A pattern is to fashion design what a mold is to industrial design. A good pattern determines the overall quality of the project—from design drawing to finished product. It translates the design’s creativity into an actual finished design. In this essay, I will share my journey of exploration and growth in the field of fashion pattern design.

Starting Out in Fashion Design

My fashion design journey began when I was 15 years old. At the time, I was struggling in school and had a bad home situation. I decided to enroll in continuing education courses through the Fashion Department at Zhong Li Home Economics and Commercial Senior High School, and I quickly discovered my passion for fashion design and technology. While I was previously content with grades that were barely high enough to pass my tests, when I sat down at the sewing machine for my first assignment and received a score of 90 points, I realized I had found a place where I could obtain a true sense of achievement. With the encouragement of my formative teacher, I began to participate in various competitions. Then, in 2008, I was selected to participate in the WorldSkills clothing creation competition as part of the Taiwanese delegation, and I won the bronze medal. This experience made me realize the depth and challenge of fashion design, and I resolved to improve my designs and techniques.

Image: 2007 Domestic Gold medal (first award obtained)

Image: 2008 WorldSkills – Taiwanese delegation

Image: 2008 WorldSkills – Winning runway designers appear for a curtain call

Image: 2008 WorldSkills – competition process

Developing Pattern-making Techniques and Aesthetics

A separate incident after I became a national champion was what really made me understand that my skills were insufficient. At 18 years old, I began training within the industry. At that time, the brand’s design chief gave me a design drawing and expected me to produce a pattern all by myself, without any mentoring. Even after a week, I still had no idea where to start. His words shook me, “Aren’t you in the Fashion Department? You can’t even do this?” It made me extremely frustrated but also kindled my motivation to become a patternmaker who everyone would admire. I began reflecting on my deficiencies and investing a lot of time in practicing patternmaking and draping techniques. I looked for design drawings to imitate for practice, and frequently sought advice from various masters, gradually growing from my setbacks.

Throughout the learning process, I constantly experimented and made corrections based on my mistakes. I asked questions of my more experienced peers, and after work, I brought home any questions I had encountered during the day to research and answer. I unceasingly went back and forth with revisions. I remember one time I was practicing with a single sleeve; I spent an entire week repeatedly dismantling and reassembling the sleeve until I firmly grasped the skill. These experiences taught me the importance of patience and willpower; and now the techniques I practiced are deeply branded into my muscle memory.

Expanding Design Perspective

The biggest lesson I learned from participating in international competitions was expanding my design perspective. During competitions, I encountered innovative design concepts and technical skills from all over the world. This not only sparked my creativity and inspiration; it also helped me understand how different cultural backgrounds influence design. At that time, smart phones had not become commonplace, and to a student who had never even ridden on an airplane, this massively broadened my design perspective. After the competition, I also befriended and engaged in exchange with delegates from different countries.

International competitions were an opportunity to bring glory to our country, but more than that, they provided a global platform where we could observe and learn from the techniques of other designers at the event. Different cultural backgrounds bred different design philosophies. This diversity enriched my perspective, and let me blend more innovative elements into my works.

Startup Transformation: From Traditional Patternmaking to 3D Digitalization

After returning to Taiwan and completing my studies, I accumulated many years of experience working in the industry and gradually grasped design aesthetics and patternmaking skills. Later, I founded Ching Pattern Design: the creative assistant that best understands designers, Ching Pattern uses technology to simulate designs based on your ideas. The startup’s original intention stemmed from my personal experience in the fashion industry—from student to delegate, designer, pattern maker, and lecturer—a history spanning almost 20 years. I deeply understood the dilemma of clothing technician shortages, not to mention the aging of skilled technicians. Everyone wants to be a designer, but few people are capable of implementing their designs. At the time, I already had a lot of designer friends asking me to assist them with patternmaking, and one by one, the clients accumulated. Finally, I established my company. The main reason for this was that ready-to-wear garment production workflow is extremely complex, and the training process for patternmakers is time consuming, making it difficult for young people to enter the field.

After being introduced to digital patternmaking, my objective was to fully integrate 3D digitization into the clothing industry workflow to address the problems encountered by the traditional garment manufacturing industry. In the past, when I made paper patterns, I spent a lot of time cutting out the pieces and pasting them together; but now, through 3D patternmaking technology, I can quickly visualize changes. My company creates digital designs for brands and company uniforms. In the past we needed to repeatedly call our clients to confirm colors, fabrics, and design lines; now we can use digital methods to quickly simulate and implement production. Our service targets include designer brands such as CherngDesign and MANICHIACHIA. Many of these brands appear at Taipei Fashion Week. We’ve also signed collaboration agreements with famous YouTubers to launch clothing lines.

Image: 3D pattern client case – brand MANICHIACHIA

Image: 3D pattern client case – brand Cherng Design

Image: From 3D pattern design to real-life fashion show

Image: Collaborative design and clothing series with a famous YouTuber

3D technology applications not only improve design patternmaking efficiency, they also improve design accuracy. Before, we needed to spend a lot of time traveling back and forth to confirm particulars. Now, we can quickly complete this process through digitalization tools. This technological advancement enables us to flexibly respond to market demands and create more competitive products. Additionally, it lets young people more rapidly understand and get started in patternmaking and study the problems they will encounter.

Promoting the Transformation of Clothing Techniques

In addition to the startup, I also started to focus on education and promotion. I believe that technological advancement shouldn’t end at personal achievement—it should be studied and used by more people. Therefore, to break the technological barrier and transform clothing patternmaker design from a niche specialty into a skill that anyone could explore and study, I set up the What is Fashion YouTube channel to share my professional expertise and promote a logic-based study of fashion design to the public. This open education model helps even more people understand the technical logic behind fashion patternmaking and promotes 3D digital transformation.

Additionally, I introduced some 3D patternmaking technology into my college clothing composition classes to help students grasp the newest digital tools and elevate their manufacturing ability. In previous clothing technology education, simply explaining a single sleeve required pages upon pages of formulas. Now, thanks to 3D functions, we can use transparency and line variation comparisons to help students quickly understand the internal logic. Digital technology can be presented on a large screen, avoiding previous scenarios of students being unable to see during real paper pattern presentations.

Image: Style emergency client case – brand Back to Design

Image: Linking 3D patternmaking with clothing structure education

Reflection and Future Expectations: Balancing Techniques and Innovation

Looking back on this journey—from the setbacks when I was younger to my current capacity to effortlessly complete any design drawing—growth comes from continuous study and experimentation. At the same time, I am aware that the spread of digital technology is not only about replacing tools, rather a transformation of design philosophy.

I am convinced that the combination of technological advancement and innovation is the key to future design development. Through ceaseless exploration and experimentation, I hope we can continue to promote patternmaking digital development, lead the industry in entering a new era, and train more 3D patternmaking designers to jointly promote the industry’s advancement. I also hope we can encourage more young designers to participate in international-level competitions so that they can learn and grow, expand their horizons, and find their direction in the globalized marketplace.