Clothing Design And Manufacturing Companies From Concept To Production

Clothing ideas can come from a sketch, a piece of garment as a reference, or even just a sentence. But transforming that idea into a good fitting, good looking, good working product in the factory takes much more than pattern making. In a clothing design and manufacturing company, design development and technical work, sampling, sourcing and manufacturing can be connected so the product flows from one part to the next.

Start With the Product Idea

A lot of apparel companies won‘t start out with a finished technical package.

A few of the buyers can provide exact sketches and measurements. Some already have source pictures, a garment, a mood board, or an idea. Apparel development companies currently work from all of these starting points and assist in turning the creative idea into production details.

This is where the importance of flexibility begins to show for a new brand. Not every young designer gets or needs to get into pattern making or technical work before they find a development partner. What they do need is the ability to effectively communicate an idea of silhouette, specifications, and final look.

Turn Creative Ideas Into Technical Details

Design Image: A design image guides the manufacturer toward the desired end appearance of the garment. It does not address all questions of manufacturing.

It‘s the technical development that fills in those missing pieces. The tech pack might contain flat sketches, measurements, fabric info, trims, colors, construction details, placement of artwork and labels and other production notes.

Providing acceptable technical details eliminates some of the guess work. It also provides the buyer with some material to examine prior to the commencement of production.

For example, a designer might know the general silhouette of a hoodie should be oversize. But to develop each style, he still needs to define the length of the body, the width of shoulder, shape of sleeve, construction of cuffs, body weight and pocket size, which will make the concept into a piece factory can produce.

Pattern Making Gives the Garment Its Shape

Once the technical direction clarifies, pattern development puts those specifications into garment pieces.

Design and Pattern by pattern makers decide the shape in the areas of front, back, sleeve, collar, cuff, panel, and so on, also decide the relationship among them and numbers and construction rule to impact to the end silhouette.

It can sometimes show up problem areas that a design drawing was unable to depict. For instance, a front view of a jacket may appear perfectly balanced but might have to be altered around the shoulder or armhole. Equally, a pair of trousers may needs to be proportioned differently around the rise and hip.

That‘s the reason why pattern development should be considered when comparing companies. For instance, some vendors simply do production based on already developed pattern, whereas others provide combined service including designing, pattern making, grading, sampling and manufacturing.

Fabric Choices Affect the Final Design

Design and choice of material are closely related.

Heavy fleece produces a totally different shape than a light weight jersey. Stretch alters the movement of a fitted shape. Fabric weight has an influence on the drape and the structure. Shrinking influences the finished measurements after washing.

Due to this variance, the component material used in development should resemble the production garment as closely as possible.

In some integrated apparel services, fabric sourcing is included as part of the development, rather than leaving the designer to source materials for himself. This allows the development team to consider fabric behavior while perfecting the pattern and sample.

Sampling Shows Whether the Design Works

A garment can have credibility visually on screen and still be wrong on the body.

Sample stage: Transferring the design to the physical realm. Buyers can examine the silhouette, proportion, construction, fabric hand and details before beginning bulk production.

More easily assessed with an actual garments it is possible to readjust fit. Adjustments may be necessary to sleeve length, body length, shoulder position, neckline style, waist location or general comfort.

Sample development is a common stage of the current design-to-production services along with fit improvement prior to production.

The first, then, is a ‘working’ product development tool. It identifies the problems while it is still possible to make changes.

Fitting Can Change the Original Design

The sample review does not just raise the query “Does the garment match the drawing”:

Real fitting can show problems an original design would not have. The sleeve may not have been able to move. The body may be too long. The neckline may sit differently on the wearer. The relaxed shape may not need the same volume as was planned.

Explicit feedback provides a basis for the development team for the next version.

Rather than vague general comments, buyers can reference specific measurements or areas of construction. This streamlines pattern revisions and makes a new sample much more meaningful.

Manufacturing Capability Should Influence Design

Certain designs need to be explored in the beginning since several designs appear simple but when moved to the production stage they become very complex.

If the garment is designed with unusual seaming, multiple panels, special hardware, complex pockets, embroidery, printing, washing, etc this may be a factor that influences additional operations, labor, use of materials, production lead time and cost.

There it is. That is why some brands tend to favor a company that can do both development and production. The same guys can take care of manufacturing as the design keeps changing.

Bryden Apparel, for example, offers a detailed in-house process that takes concepts or reference images through a finished tech pack and links to manufacturing. None of the suppliers examined offers such an integrated approach, but others currently on offer do technical design, pattern and sample development, and manufacturing assistance.

Costing Starts Before Bulk Production

Clothes can be designed to match the desired image and still be off in terms of price.

Material usage has a direct impact on the garment‘s cost. So does construction complexity, embellishments, decoration, laundry and the combination of number of operation needed for every garment.

In the initial costing stage the manufacturer provides the brand with an opportunity to make functional adjustments before production has begun. The designer can easily alter a detail of a construction, replace a trimming, reduce the weight of a fabric or change a decorative process.

Which brings cost estimation into product design instead of just being the post-design process.

Ask What Happens After Sample Approval

Sample approval signifies another crucial milestone.

The manufacturer is required to establish a consistent production reference of the approved design. It may include final fit changes, size grading, material confirmation, production documentation and pre-production inspection according to the project.

IT‘S NICE TO HAVE A central information point such as the tech packs which pull all information together, measurements materials and construction details, colors, trims and all other specifications.

It‘s is also important that size grading. An approved sample represents one size or base specification. Production needs to be provide with consistent dimensions over the whole size range required.

One Company Does Not Always Mean One Service

Although the term “design and manufacturing” covers a wide ranging spectrum of business, there are great variations between them.

One firm may be predominantly a design house with technical packs as part of their services. Another firm may do pattern development and sampling. Yet another may be a manufacturing organisation who will deal with sourcing and production but client will have a finished technical specification.

A true end to end service would cover more of these stages. Existing providers typically describe combinations that comprise clothing design, tech packs, pattern making, sample development, sourcing and apparel manufacturing.

Thus buyers should turn to inquire about the real workflow not simply business description.

Choose Based on Your Development Stage

The reason is that the appropriate resources and support will depend to some extent on your current state of the product.

If a brand only has a vague outline they may require concept development, technical design, pattern development and sampling. A brand with a finalized Tech Pack might only require pattern development and manufacturing. A brand with a finalized sample might look for a production partner.

Gets the service to match the development phase. This prevents you from paying for work you‘re done with while not highlighting critical technical issues.

Keep Design Connected to Production

The best clothing development process maintains the link between creative choices and industrial necessity.

Design-sets the visual direction technical development-sets the product pattern making-sets the structure choice of fabric-influences the outcome of the design sample- exposes problems in the product fitting-makes the garment better production capability- allows the design to move to repeatable production.

“JiuvelWear” is a custom clothing manufacturer supplied by Dongguan Jiuzuo Clothing Co.,Ltd. which offers service on fabric sourcing, pattern designing, sample development, bulk production and quality control.

If you are a brand working on a new collection of clothes, the right partner is not just the one that will produce the merchandise itself. He/she/they will take an idea and translate it into specifications, sample and troubleshoot the concept, and once proven, mass produce it with minimal margind.