
Made-To-Measure Clothing: Finding The Perfect Fit In Style
If you’re anything like us, you’re deeply concerned with fast fashion trends. It’s easy to manufacture, easy to buy, and even easier to throw away. The fashion industry is already responsible for some severe pollution worldwide, so why continue to contribute to a growing problem? That’s where made-to-measure clothing comes in to save fashion designers and the environment alike.
While the world is starting to make meaningful strides towards a more eco-friendly manufacturing process, we’re still far off from where we want to be.
But what is made-to-measure? And why is it a good idea for a fashion designer to take notice?
What Is Made-to-Measure Clothing?
In fashion, made-to-measure (MTM) is clothing measurements specified by the client. All measurements, colors, patterns, and sizes are designed by a fashion designer and the team that helps them.
For example, if a designer is interested in a retro style and needs a pair of pants to have precise measurements for their customers, that’s made-to-measure.
Made-to-measure plays a crucial role in the world of couture, allowing clothing manufacturers to help independent fashion designers launch clothing lines.
Although similar, this is different from made-to-order, another common fashion term.
Made To Measure Vs. Made To Order
At first, both these terms seem to be the same. However, there’s a crucial difference.
- Made-to-measure: In short, the client and clothing manufacturer work together to create custom clothing. All the styles, fits, and measurements are collaborated on and executed during the production stage.
Whether it’s a custom jacket or a line of dresses, the client and manufacturer essentially create clothing from nothing but ideas and concepts.
Men’s suits, in particular, are trendy MTM items, garnering their own term, ‘bespoke suits.‘ Tailoring men’s suits, and finding that coveted perfect fit, is a thing of beauty.
‘Bespoke’ fashion simply refers to custom-made fashion. It comes from the word ‘bespeak,’ which refers to speaking for something. It evolved over time and exists outside of the fashion world.
- Made-to-order: There are still customer specifications and custom aspects at work with made-to-order clothing. However, the customer needs to work within a predetermined framework set by clothing brands.
Overall, MTM is a great way to design what you want out of a quality clothing line.
Made-To-Measure: Why You Should Create Custom Clothing
Creating custom, bespoke couture has boundless upsides. Firstly, the two most glaring positives are the beneficial effect on the environment and the potential for creative freedom. Let’s explore.
How Made-To-Measure Clothing Helps The Environment
Again, we’re no fans of fast fashion. It creates massive amounts of pollution.
Karis Stephens, writing for The Regulatory Review, states:
“Around the world, consumers buy 80 billion new clothing items per year. Of American buyers’ total yearly clothing consumption, 85 percent of the clothing purchased ends up as waste in landfills.”
This practice just isn’t an option for good sustainable fashion practices.
Designing and producing your own bespoke suits, dresses, and other garments is the best way to stem the tide of fast fashion.
Ready-To-Wear And Off-The-Rack
These clothing pieces fit under the umbrella of ready-to-wear (RTW) and off-the-rack (OTR).
These two terms refer to entirely ready-to-wear clothing (usually manufactured overseas). RTW and OTR clothing are bittersweet: it’s incredibly enticing to have a pre-made outfit, where all you need to do is settle on the size.
However, the downside is that monumental contribution towards worldwide water pollution.
That’s where made-to-measure and The Evans Group (TEG) come in to help independent designers avoid these devastating clothing practices.
How Custom Fashion Helps You Thrive
Aside from saving the environment, partnering up with a clothing manufacturer that emphasizes MTM allows fashion designers to exercise their creativity.
Who would disagree when faced with endless fabric, cloth, and color options?
Are you looking to start manufacturing a stunning line of dresses to rival Kate McDonald’s? Or maybe you’re interested in bespoke suits for men but want to make them look a little lived-in, à la Greg Lauren? Whatever your creative desire, made-to-measure serves as an invaluable tool to thrive. And don’t worry; you’ll have one of Los Angeles’s premier clothing manufacturers behind you the entire way.
When an indie fashion designer meets with the team at The Evans Group, they learn the ins and outs of the entire clothing manufacturing process.
To sum up, a fashion designer teams up with talented Los Angeles pattern makers and other experts. Rookie indie designers immediately learn the ins and outs of the process. The two main creative tools an indie fashion designer uses are the fashion mood board and fashion tech pack.
Fashion mood boards act as creative outlets, a sounding board for any and all ideas you have. A mood board will have everything from Words, colors, fabric, patterns to ideas.
The pattern maker then gets to work creating your bespoke clothing prototypes. After production begins, you’ll have your clothing in weeks. After that, you’ll have a stunning bespoke, made-to-measure clothing line to your name.
Made-To-Measure And You
In short, MTM is a fantastic way to create clothing, especially if you’re an independent fashion designer. In the world of couture, MTM serves a unique, invaluable purpose. To make ambitious ideas and turn them into memorable fashion lines.
Always been interested in launching a clothing line? It’s entirely possible. At The Evans Group, you can plan, design, and produce clothing thanks to a talented team of clothing manufacturers and textile workers.
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