Archives: Industry Basics category

Why Knowing Your Customer is so Important for Your Fashion Business

Fashion Business, Industry Basics, Mindset, Product Development

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.

Why You Should Be Paying for Patterns and Development (and What it Means if You’re Not)

Costing, Industry Basics, Patternmaking, Product Development

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.

Paper vs. Digital Patterns – Which Are Better?

Industry Basics, Patternmaking

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.

How Far Ahead of Season Should You Be Designing?

Fashion Business, Fashion Design, How To, Industry Basics

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.

Understanding Garment Points of Measure (POMs)

Fashion Resources, Industry Basics, Tech Design

Whether you are doing a quality control check on your production or need to help a customer find the size that is right for them, having a solid understanding of the points of measurement on a spec sheet and the how-to of measuring a garment are essential.

Who Should be Your Fit Model?

Fit, Industry Basics, Product Development, Sizing

Good fit is so important to the success of your designs. To get it right, the fit for each design needs to be tested and tweaked on a fit model during the development process. Your fit model represents your customer and is specific to your brand.

What’s in an Apparel Tech Pack (for You)? – Sample Comments

Fit, Industry Basics, Tech Design

The final section in a tech pack is for sample comments. Each sample gets its own page. When you receive a sample, write down the sample measurements as well as any changes made to the style. Keep track of what decisions were made and what the next steps for the style are.

What’s in an Apparel Tech Pack (for You)? – Spec Sheet

Industry Basics, Sizing, Tech Design

The spec sheet is an important part of the tech pack that shows what the style measures at each POM in all the sizes offered. The chart also shows the tolerance for those measurements – meaning the amount plus or minus that the garment can differ from the spec measurement and still be considered acceptable.

What’s in an Apparel Tech Pack (for You)? – Pattern Card

Industry Basics, Patternmaking, Tech Design

The pattern card lists each pattern piece for the style along with how many of each is needed to make one garment. It is split into sections by material type. Note, this page doesn’t show all the materials needed like the BOM does. This page only shows pattern pieces that need to be cut out.

What’s in an Apparel Tech Pack (for You)? – Colorways and Art

Industry Basics, Tech Design, Textile Print

Colorways and artwork specifications are another important section of a tech pack. The colorways page shows a CAD drawing of each color combination being offered for that season. Along with the drawings, there are color chips showing the color of each material in the style – including fabrics, thread, and hardware.

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