The Ultimate Guide to Prototyping and Sampling with examples from Torsa's SS24 Collection.
Exploring the process of bringing a concept to reality through sampling, looking at real-world examples.
Good morning and happy Friday. Quick note, if you’re reading this in email, I recommend clicking on the read in app button in the email header to view the full article.
A busy week last week at Torsa. I travelled to Manchester to visit our product developer to do a fit session for our new windbreaker for SS24 (the fabric weighs just 45 grams and sneak peak pictures in todays article). I worked with our designer to finalise lab dip approvals, and we updated and sent off tech packs for our second SS24 prototypes. It’s all hands to the pump to get the product ready to show to buyers at the end of the year, but that won’t stop your weekly Friday Thread, of course.
Topics
🏭 Understanding different factory terms
✍️ The art of pattern making
✂️ The importance of mock ups in prototyping
📏 Breaking down the fit session
✏️ Keeping your tech packs updated
This week, I’m diving back into manufacturing. Although definitely one of the most time-consuming and difficult processes of development, prototyping is also one of the most rewarding. It’s the stage in which your concept becomes a reality, and you have your first iteration of a physical product.
Over the years, I’ve learned so much from the sampling stage. As a solo founder, I’ve made it a priority to get a foundational understanding of as many aspects of the business as possible, and the sampling stage is one in which I have learnt the most.
Before you start sampling, there are many things to consider to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible. Sampling is as much about planning as it is execution. Understanding the stages that go into sampling stage will give you a clearer idea of timeframe, cost, and what to expect.
Factory terms
First and foremost, it’s essential to be clear on your factory sampling terms. These terms can differ from factory to factory; whether that’s sampling cost, lead times, pattern making, logistics and so on.
In my experience working with Portugal, the terms have been favourable for start-ups. We have sent off our tech packs, including our measurement chart, and the factory has created the patterns and produced samples at 2x price of the garments final cost price.
During the sampling stage, I have been responsible for providing the delivery of fabric and trims, although it may be beneficial to negotiate with your factory for them to take full ownership of this. The reason I like to control fabric delivery at this stage is that I like having a relationship with the mills I work with; it helps put a face to the name. When I am at shows like Performance Days, I can then visit and say hello and have that more personal connection which I think is really important. When it comes round to bulk production, I will hand over ownership to the factory. They can then provide a cost of the full garment, inclusive of cut, make, trim, fabric and any freight and duty costs associated with importing that fabric.
Torsa Tales
A very recent story that outlines the importance of understanding factory terms. For SS24, we are developing a lightweight windbreaker with a factory in Italy. Through my naivety, I sent off the tech packs, measurement charts, CADs and arranged delivery of fabric and trims. Weeks later, I was told the product was ready to ship. An invoice followed for €1,100 for two jackets!
Unlike Portugal, this factory in Italy charged for its in-house development costs. The main cost being the pattern maker developing the patterns based on our measurement spec. I had fallen into the thinking that all European factories operated the same, which in hindsight highlighted my lack of experience, but also taught me an important lesson - one in which I will remember moving forward.
So, as this story shows, it’s critical that you discuss the sampling terms with your factory. If, like Italy, they charge for the in-house pattern making costs, is may be best that you hire your own pattern maker to make up the patterns.
Pattern Making
In hindsight, if I knew the costs beforehand for the pattern making costs in Italy, I would have hired one locally myself. Hiring a pattern maker closer to home essentially means you can create the patterns based on the styles measurement spec and then mock-up the garments in a similar fabric.
Pattern making is really the bridge between design and production. A pattern maker's role is taking a designer's sketch or CAD drawings and translating them to factory ready files that they can use for sampling and production.
This garment can then be tweaked and tailored in a fit session to make any amendments needed to the pattern. Once the changes have been made, the pattern can then be digitised and sent to the factory, knowing that the first sample you will get back will be very close to the correct fit.
What this essentially does is remove the need for a pattern maker to construct the patterns in-house at the factory. The pattern maker, albeit hopefully vastly experienced, is creating patterns based on your measurement spec, without true knowledge of how the garment will actually look and fit when sewn and made up into a final garment.
By hiring a pattern maker closer to home and going through the steps listed above provides a number of benefits, listed below;
Patterns are created and amended based on sample mock-up fit session. Therefore, because you are sending accurate patterns (tried and tested) to the factory, you can be sure that the fit of your first sample will be very close to the final production sample.
As your first sample fit will be correct, it means that you only have to focus on design changes, rather than fit changes. Fit changes are always the hardest and most time-consuming to get right.
Reduces sample lead times. In some cases, we have been through three, even four rounds of sampling. If you think about traditional sample lead times which run about four weeks (and factor in time for review and comments), four samples can easily fade into a six month + timeline. Most of the issues we’ve had is mastering the fit, hiring a pattern maker eliminates a lot of the issues which correspond to sampling.
Although I am yet to work with a pattern maker locally, through the process of designing our SS24 range, I understand they are worth their weight in gold. Helping eliminate the guess work for fit results in better samples, shorter lead times, less rounds of sampling, which in turn, builds a stronger relationship with your factory.
Mock Ups
If you are creating garments, especially complex ones, mock-ups are a great way to streamline the process ahead of your first sample. I spoke previously about fit and how hard it is to get right, but certain pieces of construction can prove just as difficult.
Let’s take a situation where you want to trial different necklines on a t-shirt to decide which one you prefer. Instead of making up a full sample to display the different necklines, it’s far easier and faster to create a sub-section of the neck (a mock up) to show the two different options in their physical form. This eliminates the multiple stages a full sample needs to go through, and therefore enables you to make the decision on the neckline before the first prototype is made.
A real world example of this is with our SS24 windbreaker. Our initial intention was to use heat bonded seams for the hem. Our designer, however, knew that this could be tricky with the nature of the fabrics being just 45 grams and 46 grams respectively. We therefore instructed the factory to perform a mock-up test for both fabrics using heat bonding to see whether the fabric would lend itself to this type of finish.
As you can see, the impression of the bonded tape, regardless of weight, left an imprint on the two fabrics. We therefore had to change the design based on this mock up. Instead of finding this out at first sample, by creating mock-ups, we foresaw the issue, allowing us to change the finish to a single needle stitch finish.
Run Shorts - Mock Up
We’re in the process of developing a new pair of run shorts for SS24. After initially sourcing a luxury Italian fabric and getting it sampled, we got hit by an eye-watering cost price of €83.00. Just to put that into perspective, if we adhered by the industry margins I set out in my previous article, that pair of shorts would retail at €415 (£359). Ouch. Although a chunk of this came from the fabric, much of the cost was attributed to complex bonded hem construction, zipped pocketing, and bonded waistband construction.
The first decision I knew we needed to take is switching over the fabric. If you read my previous article about building a product range, I discuss the importance of fabric consolidation.
Looking at our other styles, I knew the windbreaker fabric would work perfectly as a short on the premise that we had an internal stretch liner. Without the liner, a 45gsm short would be see through and offer no coverage. With the addition of a liner, however, the shell fabric was featherweight, durable, and breathable - everything you’d want in a run short.
However, our designer knew that the current design wouldn’t work on this new fabric. The bonded hem, zip pockets and mid-weight liner wouldn’t lend itself to this new shell fabric, they’d be too heavy. Therefore, we were forced to change the design completely to accommodate the fabric. Having an experienced designer here is critical, and our new designer who spent 7 years as a senior designer at Arc’teryx has experience and talent in abundance.
So much talent, in fact, that she was able to mock up a sub-section of the new run short on her own sewing machine using a similar fabric she had leftover in her studio. This mock up, which specifically outlined the pocket construction, was then sent to the factory to use as reference for second prototypes. This provides the framework for the factory to follow from a construction standpoint, from internal waistband application, to pocket construction. It takes out the guesswork from the CADs and tech packs.
Mock-ups are usually done by the factory if you’re a small brand like we are. I was fortunate that our designer was vastly experienced and skilled from her time at Arc’teryx that she could sew this mock-up herself - which is, primarily, not the work of a designer.
Mock ups are a critical part of the sampling stage. They help provide a framework for decision making before the first prototype needs to be done. Of course, there is a limit to the number of mock-ups a factory will do - not every piece of construction and detail needs to be mocked up beforehand. If you’re working with a good factory, you have to trust in their knowledge that they can do what’s being asked of them in your CADs and tech packs. However, if there is a complex detail, or potentially a new trim you’re trialling, a mock-up would be a great starting point.
1st Prototypes
So, you’ve got your first prototypes, a significant and very exciting moment. At this stage, you’re probably thinking the sample is exactly how you want it to be. From experience, I can tell you the likelihood of this is nearly zero.
If you’re a big brand and have an established design team in-house consisting of designers, developers, pattern makers, production managers and garment techs, then that first sample will probably be very close, if not perfect. In fact, a lot of the bigger brands will essentially create the sample in-house and use the factory to replicate the sample for bulk production.
If you’re a small brand, you don’t have this luxury. Your prototype won’t be built in-house, but instead, developed by the factory. Even with clear tech packs, detailed CAD’s, mock-ups, passover calls with the factory, there is always room for error.
For example, our SS24 windbreaker, albeit very well constructed, had slight puckering at the seams and didn’t have the top stitching as we requested. Small, minor details, but ones which we obsess over as a brand.
These comments will be noted by our designer and product developer, and tech packs will be updated accordingly, but more on this later.
Measurement and Fit Sessions
Once you have your sample, the next stage is the fit session. Before your physical fit session, the product developer will measure your sample against the spec that was provided.
This is critically important because it shows the discrepancy between what your measurement spec was and the sample provided. In some cases, the sample you receive may have some measurements that you want to keep, even if they weren’t what the spec initially indicated.
For example, for our SS24 track pants, we instructed the waist (extended) measurement to be 45cm, but upon receiving the sample which measured 48cm, we were happy with that measurement upon fitting, and therefore updated the measurement spec to reflect that measurement.
In many cases, it’s common to ‘bring back the measurement to spec.’ This is essentially bringing a measurement which is wrong on the sample back to what you have instructed.
Measuring your samples ahead of your fit sessions gives you an indication on what to expect. Once you then fit your sample on a fit model, you’ll already know the big issues or discrepancies you have to focus on.
Fit session
Once the samples have been measured against spec, you’re now ready to do your fit session. This is also a critical step of the sampling process as it’s the first time your garment is placed on a real person.
In a small brand, a fit session is usually takes place between the founder, designer and developer. The main goal of the fit session is to tailor the garment to the fit model, ensuring you have the fit you’re looking for on your final garment.
Fit Models
Not a model in its traditional sense, a fit model is in essence a body type and shape that would best represent your brands sample size, usually a medium or large. Fortunately for Torsa, I am a solid medium and therefore have been the brands fit model throughout our previous collection, and for our upcoming SS24 collection.
It’s important to get an understanding of your target market and who your collection is targeted at to best choose a fit model. For example our SS24 collection will be a run focused range of products, and whilst I might represent a good medium for a training wear brand, I don’t resemble a traditional runners build.
With that knowledge to hand, we used a second fit model who was taller and slimmer as a second fit model. This gave us a representation of two very different mediums. What is so important about this is that although we would both traditionally wear mediums, our body shapes are so different.
By successfully managing to fit the garments on two very different mediums, we have covered two distinct body types which represent our customer, and potential future customer.
Fit Session Measurements
This is where a good product developer comes in handy. At this stage, they measure the garments on the fit model. Using the measurement spec I discussed earlier as reference, they would take note and suggest any changes needed to the measurement spec based on what they see on the fit model.
This could be a number of things. Taking the reference below, our product developer has pinned the neckline to reduce the overall circumference. They will then measure it against the spec and update accordingly.
This is a basic example, but clearly demonstrates the process of a fit session and why they are so important in the development of a great sample. Depending on how the neckline was measured against the spec, we may have foresaw this adjustment, or it was an adjustment we wanted to make after seeing it on a fit model.
If the patterns were built from the factories pattern maker, it’s likely you’ll have a number of changes to make at this stage. This is why I would urge any new brand to invest in an in-house pattern maker to ensure the correct patterns have been created before your first sample. This results in the your first sample fitting perfectly, if not, very close to perfectly.
Design Review
The next stage of the sampling process is the design review. At this stage, the measurements have been taken and the comments have been made from the product developer in regards to fit and construction details related to fit.
At the design review stage, I would come together with our designer to focus on any specific design changes that we want to make. Firstly, we’d check the sample against the CADs and tech packs to ensure they have been followed accurately. A lot of the time, there will be discrepancies between the CADs and the sample.
A real world example of this would be as simple as the factory not following the correct hem construction on the sleeves and hem. This was highlighted by our designer in the document below under the column ‘Sleeve / Cuff’ and ‘Hem’ respectively.
Other design amendments and construction details will be noted here. Whether that’s the placement of a seam, inconsistency in certain stitching, or the gusset not being correct. The design review is the stage where all of this gets discussed, and noted in a document like the above to pass onto the product developer.
Tech Pack Updates
At this stage, the sample has been measured, the measurement chart has been updated by the product developer, the fit session has been done, and the design review has been completed by the team.
This is the time where we’d come together with our designer and product developer and summarise all of the changes we need to make based on those previous stages.
This is a critical stage, because all of this information then needs to be added to the tech packs to advise the factory on the next steps. CADs will be updated based on changes in the design review, and the product developer will update the tech packs with all of the updated information on measurements, construction notes, workmanship, fabric type, and so on.
Remember, everything you have discussed so far has been internal. The factory won’t be made aware of the changes until they receive the updated tech packs and CADs. When you do finally send your updated tech packs, it’s important to make everything as clear as possible for the factory, as your next sample would ideally be your final sample before production.
At the tech pack handover stage, I’d stress to the factory to raise any questions or concerns they have if it isn’t completely clear in the tech packs and CADs. Tech packs have huge amounts of information, and when you’re creating technical garments, there are a lot of elements and details that go into them. Take the reference image above discussing pocket construction; there is a lot of information to comprehend. You want to make sure that the factory is clear on the construction before they proceed with the second prototype.
Final note
The stages above, maybe surprisingly, represent a simplified step-by-step guide to the sampling process. The sample development stage is certainly a journey, but one which is critical to the outcome of your products.
In this article I have taken you through steps between receiving your 1st prototype and navigating to the 2nd prototype. In following articles, I will explore the testing and wear-testing stage, which again, plays a pivotal role in the success of your garment, and one that I’d put under the umbrella of the sampling stage.
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