Handbag Design Revision Policy: Setting Limits Upfront

How many design revisions should a handbag programme allow before they start costing money? Three rounds included — prototype, first revision and pre-production — with a per-round fee from the fourth and a hard freeze at the pre-production sample. The number is not the point; the branch is: a change requested before the pattern is cut costs nothing, after the prototype costs a round, and after the deposit costs 6-10 working days and a change order. Write the branch into the brief before sampling starts, because a revision policy agreed after the third round is a negotiation, and one agreed before the first is a schedule.

Revision policy parameters to write down

The Decision You Make First: What Counts as a Revision

Before counting rounds, decide what a round is, because the argument is almost never about the number. A revision is a change to the specification that requires new work on the bench: a new pattern piece, a new material, a new hardware part or a moved measurement. A correction is different — fixing something that does not match the specification that was already agreed. Corrections should always be free, and saying so explicitly removes most of the friction from the rest of the policy.

• Correction: free. The sample does not match the written specification — a measurement is out, a detail was missed, a reinforcement was skipped.
• Revision: counted. The specification changes because the design intent changed: a new strap width, a new closure, a different lining.
• Addition: quoted. A new component, a new tooling item or a new material enters the bill of materials.
• Preference: noted. A matter of taste with no drawing attached; recorded, and batched into the next counted round rather than run alone.

That classification also protects the calendar. Batching preferences into one round means one trip through the 6-10 working day window instead of three, and it is the difference between a sampling stage that takes three weeks and one that takes seven. The sampling and approval process works on the same principle: changes are collected, numbered and released together.

Branch One: Changes Before the Pattern Is Cut

This is the free branch and it is wider than most buyers use. Until the pattern is cut, a change lives in a drawing file: a strap width moves from 20 mm to 25 mm, a pocket is repositioned, a gusset deepens from 10 cm to 12 cm. None of it has physical cost. The practical rule is that any change arriving before pattern cutting is absorbed, however many of them there are, provided they arrive in one consolidated list.

1. Consolidate. Send every change in one numbered list rather than across five emails.
2. Confirm in writing. Ask for a confirmation that the file version used for cutting is the one sent.
3. Re-check the costed bill. A change that adds a component changes the price; a change that only moves a measurement usually does not.
4. Then release. Say the words: cut to this file.

The discipline that matters here is the release. Nothing should go to the cutting table until one dated file has been named as the build file, because two live versions is the origin of specification drift later. This is the same point made in prototype versus pre-production sample: the document, not the conversation, is what the line works from.

Branch Two: Changes After the Prototype Arrives

Once a physical prototype exists, a change costs a round: 6-10 working days for a standard construction, 12-15 for a framed, woven or stacked one. The first of these is normally included. The question to answer at this branch is not whether the change is allowed — it is — but whether it is worth a round, because a round spent on a preference is a round not spent on a launch date.

A useful test at this branch: if the change would still be wanted at twice the cost, it is a real design decision; if it would not, it is a preference and should be batched or dropped. Most programmes spend their second and third rounds on preferences, which is why a written policy pays for itself before the first sample is even shipped.

Branch Three: Changes at the Pre-Production Sample

The pre-production sample is made on the line with bulk materials, and it is where the freeze belongs. After this point a change is no longer a change to a bag; it is a change to a production plan, because materials have been bought, the line has been set and a slot has been booked. Most programmes allow a narrow exception here for safety or function, and nothing else.

• Allowed at this branch. A functional fault: a closure that will not close, a strap attachment that fails a pull test, a hardware part that jams.
• Not allowed at this branch. Aesthetic preference, a shade adjustment that is inside the agreed Delta E 2.0, or a measurement inside tolerance.
• Quoted, not refused. Anything can still be changed; it is a commercial question from here, priced and scheduled in writing.

Writing the freeze into the brief also protects the bulk window of 35-50 days. A change made after materials are bought can push the slot, and a pushed slot in a peak season can cost more than the change itself. Where a change is genuinely needed, the honest answer is a change order with days and cost on it, not a favour.

Branch Four: Changes After the Deposit

After the deposit, the only mechanism is a change order: a written document stating what changes, what it costs, how many days it adds and who approves it. This branch exists because materials have been ordered and production capacity has been reserved on 7 production lines. A change here is legitimate and common; what is not acceptable is a change that is agreed verbally and then discovered at inspection.

1. Identify what is affected. Pattern, material, tooling, hardware, packaging, compliance testing or all of them.
2. Price it. Material already bought is written off; new material is bought at a new lot price; a new die or mould is quoted.
3. Time it. Add 6-10 working days for a material change, longer where tooling is involved.
4. Issue it. One document, countersigned, with a revised handover date.
5. File it. The change order becomes part of the specification, version-numbered like any other revision.

Compliance is the hidden cost in this branch. A new lining, a new coated trim or a new plated part can restart a REACH Annex XVII or Proposition 65 review, and a test report takes days to issue. Where a change touches chemistry, ask whether the existing documentation still covers the shipment before agreeing to it.

Setting the Number: How Many Rounds Is Fair

Three included rounds is the commercial norm for a standard silhouette and four for a complex one, and the reason is arithmetic rather than generosity. A well-specified programme closes in two: prototype and pre-production. Three leaves room for one genuine misreading. Beyond that, the problem is usually the brief rather than the bag, and a fee is a reasonable way to make that visible.

The number should also carry a response-time obligation on both sides. Sampling runs 6-10 working days, but a sample that sits unopened for a week costs the same as a round. Agreeing that feedback returns within 5 working days of receipt halves the elapsed time of a three-round programme, and it is the cheapest clause in the whole policy. The rounds a custom bag really needs covers this from the buyer's side.

Writing the Clause: What the Policy Document Says

A revision policy is one paragraph in the brief and two lines in the purchase order. It should name the included rounds, the freeze point, the fee mechanism, the response time and the change-order route. Anything longer gets skimmed and anything vaguer gets argued.

• Included. Three sample rounds at 6-10 working days each; 12-15 for framed, woven or stacked constructions.
• Counted as a round. Any change to the agreed specification requested after the prototype has been shipped.
• Freeze. Specification frozen at pre-production sample approval; changes after that are quoted and scheduled.
• Fee. Rounds beyond the included number are quoted before work restarts, at a stated rate per round.
• Response. Feedback returned within 5 working days of sample receipt by the buyer; otherwise the slot is re-planned.
• Change order. Any change after deposit is issued in writing with cost and days, countersigned by both parties.

One clause is worth adding because it resolves most disputes before they start: corrections are free, at any stage, forever. If the bag does not match the specification that was agreed, that is not a revision and should never be counted as one. Stating it costs nothing and removes the suspicion that the count is being used to bill for mistakes.

What a Change Order Should Contain

A change order is a small document with a large job: it converts a conversation into a decision that can be checked later. Six fields, filled in, is enough. Anything that cannot be expressed in those six fields is not yet a decision.

1. What changes, referenced to the specification section and the file version.
2. What it affects: pattern, material, tooling, hardware, packaging, testing.
3. What it costs, as a number, including any written-off material.
4. How many days it adds, and the revised handover date.
5. What must be re-approved: sample, colour swatch, test report, packaging artwork.
6. Who signed it, on which date, on both sides.

The Two Exceptions Worth Allowing

Two change types should never be counted against the round allowance, because refusing them produces a worse outcome than allowing them. The first is safety: a strap attachment that fails a pull test, a closure that opens under load, a part with a sharp edge. The second is compliance: a material that fails a REACH Annex XVII or Proposition 65 screen must be replaced, and the replacement is not a design revision.

Both exceptions should be written into the clause so they are not treated as goodwill. Goodwill is unreliable, and a policy that depends on goodwill is a policy that gets renegotiated under pressure. Everything else — shade, proportion, hand feel, hardware tone — is a design decision and belongs in the counted rounds, which is what the allowance is for.

Where a programme runs beyond its first season, the policy should be reviewed once. A brand that consistently closes in two rounds can ask for a tighter allowance in exchange for a held price; one that consistently uses five should look at the brief rather than at the fee. Both conversations are easier with the prototype costing guide in hand, because most late revisions are really early costing decisions that were deferred.

Inside the Pattern Room: How a Round Is Logged

The revision count is only meaningful if both sides can reconstruct it later, and the pattern room's log is what makes that possible. Every accepted change ends as a numbered line in the pattern file — panel, measurement, old value, new value — and the boards themselves are marked with the revision letter before the next cut. A sample leaves the bench with a tag carrying the same letter, so the round that returns can be checked against the round that was requested rather than against somebody's memory. When a programme disputes a count in week six, the log settles it in five minutes.

• Pattern file. One numbered line per change: panel, measurement, old value, new value.
• Board marking. The revision letter is written on the boards before every recut, so an old board cannot be cut by mistake.
• Sample tag. Carries the same revision letter; the returning sample is checked against the log, not the conversation.
• Photograph. One dated photo per round; three seasons later it is the only record of why a change was made.

Colour Approvals Run on a Different Clock

A colour change is not one revision; it is a chain: a swatch request, a dye lot or coating run, a physical lab dip, and a measurement against the approved standard under D65. Each link has its own lead time — a lab dip alone takes 3-5 days — which is why a colour change requested at the pre-production branch costs more calendar than a dimensional change of the same apparent size. Batch colour preferences into the same round as everything else, and hold one colour approval per style rather than approving in instalments.

• Lab dip. 3-5 days per colour; request all colourways of a style at once, not one at a time.
• Tolerance. Delta E 1.5 on synthetics, 2.0 on plant-based or heavily finished surfaces.
• Bulk dye lot. The approved dip is a reference rather than a guarantee; the lot itself is checked at inspection.
• Late shade changes. After material release, a new colourway is a new material order with its own 500-piece minimum.

Hardware Changes: The Slowest Revisions to Accept

A hardware finish change looks like a one-line revision and behaves like a procurement project. A new plating colour means a new bath run, a fresh salt-spray test to the stated hours under ASTM B117, and a 7-14 day lead before the parts exist. A new part shape means a mould at 12-21 days on top. This is why the hardware line in a change order should carry its own days column, and why hardware is better frozen at the prototype branch than at pre-production, where every other component is already committed.

• Plating change. New bath, new salt-spray test, 6-10 working days even when the shape is already stocked.
• New mould. 12-21 days plus a minimum lot; effectively a new tooling line inside the change order.
• Stocked alternative. Swapping to a catalogued finish removes the mould and most of the days.
• Freeze point. Freeze hardware at the prototype branch; it is the component with the longest procurement tail.

What a Fair Per-Round Fee Looks Like

Round four onward is quoted before work restarts, and a buyer with no reference point cannot tell a fair quote from a punitive one. The honest arithmetic: a revision round repeats only the affected operations, so it should cost materially less than the original prototype. The figures that prototype costing works through are the right benchmark, and a quote for round four that matches the full prototype price is only correct when the silhouette itself has changed.

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