What is a tech pack? (with examples)
The universal document needed for creating garments from scratch.
What is a tech pack?
There are certain things you need when you’re building an apparel brand from scratch, and of those things is a tech pack. This is essentially all the specifics the factory needs to go ahead and produce your garment. It’s the blueprint for the product, and includes a series of elements and information required to create a garment.
There is no set rule for how a tech pack should be laid out. However, I’ve found that having all the information on one Excel sheet is the most beneficial way for translating the information to the factory accurately.
Alongside your tech pack (or included in it), you’ll have a CAD (computer aided design) sketch of your product to give an overview of the style. You can see an example below from our Colt Shorts in our Core Collection.
What should the tack pack include?
When talking about apparel, this may change slightly based on the complexity of the project. For our SS24 collection, our designer has built a comprehensive tech pack for each style which includes;
Garment specification
Model, season, style name, size range, category, relevant dates, factory etc.
Sketch of garment
This is usually taken from the CAD drawing. This will be done by your designer, commonly in Adobe Illustrator.
Point of measure
Key garment measurements for the sample size requested ie. waistband height, hip, thigh, leg opening. See image below for our SS24 track pant.
Fabrics, linings, and trims
All the fabrics needed for the garment including the fabric mill, article reference, price per metre, composition, placement - all so the factory are clear on the use. Trims such as zippers, thread, drawcords, brand labels, care labels, any relevant packaging and so on.
Colour-ways
Specific colour-ways of the garments and their associated trims. See image below;
Details (with images)
This is a good place to put any construction or detail specifics. For example, pocketing construction, seam taping examples and interior construction like below;
Trims, labels, prints, embroideries (with images)
Specific to trims, this is the section to put images related to any labels, trims, prints and so on.
A working document
What’s important to note is that the tech packs are a working document; always subject to change. These will be constantly updated, usually by your product developer.
During the sampling process, there are so many moving parts that require changes to the garment. Whether it’s specific to the garments design, changes to measurement spec, or unforeseen circumstances with fabric, it is essential you stay on top of it.
The factory needs to be constantly updated on changes, and amendments to tech packs need to be clearly communicated. The factory uses the tech pack as their holy grail for building your product, so it is critical you keep it updated.
Keeping the document up to date usually falls under the role of product developer. Their job is to make sure that the tech pack is constantly refreshed based on changes made at various stages of the process (design review, fit sessions, prototype 1, prototype 2, pre-production samples and so on).
Working closely with the designer, the developer will ensure any design amendments are updated on the tech pack, alongside fit measurements based on fit sessions. You can learn more about the role of garment tech/product developer below;
The more information you can provide the factory through your tech pack the better. Things like reference images of construction aren’t necessarily must-haves, but I found them a great way of relaying information more effectively. A visual guide is a far better option than spoken, especially when you may be dealing with factories abroad. The tech pack is a universal document that factories across the world live by. You can see an example from our SS24 collection below;
If you have any questions about creating or developing tech packs, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me an email at seb.beasant@torsa.co.uk.