When I was growing up, all I wanted was, to become a FASHION DESIGNER. I wanted the glamorous life of being famous as well as the daily activity of making clothing that started out in my mind and then became a physical garment. I think that’s what most people think of when they think of a fashion designer. In reality, the glamorous life of a fashion designer is few and far between. That kind of designer is the one that many of us all look up to, but isn’t the actual job that most designers have. The majority of designers work within organizations and often work with other designers who have a different focus (men’s vs. Women’s / Girls vs. Juniors, etc.) in the same organization. The garment industry is vast. Everyone (or almost everyone) wears clothing and there is an enormous amount of garment production, around the world. There are many different kinds of designers.

I asked our Fashion Illustration instructor, Julie Ann, about her experience, as a designer when she worked for Isabella Rose, a swimwear company in Los Angeles. As you read on below, you will see that her daily activities were quite varied and that she was responsible for many things. She also had multiple business partners to collaborate with.

This post is all about a day in the life of a fashion designer, as lived by our very own Julie Ann Silverman. I hope you enjoy it and come to understand a little more about being a Fashion Designer.

Day in the life of Julie Ann Silverman ­ Senior Designer / Isabella Rose 

Each week is spent juggling the development and fitting of new groups, while fitting and troubleshooting the production of previous groups. Fashion is a constantly moving cycle with no end. Because we are a ”seasonal” business, we only deliver goods to the stores ten months out of the year. (10 deliveries) Many sportswear companies deliver goods twice a month all year (24 deliveries)

Design and Development: My daily priority is making decisions that will keep all phases of development on track with the market and production calendars .  

• Research / Create Mood Boards:  I keep up with the trends by reviewing the Fall and Spring runway shows in New York, Paris, Milan and Brazil. I follow lots of influencers/creatives on Instagram. I read magazines and trade publications like Women¹s Wear Daily and California Apparel News. I set aside all of the images that I like and sort them into folders for reference. I also use Pinterest for this, but keep those folders a secret. I¹m looking for trends in colors, details, fabric textures and silhouettes (shapes) that I can translate into swimwear. I compile these images into mood boards to set the feeling and color story for the next collection.

• Choose Colors:  I set the colors and send Œlab dips’ to fabric mills to match the colors that I want. 

• Choose Prints: Art studios from around the world visit us on a monthly basis and show all five designers their collections at once. They keep up with the print trends also. Each of us buys the print that will best represent the lifestyle of our different divisions. We give the art files to the graphic artist who then puts it into repeat so that it can be printed onto swimwear fabrics. I direct the colors that I need to see in each print. I will also choose if the print would look best as a wet print or if it should be heat transferred on the goods. This is sometimes determined by the clarity of the print or the content of the goods. 

• Choose Fabrics:  I meet with different fabric mills from around the world to choose fabrics. I¹m looking for a nice hand feel, a good weight, a four way stretch, and a price I can afford. I¹m always looking for interesting textures that don¹t feel too heavy.

• Choose Embellishments/Trims:  Trim companies from around the world send me emails with all of their latest trims. Sometimes I just like something and book mark it for later use. Sometimes I have seen something in the market that I need and the trim companies will source it for me. I sample many items in small quantities so that I can see if they pass our swimwear water tests: (salt, tap and chorine). Some embellishments, like smocking and tie dye require special handling and are done by local companies. I have to choose the thread colors and the dye colors, setting the standard that I want maintained for production. 

  All of the above development is handled by Jenn, my product development guru who is super organized. She makes orders, follows up with vendors and make sure goods are sent to the office on time and in the right colors. She builds the development calendar and gives me deadlines of items that should be attended to next to stay on track. She facilitates all of the costing with the production office and tells me to re work designs when they come out too expensive.  

• Designing Each Group:  Once I have my ideas, colors and prints set, I move forward into designing swimwear groups. Generally a group consists of two swim tops, two swim bottoms, a one piece and a cover up. I draw my designs in Illustrator and give them to a pattern maker, who makes a pattern and sends it to the sample room to be cut and sewn. When that garment is done, it goes into the fit room. 

• Fit:  As a Swimwear Designer, it¹s important that I understand sewing construction, and how to fit stretch fabrics. I spend each morning in the fit room, meeting with my pattern maker as we try these new garments on a Medium sized model to ensure a good fit. I direct all the changes to be made and indicate this by using safety pins on the actual sample. The pattern maker takes all the notes to make the changes and we meet again until the sample is approved to go to the costing department.

• Cost: I work with our costing engineer to keep the sewing minutes low so that we can afford to produce the garment in production. I am responsible for alerting my pattern maker to any changes that I have made so that she can correct it on the spec. Sometimes a garment is engineered to be cut from a panel. When this happens, I need to do a layout of the pattern on the panel to tell them how many panels we would need for one garment. When the cost of a garment is still too high, it is my job to re work it or replace it.

• Meetings: Before a collection goes to market, I present it to the Creative Director and the CEO for review.  They work closely with our sales team to understand the needs and concerns of the stores that carry our products. If the collection is approved, we will start cutting and sewing it to be shipped to the sales office for buyers to come and see it. 

• Pre Production Fittings:  All garments that have orders will be fit for production using the actual fabrics and trims. The size Medium, Small and D cup will all need to be tried on models and approved for release. If there are problems in production, I will be called into the fit room by my quality control team to approve or reject the submitted samples from our contractors. 

• Reading Sales Reports: Every Monday I get sales reports from some of our accounts. After a few weeks of selling, I can tell which groups are best sellers and which are duds. I use this information to make better decisions about upcoming collections. If no one wants to buy a bandeau top from my brand any more, I better not be putting them into the collection for awhile. 

Until Next Time,

xo Jennifer