Method
The technical foundation before production
What has to exist on paper before a single metre of your fabric is cut.
Read →What Giardina Atelier is
An atelier, opened to the world.
Giardina Atelier develops and produces collections in Italy for clients at every stage — from first-time founders and independent creatives to established labels and fashion houses.
The heritage disciplines of Italian Alta Moda have traditionally stayed behind the doors of ateliers serving Italy's fashion houses. Giardina Atelier opens that process to an international clientele, applying its methods, technical knowledge and craftsmanship directly to your brand and collection.
Our bilingual atelier brings your collection to life without requiring you to travel to Italy, speak Italian, or know who to talk to. Our Italian Alta Moda patternmakers develop your Couture Tech Packs and Couture Patterns by hand, in our signature moulage — pattern paper draped directly on the mannequin, the heritage technique practised only inside Italy's haute couture houses. Our fabric artisans create custom fabrics and finishes. Our sample makers construct your prototype to the pattern's exact specification. Our Italian hand embroiderers execute your custom embroidery entirely by hand, stitch by stitch.
From the first Couture Tech Pack or pattern to final sampling and small-batch production, Giardina Atelier can undertake the entire development journey — or step in precisely where your project requires. Sampling and production begin once your Technical Foundation is complete and we have confirmed the project is a mutual fit.
We are the door to Italian Alta Moda.
Where every project starts
The Technical Foundation
What makes a garment read as luxury is not only the stitching — it is, above all, the engineering underneath it. The Technical Foundation is that engineering: a Couture Tech Pack and a Couture Pattern, developed in tandem by the same Couture Patternmaker, so construction, proportion, fit, measurements and finishing are resolved as one before a sample is cut. It is yours to take anywhere — to your own factory, anywhere in the world — or, by mutual fit, carried forward with us into sampling and production. Ordered per style, directly on our store — no call, no ongoing commitment required.
A nuance — but one your customer sees and feels in the finished garment. It is what makes a product genuinely luxury, and what sets a brand apart — new brands especially, competing hardest to earn that first impression. It begins here, and we build it for you.
Component
Couture Tech Pack
€499 / style
The technical blueprint your patternmaker works from. Delivered as a PDF with its editable source. About 7–10 business days. One tech pack per garment — a set is priced per piece.
Order the Tech Pack →Component
Couture Pattern
€1,500 / style
Hand-drafted in paper on the mannequin, in the Italian Alta Moda moulage method, then digitised for you in one base size. About 1–3 weeks per style.
Order the Pattern →Recommended · both together
Technical Foundation
€1,999 / style
The tech pack and the pattern for a style, ordered as one — the same total as the two separately, in a single step.
Start your Technical Foundation →The price of the Couture Tech Pack includes one to two revisions. One style is enough to begin — or submit a full collection together, so the same Couture Patternmaker engineers every style with the same hand. Already have a tech pack? Order the pattern on its own and upload yours — we review it before development begins.
The development process
From purchase to production.
Everything begins with the Technical Foundation. What follows is developed in stages, each booked separately.
- 01Technical Foundation Tech Pack + Couture Pattern, in tandem. Ordered on the store.
- 02Sample Development Billed per round. Prototype, fitting, corrections, final sample. Most collections settle in one or two rounds.
- 03Grading Once your final sample is approved, the pattern is graded across your size range — a separate pre-production service, priced on its own according to your design and pattern pieces, and not part of the Technical Foundation.
- 04Production Made in Italy, from small batches of around twenty per style through to several hundred a month, with the capacity to scale when you do. Quantities are agreed before development begins, above our minimums.
The hands behind every pattern
One patternmaker, one technical language.
A pattern and a tech pack are not the same thing, and clients often confuse them. We develop both together, by the same hand, so they never contradict each other.
The Couture Tech Pack
Built by the Couture Patternmaker from measurements taken on the form — flats, construction callouts, points of measure, bill of materials, finishing. It comes first: it is what the patternmaker needs to begin drafting the pattern. Because the same hand writes the documentation and drafts the pattern, the tech pack reflects the real engineering of the garment rather than a separate interpretation of it.
The Couture Pattern
Hand-drafted on the mannequin, in paper — the traditional Alta Moda moulage method. Silhouette, balance, proportion and drape are resolved on the body and engineered to your style and your fabric direction. Once it is drafted, the paper pattern is digitised so it can travel — use it with any atelier or factory in the world, or carry it on with us into sampling and production, by mutual fit.
The work
Everything is designed.
The atelier's work, from first sketch to finished detail — the design, the pattern it is built on, the sample it becomes, and the embroidery a piece calls for. A closer look at each.
Design
Croquis and technical flats — the garment drawn before it is drafted.
View the design work →
Pattern & Toile
Pattern paper sculpted by hand on the mannequin, in the Italian Alta Moda moulage method.
View the pattern work →
Sample Development
Your pattern cut and sewn into a first physical sample — fitted, corrected, refined until it’s right. A separate stage, by mutual fit, once your Technical Foundation is complete.
See how development works →
Hand Embroidery
Beads, crystals, thread and appliqué, worked entirely by hand.
View the embroidery →What we make
From a single style to a full collection.
The same attention to fit, movement and finishing, whatever the category.
WomenswearMenswearLingerie
SwimwearEveningwearBridal
StreetwearLoungewearHand Embroidery
Before you order
The questions everyone asks first.
- Who owns the work?
- You do, entirely. Your tech packs and patterns are the property of your brand, usable with any manufacturer, for the life of the brand. Send us your NDA before you share a sketch and we will sign it.
- Do I need to speak to someone first?
- No. Everything you need to decide is on the site. You order directly, complete a short intake form at checkout, and we begin. No call is required before or after purchase. Once your order and completed intake are received, your project enters technical review. If our Couture Patternmaker requires specific clarification before beginning, the atelier will contact you directly.
- Can I start with one style?
- Yes. One style is enough. You do not need to be a couture brand, and you do not need your final fabric chosen — the pattern is engineered to your fabric direction and confirmed during sampling.
The magazine
How this actually works, written down.
Where to start
Begin your Technical Foundation.
Choose your styles, complete a short intake form, and order securely online. Everything you need to decide is on this site.
Not sure which one you need? That is the most common question — the FAQ answers it.