 of a series on fashion design that are posted here at Pintucks. The contents of this article are the intellectual property of this blog. Please do not copy any content to another blog or digital media without contacting me first. I will ask that you link back to this article and give reference to this source within your feature. If you are using content for a research paper or project, please link back to this page in the traditional academic format, thank you!

Let's Talk About: Mood Boards

It looks like summer is winding down. Not that the weather is changing, but September is almost here, and those leisure free days are at a premium. It's time to start thinking about dressing again: wearing more than a brief dress and flip-flops.

This wonderful photo of the 1940's "New Look" is so inspiring. It's a "Vogue" cover from 1948, and so much of what we see here is on trend for the coming year. The overtones of gray, the slightly Victorian air to her look, the vintage mirror and cool men's hat, gloves and umbrella all tie this theme together.

Why not make a mood board showing a current fashion trend you like. Start by gathering up photos of inspirations, colors, fabrics and trims to create a design direction for your own 'look' or wardrobe. It's fun to start with a photo you like, then bring in elements that support the look you are going for.

Here is the original 1948 photo with my fashion inspiration from it. I used current color and style trends to put this together. I found the coat design at Butterick 5824 This coat is a new retro style designed by blogger Gertie. The wonderful soft orange-red tea rose is from FairytailFlower on Etsy. The jewelry photos are of vintage pearls, necklaces and other accessories that helped me to visualize this 'look'. I also included a velveteen swatch in black to complete the design direction.

Mood boards are an important part of the design room. They help to show everyone involved the 'story' or 'concept' for a single item or a whole line. This is a perfect example of non-verbal communication. Originally these were created from magazines and newspapers, but as digital media has grown, so has the available image pool. More designers are using digital technologies to create their mood boards. The added bonus is that these can be easily sent by email or text, and can be printed up when several copies are needed.

While Adobe Photoshop is more commonly known, other technologies such as PowerPoint can be used to compile a mood board. To use PowerPoint, simple create your collage on a single slide. You can even add print. Save this image as a jpg, rather than a PowerPoint presentation and you can use this in your own work, blogs and other media.


This original article on mood boards is part 5 of a series on fashion design that are posted here at Pintucks. The contents of this article are the intellectual property of this blog. Please do not copy any content to another blog or digital media without contacting me first. I will ask that you link back to this article and give reference to this source within your feature. If you are using content for a research paper or project, please link back to this page in the traditional academic format, thank you!

Let's Talk About: Color Trends

Once we have a line on what fashion influences will be used for style inspirations, it’s important to turn to color selection. You have probably noticed that nearly every designer and brand shows a color group each season that seems very controlled and carefully edited. A quick look at the Elie Saab illustrations shows examples of this color control. There are times when one color or group seems to be popping up in every line, store and brand. How does that happen? How can a designer find colors that will become popular?

In fashion, color is usually arranged in groups that may have from six to a dozen or more colors. Usually these colors are all related in brilliance, shade from light to dark, and clarity. This means that they will all look great together. When looking at a color group, it is usually possible to find each basic color represented: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. These may not appear clear or bright, but usually they are all present in a color group. This slide of Pantone colors from 2010 shows how each color can be part of a color group.

Color groups also reflect traditional color selections for each season. While it is possible to show new directional color for a season, it is important to provide colors that the customer wants to wear during that season. Most consumers have expectations for each season of the year, and often won’t venture into new color territory until they have seen that color worn and are comfortable with it. Most often, nature influences what the customer wants to wear. Generally spring colors relate to new floral and nature tones. Summer colors can be bleached out or very bright and pure. Fall colors also call on nature with many autumn leaf tones and darker colors. Winter has the darkest colors, but jewel tones are also present for color clarity.

Color trend prediction can be found through major global resources such as “Pantone”, “Premiere Vision”, “Lenzing”, and “TFL”. They evaluate new found color groups and make selections for future trends in apparel, home décor and other industries. Usually color trends can be found about two years in advance. Because this information is costly, the general consumer has to wait until about one or two seasons ahead when that information is no longer ‘new’ to find it cost free.

Probably the first place for us to look for new color trends is to check out a few websites. FashionTrendsetter.com has a great overview each season of the color trends that have been predicted. Pantone is an American color service that originally determined how to label colors so they could be co-ordinate internationally without error. When you do color research, you will often notice that each color has a Pantone reference number. Each major season they predict a color group. Pantone also recommends one strong color each year.

For 2012, the color is Tangerine Tango.

By noticing color when you shop the market and collecting information on color trends, you will start to notice how color comes and goes in fashion as well as styles. Try looking back to colors from a year or two ago. Are these colors still for sale? What price bracket sells which colors? High end apparel often has color choices that are rare at the lower price brackets. Often these colors are expensive to produce, so they never make it to the budget level fashion product. Seeing fashion in person will help you to learn more about color selection, since the computer monitor does distort and betray color information.

Color Trend Resources:
FashionTrendsetter.com
Pantone Fashion color report
TFL
Lenzing color trends

This original article on spotting fashion trends is part 4 of a series on fashion design that are posted weekly here at Pintucks. The contents of this article are the intellectual property of this blog. Please do not copy any content to another blog or digital media without contacting me first. I will ask that you link back to this article and give reference to this source within your feature. If you are using content for a research paper or project, please link back to this page in the traditional academic format, thank you!