Apparel Technical Design: The Ultimate Guide For Beginners (2024)
Want to launch an apparel brand but don’t have a fashion design background? This blog was created by Amanda Rango of ARD Fashion Consulting, a designer with over 23 years of experience who helps fashion founders launch and scale their fashion businesses. You’ll be provided with essential information about apparel technical design so you can confidently begin your fashion design journey.
What is Apparel Technical Design?
Apparel technical design is a critical phase of the fashion design process that bridges the creative design to a tangible product. An apparel technical designer uses their detail-oriented skills to bring a designer’s vision to life.
What Does An Apparel Technical Designer Do?
The role of a technical designer, also known as a tech designer, is what some might refer to as a “lost art” because it requires a great level of skill and experience that not many people exist to fill. In a brand or team of fashion professionals, you’ll always be able to pick out the tech designer as the one with the measuring tape around their neck.
A tech designer might have one focus within these skills, but generally, a tech designer is someone who is responsible for:
Competitive Analysis: Evaluating competitive and aspirational products by examining their fit, construction, materials, and techniques to find strengths and weaknesses, helping improve and innovate your own designs.
Technical sketches and flats: The drawings of garments that showcase the overall construction details of the piece.
Measurement specification: The precise measurements taken for each size of a garment to ensure correct fit, proportion, and consistency throughout production.
Pattern Making: The creation of patterns, sometimes created by hand or CAD software, that serves as a “stencil” that will be used to cut the fabric pieces in the desired size and shape before being sewn together to create the full garment.
Fit Sessions: Conduct fit sessions with fit models, designer, and technical designer to evaluate the garment's fit and execution to make necessary adjustments.
Tech Packs: This tool is vital throughout the development and fit process, ensuring precise communication, consistent quality, and efficient production. By providing a detailed and updated reference, it helps streamline the journey from initial concept to final product.
Where do you find a Technical Designer?
If there’s anything you take away from this blog, it is that not all technical designers are made equally. Good technical designers are hard to come by and even harder to keep around. Every single fashion brand needs a technical designer so it is not recommended to skip this step of the process if you are interested in starting your own fashion brand.
Technical designers are a high-demand career so you might be asking yourself as a small entrepreneur, how do I find one for my fashion apparel brand?
ARD Fashion Consulting works with various local technical designers whose working relationships span over 20+ years. If you’re looking to work with top-notch talent but don’t have the experience or bandwidth to search on your own, we recommend getting in touch with Amanda of ARD Fashion Consulting to get connected.
As much as we’d love for you to work with us, some other suggestions would include:
Network with recent fashion school graduates on LinkedIn
Join professional organizations like the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)
Use a recruitment agency like 24 Seven
Whether you choose to use a tech designer affiliated with ARD Fashion Consulting or not, you should understand the skills that are required to be a successful tech designer.
Skills Required for Apparel Technical Design
While much of technical design is learned through education and training, there is a good deal of knowledge that comes from experience. It takes time to hone both the technical and creative skills involved in apparel technical design.
Technical skills
Using computer-aided software to create accurate tech packs and patterns
Understanding garment construction- types of stitching, seams, and finishing methods
Determine whether a garment meets measurement specifications and make recommendations for improvements
Familiarity with various types of fabrics and how they behave in regard to stretch, drape, function and fit
Extremely high level of attention to detail
Time management within the product development process to abide by deadlines and on-time final product delivery
Awareness of the production process and how it is affected by their role
Creative skills
The ability to understand and interpret a designer’s creative vision
An eye for aesthetics
Trend awareness
Coming up with creative solutions to issues like cost challenges or elements of the garment which may not work out as expected
Resources for Fashion Apparel Design
I know all this can seem intimidating if it is your first time diving into the world of clothing design. I hope this guide provided you with an understanding of the technical design role.
If you’d like assistance designing and producing your fashion apparel collection, ARD Fashion Consulting is a full-service design and production firm that helps clients launch their brands from concept to creation. We work in all of the areas of men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel with decades of industry experience at the corporate level.
Check out our website at ard-consulting.com to schedule a discovery call or read more informative blog posts like this one!
