What is a clothing tech pack?
A tech pack is the complete manufacturing specification for a garment. It contains the technical sketch, a graded measurement chart with tolerances, construction callouts, the bill of materials, labelling and packing instructions. It is the contract document a factory quotes and produces against.
It is not a design document. A mood board, a styled photograph and a colour palette communicate intent to a person; a tech pack communicates dimensions to a machine operator who has never seen the brand. The distinction matters because a factory quoting against a photograph is guessing, and the price reflects the guess.
The tech pack is also the reference for any later dispute. Where bulk differs from expectation, the measurement chart and tolerance table decide who is right. A buyer without one has no position.
What must a tech pack contain?
Six sections are mandatory: technical flat sketches front and back, a graded measurement chart with tolerances, construction and stitch callouts, a bill of materials with fabric and trim specifications, labelling and branding placement, and packing instructions.
| Section | What it must state | Consequence if omitted |
|---|---|---|
| Technical sketch | Flat front, back, and details, with callout leaders | Factory interprets styling from a photo |
| Measurement chart | Points of measure, base size, full size grading, tolerance per point | Fit disputes with no reference |
| Construction | Stitch type, SPI, seam finish, topstitch distance | Factory uses its house standard |
| Bill of materials | Fabric composition, weight, colour reference, every trim | Substitutions made without notice |
| Labelling | Main label, care label, size label, hangtag, placement | Wrong placement discovered in bulk |
| Packing | Fold method, polybag, carton quantity, carton marks | Warehouse receiving problems |
The measurement chart carries the most weight of the six. It must list every point of measure with a name the factory recognises, give the measurement for the base size, provide the grade rule between sizes, and state a tolerance for each point. A chart without tolerances is unenforceable, because no two garments in a production run measure identically.
Colour must be specified by physical reference or Pantone number, never by name. "Navy" describes a family containing hundreds of shades. Send a physical swatch or a TCX reference, and require a lab dip approval before bulk dyeing. The label and packing sections apply directly to private label apparel.
How do you create a tech pack?
Start from the measurement chart of an existing garment that fits correctly, add technical flats, specify fabric and trims by measurable properties, then state construction and packing. A competent first pack takes a technical designer two to four days per style.
The fastest route for a buyer without a technical designer is to work from a reference garment. Send the factory a physical sample of a garment whose fit you want to replicate, and ask them to measure it and produce a measurement chart. Most factories will do this as part of the sampling process, and it removes the largest source of error in a first pack.
Three practical rules produce a usable document:
- Specify measurable properties, not adjectives. "220 GSM single jersey, 30s combed" is a specification; "good quality soft cotton" is not.
- State tolerances everywhere. Plus or minus half a centimetre on chest, one centimetre on length, and a stated percentage on fabric weight.
- Show placement dimensionally. A logo "on the chest" arrives in a different place on every sample; a logo 8 centimetres below the collar seam and centred does not.
Software is optional. A clear spreadsheet with dimensioned sketches works. What matters is completeness and unambiguity, not the tool.
What do first-time tech packs leave out?
Four omissions recur in first packs: tolerances on the measurement chart, packing and carton marking instructions, care and composition labelling requirements, and the full trim list including thread, interlining and hardware finish. Each one leaves the factory to decide.
Each omission has a predictable consequence. Missing tolerances means the buyer cannot reject anything. Missing packing instructions means goods arrive folded and bagged to the factory's convention, which suits the factory, not the receiving warehouse, and costs money to rework. Missing care labelling means the garment can fail the destination market's requirements, which is the importer's liability. Missing trim detail means the factory chooses, and the choice will be the cheapest option that satisfies the description.
The fifth omission is quieter and more expensive: no statement of what happens to seconds. Every production run generates garments that fail inspection. Absent instruction, the factory decides — and buyers occasionally discover their own branded seconds in a local market. State it in the pack.
What happens if you have no tech pack?
Production still proceeds, using the factory's own blocks and house standards. The result is a competent garment, but not necessarily the garment you intended, and the buyer has no basis to reject it because nothing was specified.
This route is legitimate and sometimes correct. A buyer starting a first small order without technical capability is better served by adapting a factory's developed block than by producing a poor specification. That is the ODM route, and it exists precisely for buyers in this position.
What does not work is the middle position — a photograph, a verbal description and an expectation of a specific result. It produces multiple sample rounds, each adding one to two weeks, and a price that was quoted against assumptions that turned out to be wrong.
Where a buyer has no tech pack, the honest sequence is: send a reference garment, agree a measurement chart from it, approve a proto and then a fit sample, and treat the approved sample as the specification. That is a tech pack assembled backwards, and it works.
Where does the tech pack fit when sourcing from Bangladesh?
Bangladeshi factories work from tech packs daily for brands with substantial technical teams, so the format is universally understood. What varies is what a smaller buyer arrives with, and the sampling calendar follows directly from it.
A complete pack reaches an approved pre-production sample in two rounds. A reference garment with no pack takes three. A photograph and a description takes four or more, and the calendar stretches by three to six weeks. Buyers sending us a specification get a written review of what is missing before we quote, because a gap found at quotation costs nothing and the same gap found at fit sample costs a fortnight.