Tech Pack Checklist
Everything to include so your manufacturer makes your garment exactly right. Print it, tick it off, and send it with your enquiry.
You don’t need a finished tech pack to get a quote — a sketch or a clear description is enough to start. But the more of this you can pin down, the closer your first sample comes back to what’s in your head. Use this as a working checklist.
1. Garment overview
- Style name and a one-line description
- Garment type (e.g. heavyweight hoodie, oversized tee)
- Fit (slim, regular, oversized) and intended wearer
- Reference garment or images you're working from
Why it matters: this is the section that stops a factory guessing. “Oversized tee” means different things in Seoul and Stockholm, so name a reference garment you own if you have one. Without it we build to our own house block, and the first sample comes back a size off what you pictured.
2. Technical sketch
- Front view with key features labelled
- Back view
- Close-ups of any special details (pockets, seams, prints)
Why it matters: a flat sketch is not decoration, it is the instruction. A photo of a garment you like is useful context but it hides the back, the inside of the neck and the seam construction. Where a detail is hard to draw, write it in words beside the drawing — we would rather read a sentence than interpret a smudge.
3. Measurements
- A size chart with your key points of measure
- Your base/sample size
- Grading rules across sizes (how each size changes)
Why it matters: this is the single most common cause of a failed first sample. Give measurements flat, in centimetres, with the points of measure named — chest one inch below the armhole, body length from the high point of the shoulder. If you skip grading rules we will apply standard ones, which are rarely what a brand actually wants at the extreme sizes.
4. Materials & fabric
- Fabric type and composition (e.g. 100% organic cotton)
- Fabric weight in GSM
- Any certification required (e.g. GOTS organic)
Why it matters: fabric is bought weeks before anyone cuts, so a vague answer here delays everything downstream. State the GSM as a number rather than “heavyweight”, and say whether the yarn should be combed ring-spun or open-end — two tees at the same GSM can feel like different price brackets because of that one choice.
5. Trims & components
- Threads, drawcords, zips, buttons, eyelets
- Care labels and content labels
- Any hardware or special components
Why it matters: trims have their own minimum order quantities and their own lead times, and they are the usual reason a finished order sits waiting. A custom zip puller or a woven drawcord tip can add three weeks on its own. Tell us early and we can order in parallel rather than in sequence.
6. Colours
- Each colourway, with reference codes (Pantone where possible)
- Which parts are which colour (body, ribbing, trims)
Why it matters: give a Pantone reference, or send a physical swatch, and say which reference wins if they disagree. “Navy” is not a colour instruction. Remember that each colourway is its own fabric batch and dye lot, which is why minimums are counted per colour and not per style.
7. Branding & labels
- Neck label / woven label artwork and placement
- Any embroidery or print artwork, with size and position
- Hang tags
Why it matters: label artwork needs to be vector, not a screenshot, and placement needs a measurement from a fixed point rather than “centred”. Embroidery cannot hold detail below roughly five millimetres, so small text turns to a blob of thread — better to find that out here than on a sealed sample.
8. Packaging
- How each piece should be folded and packed
- Polybags, tissue, boxes, or branded packaging
Why it matters: packaging decisions affect the shipping cost, and shipping is quoted before production ends. Polybag or paper, single or multipack, hang tag strung or gunned — each changes the carton count. If you are selling into the EU, packaging is also in scope for the rules on unsold stock and recyclability.
9. Quantities
- Quantity per style, per colour, per size
- Target launch date / timeline
Why it matters: quantities decide the price more than any other line in the pack. State them per style and per colourway, because that is how minimums and dye lots work. A size split is useful but not binding at quote stage — we can adjust it up to the point the fabric is cut.
Want this as a fillable document?
This page is the checklist. If you would rather work in a document you can type into and send us, our free tech pack templatecovers every section below as fillable A4 pages — no email address required, and no sign-up.
Don’t have it all yet?
That’s completely normal — most first-time founders don’t. Send us whatever you have and we’ll help you fill in the rest during sampling. Start your collection, or read what a tech pack is.