Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social attitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories. Some work alone or as part of a team. They attempt to satisfy consumer desire for aesthetically designed clothing; and, because of the time required to bring a garment onto the market, must at times anticipate changing consumer tastes. Some designers in fact have a reputation which enables them to set fashion trends.

Fashion designers attempt to design clothes which are functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. They must consider who is likely to wear a garment and the situations in which it will be worn. They have a wide range and combinations of materials to work with and a wide range of colors, patterns and styles to choose from. Though most clothing worn for everyday wear fall within a narrow range of conventional styles, unusual garments are usually sought for special occasions, such as evening wear or party dresses.

Some clothes are made specifically for an individual, as in the case of haute couture, or off-the-rack. Today, most clothing is designed for the mass market, especially casual and every-day wear.

The garments produced by the clothing manufacturers are divided into three main categories, although they can be divided into other more specific categories:

Haute couture
Until the 1950's, fashionable clothing is designed and manufactured primarily in a tailor-made or conditions of haute couture (French for high fashion), with each garment that is created for a specific customer. A couture garment is tailored to an individual customer, and is generally of high quality, expensive fabric, sewn with extreme attention to detail and finish, often using time-consuming, labor enforcement techniques. Look and fit take priority over the cost of materials and the time it takes to make.

Ready-to-wear
Clothing Ready-to-wear are a mixture of haute couture and mass market. They are not made for individual customers, but great care is taken in choosing and cutting fabric. The clothes are made in small quantities to guarantee exclusivity, so they are quite expensive. prêt-à-porter is usually presented by fashion houses each season during a period known as Fashion Week. This is done on a citywide basis and occurs twice a year.

Mass market
Currently, the fashion industry relies more on sales in the mass market. The mass market caters for a wide range of customers, producing ready to wear clothes in large quantities and standard sizes. Cheap materials, creatively used, affordable fashion products. Mass designers generally adapt market trends set by the famous names in fashion. Often wait a while to make sure a style is going to take before producing their own versions of the original appearance. To save time and money, they use cheaper fabrics and simpler production techniques which can easily be done by machine. The final product therefore can be sold much cheaper.

One type of design called "kitsch" design comes from the German word "kitsch" which means "ugly" or "not aesthetically pleasing." Kitsch can also refer to "use it or show something that is no longer fashionable." For example, if you wear pants 80's, is regarded as a statement kitsch fashion.