"Fabric Styling" What is it?

[Girlfriend1]

According to the Fashion Institute of Technology, "fabric styling I" is described as "design concepts, fashion trends, and textile lines are developed for a wide range of markets.Focus is on developing cohesive, visually edited boards for specific areas. Oral presentation skills are developed at the conclusion of each project... to develop and communicate style concepts and fashion trends..."
"Fabric styling II" is described as "students continue the development of fabrics and/or product lines, with emphasis on specific marketing and design criteria.

Well I was at the DIRECTION seminar today, and it looks to me there is no such profession as "fabric styling" or at least told by an independent that fabric stylists only live in China. Funny or not, the textile companies also seemingly never heard of a fabric stylist. One lady who is the president of an Italian textile company says she only hires textile designers, and that she has no idea what exactly a "fabric stylist" does, because according to her, her company which designs their own lines doesn't even need a consultant to pitch a direction. She is also unaware of a textile company that may need a "fabric stylist"/"fabric consultant" hired on a regular basis.

The forecasting presentations, whether they be mens, womens, childrenwear....really had nothing to do with the fabric- there was no sampling, no actual referencing to a fabric that could be used as inspiration-but only mentioning the kinds of fabric and their color by showing runway edits- a photo that shows fair isles here and a photo that shows techno high shine worn there. The main focus of the forecasting presentations (unlike the description at FIT) was on color development, print popularity (like whats hot in the sweater styling or pants), and silhouette. No styling of fabric here....

So where exactly does a "fabric stylist" fit in?

DILEMMA! I am starting the BFA program in a week in this subject, and came to realize quickly (and thankfully) that I wouldn't know to whom I could pitch my "Fabric styling" skills. I hear the best opportunity is overseas in Europe.

 

[BetteT]

It sure looks like Fabric (or possibly textile?) Design and Marketing to me ... "the development of fabrics and/or product lines, with emphasis on specific marketing and design criteria." But then, it's not my world. Maybe gius can answer this one.

Here's some other treads about similar things only as food for thought:

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f90/fabric-textile-consultant-54574.html
http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f90/methods-fabric-treatment-29169.html
http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f90/texprint-uk-promoting-textile-design-talent-47901.html

 

[gius]

Thanks for those threads BetteT! some I haven't seen before..

hello Girlfriend1
the first link should help with your question... about consultants... fashion consultant

It's definitely more about marketing, even fashion merchandising
Making inspiration boards
viewing trends, Market research
About editing designs/styles to suit the market (edit the colours, the prints, etc.)

I saw this program on the FIT website before
You can see it writes it doesn't require the student to know how to draw before taking the course
So it's not quite about designing

Thanks for adding your experiences from your post Did you speak with other people in the industry? That's interesting the Italian company doesn't use consultants.. Their designers probably already know how to do this (styling/market research)
or the company produces personal "signature" products/designs than trend-based designs