LibGuides: Fashion Design: Inspiration, Illustration, and Tools: Inspiration

Starting fresh

New design projects require new ideas. The FIT Library has hundreds of ways to feed your head with new ideas. Databases, ebooks, and websites on every kind of art and technology, forecasting services, retrospectives of old designers: we've done our best to present sources you can get to from home and on campus.

EMc/MS 10/21

Art as Inspiration

Explore Colors in Classic Art (Google Arts & Culture)
Click on a color to see classic artwork from world-famous artists. Zoom in to see fine details.

Select a color to see matching Classic Artworks - Google Art & Culture (free)

Fine Artwork - Google Arts & Cultures - Art Camera
High resolution images showing fine artwork details from Google Arts & Culture

Online Trend Services

Doneger Tobe This link opens in a new window
Requires an extra username and password. Login with your FIT username and password first, Use the password listed for Doneger.
Fashion Snoops This link opens in a new window
Users are required to create a MY FS account to use tools & workspace. Use your FIT email address as your username.
Use Mozilla/Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer (version 10 and up only - older versions of Internet Explorer are not compatible and will not allow images to display correctly).
Sophicolor This link opens in a new window
A color service with more than 4,500 unique colors. Includes Trend Intelligence with the latest color palettes.
Users are required to create an individual account:
1. Register for an account using link on our Library database page, using your FIT email.
2. In the Company field, enter "FIT," and for job title enter "FIT Student" or "FIT Faculty"
3. You will receive an email from Sophicolor once your account has been approved.
WGSN Fashion This link opens in a new window
Users are required to create an individual WGSN account
To access WGSN:
1. On the "Library Database A to Z List" page (https://www.fitnyc.edu/library/databases/a-to-z.php). select WGSN and login using your FIT username and password.
2. Before you proceed CLICK ON THE "+" sign for directions on how to login.
3. Students must create an account and re-activate their account every 90 days: click on "re-activate account". URL= https://www.wgsn.com/accounts/edu/
Students must create an account and re-activate their account every 90 days: click to create or re-activate account:
https://www-wgsn-com.libproxy.fitsuny.edu/accounts/edu

Locked out of your account for too many incorrect login attempts? Reset your password here:
https://www.wgsn.com/auth/forgotpassword

To access WGSN Fashion

login via the proxy and then with your WGSN username and password
select the part of the site you wish to use from the top menu under "Fashion"
Use an incognito browser to access this resource.Students must create an account and re-activate their account every 90 days: click on re-activate account.
WGSN Interiors This link opens in a new window
Trend reports & forecasting for home products. Users are required to create a WGSN account.
Follow instructions above to create an individual WGSN account.
WGSN Insight This link opens in a new window
Intelligence & research on latest consumer, marketing, retail, and innovation trends.
Users are required to create a WGSN account.
Follow instructions above to create an individual WGSN account.
WindowsWear This link opens in a new window
Contains images, 360 degree panoramas, and descriptions of physical and digital window displays in a real-time, searchable database of community-generated content that provides data on what retail environments look like around the world with coverage from 1931 to present.
1. Visit WindowsWear
2. Click “Join now” on the top right
3. Select "Academic" on the right
4. Under "existing members" select "FIT"
5. Create profile
6. Under "get started" select "student" or "faculty"
7. Use your FIT email and create a password
8. Click "join"
You will need to login to WindowsWear after authenticating via the proxy to use the site.

Zoom Into The Thread

Art Camera:
ZOOM INTO THE THREADS

High resolution images showing fine details
from Google Arts & Culture Collections

Image: Detail from Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen A/W 2016 (British Fashion Council)

Zoom Into The Threads - McQueen (Google Arts & Cultures)
Dress detail from Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen A/W 2016 (British Fashion Council)
Art Camera - Zoom Into The Threads (Google Arts & Cultures)
Scroll down to the ZOOM INTO THE THREADS section to see the very fine details of embroidery and textiles

Searching for ideas

cover of Madeleine Vionnet by Betty Kirke

Madeleine Vionnet, with patterns of her work

5th floor Oversize TT505.V56 K57

Vogue Italia Archive

Every issue from 1964-Current, including articles, ads, editorial content

Mix

4th floor PERS Desk

Artstor

Digital library of art images from museums and other institutions.

Vintage Details

5th floor TT506 .M39

ReFashioned

5th floor TT550 .B76

Textile Report

4th floor PERS Desk

The Fashion Designer's Sketchbook

5th floor Access Services Desk - Reserves; TT509 .R675

Textile View magazine

4th floor PERS Desk

Charles James: Beyond Fashion

5th floor TT505 .J36 K63

Zero Waste Fashion Design

TT507 .R57

FITDIL: FIT Digital Image Library

FITDIL is an Internet-based repository of digital images.

Vintage Menswear

5th floor GT1710 ,G85

Sumptuous images

Bloom
forecast
July 1999 (n2)-Current. Irregular
Absorbed View on Colour
“The first trend magazine for flowers and plants and how they relate to fashion, interiors and other industries.” Published in the Netherlands by the creators of the trend magazine View on Colour

Materials experimentation

Smart Materials by Axel Ritter
ReFashioned by Sass Brown
Future Fashion by Macarena San Martin
North Light Artist's Guide to Materials and Techniques by Phil Metzger
The Jewelry Architect: Techniques + Projects for Mixed-Media Jewelry by Kate McKinnon
Call Number: Main Stacks TT212 .M39254 2011
Publication Date: 2011

Mix
forecast
June 2009 (n16)-Current. Quarterly
Inspirational design publication from the U.K.; emphasis on color and trends

5,000 Years of Korean Textiles
Artists' Designed Textiles, 1940-1976 by Geoffrey Rayner; Richard Chamberlain; Annamarie Stapleton; Annamarie Phelps
Experimental Textiles by Kim Thittichai
Isabel Toledo by Valerie Steele; Patricia Mears
Madeleine Vionnet by Issey Miyake (Foreword by); Betty Kirke
Textile Surface Manipulation by Nigel Cheney; Helen McAllister
Zero Waste Fashion Design by Timo Rissanen and Holly McQuillan Zero Waste Fashion Design combines research and practice to introduce a crucial sustainable fashion design approach. Written by two industry leading pioneers, Timo Rissanen and Holly McQuillan, the book offers flexible strategies and easy-to-master zero waste techniques to help you develop your own cutting edge fashion designs. Sample flat patterns and more than 20 exercises will reinforce your understanding of the zero waste fashion design process. Beautifully illustrated interviews with high-profile, innovative designers, including Winifred Aldrich, Rickard Lindqvist and Yeohlee Teng, show the stunning garments produced by zero waste fashion design. Featured topics include:The criteria for zero waste fashion design, Manufacturing zero waste garments, Adapting existing designs for zero waste, Zero waste designing with digital technologies

Fashion Design: Inspiration, Illustration, and Tools

Image Databases and Sites

Other Inspirational Guides

Starting fresh

Art as Inspiration

Select a color to see matching Classic Artworks - Google Art & Culture (free)

Online Trend Services

Zoom Into The Thread

Art Camera:
ZOOM INTO THE THREADS

Searching for ideas

Madeleine Vionnet, with patterns of her work

Vogue Italia Archive

Mix

Artstor

Vintage Details

ReFashioned

Textile Report

The Fashion Designer's Sketchbook

Textile View magazine

Charles James: Beyond Fashion

Zero Waste Fashion Design

FITDIL: FIT Digital Image Library

Vintage Menswear

Sumptuous images

Materials experimentation

Fashion Design: Inspiration, Illustration, and Tools

Starting fresh

Art as Inspiration

Select a color to see matching Classic Artworks - Google Art & Culture (free)

Online Trend Services

Zoom Into The Thread

Art Camera: ZOOM INTO THE THREADS

Searching for ideas

Sumptuous images

Materials experimentation

Art Camera:
ZOOM INTO THE THREADS