If you are a designer searching for clothing manufacturers to produce your designs, it is wise to find a factory with an experienced fashion design team to avoid potential complications during production. This will ensure a smooth production process.
Before approaching potential manufacturing partners, it is also crucial to establish a timeline and set milestones to ensure the production process remains on schedule.
Design and Development
An effective business plan is essential to dress manufacturers. It will outline your goals, strategies to reach them and financial projections; additionally it may aid when applying for financing and capital options for your venture.
One of the primary factors in production delays is poor supply chain planning. This often stems from raw material deliveries taking longer than expected and it is essential that regular communication takes place with suppliers to ensure they stay on schedule to meet deadlines.
Engaging a garment manufacturer early in the design stage is key to avoiding costly production errors later. Plus, doing so helps establish honest relationships between you and suppliers so you can discuss changes or discuss potential problems more easily – which will ultimately keep your brand launch on schedule without delays that affect sales.
Tech Pack
Fashion tech packs are documents designed to communicate how you would like your clothing made, including items such as grading sheets, order forms, fabric requirements charts, bill of materials listing every component (such as buttons or zippers or sequins), construction methods with dimensions attached and renderings or mockups showing what your finished garment will look like.
Documenting production requirements is key for designers looking to avoid production reruns, cost overages and delays in their designs. A well-formatted grading sheet ensures your manufacturers produce correct sizes. Furthermore, having a clear fabric requirements chart ensures they use exactly enough fabric (i.e. not purchasing 500 teal sequins when only five are needed! This can save significant sums over time!). A comprehensive strategy plan will save both time and money!
Samples
Your first sample should be a rough muslin. This sample should provide an idea of your design with particular focus on construction, usually made from an inexpensive fabric. Your garment technician should understand exactly what you wish to accomplish through this sample and will work hard to ensure it fits properly.
After some iterations of muslins and fit samples, you should arrive at your Pre Production Sample (PPS). This sample represents what will be produced during mass production; therefore it should include all fabrics required, trims/hardware details, labels as well as any labels needed.
Next is a Photo Sample which is an exact duplicate garment available in various sizes intended to promote your range in media such as catalogues or TV ads. Buyers may require Show Samples which is an even smaller set of garments used by buyers for showroom displays or photo shoots.
Production
Your garment factory will now create the garments specified in your tech pack, paying close attention to every detail – from zippers and embellishments to buttons – as they carefully craft these high-quality garments for you. They’ll even test them against their own high standards!
At this stage, it’s crucial that all parties involved in your apparel production work together creatively in order to produce high-quality garments successfully. Timelines may need to be discussed if launching a clothing line quickly on the market.
Conclusion
Finding clothing manufacturers is best accomplished via online directories or trade shows, where thousands of manufacturers, fabric suppliers and wholesalers are present to meet new fashion designers and buyers. Makes communicating with suppliers easier so you can track manufacturing metrics such as quality control as well as order supplies without miscommunication or missed deadlines.
