Creativity is the tangible as well as intangible backbone of all fields – art, science, commerce, humanities, and even daily life. Creativity builds the possibility of application and overall betterment in the domain it has been introduced. Taking fashion design education in focus, creativity is the tool that helps convert abstract ideas into tangible and concrete solutions. 

The fashion design industry encourages creativity, innovation, exploration, and problem-solving for this ability to change ideas into actual products or solutions. Let’s look at the importance of creativity and innovation in fashion design subjects and how these skills can be nurtured. 

Creativity & Innovation 

Creativity and innovation stand as important elements of every field. However, for all design fields, these are the backbone of growth and development. These skills are ‘must-haves’ rather than ‘nice to have.’ 

The process of developing creativity to improve fashion design skills includes observing, practising, exchanging ideas, adapting to changes, and cultivating strategies as a part of your daily routine. Fashion professionals are skilled at documenting incidents, interpreting them, understanding the experiences they are going through, and providing views and insights on different phenomena. 

Creative thinking opens the doors to artistry – through innovation. Since these are solutions to existing issues, creativity can help the fashion design industry of India to grow & update quickly and extend indefinitely too. Since we are looking into the fashion industry and fashion education, we must look at how stagnant creativity and lack of innovation restrict clothing styles to one type. 

The Fashion Industry 

Clothing styles have grown and developed infinitely over the years. The competition in the fashion industry requires creativity and innovation at a global and achievable stage. A fashion design portfolio must focus on thinking higher than life, which builds creativity. 

If you want to retain your uniqueness in your fashion design boutique or business, you must keep up with moving trends, times, and modern development. You can do this by innovation through creativity. The customer’s needs must be met every time they visit you. 

Customers are only satisfied when there is something new in your designs – even when it is just a segway from your regular products. This works when you want to attract new customers, too. Only through creativity and innovation can you create development and value for your business and the industry as a whole. 

The Fashion Education System 

Your fashion design course will introduce you to elements of design, such as cuffs, pants, and necklines, opening different options for creative thinking. As students, you must have professionalism, artistry, basic aesthetic ability, as well as artistic achievements. 

Translating this education to a professional lifestyle will focus on improving these creative and innovative abilities, not remembering knowledge points or theories. The necessity of creative thinking, as discussed, is obvious for charting a guaranteed future for jobs in fashion design industry. 

With the improving times, design colleges and teachers must also realise that one of the key skills for fashion designers is creative thinking. To develop this, courses can also include more creative opportunities in the learning phase – allowing and encouraging students to design and imagine final products with unique prospects. 

Creativity generates ideas, which eventually help in problem-solving. Thus, in the fashion curriculum, a step-by-step process of thinking strategies can be introduced under the subject of ‘creative problem-solving.’ 

Implementing Creative Thinking in Education 

Within the classroom, creativity is applied through processes and solutions. An earlier thought process states that creativity is an inherent trait and cannot be taught in the classroom. However, modern education developments have given birth to five foolproof methods by which teachers can boost the creativity of a classroom: 

• Questioning the current knowledge – allows students the freedom to question the existing wisdom and creatively analyse the same. 
• Training the trainer – teachers must upskill to creatively approach teaching and other class activities. 
• Value the students’ inputs – create a culture where the students’ creative contributions allow sensible risk-taking. 
• Experiment and take time – let students interact and experiment with assignments and solve problems collectively. 
• Challenge the status quo through activities – this allows an exchange of ideas and gives birth to innovation.

To conclude 

The fashion design industry needs an overhaul at the core – the educational level. Academic institutions must grow ahead of cultural and organisational resistance and allow the transformation of fashion design education so that it suits today’s world. 

Adding creativity and innovation in fashion education requires a vision – along with incentives, resources and an action plan. With institutes like the JD School of Design at the forefront of this growth and new development, fashion institutes should include the willingness and ability to transform their curriculums and teaching patterns.