Latest Yellowbrick Module Looks at Design Inspiration

● "Designing the Collection" connects the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising with WWD.

Leading online education provider Yellowbrick has partnered with WWD and the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising to launch “Designing the Collection,” a program dedicated to showing designers how to build a cohesive clothing or accessory collection.

The course features Industry professionals from WWD and seasoned faculty and fashion designers from FIDM who will guide learners through real-world industry scenario assignments while helping them build an understanding of the modern tools and methods of fashion design.

In the first module, educators help learners understand the process of inspiration. The video segment “Where to Start” features Nick Verreos and David Paul, fashion designers and co-chairs of FIDM Fashion Design. The two jump right into the topic by noting that inspiration is everything and everywhere.

“Inspiration is everywhere and around every corner,” Verreos said. “We all know about traditional inspiration; it's where you find inspiration in nature and in architecture. But what's important is that you find the personal connection to that inspiration. Without that personal connection, it's really hard to give the collection a voice. As a designer, that personal connection is probably the most important component.”

Paul agreed and said whether it is inspiration from architecture or nature, the context needs to be personalized. “That personal aspect is what will grab your audience,” Paul said.

In the segment “Getting Real With

Your Inspiration,” Marina Leight, fashion designer and educator, said there are other key elements for making design inspiration valid.

“As an educator, I put a lot of focus into things that evoke real, genuine reactions and feelings,” Leight said. “And I'm not saying that everything should be warm and fuzzy. Genuine reactions and feelings could be things that are sad or disturbing.”

Leight said thoughts, feeling, smells, memories, and even the temperature can evoke a true genuine reaction on the part of the designer, which helps build a narrative and tell a story of the collection, she said.