Finding the Right Pattern for Growth - Apparel Magazine

 

Posted Date: 9/15/2011

Finding the Right Pattern for Growth

 

 

Slipping on an Icebreaker Superfine merino wool t-shirt to head out for a hike or a run, most wearers have no idea of the complexity of their garment’s design. While a traditional t-shirt will typically have four or five pieces in its pattern, an Icebreaker shirt may have as many as 12 or 13 separate pattern pieces that must be accounted for. That complexity is what’s behind the New Zealand-based outdoor apparel company’s renowned precision fits — but it also makes for some challenges when it comes to design and pattern making.

 

With roughly 300 SKUs being sold in any given season, getting each complex, high-performance garment from concept to production takes a lot of coordination between designers, pattern makers, and product developers, says Jessie Tillson, Icebreaker’s technical designer. Not surprisingly, the company relies on cutting-edge software to ensure the ongoing fit of its apparel and to streamline the design and production processes behind those fits.

 

“Technology is really integral to how we capitalize on our products’ beauty and functionality,” says Linda Tanouye, vice president of development and sourcing for Icebreaker. “There is so much competition now in the performance apparel market — and in the merino wool category specifically. What will keep Icebreaker ahead of our competitors is our commitment to the use of the best quality merino wool and our superior quality and fit, and we cannot maintain those advantages without state-of-the-art software.”

 

Superior quality and fit (as well as sustainability) have been Icebreaker hallmarks since the company was founded in 1994 on the idea of creating a natural-fabric alternative to the synthetics-dominated performance wear market. Icebreaker uses pure merino wool handpicked in New Zealand’s Southern Alps to create its underwear, mid-layer garments, outerwear, socks and accessories for men, women and children. Today, Icebreaker is a leader in the merino wool-based performance wear field, selling its garments in more than 3,000 stores in 37 countries.

 

While not yet a household name in America, Icebreaker is gaining a U.S. foothold, selling its adventure wear at two Icebreaker TouchLab stores (in New York City and in Portland, Ore., where its design and product development office is now located) as well as at a wide range of specialty outdoor apparel retailers throughout the country. Its rapid growth over the past few years has been supported by a variety of recent technology upgrades.

 

High tech for high growth

 “We are using technology to help get our fit, product development, manufacturing and delivery processes where they need to be to support our ongoing growth,” Tanouye explains.

 

The company recently added to its expanding technology arsenal by implementing a pattern-making solution from OptiTex, an Israeli fashion-design software company. OptiTex’s Pattern Design Software (PDS) is helping Icebreaker to “enhance and organize our pattern-design workflow so we can be more efficient,” says Tillson.

 

The implementation couldn’t have come at a better time for Tillson, who was recently promoted to her current role, in which she oversees the pattern and fit aspect of Icebreaker’s entire product range. Because Icebreaker is also refining its body measurement charts and custom fit mannequins through a partnership with an apparel fit solutions firm (that it prefers not to name), Tillson is designing and perfecting a slew of new pattern blocks, in addition to overseeing the company’s day-to-day patternmaking needs.

 

As to benefits of the new PDS, Tillson points to the ease, speed, accuracy and advanced functionality the program offers. With PDS, drafting new patterns or editing existing patterns is an intuitive, Windows-based, streamlined and collaborative process, she explains.

 

The software provides a single workspace where Tillson can easily access multiple pattern pieces and manipulate the pieces as needed using simple commands for editing, copying, pasting, rotating, fixing, closing and removing pieces. Picture icons for the program’s various tools as well as movable toolbars and dialog boxes make it easy for Tillson to customize the product to suit her preferences. Also, the software offers a full suite of features including capabilities for handling darts, seam allowance, advanced measurement techniques, pleats, complicated curves, dimension modifications and facings.

 

A better way of working

The new system also provides Tillson with “one big workspace containing all the pieces from a pattern, which means I can put the pieces on top of each other, flip them, walk them, and do anything I need to very easily in that one space.”

 

The software also allows Tillson to easily stack several patterns on top of each other in order to maintain the consistency and accuracy of the patterns — a crucial aspect for checking the performance of the company’s contract pattern makers in China. “When the work comes back from overseas, I can quickly drop those patterns into the solution and check to make sure they line up with the blocks we’ve made here,” she explains. If there are issues, she can find them quickly.

 

“I can tell in a legging pattern, for example, if the patternmaker has maintained the integrity of the rise shape and proportions of the block we supplied when adding the gussets, tricky paneling and other seam lines the designer’s drawing calls for,” she says.

 

In addition, because the newest version of PDS includes the ability to share patterns as Adobe Illustrator files, it has increased Tillson’s ability to collaborate with Icebreaker’s conceptual designers. When the designers are working on prototypes for new prints, for instance, they need access to patterns so they can plan out where the graphics will sit on the garments. Tillson can quickly turn out a new pattern, export it as an Illustrator file, and email it to her co-workers.

 

Where and how garments sit on the body is also crucial — both for the pattern-making process and for the overall fit and performance aspects that Icebreaker is known for. As such, Tillson was pleased to see how the solution handled scaling requirements to be sure that the patterns will allow the garments to flex as they should. The software allows users to choose X (width of garment) or Y (length of garment) and type in the percentage by which they would like to reduce or increase the length or the width of the pattern.

 

“Changing the X percentage can be great for swapping between non-Lycra, Lycra, and rib fabrics,” she explains, noting the potential to eventually work out a system within the software that relates to the different amounts of stretch in each fabric.

 

Ultimately, the new software solution falls in line with Icebreaker’s overall devotion to fit and performance, as well as its mission to embrace technology as a catalyst for process efficiency and business growth.

 

Amy Roach Partridge is a New York-based free-lance writer specializing in business and technology.

 

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