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SESSION 3.1: DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

INTRODUCTION
Design Development process involves a process to create a design
collection that is aesthetic, creative and innovative.
Design Collection: - A Collection is a range of garments, accessories or products
that are designed or produced for sale to retailers or directly to customers for a season
or particular occasion. Any Successful collection requires an enormous amount of
research, investigation &planning. A design house may produce a major collection
twice each year; for two main seasons in fashion selling i.e. – spring/summer and
autumn/winter.

Design Development Process for a Design Collection involves: -

1. Planning & Concept Development
2. Design Inspiration & Research
3. Development of Mood Board/ Theme Board
4. Design Development
5. Feedback and Improvement
6. Portfolio Presentation
1) Planning & Concept Development: -
– It is the point from where the ideas are going to start and the basic shape of
the design would be created.
– Market research is done to analyse sales and prices, and to understand
current fashion stock.
– This stage would also require the designer to work upon the mood board, theme
board, colour palette, trends and the entire outline of the collection.
2) Design Inspiration & Research: - Design Collection may be inspired by anything
under the sun like painting. nature, photographs, architecture, trends, cultural or
social influences, history, internet, media etc. Research is focused on the following
areas:-
– Type of Collection/ garment to be designed
– Fashion Trends and Fashion Forecast

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– Material to be used
– Season/ occasion/activities for which apparel will be launched
– Theme and Inspiration
– Fashion Image- age range, formal /informal style etc
– Cost & Budget
– Deadline (a marketing period is six months before consumers will purchase the
merchandise. Designers schedule merchandise to be ready two to three
months before that)
3) Development of Mood Board/ Theme Board: -
– A mood board is a collage of images, texts, colour pallets and objects regarding
the topic.
– A successful mood board has a unique and direct message.
– Mood board may be digital or physical in form.
Steps to create a mood board: -
– Clarify the goal (client type, season etc)
– Explore different themes and select the best suited one.
– Collect related texts, images, other visual elements like fabric and colour
swatches, trims, prints.
– Work on font and colour palette, silhouette.
– Feedback and modification.

4) Design Development: -The design development process considers all design

elements such as silhouettes, textures, patterns, colours and principle of design.
These basic elements provide an initial framework which designers can expand into
more complex designs. It involves following steps: -
– Idea sketch
– Design development sketch
– Production sketch: - This kind of drawing is called production drawings or
tech packs.
– Sourcing: -After creating the tech pack designer sends it to source different
elements like manufacturing, fabrics, trims, labels and packaging . After
sourcing, tech packs are updated and sent to factory for sampling.
– Sampling: - Tech packs are sent to factory where prototype is developed.

5) Feedback and Improvement: - After finishing up the sampling process, Tech pack
is checked to be 100 percent accurate and updated. Modifications are made until
developing a final prototype. When the design is approved a TOP (Top of
Production sample) and /or PP (pre-production sample) is developed. If there are
no further changes, the sample is ready for production. Finally, the product apparel
is launched at various retail stores, e-commerce stores, fashion runways, and at
exhibitions.

6) Portfolio Presentation: - A fashion portfolio is a package of the whole design work.

They give a full view of the process a designer goes through. Brands want to see
not only the finished designs but also where the ideas come from. Presentation
illustrations aim to attract buyers or clients to preview the final collection being put
on figures. Presentation drawings should contain complete figures wearing the
garment in a suitable pose and feature the most attractive design along with
accessories. The illustrations should be grouped with other sketches to form a
presentation portfolio. They are used at exhibitions or buyers’ meetings for
promotion and advertising purposes.

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What to include in a Fashion portfolio?

– Mood boards, collage for colour, style, print, trim inspiration.
– Rough hand sketches/iterations/sketch book pages.
– Fashion illustrations
– Digital fashion flats
– Technical sketches /tech pack snippets
– Photos of finished garments (flat lays, /draped on mannequins/presented
by models

3.1. Illustration – 10 Head Fashion Figure

Fashion Illustration is considered as the most fundamental component of
fashion designing. It is used to present the design ideas. Usually, fashion figures are
drawn as per 10 head theories.
Ten Head Theory: -Total body length is divided in to 10 heads.
1 head = 1” (In some drawings, 1 head =1 ¼” or 1½” or 2")
Total length = 1 x 10 = 10”

Steps for drawing 10 Head Croqui

1. Draw a central balance line - 10”
2. Divide the line into 10 equal sections with 1” (1head)
3. Mark 0 – 10 to each section.
4. Name each section
0 – Head
1 – ¼ “down – Neck
1 – ½” down – Shoulder
2 – Bust
3 – ¼” down – Waist
4 – Hip
4 – ¼” down – Crotch
5 – Mid high
6 – ½” down – Knee
7 – Knee curve
9 – ¼” Down – Ankle
10 – Feet
5. Width Measurements (from center to each side)
a) Head Block – 3/8”
b) Neck Block – 1/8”
c) Shoulder – 1” (2 head)
d) Waist – ½” (1 head)
e) Hip – ¾” (1½ head)
f) Knee – ½”
g) Knee curve – 9/16”
k) Ankle - ¼”
l) Feet - ½”
6. Complete the block figure by joining the marked points

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0
Head
1 Neck
Shoulder
2 Bust

3
Waist

4 Hip
Crotch
5 Mid thigh

6
Knee
7 Knee Curve

9
Ankle

10 Feet
Toe

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Fashion Figures: -

SESSION 3.2: TECH PACK

INTRODUCTION
A tech pack is a blue print created by the designer. It contains all the
components and instructions required for a manufacturer to turn the design into a finished
product. That includes materials, gradings, seams, colourway, measurements, trim, labels
etc. It serves as a ‘product contract’ between the designer and the manufacturer
throughout the sampling and production process.

IMPORTANCE OF TECH PACKS

1. Helps to create error free samples.
2. Communicate all the details of the design thereby it help-s to make the production
processes smoother and faster.
3. Helps the factory to estimate the resources required for construction of a
particular style.
4. Get accurate price quotes.
5. It is the reference point for quality control.
6. It minimizes the number of proto/ samples.
7. It helps to decrease the cost and speed up production time.
8. It serves as a master document to track production development including
comments and changes made.

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COMPONENTS OF TECH PACK

1. A Cover page: - It is an over view of the design, this page should include high
level details about the design. It contains:
a. A finished colour flat sketch
b. The company name & Contact
c. Style name / Number
d. Season
e. Vendor
f. COO (Country of Origin)
g. Date
2. Tech Sheets: - Tech sketches are the black and white sketches with text callouts
to specify design details. Arrow callout Page or Callout comments are additional
piece of information that are attached to technical sketch. This helps the
manufacturer to understand the design requirements and make product s to
exact specifications.
3. A BOM (Bill of Materials): - List of raw materials which are needed to be
sourced to make a garment and make it ready for shipment as per buyer’s
requirement. Raw materials details for the complete garment such as item
description, quality and quantity of material, consumption, placement, positioning
and colour number etc are included.
4. A Graded Spec: - This contains the measurements for all sizes that will be put
through production.
5. Colourway Specs: - This page identifies the colours which are to be used in the
design. Each colour area contains, sections for the colour name, colour number
and colour swatch. The colour number may be the pantone colour number.
6. Artwork Spec (If relevant): -If the product has any type of embellishment (for
example - a print or embroidery or specific trim details) then include a
specification sheet for each of these. Includes the artwork to scale with al details
and colours.
7. A spot for proto/fit /sale sample comments: -Since a tech pack serves a
master document for tracking, there are pages to enter measurements /
comments/approvals/ rejections about various samples (proto sample, fit sample,
sales sample, photo sample etc). It is common to include photos of samples
marked up with comments to communicate changes or construction issues.
8. Fold page: - This page expresses how the garment should be folded and
packed. This page may contain a series of sketches showing the step by step
process of folding and packing a garment.
9. Label Placement Page: - This page explains the type of label that is to be used
in the product and where it should be placed.
10. Packaging Page: - This page in tech packs shows a visual of how the garment
should be folded, hang tag attached and any other additional details.

SESSION 3.3: SAMPLE MAKING

INTRODUCTION
Sample is the prototype or model of the garment, upon what
the buyer can decide on how and whether to confirm the order or not. Garment sampling
process is one of the important processes in garment manufacturing. It plays a significant
role in attracting buyers and confirming export order. Different types of samples are made
and submitted to buyer for their approval.
Importance of Sample Making

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 Samples are the means to attract the buyer and get the order confirmed.
 The samples decide the ability of exporters to deal with any given style of garment.
 The buyer critically examines the samples submitted for its style, construction, fit,
quality etc.
 Sampling will help the exporter to get the order from the buyer.
 Sampling also works as a bridge between the productions and marketing
department.
 The samples should be innovative and should be manufactured with optimum
quality.
 Samples allow to minimize errors and issues related to construction or approval
before production begins.
Types and Role of Samples
The types and requirement of samples will vary from buyer to buyer, but
in industry there is a particular order of sampling process followed, the stages and purpose
of sample may be same but the terminology used may be different and it totally depends
upon buyer. Usually there are three stages with sample making in factories.

No. Type of Sample Role /Objective of Sample

- It is the first sample.

Proto Sample
1 - To check the design and style of the garment.
- Fit and measurement is not important.

- A digital sample allows the visualization of fit and fall of

Digital Garment the garment in both stillness and movement.
2
Sample - 3D samples can significantly cut down on sample
making cost.

- This sample is created from first pattern and used to

ensure the desired fit of the garment.
3 Fit Sample - The fit sample is made with actual measurement.
- Actual fabric, or substitute fabric and trims can also be
used for the sample development.

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- The main purpose of Size set sample is to check the

factory’s capability to make the samples in all sizes.
4 Size – Set Sample
- Actual fabric and trims are to be used for Size set
samples.

- This sample reflects all of the construction information

5 Sew – by Sample needed to produce the style.
- Factories use this sample to estimate cost of production.

- This sample is used for marketing and presentation to

Sales Man Sample buyers.
/ Marketing / - Used to showcase in various retail stores and showrooms
6
Showroom to get the order.
Sample - Actual fabric and trims are used for the development of
this sample.

- These are made to the size of model, for product

7 Photo Sample
photography or magazine photo shot.

- The main purpose is to check the performance of the

garment to various physical and chemical tests.
8 GPT Sample
- Samples can be tested in the factory itself or by a third-
party inspection.

Pre-production
- The factory can start bulk production only after the PP
9 sample / Contract
sample is approved.
Seal/ Seal Sample

- To assure buyer about the actual bulk production

capability of the factory.
10 Pilot run Sample
- 2-5% of total production quantity is made in the separate
sewing line before the actual bulk production.

- This set of samples is taken off the sewing line during

Top of Production first production order.
11
(TOP) Sample - TOP sample is also checked by the buyer for the
packing.

- Some garments are picked from the final shipment lot and
are sent to the buyer as the shipment sample.
12 Shipment Sample - The purpose of sending shipment sample is to assure
buyer that quality is maintained throughout the end of
production.

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