26/07/2018
*Differences between tailor and fashion designer*
To clarify matters, I thought it would be great if we could clearly differentiate between what a tailor does and what a fashion designer does for a living.
*CREATION OF NEW DESIGNS*
- Regular tailor: Will not typically create new designs; will use the same designs from a standard catalogue or a magazine or any such external source (might be from the client also)
-Fashion designer: Will generally create designs from scratch; will be innovative in their approach and seek inspiration from unrelated sources or purely from imagination.
*UNDERSTANDING OF FASHION TRENDS*
-Regular tailor: Might be aware of current or past trends (based on number of years of experience), but will not have much idea about which style will be popular in the future.
-Fashion designer: Has an in-depth understanding of global trends (both current & upcoming) and will have a good sense of what will work in the local market in the near future. Might even be involved in changing the future trends through their designs.
*CLIENT-SPECIFIC CUSTOMIZATION*
-Regular tailor: Will always try to customize the output to each customer depending on the exact measurements, body type, fitting required, etc
-Fashion designer: Typically does not cater to any individual, but creates & sets the pattern/design in general. Though this does not stop them for customizing it for a select marquee clients on a bespoke basis
*MINDSET/ATTITUDE*
- Regular tailor: Execution-focused & makes attempts to sew pieces to individual clients’ satisfaction.
Good at interpretation of designs
–Fashion designer:Focused on novelty, themes, patterns, designs & inspiration; not so much on individual clients’ desires.
Good at dreaming up new designs
*TIMELINES*
-Regular tailor: Will take anywhere from 2-3 days to 2-3 weeks for the final apparel to be ready.
-Fashion designer: Typically a long process & takes more than a month to come up with something new or unique.
*WORKING STYLE*
– Regular tailor: Creates pieces as per client needs with little innovation but plenty of customization.
Undertakes repairs, alteration & such minor changes. Entertains walk-in individual clients.
Need not have a brand or label.
-Fashion designer: Creates complete ensembles consisting of multiple pieces for a particular season, theme, or collection with plenty of innovation and almost no customization.
Does not entertain any repairs, alterations & the like.
More focused on the collection rather than walk-in individual clients
Has a distinct label or brand under which all creations are marketed.
*UNDERSTANDING TECHNICALITIES*
-Regular tailor: Might not understand the underlying technicalities about fashion or might know some of it, because of past experience.
-Fashion designer: Has to be an expert on the underlying technicalities like line, length, proportion, colour, texture, fabric, pattern, etc
*PRACTICAL SKILLS LIKE SEWING, EMBROIDERY ETC*
-Regular tailor: Has to be an expert in almost all practical aspects, otherwise clients will not be happy.
Is very skilled in using all the required machines.
-Fashion designer: Basic understanding of practical aspects is sufficient but not necessary or even a pre-requisite. Of course, they would have studied it formally, but need not be a hands-on expert.
On the other hand, good fashion designers have excellent sketching & CAD (Computer Aided design) skills.
*To help understand these differences even better, the following analogies would be helpful*:
If a tailor is a vehicle mechanic who knows how to fix when something goes wrong, then the fashion designer is an engineer who has created the vehicle & knows the reasons for each part and the overall design.If a tailor is a brick-laying mason, then the fashion designer is the overall architect who knows what is to be created, where, how and why.
If a tailor is your neighbourhood electrician who knows how to fix your fan, then the fashion designer is the person who has created the overall blueprints for the fan.
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