Fashion Industry

Profile: Fashion Industry

The most important thing to realize about the fashion industry is that it changes
constantly. Trends and styles come and go with the seasons, so it is necessary for those
working in the industry to be adaptable and ready adjust to the latest market demand.
Although fashion can be hard to break into, the opportunities are plentiful once you have
your foot in the door. Becoming a designer is not the only option; you can make your
career in: Marketing, Merchandising, Retail, Buying, Finance, Planning, etc. The one
thing these careers all have in common, apart from being based in the fashion industry,
is that they require an education. Quite often it is not raw talent, but a detailed
understanding of the industry that gets you the job.

If it's design that you're interested in there are a few things to consider. Most fashion
experts say that you need both technical training and formal art training to compliment
the personal qualities that a designer must also have: integrity, leadership skills,
aesthetic and practical ideas, dedication, and ingenuity to name a few. A designer must
also have the ability to predict and understand what consumers want even if that differs
from what he or she thinks is fashionable. The creativity required to become a designer
makes it the most difficult job to land within the industry. However, hard work, a solid
background, and determination can get you there. According to most fashion designers,
the glories of the career make up for all the difficulties endured obtaining it.

On the other hand, if you are looking into marketing, merchandising, or any of the other,
more administrative careers, you have some different things to think about. Marketing
requires decisions about what styles, designs, and articles of clothing should be targeted
at what audience (Men or women? Old or young?). You connect the designer to his or
her public, get the public interested in the clothing, and convince the public that what you
are promoting is indeed that latest trend. A merchandiser has a similar job, but instead of
working to gain the interest of the public, a merchandiser is purchasing the designer's
clothing line and presenting it in stores. On top of that, the merchandiser is often
responsible for creating the "mood" of a store or runway by utilizing different display and
lighting techniques.

As you can see by these short descriptions, there are many opportunities within the
fashion industry, and many potential careers might not be ones you have considered in
the past, such as: trim buyer, pattern maker, sample maker, quality control expert,
fashion consultant, personal shopper, etc. Each of these careers, however, requires the
knowledge and expertise that can only be provided by studying at an accredited school
or earning a degree through an accredited program.
 Pakistani Fashion Industry

As you are well aware, the Pakistan fashion industry. In the last two decades,
Pakistan’s fashion industry has evolved from a decisively darzi culture into a full
grown industry, though embryonic in international terms, has grown by leaps and
bounds in the last ten or twelve years. As it continues to grow, it becomes critically
important to institutionalize the ‘Business of Fashion’. with institutes like the PSFD
(Pakistan School of Fashion and Design) turning out fully qualified designers and the
EPB (Export Promotion Bureau) sponsoring shows in Greece, Britain and other
places. In the last five years Pakistani designers have begun to make a mark on the
international scene with designers making appearances at the Bridal Asia week in
India and at the illustrious Paris Fashion Week. This gives opportunity to Fashion
Pakistan to provide you coverage for details pertaining to culture of Pakistan and also
explanations that how culture creates impact on fashion. Pakistani culture is not
imposing negative impact on fashion but instead it is helping to let Pakistani fashion
trends in their pure eastern & attractive form. Nowadays Pakistani fashion designers,
artists and experts are also developing their imagination to design their fashion
products keeping in mind of culture of Pakistan. Also it is good to know that several
online fashion boutiques, labels and outlets registered to Fashion Pakistan are
contributing to promote Pakistani culture by providing special discounts on fashion
accessories, clothes and apparel that are representing features closely tied to culture
of Pakistan.

The fashion industry, so rich in ideas and design, lacks infrastructure; on the other
hand the textile corporate sector, though it has a well-knit infrastructure, can benefit
hugely from the creativity of the fashion sector. The corporatisation of Pakistani
designers is essential in expanding this vital industry and giving it structure .A
important factor is the regional crafts sector; whether one talks about handloom or
embroideries, Pakistan is rich in crafts. But these same cottage industries need
designer input to revitalize them, whereas designers in turn would benefit greatly by
incorporating ethnic methods of weaving, printing and ornamentation to produce up-
market, contemporary creations. But to bring about this tie-up it is essential to have a
national apex body, with the aims of fostering the growth of this important and
lucrative industry. Besides providing an interface between the fashion, textile, and
craft industries and the government, this body has many other advantages, of
addressing the changing needs of the industry as it evolves and of creatively show-
casing the work of Pakistani designers and finding commercial representation for
them both, domestically and globally.
 History and Background Fashion Industry in
Pakistan
This is fact that people of Pakistan never compromise fashion that tends to deviate from
norms pertaining to culture of Pakistan which is fusion of south Asian & central Asian
cultures and we already know that many cultural practices have been inherited from
Munhall's. Pakistani culture is also a form of eastern culture which is popular throughout
the world due to its uniqueness, exclusiveness and matchlessness which one can also
find in eastern fashion.

1980s fashion history is memorable and quite distinctive. A variety of fashion looks ran
parallel to each other in the 1980s. Women of this era began to feel they that really
could at last choose from one of the many contrasting looks available. The fashion look
that was the most powerful over the decade was the wide shoulders. It was hard to go
anywhere without at least a jacket, but preferably a complete suit. This was influenced
by several movements including media influence on 1980s fashion.
This is not a very rosy scenario as Pakistan being a cotton growing country is not
emphasizing on value addition to the raw material. Year 2002-03 figures indicate that
cotton yarn and cloth exports amounted to US$ 1,848.9 million as compared to 1676.3
million in year 2001-02. Readymade garments export during the same period was
recorded as US $ 880.2 million and US $ 708 million respectively. Although this
indicates an increase of 24.2% in the export of readymade garments, which is
encouraging, yet it remains close to 10% of the Pakistan’s total exports. Increase in
Ready made garments exports is advisable, as it will involve value addition in the local
market. This can only be achieved by providing training to local man power. For capacity
building, Pakistan needs more and more institutions that can produce trained manpower
which can effectively design and prepare the readymade garments and leather products.
On these grounds some intuitions are established. Pakistan School of Fashion Design is
the first institution that offers graduate training in fashion design, in Pakistan. Another
well known institute National College of arts is producing a number of graduates in
Fashion designing.
 Performance Indicator for the Fashion Industry

Performance indicators are used in a variety of ways to provide increased rigour and
extend what we are doing already. The fashion industry is in a state of constant flux and
evolution, which designers must be fast enough to respond to. To achieve this it is
necessary to consider all new ideas and designs through the mind of the customer.

1) Business aims and operations: With this focus on fashion underpinning the
business the industries should generate increased shareholder value through the
retail and wholesale of fashion products.

2) Brands:: A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic

producer; more specifically, it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and
concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme that convey
the essence of a company, product or service. Brand recognition and other
reactions are created by the accumulation of experiences with the specific
product or service, both directly relating to its use, and through the influence of
advertising, design, and media commentary.
3) Brand extension: brands extension can become synonymous with contemporary
fashion and extended into complementary licensed products including men’s and
women’s toiletries, shoes, watches and eyewear which together represent the third
major profit stream for the Group.

4) Principal risks: As business revolves around fashion and success depends on our
ability to produce ranges of new designees which attract customers. The customers’
propensity to spend on clothing is impacted by their personal financial situation resulting
in changes in the total size of the retail markets. However, the attractiveness of different
ranges has the most significant impact on business.
Factors Leading to Growth or inhibiting growth

 Media is the most effecting factor which leads the growth of Fashion. Fashion
advertising has been around since the early 1900's and has been the main outlet
to let consumers know what's going on in the business; the same purpose
advertising serves for any other product. Without advertising, we would have no
clue what was in style, or what was in stores.
 The fashion industry saw a two-fold increase in number of investments last year
and a high number of fashion companies were started.

 The volume of sales in fashion industry has also witnessed a two-fold increase in
just eight years.

 For many years textile and clothing were not regarded as the prime industry. But
since the 1990’s with so many newly companies and many international investors
it was clear that the potential is huge.

 The number of international investments has doubled last year to approximately

34 in 2006 compared with 15-17 the previous year.
 International Demand for Fashion

Demand for Fashion Degrees Booms:

The demand for fashion destines will remain high because consumers look for the latest
trends and apparels. With the popularity of fashion reality shows like Project Runway
and America's Next Top Model, it's no wonder that interest in fashion-related careers is
rapidly increasing. Fashion design, fashion merchandising and retail management are
just a sampling of jobs in high demand in the fashion market place. The fashion industry
as a whole has always been an interest

Find Fashion Photography School:

Fashion photography is the most glamorous and glitzy branch of the profession. While
being technically skilled, the top fashion photographer should be artistically gifted and
good with people.

Working for glossy magazines, catalogues, modeling agencies, and websites fashion
photographers are required to produce aesthetically eye-catching images of clothes,
accessories, top models and celebrities.

With the international demand for fashion photographers continuing to rise (up 17%
2004-2014), the prestigious world of fashion photography appears all the more
attractive. There are numerous specialized photography schools which offer courses and
degree programs to comprehensively prepare students for this lucrative but competitive
career.

Demand for Jewelry:

Demand for gold jewelry, which accounts for almost 40 percent of the global demand,
has considerably gone down owing to rising and volatile gold prices.

Gold prices have skyrocketed from Rs6, 172 in April 2005 to Rs9,579 per ten grams
around now.

In terms of weight, the gold jewelry demand has steeply declined by 43 percent in first
quarter of this fiscal as compared to the same period last year.

In terms of value, the demand in the country has fallen by 13 percent during the quarter.
Internationally, gold jewelry consumption has declined by 16 percent due to volatility.
Market for textiles & clothing grows:

The report on the Market for Textiles & Clothing in the country is based on the purchase
data collected from a panel of households located at different urban and rural areas of
the country. This survey project was initiated in the year 1969 and the report is being
published every year.

The present report, Market for Textiles & Clothing 2008 is based on the textile purchase
data of the calendar year 2007 collected from a panel of 13950 sample households
located at 116 metros/urban/semi urban areas and 261 rural areas of
the country.
 Recommendations

Other recommendations are to:

* publish a pamphlet providing information on the services available;

The fashion industry is a vast industry and its upcoming proceedings and developments
should be given in the form of a year book and the international community should also
know that the services that the fashion industry provides are not less than any other
fashion industry around the globe.
* recruit fashion students as "fashion industry ambassadors";
The fashion industry is flourishing day and night and the pace at which new
developments are coming is very fast. This cannot be accomplished without the new
talent streaming into the industry from the Fashion schools in Pakistan. Indeed the
fashion Schools are doing a great job in this respect. Therefore this fresh and vibrant
talent should float across the borders and into the international market.
* build up a databank of trade-related information, publications, market research
and study reports, for quick and central reference;
The Fashion industry still needs to improve in a lot of sectors like developing a sound
and precise data about the industry.
* maintain a depository of fabric swatches and samples of clothing accessories
for the enterprises' reference;
There should be a proper system to save samples and their proper exposure for the
international market.
* set up a database containing information on manufacturers, designers, material
suppliers and other practitioners of the industry to facilitate match-making; and
Another important drawback of the fashion industry in Pakistan is that it has not
developed a proper website or information site so that the international market is well
aware of the developments in the industry.
• Work in collaboration with the industry to introduce mentorship
programmes as a form of support for budding designers.
The new talent should be promoted and encouraged by giving them scholarships
and associating them on a large scale with the textile industry so that it can be
exported and the percentage of value addition increases tremendously.
 Conclusion Fashion

Fashion plays an important role in the modern society. But people have different
attitudes to fashion. Some are indifferent; they do not care what they wear. Others,
especially women are very choosy and particular about what to wear and like to spend a
lot of money on clothes.
The styles of clothing have been influenced by different factors, such as geography,
religion, climate, poverty or wealth. The way we dress also depends on our taste, on the
season and the proper occasion. We should know what kinds of accessories
complement the dress and what colors match each other.
The fact, that our eye is easily fooled is used also in the fashion. Vertical stripes make us
taller, while horizontal make us broader. The pattern of our clothing can be also
checked, flowered, dotted, spotted or geometric.
Another aspect is the color. If we have overweight, we try wearing small patterns or plain
dark clothes. These make us look slim. Unlike the dark colors, the light ones make us
broad.
The color of our clothing also can influence our feelings, our mood or express our
personality. For example green is calming, so the surgeons wear green suits. Grey is an
anonymous color worn by people who don’t want to be noticed. While white is the color
of purity and strength, while red and black give a feeling of danger; that‘s why they are
popular among sport cars.
Styles, cuts, designs and particularly the length of clothes change very quickly because
dressmaking has become big business nowadays. Fashion often reverts to older styles;
what is out of fashion, funny or ridiculous now, may look romantic a few decades later.
There can be a whole range of distinctive features of clothes.
We could note various types of neckline (high or low, oval, V-neck, with collar or
collarless) and various cuts of sleeves (inset, batwing, dropped shoulder). The dress
may have a classic line, A-line or be bell-shaped, with a slit, or straight. The waistline
may be natural, high or low.
There is also a variety of materials the dress can be made of - natural materials such as
cotton, wool, linen, silk, corduroy, lace or denim and the vast collection of new fabrics
based on man-made fibers.
Deciding what to put on, it’s very important what season it is, what the weather is
outside. When it’s hot, everyone feels better in clothes which are light and airy. In
summer people wear, for example, shorts, T-shirts, short skirts, sandals and nice
sunglasses. But when it’s colder people prefer warmer clothing; anoraks, fur coats, warm
trousers, cardigans, gloves, mufflers, and boots. When it’s raining outside the best things
you can wear are your large umbrella or a long raincoat with a hood.
On special occasions we like to be dressed properly. When we go to the theatre or to a
ball we prefer to be dressed up. Women choose from various evening gowns of many
colors. They wear high heels and jewels. Men dress in dark suits with shirts of different
colors and a tie or bowtie.
For sports we put on sports wear and trainers. At home we like to feel comfortable, so
we prefer leisure wear. To school we wear something practical and plain, like jeans and
a sweatshirt.
Most important is to put the clothes together so they are well combined and look natural,
that they harmonize together.
The look is also a symbol of identity; rockers wear black leather, businessmen wear grey
suits…
Special kinds of clothes are uniforms and costumes.
Uniforms are worn particularly by professionals such as the police or health workers. It is
still a tradition in some schools to wear a school uniform.
Costumes reflect the style of past time. Apart from the theatre they are not seen very
often, only on special occasions.
Scotsmen are well-know for their national costume, which consists of a kilt, knee-length
woolen socks, a cap and a sporran (a fur covered bag). The kilt is made of tartan – a
kind of woolen cloth with stripes of various colors which cross at right angles so as to
form a pattern.
Fashion concerns not only clothes, but also hair style, make up and accessories, such
as shoes, handbags, gloves, belts, hats, ties, scarves, glasses and jewelry.
Hair is an important part of our image. It is said that it is the most versatile part of one’s
body and this proves to be true, as you can cut it to lots of shapes or let it grow, it can be
decorated, and you can change its color by dyeing or bleaching it. You can also
straighten curly hair or curl the straight one.
Hair is a strong symbol of group identification; punks wear spikes, skins are well
recognized by their stubbles, Rastafarians wear dreadlocks...
Many people, like hairdressers, fashion designers, models and dress-makers for
example, make money from fashion.
All in all, fashion is a never ending human effort to make us look better or just different.

(trendy, smart)
(brooch, bracelet, necklace, pendant, ring, ear-ring, tiara)
(lipstick, face powder, eye shadows, define the eyes, mascara)
(crew cut, trim, pony tail, permed, dandruff, fringe, bald)
(coat, jacket, fur, trouser suit, evening dress with a slit, jeans, cardigan, tracksuit, polo-
neck sweater, high heels, mittens, handkerchief, waistcoat, trunk)
(crease-resistant, water-repellent, durable, color-fast, shrink-resistant, washable)
(staples, collar, frill, deep cut, veil, tassel)