March 23, 2015

Apparel design is a lot different from bag design.  For one thing, with apparel we start on the computer from day 1 with all the patterns generated from CAD drawings, whereas with bags we start out making the physical pattern-pieces ourselves.  With apparel we communicate with the factory using drawings and measurements – as opposed to patterns and samples with bags – and there are long delays between sample rounds.  After a year of development work and three rounds of prototypes, we’re still working through some basic issues related to sizing and fit.  It almost feels like we’ve had to reinvent “the jacket” and “the pant” from scratch.

It takes a team of 4 sample-makers working two full days to make one jacket.  Once the sample is complete, making further changes to it is not simply a matter of tailoring and tweaking.  The garments are so complex…