Clothing Brand, Industry Tips

Amazing Inspirations To Design a Clothing Line Collection

Amazing Inspiration doesn’t always happen at the snap of a finger. It’s rare when it does! Fashion designers often seem like they’re naturally creative and inspired, but more often than not. That is not the case.

Below, you’ll find a series of tips to help anyone design a collection.

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Start by examining the current state of the fashion industry

Like with many other industries, the rise of all things online is changing how the fashion business works. Clever social media marketing campaigns and tactics are taking brands to new levels and creating major buzz around their upcoming collections.

See now, buy now. Consumers also demand to get their hands on products here and now.

Fast fashion. Fast fashion is also on the rise. Sometimes it takes as little as ten days to get a new design into the shops from sketchpad to a hanger.

Trends. Expect lots of stripes and funky sneakers for a sporty style in the upcoming year.

Ask yourself: Who am I designing for?

It would be wonderful if everybody on the planet adored your clothes and wanted to buy them right now. But it’s impossible to make something that’s universally appealing. That means you’ll need time to think about who you want your clothes to speak to.

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Gather images

The key to finding great images is always being on Pinterest looking for them. Inspiration can strike when you least expect it. If you see something you like, save it or take a photo.

Make a mood board

Mood boards are an incredible resource when it comes to finding inspiration. You can collect images that you love to inspire your collection, either on a physical board or online. This is a helpful tool to narrow down exactly what you’re going for, as a mood board can make it easy to see what fits in and doesn’t.

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Start sketching

By this point, you should have plenty of preparation to start having some ideas of what you want your collection to look like. Grab a sketchbook and a pencil and play around with concepts. Often, you’ll find that once you’ve broken the ten-minute barrier, you’ll keep going and going with new ideas. Limits can be very helpful for creativity, although it might sound counterintuitive.

Remember to relax; science says so!

Creativity doesn’t always flow. There are lots of steps behind the creative process that you can take to get inspired. Practice makes perfect, but forcing yourself to be creative doesn’t necessarily get you out of a truly stuck moment. However. This does not mean relaxation and inspiration come naturally! You can certainly help this spark to go off when you reach the right moment. Practicing creativity helps you to become more creative more frequently.

Direct-to-Garment is a great option for t-shirts.

Direct-to-Garment printers allow startup companies to order a small batch of t-shirts and not break the budget. Northwest Custom Apparel uses Kornit DTG printers, the world’s premier DTG printers. You can contact a customer service representative with Northwest Custom Apparel by submitting a contact form.

Young Man in wearing a black t-shirt
Direct-to-Garment Printing is excellent for clothing lines that don’t want to invest a bunch of money.
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About Erik Mickelson

Erik Mickelson is the author of Northwest Custom Apparel's blogs. Erik has been with Northwest Custom Apparel since 1996 after graduating from Washington State University and is the founder of the Apparel Graphic Academy. Trained by the custom graphic apparel industry's best, Mark Venit, Erik brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Embroidery Adventure blog. As they say, 'Experience is the best teacher.' We are proud to have Erik as part of our team!

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