Hi Reader, This is happening TODAY, so I’m going to get right to it. I’m joining Rocio live on LinkedIn today at 11AM ET/8AM PT, and this is not going to be one of those conversations filled with vague predictions about the future of fashion. We’re getting into what we’re actually seeing inside the industry right now. Between the two of us, we have 60+ years of experience in fashion, and we’re talking candidly about: Where technical design is headed now that AI and 3D are becoming part of the...

Being a talented fashion designer isn’t enough anymore. Your ability to design still matters, of course. But if you’re trying to build a fashion business today, there are a lot more skills competing for your attention. You may be designing the product, communicating with manufacturers, reviewing samples, creating content, managing your website, figuring out pricing and trying to understand your customer, sometimes all at the same time. And technology is becoming a bigger part of all of it....

I gave ChatGPT one fashion sketch and asked it to create a production-ready tech pack. And honestly, Reader, the result was much better than I expected. At first glance, it looked pretty convincing. But I had already created the real tech pack for this exact style, so I could compare the two side by side. That’s when things got interesting. In this week’s video, I’m showing you what ChatGPT created, what surprised me, and whether I’d actually trust an AI-generated tech pack enough to use it...

Here’s a simple test for your tech pack, Reader: If you handed it to someone who had never spoken to you about the design, would they understand exactly what you want? If the answer is “maybe,” there are probably still some gaps in the way the design is being communicated. A good tech pack should help someone understand your garment without needing you to explain every decision along the way. Here are a few things I’d check: Can they clearly understand what the garment should look like? Your...

Your manufacturer is there to manufacture your clothing, Reader. But if you haven’t clearly communicated your design, you may unintentionally be asking them to design parts of it, too. Think about it this way: Every important detail you leave open to interpretation is a decision someone else may have to make. And while a good manufacturer will ask questions when they need clarification, you don’t want to rely on them to figure out what you meant. Here are three areas where that can happen: 1....

If you're getting ready to work with a manufacturer, Reader, you may be wondering: Can I just send my sketches, or do I really need a clothing tech pack? It's one of the most common questions I hear from fashion entrepreneurs, and the answer isn't as straightforward as you might think. In this week's YouTube video, I explain: The difference between a fashion sketch and a flat sketch What information each communicates to a manufacturer Why even detailed sketches can leave out critical...

One of the biggest mistakes I see new fashion brands make isn't bad design. It's bad brand positioning. Many designers tell me they're building a "luxury" brand. But when we look at the numbers, the product, the customer, and the pricing strategy, what they're actually creating often falls into an entirely different market category. And that's okay. The problem isn't the category. The problem is when your pricing, product quality, target customer, and brand positioning don't align. When that...

This is a little random, Reader, but yesterday, this thought crossed my mind: flat sketches and a tech packs go together like peanut butter and jelly. A flat sketch is where your your idea takes shape. It's the silhouette, the seams, the details only you can see in your head until you get them onto paper. Most designers use Illustrator to flat sketch. It's the tool that turns what's in your mind into a clearly communicated, proportional and accurate drawing of what you've envisioned. That's...

In every season of From Pencil to Production, I ask designers how much they charge for their garments. Their answers almost never match what I think it should cost. Sometimes prices run too high. But far more often, Reader, they're too low. What I've realized is that many designers don't really know the true cost of their products. Nor do they understand how to get that number, making sure they add in ALL of their costs and then a decent markup (so you can actually stay in business!) And...

Over the past year, I’ve seen several posts on LinkedIn from people talking about how they received terrible tech packs that they knew right away were AI generated. I don’t object to the use of AI for tech packs. Done right, I actually welcome it. And if a manufacturer gets what they need to make a decent sample, I’m sure they wouldn’t object either. The problem isn’t so much that the tech pack was AI generated. The problem is the AI generated tech pack makes no sense! The point of the tech...