Task/Brief – As a designer for a leading high street store, you have been asked to design and make a stylish and innovative hat for the next fashion season.

Task/Brief – As a designer for a leading high street store, you have been asked to design and make a stylish and innovative hat for the

next fashion season.

Steps to think about when designing and producing a hat:(usually known as the design process)

In order to be successful I will need to carry out the following processes:

Researching e.g.

Hats on the current marketOther famous hat designerFunction of hatsUnderstanding pattern development

Designing e.g.Design spec.Initial ideas

Developing final ideasPresentation of ideas.

Making

Planning

Evaluating

When researching you could think about:

Research methods.Researching information will help you with designing your hat in a number of ways. This could be done using either primary or

secondary research.

What is the difference between primary and secondary research?

Primary research is when you find out the information needed. You can do this by e.g. carrying out surveys or questionnaires.

Secondary research is when somebody else finds out the information. You can do this by reading information in magazines, books, internet etc.

For this hat task the research is going to focus on the following aspects:

Price

Function

Trends

Target group

Research - things to think about:

Hats

Seasons? Winter or summer Fabric?

Fleece/cotton/wool

Style/Trends?What ‘look’ are you aiming for?

Function?What is it’s intended use

What age group it’s aimed at?Target group - Teenagers/adults/children

Decorative techniques?Embroidery/cutback/

Lasered/freehand embroidery

Quality control?How well made is the product

Cost ? Above hat images courtesy www.howies.co.uk

Some thoughts:How old are they? What gender am I aiming my hat at?What are their interests?What do they like doing in their free time? (function)How much do they spend on clothing?

Target group: who are you designing for?

Who is your target group?

When designing a product what other questions do you need to ask yourself about the target group?

All of these questions relate to your target group.

What are their interests ? (This could link to the possible function of the hat)

How old are they exactly? ‘Teenagers’too vague an age group early/mid/late teens?

What’s trendy are cool now?

Where do they shop mainly - are there any clues for trends in these shops? (Price/Trends)

What do they do in their free time?

Can you think of any more questions/thoughts

to go on the mind map?

A good way to develop your research of your target group is to ask yourself a number of questions about them.

Hats for the target group

Research - things to think about:

Hats

Seasons? Winter or summer Fabric?

Fleece/cotton/wool

Style/Trends?What ‘look’ are you aiming for?

Function?What is it’s intended use

What age group it’s aimed at?Target group - Teenagers/adults/children

Decorative techniques?Embroidery/cutback/

Lasered/freehand embroidery

Quality control?How well made is the product

Cost ? Above hat images courtesy www.howies.co.uk

What is meant by the term ‘fashion trends’?

Trends

trends in hats can relate to :

• outline shapes

• colours

• fabrics

• decorative features

• sustainability/environment issues

The term trends is often referred to as the latest styles.

Fashion is a funny thing. Shapes, fabrics, colours change every season (trends). What is fashionable one season is totally out the next.

Hat images courtesy www.howies.co.uk

So how do we know what’s in fashion. You can find out the trends using:

• Primary research - you can find out this information by carrying outquestionnaires, market surveys and photo’s from a fashion show.

• Secondary research - is when your research is provided by somebody else for example internet sites and magazines. You will probably get most of your information through this type of research

Amazing hat design by Welsh designer Dai Rees

Look in magazines: Elle, Vogue, Marie Claire, Esquire, FHM collections, Arena, Pour Homme.

On the internet: www.Style.comhttp://fashion.about.comhttp://www.vogue.co.ukwww.hatsuk.comwww.fashionera.comwww.philiptreacy.co.uk

Other useful websites specifically for hats include:www.Scottusa.comwww.hatsandthat.comwww.animal.co.ukwww.Northface.co.ukwww.millets.co.ukwww.howies.co.uk

Amazing hat design by Welsh designer Dai Rees

When fashion designers create products they need to be aware of the latest trends. However many cutting edge or leading designers create their own trends and make that all important impact on the catwalk.

Task Find out who are the leading hat designers in the UK. Clue one of these designers is Welshman Dai Rees.

Create a digital poster of their designs, list five aspects that you think make their work cutting edge.

Research - things to think about:

Hats

Seasons? Winter or summer Fabric?

Fleece/cotton/wool

Style?What look are you aiming for?

Function?What is it’s intended use

What age group it’s aimed at?Teenagers/adults/children

Decorative techniques?Embroidery/cutback/

Lasered/freehand embroidery

Quality control?How well made is the product

Cost ? Above hat images courtesy www.howies.co.uk

Function: what is the intended use of the hat by the target group?

Does the function have to influence the design?

Some questions to think about when designing your hat.

What would the function of the hat be? If it was for training, what would you need to think about?

For instance if your target group is a young rugby player such as Gavin Henson.

Or a hat to support his favourite team?

What qualities does the fabric need for the hat to function well?

What type of fabric would be suitable?

What is the function of your hat?

• easy to wear/wash

• does not come off when running/training

• any thing else? .

Research - things to think about:

Hats

Seasons? Winter or summer Fabric?

Fleece/cotton/wool

Style/Trends?What ‘look’ are you aimimg for?

Function?What is it’s

intended use

What age group it’s aimed at?Target group - Teenagers/adults/children

Decorative techniques?Embroidery/cutback/

Lasered/freehand embroidery

Quality control?How well made is the product

Cost ?Above hat images courtesy

www.howies.co.uk

Cost: How much is your hat going to cost?

The price of a hat depends on various things:

• the fabric

• cost of production i.e. time spent making the hat and equipment needed.

• decorative details

• packaging and transport. All of these factors are added together to work out the cost of production. For an approximate guide, companies then double this cost to achieve a 100% profit.

i.e (labour)+production+fabric+distribution+storage+ decorative features = £5.50 £5.50x 2 = £11= 100% profit

This extended part of the hat will cost more due to extra fabric needed and additional construction time.

Considerations of costs when designing and making a hat.(Labour)+production+fabric+distribution+storage+decorative features = ?

Extras cost here ?Labour skills and extra fabric for the decorative feature.

Logo costs you?Time, specialist equipment and design costs.

Recap The more detailed the logo/decorative features the longer it takes to make, and therefore increasing the final cost of the hat.

Look at the hat opposite and identify any extra costs?

Task – working in pairs or a small group. Look at the following hats and consider

the following questions?

Hat 1 Hat 2 Hat 3

Which hat would be the quickest to make and why?

Which hat would take the longest to make and why?

Which of the above hats would you select to adapt to make it suitable for an innovative hat to support a Welsh team? The hat needs to be suited to factory manufacture.