Art & Design Assistance - Patterns & Sampling

A brand name garment is recognized by a label, a tag, or a sign, while a Name Brand garment speaks for itself, and is recognizable immediately, or a touch.  At Breakthrough we strive to design your goods with a voice, look and feel that speaks for itself.  Our design teams start with your brand’s DNA, enhance it, while keeping it fresh and up to date. Or you are just starting out with a new endeavor or a new line?  Will it be driven by fashion, function, or both? Regardless our stylists, designers, and technical teams collaborate with you to create the look, feel, fashion or function that delivers garments that matches your vision… creates a niche… and surpasses your expectations.

Where do we start?   That depends on you.  Share a sample, a tech pack, a photo, a drawing, or just your imagination.  Share your vision for your brand, what it stands for, how and where it will be marketed and sold, the targeted price point, and any other characteristics or ideas you may have developed.

Always keeping one foot squarely in a Brand’s DNA, we might take a step incorporating a new “jean” (gene) or two. We watch the marketplace, the fashion scene, and urban areas. Our insight is not limited to the U.S. and Mexico, with full time staff in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and China we observe trends before they are evident at retail…  deployment of a new fabric, experiments of a new format, or the updating of the sizing profiles.
Technology is redefining apparel.  Logos are no longer flat and printed… They are dimensional and flexible silicone.  Buttons and other intricate accents can be sourced globally… or custom 3D printed. Advances in sublimation techniques allow intricate designs to be produced quickly and cost effectively in low quantities.  Fabrics and associated treatments are rapidly multiplying.  Whether it is sustainability, labor practices, fabric characteristics (UV, stain, water, or wrinkle resistance /release, wicking) or special characteristic such as fire retardant, active cooling, active warming, and even ballistic garments are all historical and up to date experiences at Breakthrough.

If you are curious about the industry’s newest technology in development… watch for “solar” fabrics that can generate low voltage in the wild or on a morning walk.

While technology rules through much of this process, it is unable to match the efforts and skills of expert sample makers.  Using the original artistic design, the technical pack that has been documented, the fabric’s, knap and weight, the cut dimensions, and numerous other variables they craft samples ensuring that the garment fits, flows, lies, is fits comfortably and looks exactly as designed in real life.  In recent years, these samples often used plain fabrics with stock items, but today Breakthrough has acquired the ability to sublimate, screen print, embroider, and even knit so that the samples are almost representative of the final product.

This process is a litmus test of the look, fit, feel, design and wearability of the proposed product, to the degree it is often used for photography of marketing materials. We refer to it as the POD (Proof of Design).

Custom fabrics, trims, and packaging converge from sources in Mexico and around the globe.  Manufacturing and Quality Assurance teams are fully engaged as raw materials are received by our factory. Logo’s, labels, buttons, fabrics, sublimation films, patterns, and training are checked and double checked.
In some cases, specialty or higher-end fabrics and trims are required from Asia.  Our parent company, the Envelope Group, contracts these materials direct from the source in China and Bangladesh. They are quality checked in country so there are no surprises or delays as they arrive in Puebla. These materials from both domestic and international suppliers are quickly converted to finished goods with quality control inspections at each stage of production.
The transit time from Puebla to the border is X days, and is then routed for final delivery in the U.S.  The fact that your goods originate in North America provides you with a very quick time-to-market for new items, and even allows you to reorder and deliver a run-away hit within the same fashion cycle.

No worries… Breakthrough’s parent company, the Envelope Group has assets, staff, and capabilities worldwide in Hong Kong, Ningbo China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Columbia.  The Envelope Group manufactures goods (often designed by Breakthrough) for major U.S. brands and retailers in large quantities that ship by ocean transit.  When this combination of assets is utilized, a buyer can lower its cost of goods, maintain excellent quality, while dramatically increasing its value to Customers with lower price points.