Product Development

Where the rubber meets the road

Karen M. Videtic
Virginia Commonwealth University
Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising
Step One: Define your customer.
• Demographics
– Average age of purchaser
– Income
• Psychographics
• Fashion attitude or buying
behaviors
– VALS and GeoVALS
• Average purchase of apparel in
both units and dollars.
• Cultural Influences or
implications
 Chicos
• Who is their target
customer?
– 35 -55 years old
– Feels young
– Active
– Travels a lot
– Doesn’t want to wear
her daughter’s clothes
– Casual and a little
“funky” or has attitude
Step 2: industry research
• Market trends vs. fashion trends
• Scope and Size of your segment of
the industry
• Trade Shows
• Key brands and your competition
• Wholesale price points and retail
price points
• Product Expectations: quality,
fabrication, fit, craftsmanship,
labeling or branding.
 More research
• Sales trends
• Technological trends for your
market
• Leading manufacturers of textiles
and location
• Market condition for labor
• Newest finishes, colors, treatments.
• Newest styles and preferences
• Product requirements: fit, price
constraints, celebrity endorsement.
Step 3: Theme and Inspiration Boards
• Let’s begin here:
– Review the research into your decade
– Review the forecasts for the fall 08 season
– Determine how you might interpret the
future.
• Only uses images
• Do not draw images yet
• Just get your inspiration.
• You could also use a movie from the same
decade.
– For the workshop, just “tell us about your
inspiration”.
Here’s my inspiration:

• 1940’s
• Audrey Hepburn’s
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
• A little “punk” bug with
pearls and diamonds
• The graphic look of the
glove.
 Step 4: Design and Concepts Board

• Transition from the inspiration to the

product line concept.
• Beginning of the visualization or
blueprints.
• Remember that your customer should be
the center of your focus.
• Sketches or flats would be included.
• Think details, price points, fabrication and
details.
 Step 5: Choosing the best fabrication,
findings and trim
• If this was a classroom project
with more time:
– Shop for fabric swatches and
learn the names and properties
– Find special finishes like denim
– Shop for buttons and trim
– Discuss sourcing and the import
laws.
– Look at labor costs and discuss
“fair labor wage”.
Step 6: Develop a Spec Sheet
• Time to make a calendar so
students can see the time
involved in planning and
developing a line.
• Students can pull apart a
garment and measure all of the
pieces and record the
measurements.
• Deconstruction helps students
understand the parts and pieces
and sizing of a garment.
Specification sheets
Step 7: Costing Sheets and Size Spec
• Labor costs
• Fabrication, findings, finishes,
etc.
• Grade each garment for a size
run.
• Freight and landed costs
• Labeling
• Hangtags
• SAMPLE
– Testing for quality control issues
Cost Sheet
Labor Costs
 Pre-Production and Production
• Quality Control
– Laundry, strength, durability,
• Ethical and responsible
manufacturing
• Scheduling production
• Meeting deadlines
• Follow-up
Detail and Size Spec Sheet
 Marketing the new line
• Product, Place, Price &
Promotion
• Public Relations
• Advertising
• Art Department
• Visual Merchandising
• Trade Shows
• Sales