Want to start a fashion brand in 2025? Here's a guide for new customers on how you can do it with Hook and Eye UK!
It can be difficult to know where to begin with starting your own fashion brand. Having worked with hundreds of startup clothing brands over the years, we've formulated a simple, successful process for our customers to follow.
So here it is - everything you need to know about our process for starting a successful fashion brand, in clear, bite-sized pieces (along with some really useful info)!
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1. HOW TO GET EXPERTS ON YOUR SIDE! (A) Introduce yourself (B) What to send (C) Pre-developed garments (D) Fabrics (E) Branding |
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2. THE CUT & SEW CLOTHING PROCESS EXPLAINED! Step by step guide A - D. |
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3. OTHER THINGS YOU'LL NEED TO CONSIDER! (A) Packaging (B) Social Media (C) Photoshoots (D) SEO (E) Wholesale garments (F) What we don't do |
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4. REALLY USEFUL GENERAL INFO FOR STARTING A CLOTHING BRAND! (A) Minimum Order Quantities (a.k.a MOQs) (B) Measurement charts (C) Pricing (D) Quality standards & Bridge Brands (E) There is no one level of quality (F) What we can manufacture (and what we can't) (G) Where we are based and where we manufacture (H) Our ethics, sustainability and eco-friendly practices |
1. IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO START A CLOTHING LINE, OR NEED CUSTOM MADE GARMENTS, GETTING HELP FROM EXPERTS WILL SAVE YOU HOURS AND LOTS OF £££!
With years of experience successfully taking startup clothing brands from the initial design stage all the way through to bulk manufacture, we've got loads of knowledge to share with you. If you'd like our friendly experts to help you on your journey, your first step is to fill out our enquiry form...
CLICK HERE TO FILL IN OUR ENQUIRY FORM
If we can help you, the enquiry will lead you to a page with our WhatsApp number and tell you to WhatsApp us.
(A) Introduce yourself - please tell us your full name (so we can connect you with your enquiry form) and a bit about your brand. We're a friendly team, and only choose to work with people that we think we can truly help, so we'd like to get to know you to see if what we offer is right for you. Nothing is more off-putting than starting a conversation off with uninformative questions like 'how much is manufacture?'. Please be friendly, we're just humans helping humans after all.
(B) What to send us? Any information and imagery that helps us understand your vision for your clothing brand is really helpful to send.
If you already have mock-ups or tech packs, ping them across! If not, sending us screenshots (taken from anywhere online) similar to the garments you'd like to create for your fashion brand is a helpful starting point.
We already know you won't want the exact same copy, but you might really like a particular garment for it's shape, style or details. Just give us a brief outline of what it is you want to create.
Speaking of tech packs, you might be thinking "what the hell is a tech pack?" if that's you click here for our handy guide to clothing tech packs!!
You may also like to check out our blog post on the cheapest way to design clothes - always useful for people looking to start a fashion brand.
(C) Pre-developed garments. You can, of course, have completely custom-made clothing shapes, but if you're looking for an easier, cheaper way to design your first clothing collection, you might want to consider using our pre-developed shapes.
This is a library of styles that we have already developed the patterns for - meaning it's easy for you to pick a shape you like and make it your own by choosing fabric, colour, and adding graphics. They are not pre-made stock items, just a shape to give you a starting point. All of these shapes are developed from the big brands' popular styles like Palm Angels, Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Fear of God etc.
Naturally, we have added a bit of H&E magic into the shapes and made really well thought out bases to help you out! If you'd like to see our pre-developed range just ask us to WhatsApp it to you :)
(D) Fabrics. Take a look at our fabrics section, take a quick screen shot of the fabrics you like and circle the colour options you like. If you don't see anything there don't worry we only have a very small selection of our large fabric library online! Send us any ideas you have for the types of fabric you want to use. Read more about how to choose the best fabrics for your clothing brand here!
(E) Branding. Finish off by giving us an idea of the style of branding that you want to add to your clothing line. Let us know if you already have graphics you want to use, like a logo, or if you will need help creating something.
Done all of the above? Now relax - you've done your bit now!
We'll get back to you letting you know if / how we can help you to start a fashion brand!
If we can help, we'll have a conversation about the best next steps that will align with the size of your brand and your budget. We're here to help brands, not hinder. So unlike almost all other clothing manufacturers, we'll step in where you need us, and step back for the bits you don't!
2. OUR CUT & SEW PROCESS EXPLAINED!
Our cut and sew process is very simple yet effective for startup clothing brands. Let us explain...
(A) The first step is to get your tech packs designed (properly!)
To start your journey towards designing a world-class clothing line, the first step would be to book yourself in for a tech pack and design session with one of our designers.
In a tech pack and design session (held via Zoom shared screen or in our studio) our designer takes your concept, no matter how big or small, and puts together a full tech pack for you (on a one-to-one basis, live in front of you).
Getting your tech packs designed in the right way is one of the most crucial steps in starting a fashion brand, and will save you so so so much time and money in the long run!
Your designer will discuss all details of your design, create line drawings and discuss fabrics / trims. Together, you will choose a suitable base shape from either our pre-developed garment range, or if you already have a fit reference, we can copy the pattern from this too (making any required design alterations).
Essentially the tech pack and design session creates full tech packs that act as the blueprint for your designs to be understood and manufactured correctly (that's why we only manufacture from tech packs that we have created).
Alongside your tech packs, our designer can also create simple logo graphics for you (emphasis on simple as we're fashion designers not graphic designers), but if you have your own graphics already, then you should send those over prior to the session (we request graphics in vector format as these achieve the best results, files ending .ai, .eps or .svg - just speak to us prior to the session if you do not have these file types).
At the end of the session you'll come away with world-class full tech packs with all the information needed to go into sampling and bulk manufacture. These are yours to keep. If you've already looked at our tech pack and design session you'll have noticed they are super cheap, this is because we charge for time and not per tech pack/design!
(B) The second step happens behind the scenes- we go away and get sampling and bulk production costing for you. Depending on the complexity of your items, you normally receive pricing in around a week. We provide full transparent costings with no hidden fees and our shipping options are all DDP (Delivered Duty Paid).
(C) The third step is sampling (there's no commitment to bulk production at this stage).
Once you've paid your sampling invoice, we get to work and create your custom patterns, coded & sized digital graphic files, sampling construction guide and send everything along with your tech packs (including any updates) to our Chinese manufacture team.
They then start making your samples - this will normally take around 4-8 weeks. The samples get sent to our UK office first in Birmingham, where we check that everything has been completed correctly and make a full sample report for each design. Then we send them out to you via courier service.
Once you've got the samples and have tried them on, we book you in for a free development session to discuss how much you love them...and if there are any changes you'd like to make...
(D) The fourth step is bulk production (aka bulk manufacture).
Bulk clothing production commences when you've cleared the 1st payment which is 60% of the total bulk production cost. With this payment we offer a FREE pre-production (PP) sample per design if required. This sample is to check any minor design tweaks before your bulk production is commenced. PP samples take 3-5 weeks + express shipping.
Once everything is signed off (to be on the safe side) we estimate 4-8 weeks for the production (this is extremely schedule dependent and often runs at 3-5 weeks). Towards the end of your production (while the final quality inspection is running) you will get a 2nd invoice for the remaining 40% balance.
Once all finances are cleared, your bulk clothing production is sent directly to you. There are two main shipping methods to choose from depending on how much money you want to spend on it and how quickly you want your items to be delivered.
For some more really useful info on bulk manufacturing, see the section towards the bottom of this post.
3. OTHER THINGS YOU'LL NEED TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR CLOTHING BRAND!
(A) LETS TALK PACKAGING! You'll need to think about the packaging for your brand. This includes:
- Branded swing tags
- Branded garment bags (even the frosted zip lock ones)
- Branded mailing bags
- Branded tissue paper
- Branded ribbon
If you'd like help with this, we can design and manufacture the lot! When we produce your packaging there is also no extra charge for swing tags to be attached to your garments or for your garments to be packed into your branded zip lock bags.
(B) SOCIAL MEDIA - You'll need a platform to build awareness of your brand and we all know social media is the best way to do this! We work with a team that offer great start up packages for every size of clothing brand with very reasonable rates to our customers (just ask us about it).
(C) PHOTOSHOOTS - Our social media team also offer packages that include photoshoots! They are great at organising (and running) photoshoots for both e-commerce and stylised shoots for your clothing range. They have done countless shoots and always deliver the images you need for your website/socials (just ask us about it).
(D) SEO (Search engine optimisation) - We have a great SEO manager that can also help elevate your brand too! The Hook and Eye UK SEO results have been incredible and awareness and engagement has rocketed. A range of packages curated specially for our young brands are available (just ask us about it).
(E) WHOLESALE GARMENTS - Also known as 'Private Label' or 'White Label' wholesale garments are blank clothing items that businesses can buy from wholesale retail companies, you cannot alter the garment fit in any way, you can only add graphics to them in print or embroidery form etc. WE DO NOT OFFER THIS SERVICE! (Sorry to shout). As we specialise in high quality bridge or high level brands and don't offer any sort of fast fashion it's just not our bag but if you're looking to create a low RRP value level brand then this could be for you! To learn more about the difference between wholesale and cut & sew (and the pros and cons to each) click here!
(F) WHAT WE CAN'T DO - We don't offer website building services and we also don't offer stock distribution but there are lots of great distribution centres and you only need these once your sales start to pick up as there is almost always a 'minimum' parcel amount.
4. REALLY USEFUL INFO!! READ ME!
This is super handy further info for anyone wanting to start a fashion brand!
(A) 'What's your Minimum Order Quantity?' Generally our MOQ is 50 units per style/colour (this gets higher with the complexity of your design).
(B) 'Can I send you my measurement charts?' The short answer is no. We tend to steer clear of measurement charts and here's the main reason:
Full digital pattern creation combines the expertise of industry-trained pattern cutters (ours are brilliant at H&E) who not only measure your fit reference garments but also scan them in to get the full scope of the garment shape. Then a custom digital pattern is created (using pattern cutting software) with no ambiguous measurement points (have a little look at the video below).
Having said this measurement charts do have a very good use! Once we have been through sampling for each new design (and worked out all the kinks) you will then commit to bulk production at which point we provide a garment measurement chart including all of your sizing for use on your website as once you have a great base fit it's then very easy to 'grade' (make bigger or smaller) for your other sizes.
To read more about measurement charts vs digital patterns click here!
(C) 'How much will my clothing manufacture cost?' this is the question we get asked most, and the answer is always 'it depends'...
We really can't give you an accurate estimate without doing your tech pack and design session first, there are simply too many variables to give a good estimated price.
Do no fear we can still help! We've devised a really clever costing guide along with an explainer video that gives estimated sample, bulk production and even DDP sea shipment costs from our most purchased styles over the last year and we update it annually to keep it current! Just contact us by following the steps here and ask for our ESTIMATED PRICING GUIDE.
Keep in mind fabric choice, complexity of construction, number of graphic applications, number of units and shipping requirements all play a part in building garment pricing.
Without all this info it would be like asking us how much it will cost to make dinner without telling us the ingredients needed and how many people we're cooking for!
(D) Quality standards & bridge brands, we mainly specialise in bridge brands, these are brands with a slightly elevated RRP the ones that 'bridge' the gap between value and luxury although we can also help luxury too!
A simple explanation for the three main brand levels is:
VALUE (think H&M, most high street stores, anything in JD Sports)
BRIDGE (think Stussy, Fear Of God Essentials, Palm Angels, Aries)
LUXURY (think Gucci, LV etc)
Generally the success of bridge brands is much higher for any start up/growing brand as it gives you the affordability (from your profits) to keep developing new ranges and provides your customers with high quality garments. This keeps customers returning to purchase from your brand. The only way to start a value brand where you have low cost custom garments that are at a reasonable quality is to have very high MOQ's (think 2K-3K mass unit spend per design/colour).
BUT, to be able to sell at bridge brand price points, your quality needs to be really high (that's where we come in).
We manufacture at an AQL (Average Quality Level) of 1.5 which is really good. Most low MOQ manufacturers only manufacture to an AQL of 3-4 (they don't tell you this because they want to offer you low prices to suck you in and then give you shoddy quality which you won't get a refund/remake for as you didn't state the quality level needed before you placed your order). With our quality standards you'll be able to sell your garments to your customers for a lot more than you would as a value brand so your profits are much higher.
(E) There is no one level of quality! As mentioned above most low unit garment manufacturers only manufacture at an AQL of 3-4. The scale goes from 0.00 (the best, think couture/hand sewn) to 6.5 (the worst, think of the worst fast fashion brands you know).
Manufacturers don't tell you there is a scale to quality because they want to offer very low prices (at low quality) to pull you in, they will also not tell you up front shipping rates or give you shipping options so you don't have to pay customs when you receive your items, this leads you to believe the production cost is much cheaper then it actually is.
Another common tactic is to tell you your sampling cost is free of charge, this is just a ploy to lock you into bulk manufacture, as you have to pay this to start the sampling process...and really the sampling cost is just hidden in bulk manufacture costs!
At Hook and Eye UK, because of our high quality requirements, we are not the cheapest clothing manufacturer out there, but you get what you pay for, and going for quality now will save you £££ further down the line (think fewer returns, more brand loyalty, more sales).
(F) 'Can you manufacture my entire range?' It depends on what type of clothing your brand is looking to manufacture.
We specialise in premium quality street/lounge/active/casual/sleep wear garments (and anything that falls under that general umbrella). You will struggle to find a manufacturer that can do both tailoring and streetwear because those are extremely different categories.
Good clothing manufacturers usually specialise is one area. General categories include: outerwear, tailoring, shirting, denim, lingerie, athleisure etc. There are some overlapping areas, for example we will do cargo trousers and windbreakers. We also do some simple bikinis and undergarments but remember to...
RUN from any manufacturer that says yes to absolutely everything!
If your clothing requires specific machinery to manage the different techniques involved, for example, tailoring, that’s where we draw the line.
(G) Where are you based? We are a UK based company meaning that the design & tech packing, pattern making, product development, graphic coding, sample construction guidelines, sample review reports, production management and quality level guidance happens here in the UK and is all done by our UK team. Our studio is in Birmingham. The manufacturing and sampling construction is done by our integrated team based in China. This work flow is great for our brands as it gives the ease of communicating with an industry level UK team and the advanced fabric technologies and construction techniques available in China all while still keeping an amazing low MOQ of just 50 units per style/colour.
(H) Our ethics, sustainability and eco-friendly practices.
We abide by as many sustainable practices as possible but we do not ‘greenwash’ and say the process is perfect. Although we do much more than most low MOQ manufacture companies. Here are a few of our practices:
- Ensuring all staff across our UK and China teams are paid living wage or above.
- Providing eco-friendly and organic fabric options and always sourcing fabrics within China to minimise carbon footprint.
- Avoiding textile/fabric waste by allowing a balance of +/- 5% on bulk production units.
- Insisting on a live tech pack and design session for all new designs created to avoid repeating the sampling process (we always aim to get to sample approval in the first or second round of sampling to avoid textile and financial waste).
- Free development sessions with our developer to discuss any sampling tweaks (so often this avoids any re-sampling as our developer can offer simple yet efficient solutions).
- Our factory also has very good classifications and audits such as the Sedex Audit, The Certification of Quality Management System and Alibaba Gold Plus Supplier Certificate - SGS we can send these files (redacted of course).
Manufacturing is human made, there are a lot of bad companies out there. We mainly lean on the side of protecting the humans involved in the chain and reducing textile waste as much as possible. We understand that China has had some pretty questionable human rights issues but we can confidently say that this is not happening in our factory. The truth is that during COVID (when the UK fabric suppliers started to collapse) we searched for the best possible quality manufacturer to integrate with that would also give our brands low MOQ’s, use newest technologies and keep the quality and ethical standards high and our team is China ticked all the boxes!
We pride ourselves in not offering ‘fast fashion’ as that’s the most ‘planet-damaging’ side of fashion. Our garments are manufactured to last!
In conclusion:
So, now you're ready to start the exciting process of building your own fashion brand! The good news is that you're in the right place to find the help and support you need to get set up successfully. Hook and Eye UK is a one-stop-shop for everything you need to start the journey.
Now that you know how to contact us and what to send, I'll add a link below to our most popular design session (which is the 5 hour in-person session). This session is usually enough to design a 5 piece clothing range all in two colourways each (as long as you have your ducks in a row).
If you click the link below you'll be able gain further understanding of what happens in a session, and a full breakdown of what you'll get.
Can't wait to see your ideas!
BOOK A 5 HOUR IN-PERSON TECH PACK AND DESIGN SESSION HERE!
Love everyone at H&E xx
