What exactly is a tech pack?
Not a mood image and not a brand story, but measurable specifications: dimensions, materials, colour codes, stitching, labels and packaging. It's the only document from which a factory can reproduce your product without you there.
Compare it to a building plan. A contractor doesn't build from a photo of a nice house; they build from measurements and materials. A clothing factory works exactly the same way: anything you don't specify, someone else fills in, according to that factory's standard.
Why do you need a tech pack?
Most productions that go wrong aren't caused by a bad factory, but by an incomplete brief. A sleeve that's two centimetres too long, a neck label that sits crooked, a blue that's just not your blue: those are open questions someone answered for you.
A tech pack closes those questions at three moments. At the quote, because a factory can only price seriously once it knows which fabric, trims and finish you want. At the sample, because the factory makes what's written down instead of what it thinks you mean. And at bulk, because quality control measures against it.
It's also your evidence. If a delivery deviates, the conversation is about a measurable difference instead of a feeling. Without a specification there's no standard, and without a standard there's no rejection.
What goes in a tech pack?
This is the basis almost every factory expects:
- Technical drawing of the front and back, with enlarged details
- Size chart per size, including measuring points and tolerances
- Fabric: composition, GSM, structure and finish
- Trims: rib, thread, zips, cords, casing tape and buttons
- Colour codes in Pantone, per component
- Prints and embroidery: placement, size, technique and supplied file format
- Construction: seam types, stitching and reinforcements
- Labels: neck label, care label and size label, with material, size and placement
- Packaging: folding method, polybag, hangtag, quantity per box and box marking
- Version number and date on every page
How do you make a good size chart?
Of all the components, the size chart goes wrong most often. A measurement only becomes a specification when it says where you measure. 'Chest width 56' is an assumption; 'chest width 56 cm, measured flat, one centimetre below the armhole' is an instruction.
Record the grading per size (the step between S, M and L) and give a tolerance per measuring point. Textile isn't metal: a deviation of half a centimetre to one centimetre is normal and workable at most points. If that margin isn't in it, you'll argue about every single piece afterwards.
So never judge your fit on one size. A style that fits perfectly in M can still hang crooked in XL because the grading is off. Preferably have two or three sizes sampled.
How do you specify fabric, trims and colour?
You describe a fabric with at least three details: composition (for example 80% cotton / 20% polyester), GSM and the type of knit or weave. GSM is the fabric weight in grams per square metre and determines how heavy and sturdy your product feels: t-shirt jersey usually sits between 180 and 260 GSM, hoodie fleece starts at about 320 GSM.
Trims are forgotten most often and are exactly what's most visible: the rib on the collar and cuffs, the thread in colour and thickness, the zip with brand and tooth size, the cord with its end pieces and the casing tape. For each trim, state the material, the colour and the placement.
You specify colour in Pantone, per component, so also for the thread and the rib. Not in RGB and not as 'dark blue'. Also ask for a lab dip: a physically dyed swatch for approval before the fabric goes into production. Judging colour on a screen goes wrong sooner or later.
How do you specify construction, labels and packaging?
For construction, you name the seam types and the finishing: overlock, coverstitch, double stitching at stress points, binding at the neck. Also state where you want reinforcements, such as shoulder tape or a small triangle at the hood, and what stitch density you expect.
Labels are three different things: a neck label (woven, printed or as a heat transfer), a care label with composition and washing instructions, and sometimes a separate size label. For each, add the material, the size and the placement in millimetres.
And then the packaging, the chapter almost nobody fills in: the folding method, the polybag, where the hangtag goes, the number of pieces per box and what's on that box. Skip this and you get it the way the factory is used to, and that's rarely how your webshop or retailer needs it.
Is a sketch or moodboard a tech pack?
No. Three documents are regularly confused with it. All three are useful, but none of them is a production order.
- A moodboard shows the mood and direction of your brand, not the measurements.
- A design sketch shows the shape, but says nothing about fabric, construction or finish.
- A reference garment ('make it like this one') helps enormously, but the factory still has to derive measurements and materials from it, and your version almost always differs on ten or more points.
How detailed does a tech pack need to be?
As detailed as the risk you're taking. A basic tee with one print location needs only a few pages; a lined jacket with zips, pockets and lining quickly needs twice that. If you're unsure whether the factory will fill in a detail correctly itself, it belongs in the tech pack.
Put a version number with a date on every page and keep a short revision history. By the second sample round, files are flying back and forth, and the most expensive misunderstanding in clothing production is producing on v1 while v3 was approved.
Can you start without a tech pack?
Yes. Most brands that come to us don't have one. They have an idea, a few photos and sometimes a garment that comes close in fit. That's enough to start.
In the intake we go through your style point by point: which product, which fabric and GSM, which fit, which branding and which quantities. Whatever sketches, reference images and sample garments you send, we check briefly and for free. Our designer can make a mock-up for €99.99 and get your product production ready; a full tech pack isn't included in the price as standard.
The sample is then the check on that document. You physically assess what was specified, give written feedback point by point, and after your approval the bulk goes into production. You can read how such a round works in the article on requesting a clothing sample.
Already have a tech pack? Send it with your request. We produce from 10 pieces per style in our own workshop in Turkey, with no agents or traders in between. Your quote states the specifications we agreed on together.