Your sample is ready! Now what?

After a couple of months reviewing tech packs, logo stamp placements, material swatches and hardware samples, your sample is finaly in your hands. Congratulations! It's amazing finally being able to hold what started as just an idea in your head, but what comes after this? Here's a quick guide on what you should do next.

Wear it out

Even if your brand's demographic is someone completely different from you, the best way to start this next stage is actually trying the bag on. If it's an everyday bag, spend a week wearing it everywhere you go. If it's an evening bag, this is the perfect excuse to book a romantic dinner with your loved one or a night out with your best friends. The best way to know if a design works is using it.

What goes into the bag

A few things we cover in the Design Consultation are demographic and what your customers will be carrying in your bag. These sections of the homework are what you need to keep in mind here. Take all those items we talked about and put them in the bag - lipstick, phones, credit cards, wallets.... Make sure everything you need to fit in this product fits.

A lot of our clients come to us with specific ideas in mind, like a tote bag that will have a compartment to to bring your shoes to work, an insulated pocket for baby bottles, or a slot for AirTags.

We are experts in designing and sourcing, but only you can take the bag and make sure everything that's supposed to be carried in it actually does in a way that works for you. So buy a baby bottle, heat it up and go out for errands to see how you like your insulated pocket; put your AirTag in its slot and carry the bag around.

For these specific designs, we highly recommend having a Tech Pack Consultation with Luane to go over design details, pockets, specific measurements and materials to increase the chances of success for your product.

What comes next?

Our Tech Pack development service is really good at making sure we nail the design and measurements before making the bag, but this is the time to adjust anything you would like to change in your sample.

As you wear the bag, take note of everything that works and doesn't work on your design and send it to us so we can advise on next steps. Most times, the changes can be applied straight to production.

If the bag is perfect the way it is, you can start thinking about colorways for your production. Here at Clutch Made, our productions start at 25un - the perfect quantity for new brands. We can usually break these units down into 2-5 different colors, giving you a good variety to see which colors your customers prefer for your next production.

We look forward to making your production in the heart of New York City!