After 20+ years in the fashion industry I felt it my duty (oh, how noble of me) to take my knowledge and experience and pass it on to the crowd of makers, crafters, designers, and all round creatives who themselves had a vision of creating.

All too often I have seen companies who do not appreciate the complexity of a development process, the concept of planning, the need to identify a market, and most importantly, the need to treat their suppliers with common curtesy (being polite, gets you places, being a bitch doesn’t): things I believe are essential to the longevity of a collection and of a brand.

So I’ve made it my mission to educate and preach these aspects to anyone who is interested in listening.  To pass on these nuggets that will fundamentally change your business and make a random selection of products into a cohesive line.

My goal is simple: I want people’s businesses to succeed. I want to enable a beautiful product to be made and appreciated. Whether it’s for a huge international brand, or a maker with a spare room and a vision. I want to be part of it.

So join me on the 12th and 13th May in person in San Francisco, or on the live stream at:

https://www.creativelive.com/courses/diversifying-your-product-line-susie-breuer

My consultancy is co-lab54.com

I’m based in San Francisco

The key dates is the backbone to your collection and is an important set of deadlines from the start of development to the end of production.

Here are 3 quick tips to help you build the plan so that you deliver a great product on time:

1) Make sure all of your team is included in the plan:

Building a collection is a team sport. Everyone has roles and responsibilities to make it a success, so include them all in the plan so it doesn’t become a 1 man show.

Tip: Key words here are ‘ownership’ and ‘accountability’.

2) Be clear about which season you are working on and when you want to deliver the collection:

The delivery date of the collection  should be the most important date of the plan.

Tip:  Start with the end date of delivery and work back to ensure you don’t cut yourself  short on timing.

3) Understand the timings involved in each aspect:

Make sure you know how long each process takes.

• How long does it take for fabric to be produced?
• How long does it take for a prototype to be made?
• How long does it take for shipping from an offshore location vs a domestic one?

Tip: Have the timeline of every stage ready at hand when you make the plan so that you don’t plan too little time and be forced to deliver late to a customer.
 

For a free Key Dates pullout and more help and advise on collection building check out Blue is The New Black.

My consultancy Co-lab54 specialises in strategic product development for fashion companies.

The creation, design, development and production of a collection involve the generation, sharing and distribution of a huge amount of information. The information flow from the start of the development process to the end of production is a crucial element for the successful internal workings of the brand and for the external relationships with the factories, trim suppliers and customers.

Tips:

• In development and production you need to manage the flow of information. If you don’t consider yourself organized or able to multi task, choose a different area of the business.
• Writing up technical information needs to be clear and precise. Never make assumptions that the factory understands; check and double-check everything until they are clear.
• As the development matrix is the hub for the style information, keep it updated and without error, as it will reduce problems at a later stage. This is your responsibility.
• If you are using more than one factory, be careful when sending the matrix to them. Filter the sheet so that only the information relevant to that factory goes out.
• If more than one person uses the planning sheets and you are concerned about other people changing details without your knowledge, password protect it so only you can change details.

For more information on the Information flow or other aspects of building a fashion collection, check out Blue is The New Black

Susie / Co-lab54.com