6 Surprises in the Apparel industry

Mindy & Kellie, both seasoned apparel designers, sat down and discussed what surprised them when they entered the clothing industry. Having both been educated in the apparel industry, the following list is what STILL surprised them when they started working in the real world after school. We hope you can learn from this if you are newer to the industry and get a head start with this information. 

Watch the video for the full discussion or read the recap below. 

6 Surprises when we first entered the apparel industry:

1. You have to over-design, meaning for every product that actually makes it to market there were an additional 3-10 more that were designed.  When launching a product, expect to design several reiterations before landing on one that works. 

2. The difference between the knit and woven worlds is huge! If you are designing a knit top and a woven bottom, you will most likely end up using 2 different factories. The skills sets and machinery for knits and wovens are 2 very different things. If you accept this early, you will save headache and wasted time asking the wrong factory to make a product that does not fit their skills sets. Watch another video here about the difference of knit and woven. 

3. How important product development is to get ready to manufacture. We have the Clothier 4 Step Process for a reason! The development portion of making your product can make or break your production. The more energy you spent during development, the better quality product in the end. 

4. We thought making clothes was easier! Once we really dove into the apparel industry we realized how important prototyping and approvals are. We also realized that it's serious business to make sure bulk manufacturing is sell-able.  Learn about our prototyping service here. 

5. We were surprised by how long timelines are. Much of the industry is working one year ahead of the time product will hit stores. For instance if it is spring, we start designing spring of next year at that time. 

6. The devil is in the details. We realized that technical design details can make or break a garment. The fabric, trims, fit and construction methods that are chosen will determine the success and quality of the garment. We offer technical design and manufacturing with in our Clothier 4 Steps. Contact us Today!