# Fashion Design

> USE WHEN designing fashion apparel collections as systems: converting a fashion brand proposal into wardrobe systems and fit-block architecture, planning capsules with SKU math, setting pricing/margin guardrails, writing garment spec language (GSM, dry-time, pill cycles), building technical flats for garments, structuring designer application/portfolio specs for fashion hiring, or fashion-specific market/competitor evidence work (in-market validation, competitor store/product analysis). Triggers: "design a capsule", "wardrobe system", "fit blocks", "SKU math", "tech pack language", "garment spec", "technical flat", "fashion application spec", "fabric performance requirements", "tropical/market specific apparel", "hero product strategy". NOT for logo/monogram design (use brand-design), general brand-system orchestration (use brand-system-builder), or non-fashion product design.

- Skill: `0x-wzw/fashion-design` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add 0x-wzw/fashion-design`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/0x-wzw/fashion-design/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Design & Media
- Author: 0x-wzw (https://skillmd.com/u/0x-wzw)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/0x-wzw/fashion-design

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# Fashion Design — Systems, Capsules & Specs

The craft layer for apparel brand-building: wardrobe architecture, capsule
economics, garment spec language, and fashion-specific evidence discipline.
Brand-agnostic — bring your own brandDNA.

## 1. Wardrobe System Architecture

Structure the offer as **2–5 systems named for wearer states, not garment
categories or demographics** (reference pattern: FORM/MOVE/FLOW/TRANSIT/REST —
studio to recovery, one daily arc). Rules:

- Every SKU belongs to exactly one system; system tag appears on site,
  labels, and internal docs — this is the primary navigation axis
- **Fit logic is a separate axis from garment type.** Define 2–3 fit logics
  (reference pattern: R = one shared pattern / T = same design, blocks A+B
  where anatomy changes the pattern / C = body-specific essentials). The
  naming is an ethical position, not a sizing chart — whichever
  demographics-split convention exists in the category (men/women racks,
  "for her/him"), the brand's own tests must forbid it
- Hero product logic: choose the *least crowded, most describable* garment
  as entry wedge ("one trouser anyone can wear and describe to a friend"),
  versioned like software rather than seasonally replaced

## 2. Capsule & SKU Math

- Capsule = designs × colors × size-count; shared patterns multiply cheapest
  (one pattern serves all bodies; per-block patterns multiply by block count)
- Publish the arithmetic in the entity doc: `(shared designs × colors ×
  sizes) + (block designs × blocks × colors × sizes) + …  = total SKUs`
- Set a hard design cap (reference: 10 designs first capsule). New styles
  must *retire or version* an old one — SKU inflation is silent and fatal
- Margin guardrails: target GM band at RRP, wholesale floor, and a
  no-launch-below floor; no-discount policy except end-of-line retirement
- Pricing position: anchor explicitly between named competitors, with the
  reason each anchor exists

## 3. Garment Spec Language (tech-pack register)

Every garment spec states **measurable claims, not adjectives**:

| Weak | Spec-grade |
|---|---|
| "ultra-light" | 92 gsm |
| "quick dry" | overnight dry at 80% RH |
| "durable" | 40 wash cycles, no visible pill |
| "comfortable" | air-conditioning transition tolerant (28°C Δ) |

- Fabric property checklist for tropical/humid markets: wick, dry-time,
  crease, stretch-recover, AC-transition, wash resilience, pill/cling,
  hand-feel (matte, not sport-flash)
- **Label honestly:** proposal-authored numbers are *targets*. Only
  wear-test data upgrades them to claims. Keep a target/validated marker
  next to every metric
- Construction language: invisible-reinforced seams, stress-point bars,
  hardware tonal not branded; the *signature detail* is construction
  (curved waistband, spine seam), never print

## 4. Technical Flats (drawing garments that match captions)

Draw flats as pattern-language, not fashion illustration:

- Off-white ground, ink outlines (1.5–2 units at 400×500)
- Silhouette-specific geometry: trousers (waistband + taper/flare path),
  tees (drop shoulder + rib collar arc), outerwear (collar band + zip line
  + pocket rectangles), knitwear (cuff ribs, drawcord), compression
  (contour curves + gusset lines)
- Always include: grain arrow, 2–3 notches, interior type + drawcord where
  real, seam-path of the brand's construction signature
- Spec line under each flat in mono: fabric + GSM + key property
  (`165 GSM JERSEY · BONDED SEAMS · A/B`) — data only, never slogans
- One Python function per garment type; caption-matching is enforced by
  construction, not by hope

## 5. Fashion Evidence Discipline

- **In-market validation beats desk research:** capture real competitor
  store reports (layout, rack split, materials, expansion count) as raw
  notes; map each brand proposal claim → confirmed / contradicted /
  not-evidenced, with differentiation per row
- Track competitor motion via daily intelligence (brand-narrative revamps,
  textile-science waves) and route findings into the entity page's
  competitive-watch section with dates
- Fabric partner sourcing is a Gate-0-class activity: *source fabric before
  design*, not after
- Fit blocks require fit models per block and grading obsession — the
  pattern exists only when a real body in real humidity proves it

## 6. Fashion Hiring & Application Spec

When hiring designers for the brand, the application is a design test:

- Exact-look submission count (forces editing skill — mirror the capsule cap)
- The task is to design *inside the existing system* (11th piece) with
  palette locked, fit logics fixed, SKU math required
- A page arguing *against* the candidate's own design
- Rejection codes (numbered) for auto-disqualification: over-count,
  demographic styling codes, off-brief, oversize SKU, logo-print reflexes,
  no self-critique
- Scored rubric with pass gate + per-section floors

## 7. Production Partner Integration (on-demand supply chain model)

Modern indie fashion brands rarely own factories — they integrate an
**on-demand sourcing/SCM partner**. The reference model (verified from
Creabra's published terms, 2026-08) defines the pattern to evaluate any
partner against:

### 7.1 The capability chain to require
`design brief → [optional fabric lab / heritage textiles] → material
sourcing → sampling → production → QC/final inspection → shipping`

### 7.2 The commercial structure to expect
- **Tiered sample development** with published fixed prices by complexity
  tiers (reference: standard / structured / complex; specialty fabrics &
  haute couture quoted separately)
- **MOQ 1 per style** — the single most valuable term for capsule-brand
  economics: zero inventory risk at validation stage
- **Transparent unit economics**: FOB unit price = verified unit cost +
  fixed % supply-chain-management fee (reference: 25%) — never opaque
  all-in quotes
- **Inspection-gated payment**: deposit (50%) up front, balance (50%) only
  after final QC inspection *before* shipment — never 100% prepay

### 7.3 Partner-evaluation checklist
- Sample tiers match our garment complexity spread (a knit tee ≠ a tailored
  jacket — price both)
- Verified-cost access: can we see the mill invoice, or only the bundle?
- QC protocol: who inspects, against what standard, with photos/reports?
- Fabric-lab access for signature/heritage materials (motif design →
  handcrafted development → application), with honest lead-time and
  advance-booking rules
- Capacity range: does MOQ-1 scale gracefully to capsule-100?
- IP protection on bespoke motifs and patterns

### 7.4 Skill integration point
When a client brand reaches Phase 1 (prototype), run this checklist on
2–3 candidate partners; the sampling-tier pricing becomes line items in
the brand's financial model (§2.4 margin math assumes FOB + SCM fee, not
FOB alone).

## 8. Handoff Wiring

Fashion outputs live in the brand's own docs (entity page = law, soul doc =
feeling, design handoff = artifacts). This skill is the method; keep
brand-specific numbers (policies, SKUs, GSMs) in the brand's documents and
link back to this skill only for the *how*.

**Reference implementation artifacts (an instance, not the skill):**
technical-flat generator pattern + application spec with rejection codes +
 rigorous claims table — see any apparel brand's design handoff in the
vault `Handoffs/` directory.