Starting your own fashion brand is an exciting, but also a challenging journey, since everything seems new and risky. It requires your time, creativity and patience. Before starting, you may want to consider a few things we wrote in this article to prepare you jump into this boat.

Your fashion brand development will follow some steps. Through each of them you’ll learn to understand and manage the process of turning your idea into a real product.

Here are some basic steps of pre-production and production for your new line:

1. Fashion brand identity & concept

Before starting something new you have to know what you want and what that is about. You have to decide on a clear direction. Originality, boldness, functionality, classic quality or all at once – it’s your choice to make. You’ll have to find those specific key words that determine what your fashion brand is about. Keep those in mind until you see your customers thinking the same.

An original idea is always a risk. It can become a new and fresh perspective that gets you on top of the fashion business. Or it may get less appreciation. Success requires studying the market and coming up with something better than current options. That’s quite a challenge!

Our team has designers and visionaries who can help you define your concept. They can advise on its efficiency from a realist perspective.

During this step you will probably choose (if not already) a brand name and create a motto.

2. Design sketches

After you decided on your direction, we start working on the designs you want to see produced.

This is about drawing the sketches, discussing and adjusting the designs until you have a set of finalized styles put on paper. After you approve the design we can still make some adjustments to them in the process of production. Some of the technical and construction details can dictate their own rules. But at least the basics are in place and this is a good starting point.

3. Color options and prints

During this step we experiment and choose the colors for the final designs. Also now we can work on some textile prints. If you want you can buy some that you like from internet, or our designers can develop custom-made, original prints just for you, especially if that’s the vision of your fashion brand.

In order to create those color options, we transform the sketches into fashion flats or digital sketches that offer a quick turnaround on a lot of color variation using specialized software. We can express the chosen colors in Pantone numbers to help keep things more precise.

The prints are a bit different and could take more time to create. But it’s always exiting to have your own, original prints on the garments that make your fashion brand stand out even more. With all the technical support we have nowadays the print possibilities are endless.

Since we develop the print digitally, you can always see how it looks on the garment, have it adjusted and changed till you have the perfect look.

4. Fabric

Choosing the right fabric is essential to the success of a clothing line. The fabric affects the fit, the fill, the look and every other aspect associated to a garment, so you should choose it wisely and carefully. It is easy to get lost in all the fabric choices we have now and it’s important to know the qualities of the fabric you want to see reflected in your garments to choose the right one.

Our textile designers and fabric experts will advise you on the best fabric options for specific tasks and help choose the most comfortable and good looking fabric.

5. Cutting/sewing patterns

This is a job for a pattern maker. Using specialized software, we analyze your designs and turn them into pieces. They come together like a puzzle to fit the body just as they should.

Our pattern makers work with digital patterns made in 1:1 scale according to the human body measurements for a specific size. We develop the patterns for a single size at first, so we can cut and stitch them from fabric to check the fit.

6. Toiles

A toile is an early version of a finished garment made up in cheap material so that the design can be tested and perfected. It makes sure the fit and overall look are as they should be. Afterwards we transfer any detected adjustments to the patterns of the real product.

Sometimes, when the design is a complex one, we might need several toiles until the pattern files are fully adjusted and finalized.

7. Tech pack

The tech pack is the documentation that goes with the patterns to show all the measurements and details of production. It contains information about the size, fabric, stitches and finishes, trims and decorative elements and all other things a manufacturer might need to understand what you are looking for and create this garment according to all your requirements.

We can make it as an interactive file that allows you and your manufacturer to fill and change some sections while the garment is produced.

8. Grading

This means creating the size chart and making the pattern in all remaining sizes. We do the grading digitally and it can cover an unlimited number of sizes.

After the patterns are graded it is recommended to make a sample of each size to check the fit and fill.

We then transfer all the information about the remaining sizes to the tech pack.

9. Prototype

Starting from this step the manufacturer comes in. They make a sample based on the patterns and tech pack. Unlike the mock-up, this sample should be made out of chosen fabric and color or print, according to all quality requirements.

After the prototype is verified and approved the design can be mass produced.

10. Fashion brand labels & tags

 Before having your clothes finally produced you need to think about incorporating your fashion brand identity into them. Developing the brand logo or name is an important step that can make sure the customers recognize and appreciate your clothes. Even if placing a label or a tag on the garment might seem like a small detail it is very important, not only to inform the customers about the fabrics and the care the garment requires but also to make a statement or leave a remarkable name in the fashion industry.

11. Mass production

Now that you have all the details in place the production may begin. The manufacturer replicates your design in a certain number of sizes, colors and prints. Finally, you have everything at hand and start selling your products.

For selling you need a physical location or an online platform but this is probably a topic for another article.

Keep in mind, all these steps are just a basic scheme and they can apply differently for your fashion brand. The important thing is to take courage to start, and keep patience and perseverance to move forward. This way you will see how your ideas and dreams become a reality.