FASHION AND OUR 5 SENSES.

The 5 senses commonly known as – Sense of Sight; Touch; Sound; Smell and Taste. Are not just there for the Biology classes alone. They have roles to play in many aspects of our daily lives as we all know. 

But in the fashion industry, how do they come into action? 

 
Every design has a process. As a Fashion student or a fashion designer, you should be used to this. The process starts from the thought-stage, when it was just an idea to it’s final execution and display. This looks like a Brief sentence, but the stages can take  as long as the design takes, hours…..days….weeks……months……  

The design process applicable to different business development can also come to use in the Fashion workplace, the way you interpret it is up to your personal specifications. 

 This is a topic for another time. 
Today we are focusing on the 5 senses we were taught in school and how it helps our designs. 

Each of the five senses play a significant role in the process. And each should be considered if you always want professionalism take a key role in your fashion business. How you understand working with it is what matters now. 

When you get so passionate with your work, some things come easy. Same way in the process of the job, lots of lessons are learned and things get easier by and by. 

Let’s start with the sense of ……

1. SIGHT. 

There is no faster way to assess your works yourself, and by others, than how it appeals to the eyes. An appealing outfit /Fabric draws attention faster. We call them “eye candy”. You must activate the ability to know this and develop it. It matters when you want to consider display clothes. Either as store display or social media displays. At this stage, the finishing and other details come later, it must be able to attract the eye at first glance. 

How vibrant are your color choices?  

How the shapes and other factors align to create perfect attractiveness.?

How you work with the Contrasts. ? You must be dramatic with the way you work with contrasting colors to create pretty illusions. 

Next we have the …

2. SENSE OF TOUCH

After seeing, there are responses and results. He client or prospective clients will want to feel it. Either by trying it on or by touching to feel the texture. 

How the Fabric feels against their skin. 

If it’s soothing and smooth on the body. Or by touch. 

How the outfit lays on their body, how it conforms and makes them feel matters here. The more comfortable it feels, the better. This means, when shoooing for the resources, in your design process cycle, you have to put a lot into consideration. Don’t just buy because it’s attractive, touch and feel how it feels on the skin.   Soft or stiff? Smooth or rough? 

 

 The next sounds quite funny too. It is 

3- THE SENSE OF SOUND.  
You start to wonder, what sound does your designs make? Apart from the sounds of details. There are sounds that remain inaudible, but let’s face the facts. Designs speak. If only you have the “ear” to hear it. Some great designers will tell you, when they see a lovely Fabric , it’s telling them ‘something’. Maybe we will call that an extra 6th sense 😉. 

But here let’s apply this to the ruffling sound the Fabric makes, it the clicks of the details attached to it, like beads and sequins and buttons. The rustling sound they make as you move. The rhythmic pattern of the blings on your garment, etc. why do we see an outfit and say it is loud? – it is definitely saying ‘something’. 

Consider the sounds your designs will make. On the stands and on the wearer. 

Next we have 

4- THE SENSE OF SMELL. 

Scents are called ambience transformers. We have designers who make the scents of their stores attractive and peculiar to them. That you could almost link the air to them.  This will come into play in your design process when we consider the marketing and display duties. When a client enters your store, how appealing? It looks beautiful, does it smell good.? The way your store or workspace smells will transfer to the outfits too. It is called “psychological trigger” or “aromatherapy + Fashion”. Make the scents appealing enough to keep them till they make their purchases and even keep them coming back. 

And lastly , we have 

5- THE SENSE OF TASTE 

In the fashion world, we call them -Edible garments. Designs so sweet you could almost eat. Asides ‘Taste’ – that reflects how you follow the other 4 senses tastefully, choosing and making with a particular sense of purpose that fits some ‘Tastes’ or target customers. Sometimes you play around fashion by using edible items, although this is meant for runways or photoshoots alone. 

So In this sense, let’s settle for the first definition. If you are in an area, ensure your designs fits the taste of that area. You won’t kill your market if you obey your environment. Ignoring what works in your environment is like stabbing your market in the eye. Let your designs and taste match. In a student community, if you major on Couture, you may not hit the market in the eye the way you should. 

And ensure your designs are so good we can almost feel the flavor on our lips. 

 It is believed , we humans have more than 5 senses. Reach in and tap into all the senses you are gifted with. Even the ones you haven’t used before, they just may be somewhere waiting for full expression. 

The way you apply all you learn will influence the results you and others see. Don’t just be a regular in the fashion industry. Dare to be Different!

All designs featured in this article are made and modeled by fashion students of Ibadancity Fashion College. 

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Ibadancity Fashion College is the leading Fashion school in Ibadan, Oyo state Nigeria. 

Having raised hundreds of fashionpreneurs and still going stronger. Empowering youths and equipping them with skills to excel and  be outstanding in the skills learnt and career of their choice. Our classes are not only hands-on practicals and theory classes, but also loaded with Entrepreneurial classes to equip them as they learn on the go. We teach all fashion related courses and more. 

Located on Ring Road Ibadan. 

4,Ajia street. Off iyalode crescent. 

Behind IBEDC office (Capital building). 

Ring Road. Ibadan. Oyo state. Nigeria. 

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