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Geographic Segmentation

Geographic
segmentation involves dividing the to­tal market into groups based on
differences in geog­raphy. Clothing and accessory companies should be aware
of the differences that exist among people liv­ing in different
regions of the country, with a wide variety of climates and customs. (See
Figure 2-2.) There are also differences that exist between people living in
cities, suburbs, and rural areas.
For example, customers living in Phoenix purchase a winter
wardrobe that is very different from that of customers living in Denver.
People who live near wa­ter have a higher demand for swimsuits;
people who live near ski slopes buy more ski wear. People who live in
the suburbs tend to purchase more casual cloth­ing than their urban
counterparts. People who live in rural areas do not have as large a selection
of clothing stores as people in the city have. Rural customers may be more
likely to purchase the clothing needed for a full season at one time rather
than go shopping once or twice a month, as a person in the city
can. There are even differences in demand among cus­tomers who live within the same city. In
fact, stores with multiple outlets in the same city often provide different merchandise assortments in each location
to meet the needs of its
designer clothing
customers.

Demographic Segmentation

When the market is divided into groups according to population
data, such as age, sex, race, income, na­tionality, occupation, and social
class, this is called demographic segmentation. This
information helps
a company identify how large a market seg­ment is and whether it would be a
profitable group to target.

Age data may
indicate whether a person might be
interested in buying a particular clothing item. A children's shoe store, such as Stride Rite Shoes,
uses age data to find out the number of infants and chil­dren living within a market area. Businesses
selling trendy, junior-sized
fashions, such as the junior chain Fashion
Bug, want to know the number of young women
aged 13 to 20.
Retailers such as
K mart and Kinney Shoe Cor­poration use demographic data when determining their promotion plans. For example, K mart ads aimed
at Hispanics can be quite different from ads directed
at the Anglo market. Among the differences is a greater emphasis on children's apparel and on whole-family apparel. Kinney Shoe Corporation
hired an advertising agency in Puerto
Rico to handle its Hispanic advertising and public relations in Puerto
Rico and U.S. Hispanic markets. Kinney allocated the lion's share of its Hispanic ad budget to the spon­sorship of a dance segment on a television game
show that had a large number of
Hispanic viewers.6

Some companies
segment the market by sex. There are
probably many clothing stores in your lo­cal area that sell clothing just for men or just for women, such as Casual Corner.

Income can also be used to segment markets. In­come alone
is no assurance that people will buy ex­pensive merchandise.
It is, however, an indicator that people have the earning capacity to enable them to pay for a "designer original." For
example, Barney's, an upscale
retailer in New York City, appeals to the market segment that is willing to pay many hun­dreds of dollars for a blouse made by wholesale designer
clothing.

The next important principle is an
under­standing of grain and the working properties of the fabric selected for
your design.
At this point, I should explain the word grain. Grain, as it is defined in fashion, is the direction of the fibers
that form the fabric. Woven fabric is
composed of two sets of yarns (threads) that run at right angles to each other. The lengthwise yarn runs vertically to form the lengthwise grain. The selvage is the narrow, tightly woven length­wise finished edge on each side of the fabric. Yarns that run horizontally from selvage to sel­vage form the crosswise grain. The fibers are strongest in the length direction and weakest in the crosswise direction. If one were to pull in a diagonal direction there is a certain amount of stretch. This diagonal stretch is
referred women plus size dresses to as the bias grain. A fabric is on grain when
the lengthwise and crosswise threads run exactly at right angles to each other.

BASIC
PRINCIPLES FOR INTERPRETING ORIGINAL DESIGNS
Pattern designs developed from flat pattern-making techniques will be cold, set and
lifeless unless one has a knowledge of
draping and has had experience in working
with fabric on the dress form. Although flat pattern designs are accurate, they will not have the finer line place­ment gained through draping. Proportion of the garment as it relates to the human body and the effect of the fabric as it hangs on the human body
are readily apparent when developing
a pattern using draping methods.
There is also an improve­ment of fit
when flat pattern designs are made from
a sloper and then draped on a dress form. The design quality of your
designs will improve with a clear-cut
understanding of draping. On the other
hand, an understanding of flat patternmak­ing will assist you in accomplishing
pattern de­signs with speed and accuracy. Combining both methods has the advantage of designing with
greater creativity, freedom, efficiency and skill. As with all methods, the
fundamental princi­ples must be
learned before continuing. There are two basic considerations needed to
drape ef­fectively and efficiently: a
knowledge of the anat­omy of the
human figure and the working prop­erties
of the fabric with which one works. The designer works with fabric or muslin to interpret an original idea. Fabric, which is two-dimensional, must be translated to a garment for a
human figure, which is three-dimensional. The fabric must take shape
and form. It will be used to suggest and inspire occasions and silhouettes. Not all fabrics are appropriate for all occasions and silhouettes (fabric textures are discussed in detail on page 29).
The first principle to understand is the anal­ysis of the human figure in
relation to the needs for comfort, freedom and motion (Figure 6-1). This is necessary as draping is done on a dress form that duplicates the human figure but it can­not
breathe, move, or bend arms and legs. The dress form represents the
specification measure­ments of the
manufacturer's sample size with ease
added for chest, waist and hip expansion,
It is important to recognize the three divi­sional
points of the human figure and dress form—bust level, waist level, and hip level. I often refer to them as the levels of control (Fig­ures 6-3, 6-4). These levels of control will deter­mine the silhouette, fit and ease of your plus size women
clothing design.