Application
This unit of competency describes the skills and knowledge required to research local and international fashion themes and styles, and purchase fashion products for use in the development of fashion designs. It involves identifying sources for purchasing products to help develop designs and fashion directions.
The unit applies to purchases that can inspire new designs or assist in demonstrating ideas to meet a stakeholder design brief or the design needs of a product range or label. Work may be conducted in small to large scale workplaces in the textiles, clothing and footwear industry, and may involve individual and team activities.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements | Performance Criteria | |
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. | |
1. Prepare for fashion design purchasing | 1.1 | Research national and international styles, themes and trends to identify development opportunities to help develop design and fashion directions |
1.2 | Clarify purchasing objectives, establish criteria for selecting design purchases, and confirm purchasing budget | |
1.3 | Identify fashion design outlets and supplier and purchasing locations relevant to purchasing objectives | |
1.4 | Determine suitable purchasing strategy, and identify potential communication barriers with selected location | |
1.5 | Investigate and prepare to deal with currency, language and purchasing practices of selected location, and according to work health and safety requirements | |
2. Purchase fashion products | 2.1 | Investigate fashion design products to be selected according to design needs of product range and label |
2.2 | Ensure fashion design products to be selected are produced ethically using sustainable work practices | |
2.3 | Test themes, styles and trends of fashion design products to be selected during purchasing | |
2.4 | Negotiate terms of purchase according to workplace procedures, industry standards, and legal and ethical requirements | |
2.5 | Assess production and supply opportunities and make purchases that meet purchasing objectives and comply with workplace purchasing procedures | |
2.6 | Identify and respond to additional design opportunities outside of set objectives | |
3. Present design purchases to stakeholder | 3.1 | Prepare purchases for presentation to stakeholder and required workplace personnel |
3.2 | Develop and use appropriate communication tools to convey themes and design concepts relating to purchased products | |
3.3 | Use persuasive language and effective communication skills to encourage adoption of ideas and concepts for further development | |
3.4 | Document findings and outcomes of purchasing | |
Foundation Skills
This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential to performance but not explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.
Oral communication skills to build effective relationships with suppliers
Numeracy skills to convert currency and exchange rates
Self-management skills to maintain consistent focus on achieving results
Initiative and enterprise skills to:
test and try new ideas
identify opportunities for new product designs and business growth
Other foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit.
Sectors
Fashion design and technology