Custom clothing manufacturing companies that support brands with small orders are rare. Especially if they are unfamiliar with brands from New York, LA, or Chicago because reputed brands are stationed primarily in New York, LA, or Chicago. We see successful streetwear brands outside New York, LA, and Chicago, thanks to the internet culture. You must be wondering why I am writing this. I got a question from one of my clients from a mid-sized city, Phoenix, in The USA. He wanted to know if a streetwear brand could rise to prominence from a mid-size town and if a custom clothing manufacturing company would give him the same importance as a client. LA or NY grants you easier access to connections in the industry. But you can still create your brand and reach out to customers locally.
Accessing Budget & Before Approaching a Custom Clothing Manufacturing Company
Most startup brand owners are dilemma about how much inventory is ok to drop. Considering you have limited funds, how small is okay to start with? The next question is, how do you know your product will sell? Is there any work beforehand, or is it all luck or guesswork? Well, business is not done with luck and guesswork nor with questions in mind if you succeed or fail. A brand needs careful and scientific calculations to be successful. I agree that luck and intuition may work sometimes, but not every time. You need to plan carefully and make predictions based on concrete data. Many platforms can help you understand whether you are on the right track. For example, post your previews on Reddit or book pre-sale events.
Prepare Your Collection Line Sheet and Prepare Tech Packs
Use blanks or tech pack templates for generic clothing with print or logo placement. But, if you are going for your custom design, you need a professional tech pack designer to support you. Technical designers are expensive, and they charge per hour. So, if you are unsure about your ideas and want to rework them, complete them. So, be ready and sure about your collection ideas and sketches before you hire a tech pack designer. This saves billable time and thereby saves a lot of money. You need the tech pack if you are going for costume apparel. Without this, there is a risk if you are jumping to clothing manufacturing. There is every chance that you may not get the right fit or right look as you thought. There will be several corrections in the sampling, costing you almost double.
Custom clothing manufacturing companies will talk only if you have a proper tech pack. Those who produce your garments without tech packs have no guarantee. A tech pack guarantees that the final products will match your expectations. Spending a little money on planning your collection is no harm. Instead, it will give you confidence to proceed further and execute production.
Sourcing ideal Custom Clothing Manufacturing Company
Choosing an Ideal Factory for Custom Apparel Production is not easy. Because not all factories produce all kinds of garments. Usually, Clothing manufacturers specialize in one or two types of garments. For example, some factories only manufacture outerwear. Some factories specialize in knitted jersey t-shirts or hoodies, some are woven, and some in denim jeans. So, it would help if you sourced specialized knitwear designers and factories equipped to produce your garment. In this case, you must search deeper for factories and source the right factory for your collection, so if you have a different variety of apparel, source more than one factory. It also gives you an advantage as you are not putting all your eggs in one basket.
Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)
Another issue with custom clothing manufacturers is the MOQ constraint. If your styles have specialized fabric composition, you have to produce fabric. In this case, the fabric MOQ is high. You may not need that much fabric as per the quantity you ordered. This is not practical for a start-up apparel brand. Start-up apparel brands have smaller order quantities. If they have any specialized fabric, sourcing is challenging. Sometimes, getting the fabric the brand wants for the style collection is impossible. This becomes an awkward situation for the clothing manufacturer. This can be avoided in many ways. Consult with a technical designer who has industry contact and knowledge of fabric. This way, you can plan your collection before going for sample development.
Export License:
When a clothing manufacturer deals with cross-country brands, it needs an export license. Not all factories have export licenses and depend on a third party. The third-party charges a commission, which adds to the cost of the product. You can avoid this by getting a confirmation of whether the vendor has an export license.
We give start-up brands a suitable environment to launch their first drop. Urban Purple has all the skills, manpower, and equipment a startup needs. We consult and offer upcoming clients our technical design and apparel production service. Our technical designer helps buyers organize their creative ideas and make them practical. We also provide generic tech pack templates through an online tech pack template store. So, if you are looking for tech packs that every brand commonly uses, visit our online store. For custom apparel, our technical designers offer the best service that a brand needs. You can reach us through our website contact form, and we make sure you get a response within 24 hours. So, if you plan to start your clothing brand, wait no longer and contact our technical design team.