Technical Designer

A Technical Designer creates and communicates the design specifications of apparel to outsourced manufacturing houses. You work on the measurements, patterns, and fit of the garments designed by your company, developing standards that will allow outsourced workers to construct garments that remain true to your brand’s standards of quality. If you are mapping out patterns in your head by the time Project Runway cuts to the first commercial, then you may be interested in this profession.

The role of Technical Designer is a relatively new position brought about by globalization and the need for such professionals to interact with outsourced businesses. Most Technical Designers work for large companies, as there is typically no use for them in small businesses. However, you may have the opportunity to work freelance for several companies.

The first step in your primary duty as Technical Designer is to take an initial design and create a detailed pattern; this pattern will be used by a production team to generate finished garments. With this pattern you provide clear and simple construction illustrations, which include ways minimize waste by arranging the pattern in a cost efficient way. The final file of this pattern, created with computer design software, will be sent electronically to the factory for production.

When you are not working on the specifications of individual garments, you may be developing more general company standards for things like measurement, fit, quality and tolerance. Your role in the production of a company’s designs is essential because you oversee their quality and consistency.