Creation of innovative fashion and textile collection based on the conceptual fashion design process model for Hong Kong

Abstract

The symbiotic relationship that exists between fashion and textile design is often considered inseparable. In recent decades, the world of fashion and textile design has become increasingly close and reliant on one another. Fashion designers understand that the future of their profession lies to a great extent in the selection of fabrics. Advanced textile technology has yielded new aesthetics, tactile qualities and performance capabilities to fashion. Fashion designers are collaborating with textile designers to produce collections which show innovative fabrics, impeccable craft and conceptual designs. This excellent collaboration of design work leads to the integration of the design process undertaken. However, limited literature and systematic models which describe the conceptual design process can be found in both academic and industrial fields. As there is an obvious knowledge gap in the subject of conceptual fashion design, this study seeks to identify the dimensions of creative success within this specific domain. A thorough understanding of the dimensions of creativity theories and, creative processes in different design disciplines will help to develop a rich background to the study of creative activities within the domain of conceptual fashion design. The present research attempts to 1) explore the identification of the innovative conceptual fashion design and its creative system, 2) develop a theoretical framework of design process that presents a series of creative actions and 3) develop a model of design process that is generic to both textile design and fashion design, by rationally integrating professional knowledge from different design domains into a systematic conceptual framework. These raise my interest on the investigation of the design process in developing conceptual fashion design and the creative thinking within the mind of conceptual designers. This study documented and tracked the emergence and development of conceptual fashion, exposing interdisciplinary practice at the edges of the fashion discipline.