Knitwear Manufacturing for Australian Labels, Season-Shifted

Australia buys its knitwear on the other side of the year from most of the factories’ clients. A Sydney label developing a fleece hoodie in February is doing in one quarter what a Manchester label does in the next, and a sample room booked out with spring programmes has to be able to fold a winter development into the gap. That calendar, more than freight or price, is what shapes an Australian order.

What follows is the working version: where an Australian drop lands in our year, the grading local size tickets tend to use, the route out of Yantian, the terms we quote, and the checks that happen before the cartons close. It is written for a buyer whose range plan is already on screen.

An Australian winter drop, and where it lands in our calendar

Seasonal work in a Guangdong factory follows the orders in front of it, and most of those come from the northern hemisphere. June through September is the stretch when European and North American spring ranges are already shipping and autumn development has not yet peaked. An Australian winter range — heavier hoodies, long-sleeve polos, brushed leggings — sits in exactly that window, so the pattern room has space for it and a bulk slot is easier to hold.

The consequence is sequencing rather than speed. A first sample takes 3–7 days once pattern work is settled, and bulk takes 15–25 days from pre-production sample approval. A label that starts development in the off-season can hold a sea-freight arrival before the range goes live. A label that starts late compresses the same work into a shorter window and usually pays for the compression in freight mode. Neither approach is wrong; only one of them leaves room for a second sample.

Grading that matches the size tickets Australians read

Australian size tickets sit close to US grading, so most AU ranges are cut from a US size set and labelled to the local convention rather than graded a second time out of EU measurements. We hold US, EU and Asian grading, and the size set itself is yours to define: a straight S–XXL spread, a run weighted towards M and L, or a chart that adds plus, petite, tall, maternity or kids blocks.

Inside one minimum the spread does not change the count. A hundred pieces of one style in one colour can be twenty S, thirty M, thirty L and twenty XL, or divided any other way that matches your sell-through. Only a second colour starts a second run.

The route out of Yantian, and the ports it serves

Goods leave from Shenzhen Yantian and move by sea to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, on a forwarder nominated by you or booked by us under DDP. Any of three terms can be quoted against the run: EXW, FOB Shenzhen Yantian or DDP. DDP is the version most first orders take; FOB suits a brand with its own freight account.

Cartons are marked to your instruction before they close, and the packing list follows the size and colour ratio you set, so a receiving warehouse can book the delivery in a single pass. Founded in 2009, the plant holds ISO 9001, employs 180 staff over 18,000 square metres and turns out 150,000 to 200,000 pieces a month from Dongguan.

Labels selling into the United States or the UK run the same floor on a northern calendar, which is a useful comparison if your range sells in both hemispheres.

A hundred-piece start, costed without a hidden set-up line

Our smallest run is 100 pieces per style per colour, cut as one colourway rather than pooled across a range. Bonded or seam-sealed construction carries a 200-piece floor, with the film-and-fabric validation sitting inside the set-up rather than alongside it as a separate charge. Mixed sizes within a style are ordinary; mixed colours are a second set-up.

A sample fee is quoted per style, confirmed in writing before sampling, and credited against your first order at 300 pieces per style, which turns the charge into a deposit on the run rather than a cost of it. Sampling includes a wash test, and before the cartons close every order goes through 100% inspection and is accepted to AQL 2.5 against the graded spec. The minimum order quantity page sets out the counting rule in full if you are splitting a range across colours.

Care labels, fibre content and the carton paperwork

Australian buyers normally supply the label copy: fibre percentages, care instructions, the country of origin line and the size ticket. Your file drives the print — woven label, printed neck label or heat transfer — positioned where the tech pack puts it. Artwork in AI or EPS is ideal, a high-resolution PDF is accepted where that is the only master available, and the tech pack can be PDF or Excel.

Where a stockist wants its own reference on the carton, that reference is printed on the mark exactly as given. The copy is yours and the print is ours, which keeps the compliance line with the party who knows the market.

Questions Australian buyers ask before a first order

Does your calendar really suit a winter drop in July?

It does. European and North American spring programmes are shipping by then and autumn development has not started, so a July sampling slot for an Australian winter range is usually open without displacing another client’s run. Bulk then runs 15–25 days from sample approval, which leaves the freight mode choice in your hands rather than the calendar’s.

Do Australian orders use US grading or EU grading?

Either, and US grading is the more common starting point for an AU size ticket. We grade to the chart you send, whether that is a US spread relabelled for the local market, an EU set, or a mixed chart with plus or petite blocks. The size breakdown inside a style never changes the hundred-piece floor.

Can a hundred pieces ship to a Sydney warehouse?

Yes. Any of the three terms can be quoted, and most first Australian orders go DDP to a nominated address. Cartons are marked and packed to the ratio you give us, and the packing list agrees with the carton marks so the receiving warehouse can book the delivery in one pass.

What sits outside the garment minimum?

Trims and samples. Woven labels, hangtags and patches are made to their own supplier quantities, and the sample is made before bulk rather than counted inside it. The deposit runs by T/T and the balance clears before despatch; a full container can travel on a sight L/C instead.

Next step

Send the range plan, the size chart you work to and the season you are aiming at, and we will confirm the sampling slot against our calendar and quote the run with the freight term that suits it. Write to the factory to start, or read how a first hundred-piece run is costed line by line.