High Quality Custom Clothing Manufacturers for Your Brand

Making a clothing line is a great deal more complex than simply creating a sample product. If buyers are judgingamong high quality custom clothing manufacturers, they must explore the entire process using multiple samples and look at how manufacturers treat fabric, shape the product, develop it, produce it, check quality, and communicate.

To the B2B buyer, there‘s only one question: “Will the factory be able to translate my specs into reliable production runs?” Good samples can‘t answer that. Buyers need to know how a manufacturer works before they sign up for bulk.

Start With a Clear Product Specification

It is not possible to tender for or produce a product correctly if aspects of the deal are left open to negotiation.

Clearly define the tech pack to the manufacturer with measurements, materials required, construction details, trims, artwork, labeling and packaging instructions. This helps the both parties have the same information and allows comparisons with suppliers to be fair.

Fabric warrants specific focus. The type of fabric is dictated by its fibers, weight, weave structure, color, texture and finishes will influence the finished product. The mill can suggest an alternative fabric due to availability, cost or production reasons, and buyers can factor this into consideration, but each fabric variation must be agreed prior to sampling.

Use Sampling to Test Real Manufacturing Capability

Sample provides the buyer with a much more accurate insight into a factory than the sales presentation.

Check the Details Instead of the Overall Look

Examine fit, seam work, stitch work, trims, artwork, finishing, label and measurement details carefully. T-shirts might appear simple, but a variation in collar width, fabric weight, sleeve style, and stitch pattern can make a big difference to the final garment.

The additional points to check on a jacket are even more extensive and are zipper quality, lining of the pockets, position and fit of seams, and how it fits.

Provide concrete feedback to the factory if there are modifications to be made. “Decreasing the sleeve width by 1cm” tells the patternmakers what to do. “Improve the sleeve” does not.

Keep Every Sample Revision Under Control

One aspect of custom development that can occur are multiple rounds of changes. The buyer may decide at some point to alter dimensions, fabrication, artwork, pattern, trim or finish detail.

Maintain those revisions within the same documented record. The buyer and the factory can then know which version is the one to use to go into production. This easy discipline avoids later use of a previous sample or specification.

Look for Consistency During Bulk Production

Once a factory can move from an approved sample to hundreds and even thousands of garments, they have demonstrated their capability to produce.

Track Materials From the Start

Inquire about the handling of fabrics, trims, colors, labels, etc within the factory. Changing the materials used may alter the look or feel of a garment, even if the substitute is initially a good visual match.

If you‘re doing a repeat order the factory would require the same information as above spec, approved sample, material details, artwork, etc. You can find out from your buyers how they store these references for repeat production.

Ask What Guides the Production Team

One useful question can reveal a lot:

“When your production team starts on the bulk order, what are they working off of?”

A sincere reply will indicate specific production documents and an authorized sample instead of sales instructions.

It is required that the buyer wants the factory floor to use the same information as both parties had agreed upon during the development process.

Check Quality Before the Order Leaves the Factory

The quality control process doesn‘t start at the end. It is essential that the production line has controls in place at various points throughout the production.

Ask at which points the factory checks measurements, cutting, sewing, printing, embroidery, finishing and packing. The checkpoints you need will depend entirely on the garment. A printed T-shirt involves very different quality risks than a structured blazer or a heavily embroidered dress.

It is also important for buyers to have clearly stated acceptance criteria. Talk through acceptable levels of measurement tolerance, fabric aesthetics, color uniformity, quality of embellishment, stitch lines, labels, finishing and packaging before starting production.

A clear standard is a concrete point for discussion between the buyer and factory, if and when there is a quality problem.

Match the Factory to Your Product

All clothing producers do not suit all clothing types.

The SE should find out which process it manages itself and which process it subcontracts to external partners. It does not seem to be an automatic problem when outsourcing. What is a real critical questions is how the factory runs these partners and plays control over the final result.

Take the case of a factory subcontracting the embroidery or printing to an outside vendor. A buyer could then inquire as to who proofs the artwork, color, location, and quality.

This becomes increasingly significant as the garment becomes more intricate.

Consider MOQ and Capacity Together

MOQ is important, yet the buyers should not order solely based on it.

The type of fabric, choice of color custom or not, trims used, design printed or embroidered, number of embroidery stitches to the inch and a whole range of production specifications will contribute to the size a factory prefers to make in an economical run.

First order is manageable, flexible development for the new brand. Repeat production is the key for existing brand, with expectation that factory can handle larger orders.

Ask not just for the MOQ, but for what you need to know the answer. The response will give you a clue if the factory has got a knowledge of your product or just a rule of thumb.

Check Labeling Before Production

The requirements of the labels used may influence product development, therefore; these requirements should be raised with the factory by the buyer prior to commencing production.

FTC rules for textile labeling in the U.S. necessitate the labeling of most textile and wool products to list fiber content, country of origin and manufacturer or another business responsible. Manufacturers and importers are also required by the FTC to provide instructions for caring for the textile product under the law.

For EU buyers there is also Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 which defines regulations regarding textile fiber names and fiber-composition labeling. (EUR-Lex)

Specific requirements can vary depending on product and market. Customers must confirm the applicable regulations before they complete packaging, labels and the production file.

Ask Questions That Reveal How the Factory Works

Effective sourcing conversations encompass dimensions other than price and lead time.

Questions to ask before sampling: inquiries about information that factory needs, after store requested information. questions to ask about: samples revisions and approval and re-approvals documents that dictate bulk production checking points for quality control of garments composition of sample set and their frequency, location, by whom during mass production.

You might also want to inquire as to how the factory stores product specifications, samples, artwork, and material information for subsequent reorders.

These questions steer the conversation away from the company‘s sales pitch and towards how things are actually done. They allow purchasers to benchmark factories on indicators that are significant for production reliability.

Choose a Factory for Repeatable Results

Price is an important factor, however the lowest quoted price may not be the lowest total sourcing cost.

However, a factory might quote an inviting price and still be involved in extra work, if the production process involves issues with sample accuracy, materials quality, communications, or quality problems. A buyer should look at the entire production process and not just a quote.

Let us consider the practical aspects of JiuvelWear the brand of Dongguan Jiuzuo Clothing Co Ltd. Buyers can examine: the development, sample precision, control on the materials, consistency in production, checks on the quality, communication, as well as the feasibility to fulfill the demand of the concerned article of clothing.

In the end, the best test for a custom garments producer is repeatability. A good factory knows the product, established clear specifications, anticipates changes early on, maintains tight control of each print run and stays consistent through each repeat order.