Designing A Collection: Circumventing The Problems That Don’t Come Calling
In the manufacturing industry, and any other industry involving a physical product, it is a well-known fact that not everything always goes to plan. Even the smallest oversight can result in the wrong product being bulk produced.
In the world of fashion, such an aberration can mean that the entire collection is ruined. No consumer would tell the store representative that a particular piece of clothing didn’t fit them to perfection. As a result, your chances of making the same mistake over and over again are very high as well.
Today, we discuss two such cases where the tiniest problem resulted in some rather significant outcomes, and how Fuel4Fashion helped fix them.
Case 1: The Case of the Incomplete Tech Pack
In an earlier article, we discussed the importance of being thorough with your tech pack. After all, this document serves as the blue print of every garment you design and every brief you send to the manufacturer.
In a couple of instances, hiring an inexperienced fashion designer has caused companies to falter along the way. In this particular case, their designer of choice had no experience in delegating work to different teams and had never worked on an actual tech pack before. As a result, the information sent out to the manufacturer was incomplete and fraught with errors.
The result? Over 60% of the proto samples came out wrong. Immense amounts of time and money were wasted in trying to correct the problem at each stage, only to realize that the problem resided in the tech pack.
Fuel4Fashion entered the scene at this juncture and redid the tech packs from scratch, as well as delivering them in record time to help the client get ready for the season’s launch.
The business lesson: If there’s a gap in sampling, always look at the tech pack first. Many problems could be lurking there.
Case 2: Shape Challenges
One of our clients had been getting a lot of complaints from their consumers. The owners of the women’s fashion brand were dealing with issues ranging from incorrect waist size to very tight armholes.
This was a strange conundrum because a recommended size almost always fits the end consumer, and even when it doesn’t the problem lies in a single area. Since we were creating the tech packs and had taken complete ownership of design, we went through all of the material created once more but found no flaws there.
It took a while for us to figure out that the client was testing the proto samples on live models, adjusting according to their measurements and sending the altered samples into production. Hence, as opposed to standard sizes, the end product was being manufactured in the size of three very specific models.
As a result, the clothes wouldn’t fit anyone else who wasn’t the exact same measure as the three models.
The business lesson: Use a mannequin! They come in standard sizes which comply with the rules of standard garment sizing. By using a mannequin, you can be sure of the end result. Even models have a specific body type, and that doesn’t always sit well with the end consumer.
Fuel4Fashion is a design, branding and technology consultancy for the fashion and apparel industry. We provide consulting and advisory services across design, business and IT processes to early stage and mid-sized apparel manufacturers and brands looking to grow their business with the help of smart sustainable management practices. Visit our website here and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for regular updates.