Ready to bulk manufacture your clothes? Follow our simple checklist below to make sure it's done right.
Bulk clothing manufacture can cost thousands, and for most clothing brands it can seem like a huge amount of money. We're here to help you avoid the common errors we see when sending clothes for manufacture, so that you get the very best results.
So here it is - your ultimate checklist before sending your clothes to be manufactured in bulk.
1. Are your tech packs air tight?
If you're about to manufacture, it must mean you've had your clothing samples back, you're happy with them and you want to move into bulk manufacture.
Here's the key. Make sure your tech packs exactly match the sample that you're using.
Why?
Clothing manufacturers make lots of samples for lots of different clients, so you can't rely on the manufacturer remembering exactly how the your samples were made. A good idea is to add pages into your tech packs with pictures of your sample. That way there's no ambiguity when it comes to them producing your clothes in bulk.
If you're not sure that your tech packs are 100% correct, don't proceed to bulk manufacturing - it will cost you so much in the long run.
To make sure your tech packs are air tight, check out one of our previous blog post which highlights everything you need in a tech pack by clicking here!
2. Have you explored all pricing options?
There are two main ways to decrease your pricing.
- Changing your shipping method to sea shipment (this takes longer but is way cheaper than express shipping and, importantly, it includes customs charges).
- Picking your main designs and upping the units for those and cutting the designs that are not as strong (generally the higher the number of units ordered per design, the cheaper your unit price will be).
Sea shipment is the cheapest but takes the longest, so you need to weigh up if you can wait longer for your items and save money on the shipping.
3. Have you tested your samples properly?
You need to give your samples a rigorous testing. Wear them, wash them and see how they act! Your customers are going to do this and it's your job as a brand owner to make sure you root out any problems before you sell your garments to the public.
The last thing you want (both for your sanity and your bank balance) is to manufacture a huge amount of garments, sell them, and then have to deal with loads of returns and refunds because your clothes all shrink on the first wash.
4. Have you tested the waters with your client base to check which items are most likely to sell?
Let's get something straight, your Mum and your Granny are NOT your customers. They might give advice, but when it comes to designing clothes, it's very rarely the advice you need! Get on your socials with posts that show your samples and ask for feedback, then review it and make an informed decision.
For clothing brands looking to bulk manufacture, it's always a good idea to have feedback from your ideal target market before you make the big decision to manufacture your garments in bulk.
5. Have you booked your photoshoots and planned your marketing budget?
So, you're currently reading a blog written by Hook and Eye UK. This tells me two things. 1) You've got great taste in blogs. 2) You want to make, and sell, quality garments.
Quality clothing commands a higher price point, which is great. But in order to sell, you need to make sure you can back up the quality of your garments with high quality imagery and marketing collateral. Fashion is a crowded space, so you need to ensure that all of the imagery you use to show your designs are really high quality!
6. Design well in advance
The best lesson you can learn is to make sure you design your items well in advance and sample them as soon as you can (we recommend 8 months before planned release). This time frame gives you choice, allows for mistakes and ensures you don't rush into bulk clothing production before you're ready.
In conclusion: Make sure you do everything on the checklist before you manufacture your clothing in bulk
Here's a handy summary of all the points:
In our tech pack and design sessions we help you utilise all of the tips above to build collections with lasting quality. Click here to book a tech pack and design session.
Love Joss H&E xx
P.s We're here for you of you have questions drop us a WhatsApp on +447939591255