Fashion entrepreneurs: How to find a factory to make your products
Whether you’re handmaking products or want to start a new line of clothes or accessories, finding the right factory for your business is essential for success.
When you start a creative business, logistics is one of the last things on your mind. Your head is too full of colors, designs, mood boards, and ideas to spare much room for the less exciting stuff. But, as everyone knows deep down, the boring bits are what keep a business thriving. And when it comes to clothes, accessories, or anything related to fashion, nailing your production process might not be the most glamorous task, but it’s undoubtedly the most vital. So here are the steps to follow to find the right factory for you:
Work out what you want that factory to doDo you want a factory to simply assemble materials you’ve bought to a pattern you’ve designed, or do you want it to source materials, create a way and assemble it all from your sketch? If it’s the former, choose a factory that does CMT (cut-measure-trim); if it’s the latter, choose FPP (total package production). FPP is inevitably more expensive but can be the right choice for a designer with little or no garment-making or pattern-cutting skills. On the other hand, CMT tends to work best for designers who already have a line of products and have been making them from their kitchen table.
- Do extensive research.
Getting recommendations from your friends, peers, or network is the best way to find a good-quality, wholesale clothing manufacturers. The best factories are so highly prized that many designers are loathed to share their contacts. Get what you can from them; even knowing the city they produce can help you narrow your search, as you might find a district specializing in what you do. Alternatively, visit dedicated manufacturing websites that can help you filter results. In the UK, Let’s Make It Here is a database of manufacturers that you can search by category, keyword, or location. At the same time, Maker’s Row can help in the US. Visit local manufacturing trade shows, too; the DISC Manufacturers’ Trade Show is held twice a year in London.
- Short-list, and start local
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After doing your research, you will inevitably have a massive list of potential factories to work with worldwide. Unfortunately, unless you have an endless supply of cash, you won’t be able to sample with all of them, so you need to cut your list down. The best production managers suggest you try and keep it as local to you as possible, as this eliminates overseas shipping logistics and customs issues. Also, it means you are closer to the factory and can do first visits, second visits, and quality control more easily. For less experienced designers, it can also offer peace of mind – being closer to where your product is made makes you feel more in control of your business. Cost is a factor, of course. Especially in the UK and US, prices are higher because of minimum wages, strict legal requirements, and other factors.
Location isn’t the only thing to consider, however. Your perfect factory will have experience producing the types of clothing and garments you want to make, using the materials you want to make them with. Check which areas it specializes in – bags, womenswear, etc. – and what machinery it has. (The clearer you are about the procedures needed to make your products, the easier this latter part will be.) You’ll also need to know minimums: how many products you will have to order to secure a relationship, schedules, and pricing.
- Pay them a visit
After you’ve found out all the above, a visit is a next step - and you must do this. Even if you’ve met the manager at a trade show and seen samples of their work or exchanged a hundred emails, you won’t get a true sense of the place until you step through the door. And your request will be expected; it’s usual for designers to inspect the factories they’ll be working with. The proposal demonstrates to the manager that you are professional, experienced, and understand the process. During this visit, discuss prices, schedules, and minimums. Ahead of time, you should understand how much you want to pay and how much they’d like to charge, and this is the time to negotiate.
