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Apparel Designer VS Technical Designer
By admins | November 17, 2009
Look out; today we’ve got some drama! As many of you know clothing companies not only employ designers but also technical designers. While the duties vary from company to company, generally a designer is responsible for the initial design idea, sketch, fabrication, trims, sample spec, design details, tech-pack etc. Once the company gets an order for a particular style, the technical designer takes over with all the technical details like graded specs, detailed measurements, fit comments and works with the factory to correctly manufacture the garments. For more info on what a technical designer does click here. Now, at some companies the responsibilities are laid heavier on design while in others, it all falls to the tech department. So with much overlap in skills and responsibilities, grievances are bound to come up. We asked a tech designer and an apparel designer to share with us their top pet peeves in dealing with each other. Perhaps we can all learn something here….
Apparel Designer Perceptive
All my major issues tend to be with specific technical designers and their attitudes or work ethics. However, having worked at a handful of manufacturers, (branded and private label) there are some common trends that seem to crop up everywhere.
- The language barrier is probably the number one problem. Tech departments are almost always Asian, with the majority being Chinese. Many speak English as a second language, which is just great for communicating with our overseas factories, but beyond disastrous for internal relationships. So much time and energy is wasted because of poor communication. One time I was in a fit meeting reviewing styles and the technical designer was screaming at my assistant and me, in Chinese and then in English, that we gave her the wrong color. Over and over she screamed, “wrong color” we even brought in an original fabric swatch and she threw it on the floor and continued to rant in Chinese. Eventually we figured out that she was screaming “wrong collar” not “color”. What a waste of time, and then of course, it turned out that the collar was not even wrong! She hadn’t realized that the collar specs had been changed, per the customer’s request, even though it was on an email she was cc’d on, because she had trouble reading emails so she ignored most of them! Augh!
- Technical designers who can’t think outside the box. It is beyond infuriating to have a new design concept and pass it on to tech and have them tell you, “no, can’t be done.” Even when given with full specs and constructions details, the first answer is almost always, no! Really what they are saying is, “No, I won’t do anything that requires any extra work or thought from me.” Once we had a funky abstract jacket for the junior’s market with a crazy print and unusual snap closures. Well, the tech designer screamed that it was all wrong because the closures were on the wrong side. She was older and firm in the belief that men’s buttons went on one side and women’s on the other and if you switched that…well the world would end? Really? She was adamant that what we wanted was impossible, when really she didn’t want to bother with having to alter her block or pattern or do any work whatsoever. I just wanted to scream, “Your opinion is irrelevant, that’s why you are in tech not design, just do what I tell you and suck it up!”
- The opposite, while less common, is also a problem. Technical designers who think they are designers! You aren’t! Stop bothering me with your ideas and suggestions, I barely have time to pee, let alone get out of the office before 9pm, I don’t want to hear twenty minutes of what you think would be a cute top! If you feel that strongly apply for a design job, but until then finish my specs!
- That technical designers see everything in black and white and don’t understand that fashion is fluid. Design is constantly changing, until the garment is on its way to the store, things can and do change! So often, I will have a style and in the few days or weeks it takes the factory to make the garment things will change. Maybe we decide that 3/4 sleeve is not selling well, so we will change the spec to a full sleeve. Or perhaps the retailer has emailed that the price is too high, so we change the techpack to include cheaper plastic buttons rather then metal shanks. Inevitably, the sample garment will arrive based on the old spec, which of course is wrong now. The tech designer will waste everyone’s time ranting that it is not wrong and she doesn’t have to get another sample made. She will pull out the old notes, emails, etc all trying to prove her point, never getting that shit happens, things change, you have to go with the flow.
Technical Designer Perspective
Designers can be so difficult to work with and since everything goes through them, having a bad designer can make my job impossible. Being a technical designer is a tough job and is often overlooked since the designer gets all the recognition. But really, without us your clothes would look like misshapen potato sacks!
- During fittings, designers will always request for the impossible to be done. I had one fitting where the designer asked to make the style sit lower on the fit model’s waist and fit looser throughout the body, but she didn’t want me to increase any of the specs. She refused to believe that it could not be done, and of course she’s seen it before with even smaller specs on a store bought sample that she never even measured!!!! Do designers not even get the basic math here? The lower you go on the waist the bigger the waistband needs to be, it’s called hips, people! And why do designers always refer to mystery store samples or phantom photos that would back up their request, yet they never seem to actually have them on hand!
- When a designer hands you a sketch with no discussion or any details on how she wants it to look and fit, and of course, we’re just supposed to develop telepathy and know exactly what they want! And when you come running after them asking questions, they look at you with this expression “You idiot, figure it out! I don’t have time for you and your questions!” Then when the sample arrives from overseas, the designer comes running to you, “What were you thinking when you gave specs for this?!? This is NOT what I wanted!” Oh, really? Then why didn’t you do the specs for this yourself!
- Here’s another one that kills me during a fitting. Say we see a 2nd fit sample, it was corrected for design details based on what the designer said in the previous fitting. Now, I checked all the details and the factory actually followed everything the designer asked for. The fit model throws the sample on and walks out; the designer immediately starts yelling, “This isn’t what we decided on! Why is this so long? And why does this pocket look so ugly?!” At that point, I just look at her wanting to smack the hell out of her, hoping she’ll snap out of her amnesia and confess her idiocy! Why can’t designers EVER remember what they say?!! Even if I had recorded the whole fitting, I swear they would have denied every single word of it!
- Most designers, not all, but most are Very Very unorganized!!! And I can understand they have a lot of components that aid them in “designing” (or knocking off styles, which is the real truth) but really come on, get your shit together and get organized. Do they really have to have all their fabric swatches laid across the floor, when they have a desk? Or do they need to have their store bought samples hanging from every part of their room? And let’s not forget all their papers, which are in little piles spread all over their desk!!! There are these things called, binders and folders! Have they heard of them?! It’s fine when it doesn’t effect me, but at least once a week I hand a tech pack to the designer I work with, and of course she manages to lose it in her “dumping grounds”. And then decides to accuse me of never giving her the specs she needed to finish her end of the tech pack. All I can say is, “it’ll be All Black and White from now on, sweetheart!” Got to looooove email when it comes to those types of situations!
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Topics: designer, rant | 11 Comments » 
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November 17th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
He, he! This post is why I love this blog, nowhere else would I find this. Um.. except at work of course, in which case I’m on the apparel designer’s side!
November 18th, 2009 at 2:17 am
Wow! Drama is right! I have to say I can totally relate to both sides of this.
For the most part I have had wonderful technical designers who work their butts off getting the work done. But the only problems I have had were due to the language barrier mentioned, it really does hinder the development process. Also, I would disagree that designers are disorganized. I hear that a lot and feel like it’s the go to attack on any creative type. But really consider design is much more than just sketching, it actually takes a great deal of organization to be successful.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I love and hate this post. Who is the tech designer? She is right on about designers always wanting shit that they never explain. Do you all think its magic, are we mind readers, really! And I’ll admit I am often one of the only “americans” in my department but if designers LISTENED better it wouldn’t be such a problem!
Just found this site and really like it, thanks!
November 19th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Awww the battle tech design vs. fashion design! I am pleased to report that I was one those fashion designers that is meticulously organized. It takes both parties to get the best finished garment so my advice is to play nicely.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:35 am
holy smokes! i’m glad i do my version of both. so when i get mad at myself i just roll around and throw stuff.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:28 am
This was a great post about the dynamics b/w the fashion & tech designers.., had no idea of the behind the scenes action going on!
I could totally see a reality show about this!!
XOXO Amy
November 19th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Hi there,
Ugh, I liked! So clear and positively.
BernieR
November 24th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
ahh, great stuff, 39th & Broadway! I agree w/Midtown Girl, give us a show with all the details, and inside drama! Fascinating.
December 1st, 2009 at 2:40 pm
There definitely needs to be a show about this! Move out Ugly Betty! Here comes …ummm.. any ideas for a name?!? ; )
December 1st, 2009 at 7:27 pm
OMG….It should be called Fashion Drama 2010 lol
December 31st, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Both Designer & TD have very different & important roles in the process from concept to del. As for the drama by the parties listed above, it’s a matter of how you were raised & coping skills for stressful situations.
We’ve all had our drama w/comps that allow drama, move on, sounds like you guys work on Broadway or in Children’s wear. Go corporate, better class of employees, vendors, & maybe even ftys.
As for language barriers, we as the customer must make the extended efforts to understand accents(this is reality, get over it, get use to it, it’s here for the rest of your lifetime.
PS-this would make a disgraceful reality show, showing how childlike some people can be in the fashion industry, many people need to grow up or go corporate: )