While fashion in general sounds super glamorous and extra, the work that goes behind it is equally intense. The clothing production process is extremely technical. Finding a good clothing factory can make a monumental difference in the brand’s products and cost. While Starting and maintaining a Clothing brand has so many steps, in this blog we are going to focus primarily on How to find a good clothing factory.
A brand is the result of multiple processes. It starts obviously with a great idea, something that inspired the birth of the brand, a great Unique selling proposition(USP), Detailed market research, trend study, forecasting, etc.
To find and work with a clothing manufacturer, there are a few things to keep in mind like Understanding your own boundaries, needs, and requirements.
PRODUCT CATEGORY
To find a high-quality clothing manufacturer, you must first realize and understand what you need from them. And the first thing to finalize is your product category and design.
Will you be working with Pants, knits, dresses, scarves, or will you be working across multiple categories? Is it menswear, womenswear, or kidswear? Or is it going to be androgynous?
Would you be requiring specific techniques like dyeing, and if dyeing, what type? Yarn dyeing, Dip dyeing, tie-dyeing, etc, or Printing? Digital printing, screen printing, hand block printing, Eco printing, or maybe Embroidery? Hand embroidery or Machine embroidery? Trims? Labels? Fabrics. All these factors help decide what you need to look for in a factory and to check if they can support your clothing production process.
Finalizing your components can help you make a list of all your requirements like sustainability, ethical practices, etc and while sourcing a factory we can then check if the factory can support all of your needs or not. It will also help you get a better quotation from the factory. To know more about how to ethically source factories, check out this link.
BUDGET
The next thing to fixate once the category and components are done is the budget. Why is the budget so important to find a good clothing factory? Well, budget indirectly denotes the quality you’re looking for.
Now, this does not mean cheap products always have to be of low quality or the fact that higher prices guarantee great quality. It is simply a general rule of thumb, that Premium products/raw materials cost a little more than normal materials. Budget can be done two ways, Start with the total budget you have allocated for your production and break it down to get your desired production price.
The other way to do this is by starting with the target selling price you are aiming for and then figuring out the desired cost price.
For example, if you aim to sell a pair of pants for $100, and if you plan on having a 50% profit margin, and need to spend 20$/piece for overhead expenses(rent, website, marketing, photoshoot, shipping, salaries, etc) then you can afford to produce a pair of pants for roughly $30.
Fixing your budget and planning a clear breakdown of expenses can be a little intimidating if you are newly venturing into this field, but with Deepwear, we can help you plot how much each stage and element will tentatively cost so that you can plan your budget precisely. To start your range planning and budget breakdown, Get in touch.
PRODUCTION LOCATION
The next thing to decide upon is Production location. Where would you prefer to manufacture your garments? Would you like to produce locally? Or would you prefer your garment manufacturing in China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, or other Eastern countries? Or would you like to produce in European countries like Portugal, Turkey, Spain, Morocco, Bulgaria, etc? This will help you narrow down your search and also understand where to start.
Deepwear can assist you in sourcing clothing factories in over 15 major garment production countries like China, Vietnam, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, France, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, USA, UK, and Australia. To start your sourcing process with Deepwear click here.
PRODUCTION QUANTITY
Another thing that needs to be understood when looking for the best clothing manufacturers that fit your needs is Minimum order quantity(MOQ). Why does MOQ affect the choice of clothing factories?
Well, simply because as a general rule the bigger the order, the cheaper the prices get, and similarly the smaller the order, the higher the prices go. This does not mean that it is impossible to produce smaller quantities, it is just something to consider when searching for factories.
SOURCING FACTORY
Now with all the specifications listed, The next thing to take care of is Sourcing a factory. There are so many possibilities of being misdirected during this part.
In the market, you will not only find factories, but you will also find agents and contractors posing as factories to direct naive clients towards their particular factories. Not just that, to be on the safer side, It is always advisable to visit the factory personally and check if all the claims the factory-made are true.
It is important to check if the infrastructure of the garment factory can support your production necessities. To know more about how to present your brand to factories, check out our previous blog.
GET EXPERIENCED ASSISTANCE
Deepwear has more than 25 years of collective experience in the field of fashion and global production. Our experienced team is a mix of skilled and expert merchandisers, production managers, designers, etc who can guide you towards efficient production.
Being in 15 countries around the world in major production countries like China, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, Portugal, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, USA, UK, France, and Australia helps us get the global fashion picture, and ensures we aren’t just dependant on one particular country for any of our sourcing needs.
Deepwear is always on the ground, overlooking your entire production process, from the area of production from start to finish to ensure we have great control over the entire process. To know more about how you can start sourcing with Deepwear, click here.