Let's Make A Fashion Moodboard

There are different techniques artists and designers use to develop initial ideas into their final design. Below are some drawings, notes and colour palettes from Helen’s studio, showing how she experimented with design and colours.

Let’s get inspiration!

A mood board is a visual way to show your ideas while you work on them. Some fashion designers use them to experiment with colours, materials and themes. A mood board might include drawings, written notes, a collage of materials, or sometimes a colour palette.

Let’s think about the concept first.

Have a look at the questions below. They will help you invent a piece of clothing with a specific function.

- Who is it for?
- What is it made of?
- What does it help you to do?
- Where do you go wearing this?
- How does it make you feel?

To make a mood board, you can use anything you can find at home, combined with some drawing materials. Try to find unusual, or recycled materials for collage. Start with rough drawings and writing down ideas on a piece of paper – let your ideas flow freely. Remember, this is a mood board where you experiment with ideas. So there is no right or wrong! Then, add colours and samples of materials you find at home to your mood board.

Bill Gibb, Fashion design drawing, 1969, Britain © Victoria and Albert Museum

Let’s make a miniature prototype!

Sometimes fashion designers use miniature copies of their clothes. They do this to show other people, such as manufacturers, how exactly they should be made.

Can you turn your ideas from the mood board into a miniature prototype? Do you have a doll or a mannequin to pin some materials on to? Or, go big if you feel like making a wearable sculpture. Get your friends or family to show off your new fashion invention!