Ask The Fashion Professor

Dear Fashion Professor,

In the real fashion world, Haute Couture and Avant Garde collections get scaled down and simplified for customers to wear. I also heard that even Ready-To-Wear collections get scaled down because a lot of them can be very over-the-top as well like John Galliano. My question is, if this is the case, how many collections do fashion designers actually design?

Do they design 1 collection that goes down the runway, then another collection to sell in the showroom to be sold on the racks? Or do they design a simplified collection AFTER the runway collection has finished? My fashion teacher in my high school told me that patternmakers are involved in this process of scaling down collections, but I wasn't sure if this was completely true. Im really interested in the process of designing a collection and having it go from runway to retail behind the scenes.

Christian Dior designed by John Galliano, has sent outrageous ready-to-wear collections down the runway which should be labeled as Haute Couture or Avant Garde. How does John manage to make this all wearable in a matter of a few months?

Thanks,

Arion

(Diehard PR fans will recognize Arion's name. Who can remind us where we first heard it?)

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