Launching your own sustainable swimwear line can be a life-changing experience. Feeling nervous is natural, especially if you give up your day job. Despite this, if you love swimwear, possess some savvy social media skills and an eye for what’s trending, and find the right company to bring your ideas to life, you may soon find yourself working independently from home, earning rewards that you would not have imagined.
In order to successfully launch a swimwear label, several critical steps must be completed, each of which is pivotal to the success of your venture. This guide will walk you through four essential stages in creating your swim line:
- Begin with a Sketch or Reference: Put your initial ideas on paper or select a reference image. This is where you start bringing your vision to life, considering everything from design shapes to intricate details.
- Send over your designs: At Swimwear Bali, we no longer need intensive tech packs. We can start work from well-taken front and back images. These images will serve as your design blueprints, containing everything from detailed images to specifications and materials needed for production. You’re now ready to price your designs. Find out how here.
- The Sampling Process: This stage is about refining your design to actual samples. If need be, you can tweak your designs, ensuring everything from fit to aesthetics aligns with your vision.
- Final Production: After perfecting your samples, you’re ready to go into full production. This is where your swim line truly comes to life and is ready to make its mark in the fashion world.
Remember, each step is an important step towards realising your swim line. While the journey may seem complex, it leads to the rewarding moment of seeing your designs become reality. Now, let’s break this down further.
Begin with a Sketch or Reference
So, you’re starting a swimwear label, yay! Start by getting those ideas out of your head and onto paper. Don’t worry if you’re not the next Picasso – it’s all about capturing the basic shape and the cool details you’re imagining. Not big on drawing? No problem! Just grab some images close to what you’re thinking of and tweak them to make them your own. It’s all about making it feel like it’s truly yours, individual & totally your creation.
Create the Perfect Handover
Handovers are crucial—they act as comprehensive guides to assembling your swimwear. Essential elements of a handover include:
- Detailed Product Images: Swimwear Bali prefers imagery to sketches. Images should cover all angles and specific features, like branding your custom logo on your accessories or packaging. We’ll also need notes of changes you want to implement to screenshots or imagery to better understand your concepts.
- Specification Sheet: Swimwear Bali doesn’t require the old-fashioned way of working with detailed measurements & spec sheets. Instead, they make patterns digitally using state-of-the-art 2D AutoCAD software. Working this way allows them to make changes in minutes rather than days to any minor adjustment you want implemented.
Think of your handover as your secret weapon for getting realistic cost estimates from experienced manufacturers. It’s like giving a detailed map of what you’re planning to make. Following these steps is like laying down a rock-solid foundation for your swimwear line. It’s about transforming those cool ideas floating around in your head into something real and ready for the market. See an example of a handover here.
The Sampling Process
Let’s dive into the sampling stage of your swimwear line – where your designs take shape and come to life! This phase is super important as it’s all about making sure every element of your product is just right. Here’s a brief run-through of what to focus on:
- Check the manufacturer’s body size chart to ensure their sizes work for the market you’ll sell into. Swimwear fabric has good stretch due to its Lycra or Spandex content, so don’t overstress about sizing, but do check. Any reliable manufacturer will send you a detailed easy to understand size chart.
- Prototype Samples: With a clear handover of designs mentioning the fabric you want to be used and some notes on any changes to your imagery, in most cases, sample collections are produced correctly the first time around. Once you’re happy with your samples, you’re ready to move on to the sample stage.
- Production Samples (PS): Should you want, a few pieces from your bulk order can be taken & sent to you to allow you to take a photo shoot or given to agents, etc.
Remember, sampling is more than just a formality. It’s your opportunity to refine and perfect your swimwear, ensuring it meets both your standards and those of your customers. This is why it’s imperative to work with the right manufacturer. So, take your time, be thorough, and don’t be afraid to return to the drawing board if necessary. Your swim line’s success depends on it!
