Texture: the secret sauce of apparel design?

Smooth, shiny, loopy, dull, rough, soft, sheer, crisp, and bulky. These adjectives denote the appearance and feel of a fabric. However, to a designer (at least this one), texture can heavily influence the design process, as it touches on the occasion for the garment, how a fabric’s appearance and feel flatter the body, as well as how it affects a business’s bottom line.

When is the article of clothing going to be worn? Is it a special occasion or an every day one? Now, there is no legislation mandating that a particular fabric can or cannot be used for different situations, but commonly, shiny, soft, and sheer fabrics are more often seen on ball gowns than fuzzy, rough, and bulky ones. Closely related to the occasion is the wearer’s perception how appropriate the material is for the use. Smooth, shiny, crispy-looking materials invoke the feeling of cool and are best suited for spring and summer apparel. Along the same lines, bulky, loopy, dull or fuzzy fabrics imply the sensation of warmth and are used in fall or winter garments.

A designer’s aim is to flatter the body and texture contributes greatly to achieving that. If a fabric is shiny, light will reflect from it and emphasize the shape of the body beneath it. The same goes for the weight and flow of the fabric. Lighter weight, more flowing fabrics will achieve the same. By the same token, fabrics with more structure, duller, and crisper, will stand away from the body and draw less attention to it. As I like to say it, they can help hide a multitude of sins.

The texture of material also touches on the total cost of the garment, as it’s not only the cost of the fabric that drives it. Smooth and shiny fabrics tend to be more difficult to cut and sew, so they require more labor and are more expensive to use. Sheer fabrics often have to be lined, which adds cost, both in material and hours. Alternatively, bulky and rough fabrics are easier to cut and sew, although they sometimes also require lining. So, money and texture, who knew?

Texture, the secret sauce of the design process? Such a little word with lots of punch: affecting the occasion of wear, the style of cut, and the bottom line.

So few letters, so much consequence.