Outfit Building

A key aspects of developing a range is to make sure the garments work together. I have designed my range so that all my garments are transitional and can be co-ordinated and styled together. I want to try and highlight the mix and match element of my range, and this can be done through outfit building.
However, I do not simply want to create an average style guide which tells the audience what they should wear together. I want to be able to communicate outfit building in an interactive way, so the audience (in my case, Oasis sales team) can experiment and decided for themselves what garments can be styled together.
I have shown some experiments in my sketchbook of how this can be achieved.

Ideas for final outcome

Up until now I have been struggling to come up with a concept for the final outcome of this project. The reason being because, if I was trying to recreate the buying process exactly my final outcome would be the actual physical garments for the collection.
However, I had ruled this out from the start due to time, man-power, skills and money, therefore I have been slightly lost on what I should do for my outcome. The range plan I have created contributes towards my final outcome, however I needed to find a way of visually communicating my range plan in a more exciting and creative format.
After discussing possible outcomes with Caroline today, I have decided to create some presentation boards that would be used by a buyer to visually communicate the range to colleges, and sales team when doing store visits.
I have also decided to create an 'in store guide' for the sales team, which will explain everything about the range, from the inspiration behind the designs through to how to style and visually merchandise the range together. Now I need to think of how I can bring my originality and creativity to this type of industry document.

Name for my collection

Each collection/ story/ trend that a retailer brings out is normally given a name to describe the chosen theme. The name is an important way of communicating the style, look and spirit of a collection, and now is the time to give my collection a name. Here is a list of possible names:

• Rural Chic
• Rural Roots
• Country Born
• Country Roots
• Rural Revival
• Country Spirit
• Rural Spirit
• Country Chic
• The Great Outdoors
• Country Heritage
• Back to Roots
• Back to Nature

Although I am conscious that some of the names might sound abit cheesy, I really want to get across my inspiration that is all about the country way of life. I have chosen to go with 'Country Born' as the name for my collection, as this sums up my inspiration and design philosophy.

My Final Range Plan

These are my final range plans for Outerwear, Tops and Bottoms for autumn/winter 2011 Country Born collection for Oasis. I have tired to include a balanced range, with as many transitional pieces as possible. I also wanted to have a balance of smart and casual pieces and basic core items and pricier statement fashion pieces such as the Leather Aviator Gilet and Leather laser cut detail skirt.

My Designs using Illustrator

Since completing my design development and design selection, I have been working on translating my hand drawn designs into digital designs, using the computer program Adobe Illustrator.
This will give my designs a sharp, professional look and is a technical skill which is used in industry.
Using Illustrator is a technical skill which can take years to master, however I have only ever had one experience using this software before.
From my experience, I do enjoy using Illustrator and learning new skills, however it is very time consuming!
My seventeen different designs each took me 1 hour to 2 hours to complete, so I bascially spent a week of my time on this, which I was not expecting and has put me behind in my schedule.
However, I do think it has been worth the effort as it will give my overall presentation a sharp, professional quality.

Fashion Illustrator

I have decided that I am going to need to collaborate with an illustrator in order to bring the collection to life and show how the garments can be worn and styled together. Seeing as I am not going to be producing the finish garments, this is an alternative to seeing how the clothes will look in real life, kind of like a photo shoot but illustrative and not photographic.
I don't think my strength is in fashion illustration, therefore I decided to advertise the help of an expert by sending an email to the Illustration course at uni to see if anyone was interested in collaborating with me.
I was quite surprised by the number of replies I received, however it meant that I could choose an illustrator whose style really suited the look I wanted to achieve.
The illustrator I am now working with is called Rachel Elsome and she is in the second year of Illustration at AUCB. She sent me the link to take a look at some of her work on her website and I really like her style, plus she seems very open to taking on new ideas and understands the style of illustration I want to achieve.
Here is the link to her website, plus some of the images of her work which show her style of illustration.
http://illustrateharveylane.wordpress.com/

Range Plans - What to include

The purpose of a range plan is to compile a commercially acceptable collection of garments within financial and design parameters, prior to production.
These are a number of criteria that need to be included in a range plan in order for the buyer to get a clear view of the planned collection.

• Number of garments to be included in the range
• Proportion of different types of garments to be included (tops to bottoms, fashion to classic styles)
• Specific garment styles to be included
• Fabrics and colourways added for each garment
• Cost price for each garment
• Selling price for each garment
• Order quantities per style
• Sizes to be ordered
• Manufacturer used

Here is an example of a range plan which has been used in industry. However, there is no set way of presenting a range plan, but I prefer ones that are more visual with garment images and fabric swatches.