Despite the lack of physical samples to touch and feel at a virtual show, though, virtual sourcing is totally possible and doesn’t have to be daunting. Here’s my step by step guide to navigating a virtual sourcing trade show before, during, and after the show.
If you’re designing for a business and not just for yourself, the numbers are important. It is true you can delegate much of the number stuff to an accountant, technical designer, or production coordinator, but there are some numbers that you as the designer really need to know and understand yourself.
Part of running a successful fashion brand is managing your resources well. That includes ordering the right amount of fabric you need without running short or sitting on a bunch of leftover yardage. Having a better understanding of what affects your yields will help you order materials more efficiently.
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.
There are many different types of factories that specialize in different fabrics, products, price points, and size of brands they serve. But, overall, factories fall into two main categories – full service and cut & sew factories. Let’s look at the difference between the two and the pros and cons of each for your brand.
Sampling is what allows you to test out all aspects of your design before investing in production. There are different types of samples needed during the process each serving a purpose. In today’s post, we’ll talk about what samples you need for each stage of development, what they are for, and who should make them.
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.
It should be no surprise that your customer should be at the center of your fashion business. It is her needs that your business serves. Having a clear idea of who your customer is can guide your marketing, determine what opportunities to pursue, and help you design products.
You may think you just got lucky finding a factory that would develop your patterns and make you samples for free as part of your production order. What you might not realize is that those “free” samples and development will cost you in other ways.
Fashion is a very old-school industry. At the same time, companies are adopting technology within their design, development, and production processes – including patternmaking – more and more. This transition to digital has brought up the question whether traditional paper patterns or digital ones are better. Here’s my take.