Fashion design is one of the most profitable ventures in the world right now. Already, there’s a huge market for your fashion products if you can create unique designs that captivate fashion enthusiasts from across the world. But for you to produce fashion items in mass, you need to outsource the production services to a reliable clothing factory.
That way, you only need to develop your designs and send them to the factory in the form of a tech pack (technical package). So, as you prepare to venture into the fashion industry, you need to address some essential concerns, such as what a tech pack in fashion is, how a tech pack works, and whether you even need one to begin with, as hiring someone to create one for you can end up costing anywhere from $500 to $2,000.
What Is a Fashion Tech Pack?
A tech pack is a special document given to clothing factories by fashion designers and brands to guide them when manufacturing fashion items. As a business owner, you need to prepare this document for your factory workers, showing them clearly how to construct and assemble your fashion products.
This document is the blueprint for the factory to ensure that all your items are produced professionally and according to your standards. It’s particularly important when you’re producing fashion items in large quantities. Without this guide, your factory workers will have a hard time maintaining your quality standards in each garment.
A tech pack should be very detailed and provide an overview of every fashion item you want to produce. For instance, it should contain essential specifications that your manufacturer requires to produce the exact fashion items you need. If you don’t know how to prepare a professional tech pack, you should hire fashion designers to do it for you.
Fortunately, there are reliable freelance job sites that offer highly qualified and experienced fashion designers who are willing to work remotely. With a freelance job site like Guru, you can easily hire a professional tech pack designer to prepare your tech packs–you’ll even reduce the cost of your tech pack because the designer doesn’t need an office to get the job done.
Another benefit of preparing a tech pack is that it eliminates misunderstandings between you and your manufacturer because everything is clearly indicated and described in the document; you should even include images and sketches of the fashion items you need. So, make sure the fashion designer you hire to prepare your tech packs knows how to add clear and error-free sketches to a tech pack.
Without a tech pack, you face the risk of having to spend more money re-making some or all your fashion products when a mistake occurs during production. Sometimes, you’ll notice the errors when the final order has been delivered, resulting in the total waste of raw materials, money, and time.
How Much Does a Tech Pack Cost?
The cost of a fashion tech pack depends on the complexity of the project and the level of expertise and experience of the tech pack creator. Sometimes, even the simplest fashion items have many decision points, including the colorways and quality control specs. The designer preparing your tech pack also has to come up with the designs fittings, seaming, accessories, and more.
These skills can’t be acquired through watching YouTube videos–you have to undergo professional training in fashion design to become a professional tech packer. This is why most professional fashion designers charge high rates for their services. For example, in the United States, professional fashion designers charge between $500 and $2,000 to prepare a standard tech pack.
Such a tech pack can take between five and twenty hours to complete. As you search for a tech packer on a reputable freelancing site like Guru, you’ll notice that most of them don’t list their prices when advertising their services. This is because the amount of work to be done depends on the style of your apparel and the level of your comprehension of the project.
Still, some tech pack creators do list their prices clearly. Most of them base their prices on the purpose of the tech pack. So, if you need a simple tech pack that can be used by a local tailor to produce a few garments, the cost of the tech pack will be low.
However, if the document is for mass production of fashion garments in a large factory, your tech packer will charge more as they’ll be required to include all the necessary elements, including care label specifications, grading, testing requirements, sewing construction, and packing details. So, there isn’t a fixed rate for fashion tech packs–you have to negotiate with your designer.
