Below I listed 15 main stumbling blocks designers face when creating their collections, for which Baltic Intertex has tried to find solutions. The easiest, of course, is to learn from other people’s mistakes and try to avoid the obstacles. In my blogs, I will discuss these points in detail. If you feel that you are currently facing any of the topics below, please feel free to contact Baltic Intertex. We kindly share our knowledge and help!

1. Check the availability of material

   During the development phase of models, some nice fabric for sales samples is bought in a store, but later, this fabric is simply no longer available.

2. Check out the MOQ

   Sample fabrics are ordered from factories, but the minimum acceptable order quantity required for the fabric production is not found out.

3. Compare fabrics elasticity

   With knitted fabrics, the stretching rate of the sample fabric and production fabric can be quite different.

4. Dive into the pros and cons of different fabric widths

   The width of the fabric that will be used is not considered, the cheaper price per meter is considered to be more important.

5. Test fabrics

   Fabrics are not be subjected to washing or pilling tests before making samples. Testing for knitted fabric is especially important.

6. Find suitable suppliers

   Some designers want to attach accessories to the samples, but the orders for minimum quantities can’t be fulfilled later, during the production process of the collection.

7. Make the end customer’s life comfortable

   When choosing the fabrics, not enough attention is paid to comfortable cleaning options for the end customer.

8. Avoid pointless minor repairs

   During the model development phase, some designers want to make small changes in the cut, or minor improvements to the product, which in reality may involve big constructional changes. I always recommend asking about the approximate time for making minor changes.

9. Not every change makes sense

   The perfect sample is pursued. A number of minor changes during the development phase of samples are made, which need time and money but don’t affect the customer’s purchasing decision in the sales process. All necessary changes can be made before the production starts.

10. Be playful

    Very complex technological design elements give inspiration for the models to be developed, but they ultimately don’t match the customer’s sale prices.

11. Ask the experts to help

    When making size scales for the models, insufficient attention is paid to international sizing systems, which makes selling more difficult.

12. Find the right model

    When the sales sample is completed, specific persons of the right size don’t try the garments on, only the quality of the implementation and the general design are assessed.

13. Ask manufacturers for cost norms

    Necessary product-specific cost rates are not known for ordering sample fabrics, or fabrics for production.

14. Interview your potential customers

    The collection is made before a thorough study of its customer segment – for whom and why the garments will be produced?

15. Think and calculate

    Saving in product development could be costly in the long run, and reduce success in sales.

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