Finding a pattern cutter right for the job at hand can be a daunting experience. Often people in the industry say that good pattern cutters are like gold dust. And once you find a good one – there is no guarantee that they will be free to take on your project. But, providing that you do some thorough research and check credentials, you should be able to secure someone who can do the job properly.

The fashion industry produces a vast array of different products. These include, but are not limited to, trousers and skirts, evening dresses, tailoring, coating, and shirting. Underwear is also part of the equation, and let’s not forget the accessories market that includes footwear and handbags. Just as there are different types of items, there are also different types of pattern cutters. As a new brand keen to get your creations turned into a blueprint for your designs, finding a pattern cutter that is right for your particular needs is easy if you only know what to look for.

Finding a ...

Prior to the 18th century, if you were wealthy enough to have your own dressmaker, the paper patterns they worked from were very simple and had no annotation. They were usually made for each individual client. But if anyone else wanted to have the same garment made for them too, the re-sizing and pattern grading was a complicated task, even for the most adept seamstresses.

In the mid-19th century, sewing patterns were made available to the wider, albeit, still affluent public. Launched originally in America, women could purchase patterns through a women's journal published at the time.

With advances in technology, the large-scale production of graded, practical and easier-to-use sewing patterns, can be traced to 1867.

Ebenezer Butterick was the first to start mass-producing patterns and print them on tissue paper. They were available to purchase in a variety of sizes, with one size per package. 

It was not until the 1970s, when sales were lagging, that multi-size graded patterns b...

Working in fashion manufacturing means that often one spends vast amounts of time discussing THE critical path and making sure production runs on time. For those new to the concept - this is an important moment. Not understanding what the importance of the fashion critical path is, can only spell trouble for your business.  So let's take a look at what that is, how to create one and why it is so important to a business.

What is a Critical Path?

In the apparel industry, the fashion critical path is actually a production plan that contains a list of all of the necessary activities that are required to be done within a particular time frame. This ensures that your production orders are shipped successfully within the estimated time of delivery (ETD).

A smart merchandiser maintains the critical path in order to identify the crucial tasks, which if not attended to, could impact on delivery schedules for the products. This method of working and tracking production was originally develo...

How to find a good factory to make your product? A common question anyone looking to turn their fashion idea into a reality will ask countless times. Not because it is hard to find contacts these days, but simply because the prospect of contacting a manufacturer, whether by phone or through email, for the first time can be a scary one. What should you ask, what do they need from you, will they want to work with you?

Learn how to find a factory to make your product and find out the imperative questions to ask and what you must have ready before taking the next step. The success of your business and product depends on finding the winning factory for your idea.

It is important to trust a factory in order to work with a factory. To be able to trust a factory, one needs to ask necessary questions and know all the facts before one jumps into building a relationship with a factory on weak grounds.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE?

When you are trying to find a factory to make your product, one...

Cutting fabric for production is a skill seasoned professionals know about and use as a way to make savings. Scaling up from sampling to production is a huge leap in regards to fabric and trimmings consumption.

The fabric you use represents up to 80% of the total garment cost and is the most important component on your costings sheet. To ensure successful growth in your business, when cutting fabric for production, fabric yield must be properly monitored. Fabric consumption costs must be noted during the sampling phase, so create a simple fabric costings sheet that lists the following: Fabric type, fabric width, fabric supplier and fabric yield. This sheet can then be used to calculate fabric consumption for production purposes.

Producing a moderately sized sample collection of eight to fifteen items will appear to cost you more than it would if you were producing larger quantities of each style. The reason being that fabrics and trims, when bought in bulk will be cheaper than whe...

The MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) is the lowest requirement for factories to produce a certain product. As a new designer just getting to grips with the manufacturing process, these limitations can upset the apple cart.

Understanding why these restrictions are in place can help you to navigate your way around MOQ's and negotiate different terms with the factory.

Countries that produce Fully Factored fast fashion, such as India, China and many more, tend to have very high quantity requirements. And these are based on a number of factors. The majority of overseas manufacturers operate on incredibly tight profit margins, sometimes as low as 3%-5%. Therefore, large quantities of products must be produced in order to break even.

How is MOQ determined?

The manufacturer's Minimum Order Quantity requirement is a reflection of the MOQ set by their materials and components subcontractors as well as for efficiency and operations cost purposes. For example, Fabric suppliers may require a minimu...

Working in fashion is often not for the faint-hearted. But starting your own business, your own brand – as some would say - that’s a different ball game. In this article you will get to know about the research you need to do for a successful business plan aka pre business plan.

Starting a business requires tenacity, endurance and dedication. But setting up a fashion business requires one vital element: a ‘passion for fashion’.

The phrase is often used lightly, but when you decide to face the struggle of launching a business the ‘passion for fashion’ is the glue that holds everything together, and despite all the ups and downs it will make you get up in the morning and keep going.
In our first article of the Fashion Insiders Tool Kit Series, we highlight some of the essential elements that you need to address before you take the plunge.

Many young designers and recent graduates hurry - almost blindly - into setting up a business, attracted by the perceived glamour and fun associated w...

Rose Spinelli reveals some of the benefits of crowdfunding fashion start-ups.

We were fortunate enough to engage with the motivational force that is Rose Spinelli, a crowdfunding consultant based in America. She has been named among the "Top 100 Thought Leaders in Crowdfunding Today." Her website, The CrowdFundamentals, provides expert advice and is a powerful resource for fashion professionals wishing to learn more about crowdfunding fashion start-ups.

She said: “One benefit of crowdfunding fashion start-ups is that a piece of clothing will go into production only after it receives backer critical mass.

“Once the threshold for the minimum amount of backers is achieved, the piece goes into production. No waiting for Fashion Week to tell you what you should buy!”

You Get a Percentage of the Take

A great benefit of many of these sites is that if the crowd ‘up-votes’ your product and it’s selected for production, you get a percentage of the take.

Boutique Appeal vs. Cookie Cutter

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Imagine this – you have a great idea, you want to start your own business and everyone you tell is supportive and encouraging, and then they tell you firmly in a non-negotiable tone of voice, “You MUST write a business plan!”

If you are a creative anywhere, but particularly in the fashion industry and the thought of writing a Business Plan sends chills down your spine, please rest assured that you are not alone. And you will be right to say that they take too long to write, you don’t know the answer to many questions, and no one reads them once they are written etc. But not having one and not undertaking any proper business planning is not a good place to be either.

Success is rarely accidental. Most successful businesses may have had some element of luck along the way but mostly they planned for it – one way or another.

Like houses, you cannot build a business without a plan. Properly constructed business plans are the equivalent to architectural blueprints. They are important docu...

Financing a business can come in many forms, but regardless of how you raise cash, more often than not you will be dealing with equity or debt. So, let’s explain what they are, and how they can work for or your fashion business.

Funding the business by equity

Investors, mostly venture capitalists or angel investors, invest money in your company and therefore end up sharing ownership of the company with you. In other words, they take equity in exchange for the cash they invest.

Such investments are made in the hope that your business will grow, and that they will have some positive return through shared profits. Depending on the investors, you may be offered some resources and expertise as part of the investment, to help drive the business further.

There is a general misconception that the best investment is money and nothing more, but in reality, it is great if you find friendly and helpful investors, and draw on their knowledge and experience. In some cases - and in fact more comm...