Designing A Cohesive Collection

[rockitgirl]

Almost every program has at least one class that teaches collection design. What I am wondering is if there are any textbooks that go along with this? I'm not looking for someone to describe what they do but rather would like to know what is TAUGHT.

And by the way I do not mean designer-patternmaker-samplemaker-factory, etc. I mean DESIGN only. Mood boards, drawings, etc etc I know I know. But is there a METHOD that is taught and is there a textbook that describes it?

The closest I've seen someone's process written down is The Fashion Designer's Directory of Shape and Style which has several pages that outline the process.

Is there anything that goes into more detail? Specifics such as how to co-ordinate colour and even how many colours a collection should have so that it does not feel disjointed. Or how many variations of the silohette?

If you look at student fashion shows there very rarely is a collection which you do not immediately say "this is a student collection." It is not that most students lack talent, nor is it that their sewing skills are poor, the difference is that their collections are not cohesive. This is a skill learned with experience obviously but the grad shows at some schools sport a higher number of cohesive collections than others...the students at such schools are being provided with much better direction on how to create a collection and I'd like to know if any of this information is written down anywhere.

Alternatively...if there is anyone here who has been to one of the schools who do a good job of teaching the theory behind collections, could you contact me privately? I am a couturier, not an RTW collection designer so I've never taken this, nor do I expect to ever need it, but it is information I would like to have anyway as I consider myself a lifelong student of design.