Careers

I'm not quite sure exactly what I would like do yet. However, I have always thought that Retail Buying would be really fun though. The only problem is I am not sure if I could actually get a job with that in North Carolina. I also do not know what the job entitles.

Sweatshops

I worked at GAP for three years and we had a case out against us around a year ago about sweatshops. Apparently- they found a sweatshop making gap shirts or something. We had a few (nasty) comments from customers, but GAP jumped on the case and quickly made it disappear. Anyway, point being that YES it is the companies fault that sweatshops are around. I believe American clothing should be manufacture in America. However, there are so many complaints about how much things cost now, if we had to pay American workers to work in factories, the price of the item would go up. In a perfect world sweatshops would not exist. However, sometimes (despite working conditions) it is beneficial to the people working in them. If it were not for that job, they would not be making money anywhere else because their country is too poor and there are not any jobs to get.

Fashion: Art or Usability

I think that runway fashion is more of an art form than usability. For the most part, everyday people do not wear runway fashion. However, the ready-to-wear lines that are wearable/usable. You could also argue that style or fashion is an art statement. A lot of people dress to get a certain kind of attention and make a statement. Therefore, I believe that fashion is BOTH an art form and usability.

Issues facing the Fashion Industry

There are many issues facing the Fashion Industry today. For one, the state the economy is in, decreases retail sales nationwide. Also, because of the same reason, even many high end designers refuse to put on elaborate fashion shows. Designers such as Vera Wang and Betsey Johnson pulled out of the New York Fashion week and decided to do a small show. Vera Wang put her line on display at one of her boutiques in New York City. Also, many chain retailers are struggling to make their sales goals, which in turn does not give their employees the hours they need. Hopefully things will soon turn around in the economy, as well as the Fashion Industry!

Developments in the Retail Industry

Lately, most retail stores and chains have been suffering due to the economic recession. Therefore, some stores are trying to counteract this and still make their sales. Since there is this "green" phase going on right now, a lot of stores are making organic clothing or ones that do not harm the environment. A lot of people feel that if they buy an organic cotton tshirt over a regular cotton fabric tshirt that they are helping out the environment. Ironically, however, the making of organic cotton does help in the growing phase just not in the actual production. Many of the materials and machinery can not be reused and are then in turn thrown into land fills (causing harm to the environment-ironic).
Basically, my point is that a lot of clothing companies are conforming to this green movement in high hopes to help their sales increase.
Here is a young boy modeling an organic cotton tshirt:

Main Trends of NY Fashion Week

For Fall 2009:

There were a lot of dark or muted colors. I saw animal prints like leopard skin as well as lined patterns. They mostly were dresses. Also, many of the dressed were boxy and loose fitting-I do not think they were very flattering at all. There are lots of leggings and tights, it seemed as if though all of the dresses had them.
Lots of high waisted skirts with loose fitting, solid colored tops. (These also had tights/leggings). Some designers had some metallic pieces snuck in-through leggings, tops, jackets and even a few dresses.
Most of the lines have very similar items or "themes."

Ethnic Influences

There are many ethnic influences in fashion, whether it be through accessories or clothing. There seems to be a lot of Indian influence in clothing and accessories lately. I think this is because the "bohemian look" is popular. Also, some people get a lot of influence from Asian countries for wrap dresses, as well as using vibrant colors (this can be true for Indian influence as well).

Last year during fashion week, there seemed to be a lot of African influence in designer's lines. They had a lot of blacks and greens and it had an African "fee" to it. Also, jewelry wise, bangles are popular and those descend from India.