It seems like everyone is jumping on the designer bandwagon these days. And why not? The fashion industry is sexy – fashion shows, parties, celebrities, recognition, and even fame go along with a career in fashion.Now herein lies the question: do you go to design school or go straight to starting a business? Not all fashion designers go the traditional route to design school, instead drawing on an entrepreneurial spirit, some “designers” turn their head for business into a thriving fashion enterprise.Ralph Lauren is an example of a fashion designer who bypassed the sewing machine and headed straight for the marketplace. Which path you take depends on your personal motivation. If you love sewing and pattern making, the traditional route is going to bring the most satisfaction. If you love the fashion world but don’t have the patience for needle and thread, a career in the fast-paced and exciting fashion biz is still possible … read on.So you want to go out on your own, what’s first?You’ve always admired fashion designers and their ability to design trendy, unique and wearable fashions season after season, as if by magic. But it’s not magic; it’s a business. And to succeed in business, nobody is an island (meaning that everyone needs a little help to accomplish his or her dreams). And it’s not all glitz and glamour. Being a fashion designer means you have to actually run a business.Before you print up those business cards, ask yourself if you’re prepared to roll up your sleeves and tackle the not-so fun aspects of fashion.At first, running a fashion business could mean fulfilling orders yourself (i.e., packing boxes until the wee hours of the morning), steaming clothes repeatedly during fashion shows, and bookkeeping. You could spend only a small percentage of your time actually designing; instead you’re networking, schmoozing and negotiating with suppliers and vendors.If you’re planning to take the direct-to-consumer path, you’ll have to create a website and maintain it (and most likely have to pay someone to handle these tasks), get a merchant account to process credit card transactions and manage charge back cycles. If you’re not interested in learning what these things mean, then you may decide to work for a large fashion house to learn the ropes.But if you have the endurance and enough friends with skills or services you can trade for, you could go out on your own and succeed. Today is the age of entrepreneurship, why shouldn’t you get a piece of the pie?
The fashion biz: a reality check
Exciting industries are rife with competition-some that will fade away and others that will give you a run for your money. You have to compete against the big names out there and trendy emerging designers fresh out of the best design schools or veterans of big fashion houses-not to mention all the celebrities popping up with their own labels.Running your own fashion biz may require you to reach out to suppliers and potential customers all over the world, which means you better be organized. Are you prepared to coordinate the procurement of raw materials like fabric, trim and hardware, so that your manufacturer gets what they need at the right time to deliver a finished product on deadline?Think of yourself as a business person first and a fashion designer second. If your fashion business fails, you’re the one that suffers. Always keep the business aspect in the forefront of your mind. Some people find this prospect exhilarating, while others can’t think of anything more horrifying. Still interested in starting your own fashion business?I’m not a designer, can I still work in the fashion industry?Yes … and no. If you have the design vision, you can pay people to take your idea and turn it into a tangible pattern or design. This is sort of like what a creative director does. If this fits your situation, then you’d better have the business chops to get your business off the ground and you’d better have a solid Core Value Proposition.What this means is that you must have a strong business proposal and offer a product that’s valuable and in demand. That doesn’t mean you have to sell high-end couture clothing to rich people. Clothiers H&M and Zara focus on fast ready-to-wear fashion at affordable pricepoints.There is more than one path to becoming a fashion designer. You can learn to sew and go to design school to learn the ins-and-outs of the business. But not everyone learns to draw patterns and stitch together garments. The keys to succeeding in the fashion business are creativity, a good business sense and determination.Stay tuned for more advice on becoming a fashion designer.
Becoming a Fashion Designer
Joseph Eichler: Modern Home Design for the Masses
The term “tract housing” evokes, for many, the image of suburban sprawl and conformity. Many tract subdivisions are uninspired and banal, cookie-cutter neighborhoods that give little thought to aesthetics. Sprinkled throughout California, however, there are a number of housing developments that cut against this preconception. The residential communities constructed by Joseph Eichler in the 1950s and 1960s brought modern home design to the masses and introduced an appreciation for architectural innovation to tract housing.Joseph Eichler had little exposure to real estate or home design in his early life. He was not an architect or a builder; he was, first and foremost, a businessman, and that enabled him to recognize an opportunity. He received a business degree from NYU and worked briefly on Wall Street before helping to manage his father-in-law’s poultry business. In 1940, Joseph moved out to San Francisco to assist in the West Coast expansion of the family business. Soon after World War II, a family scandal (the details of which are now, unfortunately, lost to history) forced Joseph Eichler down a different career path. He began developing prefabricated houses on individual lots in northern California. His natural business acumen, sharpened by years in the competitive wholesale food industry, put him in a good position to take advantage of the post-war demand for suburban housing in a manner unique to the progressive tastes of northern CaliforniaWhile in the Bay Area, the Eichler’s lived in the Bazett House, a Usonian-style dwelling in Hillsborough, CA, built by the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright. Joseph Eichler had always had an appreciation for design, refinement, and modernism, but the years he spent in the Bazett House illuminated the possibilities of modern architecture for him. Modern architecture embraced clean, simple lines and understated elements that allowed the personality of the owner to shine through. Until Joseph Eichler, these styles were reserved for custom residences and corporate buildings. Eichler teamed with Robert Anshen, an architect fresh out of the University of Pennsylvania, to develop plans for residential developments that harnessed the simplicity of modern home design. Anshen, himself greatly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, brought the artful harmony of space and structure while Eichler ensured that these were easily reproducible and cost-effective. They started small, with a 50-unit neighborhood in Sunnyvale, CA. It sold out in two weeks. By the time Eichler passed away in 1974, he had built 11,000 homes and popularized modern home design on the neighborhood scale.Eichlers, as the style has come to be known, are single story residences made mostly of glass and wood. The homes blur the distinction between interior and exterior space, to take advantage of the temperate California weather. Eichlers are designed around open-air atria with floor-to-ceiling glass walls facing the backyards that connect the inhabitant to the environment and give the inhabitant a feeling of being cradled, rather than encapsulated. Many of the neighborhoods developed by Joseph Eichler are now designated areas of historic significance, ensuring that the groundbreaking home design concepts he popularized are preserved for future generations to call home.
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Useful Features of Home Design Software
Before building a new house, you surely need to create the design first. Designing your dream house can be confusing and complicated. Before hiring an architect, you should consider using a home design software to help you with the task. Home design software is a popular tool for creating design plans.By using this software, you can totally express your creativity. It gives you the opportunity to design a home based on your personal tastes. You can also modify the design as many times as you like to get the perfect look.This software is a great choice for both professionals and amateurs alike. It has many useful features to offer. Here is a list of features that you may find helpful:1. Automatic Floor Plan Dimensioning Tool: This is a feature that you can use to determine the size of your home. Use this to increase or decrease the size of a room.2. Interior Furniture Objects: This feature allows you to put and position furniture objects such as tables and chairs, so you will know how they would look inside a room.3. Stair Generator Tool: Designing staircases will be easier with this tool. There are many staircase styles to choose from.4. Cabinet Designer: If you want to make your kitchen look as good as any other rooms in your house, this tool is what you need. You can use this feature to place cabinets or other appliances on the kitchen area. Certain software even allows you to customize the cabinet design.5. Roof Truss, Window and Door Schedule: This is a feature that you will find on any home design software. This tool enables you to design the door or window with the style and size of your choice.6. Custom Roof and Pitch: This simple tool helps you customize roof pitch, which is the steepness of the roof.7. Exterior Furniture Object: You will be happy to know that the software can also help you design the yard of your house. This tool will help you arrange patio furniture or even plan a playground for your children.Designing your dream house using home design software is fun and easy. You only need to sit in front of your computer screen and a new design plan is just a click away. The handy tools will help you in creating plans for both the interior and exterior. Besides that, this software is also easy to obtain. You can order it online and the retailer will ship it to your address as fast as possible.
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