Overview
D2M specialist in the development of innovative textile products. We’ve honed our approach over the last decade to give your project the best chance of success.
We’ve worked with a number of clients to bring innovative textile products to the market.
Do get in touch if you have a sewing project or any type of textile product than needs a sewn prototype, we’d love to hear about it! If you would like to carry on reading more about designing sewn products click here.
If you’ve got a project for a fabric product but don’t know how to go about developing it, contact us today and we can arrange a call to discuss it.
Textiles Product Development: From Prototyping to Manufacturing
Prototyping Fabric-Based Products
Creating a successful fabric-based product begins with the prototyping phase. This crucial step involves developing a prototype that not only looks like the final product but also functions as intended. For bags, whether it’s a backpack, gym bag, or make-up bag, the prototype will be a tangible version of your concept that you can test and refine before moving into full-scale production.
Why is a Fabric Prototype Important?
A fabric prototype allows you to verify your design with potential customers, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments. This process helps in identifying any design flaws and ensures that the bag will be practical and durable. It is especially important for complex products, like backpacks with multiple compartments and zippers, to undergo thorough testing during this phase.
The Prototyping Process
When prototyping fabric products, it’s essential to use industrial-grade machines to ensure the construction and stitching are durable. A fabric bag prototype should consider elements like materials, construction techniques, and custom components such as clasps, handles, or zippers. For initial testing, a concept prototype made from inexpensive materials like calico can help you finalise the overall design before adding finer details.
Developing Your Fabric Product for Manufacturing
Once the prototype is refined and approved, the next step is to prepare your bag design for manufacturing. As a bag supplier, manufacturer, or maker, it’s important to ensure that every aspect of the product is ready for production.
Creating a Tech Pack
A Tech Pack is a collection of technical files, including cutting guides and specifications, which factories use to quote and manufacture your product. This document outlines every detail of the bag, from the dimensions and materials to the stitching and construction techniques. It’s a crucial part of the process that ensures consistency and quality in production.
Cost Modelling
Understanding the full cost of your bag product is vital for setting a realistic price point and maintaining profitability. A cost model includes factors like unit cost, shipping, retail margins, and taxes. This allows you to make informed decisions about materials and production methods while keeping the product within your budget.
Packaging Design
Effective packaging not only protects your product but also serves as a marketing tool. For retail environments, the packaging needs to grab attention and communicate the product’s benefits. For online sales, it’s important to consider packaging size to reduce shipping costs and environmental impact.
Sustainable and Ethical Manufacturing
In today’s market, consumers are increasingly looking for products that are manufactured sustainably and ethically. As a responsible bag supplier, manufacturer, or maker, considering options such as recycled fabrics, organic materials, and local manufacturing can enhance your brand’s appeal and meet consumer demand for eco-friendly products.
Sustainable Fabric Choices
Opting for materials like recycled cotton or polyester, organic bamboo, or even innovative vegan-friendly options like mushroom leather can set your product apart. These sustainable choices not only reduce environmental impact but also resonate with eco-conscious consumers.
Ethical Manufacturing Practices
Working with ethical garment manufacturers who ensure fair wages and safe working conditions is equally important. Ethical production may cost more, but it can add value to your product and attract customers willing to pay a premium for responsibly made goods.
Moving into Production
Once your product is ready for manufacturing, it’s time to place orders with factories. By working with experienced bag suppliers, manufacturers, or makers, you can ensure that your product meets quality standards and is produced efficiently.
Fabric product development process
We run a stage gate process with Key Review Points before commencing expensive stages of work such as prototyping. Even fabric based products are expensive to prototype effectively and so these costs must only be incurred if the project has been de-risked.
Our team of textile product designers will engage in market research with you and your potential purchasers are key stages to ensure that the product you’re developing is attractive and desirable. It’s critical to design for your target market and not for yourself or for what you think your target market wants.
We tend not to use Computer Aided Design (CAD) for textile products. Unlikely most design firm we have a fully equipped textile prototyping workshop onsite and so can produce 3D prototypes in most fabrics rapidly. These are far more helpful in iterating the design than any virtual CAD model.
We advise working closely with your manufacturing partner as early on in the process as possible. We are highly integrated with our sewing factory partners to ensure that no time is wasted designing and prototyping anything that can’t be made efficiently and effectively in production batches. Read more about sourcing sewing manufacturers.
Ready to Start Your Product Journey?
Whether you’re a bag supplier, manufacturer, or bag maker, developing a fabric product like a backpack, gym bag, or make-up bag involves careful planning and execution. From prototyping to manufacturing, each step is crucial in creating a successful and profitable product. Get in touch with us to start your product journey and turn your innovative ideas into reality.
Bag suppliers play a crucial role in the textiles industry
by providing a wide range of products, from everyday backpacks and gym bags to specialised make-up bags. They source high-quality materials and work closely with different manufacturers depending on requirements to ensure that the bags meet specific design and functionality requirements. A reliable bag supplier not only ensures the availability of diverse styles and designs but also maintains a balance between cost, quality, and sustainability and can provide a critical link to multiple manufacturers. Bag suppliers help businesses offer products that are both fashionable and practical, catering to the needs of different markets. We have a fantastic range of bag suppliers globally and can help ensure that you have everything you need to approach them regarding manufacturing your bag product.
Bag manufacturers are the backbone of the textiles industry
transforming design concepts into tangible products through a meticulous production process. They handle every stage of production, from sourcing raw materials to cutting, stitching, and assembling the final product. A skilled bag manufacturer ensures that each bag, whether a backpack, gym bag, or make-up bag, meets high standards of durability, functionality, and design precision. They work with advanced machinery and employ various techniques to achieve quality finishes, all while adhering to sustainable practices and ethical production standards. By optimising production methods, bag manufacturers help bring innovative designs to life efficiently and at scale, catering to diverse consumer demands. You might choose to deal directly with a trusted manufacturer saving cost and time. D2M can put you in touch with the right bag manufacturer for your product.
A bag maker is an artisan in the textiles industry,
often specialising in the crafting of bags with a focus on detail, quality, and craftsmanship. Unlike large-scale manufacturers, bag makers may work on a smaller scale, producing bespoke or limited-edition pieces that highlight their skill in working with different materials, such as leather, canvas, or recycled fabrics. They take pride in each step of the creation process, from selecting premium materials to hand-stitching intricate details, ensuring that each bag is not just a product but a piece of art. Bag makers often bring a personal touch to their work, creating unique designs that cater to niche markets, including customised backpacks, gym bags, or make-up bags, offering customers a product that combines functionality with individual style. Our team can help you find the right bag maker for your product including some based in the UK.
How D2M can help with bag manufacturer
It is critical that you focus on ensuring that your project is a commercial success. A lot of projects fail and it’s best to face up to this, engage with the reasons why and ensure that your project doesn’t have the same issues.
So we suggest that as quickly and cheaply as possible you work out if your project:
- Is technically possible
- Is commercially viable
- Has adequate funds to get to launch.
- Is appealing to your target market at the necessary RRP
We’ve seen too many project fail because of the above reasons over the last 10 years. As such we ask the difficult questions early on and provide both technical and commercially feasibility assessments to ensure that your project is worth proceeding with.
Conclusion
This is the heart of D2M’s design approach to textile projects. We are focused on your commercial success and so we identify the key risks and then look to minimise them. We are designers who understand business and who have manufactured and launched products for over 20 years. Get in Touch today.
