How can you gain the edge with the right fabric knowledge?

Something we battle with on a daily basis in the fashion & textiles industry is, what comes first, the fabric or the garment? Fabric is an integral part of the design and production process and a material, literally, that we work with on a daily basis in the fashion industry, whether you are directly responsible for it or not, the fabric is your garment. You can not have one without the other.

So why is it that so many people who work in fashion know so little about fabric, and how can knowing more provide you with an ‘edge’?

Watch the Youtube video or read the blog below.

Some of you may say - “but I don’t need to, I work in Merchandising”, or “I only buy the fabric, I don’t need to know about the end individual garment.” However, each piece of fabric that you see, handle or buy has its own unique back story - origin, weave structure, finish, dye process, not to mention the fitting, handling, range planning and buying, selling and promotion - all of which is worth understanding if you are to maximise the efficiency of your supply chain and source the best fabrics for your garments.

What can you gain from understanding fabrics more?

Having more knowledge about fabric will enable you to quickly decipher things like:

• If a fabric is going to be workable in a particular garment

• Visually assess the potential performance of a fabric, such as how it will drape

• Does it need a bit more care and attention to make

• Problem solve any issues before they happen, therefore saving time, money and effort in making garments in fabrics that do not work.

• The estimated final cost - by understanding what a fabric is made from, and its composition, you can estimate the expected costs of a fabric, knowing immediately if it suits your brand position in both price and quality.

Fabric is a huge subject area and sadly, in the UK fashion industry, it seems to be an area with the least regard. The fabric department is the one area that gets scrapped when times get tough and budgets get tightened, but it is the one thing that can really help set your brand apart from everyone else out there. You can have the most imaginative and creative designs in the world, but if you don't have the right fabric for that style then it is not going to look right.

I have been into high street shop after high street shop, and everything looks exactly the same. The reason is that high street fashion brands are looking at the same designers for style inspiration and using the same easy-to-source, cheap fabrics, resulting in every garment looking the same, and ultimately giving you little to no edge over your competitors.

Give your designs the edge with the right fabric

If you know where to source the right fabric, what the right fabric for your garment is and when to ask the right questions and who to, you can really set your brand apart and give your garments the edge over competitors. The right fabric on a garment, when chosen correctly, looks considered, well made and expensive. It elevates the garment design giving your customer a beautiful product.

Save time and money with the right fabric

Knowing more about the fabric process can help you to identify potential issues and problems earlier in the production process. Thus saving precious time, and avoiding costly mistakes. By identifying challenges early on in the process you have time to and (if you join my course), you’ll know how to resolve issues with; delays, colour, finishing and other basic fabric problems which occur regularly in production. You’ll also know how to negotiate with key people in the process in order to resolve the issue and obtain the best outcome, something we cover intensely in my programme, An Introduction to Fashion Fabrics.

If you do not have an internal fabric specialist to help your brand navigate the fabric sourcing, buying and production, then arming yourself and your team with this basic understanding will be key in helping you maximise and thrive in the world of textiles and fabrics.

So, What is fabric?

You now know why they are so important, but let’s now cover exactly what fabric is.

A fabric is a piece of cloth made by weaving, knitting or felting fibres … obvious it may be, I know, you're welcome guys.

But there is so much more to it than that.

Do you know the difference between a fibre and a yarn? Both these elements are fundamental to making fabric, but what is the difference between each of them?

How about the difference between cellulose, manmade, and animal fibre?

A carded and a worsted yarn?

The technical difference between a woven and a knitted fabric? A tricotine and a waffle? A print and a jacquard?

Do you know the characteristics and behaviours of wool? Do you know where viscose comes from and how it's made?

You may know some, you may know nothing - and you may think that you don’t need to know all of this detail to source fabric. But as we know from the start of this article, it will help your brand grow if you do have an understanding of these basic principles when designing, sourcing and buying fabrics. Understanding what you are buying, why the fabric is priced a certain way and how the fabric might behave in certain styles is crucial to giving you the edge and avoiding pitfalls down the road.

It also helps understand why you can't buy some fabrics out of some areas of the globe as this is not their specialist area. Having some background knowledge gives you the confidence to go to fabric fairs and appointments with the confidence. You’ll be able to ask the right questions, understand the language used, learn key things to pick up on, and sound like you know what you are talking about!

It also helps to know about fabric finishes, how they can change the behaviours of fabric and why you might want to use them. We can sometimes use fabric finishes to help improve performance, but why and what are they?

Understanding fabric origins

Understanding the origins of fabrics can also be helpful, and yes, this is the fabric geek in me coming out. For example, did you know that China had a monopoly on silk production for 5000 years, and if you were caught with silk worms or mulberry leaves it was punishable by death? Or that the UK was the largest exporter globally of wool, cotton, and linen, fueling our industrial revolution of the 1800s. Or the origin of the term ‘spinster’? Take a guess….Well, when spinster first entered English in the mid-1300s, it referred to a woman who spun thread and yarn who was of lower status, and now it refers to an unmarried woman!

In conclusion…

Having a clear understanding of textiles and fabrics in the fashion industry is fundamental to the success of your brand and business. Anyone who is a part of the fashion garment making process should be aware of the basics, so that efficiencies, sustainability goals, design needs and challenges can be addressed, resolved and handled effectively. Not having this understanding and intervention in key parts of the process can be detrimental to the project, garment, bottom line or supplier relationship. Everyone can do their part in helping your brand gain and keep that competitive edge.

How much do you need to know about fabrics to make a difference?

This is exactly what I cover in my programme, An Introduction to Fashion fabrics, which I deliver as an open workshop in London, an in-company workshop - tailored to your brand, or as a 1-2-1 session - personlised to your exact needs. It’s an in-depth, concise workshop that will arm you with the right information you need to tackle the issues we have touched upon in this article. Join others like Sue Carter founder of CARI, Andrea Treacy from J I G S A W and the team at Dunhill - and get your team armed with tools that could transform your fabric buying process.

Find out more about the workshop