01
Reference images, drawings or sketches
Anything that shows the look: mood boards, photographs, hand sketches, or a style you want the piece to sit beside.
Help — Starting a project
What to prepare before you write to us
You do not need everything settled before you send a first message. We assess an inquiry from whatever already exists — a sketch, a photo, a sample garment, a tech pack — and the more you can share, the more concrete our reply can be.
The short list
Eight things that help
Send what you have of these. A gap is not a reason to wait — it only changes what we can answer on the first pass.
02
Order quantity
How many pieces you are considering, given as a range if the number is still moving.
03
Target date
When you need samples or finished goods, and what that date is tied to.
04
Tech pack, technical drawings, size chart or process notes
Whatever specification already exists, at whatever level of detail it is written.
05
A physical sample, patterns or an existing block
A garment we can measure, or a pattern set you already work from.
06
Fabric, trims, colour and embellishment
Materials you can supply, plus the colour and handwork direction you have in mind.
07
Budget or target unit price
A rough band is enough; it helps us judge what is realistic before the work is costed.
08
The service you want
Design development, patterns and tech packs, sampling, production, or a combination.
Incomplete is normal
What happens when things are missing
Most first inquiries arrive half-formed. We look at what you have, then choose between four honest outcomes: we can quote from it, we need one or two more pieces of information, we recommend a paid technical assessment for a complex or unclear style, or the project is better handled as a development step before production can be costed.
Being clear about what is not decided yet works in your favour. A sketch that says “this silhouette, but the neckline is open” gives us something to build on, while a vague brief presented as final usually costs a round of questions to unpick. An open question is not a weakness in the brief — it is often faster to work with than a finished-sounding one that turns out to be guesswork.
Per project
Where this varies by project
Three things are settled case by case rather than by a standing rule: whether an assessment fee applies and what it covers, whether a style needs design or technical development before it can be priced, and which remaining gaps still stand between you and a firm quote.
What does not change: we tell you what is missing, what we can do with it, and what the next step would be — even when that next step is not a price.
Keep reading
Related answers
Do I need design development?
When development is worth commissioning, and when the material you already hold is enough.
Read the answerHow we assess and quote
Why the number follows your project's scope rather than a published list.
Read the answerHow a project runs
From the first inquiry through quote, sample, production and delivery.
See the processStart
Send what you have
A sketch, a photo, a spec sheet or a single question is enough to begin. We reply with the next concrete step.