Many professional fashion designers start off by specializing in a particular area of fashion. The smaller and the more specific the market, the more likely a company is to get the right look and feel to their clothes. It is also easier to establish oneself in the fashion industry if a company is known for one type of product, rather than several products. Once a fashion company becomes established (that is, has regular buyers and is well-known by both the trade and the public), it may decide to expand into a new area. If the firm has made a name for the clothes it already produces, this helps to sell the new line. It is usually safest for a company to expand into an area similar to the one it already knows. For example, a designer of women's sportswear might expand into men's sportswear. The chart below shows the areas in which many designers choose to specialize.
World Fashion Industry
Fashion today is a global industry, and most major countries have a fashion industry. Some countries are major manufacturing centres, notably China, South Korea, Spain, Germany, Brazil, and India. Five countries have established an international reputation in fashion design. These countries are France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Japan.
American Fashion Design
The majority of American fashion houses are based in New York, although there are also a significant number in Los Angeles, where a substantial percentage of clothing manufactured in the US is actually made. There are also burgeoning industries in Miami and Chicago, which were once centers of American fashion.
American fashion design is dominated by a clean-cut, casual style, reflecting the athletic, health-conscious lifestyles of some American city-dwellers. A designer who helped to set the trend in the United States for sport-influenced day wear throughout the 1940s and 50's was Claire McCardell. Many of her designs have been revived in recent decades. More modern influences on the American look have been Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Anna Sui, Donna Karan, Kenneth Cole, Marc Jacobs, Elie Tahari, Michael Kors, Vera Wang, Betsey Johnson and Tommy Hilfiger.
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