On Thursday 25th January, FashionCapital held its second Masterclasses of 2018 ‘The Sampling Process’ with Sue Mee Maudsley. With over 25 years in the fashion industry, Sue has designed and consulted for brands such as; Topshop, Monsoon, Burberry, John Lewis and much more. Alongside designing and consulting for mainstream high street and Luxury brands, she also designs and consults start-up brands with guidance on producing their own collections.
The aim of the Masterclass was to provide essential advice and top tips about the multiple stages within the sampling process to consider when taking design ideas through to the finished product.
The attendees included new business start-ups as well as those at the initial idea stage all seeking substantial information about sampling through Sue Mee’s invaluable expertise.
Sue Mee began the workshop with a brief introduction about her career and then went on to explain her ten point plan covering; ideas, mood boards, fabrics, trims, print, liaising with a manufacture and much more.
Within each topic Sue Mee explained how to overcome the hindrances that can come about when creating a collection within a factory. For example the importance of a creating a tech pack – ‘when producing a tech pack, you must make sure its’s a clear and informative for the supplier or factory to create your designs. A descriptive detailed tech pack means the factory or supplier you wish to work with can provide a costing.’
She explained in detail the importance of having a sample made and how it provides an opportunity to analyse what works and what doesn’t work with the design – ‘don’t be delusional into thinking you will get it right the first time, sometimes you end up having to create two or three samples until the garment is correct.’
Further areas of discussion included planning and lead times, and how to maintain an organised calendar throughout the complete process from design to manufacturing through to marketing and launching the brand.
Overall, it was an insightful and invaluable Masterclass. The group gained a vast amount of knowledge and expertise from Sue Mee on developing their design ideas to the finished product.
Here are a few comments:
‘I am so inspired by this session, it has enabled me to start the process of getting my collection together. The masterclass was very helpful and I received great advice and guidance from Sue’ Payal
‘It was very informative, I feel more confident knowing more about production. I have learnt how to go about producing my own clothing line’ Makeda
‘It was a great overview of the areas of sampling and the process of creating a collection. The content provided was fantastic, I’ll be back’ Neheta
If you are interested in joining one of the FashionCapital Masterclasses click here