Fashion is art that is functional. Art that works in three dimensions on a curvy body and moves with the wearer throughout her life. Because of this, think beyond your two-dimensional fashion sketch. If your goal is to design successful apparel for real people to wear, don’t forget about these things when designing.
What do you do if you find that your costs are too high and your factory can’t cut and sew your product for the cost you budgeted? Today we’ll look at four ways you can lower your cost to meet your target.
You’ll need to consider the cost to make your designs and set prices that will make you a profit. Costing apparel products can seem like a moving target, but there are some formulas you can use to calculate costs and prices so you can make informed money decisions.
Have you ever wanted to start a fashion brand and wondered how to actually get the products made? There is more than one way you can get products made for your fashion brand. You have several options depending on how much product customization you want and how much you have to invest in product development.
There it is: your design! It looks just how you envisioned it. You need to evaluate the sample and approve it for production. Here are all the things you should check on your samples to make sure the production order doesn’t disappoint.
On one hand, you want to wait as long as possible to start designing so you can make better predictions about what will sell well for the season. On the other hand, you want to give yourself enough time to get the designs made. Set your design timeline by working backwards from your release dates.
Whether I’m meeting a new factory at a trade show or interviewing a factory for a client project, the one question that I always ask is ”What do you specialize in?” How they answer tells me what type of work I should send them and whether I want to work with them at all.
Fittings are a crucial step in the product development process and can yield a wealth of information about your design. In addition to testing the actual fit of the garment, you have the opportunity to test the design, pattern, and fabric as well. Consider these steps below to make the most of each fitting.
You know what qualities you want in the fabric, but how do you describe what you are looking for? Most suppliers don’t have swatches of every fabric they offer available for you to look at and feel, so it is important to know how to communicate your fabric needs with the proper terminology.