Meet our pattern maker

What is your role as a Pattern Maker at the Matinique HQ?
Overall, I make sure that Matinique’s patterns are on point and that the fit is consistent, so the customer is guaranteed the same fit season after season. This is done in collaboration with our design team as they make the collections and afterwards, we discuss how we want the fit to be for every style. All our NOOS/basis styles are ongoing year after year, and almost never change – only small changes are made to keep the styles up to date. Besides the NOOS collection more trend conscious styles are made for our seasonal collections. Right now, we introduce more pleated pants and pants with wider legs as they are getting more dominating in men’s fashion.

How is the process of spotting new trends?
When we are out spotting trends and getting new ideas, we are usually one or two years ahead to spot what is going to be it in the seasons to come. In my five years with Matinique I have seen several trends come and go. As an example, the tight jeans became something men wanted, so we put a lot of effort into finding the perfect fit – now, all the pants are getting wider, so it will be interesting to see what is up next.

How are you collaborating with the design team?
The process is quite simple, as our design team do all designs and I do all patterns. When the pattern is made, the sourcing team make comments about fabrics, trim etc., and then all information is sent to the supplier, and they make us a prototype of the style.

When we receive the proto, it is fitted on our in-house fitting models, to see which changes we should do. The fitting model’s comments on the fit, and thoughts on the style they try is always a part of the process as well. The process towards getting the final product usually takes 3-4 samples before it goes into production.

Meet Rie Jeldtoft, she is the pattern maker at Matinique, and for years she has been making sure that every fit for every style is on point.

Did it happen that you got a sample back that was not as you expected?
Yes, all communication is in English and sometimes it goes through Google Translate at the supplier which might result in misunderstandings. Sometimes it happens that we receive a sample that is nothing like we thought – but it can be a little funny as well. To avoid a lot of mistakes I usually take photos to send with my comments as it is always easier to understand than text.

What do you like the most about your job?
When we do new styles – but it is interesting to do small changes to our NOOS program as well. If an already well-known blazer style needs an upgrade. I start to look into what is trending at the moment. It is very interesting to keep styles up to date.

How do you make the patterns?
I make the patterns digital, so they stay the same no matter what. It is important that the end customer does not feel a difference from style to style when for example an overshirt is made in a new fabric. In the coming years I think we will see fewer physical samples and more digital 3D samples to minimize the use of unnecessary fabrics.