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Fashion Design vs Technical Design
Fashion designers conceptualize the overall look, style, and theme of a collection by creating mood boards, sketches, and line plans. A technical designer ensures that the designs are translated into functional garments that fit and function well by creating accurate tech packs and conducting sample evaluations.
What Does a Fashion Designer Do?
Working as a fashion designer requires strong creativity, artistic skills, and a keen eye for fashion trends.
Here’s a list of tasks that fashion designers work on:
- Design development, mood boards, and sketches
- Selecting fabrics, colors, and trims
- Working with fashion buyers to understand market trends
- Overseeing the entire design process from initial concept to final product
- Participating in fashion shows, photoshoots and other promotional events
You can read more about the fashion design role (and how you can work freelance) here.
What Does a Technical Designer Do?
Working as a technical designer requires strong knowledge of garment construction, pattern making, and an understanding of how the garment production process works.
Here’s a list of tasks that technical designers work on:
- Creating production-ready tech packs including technical sketches, garment specifications, measurements, and construction details
- Grading measurement specs across a size range
- Conducting sample garment fittings and evaluations
- Collaborating with pattern makers, sample makers, and manufacturers to prototype and produce garments
You can read more about the technical design role (and how you can work freelance) here.
How Do Fashion Designers and Technical Designers Work Together?
After the creative fashion designer whips up the design concepts, the technical designer develops the tech packs and works with sample makers and manufacturers to ensure proper fit and construction.
Together, they oversee the creation of prototype garments. Technical designers lead the fit evaluations together with the fashion designers, buyers and merchandisers. While the technical designer focuses on giving fit and construction comments during these sample evaluations, the creative designer shares their comments on aesthetic and overall design until the garment is approved for production.
In my 15+ years working in the fashion industry, I’ve done both roles. In some cases, smaller startup brands can only hire one designer, and that designer has to take on both creative fashion design and tech design roles. I’ve personally worked for clients who were fairly new to the fashion industry and were not familiar with the latter role and expected the “fashion designer” to do both.
