Fashion Designer Interview Preparation Guide

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Different designers work in different ways. Some sketch their ideas on paper, others drape fabric on a dress stand, pinning, folding and tucking it until the idea for a garment emerges. A third method is to adapt their own patterns from previous seasons (this method can give continuity to a fashion studio's output).

Fashion is very important when it comes to showing who you are. You don't want someone to think you are the wrong person because they could treat you badly. In some ways fashion and style are important variables to human life.
Let's say you were a regular person in a diner, but you were wearing an outfit that made you look like a waitress. Somebody might come up to you and ask you for a soda! Be careful about what you wear.

Fashion is very unique. Some might say a dress is ugly, when another could say it is beautiful. This is what is known as cultural fashion. Different people like different things. Different shoes, different clothes, and different leg wear. It depends on who you are and what your opinions are.

Have you ever thought about what might someone be wearing where they live? Well, if you lived somewhere cold, you may have many boots and jackets. But others might have tank-tops and shorts. You could think this idea is weird, but that is because you live in a different place. If you know you live somewhere cold, wear appropriate clothing items. I hoped this helped you realize that fashion also has something to do with the weather.

Footwear has been quite amazing. There have been different forms of shoes, different shapes, different colors, and many other changes. Shoes used to be used only for the protection and comfort of your feet. Eventually, most shoes became part of fashion and changed from protection to style. That's a big change! People would buy all kinds of different shoes based on the color or the shape and showing them off.

There are three main ways in which designers can work:
★ Working freelancer
★ Working In-house
★ Setting up a company

Freelance designers works for themselves. They sell their work to fashion houses, direct to shops, or to clothing manufacturers. The garments bear the buyer's label.

Fashion designers often set up their own companies. A lot of designers find this more satisfying than working for someone else, as their designs are sold under their own label.

In-house designers are employed full-time by one fashion company. Their designs are the property of that company, and cannot be sold to anyone else.

When the designer is completely satisfied with the fit of the toile (or muslin), they show it to a professional pattern maker who then makes the finished, working version of the pattern out of card. The pattern maker's job is very precise and painstaking. The fit of the finished garment depends on their accuracy.

After making a rough paper pattern, or life-size 2-D plan, of the garment, a sample machinist (or skilled sewing machine operator) then makes a trial version of the garment from plain-colored calico. The toile (called a muslin in the U.S.) is put on to a dress stand (or a model) to see how it fits and whether it hangs properly.

Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men's, women's, and children's fashions for the mass market. Designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such as Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director.

Yes, fashion design is differs from costume design due to its core product having a built in obsolescence usually of one to two seasons. A season is defined as either autumn/winter or spring/summer.

Fashion designers design clothing and accessories also for women. Some high-fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends.

Fashion designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear falls within a narrow range of conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions such as evening wear or party dresses.

Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.

★ Are you able to reduce the amount of solid and hazardous waste in your packaging?
★ Have you considered a local supply chain to decrease mileage in the production process?
★ Could you reduce the weight and volume of a product by using fewer or lighter materials to optimize transportation?

★ How much water does it take to produce your fabrics?
★ Are you aware of the sustainable alternatives to the raw materials you are currently using?
★ When selecting your fabric range, do you think about the end-of-life stage, such as the implications of disposal?

★ How durable are your products; is it possible to increase their longevity?
★ How can you encourage the customer to form an emotional attachment to your product, thereby discouraging disposal?
★ How does your product need to be cleaned and what impact will this have on 
the environment?

★ Can the product have a second life?
★ Could you offer an upgrading and/or a repair service to your customer?
★ Can you reduce the waste impact of disposing your product by making it recyclable 
or biodegradable?

★ How well do you know your supply chain?
★ What are the social costs of your production process?
★ Have you ever considered using recycled pre-consumer/post-consumer waste in your collection?

★ How can you use intelligent design to reduce the social and environmental impact of a product's life-cycle?
★ Do you consider the environmental effects of the colors and prints you choose for your collection?
★ Can you create a longer-lasting and better-functioning product, thereby reducing the need to replace it?

★ How would you operate in a group?
★ Described your job background?
★ Let me know regarding your last position and just what you probably did?
★ Should you not leave your present job, what's going to happen there? What lengths are you able to advance?
★ What courses do you taking part in?
★ What qualifications do you have beyond academics that qualify you t o make a successful transition into business?

★ What is your greatest weakness?
★ What do co-workers say about you?
★ How would your co-workers describe you?
★ How can you describe yourself?
★ What interested you within our company?

★ Tell me about yourself?
★ What are your biggest strengths?
★ Why did you leave your last job?
★ What are your career goals?
★ Why do you want to work here?