A spec sheet and a tech pack are essential documents in fashion production, but they serve different purposes.
Tech Pack vs Spec Sheet
5 Signs of a Bad Clothing Manufacturer
Clothing manufacturing is not for the faint-hearted. Working with the wrong manufacturer can end your business, especially if you are a new brand.
You can take steps to find the right factory. However, some signs will only be noticed once you work with the factory.
So what are the symptoms that should make you run away from a factory?
3 Tips For Grading Apparel Products
Why Is Producing A Small Production Run Expensive?
3 Tips For Working With a Patternmaker
What Are The Different Types of Samples And Their Purpose?
How Many Styles Should You Launch Your Fashion Brand With?
What is the ideal number of styles that you should offer when launching your fashion brand?
On one hand, you don’t want to invest in a big line until you get your proof of concept, but on the other hand, you want your line to look big enough so it will be taken seriously.
Is there a magic number you should be aware of?
How Many Rounds of Fitting Should I Have When Developing a Fashion Product?
Developing a new apparel product is complex and requires numerous rounds of samples and fitting before you can get it right.
If you are new to this process, and since each round is an additional cost and time, the question becomes how many fittings rounds is reasonable to have? And how many rounds are too many?
How to Source Fabrics for Your Fashion Product
Sourcing the right fabrics for your fashion products is half of the battle in developing the perfect garment.
However, the process can be overwhelming, long and frustrating, especially for a new brand that is new to the industry and can't yet commit to high volume.
How can you make this process more effective and less complicated?
Below I've put a checklist of the steps and actions that you should take to help you with that.
Design with Production In Mind
“We are experiencing many issues with our production, can you help us with this?”
If I had a cent for every time that I heard that sentence I would probably be retired by now.
Most fashion brands (especially if they are new or small), assume that since production is the last part in the process they’ll just worry about it when they get to it, and rather choose to focus mainly on designing and making the perfect samples.
NEWS FLASH - that is the wrong approach.
8 tips to conduct The Perfect Fitting Session
A good fit is obviously a result of a good pattern, but you will be surprised to learn how much impact your fitting sessions can have on how quick you will get there and how good and consistent your fit will be.
Not to mention how much money it will save you!
I have been part of hundreds of fitting sessions during my career and I'm always surprised to see how quick a fitting session can go wrong.
Offshore or Domestic Apparel Manufacturing?
Deciding whether to produce your fashion product offshore or domestically goes beyond the reasons of cost and number of units you will need to produce.
As a matter of fact it's a decision that will impact how your business is set up and operates to best fit that scenario, re; what kind of people/services you should hire and even the details of your designs.
When Should You Grade Your Apparel Pattern?
One of the most common mistakes we see with young designers is grading a pattern too early in the development process.
At what stage of the process should you grade your apparel pattern?
First, let’s explain what grading is:
Grading is the stage of sizing an apparel pattern up or down to create the patterns for the other sizes of that garment.
Time Time Time...
You have a great concept, you have the backing and the drive, but all of these things can’t make a line successful if it doesn't ship on time.
One of the biggest pitfalls for designers is staying on schedule and making their deliveries on time. It’s a struggle to design, produce, ship and sell on time, especially for designers who are learning how the fashion calendar works. The industry has standard dates that are predetermined for designers to follow as guidelines:
- Fabric shows – when the season’s fabrics become available
- Sales shows – when the current season collection is presented to stores
- Store delivery dates – when stores accept orders
Designers who end up with late product either do not stick to their calendars or are setting their calendars up incorrectly.
How you organize your time before and in between these industry dates will make or break
5 Points to Best Communicate Your Designs to a Sewing Contractor
As a designer, it is very important your collection is well executed for a show, presentation and market week, as well as the selling floor. And to have a well-made collection, or just a single garment, it starts after your designs are finalized and it’s ready for construction.
Most fashion houses already have their team of sewers who understands the design concept and know how each garment should be constructed, with some instructions given. However, majority of young designers don’t have the same resources. When they find a sewer or factory to sew their garments, young designers would think that this person would understand their design because of years of experience the sewer has under their belt. This is actually a BIG misconception. If no instructions given, the sewer can have a garment finished in a way that you originally did not want. This mistake would cost time and money.
When you give a new design to a sewer/factory, you should think ahead about the steps they
3 Reasons Why You Need A Tech Pack
When developing a product or collection from scratch it’s easy to start designing and planning without first considering the importance of how you’ll communicate your designs to the team that will help bring your vision to life. A tech pack is the fashion industry’s universal form that explains all the details and specs for each garment. Before getting too far into the design process, consider these three important reasons how a tech pack will help your business:
- Personal organization: Having a tech pack is almost like having a visual checklist for each style. In one compact place you can fill in all details relating to a garment until it is ready for
The Importance of Using a Professional Fit Model!
“How much does a fit model cost? Is that for one hour only? I really can’t afford that. Can we just fit on me? I can use my friend, he/she is the right size…”
This is a common response from emerging designers when discussing the fittings.
The main misconception about fit models is due to the fact that they are called models. Therefore, it’s important to understand the differences between a runway model (which is what we normally associate models with) and a fit model.
Here is a brief explanation to better understand the difference between a fit model and runway model’s job descriptions:
5 Points to Consider Before Starting a Handbag Line
Are you looking to start a handbag line?
We recently partnered with Tara Sauvage, a handbag expert with over 15 years expertise in handbags and leather goods. Together we will offer help with every stage of the process: from consulting to design, sourcing, development and production with both domestic and overseas manufactures.
Below are Tara’s top 5 points you must consider before starting a handbag line:
Price Point Will Determine Feasibility.
It is important to figure out your retail price point before starting a collection, as this will determine the materials you can use. Many new aspiring handbag designers want to make a luxury leather bag collection that retails for under $100.
5 Top Secrets for Designing a Fashion Line
like to think of fashion design as an art form, which requires a strong dose of talent and plenty of creativity.
But taking that raw talent and creativity and turning it into a successful business isn’t always easy. Even with these traits, it is not a simple task to design a fashion line that’s both fresh and uniquely “you”…. never the less producing that season after season.
And let’s not forget all the planning, figuring out the nuances of your niche market, pricing your products, and differentiating yourself through branding, all while juggling a limited resource pool and seasonal products. Even the most talented fashion designers in the world would find this daunting!
