#I succeed Sample Question Papers

[arihantbooks]

Arihant Publication: Essential Prep For CBSE Boards 2025 Exam

As the CBSE Board 2025 exam approach, students must have the resources to succeed. Arihant Publication offers complete study guides tailored to the latest CBSE curriculum. Each book is designed to enhance understanding and performance, from sample papers to detailed study material. With updated content, Arihant ensures students are well-prepared to excel. Whether mastering concepts or practising through mock exams, Arihant’s range provides the support needed to boost confidence and scores. Explore our resources to start your preparation journey today!

[cleverhottubmiracle]

Want to design your own swimsuit, but having trouble? This interview is the good stuff that most brands keep close to the vest, and never share. It’s understandable why brands are so top secret. Because after all that work, who wouldn't feel like if I had to do ALL OF THIS, you should too. Thankfully this interviewee is a lot more generous than most brands, and wants to help the next generation of startup fashion founders find their identity. In the video interview, and this article, we end up sharing high-level information, the things you typically only learn when you are in the fashion trenches. It’s information on how to start a swimwear line that some brands end up losing thousands of dollars on while making mistakes trying to learn as they go.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.   WHAT YOU WILL EARN IN THIS ARTICLE Who you will be learning from today Choosing the best fabrics to use for swimwear Trends and design research A fast fashion bikini vs a luxury bikini The best quotes from the interview Additional resources   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND SLIDE DECK!   WHAT MAKES ELISABETTA SO QUALIFIED TO TEACH YOU ABOUT HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE?   Born into a family of expert knitters in Milan, Elisabetta Bianco has followed in her grandparent’s footsteps. In 2021, Elisabetta decided to start a luxury swimwear brand to create luxury Itlaian made swimwear at an affordable price. Together with her life partner, a textile consultant, and her brother, an economist, Elisabetta has created a swim brand dedicated to quality materials, full product traceability, as well as social and environmental sustainability.  Elisabetta’s family works with some of the best-known brands across Europe. Stretchy knit fabrics and garments are her family’s life, and she seriously knows the latest trends.    YOU CAN GET TO KNOW ELIZABETTA BETTER IN THIS LIVE INTERVIEW WE DID IN ITALY   CHOOSING THE BEST SWIMWEAR FABRICS  First, admit to yourself the things you don’t know. Do you know the marketplace, how well do you understand swimsuit designs, who's your target market?  Always conduct market research and factory research, of course. If you can't answer these questions, then rely on experts to help you. When learning how to start a swimwear line, it’s ok to admit to yourself you don’t know everything. You might not know what your brand identity is or have a plan for growth and that's ok. Many times, designers are great at sketching and create designs  that look incredible on paper. But their brands fail because the product does not translate to a IRL garment sample. The brands end up stuck in the sampling stage, trying out different measurements and swimsuit fabric, trims, fixing their logo, and ultimately blowing through all of their money before even getting a chance to launch.  One of the reasons for this is that while designers’ can draw, they lack technical experience.  To prevent designs from getting lost in translation during the sampling process, it’s important to have a good relationship with your supplier. Your supplier will know the best production materials to use for your line and suggest which will fit your brand's needs.  And while it’s totally ok to rely on them for their expertise. You shouldn’t go into your swimwear manufacturing meeting totally uneducated, there are a few things you need to know about… Bottom line, when you design your own swimsuit, it's ok to admit you don't know everything and lean on other experts for support.   FABRIC FASTNESS Fabric fastness is the most important thing to consider when you design your own bathing suit. Fastness is a technical term that measures how quickly color will fade from a fabric because of things like washing, the sun, or even chlorine water. As a brand you want good color fastness so peoples swimsuits don’t fade and look wornout, then end up in the trash.  Think about it. Bikinis are often worn on the beach or the pool. Sun, sand, sweat, and lots of other elements can break them down, and wear them out quickly. Sunlight, salt, and chlorine also ramp up the color-fading process. Suits can lose noticeable color as quickly as 3 or 4 wears in some cases.  And, the effects of these environmental factors don’t just affect the fabric’s color and aesthetics, but their strength and integrity.  But, get this - all fabrics in Italy must meet a certain dye standard. It is against the law to produce something that does not meet a certain level of quality. So, if you know that a fabric was made in Italy, then you are almost 100% guaranteed that it will have good colorfastness.    DON’T FALL FOR THIS FABRIC QUALTIY LOOP HOLE But, just be careful. This is where it gets confusing. A made in Italy tag on a garment, does not always mean the fabric is good quality. That is because, the “made in” on a label is where the garment is made, not the fabric.  Some shady brands buy fabrics from lower price countries (think, China), and ship them to Italy. Garments are then sewn with the lower quality fabrics, and technically the tags can still say “Made in Italy”.  This is why transparency is so important in the fashion industry, and why consumers should be pushing for laws that require brands not only to list where they are sewing, but where the fabrics are coming from. With swim specifically, there is only so much that a brand and supplier can do to prevent the color from fading and breaking down. An,d customers need to help out too by taking care of their garments properly. Meaning, as soon as they wear a swimsuit, they should take it off, wash it, and get that salt and chlorine off immediately. Don’t give it time to degrade the fabric.   ELASTICITY AND FABRIC CONTENT When making a swimsuit there are two different types of stretch you need, in the fabric, and in the garment construction. And, it’s crucial you get both correct when learning how to start a swimwear line. Let’s start with fabric.   FABRIC STRETCH When choosing a fabric with good elasticity and performance, many brands think the answers are on the care labels in their closet. Again, just like made in, these labels are not telling the whole truth. For example, all 97% recycled polyester and 3% spandex fabrics are not equal. The quality of the fabric will not only be determined by the quality of the yarns in the fabric, but also by how the supplier combines them to engineer the best fabric possible. This is where the expertise of your supplier becomes super important.  Think of if this way. Craft singles is not the same as an imported gourmet bree. Yea, they are both cheese, yea you can put them booth on crackers, but they are not equal quality. The same goes for the fibers (ingredients) in your garment. They are not all the same.  Other important things to consider when you design your own swimsuit, are fabric weights and compression. Heavier and stronger isn’t always better. It is important to think about the customer while making this decision. A younger customer tends to like lighter fabric, whereas older customers tend to like heavier fabrics, with a bit more compression (stretch).   GARMENT STRETCH Garment stretch is what will make or break your product. Elastic is almost always used in the seams of the swimsuit. And, you need to make sure to use a nice stretchy, comfy elastic. When a cheaper stiffer elastic is substituted to cut costs, it will also cut into the wearer's skin, and feel very uncomfortable.  Also, different qualities of elastic might be needed for different parts of the garment. For example, the elastic in the tie strings around the neck of a custom bikini will need to be different from the elastic in the leg hole of the bottoms. This is because strings in the top require a lot more strength to hold the swimsuit on, whereas the leg holes need more stretch for comfort.  Remember that swimsuits are worn both dry and wet. The customer needs to be comfortable, and the elasticity needs to work for both conditions. Elastic/spandex is considered a comfort fiber because it allows for movement and flexibility.  But, again, not all elastics are equal.  What is more important than the stretching is actually the recovery. Recovery is how well the fabric snaps back to its original form after being stretched out. Recovery is important, because you don’t want a swimsuit to remain stretched out and get saggy over time, you wan’t it to hold it’s shape. It you take anything away from this article when you design your own swimsuit - please let it be this. Stretch can make or break your brand.   SUSTAINABILITY Bikinis are small pieces of clothing, but they still have a big impact on the planet. So, if you can choose a sustainable yarn instead of a conventional one, why wouldn't you? Yes, it may cost a bit more. And, while it is definitely more expensive, it is not so expensive that it’s not possible for new startup brands to use. It is a realtivly small investment to make for a big environmental impact.  But, while sustainability is important when you design your own swimsuit, it should never be the main focus.  It is the job of the designer to make something nice, and then make it sustainable. Because, when consumers shop, they buy things because they like them, not because they are sustainable. That is just the cold hard truth. Backed with data.   If your idea for a brand is “this random brand I like” but I’ll make it sustainable, that is not a brand. The key is to create a swim brand that people love, that also just so happens to be sustainable. Again, (because no one ever wants to believe me when I say this) it’s worth repeating that no one buys ugly clothes they don’t like just because they are earth conscious. We all buy things because we like them or need them. So, always, always, always focus on design first. Back in the day, sustainable fabrics were of lower quality. But, today, some recycled fabrics feel even nicer than the virgin poly ones - check out this article to learn more about high quality recycled polyester.    4 TIPS ON HOW TO DESIGN SWIMWEAR Is it just me, or does everything kind of look the same, especially on social media? Every influencer has a custom swimsuits line these days. So, how do you stand out from everyone else, but still be on trend? Here are some tips:   DESIGN SOMETHING THAT YOU LIKE It’s that simple. When you design your own swimsuit, you don’t necessarily have to wear it yourself, but you need to like it. It is so hard (impossible) to sell a product you don’t like and don’t believe in.   BE COHESIVE WITH YOUR LOOK This is something that often gets forgotten in discussions about how to start a swimwear line. Don’t bounce around from style to style, year to year. If you make neon micro bikinis in one collection, it will confuse your customer if you start making earth-tone modest one pieces.  When you design your own swimsuit, this can be easier said than done. Especially, when as individuals, we tend to like so many different things. We usually don’t buy our entire wardrobe from one brand. So, to design well, you need to be able to separate all the different styles you have in your own closet from what will create a cohesive brand image.   STAYING AHEAD OF THE TRENDS Once it's on Instagram, the trend is over.  Now, you could go to garment trade shows, where buyers go to buy new styles. And with this you can see what is new about 3-6 months before it shows up on your feed. But, even then, you are still too late. Instead, use your fabric and garment suppliers.  Garment and fabric suppliers know what the trends are a year before they end up in stores, because brands are doing their developments that far in advance. And, if you lean on your suppliers for trend info, you can easily get ahead of the trends.  Now suppliers are not just going to come out and tell you what everyone else is doing. So, try asking your supplier, I really like this fabric, do a lot of people use it? Or try asking, what is your best seller?   TRUST YOUR GUT WHEN YOU DESIGN YOUR OWN SWIMSUIT If you think something is going to do well, go for it. Don’t listen to everyone else saying no. For example, there have been a few times when brands I worked with gave me a design, and I would think, omg this is so ugly it is never going to sell. Then it becomes their top seller for 3 years.  The lesson is, it doesn’t matter what other people think as long as the product hits with your target customer and they like it. Fashion is so personal. The perfect garment to one person, might be the ugliest thing ever to someone else. Remember that.   THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FAST FASHION BIKINI AND A LUXURY ONE Don’t cut corners when making your own swimwear designs. It’s all these little details that create a quality bikini. Here are some tools to consider throughout the production process:   MAKE A LIST OF DESIGN PROS AND CONS Your first sample should never be your final sample. No one, even the best swimwear industry factories, get it 100% right on the first try. So, to cust down on the cost of sampling, I like to do this. When working with your sewing partner, play the ‘what if’ game. What if we do this, what if we try that, what will happen if this is the design instead of this? Ask all of these questions, before you even start sewing. By asking all of these questions you are going to get educated and be able to make better design decisions. And develop the pros and cons of each.   PAY ATTENTION TO FINISHING DETAILS Remember those old school tights, the ones that used to just dig into your waist like you were wearing a rubber band around your stomach? That's the effect binding can give on a swimsuit.  Seam binding involves wrapping another piece of fabric over the edge of the garment to prevent the fabric from fraying and holding it all together. It’s the cheapest way to finish the seams on a bikini. The problem is, with binding, it adds a lot of strength and reduces stretch. Which in turn, reduces comfort.  A clean finish or invisible seam is a lot more expensive than a bound seam. That is because the entire garment needs to be sewn inside out and then finished by hand. But, it’s worth it because it’s so much more comfortable. So, if you can, always opt for clean finishes to create a better, more comfortable product.    SAMPLE, SAMPLE, SAMPLE Sampling costs a lot of money, that’s why I told you about the What If Game. But, some what ifs we just need to see in person with a physical sample that can be tried on and evaluated by a real person.  Sampling makes the product better. So, make sure to budget for at least 2 samples in your business model, maybe even more. Some brands (like Isabetta) do as many as 10 samples to get their product perfect. People always ask me how many pieces in a swimwear collection? And, there is no right answer. I would rather you make one absolutely perfect design (if that is what your budget allows for), then 10 crappy ones. It’s important to know right from the start; the first sample will never be perfect. You can’t start a brand in 2 months; it takes at least 6 months to do it right (from ideas to launch day) doing all the proper research and product development work.  Bottom line, make time for all the sampling. It can feel like groundhogs day, making your samples over and over again until they are perfect. But, there is so much product out there in the world right now, including bad products. Don’t make more of that! Take the time to do it right, and do it well. And, remember. Working with the best factory in the world isn’t the magic pill to becoming a successful swimwear label. Taking the time to tweak your idea through many ideations until it really is perfect is what will create a great swimwear brand. This is the secret to a luxury swim product. Even Isabetta with a a ton experience and a team of experts makes multiple samples.    A FEW GREAT QUOTES FROM THE VIDEO INTERVIEW Make sure to watch it! Maybe you will receive 1,000 no’s, but all you need is 1 yes. When you design your own swimsuit, don’t fake it till you make it, don’t pretend you know what you’re doing, listen to experts. Keep an eye on trends, when designing a clothing line, but don’t be a slave to them – otherwise you are just making more of the same. If it’s not comfortable, people won’t wear it, and they won’t want to tell their friends about it. There is a difference between a customer buying your bikinis and actually wearing your custom bathing suits. Good brands that “sell out,” probably took them at least 2 years to develop the product before that success happened – but they never talk about that. It seems so hard to me and so easy for everyone else; you’re not a failure, it takes longer and is harder than anyone will let you know.   HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE - ADDITIONAL RESOURCES   WHAT DO YOU THINK? Did you enjoy Isabetta’s story? Now that you have a good understanding of how to start a swimwear line, what is the next step you are going to take in your fashion startup business? Source link

[norajworld]

Want to design your own swimsuit, but having trouble? This interview is the good stuff that most brands keep close to the vest, and never share. It’s understandable why brands are so top secret. Because after all that work, who wouldn't feel like if I had to do ALL OF THIS, you should too. Thankfully this interviewee is a lot more generous than most brands, and wants to help the next generation of startup fashion founders find their identity. In the video interview, and this article, we end up sharing high-level information, the things you typically only learn when you are in the fashion trenches. It’s information on how to start a swimwear line that some brands end up losing thousands of dollars on while making mistakes trying to learn as they go.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.   WHAT YOU WILL EARN IN THIS ARTICLE Who you will be learning from today Choosing the best fabrics to use for swimwear Trends and design research A fast fashion bikini vs a luxury bikini The best quotes from the interview Additional resources   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND SLIDE DECK!   WHAT MAKES ELISABETTA SO QUALIFIED TO TEACH YOU ABOUT HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE?   Born into a family of expert knitters in Milan, Elisabetta Bianco has followed in her grandparent’s footsteps. In 2021, Elisabetta decided to start a luxury swimwear brand to create luxury Itlaian made swimwear at an affordable price. Together with her life partner, a textile consultant, and her brother, an economist, Elisabetta has created a swim brand dedicated to quality materials, full product traceability, as well as social and environmental sustainability.  Elisabetta’s family works with some of the best-known brands across Europe. Stretchy knit fabrics and garments are her family’s life, and she seriously knows the latest trends.    YOU CAN GET TO KNOW ELIZABETTA BETTER IN THIS LIVE INTERVIEW WE DID IN ITALY   CHOOSING THE BEST SWIMWEAR FABRICS  First, admit to yourself the things you don’t know. Do you know the marketplace, how well do you understand swimsuit designs, who's your target market?  Always conduct market research and factory research, of course. If you can't answer these questions, then rely on experts to help you. When learning how to start a swimwear line, it’s ok to admit to yourself you don’t know everything. You might not know what your brand identity is or have a plan for growth and that's ok. Many times, designers are great at sketching and create designs  that look incredible on paper. But their brands fail because the product does not translate to a IRL garment sample. The brands end up stuck in the sampling stage, trying out different measurements and swimsuit fabric, trims, fixing their logo, and ultimately blowing through all of their money before even getting a chance to launch.  One of the reasons for this is that while designers’ can draw, they lack technical experience.  To prevent designs from getting lost in translation during the sampling process, it’s important to have a good relationship with your supplier. Your supplier will know the best production materials to use for your line and suggest which will fit your brand's needs.  And while it’s totally ok to rely on them for their expertise. You shouldn’t go into your swimwear manufacturing meeting totally uneducated, there are a few things you need to know about… Bottom line, when you design your own swimsuit, it's ok to admit you don't know everything and lean on other experts for support.   FABRIC FASTNESS Fabric fastness is the most important thing to consider when you design your own bathing suit. Fastness is a technical term that measures how quickly color will fade from a fabric because of things like washing, the sun, or even chlorine water. As a brand you want good color fastness so peoples swimsuits don’t fade and look wornout, then end up in the trash.  Think about it. Bikinis are often worn on the beach or the pool. Sun, sand, sweat, and lots of other elements can break them down, and wear them out quickly. Sunlight, salt, and chlorine also ramp up the color-fading process. Suits can lose noticeable color as quickly as 3 or 4 wears in some cases.  And, the effects of these environmental factors don’t just affect the fabric’s color and aesthetics, but their strength and integrity.  But, get this - all fabrics in Italy must meet a certain dye standard. It is against the law to produce something that does not meet a certain level of quality. So, if you know that a fabric was made in Italy, then you are almost 100% guaranteed that it will have good colorfastness.    DON’T FALL FOR THIS FABRIC QUALTIY LOOP HOLE But, just be careful. This is where it gets confusing. A made in Italy tag on a garment, does not always mean the fabric is good quality. That is because, the “made in” on a label is where the garment is made, not the fabric.  Some shady brands buy fabrics from lower price countries (think, China), and ship them to Italy. Garments are then sewn with the lower quality fabrics, and technically the tags can still say “Made in Italy”.  This is why transparency is so important in the fashion industry, and why consumers should be pushing for laws that require brands not only to list where they are sewing, but where the fabrics are coming from. With swim specifically, there is only so much that a brand and supplier can do to prevent the color from fading and breaking down. An,d customers need to help out too by taking care of their garments properly. Meaning, as soon as they wear a swimsuit, they should take it off, wash it, and get that salt and chlorine off immediately. Don’t give it time to degrade the fabric.   ELASTICITY AND FABRIC CONTENT When making a swimsuit there are two different types of stretch you need, in the fabric, and in the garment construction. And, it’s crucial you get both correct when learning how to start a swimwear line. Let’s start with fabric.   FABRIC STRETCH When choosing a fabric with good elasticity and performance, many brands think the answers are on the care labels in their closet. Again, just like made in, these labels are not telling the whole truth. For example, all 97% recycled polyester and 3% spandex fabrics are not equal. The quality of the fabric will not only be determined by the quality of the yarns in the fabric, but also by how the supplier combines them to engineer the best fabric possible. This is where the expertise of your supplier becomes super important.  Think of if this way. Craft singles is not the same as an imported gourmet bree. Yea, they are both cheese, yea you can put them booth on crackers, but they are not equal quality. The same goes for the fibers (ingredients) in your garment. They are not all the same.  Other important things to consider when you design your own swimsuit, are fabric weights and compression. Heavier and stronger isn’t always better. It is important to think about the customer while making this decision. A younger customer tends to like lighter fabric, whereas older customers tend to like heavier fabrics, with a bit more compression (stretch).   GARMENT STRETCH Garment stretch is what will make or break your product. Elastic is almost always used in the seams of the swimsuit. And, you need to make sure to use a nice stretchy, comfy elastic. When a cheaper stiffer elastic is substituted to cut costs, it will also cut into the wearer's skin, and feel very uncomfortable.  Also, different qualities of elastic might be needed for different parts of the garment. For example, the elastic in the tie strings around the neck of a custom bikini will need to be different from the elastic in the leg hole of the bottoms. This is because strings in the top require a lot more strength to hold the swimsuit on, whereas the leg holes need more stretch for comfort.  Remember that swimsuits are worn both dry and wet. The customer needs to be comfortable, and the elasticity needs to work for both conditions. Elastic/spandex is considered a comfort fiber because it allows for movement and flexibility.  But, again, not all elastics are equal.  What is more important than the stretching is actually the recovery. Recovery is how well the fabric snaps back to its original form after being stretched out. Recovery is important, because you don’t want a swimsuit to remain stretched out and get saggy over time, you wan’t it to hold it’s shape. It you take anything away from this article when you design your own swimsuit - please let it be this. Stretch can make or break your brand.   SUSTAINABILITY Bikinis are small pieces of clothing, but they still have a big impact on the planet. So, if you can choose a sustainable yarn instead of a conventional one, why wouldn't you? Yes, it may cost a bit more. And, while it is definitely more expensive, it is not so expensive that it’s not possible for new startup brands to use. It is a realtivly small investment to make for a big environmental impact.  But, while sustainability is important when you design your own swimsuit, it should never be the main focus.  It is the job of the designer to make something nice, and then make it sustainable. Because, when consumers shop, they buy things because they like them, not because they are sustainable. That is just the cold hard truth. Backed with data.   If your idea for a brand is “this random brand I like” but I’ll make it sustainable, that is not a brand. The key is to create a swim brand that people love, that also just so happens to be sustainable. Again, (because no one ever wants to believe me when I say this) it’s worth repeating that no one buys ugly clothes they don’t like just because they are earth conscious. We all buy things because we like them or need them. So, always, always, always focus on design first. Back in the day, sustainable fabrics were of lower quality. But, today, some recycled fabrics feel even nicer than the virgin poly ones - check out this article to learn more about high quality recycled polyester.    4 TIPS ON HOW TO DESIGN SWIMWEAR Is it just me, or does everything kind of look the same, especially on social media? Every influencer has a custom swimsuits line these days. So, how do you stand out from everyone else, but still be on trend? Here are some tips:   DESIGN SOMETHING THAT YOU LIKE It’s that simple. When you design your own swimsuit, you don’t necessarily have to wear it yourself, but you need to like it. It is so hard (impossible) to sell a product you don’t like and don’t believe in.   BE COHESIVE WITH YOUR LOOK This is something that often gets forgotten in discussions about how to start a swimwear line. Don’t bounce around from style to style, year to year. If you make neon micro bikinis in one collection, it will confuse your customer if you start making earth-tone modest one pieces.  When you design your own swimsuit, this can be easier said than done. Especially, when as individuals, we tend to like so many different things. We usually don’t buy our entire wardrobe from one brand. So, to design well, you need to be able to separate all the different styles you have in your own closet from what will create a cohesive brand image.   STAYING AHEAD OF THE TRENDS Once it's on Instagram, the trend is over.  Now, you could go to garment trade shows, where buyers go to buy new styles. And with this you can see what is new about 3-6 months before it shows up on your feed. But, even then, you are still too late. Instead, use your fabric and garment suppliers.  Garment and fabric suppliers know what the trends are a year before they end up in stores, because brands are doing their developments that far in advance. And, if you lean on your suppliers for trend info, you can easily get ahead of the trends.  Now suppliers are not just going to come out and tell you what everyone else is doing. So, try asking your supplier, I really like this fabric, do a lot of people use it? Or try asking, what is your best seller?   TRUST YOUR GUT WHEN YOU DESIGN YOUR OWN SWIMSUIT If you think something is going to do well, go for it. Don’t listen to everyone else saying no. For example, there have been a few times when brands I worked with gave me a design, and I would think, omg this is so ugly it is never going to sell. Then it becomes their top seller for 3 years.  The lesson is, it doesn’t matter what other people think as long as the product hits with your target customer and they like it. Fashion is so personal. The perfect garment to one person, might be the ugliest thing ever to someone else. Remember that.   THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FAST FASHION BIKINI AND A LUXURY ONE Don’t cut corners when making your own swimwear designs. It’s all these little details that create a quality bikini. Here are some tools to consider throughout the production process:   MAKE A LIST OF DESIGN PROS AND CONS Your first sample should never be your final sample. No one, even the best swimwear industry factories, get it 100% right on the first try. So, to cust down on the cost of sampling, I like to do this. When working with your sewing partner, play the ‘what if’ game. What if we do this, what if we try that, what will happen if this is the design instead of this? Ask all of these questions, before you even start sewing. By asking all of these questions you are going to get educated and be able to make better design decisions. And develop the pros and cons of each.   PAY ATTENTION TO FINISHING DETAILS Remember those old school tights, the ones that used to just dig into your waist like you were wearing a rubber band around your stomach? That's the effect binding can give on a swimsuit.  Seam binding involves wrapping another piece of fabric over the edge of the garment to prevent the fabric from fraying and holding it all together. It’s the cheapest way to finish the seams on a bikini. The problem is, with binding, it adds a lot of strength and reduces stretch. Which in turn, reduces comfort.  A clean finish or invisible seam is a lot more expensive than a bound seam. That is because the entire garment needs to be sewn inside out and then finished by hand. But, it’s worth it because it’s so much more comfortable. So, if you can, always opt for clean finishes to create a better, more comfortable product.    SAMPLE, SAMPLE, SAMPLE Sampling costs a lot of money, that’s why I told you about the What If Game. But, some what ifs we just need to see in person with a physical sample that can be tried on and evaluated by a real person.  Sampling makes the product better. So, make sure to budget for at least 2 samples in your business model, maybe even more. Some brands (like Isabetta) do as many as 10 samples to get their product perfect. People always ask me how many pieces in a swimwear collection? And, there is no right answer. I would rather you make one absolutely perfect design (if that is what your budget allows for), then 10 crappy ones. It’s important to know right from the start; the first sample will never be perfect. You can’t start a brand in 2 months; it takes at least 6 months to do it right (from ideas to launch day) doing all the proper research and product development work.  Bottom line, make time for all the sampling. It can feel like groundhogs day, making your samples over and over again until they are perfect. But, there is so much product out there in the world right now, including bad products. Don’t make more of that! Take the time to do it right, and do it well. And, remember. Working with the best factory in the world isn’t the magic pill to becoming a successful swimwear label. Taking the time to tweak your idea through many ideations until it really is perfect is what will create a great swimwear brand. This is the secret to a luxury swim product. Even Isabetta with a a ton experience and a team of experts makes multiple samples.    A FEW GREAT QUOTES FROM THE VIDEO INTERVIEW Make sure to watch it! Maybe you will receive 1,000 no’s, but all you need is 1 yes. When you design your own swimsuit, don’t fake it till you make it, don’t pretend you know what you’re doing, listen to experts. Keep an eye on trends, when designing a clothing line, but don’t be a slave to them – otherwise you are just making more of the same. If it’s not comfortable, people won’t wear it, and they won’t want to tell their friends about it. There is a difference between a customer buying your bikinis and actually wearing your custom bathing suits. Good brands that “sell out,” probably took them at least 2 years to develop the product before that success happened – but they never talk about that. It seems so hard to me and so easy for everyone else; you’re not a failure, it takes longer and is harder than anyone will let you know.   HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE - ADDITIONAL RESOURCES   WHAT DO YOU THINK? Did you enjoy Isabetta’s story? Now that you have a good understanding of how to start a swimwear line, what is the next step you are going to take in your fashion startup business? Source link

[ellajme0]

Want to design your own swimsuit, but having trouble? This interview is the good stuff that most brands keep close to the vest, and never share. It’s understandable why brands are so top secret. Because after all that work, who wouldn't feel like if I had to do ALL OF THIS, you should too. Thankfully this interviewee is a lot more generous than most brands, and wants to help the next generation of startup fashion founders find their identity. In the video interview, and this article, we end up sharing high-level information, the things you typically only learn when you are in the fashion trenches. It’s information on how to start a swimwear line that some brands end up losing thousands of dollars on while making mistakes trying to learn as they go.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.   WHAT YOU WILL EARN IN THIS ARTICLE Who you will be learning from today Choosing the best fabrics to use for swimwear Trends and design research A fast fashion bikini vs a luxury bikini The best quotes from the interview Additional resources   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND SLIDE DECK!   WHAT MAKES ELISABETTA SO QUALIFIED TO TEACH YOU ABOUT HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE?   Born into a family of expert knitters in Milan, Elisabetta Bianco has followed in her grandparent’s footsteps. In 2021, Elisabetta decided to start a luxury swimwear brand to create luxury Itlaian made swimwear at an affordable price. Together with her life partner, a textile consultant, and her brother, an economist, Elisabetta has created a swim brand dedicated to quality materials, full product traceability, as well as social and environmental sustainability.  Elisabetta’s family works with some of the best-known brands across Europe. Stretchy knit fabrics and garments are her family’s life, and she seriously knows the latest trends.    YOU CAN GET TO KNOW ELIZABETTA BETTER IN THIS LIVE INTERVIEW WE DID IN ITALY   CHOOSING THE BEST SWIMWEAR FABRICS  First, admit to yourself the things you don’t know. Do you know the marketplace, how well do you understand swimsuit designs, who's your target market?  Always conduct market research and factory research, of course. If you can't answer these questions, then rely on experts to help you. When learning how to start a swimwear line, it’s ok to admit to yourself you don’t know everything. You might not know what your brand identity is or have a plan for growth and that's ok. Many times, designers are great at sketching and create designs  that look incredible on paper. But their brands fail because the product does not translate to a IRL garment sample. The brands end up stuck in the sampling stage, trying out different measurements and swimsuit fabric, trims, fixing their logo, and ultimately blowing through all of their money before even getting a chance to launch.  One of the reasons for this is that while designers’ can draw, they lack technical experience.  To prevent designs from getting lost in translation during the sampling process, it’s important to have a good relationship with your supplier. Your supplier will know the best production materials to use for your line and suggest which will fit your brand's needs.  And while it’s totally ok to rely on them for their expertise. You shouldn’t go into your swimwear manufacturing meeting totally uneducated, there are a few things you need to know about… Bottom line, when you design your own swimsuit, it's ok to admit you don't know everything and lean on other experts for support.   FABRIC FASTNESS Fabric fastness is the most important thing to consider when you design your own bathing suit. Fastness is a technical term that measures how quickly color will fade from a fabric because of things like washing, the sun, or even chlorine water. As a brand you want good color fastness so peoples swimsuits don’t fade and look wornout, then end up in the trash.  Think about it. Bikinis are often worn on the beach or the pool. Sun, sand, sweat, and lots of other elements can break them down, and wear them out quickly. Sunlight, salt, and chlorine also ramp up the color-fading process. Suits can lose noticeable color as quickly as 3 or 4 wears in some cases.  And, the effects of these environmental factors don’t just affect the fabric’s color and aesthetics, but their strength and integrity.  But, get this - all fabrics in Italy must meet a certain dye standard. It is against the law to produce something that does not meet a certain level of quality. So, if you know that a fabric was made in Italy, then you are almost 100% guaranteed that it will have good colorfastness.    DON’T FALL FOR THIS FABRIC QUALTIY LOOP HOLE But, just be careful. This is where it gets confusing. A made in Italy tag on a garment, does not always mean the fabric is good quality. That is because, the “made in” on a label is where the garment is made, not the fabric.  Some shady brands buy fabrics from lower price countries (think, China), and ship them to Italy. Garments are then sewn with the lower quality fabrics, and technically the tags can still say “Made in Italy”.  This is why transparency is so important in the fashion industry, and why consumers should be pushing for laws that require brands not only to list where they are sewing, but where the fabrics are coming from. With swim specifically, there is only so much that a brand and supplier can do to prevent the color from fading and breaking down. An,d customers need to help out too by taking care of their garments properly. Meaning, as soon as they wear a swimsuit, they should take it off, wash it, and get that salt and chlorine off immediately. Don’t give it time to degrade the fabric.   ELASTICITY AND FABRIC CONTENT When making a swimsuit there are two different types of stretch you need, in the fabric, and in the garment construction. And, it’s crucial you get both correct when learning how to start a swimwear line. Let’s start with fabric.   FABRIC STRETCH When choosing a fabric with good elasticity and performance, many brands think the answers are on the care labels in their closet. Again, just like made in, these labels are not telling the whole truth. For example, all 97% recycled polyester and 3% spandex fabrics are not equal. The quality of the fabric will not only be determined by the quality of the yarns in the fabric, but also by how the supplier combines them to engineer the best fabric possible. This is where the expertise of your supplier becomes super important.  Think of if this way. Craft singles is not the same as an imported gourmet bree. Yea, they are both cheese, yea you can put them booth on crackers, but they are not equal quality. The same goes for the fibers (ingredients) in your garment. They are not all the same.  Other important things to consider when you design your own swimsuit, are fabric weights and compression. Heavier and stronger isn’t always better. It is important to think about the customer while making this decision. A younger customer tends to like lighter fabric, whereas older customers tend to like heavier fabrics, with a bit more compression (stretch).   GARMENT STRETCH Garment stretch is what will make or break your product. Elastic is almost always used in the seams of the swimsuit. And, you need to make sure to use a nice stretchy, comfy elastic. When a cheaper stiffer elastic is substituted to cut costs, it will also cut into the wearer's skin, and feel very uncomfortable.  Also, different qualities of elastic might be needed for different parts of the garment. For example, the elastic in the tie strings around the neck of a custom bikini will need to be different from the elastic in the leg hole of the bottoms. This is because strings in the top require a lot more strength to hold the swimsuit on, whereas the leg holes need more stretch for comfort.  Remember that swimsuits are worn both dry and wet. The customer needs to be comfortable, and the elasticity needs to work for both conditions. Elastic/spandex is considered a comfort fiber because it allows for movement and flexibility.  But, again, not all elastics are equal.  What is more important than the stretching is actually the recovery. Recovery is how well the fabric snaps back to its original form after being stretched out. Recovery is important, because you don’t want a swimsuit to remain stretched out and get saggy over time, you wan’t it to hold it’s shape. It you take anything away from this article when you design your own swimsuit - please let it be this. Stretch can make or break your brand.   SUSTAINABILITY Bikinis are small pieces of clothing, but they still have a big impact on the planet. So, if you can choose a sustainable yarn instead of a conventional one, why wouldn't you? Yes, it may cost a bit more. And, while it is definitely more expensive, it is not so expensive that it’s not possible for new startup brands to use. It is a realtivly small investment to make for a big environmental impact.  But, while sustainability is important when you design your own swimsuit, it should never be the main focus.  It is the job of the designer to make something nice, and then make it sustainable. Because, when consumers shop, they buy things because they like them, not because they are sustainable. That is just the cold hard truth. Backed with data.   If your idea for a brand is “this random brand I like” but I’ll make it sustainable, that is not a brand. The key is to create a swim brand that people love, that also just so happens to be sustainable. Again, (because no one ever wants to believe me when I say this) it’s worth repeating that no one buys ugly clothes they don’t like just because they are earth conscious. We all buy things because we like them or need them. So, always, always, always focus on design first. Back in the day, sustainable fabrics were of lower quality. But, today, some recycled fabrics feel even nicer than the virgin poly ones - check out this article to learn more about high quality recycled polyester.    4 TIPS ON HOW TO DESIGN SWIMWEAR Is it just me, or does everything kind of look the same, especially on social media? Every influencer has a custom swimsuits line these days. So, how do you stand out from everyone else, but still be on trend? Here are some tips:   DESIGN SOMETHING THAT YOU LIKE It’s that simple. When you design your own swimsuit, you don’t necessarily have to wear it yourself, but you need to like it. It is so hard (impossible) to sell a product you don’t like and don’t believe in.   BE COHESIVE WITH YOUR LOOK This is something that often gets forgotten in discussions about how to start a swimwear line. Don’t bounce around from style to style, year to year. If you make neon micro bikinis in one collection, it will confuse your customer if you start making earth-tone modest one pieces.  When you design your own swimsuit, this can be easier said than done. Especially, when as individuals, we tend to like so many different things. We usually don’t buy our entire wardrobe from one brand. So, to design well, you need to be able to separate all the different styles you have in your own closet from what will create a cohesive brand image.   STAYING AHEAD OF THE TRENDS Once it's on Instagram, the trend is over.  Now, you could go to garment trade shows, where buyers go to buy new styles. And with this you can see what is new about 3-6 months before it shows up on your feed. But, even then, you are still too late. Instead, use your fabric and garment suppliers.  Garment and fabric suppliers know what the trends are a year before they end up in stores, because brands are doing their developments that far in advance. And, if you lean on your suppliers for trend info, you can easily get ahead of the trends.  Now suppliers are not just going to come out and tell you what everyone else is doing. So, try asking your supplier, I really like this fabric, do a lot of people use it? Or try asking, what is your best seller?   TRUST YOUR GUT WHEN YOU DESIGN YOUR OWN SWIMSUIT If you think something is going to do well, go for it. Don’t listen to everyone else saying no. For example, there have been a few times when brands I worked with gave me a design, and I would think, omg this is so ugly it is never going to sell. Then it becomes their top seller for 3 years.  The lesson is, it doesn’t matter what other people think as long as the product hits with your target customer and they like it. Fashion is so personal. The perfect garment to one person, might be the ugliest thing ever to someone else. Remember that.   THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FAST FASHION BIKINI AND A LUXURY ONE Don’t cut corners when making your own swimwear designs. It’s all these little details that create a quality bikini. Here are some tools to consider throughout the production process:   MAKE A LIST OF DESIGN PROS AND CONS Your first sample should never be your final sample. No one, even the best swimwear industry factories, get it 100% right on the first try. So, to cust down on the cost of sampling, I like to do this. When working with your sewing partner, play the ‘what if’ game. What if we do this, what if we try that, what will happen if this is the design instead of this? Ask all of these questions, before you even start sewing. By asking all of these questions you are going to get educated and be able to make better design decisions. And develop the pros and cons of each.   PAY ATTENTION TO FINISHING DETAILS Remember those old school tights, the ones that used to just dig into your waist like you were wearing a rubber band around your stomach? That's the effect binding can give on a swimsuit.  Seam binding involves wrapping another piece of fabric over the edge of the garment to prevent the fabric from fraying and holding it all together. It’s the cheapest way to finish the seams on a bikini. The problem is, with binding, it adds a lot of strength and reduces stretch. Which in turn, reduces comfort.  A clean finish or invisible seam is a lot more expensive than a bound seam. That is because the entire garment needs to be sewn inside out and then finished by hand. But, it’s worth it because it’s so much more comfortable. So, if you can, always opt for clean finishes to create a better, more comfortable product.    SAMPLE, SAMPLE, SAMPLE Sampling costs a lot of money, that’s why I told you about the What If Game. But, some what ifs we just need to see in person with a physical sample that can be tried on and evaluated by a real person.  Sampling makes the product better. So, make sure to budget for at least 2 samples in your business model, maybe even more. Some brands (like Isabetta) do as many as 10 samples to get their product perfect. People always ask me how many pieces in a swimwear collection? And, there is no right answer. I would rather you make one absolutely perfect design (if that is what your budget allows for), then 10 crappy ones. It’s important to know right from the start; the first sample will never be perfect. You can’t start a brand in 2 months; it takes at least 6 months to do it right (from ideas to launch day) doing all the proper research and product development work.  Bottom line, make time for all the sampling. It can feel like groundhogs day, making your samples over and over again until they are perfect. But, there is so much product out there in the world right now, including bad products. Don’t make more of that! Take the time to do it right, and do it well. And, remember. Working with the best factory in the world isn’t the magic pill to becoming a successful swimwear label. Taking the time to tweak your idea through many ideations until it really is perfect is what will create a great swimwear brand. This is the secret to a luxury swim product. Even Isabetta with a a ton experience and a team of experts makes multiple samples.    A FEW GREAT QUOTES FROM THE VIDEO INTERVIEW Make sure to watch it! Maybe you will receive 1,000 no’s, but all you need is 1 yes. When you design your own swimsuit, don’t fake it till you make it, don’t pretend you know what you’re doing, listen to experts. Keep an eye on trends, when designing a clothing line, but don’t be a slave to them – otherwise you are just making more of the same. If it’s not comfortable, people won’t wear it, and they won’t want to tell their friends about it. There is a difference between a customer buying your bikinis and actually wearing your custom bathing suits. Good brands that “sell out,” probably took them at least 2 years to develop the product before that success happened – but they never talk about that. It seems so hard to me and so easy for everyone else; you’re not a failure, it takes longer and is harder than anyone will let you know.   HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE - ADDITIONAL RESOURCES   WHAT DO YOU THINK? Did you enjoy Isabetta’s story? Now that you have a good understanding of how to start a swimwear line, what is the next step you are going to take in your fashion startup business? Source link

[chilimili212]

Want to design your own swimsuit, but having trouble? This interview is the good stuff that most brands keep close to the vest, and never share. It’s understandable why brands are so top secret. Because after all that work, who wouldn't feel like if I had to do ALL OF THIS, you should too. Thankfully this interviewee is a lot more generous than most brands, and wants to help the next generation of startup fashion founders find their identity. In the video interview, and this article, we end up sharing high-level information, the things you typically only learn when you are in the fashion trenches. It’s information on how to start a swimwear line that some brands end up losing thousands of dollars on while making mistakes trying to learn as they go.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.   WHAT YOU WILL EARN IN THIS ARTICLE Who you will be learning from today Choosing the best fabrics to use for swimwear Trends and design research A fast fashion bikini vs a luxury bikini The best quotes from the interview Additional resources   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND SLIDE DECK!   WHAT MAKES ELISABETTA SO QUALIFIED TO TEACH YOU ABOUT HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE?   Born into a family of expert knitters in Milan, Elisabetta Bianco has followed in her grandparent’s footsteps. In 2021, Elisabetta decided to start a luxury swimwear brand to create luxury Itlaian made swimwear at an affordable price. Together with her life partner, a textile consultant, and her brother, an economist, Elisabetta has created a swim brand dedicated to quality materials, full product traceability, as well as social and environmental sustainability.  Elisabetta’s family works with some of the best-known brands across Europe. Stretchy knit fabrics and garments are her family’s life, and she seriously knows the latest trends.    YOU CAN GET TO KNOW ELIZABETTA BETTER IN THIS LIVE INTERVIEW WE DID IN ITALY   CHOOSING THE BEST SWIMWEAR FABRICS  First, admit to yourself the things you don’t know. Do you know the marketplace, how well do you understand swimsuit designs, who's your target market?  Always conduct market research and factory research, of course. If you can't answer these questions, then rely on experts to help you. When learning how to start a swimwear line, it’s ok to admit to yourself you don’t know everything. You might not know what your brand identity is or have a plan for growth and that's ok. Many times, designers are great at sketching and create designs  that look incredible on paper. But their brands fail because the product does not translate to a IRL garment sample. The brands end up stuck in the sampling stage, trying out different measurements and swimsuit fabric, trims, fixing their logo, and ultimately blowing through all of their money before even getting a chance to launch.  One of the reasons for this is that while designers’ can draw, they lack technical experience.  To prevent designs from getting lost in translation during the sampling process, it’s important to have a good relationship with your supplier. Your supplier will know the best production materials to use for your line and suggest which will fit your brand's needs.  And while it’s totally ok to rely on them for their expertise. You shouldn’t go into your swimwear manufacturing meeting totally uneducated, there are a few things you need to know about… Bottom line, when you design your own swimsuit, it's ok to admit you don't know everything and lean on other experts for support.   FABRIC FASTNESS Fabric fastness is the most important thing to consider when you design your own bathing suit. Fastness is a technical term that measures how quickly color will fade from a fabric because of things like washing, the sun, or even chlorine water. As a brand you want good color fastness so peoples swimsuits don’t fade and look wornout, then end up in the trash.  Think about it. Bikinis are often worn on the beach or the pool. Sun, sand, sweat, and lots of other elements can break them down, and wear them out quickly. Sunlight, salt, and chlorine also ramp up the color-fading process. Suits can lose noticeable color as quickly as 3 or 4 wears in some cases.  And, the effects of these environmental factors don’t just affect the fabric’s color and aesthetics, but their strength and integrity.  But, get this - all fabrics in Italy must meet a certain dye standard. It is against the law to produce something that does not meet a certain level of quality. So, if you know that a fabric was made in Italy, then you are almost 100% guaranteed that it will have good colorfastness.    DON’T FALL FOR THIS FABRIC QUALTIY LOOP HOLE But, just be careful. This is where it gets confusing. A made in Italy tag on a garment, does not always mean the fabric is good quality. That is because, the “made in” on a label is where the garment is made, not the fabric.  Some shady brands buy fabrics from lower price countries (think, China), and ship them to Italy. Garments are then sewn with the lower quality fabrics, and technically the tags can still say “Made in Italy”.  This is why transparency is so important in the fashion industry, and why consumers should be pushing for laws that require brands not only to list where they are sewing, but where the fabrics are coming from. With swim specifically, there is only so much that a brand and supplier can do to prevent the color from fading and breaking down. An,d customers need to help out too by taking care of their garments properly. Meaning, as soon as they wear a swimsuit, they should take it off, wash it, and get that salt and chlorine off immediately. Don’t give it time to degrade the fabric.   ELASTICITY AND FABRIC CONTENT When making a swimsuit there are two different types of stretch you need, in the fabric, and in the garment construction. And, it’s crucial you get both correct when learning how to start a swimwear line. Let’s start with fabric.   FABRIC STRETCH When choosing a fabric with good elasticity and performance, many brands think the answers are on the care labels in their closet. Again, just like made in, these labels are not telling the whole truth. For example, all 97% recycled polyester and 3% spandex fabrics are not equal. The quality of the fabric will not only be determined by the quality of the yarns in the fabric, but also by how the supplier combines them to engineer the best fabric possible. This is where the expertise of your supplier becomes super important.  Think of if this way. Craft singles is not the same as an imported gourmet bree. Yea, they are both cheese, yea you can put them booth on crackers, but they are not equal quality. The same goes for the fibers (ingredients) in your garment. They are not all the same.  Other important things to consider when you design your own swimsuit, are fabric weights and compression. Heavier and stronger isn’t always better. It is important to think about the customer while making this decision. A younger customer tends to like lighter fabric, whereas older customers tend to like heavier fabrics, with a bit more compression (stretch).   GARMENT STRETCH Garment stretch is what will make or break your product. Elastic is almost always used in the seams of the swimsuit. And, you need to make sure to use a nice stretchy, comfy elastic. When a cheaper stiffer elastic is substituted to cut costs, it will also cut into the wearer's skin, and feel very uncomfortable.  Also, different qualities of elastic might be needed for different parts of the garment. For example, the elastic in the tie strings around the neck of a custom bikini will need to be different from the elastic in the leg hole of the bottoms. This is because strings in the top require a lot more strength to hold the swimsuit on, whereas the leg holes need more stretch for comfort.  Remember that swimsuits are worn both dry and wet. The customer needs to be comfortable, and the elasticity needs to work for both conditions. Elastic/spandex is considered a comfort fiber because it allows for movement and flexibility.  But, again, not all elastics are equal.  What is more important than the stretching is actually the recovery. Recovery is how well the fabric snaps back to its original form after being stretched out. Recovery is important, because you don’t want a swimsuit to remain stretched out and get saggy over time, you wan’t it to hold it’s shape. It you take anything away from this article when you design your own swimsuit - please let it be this. Stretch can make or break your brand.   SUSTAINABILITY Bikinis are small pieces of clothing, but they still have a big impact on the planet. So, if you can choose a sustainable yarn instead of a conventional one, why wouldn't you? Yes, it may cost a bit more. And, while it is definitely more expensive, it is not so expensive that it’s not possible for new startup brands to use. It is a realtivly small investment to make for a big environmental impact.  But, while sustainability is important when you design your own swimsuit, it should never be the main focus.  It is the job of the designer to make something nice, and then make it sustainable. Because, when consumers shop, they buy things because they like them, not because they are sustainable. That is just the cold hard truth. Backed with data.   If your idea for a brand is “this random brand I like” but I’ll make it sustainable, that is not a brand. The key is to create a swim brand that people love, that also just so happens to be sustainable. Again, (because no one ever wants to believe me when I say this) it’s worth repeating that no one buys ugly clothes they don’t like just because they are earth conscious. We all buy things because we like them or need them. So, always, always, always focus on design first. Back in the day, sustainable fabrics were of lower quality. But, today, some recycled fabrics feel even nicer than the virgin poly ones - check out this article to learn more about high quality recycled polyester.    4 TIPS ON HOW TO DESIGN SWIMWEAR Is it just me, or does everything kind of look the same, especially on social media? Every influencer has a custom swimsuits line these days. So, how do you stand out from everyone else, but still be on trend? Here are some tips:   DESIGN SOMETHING THAT YOU LIKE It’s that simple. When you design your own swimsuit, you don’t necessarily have to wear it yourself, but you need to like it. It is so hard (impossible) to sell a product you don’t like and don’t believe in.   BE COHESIVE WITH YOUR LOOK This is something that often gets forgotten in discussions about how to start a swimwear line. Don’t bounce around from style to style, year to year. If you make neon micro bikinis in one collection, it will confuse your customer if you start making earth-tone modest one pieces.  When you design your own swimsuit, this can be easier said than done. Especially, when as individuals, we tend to like so many different things. We usually don’t buy our entire wardrobe from one brand. So, to design well, you need to be able to separate all the different styles you have in your own closet from what will create a cohesive brand image.   STAYING AHEAD OF THE TRENDS Once it's on Instagram, the trend is over.  Now, you could go to garment trade shows, where buyers go to buy new styles. And with this you can see what is new about 3-6 months before it shows up on your feed. But, even then, you are still too late. Instead, use your fabric and garment suppliers.  Garment and fabric suppliers know what the trends are a year before they end up in stores, because brands are doing their developments that far in advance. And, if you lean on your suppliers for trend info, you can easily get ahead of the trends.  Now suppliers are not just going to come out and tell you what everyone else is doing. So, try asking your supplier, I really like this fabric, do a lot of people use it? Or try asking, what is your best seller?   TRUST YOUR GUT WHEN YOU DESIGN YOUR OWN SWIMSUIT If you think something is going to do well, go for it. Don’t listen to everyone else saying no. For example, there have been a few times when brands I worked with gave me a design, and I would think, omg this is so ugly it is never going to sell. Then it becomes their top seller for 3 years.  The lesson is, it doesn’t matter what other people think as long as the product hits with your target customer and they like it. Fashion is so personal. The perfect garment to one person, might be the ugliest thing ever to someone else. Remember that.   THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FAST FASHION BIKINI AND A LUXURY ONE Don’t cut corners when making your own swimwear designs. It’s all these little details that create a quality bikini. Here are some tools to consider throughout the production process:   MAKE A LIST OF DESIGN PROS AND CONS Your first sample should never be your final sample. No one, even the best swimwear industry factories, get it 100% right on the first try. So, to cust down on the cost of sampling, I like to do this. When working with your sewing partner, play the ‘what if’ game. What if we do this, what if we try that, what will happen if this is the design instead of this? Ask all of these questions, before you even start sewing. By asking all of these questions you are going to get educated and be able to make better design decisions. And develop the pros and cons of each.   PAY ATTENTION TO FINISHING DETAILS Remember those old school tights, the ones that used to just dig into your waist like you were wearing a rubber band around your stomach? That's the effect binding can give on a swimsuit.  Seam binding involves wrapping another piece of fabric over the edge of the garment to prevent the fabric from fraying and holding it all together. It’s the cheapest way to finish the seams on a bikini. The problem is, with binding, it adds a lot of strength and reduces stretch. Which in turn, reduces comfort.  A clean finish or invisible seam is a lot more expensive than a bound seam. That is because the entire garment needs to be sewn inside out and then finished by hand. But, it’s worth it because it’s so much more comfortable. So, if you can, always opt for clean finishes to create a better, more comfortable product.    SAMPLE, SAMPLE, SAMPLE Sampling costs a lot of money, that’s why I told you about the What If Game. But, some what ifs we just need to see in person with a physical sample that can be tried on and evaluated by a real person.  Sampling makes the product better. So, make sure to budget for at least 2 samples in your business model, maybe even more. Some brands (like Isabetta) do as many as 10 samples to get their product perfect. People always ask me how many pieces in a swimwear collection? And, there is no right answer. I would rather you make one absolutely perfect design (if that is what your budget allows for), then 10 crappy ones. It’s important to know right from the start; the first sample will never be perfect. You can’t start a brand in 2 months; it takes at least 6 months to do it right (from ideas to launch day) doing all the proper research and product development work.  Bottom line, make time for all the sampling. It can feel like groundhogs day, making your samples over and over again until they are perfect. But, there is so much product out there in the world right now, including bad products. Don’t make more of that! Take the time to do it right, and do it well. And, remember. Working with the best factory in the world isn’t the magic pill to becoming a successful swimwear label. Taking the time to tweak your idea through many ideations until it really is perfect is what will create a great swimwear brand. This is the secret to a luxury swim product. Even Isabetta with a a ton experience and a team of experts makes multiple samples.    A FEW GREAT QUOTES FROM THE VIDEO INTERVIEW Make sure to watch it! Maybe you will receive 1,000 no’s, but all you need is 1 yes. When you design your own swimsuit, don’t fake it till you make it, don’t pretend you know what you’re doing, listen to experts. Keep an eye on trends, when designing a clothing line, but don’t be a slave to them – otherwise you are just making more of the same. If it’s not comfortable, people won’t wear it, and they won’t want to tell their friends about it. There is a difference between a customer buying your bikinis and actually wearing your custom bathing suits. Good brands that “sell out,” probably took them at least 2 years to develop the product before that success happened – but they never talk about that. It seems so hard to me and so easy for everyone else; you’re not a failure, it takes longer and is harder than anyone will let you know.   HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE - ADDITIONAL RESOURCES   WHAT DO YOU THINK? Did you enjoy Isabetta’s story? Now that you have a good understanding of how to start a swimwear line, what is the next step you are going to take in your fashion startup business? Source link

[oliviajoyice21]

Want to design your own swimsuit, but having trouble? This interview is the good stuff that most brands keep close to the vest, and never share. It’s understandable why brands are so top secret. Because after all that work, who wouldn't feel like if I had to do ALL OF THIS, you should too. Thankfully this interviewee is a lot more generous than most brands, and wants to help the next generation of startup fashion founders find their identity. In the video interview, and this article, we end up sharing high-level information, the things you typically only learn when you are in the fashion trenches. It’s information on how to start a swimwear line that some brands end up losing thousands of dollars on while making mistakes trying to learn as they go.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.   WHAT YOU WILL EARN IN THIS ARTICLE Who you will be learning from today Choosing the best fabrics to use for swimwear Trends and design research A fast fashion bikini vs a luxury bikini The best quotes from the interview Additional resources   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND SLIDE DECK!   WHAT MAKES ELISABETTA SO QUALIFIED TO TEACH YOU ABOUT HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE?   Born into a family of expert knitters in Milan, Elisabetta Bianco has followed in her grandparent’s footsteps. In 2021, Elisabetta decided to start a luxury swimwear brand to create luxury Itlaian made swimwear at an affordable price. Together with her life partner, a textile consultant, and her brother, an economist, Elisabetta has created a swim brand dedicated to quality materials, full product traceability, as well as social and environmental sustainability.  Elisabetta’s family works with some of the best-known brands across Europe. Stretchy knit fabrics and garments are her family’s life, and she seriously knows the latest trends.    YOU CAN GET TO KNOW ELIZABETTA BETTER IN THIS LIVE INTERVIEW WE DID IN ITALY   CHOOSING THE BEST SWIMWEAR FABRICS  First, admit to yourself the things you don’t know. Do you know the marketplace, how well do you understand swimsuit designs, who's your target market?  Always conduct market research and factory research, of course. If you can't answer these questions, then rely on experts to help you. When learning how to start a swimwear line, it’s ok to admit to yourself you don’t know everything. You might not know what your brand identity is or have a plan for growth and that's ok. Many times, designers are great at sketching and create designs  that look incredible on paper. But their brands fail because the product does not translate to a IRL garment sample. The brands end up stuck in the sampling stage, trying out different measurements and swimsuit fabric, trims, fixing their logo, and ultimately blowing through all of their money before even getting a chance to launch.  One of the reasons for this is that while designers’ can draw, they lack technical experience.  To prevent designs from getting lost in translation during the sampling process, it’s important to have a good relationship with your supplier. Your supplier will know the best production materials to use for your line and suggest which will fit your brand's needs.  And while it’s totally ok to rely on them for their expertise. You shouldn’t go into your swimwear manufacturing meeting totally uneducated, there are a few things you need to know about… Bottom line, when you design your own swimsuit, it's ok to admit you don't know everything and lean on other experts for support.   FABRIC FASTNESS Fabric fastness is the most important thing to consider when you design your own bathing suit. Fastness is a technical term that measures how quickly color will fade from a fabric because of things like washing, the sun, or even chlorine water. As a brand you want good color fastness so peoples swimsuits don’t fade and look wornout, then end up in the trash.  Think about it. Bikinis are often worn on the beach or the pool. Sun, sand, sweat, and lots of other elements can break them down, and wear them out quickly. Sunlight, salt, and chlorine also ramp up the color-fading process. Suits can lose noticeable color as quickly as 3 or 4 wears in some cases.  And, the effects of these environmental factors don’t just affect the fabric’s color and aesthetics, but their strength and integrity.  But, get this - all fabrics in Italy must meet a certain dye standard. It is against the law to produce something that does not meet a certain level of quality. So, if you know that a fabric was made in Italy, then you are almost 100% guaranteed that it will have good colorfastness.    DON’T FALL FOR THIS FABRIC QUALTIY LOOP HOLE But, just be careful. This is where it gets confusing. A made in Italy tag on a garment, does not always mean the fabric is good quality. That is because, the “made in” on a label is where the garment is made, not the fabric.  Some shady brands buy fabrics from lower price countries (think, China), and ship them to Italy. Garments are then sewn with the lower quality fabrics, and technically the tags can still say “Made in Italy”.  This is why transparency is so important in the fashion industry, and why consumers should be pushing for laws that require brands not only to list where they are sewing, but where the fabrics are coming from. With swim specifically, there is only so much that a brand and supplier can do to prevent the color from fading and breaking down. An,d customers need to help out too by taking care of their garments properly. Meaning, as soon as they wear a swimsuit, they should take it off, wash it, and get that salt and chlorine off immediately. Don’t give it time to degrade the fabric.   ELASTICITY AND FABRIC CONTENT When making a swimsuit there are two different types of stretch you need, in the fabric, and in the garment construction. And, it’s crucial you get both correct when learning how to start a swimwear line. Let’s start with fabric.   FABRIC STRETCH When choosing a fabric with good elasticity and performance, many brands think the answers are on the care labels in their closet. Again, just like made in, these labels are not telling the whole truth. For example, all 97% recycled polyester and 3% spandex fabrics are not equal. The quality of the fabric will not only be determined by the quality of the yarns in the fabric, but also by how the supplier combines them to engineer the best fabric possible. This is where the expertise of your supplier becomes super important.  Think of if this way. Craft singles is not the same as an imported gourmet bree. Yea, they are both cheese, yea you can put them booth on crackers, but they are not equal quality. The same goes for the fibers (ingredients) in your garment. They are not all the same.  Other important things to consider when you design your own swimsuit, are fabric weights and compression. Heavier and stronger isn’t always better. It is important to think about the customer while making this decision. A younger customer tends to like lighter fabric, whereas older customers tend to like heavier fabrics, with a bit more compression (stretch).   GARMENT STRETCH Garment stretch is what will make or break your product. Elastic is almost always used in the seams of the swimsuit. And, you need to make sure to use a nice stretchy, comfy elastic. When a cheaper stiffer elastic is substituted to cut costs, it will also cut into the wearer's skin, and feel very uncomfortable.  Also, different qualities of elastic might be needed for different parts of the garment. For example, the elastic in the tie strings around the neck of a custom bikini will need to be different from the elastic in the leg hole of the bottoms. This is because strings in the top require a lot more strength to hold the swimsuit on, whereas the leg holes need more stretch for comfort.  Remember that swimsuits are worn both dry and wet. The customer needs to be comfortable, and the elasticity needs to work for both conditions. Elastic/spandex is considered a comfort fiber because it allows for movement and flexibility.  But, again, not all elastics are equal.  What is more important than the stretching is actually the recovery. Recovery is how well the fabric snaps back to its original form after being stretched out. Recovery is important, because you don’t want a swimsuit to remain stretched out and get saggy over time, you wan’t it to hold it’s shape. It you take anything away from this article when you design your own swimsuit - please let it be this. Stretch can make or break your brand.   SUSTAINABILITY Bikinis are small pieces of clothing, but they still have a big impact on the planet. So, if you can choose a sustainable yarn instead of a conventional one, why wouldn't you? Yes, it may cost a bit more. And, while it is definitely more expensive, it is not so expensive that it’s not possible for new startup brands to use. It is a realtivly small investment to make for a big environmental impact.  But, while sustainability is important when you design your own swimsuit, it should never be the main focus.  It is the job of the designer to make something nice, and then make it sustainable. Because, when consumers shop, they buy things because they like them, not because they are sustainable. That is just the cold hard truth. Backed with data.   If your idea for a brand is “this random brand I like” but I’ll make it sustainable, that is not a brand. The key is to create a swim brand that people love, that also just so happens to be sustainable. Again, (because no one ever wants to believe me when I say this) it’s worth repeating that no one buys ugly clothes they don’t like just because they are earth conscious. We all buy things because we like them or need them. So, always, always, always focus on design first. Back in the day, sustainable fabrics were of lower quality. But, today, some recycled fabrics feel even nicer than the virgin poly ones - check out this article to learn more about high quality recycled polyester.    4 TIPS ON HOW TO DESIGN SWIMWEAR Is it just me, or does everything kind of look the same, especially on social media? Every influencer has a custom swimsuits line these days. So, how do you stand out from everyone else, but still be on trend? Here are some tips:   DESIGN SOMETHING THAT YOU LIKE It’s that simple. When you design your own swimsuit, you don’t necessarily have to wear it yourself, but you need to like it. It is so hard (impossible) to sell a product you don’t like and don’t believe in.   BE COHESIVE WITH YOUR LOOK This is something that often gets forgotten in discussions about how to start a swimwear line. Don’t bounce around from style to style, year to year. If you make neon micro bikinis in one collection, it will confuse your customer if you start making earth-tone modest one pieces.  When you design your own swimsuit, this can be easier said than done. Especially, when as individuals, we tend to like so many different things. We usually don’t buy our entire wardrobe from one brand. So, to design well, you need to be able to separate all the different styles you have in your own closet from what will create a cohesive brand image.   STAYING AHEAD OF THE TRENDS Once it's on Instagram, the trend is over.  Now, you could go to garment trade shows, where buyers go to buy new styles. And with this you can see what is new about 3-6 months before it shows up on your feed. But, even then, you are still too late. Instead, use your fabric and garment suppliers.  Garment and fabric suppliers know what the trends are a year before they end up in stores, because brands are doing their developments that far in advance. And, if you lean on your suppliers for trend info, you can easily get ahead of the trends.  Now suppliers are not just going to come out and tell you what everyone else is doing. So, try asking your supplier, I really like this fabric, do a lot of people use it? Or try asking, what is your best seller?   TRUST YOUR GUT WHEN YOU DESIGN YOUR OWN SWIMSUIT If you think something is going to do well, go for it. Don’t listen to everyone else saying no. For example, there have been a few times when brands I worked with gave me a design, and I would think, omg this is so ugly it is never going to sell. Then it becomes their top seller for 3 years.  The lesson is, it doesn’t matter what other people think as long as the product hits with your target customer and they like it. Fashion is so personal. The perfect garment to one person, might be the ugliest thing ever to someone else. Remember that.   THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FAST FASHION BIKINI AND A LUXURY ONE Don’t cut corners when making your own swimwear designs. It’s all these little details that create a quality bikini. Here are some tools to consider throughout the production process:   MAKE A LIST OF DESIGN PROS AND CONS Your first sample should never be your final sample. No one, even the best swimwear industry factories, get it 100% right on the first try. So, to cust down on the cost of sampling, I like to do this. When working with your sewing partner, play the ‘what if’ game. What if we do this, what if we try that, what will happen if this is the design instead of this? Ask all of these questions, before you even start sewing. By asking all of these questions you are going to get educated and be able to make better design decisions. And develop the pros and cons of each.   PAY ATTENTION TO FINISHING DETAILS Remember those old school tights, the ones that used to just dig into your waist like you were wearing a rubber band around your stomach? That's the effect binding can give on a swimsuit.  Seam binding involves wrapping another piece of fabric over the edge of the garment to prevent the fabric from fraying and holding it all together. It’s the cheapest way to finish the seams on a bikini. The problem is, with binding, it adds a lot of strength and reduces stretch. Which in turn, reduces comfort.  A clean finish or invisible seam is a lot more expensive than a bound seam. That is because the entire garment needs to be sewn inside out and then finished by hand. But, it’s worth it because it’s so much more comfortable. So, if you can, always opt for clean finishes to create a better, more comfortable product.    SAMPLE, SAMPLE, SAMPLE Sampling costs a lot of money, that’s why I told you about the What If Game. But, some what ifs we just need to see in person with a physical sample that can be tried on and evaluated by a real person.  Sampling makes the product better. So, make sure to budget for at least 2 samples in your business model, maybe even more. Some brands (like Isabetta) do as many as 10 samples to get their product perfect. People always ask me how many pieces in a swimwear collection? And, there is no right answer. I would rather you make one absolutely perfect design (if that is what your budget allows for), then 10 crappy ones. It’s important to know right from the start; the first sample will never be perfect. You can’t start a brand in 2 months; it takes at least 6 months to do it right (from ideas to launch day) doing all the proper research and product development work.  Bottom line, make time for all the sampling. It can feel like groundhogs day, making your samples over and over again until they are perfect. But, there is so much product out there in the world right now, including bad products. Don’t make more of that! Take the time to do it right, and do it well. And, remember. Working with the best factory in the world isn’t the magic pill to becoming a successful swimwear label. Taking the time to tweak your idea through many ideations until it really is perfect is what will create a great swimwear brand. This is the secret to a luxury swim product. Even Isabetta with a a ton experience and a team of experts makes multiple samples.    A FEW GREAT QUOTES FROM THE VIDEO INTERVIEW Make sure to watch it! Maybe you will receive 1,000 no’s, but all you need is 1 yes. When you design your own swimsuit, don’t fake it till you make it, don’t pretend you know what you’re doing, listen to experts. Keep an eye on trends, when designing a clothing line, but don’t be a slave to them – otherwise you are just making more of the same. If it’s not comfortable, people won’t wear it, and they won’t want to tell their friends about it. There is a difference between a customer buying your bikinis and actually wearing your custom bathing suits. Good brands that “sell out,” probably took them at least 2 years to develop the product before that success happened – but they never talk about that. It seems so hard to me and so easy for everyone else; you’re not a failure, it takes longer and is harder than anyone will let you know.   HOW TO START A SWIMWEAR LINE - ADDITIONAL RESOURCES   WHAT DO YOU THINK? Did you enjoy Isabetta’s story? Now that you have a good understanding of how to start a swimwear line, what is the next step you are going to take in your fashion startup business? Source link

[shraddhamatre]

Way to Pass the SSC JE Civil Engineering Exam by Mastering Its Content

Are you a future civil engineer looking for work in the public sector? If so, the SSC JE exam, which is offered by the Staff Selection Commission, may be the perfect first step in your professional journey. This exam, which is intended to fill junior engineer positions in various government ministries, provides access to a large number of public sector job prospects. We'll go into the intricacies of the SSC JE Civil Engineering test in this blog article and offer insightful advice on how to study successfully.

Getting to Know the SSC JE Civil Engineering Exam The Staff Selection Commission of India administers the SSC JE Civil Engineering test once a year. Aspiring engineers can use it as a springboard to land jobs at government agencies like the Military Engineering Services (MES), Central Water Commission (CWC), and Public Works Department (CPWD), among many more.

There are two papers on the exam: Paper I: Objective-style questions encompassing general engineering (civil and structural), general awareness, and general intelligence and reasoning. Paper II: Questions of a descriptive nature pertaining to general engineering (structural and civil).

Some Advice for Efficient Preparation Recognize the syllabus: Get acquainted with the comprehensive syllabus that the SSC has supplied. Pay attention to subjects like structural analysis, building materials, surveying, estimating, and costing, among others.

Make a Study Schedule: Create a well-organized study schedule that gives each subject enough time. Divide the syllabus into digestible chunks and establish reasonable deadlines for finishing each one.

Practice Frequently: To gain a sense of the exam format and enhance your time management abilities, work through sample papers and question papers from prior years. Consider taking online practice exams as well to get a feel for the exam environment.

Fortify Foundations: Put your attention on constructing a solid basis in fundamental ideas including environmental engineering, fluid dynamics, and structuralmechanics. Having a solid grasp of the principles will make it easier for you to handle challenging issues.

Remain Up to Date: Especially with regard to the discipline of civil engineering, stay abreast of current events. Keep up with the most recent advancements, innovations, and government programs in the field.

Seek Guidance if Needed: Don't be afraid to join coaching centers that specialize in SSC JE exam preparation or to ask seasoned pros for advice. They can offer insightful information, helpful study guides, and exam-winning techniques.

In short Aspiring engineers have a fantastic opportunity to launch their careers in the public sector with the SSC JE Civil Engineering test. Effortlessly preparing for this test, planning ahead, and being committed can help you succeed. Recall to maintain concentration, practice consistently, and have faith in your skills. I wish you luck as you pursue your goal of becoming a productive SSC JE civil engineer!

Start Your Preparation With: https://gameacademy.in/ / https://clppenny.page.link/cTBm

[cleverhottubmiracle]

Once you’ve designed your clothing line, created a tech pack, put together a garment spec sheet, and found a factory you want to use, you’re ready to start the garment sampling process. Garment samples are where your designs come to life. They are the factory’s physical interpretation of all your instructions and sketches.  Similar to your tech pack, samples are a work in progress designed to be refined, corrected, and adjusted until you have a garment you are happy to take to mass production.  There are 12 types of samples in the product development and production lifecycle. While they are necessary to get your production right and minimize financial loss on your bulk order, their cost can quickly add up.  Large brands have the luxury of big budgets that allow for tons of sampling to create perfectly designed garments. But, small brands often find themselves needing to bootstrap. And, that’s ok!  While you need some sample renditions, you won’t need all of them. As I walk you through the sampling process, I’ll show you exactly what you can skip and save money on. Let's begin.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND RECAP!     WHAT IS A GARMENT SAMPLE?  Let’s start with the basics. A garment sample is a physical prototype of the clothing design in your tech pack. There are garment samples for every stage of product development and production. And, they each play a role in ensuring you get what you ordered, and your customers get the best possible garment.  Think of a garment sample as the dress rehearsal for your design. It allows you to privately refine and and make changes, until it’s perfect. Your bulk order is like opening night, and a product of all the hard work (you definitely do not want to be making any mistakes here!). There is no limit to how many samples you can develop. It all depends on your budget and timeframe. In some cases, sample production can start up to two years before bulk production begins. But, don’t let that scare you, the average sampling time is about 3 months.    WHY ARE GARMENT SAMPLES IMPORTANT?  The harsh reality of fashion is this: sometimes, designs that look amazing on paper just don’t translate into something wearable in real life.  And the sampling process is about learning what works off the page. A quick word of warning. Samples CANNOT be skipped.  Brands often come to me and say they have already made a proto with a local sample room, so they are ready to dive into production. No, they are not. What that sample proves is that a local sample room can make it, not the factory. The thing is, it is the factory that will run your bulk production, not the sample room.  It would be like if someone bought a cookie from a world-famous bakery, gave it to you, and then said, ‘ok, make this exact cookie, and you only get one try.’ A totally unreasonable task. Everyone needs a little trial and error to get something perfect, even if they are just copying.    HOW DO YOU MAKE A GARMENT SAMPLE? There are six steps to making one single sample - they are: 1. Design and design review  The design is created by the brand, and then analyzed by the factory team. Before any sample creation starts, all questions and clarifications are discussed. 2. Paper pattern  These paper pieces act as stencils for the garment. 3. Pattern cutting The factory will trace the paper patterns on to the fabric and then cut the pieces out. 4. Sewing Next, the factory will sew all the pattern pieces together 5. A fit model will try on the garment This helps the factory and brand get a better idea of how the garment will look on a person. Sometimes, especially with knits, garments can look very different from a hanger to a person. Someone at the factory might even try it on to see how it fits. Changes can then be made before the factory sends it (FYI, shipping costs add up, so you want to try and get as perfect a sample as possible before it’s sent). 6. Sample comments and approvals  The sample is sent to the brand, and they review it in real life. The brand will note any necessary changes to the sample, and the factory will try again. If the sample is perfect, it is approved and moves on to the next step!   TYPES OF GARMENT SAMPLES There are four different categories of samples. They are:   Pre-development  Development Production Factory samples Pre-development samples are like the local sample room samples I mentioned earlier. They are everything you create before you pass the work on to your factory.  Development samples happen before the production phase. They are similar to pre-development samples, but they must be made at the factory that will be making your bulk order in production quality materials.  Production samples are made during production to help you ensure everything is going smoothly and are part of a good quality assurance plan. A lot of people think that sample development ends when the product development phase is over, but it doesn’t.   Factory samples are a second set of identical samples that the factory keeps. If there is an issue to fix, you and the factory can look at the garment together in real time, no matter where you are in the world.   PRE-DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES  Again, these samples come before anything is sent to the official factory.   DIGITAL GARMENT SAMPLE Digital garment samples are a virtual representation of your design. You can even create models with digital fabrics to help you see how your design will look and move with different fabrications and on different body types.   Investing in 3D virtual sampling software is costly, but it could save you a lot of time in product development. Sampling can take months to tweak and edit, while digital garment samples take minutes.  The first time I saw this technology was in 2011. And, wow, has it come a long way since then? While the software is still in its infancy, I believe it’s only a matter of time before it becomes more widespread in the fashion industry as artificial intelligence tools continue to develop.  While it’s not essential to your garment sampling process, it allows brands to create lots of designs without having to make physical samples, so, it could be a helpful tool to utilize. I recommend SEDDI Textura if you want to look into this.    MOCKUP We call the first physical sample created a mockup. And, FYI, there are different types of mockups.  It could be a very simple physical prototype you make yourself out of cheap and easy-to-use fabrics like muslin. Or, you could hire a sample room to make it for you and have something really professional made. The goal of a mockup is to physically communicate your ideas to a factory. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because it is really just a communication tool. Afterward, you send your mockup along with your tech pack, and fabric swatches to the factory to begin working on the development samples.  Don’t worry if you don’t have the skills or the budget to make a mockup. Not all garments and designs need them, and not all factories work with them. But, they are a good tool to know about if it feels like there is miscommunication between you and your factory.     DEVELOPMENT GARMENT SAMPLES These are samples that your actual factory makes BEFORE you place the bulk order.   FIT SAMPLE This is the first sample you will get from your factory.   Manufacturers typically create a fit sample using cheap fabrics like muslin. You can think of them like a sketch, but IRL. The purpose of a fit sample is to see how your design looks off the page and get an idea of how it will fit a human body.  The fit sample stage is a great time to make big picture design changes. We aren’t trying to perfect each measurement with a fit sample. The goal is just to see the big picture, what is working, and what isn’t. That bell sleeve you envisioned? Maybe it needs to be smaller. Perhaps the total shirt length is too long? This is the time to make those alterations.  A common misconception about fit samples is that they have to be made in the middle of your size range. For example, if a brand’s size range was XS-XL, they would create a fit sample in size medium. But, while this is good practical advice, it isn’t product development law. Most startup brands make the fit sample in their own size so they can try it on themselves. This can save money because you don’t have to hire a fit model. It can also create a better product because no one cares as much as you do about your clothing line. Just be careful if you DIY it.  Brands pay fit models to not fluctuate in size. During the pandemic, quite a few of my clients came back to me complaining that the factory made all their garments too small. It turned out they had put on a few pandemic pounds, and it wasn’t the clothes that had shrunk. While this simple mistake seems almost comical, it really pissed off my factories. They did not appreciate being accused of making the designs incorrectly. And they did not enjoy the extra time they needed to take out of their already busy days to measure each original sample and each counter sample to prove they made them correctly.  So, if you do go the DIY fit model route, please keep all that in mind when evaluating fit samples so you can maintain a good relationship with your factory!    PROTO SAMPLE / MOCKUP Once the brand approves the fit sample, they can move on to the proto sample. This is one of the most exciting samples to receive because it’s the moment your design really starts to come alive.  A proto sample or mock up is basically a sample that is using readily available materials that are really close to production quality components. For example, in a proto sample, your buttons might be silver instead of gold, and your fabric might not have its custom print. But, it’s as close to the real thing as possible, minus a few details. The purpose of this sample is to give you a better idea of what your garment will look like, as cheaply as possible. It is somewhere between a fit sample and a PP sample (I’ll get to that in a minute). Basically, it’s more detailed than fit sample, but a lot cheaper to make than a PP.  Speaking of custom prints. During this time in the product development calendar, you should also get lab dips and strike-offs. FYI, lab dips are tools for solid color matching, and strike-offs make sure prints come out correctly.   The factory might also send you some additional fabric selections that could help make your product better, decrease the price, or quicken your production time.   PRODUCTION-QUALITY SAMPLE / PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE (PP SAMPLE) Both you and the factory use this sample as a production test run. It is made with the exact fabric and trims you will use in production. I like to think of this sample as the dress rehearsal before your apparel goes to mass production, aka opening night.   If you take anything away from this blog post, please let it be this. If the PP sample is not perfect, you cannot move on to production. Period.  Now, you might be wondering, if this is the only sample that really matters, why can’t we just skip to this one, and forget about all the others? The thing is… Pre-production samples are the most expensive to produce. Printing tiny quantities of fabric or dying a few meters to match your exact color is pricey. So before investing all that money into a PP sample, we want to make sure we have basic things like fit, fabrication and color approvals done.  The nice thing about fit and proto samples is that they cheaply allow for mistakes. You can play around with the design at a much lower cost. Quick tip - as a small brand, keeping your bottom line in the black is all about utilizing your cash as efficiently as possible.     SIZE SET SAMPLE Once you nail down and approve every little detail of your garment, a sample is created in each size. This is because, sometimes, when brands see what their XS or XL looks like in real life, they want to go back and tweak their size charts before production.  I urge the brands I work with to call their friends and try to find someone in every size sample to try on the full-size set. That way, you can make accurate revisions based on human wear.    SALESMAN SAMPLE (SMS) Salesman samples are also known as marketing samples.  These extra sets of samples are given to sales agents who bring them to trade shows, display them in showrooms and use them in meetings with buyers. These samples are also used for photoshoots, runway shows, and other types of promotional material.  Fashion is a very visual and physical industry. Buyers prefer to buy based on samples rather than sketches on paper. They want to see and feel the garments in real life.   GPT SAMPLE If you are creating performance garments like jackets, workout wear, or other technical products, you might want to invest in a garment performance test sample (GPT for short).  You can put this sample through a series of tests to see things like, whether the colors run, how the fabric copes with washing, how easily the garment tears and the strength of the seams.   If you want a full list of garment tests, you can check out the AATCC. But, remember, these tests are extremely expensive to run, costing between $300 to thousands!   PRODUCTION SAMPLES  Again, you MUST have a perfect pre-production sample before you move on to your bulk order - no exceptions, no “we’ll fix it in production”. It must be 100% correct.    SEALED SAMPLE / GOLD SAMPLE Once you approve your pre-production samples, you will seal them to prevent loss or tampering. Sometimes we refer to these samples as gold samples. BTW, an unapproved sample is known as a red sample, and are literally marked with a red tag.   Gold-sealed samples act as the blueprint for mass-producing your garment. All garments in mass production should match exactly to the gold sample.  As a brand, this is your insurance policy. If your apparel production comes out looking wonky, you go back to the gold sample and have proof that whatever happened in production was not what you and the factory agreed to. This sample makes negotiating for chargebacks a whole lot easier.    TOP OF PRODUCTION (TOP SAMPLE) The TOP sample is one last check in your production process. This is done to catch any last-minute problems. Here is something you probably don’t know. A special room in a factory, called a sample room, is where factories make samples. In that room, they have different sewers and processes from the ones on the factory floor. The sewers here are usually the best in the factory.  Sometimes when a design goes from sampling to production, a few small changes need to be made to allow for ease of sewing on the actual production line. Getting a TOP sample is your way of finding out about those small changes before you receive your bulk order. A TOP sample is also your chance to check the bulk fabric and trims and make sure all components are exactly what they should be. Pro-tip. Remind your factory to check the TOP sample before cutting all of the bulk fabric. If you find there is a problem with the fabric in your top sample, but all the fabric has already been cut - guess what? You can’t return it to the fabric supplier. You are stuck with it.   SHIPMENT SAMPLE After mass production is complete, it’s time for your garments to be shipped. Before that happens, the factory will send you some shipment samples for you to inspect. This is more of a quality control step than a sampling step. But, technically, yes, it’s still a sample on this list. A shipment sample is a sample that is literally pulled from your production order straight out of the box that is waiting to be picked up by the freight forwarder. This is your chance to look at your production order one last time and make sure they are perfect. If there is a major issue, it allows you to have the factory fix it before spending thousands of dollars on shipping.   PHOTOSHOOT / PRESS SAMPLE The photoshoot sample is a production sample that’s used to sell your garment.  It’s similar to the salesman sample, but this time, it comes directly from your production line. You can send these samples to models, editors, influencers, and anyone that you want to promote your designs.    HOW MANY GARMENT SAMPLES DO YOU REALLY NEED?  Here is where things are going to get interesting, and hopefully save you a lot of money. Back in the early days of fashion education, factories were putting out blog posts claiming that all brands needed ALL of the samples I mentioned above. But, here’s the thing, you don’t, and most of them were only saying this because it meant more expenses for brands, meaning more money in their pockets.  If you’re new here and don’t know me. I love to save people money. So let’s dive in.   PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES YOU CAN SKIP For the brands I work with on a budget, here is where I (safely) cut corners. First, I combine the fit and proto into one sample. I try to use as close to production quality fabrics as possible. We skip right to the proto but also use it for fit notes. Never skip the pre-production sample. But, if you are a small brand and doing all the sales yourself, you can use your pre-production samples as SMS sales tools. And, you can even use them for testing after the sales period is over. So, at minimum, you must have at least two different kinds of pre-production samples. A working proto, with maybe a few revisions and a PP sample.  One last tip, if you are going to make an SMS, make sure your pre-production samples are perfect first. You don’t want to end up with five sets of bad samples that need fixing.    PRODUCTION SAMPLES THAT YOU CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY NOT MAKING Here’s what we do with the small brands I work with. The PP sample becomes the gold sample - so that is free. For small brands, we skip the TOP sample because small orders (100 pieces or less) are usually samples made in the sample room. So, there aren’t going to be the issues that big brands face). Then I combine the shipment samples with the press samples. Not only does this save a step in the sampling process, but also in shipping fees. If the brand is using their SMS as press samples (which I recommend to save even more cash), they can skip the shipment samples altogether, and instead have a video call to approve the shipment samples. This will cut shipping costs, and save time. So, in production, all you need are two samples - the gold sample, and the shipping sample. And, if you are low on cash, you can cut it down to 1, just the gold sample.    NEED MORE HELP? HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE RESOURCES Skip the product development process and go straight into production The ultimate guide to creating garment spec sheets Should I hire a sample maker to help develop my line?   WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Are you ready to start developing garment samples? Let me know in the comments!   Source link

[norajworld]

Once you’ve designed your clothing line, created a tech pack, put together a garment spec sheet, and found a factory you want to use, you’re ready to start the garment sampling process. Garment samples are where your designs come to life. They are the factory’s physical interpretation of all your instructions and sketches.  Similar to your tech pack, samples are a work in progress designed to be refined, corrected, and adjusted until you have a garment you are happy to take to mass production.  There are 12 types of samples in the product development and production lifecycle. While they are necessary to get your production right and minimize financial loss on your bulk order, their cost can quickly add up.  Large brands have the luxury of big budgets that allow for tons of sampling to create perfectly designed garments. But, small brands often find themselves needing to bootstrap. And, that’s ok!  While you need some sample renditions, you won’t need all of them. As I walk you through the sampling process, I’ll show you exactly what you can skip and save money on. Let's begin.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND RECAP!     WHAT IS A GARMENT SAMPLE?  Let’s start with the basics. A garment sample is a physical prototype of the clothing design in your tech pack. There are garment samples for every stage of product development and production. And, they each play a role in ensuring you get what you ordered, and your customers get the best possible garment.  Think of a garment sample as the dress rehearsal for your design. It allows you to privately refine and and make changes, until it’s perfect. Your bulk order is like opening night, and a product of all the hard work (you definitely do not want to be making any mistakes here!). There is no limit to how many samples you can develop. It all depends on your budget and timeframe. In some cases, sample production can start up to two years before bulk production begins. But, don’t let that scare you, the average sampling time is about 3 months.    WHY ARE GARMENT SAMPLES IMPORTANT?  The harsh reality of fashion is this: sometimes, designs that look amazing on paper just don’t translate into something wearable in real life.  And the sampling process is about learning what works off the page. A quick word of warning. Samples CANNOT be skipped.  Brands often come to me and say they have already made a proto with a local sample room, so they are ready to dive into production. No, they are not. What that sample proves is that a local sample room can make it, not the factory. The thing is, it is the factory that will run your bulk production, not the sample room.  It would be like if someone bought a cookie from a world-famous bakery, gave it to you, and then said, ‘ok, make this exact cookie, and you only get one try.’ A totally unreasonable task. Everyone needs a little trial and error to get something perfect, even if they are just copying.    HOW DO YOU MAKE A GARMENT SAMPLE? There are six steps to making one single sample - they are: 1. Design and design review  The design is created by the brand, and then analyzed by the factory team. Before any sample creation starts, all questions and clarifications are discussed. 2. Paper pattern  These paper pieces act as stencils for the garment. 3. Pattern cutting The factory will trace the paper patterns on to the fabric and then cut the pieces out. 4. Sewing Next, the factory will sew all the pattern pieces together 5. A fit model will try on the garment This helps the factory and brand get a better idea of how the garment will look on a person. Sometimes, especially with knits, garments can look very different from a hanger to a person. Someone at the factory might even try it on to see how it fits. Changes can then be made before the factory sends it (FYI, shipping costs add up, so you want to try and get as perfect a sample as possible before it’s sent). 6. Sample comments and approvals  The sample is sent to the brand, and they review it in real life. The brand will note any necessary changes to the sample, and the factory will try again. If the sample is perfect, it is approved and moves on to the next step!   TYPES OF GARMENT SAMPLES There are four different categories of samples. They are:   Pre-development  Development Production Factory samples Pre-development samples are like the local sample room samples I mentioned earlier. They are everything you create before you pass the work on to your factory.  Development samples happen before the production phase. They are similar to pre-development samples, but they must be made at the factory that will be making your bulk order in production quality materials.  Production samples are made during production to help you ensure everything is going smoothly and are part of a good quality assurance plan. A lot of people think that sample development ends when the product development phase is over, but it doesn’t.   Factory samples are a second set of identical samples that the factory keeps. If there is an issue to fix, you and the factory can look at the garment together in real time, no matter where you are in the world.   PRE-DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES  Again, these samples come before anything is sent to the official factory.   DIGITAL GARMENT SAMPLE Digital garment samples are a virtual representation of your design. You can even create models with digital fabrics to help you see how your design will look and move with different fabrications and on different body types.   Investing in 3D virtual sampling software is costly, but it could save you a lot of time in product development. Sampling can take months to tweak and edit, while digital garment samples take minutes.  The first time I saw this technology was in 2011. And, wow, has it come a long way since then? While the software is still in its infancy, I believe it’s only a matter of time before it becomes more widespread in the fashion industry as artificial intelligence tools continue to develop.  While it’s not essential to your garment sampling process, it allows brands to create lots of designs without having to make physical samples, so, it could be a helpful tool to utilize. I recommend SEDDI Textura if you want to look into this.    MOCKUP We call the first physical sample created a mockup. And, FYI, there are different types of mockups.  It could be a very simple physical prototype you make yourself out of cheap and easy-to-use fabrics like muslin. Or, you could hire a sample room to make it for you and have something really professional made. The goal of a mockup is to physically communicate your ideas to a factory. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because it is really just a communication tool. Afterward, you send your mockup along with your tech pack, and fabric swatches to the factory to begin working on the development samples.  Don’t worry if you don’t have the skills or the budget to make a mockup. Not all garments and designs need them, and not all factories work with them. But, they are a good tool to know about if it feels like there is miscommunication between you and your factory.     DEVELOPMENT GARMENT SAMPLES These are samples that your actual factory makes BEFORE you place the bulk order.   FIT SAMPLE This is the first sample you will get from your factory.   Manufacturers typically create a fit sample using cheap fabrics like muslin. You can think of them like a sketch, but IRL. The purpose of a fit sample is to see how your design looks off the page and get an idea of how it will fit a human body.  The fit sample stage is a great time to make big picture design changes. We aren’t trying to perfect each measurement with a fit sample. The goal is just to see the big picture, what is working, and what isn’t. That bell sleeve you envisioned? Maybe it needs to be smaller. Perhaps the total shirt length is too long? This is the time to make those alterations.  A common misconception about fit samples is that they have to be made in the middle of your size range. For example, if a brand’s size range was XS-XL, they would create a fit sample in size medium. But, while this is good practical advice, it isn’t product development law. Most startup brands make the fit sample in their own size so they can try it on themselves. This can save money because you don’t have to hire a fit model. It can also create a better product because no one cares as much as you do about your clothing line. Just be careful if you DIY it.  Brands pay fit models to not fluctuate in size. During the pandemic, quite a few of my clients came back to me complaining that the factory made all their garments too small. It turned out they had put on a few pandemic pounds, and it wasn’t the clothes that had shrunk. While this simple mistake seems almost comical, it really pissed off my factories. They did not appreciate being accused of making the designs incorrectly. And they did not enjoy the extra time they needed to take out of their already busy days to measure each original sample and each counter sample to prove they made them correctly.  So, if you do go the DIY fit model route, please keep all that in mind when evaluating fit samples so you can maintain a good relationship with your factory!    PROTO SAMPLE / MOCKUP Once the brand approves the fit sample, they can move on to the proto sample. This is one of the most exciting samples to receive because it’s the moment your design really starts to come alive.  A proto sample or mock up is basically a sample that is using readily available materials that are really close to production quality components. For example, in a proto sample, your buttons might be silver instead of gold, and your fabric might not have its custom print. But, it’s as close to the real thing as possible, minus a few details. The purpose of this sample is to give you a better idea of what your garment will look like, as cheaply as possible. It is somewhere between a fit sample and a PP sample (I’ll get to that in a minute). Basically, it’s more detailed than fit sample, but a lot cheaper to make than a PP.  Speaking of custom prints. During this time in the product development calendar, you should also get lab dips and strike-offs. FYI, lab dips are tools for solid color matching, and strike-offs make sure prints come out correctly.   The factory might also send you some additional fabric selections that could help make your product better, decrease the price, or quicken your production time.   PRODUCTION-QUALITY SAMPLE / PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE (PP SAMPLE) Both you and the factory use this sample as a production test run. It is made with the exact fabric and trims you will use in production. I like to think of this sample as the dress rehearsal before your apparel goes to mass production, aka opening night.   If you take anything away from this blog post, please let it be this. If the PP sample is not perfect, you cannot move on to production. Period.  Now, you might be wondering, if this is the only sample that really matters, why can’t we just skip to this one, and forget about all the others? The thing is… Pre-production samples are the most expensive to produce. Printing tiny quantities of fabric or dying a few meters to match your exact color is pricey. So before investing all that money into a PP sample, we want to make sure we have basic things like fit, fabrication and color approvals done.  The nice thing about fit and proto samples is that they cheaply allow for mistakes. You can play around with the design at a much lower cost. Quick tip - as a small brand, keeping your bottom line in the black is all about utilizing your cash as efficiently as possible.     SIZE SET SAMPLE Once you nail down and approve every little detail of your garment, a sample is created in each size. This is because, sometimes, when brands see what their XS or XL looks like in real life, they want to go back and tweak their size charts before production.  I urge the brands I work with to call their friends and try to find someone in every size sample to try on the full-size set. That way, you can make accurate revisions based on human wear.    SALESMAN SAMPLE (SMS) Salesman samples are also known as marketing samples.  These extra sets of samples are given to sales agents who bring them to trade shows, display them in showrooms and use them in meetings with buyers. These samples are also used for photoshoots, runway shows, and other types of promotional material.  Fashion is a very visual and physical industry. Buyers prefer to buy based on samples rather than sketches on paper. They want to see and feel the garments in real life.   GPT SAMPLE If you are creating performance garments like jackets, workout wear, or other technical products, you might want to invest in a garment performance test sample (GPT for short).  You can put this sample through a series of tests to see things like, whether the colors run, how the fabric copes with washing, how easily the garment tears and the strength of the seams.   If you want a full list of garment tests, you can check out the AATCC. But, remember, these tests are extremely expensive to run, costing between $300 to thousands!   PRODUCTION SAMPLES  Again, you MUST have a perfect pre-production sample before you move on to your bulk order - no exceptions, no “we’ll fix it in production”. It must be 100% correct.    SEALED SAMPLE / GOLD SAMPLE Once you approve your pre-production samples, you will seal them to prevent loss or tampering. Sometimes we refer to these samples as gold samples. BTW, an unapproved sample is known as a red sample, and are literally marked with a red tag.   Gold-sealed samples act as the blueprint for mass-producing your garment. All garments in mass production should match exactly to the gold sample.  As a brand, this is your insurance policy. If your apparel production comes out looking wonky, you go back to the gold sample and have proof that whatever happened in production was not what you and the factory agreed to. This sample makes negotiating for chargebacks a whole lot easier.    TOP OF PRODUCTION (TOP SAMPLE) The TOP sample is one last check in your production process. This is done to catch any last-minute problems. Here is something you probably don’t know. A special room in a factory, called a sample room, is where factories make samples. In that room, they have different sewers and processes from the ones on the factory floor. The sewers here are usually the best in the factory.  Sometimes when a design goes from sampling to production, a few small changes need to be made to allow for ease of sewing on the actual production line. Getting a TOP sample is your way of finding out about those small changes before you receive your bulk order. A TOP sample is also your chance to check the bulk fabric and trims and make sure all components are exactly what they should be. Pro-tip. Remind your factory to check the TOP sample before cutting all of the bulk fabric. If you find there is a problem with the fabric in your top sample, but all the fabric has already been cut - guess what? You can’t return it to the fabric supplier. You are stuck with it.   SHIPMENT SAMPLE After mass production is complete, it’s time for your garments to be shipped. Before that happens, the factory will send you some shipment samples for you to inspect. This is more of a quality control step than a sampling step. But, technically, yes, it’s still a sample on this list. A shipment sample is a sample that is literally pulled from your production order straight out of the box that is waiting to be picked up by the freight forwarder. This is your chance to look at your production order one last time and make sure they are perfect. If there is a major issue, it allows you to have the factory fix it before spending thousands of dollars on shipping.   PHOTOSHOOT / PRESS SAMPLE The photoshoot sample is a production sample that’s used to sell your garment.  It’s similar to the salesman sample, but this time, it comes directly from your production line. You can send these samples to models, editors, influencers, and anyone that you want to promote your designs.    HOW MANY GARMENT SAMPLES DO YOU REALLY NEED?  Here is where things are going to get interesting, and hopefully save you a lot of money. Back in the early days of fashion education, factories were putting out blog posts claiming that all brands needed ALL of the samples I mentioned above. But, here’s the thing, you don’t, and most of them were only saying this because it meant more expenses for brands, meaning more money in their pockets.  If you’re new here and don’t know me. I love to save people money. So let’s dive in.   PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES YOU CAN SKIP For the brands I work with on a budget, here is where I (safely) cut corners. First, I combine the fit and proto into one sample. I try to use as close to production quality fabrics as possible. We skip right to the proto but also use it for fit notes. Never skip the pre-production sample. But, if you are a small brand and doing all the sales yourself, you can use your pre-production samples as SMS sales tools. And, you can even use them for testing after the sales period is over. So, at minimum, you must have at least two different kinds of pre-production samples. A working proto, with maybe a few revisions and a PP sample.  One last tip, if you are going to make an SMS, make sure your pre-production samples are perfect first. You don’t want to end up with five sets of bad samples that need fixing.    PRODUCTION SAMPLES THAT YOU CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY NOT MAKING Here’s what we do with the small brands I work with. The PP sample becomes the gold sample - so that is free. For small brands, we skip the TOP sample because small orders (100 pieces or less) are usually samples made in the sample room. So, there aren’t going to be the issues that big brands face). Then I combine the shipment samples with the press samples. Not only does this save a step in the sampling process, but also in shipping fees. If the brand is using their SMS as press samples (which I recommend to save even more cash), they can skip the shipment samples altogether, and instead have a video call to approve the shipment samples. This will cut shipping costs, and save time. So, in production, all you need are two samples - the gold sample, and the shipping sample. And, if you are low on cash, you can cut it down to 1, just the gold sample.    NEED MORE HELP? HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE RESOURCES Skip the product development process and go straight into production The ultimate guide to creating garment spec sheets Should I hire a sample maker to help develop my line?   WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Are you ready to start developing garment samples? Let me know in the comments!   Source link

[ellajme0]

Once you’ve designed your clothing line, created a tech pack, put together a garment spec sheet, and found a factory you want to use, you’re ready to start the garment sampling process. Garment samples are where your designs come to life. They are the factory’s physical interpretation of all your instructions and sketches.  Similar to your tech pack, samples are a work in progress designed to be refined, corrected, and adjusted until you have a garment you are happy to take to mass production.  There are 12 types of samples in the product development and production lifecycle. While they are necessary to get your production right and minimize financial loss on your bulk order, their cost can quickly add up.  Large brands have the luxury of big budgets that allow for tons of sampling to create perfectly designed garments. But, small brands often find themselves needing to bootstrap. And, that’s ok!  While you need some sample renditions, you won’t need all of them. As I walk you through the sampling process, I’ll show you exactly what you can skip and save money on. Let's begin.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND RECAP!     WHAT IS A GARMENT SAMPLE?  Let’s start with the basics. A garment sample is a physical prototype of the clothing design in your tech pack. There are garment samples for every stage of product development and production. And, they each play a role in ensuring you get what you ordered, and your customers get the best possible garment.  Think of a garment sample as the dress rehearsal for your design. It allows you to privately refine and and make changes, until it’s perfect. Your bulk order is like opening night, and a product of all the hard work (you definitely do not want to be making any mistakes here!). There is no limit to how many samples you can develop. It all depends on your budget and timeframe. In some cases, sample production can start up to two years before bulk production begins. But, don’t let that scare you, the average sampling time is about 3 months.    WHY ARE GARMENT SAMPLES IMPORTANT?  The harsh reality of fashion is this: sometimes, designs that look amazing on paper just don’t translate into something wearable in real life.  And the sampling process is about learning what works off the page. A quick word of warning. Samples CANNOT be skipped.  Brands often come to me and say they have already made a proto with a local sample room, so they are ready to dive into production. No, they are not. What that sample proves is that a local sample room can make it, not the factory. The thing is, it is the factory that will run your bulk production, not the sample room.  It would be like if someone bought a cookie from a world-famous bakery, gave it to you, and then said, ‘ok, make this exact cookie, and you only get one try.’ A totally unreasonable task. Everyone needs a little trial and error to get something perfect, even if they are just copying.    HOW DO YOU MAKE A GARMENT SAMPLE? There are six steps to making one single sample - they are: 1. Design and design review  The design is created by the brand, and then analyzed by the factory team. Before any sample creation starts, all questions and clarifications are discussed. 2. Paper pattern  These paper pieces act as stencils for the garment. 3. Pattern cutting The factory will trace the paper patterns on to the fabric and then cut the pieces out. 4. Sewing Next, the factory will sew all the pattern pieces together 5. A fit model will try on the garment This helps the factory and brand get a better idea of how the garment will look on a person. Sometimes, especially with knits, garments can look very different from a hanger to a person. Someone at the factory might even try it on to see how it fits. Changes can then be made before the factory sends it (FYI, shipping costs add up, so you want to try and get as perfect a sample as possible before it’s sent). 6. Sample comments and approvals  The sample is sent to the brand, and they review it in real life. The brand will note any necessary changes to the sample, and the factory will try again. If the sample is perfect, it is approved and moves on to the next step!   TYPES OF GARMENT SAMPLES There are four different categories of samples. They are:   Pre-development  Development Production Factory samples Pre-development samples are like the local sample room samples I mentioned earlier. They are everything you create before you pass the work on to your factory.  Development samples happen before the production phase. They are similar to pre-development samples, but they must be made at the factory that will be making your bulk order in production quality materials.  Production samples are made during production to help you ensure everything is going smoothly and are part of a good quality assurance plan. A lot of people think that sample development ends when the product development phase is over, but it doesn’t.   Factory samples are a second set of identical samples that the factory keeps. If there is an issue to fix, you and the factory can look at the garment together in real time, no matter where you are in the world.   PRE-DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES  Again, these samples come before anything is sent to the official factory.   DIGITAL GARMENT SAMPLE Digital garment samples are a virtual representation of your design. You can even create models with digital fabrics to help you see how your design will look and move with different fabrications and on different body types.   Investing in 3D virtual sampling software is costly, but it could save you a lot of time in product development. Sampling can take months to tweak and edit, while digital garment samples take minutes.  The first time I saw this technology was in 2011. And, wow, has it come a long way since then? While the software is still in its infancy, I believe it’s only a matter of time before it becomes more widespread in the fashion industry as artificial intelligence tools continue to develop.  While it’s not essential to your garment sampling process, it allows brands to create lots of designs without having to make physical samples, so, it could be a helpful tool to utilize. I recommend SEDDI Textura if you want to look into this.    MOCKUP We call the first physical sample created a mockup. And, FYI, there are different types of mockups.  It could be a very simple physical prototype you make yourself out of cheap and easy-to-use fabrics like muslin. Or, you could hire a sample room to make it for you and have something really professional made. The goal of a mockup is to physically communicate your ideas to a factory. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because it is really just a communication tool. Afterward, you send your mockup along with your tech pack, and fabric swatches to the factory to begin working on the development samples.  Don’t worry if you don’t have the skills or the budget to make a mockup. Not all garments and designs need them, and not all factories work with them. But, they are a good tool to know about if it feels like there is miscommunication between you and your factory.     DEVELOPMENT GARMENT SAMPLES These are samples that your actual factory makes BEFORE you place the bulk order.   FIT SAMPLE This is the first sample you will get from your factory.   Manufacturers typically create a fit sample using cheap fabrics like muslin. You can think of them like a sketch, but IRL. The purpose of a fit sample is to see how your design looks off the page and get an idea of how it will fit a human body.  The fit sample stage is a great time to make big picture design changes. We aren’t trying to perfect each measurement with a fit sample. The goal is just to see the big picture, what is working, and what isn’t. That bell sleeve you envisioned? Maybe it needs to be smaller. Perhaps the total shirt length is too long? This is the time to make those alterations.  A common misconception about fit samples is that they have to be made in the middle of your size range. For example, if a brand’s size range was XS-XL, they would create a fit sample in size medium. But, while this is good practical advice, it isn’t product development law. Most startup brands make the fit sample in their own size so they can try it on themselves. This can save money because you don’t have to hire a fit model. It can also create a better product because no one cares as much as you do about your clothing line. Just be careful if you DIY it.  Brands pay fit models to not fluctuate in size. During the pandemic, quite a few of my clients came back to me complaining that the factory made all their garments too small. It turned out they had put on a few pandemic pounds, and it wasn’t the clothes that had shrunk. While this simple mistake seems almost comical, it really pissed off my factories. They did not appreciate being accused of making the designs incorrectly. And they did not enjoy the extra time they needed to take out of their already busy days to measure each original sample and each counter sample to prove they made them correctly.  So, if you do go the DIY fit model route, please keep all that in mind when evaluating fit samples so you can maintain a good relationship with your factory!    PROTO SAMPLE / MOCKUP Once the brand approves the fit sample, they can move on to the proto sample. This is one of the most exciting samples to receive because it’s the moment your design really starts to come alive.  A proto sample or mock up is basically a sample that is using readily available materials that are really close to production quality components. For example, in a proto sample, your buttons might be silver instead of gold, and your fabric might not have its custom print. But, it’s as close to the real thing as possible, minus a few details. The purpose of this sample is to give you a better idea of what your garment will look like, as cheaply as possible. It is somewhere between a fit sample and a PP sample (I’ll get to that in a minute). Basically, it’s more detailed than fit sample, but a lot cheaper to make than a PP.  Speaking of custom prints. During this time in the product development calendar, you should also get lab dips and strike-offs. FYI, lab dips are tools for solid color matching, and strike-offs make sure prints come out correctly.   The factory might also send you some additional fabric selections that could help make your product better, decrease the price, or quicken your production time.   PRODUCTION-QUALITY SAMPLE / PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE (PP SAMPLE) Both you and the factory use this sample as a production test run. It is made with the exact fabric and trims you will use in production. I like to think of this sample as the dress rehearsal before your apparel goes to mass production, aka opening night.   If you take anything away from this blog post, please let it be this. If the PP sample is not perfect, you cannot move on to production. Period.  Now, you might be wondering, if this is the only sample that really matters, why can’t we just skip to this one, and forget about all the others? The thing is… Pre-production samples are the most expensive to produce. Printing tiny quantities of fabric or dying a few meters to match your exact color is pricey. So before investing all that money into a PP sample, we want to make sure we have basic things like fit, fabrication and color approvals done.  The nice thing about fit and proto samples is that they cheaply allow for mistakes. You can play around with the design at a much lower cost. Quick tip - as a small brand, keeping your bottom line in the black is all about utilizing your cash as efficiently as possible.     SIZE SET SAMPLE Once you nail down and approve every little detail of your garment, a sample is created in each size. This is because, sometimes, when brands see what their XS or XL looks like in real life, they want to go back and tweak their size charts before production.  I urge the brands I work with to call their friends and try to find someone in every size sample to try on the full-size set. That way, you can make accurate revisions based on human wear.    SALESMAN SAMPLE (SMS) Salesman samples are also known as marketing samples.  These extra sets of samples are given to sales agents who bring them to trade shows, display them in showrooms and use them in meetings with buyers. These samples are also used for photoshoots, runway shows, and other types of promotional material.  Fashion is a very visual and physical industry. Buyers prefer to buy based on samples rather than sketches on paper. They want to see and feel the garments in real life.   GPT SAMPLE If you are creating performance garments like jackets, workout wear, or other technical products, you might want to invest in a garment performance test sample (GPT for short).  You can put this sample through a series of tests to see things like, whether the colors run, how the fabric copes with washing, how easily the garment tears and the strength of the seams.   If you want a full list of garment tests, you can check out the AATCC. But, remember, these tests are extremely expensive to run, costing between $300 to thousands!   PRODUCTION SAMPLES  Again, you MUST have a perfect pre-production sample before you move on to your bulk order - no exceptions, no “we’ll fix it in production”. It must be 100% correct.    SEALED SAMPLE / GOLD SAMPLE Once you approve your pre-production samples, you will seal them to prevent loss or tampering. Sometimes we refer to these samples as gold samples. BTW, an unapproved sample is known as a red sample, and are literally marked with a red tag.   Gold-sealed samples act as the blueprint for mass-producing your garment. All garments in mass production should match exactly to the gold sample.  As a brand, this is your insurance policy. If your apparel production comes out looking wonky, you go back to the gold sample and have proof that whatever happened in production was not what you and the factory agreed to. This sample makes negotiating for chargebacks a whole lot easier.    TOP OF PRODUCTION (TOP SAMPLE) The TOP sample is one last check in your production process. This is done to catch any last-minute problems. Here is something you probably don’t know. A special room in a factory, called a sample room, is where factories make samples. In that room, they have different sewers and processes from the ones on the factory floor. The sewers here are usually the best in the factory.  Sometimes when a design goes from sampling to production, a few small changes need to be made to allow for ease of sewing on the actual production line. Getting a TOP sample is your way of finding out about those small changes before you receive your bulk order. A TOP sample is also your chance to check the bulk fabric and trims and make sure all components are exactly what they should be. Pro-tip. Remind your factory to check the TOP sample before cutting all of the bulk fabric. If you find there is a problem with the fabric in your top sample, but all the fabric has already been cut - guess what? You can’t return it to the fabric supplier. You are stuck with it.   SHIPMENT SAMPLE After mass production is complete, it’s time for your garments to be shipped. Before that happens, the factory will send you some shipment samples for you to inspect. This is more of a quality control step than a sampling step. But, technically, yes, it’s still a sample on this list. A shipment sample is a sample that is literally pulled from your production order straight out of the box that is waiting to be picked up by the freight forwarder. This is your chance to look at your production order one last time and make sure they are perfect. If there is a major issue, it allows you to have the factory fix it before spending thousands of dollars on shipping.   PHOTOSHOOT / PRESS SAMPLE The photoshoot sample is a production sample that’s used to sell your garment.  It’s similar to the salesman sample, but this time, it comes directly from your production line. You can send these samples to models, editors, influencers, and anyone that you want to promote your designs.    HOW MANY GARMENT SAMPLES DO YOU REALLY NEED?  Here is where things are going to get interesting, and hopefully save you a lot of money. Back in the early days of fashion education, factories were putting out blog posts claiming that all brands needed ALL of the samples I mentioned above. But, here’s the thing, you don’t, and most of them were only saying this because it meant more expenses for brands, meaning more money in their pockets.  If you’re new here and don’t know me. I love to save people money. So let’s dive in.   PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES YOU CAN SKIP For the brands I work with on a budget, here is where I (safely) cut corners. First, I combine the fit and proto into one sample. I try to use as close to production quality fabrics as possible. We skip right to the proto but also use it for fit notes. Never skip the pre-production sample. But, if you are a small brand and doing all the sales yourself, you can use your pre-production samples as SMS sales tools. And, you can even use them for testing after the sales period is over. So, at minimum, you must have at least two different kinds of pre-production samples. A working proto, with maybe a few revisions and a PP sample.  One last tip, if you are going to make an SMS, make sure your pre-production samples are perfect first. You don’t want to end up with five sets of bad samples that need fixing.    PRODUCTION SAMPLES THAT YOU CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY NOT MAKING Here’s what we do with the small brands I work with. The PP sample becomes the gold sample - so that is free. For small brands, we skip the TOP sample because small orders (100 pieces or less) are usually samples made in the sample room. So, there aren’t going to be the issues that big brands face). Then I combine the shipment samples with the press samples. Not only does this save a step in the sampling process, but also in shipping fees. If the brand is using their SMS as press samples (which I recommend to save even more cash), they can skip the shipment samples altogether, and instead have a video call to approve the shipment samples. This will cut shipping costs, and save time. So, in production, all you need are two samples - the gold sample, and the shipping sample. And, if you are low on cash, you can cut it down to 1, just the gold sample.    NEED MORE HELP? HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE RESOURCES Skip the product development process and go straight into production The ultimate guide to creating garment spec sheets Should I hire a sample maker to help develop my line?   WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Are you ready to start developing garment samples? Let me know in the comments!   Source link

[chilimili212]

Once you’ve designed your clothing line, created a tech pack, put together a garment spec sheet, and found a factory you want to use, you’re ready to start the garment sampling process. Garment samples are where your designs come to life. They are the factory’s physical interpretation of all your instructions and sketches.  Similar to your tech pack, samples are a work in progress designed to be refined, corrected, and adjusted until you have a garment you are happy to take to mass production.  There are 12 types of samples in the product development and production lifecycle. While they are necessary to get your production right and minimize financial loss on your bulk order, their cost can quickly add up.  Large brands have the luxury of big budgets that allow for tons of sampling to create perfectly designed garments. But, small brands often find themselves needing to bootstrap. And, that’s ok!  While you need some sample renditions, you won’t need all of them. As I walk you through the sampling process, I’ll show you exactly what you can skip and save money on. Let's begin.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND RECAP!     WHAT IS A GARMENT SAMPLE?  Let’s start with the basics. A garment sample is a physical prototype of the clothing design in your tech pack. There are garment samples for every stage of product development and production. And, they each play a role in ensuring you get what you ordered, and your customers get the best possible garment.  Think of a garment sample as the dress rehearsal for your design. It allows you to privately refine and and make changes, until it’s perfect. Your bulk order is like opening night, and a product of all the hard work (you definitely do not want to be making any mistakes here!). There is no limit to how many samples you can develop. It all depends on your budget and timeframe. In some cases, sample production can start up to two years before bulk production begins. But, don’t let that scare you, the average sampling time is about 3 months.    WHY ARE GARMENT SAMPLES IMPORTANT?  The harsh reality of fashion is this: sometimes, designs that look amazing on paper just don’t translate into something wearable in real life.  And the sampling process is about learning what works off the page. A quick word of warning. Samples CANNOT be skipped.  Brands often come to me and say they have already made a proto with a local sample room, so they are ready to dive into production. No, they are not. What that sample proves is that a local sample room can make it, not the factory. The thing is, it is the factory that will run your bulk production, not the sample room.  It would be like if someone bought a cookie from a world-famous bakery, gave it to you, and then said, ‘ok, make this exact cookie, and you only get one try.’ A totally unreasonable task. Everyone needs a little trial and error to get something perfect, even if they are just copying.    HOW DO YOU MAKE A GARMENT SAMPLE? There are six steps to making one single sample - they are: 1. Design and design review  The design is created by the brand, and then analyzed by the factory team. Before any sample creation starts, all questions and clarifications are discussed. 2. Paper pattern  These paper pieces act as stencils for the garment. 3. Pattern cutting The factory will trace the paper patterns on to the fabric and then cut the pieces out. 4. Sewing Next, the factory will sew all the pattern pieces together 5. A fit model will try on the garment This helps the factory and brand get a better idea of how the garment will look on a person. Sometimes, especially with knits, garments can look very different from a hanger to a person. Someone at the factory might even try it on to see how it fits. Changes can then be made before the factory sends it (FYI, shipping costs add up, so you want to try and get as perfect a sample as possible before it’s sent). 6. Sample comments and approvals  The sample is sent to the brand, and they review it in real life. The brand will note any necessary changes to the sample, and the factory will try again. If the sample is perfect, it is approved and moves on to the next step!   TYPES OF GARMENT SAMPLES There are four different categories of samples. They are:   Pre-development  Development Production Factory samples Pre-development samples are like the local sample room samples I mentioned earlier. They are everything you create before you pass the work on to your factory.  Development samples happen before the production phase. They are similar to pre-development samples, but they must be made at the factory that will be making your bulk order in production quality materials.  Production samples are made during production to help you ensure everything is going smoothly and are part of a good quality assurance plan. A lot of people think that sample development ends when the product development phase is over, but it doesn’t.   Factory samples are a second set of identical samples that the factory keeps. If there is an issue to fix, you and the factory can look at the garment together in real time, no matter where you are in the world.   PRE-DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES  Again, these samples come before anything is sent to the official factory.   DIGITAL GARMENT SAMPLE Digital garment samples are a virtual representation of your design. You can even create models with digital fabrics to help you see how your design will look and move with different fabrications and on different body types.   Investing in 3D virtual sampling software is costly, but it could save you a lot of time in product development. Sampling can take months to tweak and edit, while digital garment samples take minutes.  The first time I saw this technology was in 2011. And, wow, has it come a long way since then? While the software is still in its infancy, I believe it’s only a matter of time before it becomes more widespread in the fashion industry as artificial intelligence tools continue to develop.  While it’s not essential to your garment sampling process, it allows brands to create lots of designs without having to make physical samples, so, it could be a helpful tool to utilize. I recommend SEDDI Textura if you want to look into this.    MOCKUP We call the first physical sample created a mockup. And, FYI, there are different types of mockups.  It could be a very simple physical prototype you make yourself out of cheap and easy-to-use fabrics like muslin. Or, you could hire a sample room to make it for you and have something really professional made. The goal of a mockup is to physically communicate your ideas to a factory. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because it is really just a communication tool. Afterward, you send your mockup along with your tech pack, and fabric swatches to the factory to begin working on the development samples.  Don’t worry if you don’t have the skills or the budget to make a mockup. Not all garments and designs need them, and not all factories work with them. But, they are a good tool to know about if it feels like there is miscommunication between you and your factory.     DEVELOPMENT GARMENT SAMPLES These are samples that your actual factory makes BEFORE you place the bulk order.   FIT SAMPLE This is the first sample you will get from your factory.   Manufacturers typically create a fit sample using cheap fabrics like muslin. You can think of them like a sketch, but IRL. The purpose of a fit sample is to see how your design looks off the page and get an idea of how it will fit a human body.  The fit sample stage is a great time to make big picture design changes. We aren’t trying to perfect each measurement with a fit sample. The goal is just to see the big picture, what is working, and what isn’t. That bell sleeve you envisioned? Maybe it needs to be smaller. Perhaps the total shirt length is too long? This is the time to make those alterations.  A common misconception about fit samples is that they have to be made in the middle of your size range. For example, if a brand’s size range was XS-XL, they would create a fit sample in size medium. But, while this is good practical advice, it isn’t product development law. Most startup brands make the fit sample in their own size so they can try it on themselves. This can save money because you don’t have to hire a fit model. It can also create a better product because no one cares as much as you do about your clothing line. Just be careful if you DIY it.  Brands pay fit models to not fluctuate in size. During the pandemic, quite a few of my clients came back to me complaining that the factory made all their garments too small. It turned out they had put on a few pandemic pounds, and it wasn’t the clothes that had shrunk. While this simple mistake seems almost comical, it really pissed off my factories. They did not appreciate being accused of making the designs incorrectly. And they did not enjoy the extra time they needed to take out of their already busy days to measure each original sample and each counter sample to prove they made them correctly.  So, if you do go the DIY fit model route, please keep all that in mind when evaluating fit samples so you can maintain a good relationship with your factory!    PROTO SAMPLE / MOCKUP Once the brand approves the fit sample, they can move on to the proto sample. This is one of the most exciting samples to receive because it’s the moment your design really starts to come alive.  A proto sample or mock up is basically a sample that is using readily available materials that are really close to production quality components. For example, in a proto sample, your buttons might be silver instead of gold, and your fabric might not have its custom print. But, it’s as close to the real thing as possible, minus a few details. The purpose of this sample is to give you a better idea of what your garment will look like, as cheaply as possible. It is somewhere between a fit sample and a PP sample (I’ll get to that in a minute). Basically, it’s more detailed than fit sample, but a lot cheaper to make than a PP.  Speaking of custom prints. During this time in the product development calendar, you should also get lab dips and strike-offs. FYI, lab dips are tools for solid color matching, and strike-offs make sure prints come out correctly.   The factory might also send you some additional fabric selections that could help make your product better, decrease the price, or quicken your production time.   PRODUCTION-QUALITY SAMPLE / PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE (PP SAMPLE) Both you and the factory use this sample as a production test run. It is made with the exact fabric and trims you will use in production. I like to think of this sample as the dress rehearsal before your apparel goes to mass production, aka opening night.   If you take anything away from this blog post, please let it be this. If the PP sample is not perfect, you cannot move on to production. Period.  Now, you might be wondering, if this is the only sample that really matters, why can’t we just skip to this one, and forget about all the others? The thing is… Pre-production samples are the most expensive to produce. Printing tiny quantities of fabric or dying a few meters to match your exact color is pricey. So before investing all that money into a PP sample, we want to make sure we have basic things like fit, fabrication and color approvals done.  The nice thing about fit and proto samples is that they cheaply allow for mistakes. You can play around with the design at a much lower cost. Quick tip - as a small brand, keeping your bottom line in the black is all about utilizing your cash as efficiently as possible.     SIZE SET SAMPLE Once you nail down and approve every little detail of your garment, a sample is created in each size. This is because, sometimes, when brands see what their XS or XL looks like in real life, they want to go back and tweak their size charts before production.  I urge the brands I work with to call their friends and try to find someone in every size sample to try on the full-size set. That way, you can make accurate revisions based on human wear.    SALESMAN SAMPLE (SMS) Salesman samples are also known as marketing samples.  These extra sets of samples are given to sales agents who bring them to trade shows, display them in showrooms and use them in meetings with buyers. These samples are also used for photoshoots, runway shows, and other types of promotional material.  Fashion is a very visual and physical industry. Buyers prefer to buy based on samples rather than sketches on paper. They want to see and feel the garments in real life.   GPT SAMPLE If you are creating performance garments like jackets, workout wear, or other technical products, you might want to invest in a garment performance test sample (GPT for short).  You can put this sample through a series of tests to see things like, whether the colors run, how the fabric copes with washing, how easily the garment tears and the strength of the seams.   If you want a full list of garment tests, you can check out the AATCC. But, remember, these tests are extremely expensive to run, costing between $300 to thousands!   PRODUCTION SAMPLES  Again, you MUST have a perfect pre-production sample before you move on to your bulk order - no exceptions, no “we’ll fix it in production”. It must be 100% correct.    SEALED SAMPLE / GOLD SAMPLE Once you approve your pre-production samples, you will seal them to prevent loss or tampering. Sometimes we refer to these samples as gold samples. BTW, an unapproved sample is known as a red sample, and are literally marked with a red tag.   Gold-sealed samples act as the blueprint for mass-producing your garment. All garments in mass production should match exactly to the gold sample.  As a brand, this is your insurance policy. If your apparel production comes out looking wonky, you go back to the gold sample and have proof that whatever happened in production was not what you and the factory agreed to. This sample makes negotiating for chargebacks a whole lot easier.    TOP OF PRODUCTION (TOP SAMPLE) The TOP sample is one last check in your production process. This is done to catch any last-minute problems. Here is something you probably don’t know. A special room in a factory, called a sample room, is where factories make samples. In that room, they have different sewers and processes from the ones on the factory floor. The sewers here are usually the best in the factory.  Sometimes when a design goes from sampling to production, a few small changes need to be made to allow for ease of sewing on the actual production line. Getting a TOP sample is your way of finding out about those small changes before you receive your bulk order. A TOP sample is also your chance to check the bulk fabric and trims and make sure all components are exactly what they should be. Pro-tip. Remind your factory to check the TOP sample before cutting all of the bulk fabric. If you find there is a problem with the fabric in your top sample, but all the fabric has already been cut - guess what? You can’t return it to the fabric supplier. You are stuck with it.   SHIPMENT SAMPLE After mass production is complete, it’s time for your garments to be shipped. Before that happens, the factory will send you some shipment samples for you to inspect. This is more of a quality control step than a sampling step. But, technically, yes, it’s still a sample on this list. A shipment sample is a sample that is literally pulled from your production order straight out of the box that is waiting to be picked up by the freight forwarder. This is your chance to look at your production order one last time and make sure they are perfect. If there is a major issue, it allows you to have the factory fix it before spending thousands of dollars on shipping.   PHOTOSHOOT / PRESS SAMPLE The photoshoot sample is a production sample that’s used to sell your garment.  It’s similar to the salesman sample, but this time, it comes directly from your production line. You can send these samples to models, editors, influencers, and anyone that you want to promote your designs.    HOW MANY GARMENT SAMPLES DO YOU REALLY NEED?  Here is where things are going to get interesting, and hopefully save you a lot of money. Back in the early days of fashion education, factories were putting out blog posts claiming that all brands needed ALL of the samples I mentioned above. But, here’s the thing, you don’t, and most of them were only saying this because it meant more expenses for brands, meaning more money in their pockets.  If you’re new here and don’t know me. I love to save people money. So let’s dive in.   PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES YOU CAN SKIP For the brands I work with on a budget, here is where I (safely) cut corners. First, I combine the fit and proto into one sample. I try to use as close to production quality fabrics as possible. We skip right to the proto but also use it for fit notes. Never skip the pre-production sample. But, if you are a small brand and doing all the sales yourself, you can use your pre-production samples as SMS sales tools. And, you can even use them for testing after the sales period is over. So, at minimum, you must have at least two different kinds of pre-production samples. A working proto, with maybe a few revisions and a PP sample.  One last tip, if you are going to make an SMS, make sure your pre-production samples are perfect first. You don’t want to end up with five sets of bad samples that need fixing.    PRODUCTION SAMPLES THAT YOU CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY NOT MAKING Here’s what we do with the small brands I work with. The PP sample becomes the gold sample - so that is free. For small brands, we skip the TOP sample because small orders (100 pieces or less) are usually samples made in the sample room. So, there aren’t going to be the issues that big brands face). Then I combine the shipment samples with the press samples. Not only does this save a step in the sampling process, but also in shipping fees. If the brand is using their SMS as press samples (which I recommend to save even more cash), they can skip the shipment samples altogether, and instead have a video call to approve the shipment samples. This will cut shipping costs, and save time. So, in production, all you need are two samples - the gold sample, and the shipping sample. And, if you are low on cash, you can cut it down to 1, just the gold sample.    NEED MORE HELP? HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE RESOURCES Skip the product development process and go straight into production The ultimate guide to creating garment spec sheets Should I hire a sample maker to help develop my line?   WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Are you ready to start developing garment samples? Let me know in the comments!   Source link

[oliviajoyice21]

Once you’ve designed your clothing line, created a tech pack, put together a garment spec sheet, and found a factory you want to use, you’re ready to start the garment sampling process. Garment samples are where your designs come to life. They are the factory’s physical interpretation of all your instructions and sketches.  Similar to your tech pack, samples are a work in progress designed to be refined, corrected, and adjusted until you have a garment you are happy to take to mass production.  There are 12 types of samples in the product development and production lifecycle. While they are necessary to get your production right and minimize financial loss on your bulk order, their cost can quickly add up.  Large brands have the luxury of big budgets that allow for tons of sampling to create perfectly designed garments. But, small brands often find themselves needing to bootstrap. And, that’s ok!  While you need some sample renditions, you won’t need all of them. As I walk you through the sampling process, I’ll show you exactly what you can skip and save money on. Let's begin.      BUT BEFORE WE GET STARTED... I love helping startup brand founders succeed, so I created a bunch of free guides that will help you with your business. They won’t be free forever, so make sure to grab them while you can.    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN   NO TIME TO READ? CHECK OUT THIS 60 SECOND RECAP!     WHAT IS A GARMENT SAMPLE?  Let’s start with the basics. A garment sample is a physical prototype of the clothing design in your tech pack. There are garment samples for every stage of product development and production. And, they each play a role in ensuring you get what you ordered, and your customers get the best possible garment.  Think of a garment sample as the dress rehearsal for your design. It allows you to privately refine and and make changes, until it’s perfect. Your bulk order is like opening night, and a product of all the hard work (you definitely do not want to be making any mistakes here!). There is no limit to how many samples you can develop. It all depends on your budget and timeframe. In some cases, sample production can start up to two years before bulk production begins. But, don’t let that scare you, the average sampling time is about 3 months.    WHY ARE GARMENT SAMPLES IMPORTANT?  The harsh reality of fashion is this: sometimes, designs that look amazing on paper just don’t translate into something wearable in real life.  And the sampling process is about learning what works off the page. A quick word of warning. Samples CANNOT be skipped.  Brands often come to me and say they have already made a proto with a local sample room, so they are ready to dive into production. No, they are not. What that sample proves is that a local sample room can make it, not the factory. The thing is, it is the factory that will run your bulk production, not the sample room.  It would be like if someone bought a cookie from a world-famous bakery, gave it to you, and then said, ‘ok, make this exact cookie, and you only get one try.’ A totally unreasonable task. Everyone needs a little trial and error to get something perfect, even if they are just copying.    HOW DO YOU MAKE A GARMENT SAMPLE? There are six steps to making one single sample - they are: 1. Design and design review  The design is created by the brand, and then analyzed by the factory team. Before any sample creation starts, all questions and clarifications are discussed. 2. Paper pattern  These paper pieces act as stencils for the garment. 3. Pattern cutting The factory will trace the paper patterns on to the fabric and then cut the pieces out. 4. Sewing Next, the factory will sew all the pattern pieces together 5. A fit model will try on the garment This helps the factory and brand get a better idea of how the garment will look on a person. Sometimes, especially with knits, garments can look very different from a hanger to a person. Someone at the factory might even try it on to see how it fits. Changes can then be made before the factory sends it (FYI, shipping costs add up, so you want to try and get as perfect a sample as possible before it’s sent). 6. Sample comments and approvals  The sample is sent to the brand, and they review it in real life. The brand will note any necessary changes to the sample, and the factory will try again. If the sample is perfect, it is approved and moves on to the next step!   TYPES OF GARMENT SAMPLES There are four different categories of samples. They are:   Pre-development  Development Production Factory samples Pre-development samples are like the local sample room samples I mentioned earlier. They are everything you create before you pass the work on to your factory.  Development samples happen before the production phase. They are similar to pre-development samples, but they must be made at the factory that will be making your bulk order in production quality materials.  Production samples are made during production to help you ensure everything is going smoothly and are part of a good quality assurance plan. A lot of people think that sample development ends when the product development phase is over, but it doesn’t.   Factory samples are a second set of identical samples that the factory keeps. If there is an issue to fix, you and the factory can look at the garment together in real time, no matter where you are in the world.   PRE-DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES  Again, these samples come before anything is sent to the official factory.   DIGITAL GARMENT SAMPLE Digital garment samples are a virtual representation of your design. You can even create models with digital fabrics to help you see how your design will look and move with different fabrications and on different body types.   Investing in 3D virtual sampling software is costly, but it could save you a lot of time in product development. Sampling can take months to tweak and edit, while digital garment samples take minutes.  The first time I saw this technology was in 2011. And, wow, has it come a long way since then? While the software is still in its infancy, I believe it’s only a matter of time before it becomes more widespread in the fashion industry as artificial intelligence tools continue to develop.  While it’s not essential to your garment sampling process, it allows brands to create lots of designs without having to make physical samples, so, it could be a helpful tool to utilize. I recommend SEDDI Textura if you want to look into this.    MOCKUP We call the first physical sample created a mockup. And, FYI, there are different types of mockups.  It could be a very simple physical prototype you make yourself out of cheap and easy-to-use fabrics like muslin. Or, you could hire a sample room to make it for you and have something really professional made. The goal of a mockup is to physically communicate your ideas to a factory. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because it is really just a communication tool. Afterward, you send your mockup along with your tech pack, and fabric swatches to the factory to begin working on the development samples.  Don’t worry if you don’t have the skills or the budget to make a mockup. Not all garments and designs need them, and not all factories work with them. But, they are a good tool to know about if it feels like there is miscommunication between you and your factory.     DEVELOPMENT GARMENT SAMPLES These are samples that your actual factory makes BEFORE you place the bulk order.   FIT SAMPLE This is the first sample you will get from your factory.   Manufacturers typically create a fit sample using cheap fabrics like muslin. You can think of them like a sketch, but IRL. The purpose of a fit sample is to see how your design looks off the page and get an idea of how it will fit a human body.  The fit sample stage is a great time to make big picture design changes. We aren’t trying to perfect each measurement with a fit sample. The goal is just to see the big picture, what is working, and what isn’t. That bell sleeve you envisioned? Maybe it needs to be smaller. Perhaps the total shirt length is too long? This is the time to make those alterations.  A common misconception about fit samples is that they have to be made in the middle of your size range. For example, if a brand’s size range was XS-XL, they would create a fit sample in size medium. But, while this is good practical advice, it isn’t product development law. Most startup brands make the fit sample in their own size so they can try it on themselves. This can save money because you don’t have to hire a fit model. It can also create a better product because no one cares as much as you do about your clothing line. Just be careful if you DIY it.  Brands pay fit models to not fluctuate in size. During the pandemic, quite a few of my clients came back to me complaining that the factory made all their garments too small. It turned out they had put on a few pandemic pounds, and it wasn’t the clothes that had shrunk. While this simple mistake seems almost comical, it really pissed off my factories. They did not appreciate being accused of making the designs incorrectly. And they did not enjoy the extra time they needed to take out of their already busy days to measure each original sample and each counter sample to prove they made them correctly.  So, if you do go the DIY fit model route, please keep all that in mind when evaluating fit samples so you can maintain a good relationship with your factory!    PROTO SAMPLE / MOCKUP Once the brand approves the fit sample, they can move on to the proto sample. This is one of the most exciting samples to receive because it’s the moment your design really starts to come alive.  A proto sample or mock up is basically a sample that is using readily available materials that are really close to production quality components. For example, in a proto sample, your buttons might be silver instead of gold, and your fabric might not have its custom print. But, it’s as close to the real thing as possible, minus a few details. The purpose of this sample is to give you a better idea of what your garment will look like, as cheaply as possible. It is somewhere between a fit sample and a PP sample (I’ll get to that in a minute). Basically, it’s more detailed than fit sample, but a lot cheaper to make than a PP.  Speaking of custom prints. During this time in the product development calendar, you should also get lab dips and strike-offs. FYI, lab dips are tools for solid color matching, and strike-offs make sure prints come out correctly.   The factory might also send you some additional fabric selections that could help make your product better, decrease the price, or quicken your production time.   PRODUCTION-QUALITY SAMPLE / PRE-PRODUCTION SAMPLE (PP SAMPLE) Both you and the factory use this sample as a production test run. It is made with the exact fabric and trims you will use in production. I like to think of this sample as the dress rehearsal before your apparel goes to mass production, aka opening night.   If you take anything away from this blog post, please let it be this. If the PP sample is not perfect, you cannot move on to production. Period.  Now, you might be wondering, if this is the only sample that really matters, why can’t we just skip to this one, and forget about all the others? The thing is… Pre-production samples are the most expensive to produce. Printing tiny quantities of fabric or dying a few meters to match your exact color is pricey. So before investing all that money into a PP sample, we want to make sure we have basic things like fit, fabrication and color approvals done.  The nice thing about fit and proto samples is that they cheaply allow for mistakes. You can play around with the design at a much lower cost. Quick tip - as a small brand, keeping your bottom line in the black is all about utilizing your cash as efficiently as possible.     SIZE SET SAMPLE Once you nail down and approve every little detail of your garment, a sample is created in each size. This is because, sometimes, when brands see what their XS or XL looks like in real life, they want to go back and tweak their size charts before production.  I urge the brands I work with to call their friends and try to find someone in every size sample to try on the full-size set. That way, you can make accurate revisions based on human wear.    SALESMAN SAMPLE (SMS) Salesman samples are also known as marketing samples.  These extra sets of samples are given to sales agents who bring them to trade shows, display them in showrooms and use them in meetings with buyers. These samples are also used for photoshoots, runway shows, and other types of promotional material.  Fashion is a very visual and physical industry. Buyers prefer to buy based on samples rather than sketches on paper. They want to see and feel the garments in real life.   GPT SAMPLE If you are creating performance garments like jackets, workout wear, or other technical products, you might want to invest in a garment performance test sample (GPT for short).  You can put this sample through a series of tests to see things like, whether the colors run, how the fabric copes with washing, how easily the garment tears and the strength of the seams.   If you want a full list of garment tests, you can check out the AATCC. But, remember, these tests are extremely expensive to run, costing between $300 to thousands!   PRODUCTION SAMPLES  Again, you MUST have a perfect pre-production sample before you move on to your bulk order - no exceptions, no “we’ll fix it in production”. It must be 100% correct.    SEALED SAMPLE / GOLD SAMPLE Once you approve your pre-production samples, you will seal them to prevent loss or tampering. Sometimes we refer to these samples as gold samples. BTW, an unapproved sample is known as a red sample, and are literally marked with a red tag.   Gold-sealed samples act as the blueprint for mass-producing your garment. All garments in mass production should match exactly to the gold sample.  As a brand, this is your insurance policy. If your apparel production comes out looking wonky, you go back to the gold sample and have proof that whatever happened in production was not what you and the factory agreed to. This sample makes negotiating for chargebacks a whole lot easier.    TOP OF PRODUCTION (TOP SAMPLE) The TOP sample is one last check in your production process. This is done to catch any last-minute problems. Here is something you probably don’t know. A special room in a factory, called a sample room, is where factories make samples. In that room, they have different sewers and processes from the ones on the factory floor. The sewers here are usually the best in the factory.  Sometimes when a design goes from sampling to production, a few small changes need to be made to allow for ease of sewing on the actual production line. Getting a TOP sample is your way of finding out about those small changes before you receive your bulk order. A TOP sample is also your chance to check the bulk fabric and trims and make sure all components are exactly what they should be. Pro-tip. Remind your factory to check the TOP sample before cutting all of the bulk fabric. If you find there is a problem with the fabric in your top sample, but all the fabric has already been cut - guess what? You can’t return it to the fabric supplier. You are stuck with it.   SHIPMENT SAMPLE After mass production is complete, it’s time for your garments to be shipped. Before that happens, the factory will send you some shipment samples for you to inspect. This is more of a quality control step than a sampling step. But, technically, yes, it’s still a sample on this list. A shipment sample is a sample that is literally pulled from your production order straight out of the box that is waiting to be picked up by the freight forwarder. This is your chance to look at your production order one last time and make sure they are perfect. If there is a major issue, it allows you to have the factory fix it before spending thousands of dollars on shipping.   PHOTOSHOOT / PRESS SAMPLE The photoshoot sample is a production sample that’s used to sell your garment.  It’s similar to the salesman sample, but this time, it comes directly from your production line. You can send these samples to models, editors, influencers, and anyone that you want to promote your designs.    HOW MANY GARMENT SAMPLES DO YOU REALLY NEED?  Here is where things are going to get interesting, and hopefully save you a lot of money. Back in the early days of fashion education, factories were putting out blog posts claiming that all brands needed ALL of the samples I mentioned above. But, here’s the thing, you don’t, and most of them were only saying this because it meant more expenses for brands, meaning more money in their pockets.  If you’re new here and don’t know me. I love to save people money. So let’s dive in.   PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SAMPLES YOU CAN SKIP For the brands I work with on a budget, here is where I (safely) cut corners. First, I combine the fit and proto into one sample. I try to use as close to production quality fabrics as possible. We skip right to the proto but also use it for fit notes. Never skip the pre-production sample. But, if you are a small brand and doing all the sales yourself, you can use your pre-production samples as SMS sales tools. And, you can even use them for testing after the sales period is over. So, at minimum, you must have at least two different kinds of pre-production samples. A working proto, with maybe a few revisions and a PP sample.  One last tip, if you are going to make an SMS, make sure your pre-production samples are perfect first. You don’t want to end up with five sets of bad samples that need fixing.    PRODUCTION SAMPLES THAT YOU CAN SAVE TIME AND MONEY NOT MAKING Here’s what we do with the small brands I work with. The PP sample becomes the gold sample - so that is free. For small brands, we skip the TOP sample because small orders (100 pieces or less) are usually samples made in the sample room. So, there aren’t going to be the issues that big brands face). Then I combine the shipment samples with the press samples. Not only does this save a step in the sampling process, but also in shipping fees. If the brand is using their SMS as press samples (which I recommend to save even more cash), they can skip the shipment samples altogether, and instead have a video call to approve the shipment samples. This will cut shipping costs, and save time. So, in production, all you need are two samples - the gold sample, and the shipping sample. And, if you are low on cash, you can cut it down to 1, just the gold sample.    NEED MORE HELP? HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE RESOURCES Skip the product development process and go straight into production The ultimate guide to creating garment spec sheets Should I hire a sample maker to help develop my line?   WHAT DO YOU THINK?  Are you ready to start developing garment samples? Let me know in the comments!   Source link

[vivianchong]

Unlock Success: Mastering RES Exam with Proven Tips

The property agent or their team can handle all of your building and land issues. They have a strong network of suppliers of building materials, investors and builders who have all agreed to split the total profit. They will complete the task within a predetermined time frame. We have mentioned these things to make you aware of the importance of a real estate agent. 

It will be able to create a strong presence in the real estate development industry by comfortably standing out. Despite the fact that the world of landing companies seems very appealing, you have to take the right steps in order to succeed. To obtain your real estate license by passing the Real Estate Exam to be a RES or Real Estate Salesperson. To pass out with a higher score we have listed some effective tips. So let us go through them.

Overview of the RES Course -

There are real estate agent jobs available in the market if you want to begin a career in the field. Anyone who wants to work as a real estate agent should know that nobody can turn a profit in the absence of verifiable credentials. You must first secure a valid license in order to guarantee your desired profit. The real estate license is issued by the state government. 

Therefore you can start working as a real estate agent right away if you have a state license. There are countless benefits to being a real estate agent. The Real Estate Salesperson (RES) Course, also referred to as the "Property Agent Course," is a required preparatory course that prospective land and property salespeople must complete before sitting for the industry RES Examinations.

Benefits of Passing out the RES Exam -

* Once you have earned your RES certificate, you will have more opportunities for employment.

* Obtaining the RES certification opens up a number of career options in the real estate sector.

* If you hold an RES license, clients are more likely to feel at ease working with you because they are aware that you have demonstrated your competence.

* The knowledge you have acquired will make you stand out from those who lack a certification and put you in a better position to assist clients.

* Obtaining your RES certification will position you for long-term success in a field that is not as susceptible to downturns in the economy.

* You will gain credibility in your industry and be well-positioned to profit monetarily from the real estate boom. 

Advice for Mastering the RES Exam -

Below we have listed some of the effective tips to get higher scores in the real estate exam.

Use RES to Practice Sample Papers and Exam Questions

The adage "practice makes perfect" is one we hear a lot, and it works quite well. You have to apply all that you have learned in your science class at school once you get home. In addition, you should try to practice every day and if you sign up for tuition classes, try to complete each lesson each day. One option is to look up and download the science exam papers from the prior year's website. It will provide you with enough insight into the format of the questions. If you want to practice properly for example, just browse through a few educational websites. Practice consistently after that. You can get a sense of the kinds of questions that will be on the test and how much time you need to spend on each question by responding to practice RES exam questions. Ideally you ought to make use of every resource at your disposal in order to practice as much as you can before the test. 

Respond to the Point Only

Certain students think providing detailed answers will lead to a higher number of responses. But that's a myth. The exam's grading criteria will be subject to change based on the order of the answers. As such, you should make an effort to provide a direct response to the query. Even though you have read it in assay format, attempt to organize it into bullet points. The examiner will see that you have enough depth in that particular topic because it does catch their attention. Refrain from attempting to add to or ignore the question. RES tuition classes are the best option if you want assistance with making notes and points in this subject. Skilled instructors will efficiently guide you to score higher in the Real Estate Exam.

Attend Every Class and Pay Attention to Your Study Materials 

In order to easily understand a subject or topic, we must pay close attention to it while trying to understand it. The rhythm of the class will quickly be lost by a student who does not attend lectures on a regular basis. For the purpose of fostering a passion for learning, students, like those studying this particular subject, require our consistent attention and diligence. A student will quickly lose interest in a subject if they behave erratically in class, which will cause them to develop a severe fear of it. It is therefore crucial to continue attending all of the lectures on a regular basis. As a result, in order to learn and comprehend the real estate industry better, it is crucial to attend all of the RES course's lessons. Pay close attention to what your course tutor highlights on the RES exam question and make a note of everything that is important. 

Final Words -

Your dedication and diligence are the only things that will determine your monthly real estate income. When you have acquired a real estate license and practical experience, there won't be set working hours or a deduction of any portion of your income. For your company, you have the dual roles of employee and boss. Making appropriate plans and preparations ahead of time is always the best course of action during exams. Never wait until the last minute to practice; continue even if it is just for a short while at the end of the day or during your commute.

[project-management-234]

Knowing About Certification for PRINCE2® Foundation

PRINCE2®: What is it?

The structured project management methodology known as PRINCE2® (an acronym for PRojects IN Controlled Environments) offers a step-by-step strategy for managing projects successfully. It provides an adaptable and expandable structure for any kind of project and is extensively employed worldwide in both public and private domains.

PRINCE2® Foundation Certification's Significance

The PRINCE2® Foundation Certification is a foundational credential that attests to a person's comprehension of the PRINCE2® methodology. It exhibits the capacity to contribute successfully to a project management team in a PRINCE2® setting. Employers hold this certification in high respect since it demonstrates a professional's dedication to following best practices in project management.

PRINCE2® Foundation Certification Advantages

Obtaining the PRINCE2® Foundation Certification has a number of advantages, such as:

Improved job Prospects: Getting certified strengthens your credentials in project management, which attracts companies and opens up more job options for you.

Worldwide Recognition: PRINCE2® is a globally recognized and used framework that gives trained professionals a skill set that they may utilize anywhere in the world.

Enhanced Project Management Capabilities: The certification gives you a strong foundation for project management, which improves your capacity to produce positive results.

Common Language: It creates a shared vocabulary for project management, facilitating more productive and harmonious teamwork.

Exam Format for the PRINCE2® Foundation Certification Exam Structure

There are multiple-choice questions on the PRINCE2® Foundation Certification exam.

You have 60 minutes to answer all 60 questions.

33 out of 60 is the passing score of 55%.

Exam Schedule

Among the main topics covered in the exam are: 

Comprehending the seven guiding principles of PRINCE2®. The seven themes that need to be continuously addressed throughout the project are known.

Procedures: knowledge of the seven processes that offer the collection of tasks needed to oversee, manage, and complete a project.

Advice on How to Get Ready

A commitment to learning and a deep comprehension of the PRINCE2® methodology are necessary when preparing for the PRINCE2® Foundation Certification exam. The following advice will help you succeed:

Training Programs: To obtain a thorough understanding of PRINCE2®, think about signing up for an authorized training program.

Study Resources: To become acquainted with the subject matter of the exam, make use of official PRINCE2® guides, sample papers, and other study resources.

Practice Exams: To gauge your preparedness and replicate the exam setting, take practice exams.

Recognize the Approach: Make sure you comprehend the PRINCE2® methodology—all of its tenets, themes, and procedures—well.

In summary

A PRINCE2® Foundation Certification can prove to be an advantageous qualification for individuals engaged in project management. It not only attests to your project management abilities but also gives you access to an internationally accepted framework for efficient project management. Getting this certification can help you advance your career and offer up new prospects if you put in the necessary time and effort. I wish you luck as you pursue PRINCE2® certification!

[cambridgeenglishacademy]

Where is the best IELTS preparation in West Delhi?

Are you dreaming of acing the IELTS with flying colors? Do you want to achieve a band score of 7 or above and stand out from the crowd? Look no further, because we have got you covered! In this blog post, we will explore the best IELTS preparation in West Delhi that can help you reach your goals and unlock amazing opportunities for your future. Whether it's perfecting your writing skills, honing your speaking abilities, or mastering those tricky reading passages, we've got all the information you need to succeed. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into the world of IELTS excellence together!

How do we get 7-8 bands in the IELTS?

Cracking the IELTS and achieving a band score of 7 or above requires dedication, strategy, and consistent practice. Here are some tips to help you on your journey: 1. Understand the test format: Familiarize yourself with the structure of each section - Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Know what to expect in terms of question types and time constraints. 2. Improve your vocabulary: Enhance your word bank by reading extensively and making a note of new words. Practice using them in sentences to ensure proper usage. 3. Develop effective time management skills: Time is crucial during the exam, so practice answering questions within the given time limits. Set realistic targets for completing each section. 4. Focus on grammar and sentence structure: Pay attention to grammatical rules while writing essays or speaking responses. Use a variety of sentence structures to demonstrate your language proficiency. 5. Take mock tests regularly: Practice makes perfect! Take advantage of online resources or join an IELTS preparation course that provides regular mock tests to assess your progress. Remember, consistency is key when it comes to preparing for the IELTS exam. By following these strategies diligently, you can increase your chances of scoring between 7-8 bands and opening doors towards exciting opportunities abroad!

Where can I get IELTS practice tests?

Are you looking for the best IELTS practice tests to prepare for your exam? Well, look no further! There are several places in West Delhi where you can find high-quality practice tests that will help you ace the IELTS. One option is to enroll in a reputable IELTS coaching center in West Delhi. These centers often provide their students with access to a variety of practice materials, including mock tests that closely resemble the actual exam. Additionally, they may offer personalized feedback and guidance from experienced instructors, which can be invaluable during your preparation journey. Another option is to search online platforms that specialize in IELTS preparation. Many websites and apps offer free or paid practice tests designed specifically for the different sections of the exam. These resources allow you to assess your skills and identify areas where you need improvement. You can also consider purchasing official Cambridge IELTS books, as they contain authentic past papers from previous exams. These books not only provide valuable practice material but also familiarize you with the format and structure of the test. Remember, consistency is key when it comes to practicing for the IELTS. Make sure to allocate enough time each day or week to work on sample questions and simulated exams. By doing so, you'll build confidence and improve your performance over time. So go ahead and explore these options available near you or online – get those practice tests rolling! Your dedication and hard work will surely pay off when it's time to take the real exam.

What are the benefits of getting 8 or 9 bands in the IELTS?

Getting 8 or 9 bands in the IELTS can open up a world of opportunities for individuals. It showcases a high level of English proficiency, which is highly valued by universities, employers, and immigration authorities around the globe. Achieving such high scores in the IELTS can greatly enhance your chances of being accepted into top universities abroad. Many prestigious institutions require a minimum score of 7 or 8 to consider an application. By surpassing this requirement and scoring higher, you not only stand out among other applicants but also demonstrate your ability to excel academically in an English-speaking environment. Obtaining 8 or 9 bands in the IELTS can significantly boost your career prospects. Employers often prioritize candidates with strong language skills as it indicates effective communication abilities and adaptability. With these scores on your resume, you have a competitive edge over other job seekers vying for similar positions. Furthermore, high IELTS scores are crucial for those seeking immigration to countries like Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Governments typically set specific language requirements as part of their immigration criteria. Achieving exceptional scores proves that you possess the necessary language skills to integrate successfully into society and contribute effectively to the workforce. Getting 8 or 9 bands in the IELTS provides numerous advantages across various aspects of life including education, employment prospects and migration opportunities. It is undoubtedly worth investing time and effort into preparing for this exam to reap its long-term benefits

What was your strategy to get 7 bands in IELTS writing?

When it comes to the IELTS writing section, achieving a score of 7 bands requires careful planning and strategy. Here are some key points that helped me achieve success in this aspect of the exam. Familiarize yourself with the structure and requirements of each task. Understand what is expected from you in terms of word count, organization, and coherence. Practice writing essays and letters within these guidelines to build confidence. Time management is crucial. Allocate enough time for planning your response, organizing your thoughts, and proofreading your work. Practice timed writing exercises to improve your speed without compromising quality. Additionally, expand your vocabulary repertoire by reading extensively across various topics. This will not only enhance your lexical resource but also provide you with ideas for essay content. Furthermore, practice critical thinking skills by analyzing different perspectives on given topics. Develop clear arguments supported by relevant examples or evidence. Seek feedback from qualified professionals or join a reputable IELTS preparation course where experienced instructors can guide you on specific areas for improvement in your writing style. By following these strategies consistently and dedicating sufficient time to practice regularly before the exam date arrives,you can increase your chances of scoring 7 bands in the IELTS writing section!

Cambridge English Academy – IELTS Coaching in West Delhi

Cambridge English Academy is one of the leading IELTS coaching institutes in West Delhi. With its highly experienced faculty and comprehensive study material, it provides top-notch training to help students achieve their desired scores in the IELTS exam. At Cambridge English Academy, they understand that each student has unique needs and learning styles. That's why their approach is customized and tailored to meet individual requirements. The trainers not only focus on teaching the necessary skills for all four sections of the exam - Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking but also provide valuable tips and strategies to tackle each section effectively. One of the key reasons why many students choose Cambridge English Academy is their extensive collection of practice tests. These tests simulate real exam conditions and help students familiarize themselves with the format and time constraints of the actual test. By regularly practicing these tests, students can identify their strengths and weaknesses, enabling them to work on areas that need improvement. Moreover, Cambridge English Academy offers flexible batch timings to accommodate working professionals or those with busy schedules. They also provide personalized attention by keeping small batch sizes so that every student receives individual guidance from expert trainers. With a proven track record of helping numerous students achieve high band scores in the IELTS exam, Cambridge English Academy has established itself as a trusted name in IELTS coaching in India. If you are looking for quality training and guidance for your IELTS preparation journey, consider joining Cambridge English Academy – where success becomes achievable!

Why Choose Cambridge English Academy?

When it comes to IELTS preparation in West Delhi, there are several options available. However, one institute that stands out from the rest is Cambridge English Academy. With their proven track record of helping students achieve high bands in the IELTS exam, they have become a trusted name in the industry. So why should you choose Cambridge English Academy for your IELTS preparation? Here are some compelling reasons: 1. Experienced Faculty: At Cambridge English Academy, you will be guided by experienced and highly qualified trainers who have extensive knowledge of the IELTS exam format and scoring criteria. They will provide you with personalized attention and constructive feedback to help you improve your skills. 2. Comprehensive Study Material: The academy provides comprehensive study material designed specifically for IELTS preparation. From practice tests to sample essays, they offer everything you need to enhance your understanding of the exam pattern and develop effective strategies. 3. Mock Tests and Practice Sessions: To excel in the IELTS exam, it is crucial to get ample practice. Cambridge English Academy conducts regular mock tests and practice sessions to familiarize students with the test environment and enable them to identify areas for improvement. 4. Individualized Approach: Every student has unique strengths and weaknesses when it comes to language proficiency. Understanding this, Cambridge English Academy adopts an individualized approach towards training each student according to their specific needs. 5. Small Batch Size: Unlike many other coaching institutes where large batch sizes make personalized attention difficult, Cambridge English Academy keeps its class sizes small so that every student can receive focused guidance from their trainers. 6. Flexible Timing Options: Recognizing that students may have other commitments such as work or college studies, Cambridge English Academy offers flexible timing options for classes so that learners can conveniently fit their preparations into their schedule without any hassle. 7) Success Stories: The success stories of previous students speak volumes about the quality of training provided at Cambridge English Academy. Many students have achieved remarkable bands in the IELTS exam.

Visit Here - https://cambridgeenglishacademy.com/ielts-coaching-in-west-delhi/

[87arihant]

I-Succeed 10 Sample Question Papers Psychology Class 12th For CBSE Exams 2024

https://arihantbooks.com/shop/products/i-succeed-10sample-question-papers-psychology-class12-for-cbse-exams2024