As a start-up fashion designer, you may be looking into starting your own fashion brand. You may have the idea and have sketched them all out, but you’re now looking for a suitable manufacturer to produce them- this can be a difficult and tedious process as there are lots of things you need to consider.
If you’re only at the beginning of your fashion brand journey, you’re likely to have a smaller budget, resulting in a smaller quantity of orders. Finding a small quantity garment manufacturer itself can already create some challenges for you as many manufacturers mass-produce clothes, so they will want bigger quantity orders. You also want to ensure the manufacturer you do find, fits up to your standards in terms of the quality and the production of your designs.
Here are some tips on how to pick a garment manufacturer:
1. Networking: Although this may seem like the obvious, networking with a bunch of industry experts to give you some first-hand tips in getting the most out of your business is important- they know what they are talking about, so take notes! If you haven’t studied a fashion related degree at university, it may be difficult for you to find some industry experts to chat with; using our platform at Chanodil may be of advantage to you, as we can help you one-on-one in picking a garment manufacture. To find out more; contact us.
2. Decide How Many Orders You Want: As mentioned before, because you are a start-up fashion brand, you’ll need to look into clothing manufacturerswho can actually offer small quantity orders. Using social media channels (such as Instagram) and typical search engines like Google are a good starting point for this. You will find a good variety of manufacturers that offer a smaller production level of 50 good quality pieces.
You will also need to consider that because you are ordering small quantity of orders, the waiting time may take longer as you will be pushed to the back of the que. Bigger orders usually get priority. This is not the case for all garment manufacturers, but check this out beforehand.
3. Get Them to Send You a Sample: You need to ensure that before requesting your order, that you get some samples. The garment manufacturer may charge for this, but it is important that you get this sample so that you can check for any errors; this may be with the fabric they use, the colour, types of fastenings used or even the actual construction of the fashion garment itself.
4. Consider Possible Restrictions: As a small fashion business, you may find that some of the garment manufacturers that you are looking at only offer limited styles and designs. This could restrict you as it may not match up to your own designs, therefore you need to make sure that you are open to compromising. If this isn’t something you want to do, there will be plenty of other private garment manufacturersthat you can look at, but take into consideration the fees they may charge and if it is within your budget.
5. Think About Your Budget: In all of the process, you’re going to always have to refer back to your budget. You will find that private label manufacturers will understand this, however you want to ensure you have a good relationship with them, so it is ideal that you create a realistic budget that you can both work with- this way it is a win-win situation.
Also take into consideration some room for potential errors. As a smaller fashion business, even if there are only a small amount of garment errors(faults with the clothing etc), then this will take up a lot of our profits if you don’t pre-plan your budget carefully.
By creating a suitable and workable budget and a Tech Pack– (hyperlink How to Make a Tech Pack’ article),you’re likely to overcome any worst-case scenarios and reduce miscommunication with your garment manufacturer.
Additional Information: Chanodil offers a service that simplifies the process of finding a garment manufacturer for small start-up fashion business. We have a ton of manufacturers and suppliersfrom all over the world and can help tick all your requirements. Sign Up–today to find out more.
