How To Design Your First Collection
Do you want to create your first collection but don’t know how or where to start? That is normal and we are here to support you through the process. In our blog post today, we’ll be covering the four key things you need to do to successfully create your collection.
1. Identify Your Ideal Customer
We know that when designing your first collection, you might have a ton of ideas running through your mind and all you want to do is start sketching or ideating, but slow down and think about who you’re creating the collection for. Who is your target audience or your ideal customer?
2. Identify A Problem
Now that you know who your ideal customers are, what problems do they have? What kinds of things annoy them in their day-to-day lives? What pieces might they be missing in their wardrobe?
3. Solve A Problem
We talk a lot more in-depth about this in our Launch Your Brand Program, but to give you a brief overview, think about how your clothing line fixes the pain points in your ideal customer’s life. People spend their valuable dollars on items that they feel solve problems for them— brainstorm what these problems could look like for your particular audience when creating your collection.
4. Create A Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
Before you go into production, you need to have an MVP. You don’t want to waste your resources and time going straight into production with a product that might end up not being what you were hoping for.
You probably guessed it, but start by sketching out your designs and visions. Then you can move on to pattern-making by creating a flat rendering of your 3D project. If you don’t have a design background, don’t worry— you can hire a pattern maker to help you. Once you’ve done that, you can start on your samples and fittings by creating prototypes of your designs and seeing how they fit and wear. Next what you’re going to want to do is digitize. This is the process of rendering your flat paper patterns and you only want to do this when our pattern is complete and finalized by a pattern maker. Your manufacturers will likely require it, so do this before production and store your files easily so that these digitals don’t get lost.
When you’ve completed these items, you can move on to grading. This is the process of creating new sizes from an existing pattern and note that you only grade when the pattern is completed and finalized. You’ll also want to consider tech packs which are basically an instruction manual on how to make your products. You have to have a tech pack because your manufacturers will ask for it and it settles errors which are super important. From here, you can make any adjustments if needed, then you can go into production!
When thinking of production, it’s crucial to trust your gut instincts when picking mills and manufacturers. A mill is where you get our fabrics from and ask for swatches. Manufacturers are those who produce your clothing. You should ask for the manufacturer’s past clients and their scope of work before you go forward with making a final decision.
