The Design Process Doesn't Start With a Sketch
What's the first step of the apparel design process?
If your answer is "a sketch," I need to stop you right there.
Most people think the design process starts with a sketch. It doesn't — and if you're starting there, sending that sketch straight to your factory, there's a very good chance your production is about to become a hot mess.
17 Years In, Nothing Like I Expected
The gap between how the design process looks on Pinterest, and how it actually works at the corporate level.
I've been in the apparel industry for 17 years now, working with brands like Haggar, Pinpoint Merchandising, Mad Engine, and Bioworld. And I can tell you honestly — the design process is nothing like I thought it would be when I graduated design school. It's definitely nothing like what gets shown on Pinterest.
That's not a knock on design school. I went, and I'd make the same choice again. But there was nothing in a classroom that could have prepared me for the reality of mass production at the corporate level. That gap between what you're taught and what the industry actually does is exactly why so many talented designers struggle once they try to launch something real.
Here's what that gap actually looks like when it shows up on a factory floor:
So What's the Actual First Step? RESEARCH!
A flat sketch missing fabric texture, technical anchor points, correct trims, and structural ribbing callouts — the exact details a factory needs and a "pretty picture" doesn't have.
Before you ever pick up a pencil, you — the brand owner — need to understand past sales analytics, upcoming trends, and what materials are actually available at your factory. This isn't optional homework. It's the foundation everything else gets built on.
Then Comes Technical Translation
Once the research is done, the sketch itself is just the beginning. You have to take that sketch and translate it into technical terms — you're no longer sending a beautiful picture, you're telling your factory every single component of that design.
That translation breaks down into a few non-negotiable steps:
This Is Exactly What We Teach in Fashion Brand Founders
Together with my partner, Nichole Simms — the boutique expert, the visual merchandising visionary, the retail strategist extraordinaire — we walk you through this entire process, the real one, not the Pinterest version, inside the Fashion Brand Founders Masterclass, live this September.
If you're ready to stop guessing your way through the design process and learn it the way the actual industry does it, that's exactly what we built this for.
👉 Save your seat for the September masterclass 👉 Get the 2-hour preview first
