Frequently Asked Questions

No. We have everything you need to get started. You order directly, complete your Style Brief after payment, and we begin.

Once your Technical Foundation is complete, and we've had a chance to look at your project and agree it's the right next step, we kick off sample development with a dedicated call — reviewing your finished tech pack and pattern, and covering what's needed to begin: fabric sourcing, timelines, and a quote for your sample. Nothing moves into sampling before your Technical Foundation is complete.

Any preliminary questions before then are answered by email, which also gives you a written record.

Your creative design must be final before you submit it. However you have it — a rough sketch is fine, or photo references showing a front and a back, or a similar look found online. The moment we receive it, your order begins, so an unfinished design means redoing technical work, at a cost to you.

Add any fabric direction you have; we work out measurements ourselves, though a desired sample size or another brand's size chart helps if you have it. Everything technical from there is ours — send it all in writing and images, not on a call, and your Style Brief becomes the record we work from.

Yes. One style is enough to begin. You can also start with a tech pack and add the pattern later.

A style is one garment. A two-piece set — a top and a bottom, say — is two styles, each with its own tech pack and pattern, priced and ordered separately.

If you have a full collection, though, submitting your styles together lets the same Couture Patternmaker engineer them side by side — stronger cohesion in fit and proportion, and one technical design language across every piece, rather than one built up style by style. This matters especially for new brands who do not yet have that language established; building it across several styles at once, rather than one at a time, is what defines it for your brand.

No. "Couture" describes the technical level we work at, not a requirement for your brand. We apply the same Italian Alta Moda method to accessible luxury and ready-to-wear.

In practice, that means a level of fit, finish and attention to how the garment moves on the body that couture-level tech packs and patternmaking give any style — whatever category or price point your brand sits at.

Yes. We work with startup brands launching a first collection as well as established labels, and the way we work is built for that first step. One style is enough to begin, there is no call and no minimum to order, and you receive a tech pack and pattern you own, ready for any sample room.

When you are ready for production, it starts from around 20 units per style, with smaller quantities considered on a case-by-case basis.

No. Choose Pattern only and upload your tech pack at checkout. Our Couture Patternmaker reviews it before development begins.

A usable tech pack includes technical flats, construction and sewing callouts, points of measure and a bill of materials. If yours needs further work to reach that standard, we tell you exactly what is required — which may include a Couture Tech Pack for the style — before any pattern work starts.

The Couture Tech Pack is the technical document your patternmaker works from — flats, construction, measurements, materials and finishing.

The Couture Pattern is the physical blueprint the garment is cut and sewn from, hand-developed on the mannequin. The two are developed together so they never contradict each other.

The Couture Tech Pack and the Couture Pattern for a style, ordered together at €1,999 — the same total as buying the two separately, in one step. It is how we recommend beginning.

The tech pack as a PDF together with its editable source file. The pattern on paper: the original pattern drafted by hand, in a single base size, shipped to you by express courier with tracking. Shipping is included in the price.

The pattern is not size-graded, and it is not meant to be yet. Grading — producing the pattern across your full size range — is a separate later stage that only makes sense once a sample has been made and the pattern is finalised. A first pattern is a starting point; it is normally refined after you see your first sample.

Couture Tech Packs are delivered by email as a PDF, together with the original editable Adobe Illustrator file. Couture Patterns are hand-drafted on paper and shipped by express courier, with tracking, to the shipping address provided at checkout. Shipping is included. Please make sure your address is correct, as we cannot be responsible for delays caused by an incorrect address or by customs. Any import duties or taxes are the client's responsibility.

Yes, entirely. They are the property of your brand, usable with any manufacturer, for the life of the brand. We retain no rights over them.

No. The pattern is the blueprint. The prototype is the first physical sample sewn from it, in your chosen fabric. The pattern comes first.

No. Your pattern is engineered to your style and your fabric direction — a target composition and behaviour is enough to begin. The exact fabric is confirmed and dialled in during sampling.

Each product page shows an indicative turnaround. All timelines are indicative and not guaranteed. Design complexity, pattern-making questions and atelier scheduling can affect them; if your timeline changes, we'll be in touch.

A Couture Tech Pack is typically 7–10 business days. A Couture Pattern is typically 1–3 weeks per style. Both are measured from the point we have your complete information, and both vary with atelier scheduling and time of year.

Sample development typically runs 4–6 weeks per round, and production typically 6–8 weeks — the industry standard for made-to-order work. Both depend on many factors: supplier lead times, your feedback schedule, the complexity of the style. Luxury couture is made almost entirely by hand, with hand finishes that simply take the time they take — these are estimates, not guarantees, and every project is different.

Luxury development works to estimated timeframes, not guaranteed dates. Timing depends on the garment, the fabric, artisan schedules, fittings and your feedback. We always give our closest realistic estimate and keep you updated as the work progresses.

Incomplete or unclear information at the start, slow or fragmented feedback, design changes after work has begun, and added scope. Every revision you request is added to the schedule.

Italian mills and ateliers also largely close through August, which can affect sourcing and sampling timelines.

On delivery, you have 72 hours to review your tech pack and request one complimentary round of edits. If we don't hear from you within 72 hours, your order is considered complete and accepted. Couture Patterns are final as delivered. Edits cover corrections to the delivered tech pack only, so that it accurately reflects your submitted design. Changes to the design itself can be requested within 24 hours of submitting your final design details through our order form. After that, no further design changes can be made, and any change to the design, whether during development or after delivery, is treated as a new order.

Yes. You have one complimentary revision round, requested within 72 hours of delivery. After that, your tech pack is final.

Your pattern is final as delivered. We update patterns only for clients we take into sample development with us, as part of that process. If you sample elsewhere, for any reason, even if we choose not to take your brand into sampling, your sample maker refines the pattern from there. Our patterns are built to be digitised and worked on by any pattern maker.

Adjusting details within the same design — a neckline, a hem length, a measurement — is a revision. Changing the design itself — a different silhouette, added panels, a new construction — is a new style at a new fee.

Yes. Changes to the design itself can be requested within 24 hours of submitting your final design details through our order form. After that, no further design changes can be made, and any change to the design, whether during development or after delivery, is treated as a new order.

Yes. We develop, sample and produce in Italy. Production is offered selectively, to brands who have completed their Technical Foundation with us.

Yes. Everything we make is Made in Italy. Your tech pack and pattern are developed in our atelier in Rome, and your samples and production are made in Italy by the Italian artisans we work with: patternmakers, sample makers and embroiderers.

Production is its own step, after your Technical Foundation and your approved sample. How that step works is set out under “Do you take every client through to production?” below.

Sample development is billed per round, starting at €299. The first round is your prototype: your pattern cut and sewn in your chosen fabric, then fitted, reviewed and corrected. Most collections settle in one or two rounds; you can go further to perfect a piece.

The exact price depends on your design's complexity, the fabrication and the finish requested — reviewed once your Technical Foundation is complete and we've agreed to take your project into sampling.

Each round is new physical work — cutting, construction, finishing and fitting. The price of a round covers that round only, and does not include fabrics, materials, trims or shipping. If you want another sample after reviewing the first, it is booked as the next round.

It will fit well, because it is built from a couture pattern. But seeing your design in your fabric for the first time almost always surfaces small aesthetic refinements — a neckline eased, an armhole adjusted. That is exactly what a prototype is for.

What you receive at purchase is a complete, professional Couture Pattern and Couture Tech Pack — genuinely usable, and the foundation your style is built on, not a draft.

Translating any design from a flat pattern into a physical garment for the first time is normal to refine, at any atelier, anywhere in the world — a fit correction here, a measurement eased there, once you can see and feel the real garment rather than its blueprint. That is not a flaw in what you bought; it is what the sampling stage is for.

If we take your style into sample development with us, your pattern and tech pack are updated as part of that work once your sample is approved, so the final documents reflect the finished garment exactly. Acceptance into sampling is at our discretion. If you sample elsewhere, for any reason, even if we choose not to take your brand into sampling, future updates are the responsibility of your chosen sample maker. Our patterns and tech packs are built to be digitised and worked on by any pattern maker.

Pattern and tech pack updates during sampling are made by your sample maker as part of sample development.

Yes, once you are in sample development. Our sourcing time is complimentary; you approve and purchase the fabric itself. You are also welcome to supply your own.

Shipping of your Couture Pattern is included in the price: the original paper pattern travels to you by express courier, with tracking. Shipping is billed separately for finished samples we send to you, and for materials you send to us, such as fabric, trims or reference samples.

Customs duties and import taxes at destination, where they apply, vary by country and are your responsibility — on what we ship to you, and on what you ship to us.

The Couture Tech Pack and Couture Pattern are open to everyone, on the store. Sample development and production are a separate step: once your Technical Foundation is complete, we send you a short application form to fill out via email, reviewing your planned styles and production quantities to confirm it is the right fit for our schedule.

Your Technical Foundation stands on its own either way — it is a complete, professional Couture Tech Pack and Couture Pattern, and it is not refundable on the basis of that decision. You are welcome to take it to any atelier or factory in the world for sampling and production instead.

Not automatically. The Technical Foundation is a complete, standalone service. Sampling and production are offered selectively, based on mutual fit, construction and atelier capacity, and only once a sample development slot is confirmed in writing and paid. Your tech pack and pattern are yours to keep, and since they are made in English, you can take them to any sample maker or production partner worldwide.

There is no minimum to begin. The Technical Foundation, Couture Tech Pack and Couture Pattern are ordered per style, and one style is enough.

For production, minimums start from around 20 units per style, with smaller quantities considered on a case-by-case basis, through to several hundred a month. Smaller quantities are produced at a higher unit price.

Per-unit pricing is confirmed after your final sample is approved, and reduces as your quantity rises. For the reasoning behind minimums, read Fashion manufacturing MOQs: what startup brands need to know in The Magazine.

Yes, as a separate pre-production service, priced according to your design and pattern pieces, and prepared from your approved base pattern and final sample. It is not part of your initial Couture Pattern, which is delivered in a single base size — grading a pattern before it has been proven in a sample would only have to be redone.

How you pay depends on the stage. Your Couture Tech Pack, Couture Pattern or Technical Foundation is paid in full upfront, checked out directly on our store.

Sample development is also 100% upfront, invoiced by our accounts team once your round is booked.

Production is billed differently: typically 50% upfront to begin and 50% on completion, before shipping. For select high-couture projects this can be structured as 70% upfront and 30% on completion — decided case by case for your project.

Your order confirmation and invoice list exactly what each payment covers. If you are ever unsure what a payment covered, that document is the reference — nothing is included that is not itemised on it.

Yes — pay in whichever currency is easier on your side.

No. All services and products are custom made to your specific design. Work begins once your order is placed and we have received your final design details through our order form, which we send you after checkout. Turnaround times are counted from that point. You have 24 hours after submitting the form to request any changes. After that, no further changes can be made and work proceeds as submitted. All sales are final. No refunds, returns or cancellations are accepted.

Read our full Refund Policy and Terms and Conditions.

Short pauses can usually be accommodated around our schedule. A paused project resumes in the next available slot rather than immediately, and an extended pause may require re-booking.

Tell us specifically what is not right.

On delivery, you have 72 hours to review your tech pack and request one complimentary round of edits. If we don't hear from you within 72 hours, your order is considered complete and accepted. Couture Patterns are final as delivered. Edits cover corrections to the delivered tech pack only, so that it accurately reflects your submitted design.

For samples, the distinction is between a mistake and a refinement. If we used the wrong fabric or made an error on our side, we redo it for you at no charge. If you would simply like something adjusted — a neckline eased, a proportion changed — that is a normal part of product development, and the next round is booked and billed like any other; that is exactly what the sampling process is for.

Every piece of work is created exclusively for you. All services and products are custom made to your specific design. Work begins once your order is placed and we have received your final design details through our order form, which we send you after checkout. Turnaround times are counted from that point. You have 24 hours after submitting the form to request any changes. After that, no further changes can be made and work proceeds as submitted. All sales are final. No refunds, returns or cancellations are accepted. We will always work with you to get it right within the scope you have booked.

The Technical Foundation is managed through a structured written process, ensuring every design decision and revision is documented clearly. If our Couture Patternmaker determines that live technical clarification is necessary, the atelier will arrange it.

Your completed tech pack is delivered for written review. Your one complimentary revision round is requested in writing, within 72 hours of delivery, so that every requested change is clearly documented. Calls are not included as part of the standard review process.

In principle, yes — for clients with an active development project, once the work has reached a point where seeing it in person genuinely adds something.

Whether and when a visit is possible depends on the atelier's schedule, the stage and scale of your collection, and the other projects in development at the time. Much of our work is under NDA, and access is coordinated carefully around it. If you would like to visit at some point, mention it once your project is underway and we will let you know what is possible.

In the meantime, development meetings run over video, and we document the making of your collection so you see it come together either way.

Yes. Send us your NDA and we will review and sign it before you share your designs.

Rome, Italy. Our atelier works entirely in English and Italian, so you never need to travel or speak Italian to develop your collection with us.