Ready-to-wear fashion and custom clothing represent two primary ways consumers choose their outfits. Both segments have their niche based on customer choice and preferences. While the market for ready-to-wear fashion is dominant, custom clothing holds its niche. The basic human tendency is that everyone wants to look unique and seek exclusivity in their attire. However, exclusivity often comes at a higher cost. This makes ready-to-wear fashion the dominant preference. It has been the go-to choice for people with active and busy lifestyles. This has been the dominant choice for people worldwide since its inception in World War II. The trend is expected to continue for a long time. People recognize us for our exceptional tech pack services, led by the world’s best tech pack designer on our team. We do ready-to-wear fashion, custom apparel design, and tech pack development.
Fashion brands prefer to produce clothing in bulk, so ready-to-wear fashion is the preferred choice. The advantage of bulk production is that it reduces cost and increases profit margin. Despite this, custom apparel maintains its appeal. It applies to those who can afford to tailor their style to their preferences. Let’s examine how those two concepts occupy their respective places in the market.
Consumer Preference and Trends
Statistics show that consumers choose ready-to-wear fashion. According to the Global Consumer Trends Index, 64% of consumers prefer to buy reasonably and with higher quality. They like to wear simple, comfortable clothing. Regular clothing fits better than expensive custom clothing, tailored to their preferences. This statistic is debatable as many others think today’s consumer is ready to pay for apparel personalized as per their preference. The only factor that affects this is the purpose. It is challenging to compare runway silhouettes with daily wear. There is a gap between creative designer garments and practical fashion.
Impact of Retail Fashion for Ready-to-Wear Fashion
It is an irony that runway fashion has a limited scope when it comes to the business of fashion for mass. Although runway fashion directs the fashion trend and forecast, it has very little to do with retail fashion. Retail fashion takes inspiration from runway reports and processes further. Retail fashion reflects broader fashion trends compared to runway reports. So, the scope for brands has a better and more enormous scope of business in the retail sector. Brands focus more on ready-made fashion due to its convenience and market demand. Therefore, brands take those run-way ideas and process further to mass-produce clothing. Fashion tech pack designers take those ideas and prepare a production-feasible collection.
Transformation in Apparel Production
Converting a custom clothing idea to life is not so easy. This is because, for every style, the order quantity is low. Sometimes, there would be 1 – 2 pieces for each style. Even the smallest apparel production unit does not want to take up an order that small. The fashion industry follows specific processes. This starts with making tech packs for the collection. Most garment manufacturing units do not entertain clients who do not have tech packs. So, brands usually hire a tech pack designer to prepare the tech pack and spec sheet. Once this is over, they approach the manufacturers with their order quantity. The order quantity should match the MOQ of the production unit.
The evolution of modern techniques leads to high-quality and cost-effective production. Yet, it needs a minimum order to make some profit. Therefore, ready-to-wear fashion is preferred due to lower production costs and high-quality output. Garment units prefer to focus on higher-quantity production rather than putting their effort into custom clothing.
Current Market Scenario
The ready-to-wear fashion market is expanding rapidly. It has shown a record growth of 25% every year since 2022. This is a promising trend for the apparel and fashion industry. This opens the way for numerous opportunities for the apparel sector in the world. Increasing consumer demand, e-commerce boom, and rising disposable income help the growth. There is an increasing focus on ethical manufacturing and eco-friendly materials. Inclusivity and diversity are significant trends. And this helps fashion move towards inclusivity and gender-neutral designs. Online platforms and social media play an essential role in influencing consumer behavior. Those platforms help brands connect with their audience and improve brand identity. All these factors show the growth potential of the ready-to-wear fashion.
Why Consumers Choose Ready-Made Fashion
Consumers overwhelmingly favor ready-to-wear fashion over custom clothing. The ability to grab trendy pieces on the go is a significant advantage. Though custom clothing shows an upward trend, many people prefer fashion on the go. People prefer clothing with streetwear prints, especially clothing with apparel graphics. Runway designs by clothing designers often differ significantly from everyday wear. We see silhouettes on the ramp walk from clothing designers that differ from what we wear daily. When designers show their creativity, they only showcase concepts, colors, fabrics, and cuts. So, retail fashion has nothing to do with ramp shows; instead, it gives a broader view of fashion trends. Recognizing this shift, many designers have found success focusing on ready-to-wear lines. We’ve even seen significant fashion houses launch distinct ready-to-wear brands.
The introduction of modern sewing techniques improved garment quality manyfold. This results in a preference for readymade fashion over custom clothing. Today, customers demand trendy clothing that fits the bill. The custom clothing trend has yet to catch up with ready-to-wear fashion. Brands want to offer high-quality apparel at a cheaper price. This is possible because they meet the MOQ for mass production and can market their products. This could be an advantage to people who are starting an apparel line.
Our Service as a Clothing Designer & Manufacturer for Ready-to-wear Fashion
Urban Purple empowers new fashion brands with a one-stop shop for success. We offer an end-to-end solution for start-up clothing brands with minimal investment. Our Service Includes apparel design, tech Packs, clothing manufacturing, and eCommerce web development. So a fashion brand can get every service they need from us under one roof. You can also check out our online store for downloadable vectors and spec packs. We have a one-stop tech pack store for brands to start with generic styles. Visit our tech pack template store and choose your styles. You can get the tech packs ready to use and customized. For custom design, get in touch with our tech pack designer.