Lilyhart
As
an owner & operator of a fashion brand, I find half the battle is finding talented and skilled individuals that you can rely on to provide you with a service that is easy, pleasurable and efficient.
I found my experience with Julia @ The Sample room exactly that and I look forward to our future together.
Kylee Mitchell-Owner & Designer of Lilyhart May 2011
I found my experience with Julia @ The Sample room exactly that and I look forward to our future together.
Kylee Mitchell-Owner & Designer of Lilyhart May 2011
Kinoak
I
have worked with a number of pattern makers over the past 12 years of working
in the fashion industry and I have found Julia's service at the Sample Room is
the best!
I love the fact I can get great patterns, toiles, fittings and adjustments in such a quick, streamlined process.
Julia is easy to work with, friendly, reliable, professional and very efficient.
I love the Sample Room.
Amelia Darragh- Designer April 2011
I love the fact I can get great patterns, toiles, fittings and adjustments in such a quick, streamlined process.
Julia is easy to work with, friendly, reliable, professional and very efficient.
I love the Sample Room.
Amelia Darragh- Designer April 2011
Twitchett and Tonge
Our experiences with the sample room has been pleasant and professional. At every stage of our development process we found Julia’s guidance and expertise to be helpful and the end result was of the highest standard. I would definitely recommend the Sample Room to colleagues in the future.”
Olivia Tonge, Twitchett and Tonge
Olivia Tonge, Twitchett and Tonge
3 Fish
"Our company 3Fish has been working with the Sample Room over the past 12 months and they have been extremely helpful for us when it comes to pattern making, sampling and grading of patterns. Their expertise and experience in this area is invaluable, and they have given us quick, reliable and cost-effective service”. Marty Dillon- 3 fish
The Fashion Recruit blog
Behind The Scenes: Meet Julia Posted on 18/08/2010 by Sam| Leave a comment I’ve decided to kick off a new category on the blog where I’ll tell you about the people who make up the Bento “team”. They don’t work solely for Bento, but without them it wouldn’t be possible to go on the journey I am. They’re both product and service providers.
Today I’d like to introduce you to Julia. Julia is the owner and founder of The Sample Room. The Sample Room provides services to fashion labels like:
- patternmaking (turning your sketches and drawings into a commercial pattern that can be used by machinists);
- grading (making said pattern into different sizes);
- sample making (a product made in the proper fabrics and whatnot that is used to quote with and photograph).
There are lots of people out there that provide all these services, but I like Julia because it doesn’t bother her that I’m new to the industry. It also appeals to me that, like me, she’s started her own business from scratch. For me, it’s also super handy that she does all these things in one place, because the more places you go to, the more stressful it becomes as there are more cogs in the machine that might break.
Julia has a very shiny background too, having made patterns for all kinds of labels from Portmans to Anthea Crawford.
I’ve found that picking a patternmaker is a lot like choosing a friend or partner. They need to be someone who understands you and really ‘gets’ your style. Someone who comes from a really frivolous patternmaking background like Alannah Hill for example, would struggle containing themselves for the simplicity and structure of Bento.
So far though, I like Julia a lot and I hope that we’ll be together for a long time to come
Boey
Prior to meeting Julia, my product had been very slowly evolving from an idea into a product and I was gradually losing momentum and doubted that it would ever really get off the ground.
I met Julia and my spirits started soaring. Finally someone who not only “got” my product, but someone who contributed their own ideas and advice. I am a novice in the whole fashion industry so to have someone to steer me in the right direction was amazing. I felt supported and inspired to keep perservering. She was able to transform my ideas into a fantastic product that is now at manufacturing point and is about to hit the market. I still can’t believe it. I think that without Julia’s expertise and creativity I may have given up. The Sample Room is where the birth of Boey Pouches and Ponchos started and quickly developed. I feel extremely fortunate to have been pointed Julia’s way.
Rebecca Fleming
Boey Pouch and Poncho
I met Julia and my spirits started soaring. Finally someone who not only “got” my product, but someone who contributed their own ideas and advice. I am a novice in the whole fashion industry so to have someone to steer me in the right direction was amazing. I felt supported and inspired to keep perservering. She was able to transform my ideas into a fantastic product that is now at manufacturing point and is about to hit the market. I still can’t believe it. I think that without Julia’s expertise and creativity I may have given up. The Sample Room is where the birth of Boey Pouches and Ponchos started and quickly developed. I feel extremely fortunate to have been pointed Julia’s way.
Rebecca Fleming
Boey Pouch and Poncho
Sarah Vain and Tall
When you find someone who will not only do a great job, but teach you how to do yours better, hug them and squeeze them and promise never to leave!
My clothing range suits a niche market of women 5'10" to 6' 4". I have VERY specific needs for pattern making and had 12 months of headaches going from place to place, meeting confusion and aggravation -- in desperation, I even tried doing my own pattern work in-house. Fashion is my second career and as yet I'm nothing to write home about as a pattern maker; I also work slowly. I really needed the time to focus on marketing and design.
That's where I was when I found Julia and The Sample Room. Julia was excited, not annoyed, to take on a project that was out of the ordinary. She has a great deal of experience in the trade and suggested many improvements that I never would have considered. Even better, she is well connected, forward thinking, net-savvy (rare in the industry), happy to work with small businesses and start-ups, and a gifted teacher. We worked together from initial sketch to finished sample without a hitch, and I have peace of mind knowing that when I need to take the next steps for grading, spec writing, etc -- or if my company grows -- I won't have to find yet another link in the supply chain.
Those of you reading this who are new to the industry: no matter where you've come from, you will come up against a lot of culture clash. You will have lots of false preconceptions, and the way things work will seem crazy at times. The best advice I can give is that you read Kathleen Fasanella's "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing" which will teach you how industry people (not fashionistas or fashion school teachers, but the people who actually do the work) think. Then get Julia on your team and LISTEN.
Anne Shea- Owner Sarah Vain and Tall.
My clothing range suits a niche market of women 5'10" to 6' 4". I have VERY specific needs for pattern making and had 12 months of headaches going from place to place, meeting confusion and aggravation -- in desperation, I even tried doing my own pattern work in-house. Fashion is my second career and as yet I'm nothing to write home about as a pattern maker; I also work slowly. I really needed the time to focus on marketing and design.
That's where I was when I found Julia and The Sample Room. Julia was excited, not annoyed, to take on a project that was out of the ordinary. She has a great deal of experience in the trade and suggested many improvements that I never would have considered. Even better, she is well connected, forward thinking, net-savvy (rare in the industry), happy to work with small businesses and start-ups, and a gifted teacher. We worked together from initial sketch to finished sample without a hitch, and I have peace of mind knowing that when I need to take the next steps for grading, spec writing, etc -- or if my company grows -- I won't have to find yet another link in the supply chain.
Those of you reading this who are new to the industry: no matter where you've come from, you will come up against a lot of culture clash. You will have lots of false preconceptions, and the way things work will seem crazy at times. The best advice I can give is that you read Kathleen Fasanella's "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing" which will teach you how industry people (not fashionistas or fashion school teachers, but the people who actually do the work) think. Then get Julia on your team and LISTEN.
Anne Shea- Owner Sarah Vain and Tall.
