Why Do Fashion Startups Struggle to Trust Their Production Partners?
What is the hardest thing I see fashion brand startups go through? Giving your vision to someone else to execute.
But that is fashion production, unless you want to do it all yourself:
Designing
Sourcing
Pattern making
Sampling
Pattern edits
Sampling again
Pattern grading
Bulk fabric cutting
Bulk sewing
Labeling
Ironing
Packaging
Selling
Not to mention prints, embroideries, dyeing… it goes on.
I’m burnt out just looking at that list. It is exactly how I ran my first fashion brand over 20 years ago. I can’t imagine knowing what I know now and not feeling heavily dependent on the people who work to create the products in the fashion industry.
Hundred of hands touch these collections. And pushing them with overly emotional fear creates friction where you want connection.
Everyone approaches their collection differently, but what I see is the same, the struggle to hand over production control.
Deadlines timelines delays.
They keep us all up at night. This industry rarely runs smoothly, but how we manage ourselves in the process to help maintain healthy relationships is everything.
IMO 😊
No Adobe Illustrator needed. Duplicate for every style. Edit in minutes, not hours.
Used by fashion founders across 12+ countries to create factory-ready tech packs without expensive software.
You need tech packs for every style, in every collection. If you're serious about building a fashion brand, that's a lot of tech packs over your brand's lifetime.
A tech pack is your product's blueprint. It tells your manufacturer exactly how to bring your design to life with out guessing, endless email chains asking for clarifications, or prototypes that miss the mark.
AND, it helps YOU track what YOU have done with your product, from first draft of the tech pack, to the edits of your first prototype to the decisions made that get you to the finished production. With all of the details necessary that goes into one product, it’s good to start off organised.
Tech Packs Include:
Technical sketches and measurements
Materials, reference codes, and suppliers
Construction notes and seam details
Label and packaging information
Proto fit edits and final approvals
Everything factories need to quote and produce accurately
Without a tech pack, you risk:
Sampling and production delays
Constant back-and-forth for basic details
Unexpected costs from miscommunication
Quality issues and misaligned expectations
Factories dropping you because you're too high-maintenance