Development
How development works — and what it costs.
Development is engineering, not sales. Every reference consumes real hours — pattern making, grading, marker, prototype. We charge for it up front. That's what lets us move fast for brands ready to produce, instead of subsidizing projects that never reach production.
Where you start depends on one question: do you already have tech packs?
Step 1
Development fee
Charged once per style, before we start. Two prices, depending on what you already have.
- Your situation
- Fee per style
- You arrive with nothing — an idea, references, photos
- US$466.32/ garment
- You bring a complete tech pack
- US$207.25/ garment
What US$466.32 includes:
- 1:1 call and advisory with José Olarte, founder, plus the technical team
- Fabric coolhunting and selection, with options and alternatives
- Trims, hardware and raw materials sourcing — full bill of materials
- Complete tech pack, ready to produce
- Print development, if your garment carries prints
Why US$207.25 if you already have a tech pack:
Your tech pack still has to be sourced and validated in Colombia. We find your fabrics and trims here, propose alternatives when the exact material does not exist locally, and confirm the tech pack is producible with what is actually available. That work happens whether or not you go to production.
Step 2
Sample — US$362.69 per style
One flat price. No complexity tiers, no surprises.
What the sample includes:
- Pattern making for your style
- Cutting and sewing of the physical sample
- Three fit rounds with corrections
- Size curve grading once the sample is approved
- Item
- Cost
- Design change round — fit rounds are included; free if the correction is our error
- US$155.44/ garment
- Fabric swatch
- Included in development
- Shipping — samples and swatches
- US$35/ shipment
- Timeline
- ~4 weeks per sample
We charge for additional rounds because they are real hours in the sample room. We do not charge when the correction is on us — if we got it wrong, we fix it free.
What it costs, in full
| Scenario | Development | Sample | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| One garment, starting from zero | US$466.32 | US$362.69 | US$829.01 |
| One garment, you bring the tech pack | US$207.25 | US$362.69 | US$569.94 |
| Three garments, starting from zero | US$1,398.96 | US$1,088.07 | US$2,487.03 |
Plus shipping in every case. Everything is paid in advance, before we start.
One fee, paid once
The development fee is paid once, and we credit 50% of the development and sample fees of a style against its first production order (150 units or more, deposit paid within 90 days of sample approval), applied to the final balance. The development is yours: the patterns, tech packs and specifications developed for your styles belong to your brand.
Development is billed once, up front. When the conditions above are met, the credit is applied to the final balance of your production order.
Production terms
- Minimum order
- 150units / style
- Colors
- Up to 3 colors inside the 150 units; sizes mix freely
- Deposit — must cover 100% of materials
- 50%
- Balance
- Before shipment. We ship only after payment is received.
- Lead time — after sample approval
- 6–8weeks
- Trims
- Hangtags and labels: ~21 days lead time
- Barcodes
- Supplied by the brand
What we don't produce
Mulberry silk, leather, footwear, heavy knitwear, technical outerwear, and heavy-wash denim. If the fabric isn't available in Colombia, we're not the right factory for it — and we'll say so on the first call.
Why we charge for development
An Asian mill may appear to develop for free. It isn't — it's subsidized by volume commitments of 500 to 1,000 units per color, plus sample charges and international courier, on a 4–6 week sampling cycle.
There's a second cost people miss. A freelance tech pack from a marketplace runs US$100–500, but if the factory has to audit or correct it to make it sewable, that labor comes back on your quote. Your tech pack comes from the factory that will produce it. No audit fees, no correction rounds, no gap between what's on paper and what can actually be sewn.
We charge development directly and keep the minimum at 150 units per style. You pay for the engineering, and you keep the flexibility.
Start a project
Tell us what you
want to make
Full-package manufacturing from Medellín, Colombia. Minimum 150 units per style. We answer within 24 hours.
- ceo@tulumfashions.co
- +57 304 603 6273