In Spring 2020, I took a product development class and worked with a group of 3 other girls to create a new brand and product line. In this project I learned how to create a new line of clothing and how to properly brand it in the right target market. Through this process we collectively created a spec sheet, business plan, color palette and trend forecast. All of these documents are needed to have a successful startup brand and to potentially build a more complex company. The brand we created was Clover and it was a trendy streetwear company that created sustainable and affordable clothing. Everything was created on our own. We were found our inspiration piece from Obey Clothing and based our line off of their style. This particular line was curated for college students located in Denton and the shop was priced and made for the target market in order to fit into the town square. A color palette was created by choosing certain fabric swatches that we wanted to include in our product line and identifying those colors with a spectrometer that was then used to match colors on Pantone’s color library. Throughout the process of this project, I learned all the small steps that are needed to complete an entire product line. The most challenging part for me was to create a spec sheet because the math needed to be exact in term of find moderately priced items and ensuring we priced everything that was needed in the product line from the thread to the findings. Another small challenge I had to overcome was learning to create a new flat pattern on Adobe Illustrator. Based on flat patterns that were already on WGSN’s library, I had to adjust our color palette on each of the chosen designs and I struggled at first, but now I am a master. My favorite part about this project was being able to do research on what I wanted the overall line to look like and gather past fashion garments to inspire us to create something new.
Allison C Dibble 