Garment sample making is the process of creating physical prototypes of a clothing design. Before any garment is approved for bulk production, sample making is done to ensure that the material, fit, and function align with the intended design. The approved final sample should mirror the entire production batch, helping fashion brands save money by eliminating unexpected and irreversible mistakes during large-scale manufacturing.

In this article, I’ll share everything I’ve learned in my 15+ years of experience in the fashion industry, where I’ve handled hundreds of garment designs from ideation, creating tech packs, to sample making and production. I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of producing clothing samples to ensure you’re well-prepared before making your first sample request. Additionally, we’ll explore the impact of 3D design and how fashion brands are integrating it into their workflows.

Importance of Garment Sample Making in Fashion

In a nutshell, sample making helps fashion brands save time and money by potentially sparing them from unexpected errors and costly revisions in the production process. Here are reasons why you shouldn’t skip garment sample making before production:

Garment sample making helps brands:

• Verify that the garment aligns with the initial concept and vision (and actually looks good IRL).
• Examine a garment’s fit, materials, construction, and overall quality, to ensure the final product meets the desired standards.
• Make any necessary adjustments before mass production based on fitting sessions.
• Evaluate the capabilities of potential manufacturers and select the right one to produce the garment. 
• Assist manufacturers in making estimations on necessary materials and providing accurate cost quotations.

Pro Tip: Not every garment makes it past the sampling process. Sometimes, what looks great in our minds doesn’t quite cut it in reality. Merchandisers and designers need to make sure that only saleable designs move forward to full-scale production.

Step-by-Step Guide to Garment Sample Making 

The design team, including the creative designers, technical designers, and buyers/merchandisers work together to make sure the clothing samples get to the finish line.

1. Tech Pack Creation

Caption: Tech Pack by Bhanushree Chogale

Creative and technical designers collaborate to create the initial tech pack containing the design specifications, graded specs, colorways, and other important details about the garment. When the tech pack is ready, the buyer forwards the tech pack to a suitable manufacturer. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can create a garment tech pack (including FREE templates!).

Pro Tip: Not all manufacturers are capable of doing everything. It’s common practice to send out tech packs to two or more manufacturers to compare their production capabilities, MOQs, and prices. Manufacturers often specialize in specific types of garments; for instance, one may be good at denim, while another is better with knits and has the necessary machinery for it. If your budget allows, consider selecting a couple of manufacturers and comparing their initial samples to determine which one does better.

2. Fabric and Material Selection

If you haven’t decided on materials for your design yet, you can ask your supplier for some fabric samples and swatches after sending them the initial tech pack. The designers and merchandisers then work together to pick the right fabric and trims for the garment.

Pro Tip: Initial samples aren’t always made using the actual fabrics, especially if the fabric is expensive or not in stock. Sample makers can use similar fabrics that are cheaper or readily available to save money and speed up the sample creation. 

3. Initial Sample Creation

Caption: Initial sample (left) made with cotton yarn vs final sample (right) made with cashmere cotton blend

An initial proto sample is created based on the tech pack and selected materials. If you’re working with an outsourced manufacturer, they likely have their own team of sample makers. I’ve also worked for fashion brands with in-house sample makers who just send their final samples to the manufacturers to try and replicate before production. 

If you’re in the middle of looking for a garment sample maker, you can check out my guide on how to find a garment sample maker.

4. Initial Sample Review

During sample review, the technical designer evaluates the garment’s measurements, fit, and function based on the tech pack and design intention. I’ve included a quick guide on how to review fit samples below, but if you need extra help, I also have a comprehensive guide on how to review garment samples and how to fit garment samples. 

1. Measure the garment sample 
2. Check the garment construction and stitching 
3. Assess the materials and finishing 
4. Check the fit and functionality 
5. Document your feedback

P.S. Your first prototype won’t be perfect—and that’s okay! It’s pretty common to go through a couple rounds of revisions before getting the garment right. In my experience, it usually takes 2-3 samples for new designs. 

5. Final Sample Approval

Once the initial (or second, third, etc.) sample meets the requirements, the next step is to request a size set sample. This involves ordering the garment across its entire size range, or in cases with numerous sizes, opting for jump sizes. For example, if your sizing ranges from XXS to XXL, you can choose to fit XS, M, and XL.

Fitting a range of sizes is crucial to ensure the garment looks good and is graded proportionally across all sizes. If everything checks out, the samples can be approved for production (or undergo another round of revisions until sizing aligns perfectly).

Before official production begins, a final set of samples, known as Pre-Production Samples, are ordered. These serve as a test run by manufacturers in the production line, using all the final approved materials. Keeping Pre-Production Samples is vital, as they act as counter samples for fashion brands to compare with the actual production batch. Essentially, they should match 100% unless minor changes were requested.

While I’ve covered a few sample types in this guide, there are many more during the sample-making stage, like the salesman sample (SMS), garment performance test sample (GPT), and more. You don’t necessarily need all of them, but understanding the types and recognizing which ones you might need is important. Check out my guide on the 12 Types of Garment Samples During Apparel Production for more insights, including tips on how to scale down your samples if you’re on a tight budget!

3D Design and Virtual Sample Development

Before we wrap up, I want to briefly talk about 3D design and how it’s changing the game in garment sample making and production. You might notice job listings these days asking for “3D design” skills from fashion designers.

There are great 3D fashion design apps like CLO, Browzwear, and TUKAcad where fashion designers can create their designs, fit them virtually, and tweak their designs in real time. If you can imagine, it can potentially save fashion brands tons of money and time by fast tracking the early stage of sample making. No need for a bunch of physical samples that just take up space and cost heaps of $$. 

Here’s a sample garment by Kristen Anderson, a 3D Fashion Design Director for Intimates and Swimwear. I had to do a double take because it’s sooo accurate – but the actual garment is on the left (on a dress form) and the 3D render is on the right side. 

You can check more of Kristen’s work on her website. 

If you’re a fashion designer (especially if you’re working freelance) and haven’t started learning 3D design yet, it’s a skill worth picking up. It’s in demand now, and I’m now considering it a required skill to work in fashion (as of early 2024, when I’m writing this article).

There’s more to explore on this topic, but let’s save that for another day! In the meantime, check out my article on the Best Pattern Making Software for more on the 3D design apps I just mentioned!