Finding a freelance sportswear designer is pretty simple but we think design is only part of the answer. Sure, design is a key stage to the production of any sportswear brand, however, a design is just a design if you can’t then follow this through and interpreted this into a finished product.
Any design, however simple or complex needs to be manufactured into a finished product without compromise or losing any of the features, performance or quality.
That’s where we differ from freelance designers. Sure we design innovative sportswear but we don’t leave it there. We can manage the whole process from concept through to finished goods delivered to your warehouse, making sure that the same team that created your design follows the process from specification, prototypes, fitting, samples and finally bulk production through to shipped goods to your door. By doing this and understanding this entire process we can make sure that nothing is lost in translation between 3rd parties and the original concept remains as pure as when our designer created it.
We often get approached by clients who have already employed a freelance sportswear designer and need to take their designs and specifications through the process to bulk production. Many of these designs and specifications need to be adjusted before we can submit these to a suitable sportswear factory, adding additional cost and time to the process.
Usually, there is a lack of experience on how and who will produce the designs and sometimes fabrics or manufacturing techniques are not suitable to achieve the performance required by the original brief.
We believe that it’s only when you understand the entire brief from concept through to bulk production can you create a really viable design that takes into account budget, performance, manufacturing techniques, labour skills and timeline. Without having a solution for the entire process, then who is accountable for a design that doesn’t hit budget or the level of required performance and on time?
Established in 1997, our extensive knowledge of fibres and their performance characteristics is vital as it determines which materials are selected for each design. We see so many brands launch products that they claim to offer fantastic performance but the fabrics they have chosen actually work against the requirements of the athlete. The brand then hoodwinks consumers by smothering them with techno marketing blurbs to blind them with poorly researched stats or phrases that sound promising but offer very little.
When we take on any new project, we always discuss margin expectations, target price points, performance levels for the athlete and required features with our clients so that when we design we already have a very clear view on the most suitable fibres, technologies, fabrics and factory that will be used to produce the finished product.
We work with many brands across several sportswear disciplines and different price points. This means we need to have a large but reliable and varied network of fabric mills and sportswear factories that we trust 100%. For instance, we work with clients that want to produce a waterproof jacket that will retail for under £50 to clients that want the same but with a retail price of over £500. Both need to be 100% waterproof and breathable but the level of performance, features and quality will be very different.
If you are looking to create more than a design and specification and want to produce a finished product that answers your brief, then please get in touch to discuss your project in more detail.
