How to Start a Clothing Line: A Factory Checklist

Starting a clothing line is mostly a sequencing problem. The brands that get to a first bulk order smoothly are not the ones with the most ambitious designs; they are the ones who settled the fabric, the size chart and the tech pack before asking anyone for a price. This is the checklist we work through with first-time brands, in the order it actually matters.

It is written for someone placing their first order. If you already have a tech pack and a size spec, you can skip to section five; if you have a sketch and a fabric idea, the first four sections are where the work is.

1. Start with one garment, not a collection

A first line works better as one style done properly than five styles done approximately. Each additional style is an additional pattern, an additional grading set and an additional setup on the line, and each carries its own minimum. One style in one colourway is the smallest complete order a factory can run well, and it gives you something to sell, photograph and learn from before you commit to the second.

Choose the garment by what you can specify precisely. If you can describe the fabric, the weight, the fit and the size range, you are ready to ask for a quote. If the design exists only as a mood, the first job is to turn it into specifications, which is the next two sections.

2. Settle the fabric family before the design details

Fabric drives cost, and it also drives every downstream decision: how the garment hangs, how it prints, what weight it can carry and what season it sells in. For knitwear the decision usually comes down to a family and a weight. We hold and source across 240 to 500 GSM for fleece and French terry, and 140 to 260 GSM for jersey, and the two ranges serve very different products.

Decide the weight by what the garment is for. A 400 to 500 GSM heavyweight fleece holds a boxy silhouette and sells as a winter piece; a 240 GSM French terry is a year-round layer that works in more climates and costs less per metre. Asking for swatches at two weights before you commit is the cheapest research available, because the same nominal weight behaves differently across yarn counts and knits.

3. Build a tech pack before you ask for a price

A tech pack is the document a factory quotes from. Without one, a quote is an estimate with a wide margin of error, and the number you get will change once the details are settled. It does not need to be produced in specialist software; it needs to contain the information below.

What a first-order tech pack needs to contain
Item	What to specify	Why we need it
Technical sketch	Front and back views, with seam and detail placement marked	Shows construction, not just silhouette. Tells us where the seams are and how the garment closes.
Fabric and weight	Composition (for example 80% cotton / 20% polyester) and target GSM	The largest single cost driver and the input to every other calculation.
Size chart	Measurements for every size, with the grade rule between them	Grading errors repeat on every piece, so this is fixed before cutting.
Colour references	Pantone TCX codes or physical swatches	A colour standard is what the dye lot is matched to.
Decoration	Method, placement and size for each print or embroidery	Print and embroidery are done on cut pieces, so placement is fixed before assembly.
Trims	Woven label, hangtag, care label, any badges	Trim suppliers work to their own production minimums and their own lead times.

If some of these are unknown, say so in the enquiry. A missing colour reference or an undecided trim is a normal state for a first order, and it is better to mark it as open than to have us guess and then revise the quote.

4. Budget for sampling as its own stage

Sampling is not part of the bulk order and is not a formality. It is the stage where a drawing becomes a garment you can put on, and it is where most of the things that go wrong on a first programme are caught. We run two physical sample rounds: the first to confirm fit, fabric and construction, the second to confirm corrections and to approve the final specification before bulk.

Sampling takes 3 to 7 days. That window is short in calendar terms and worth protecting: a round rushed through to save a week usually costs more later, because the corrections then land during bulk instead of before it. If you are working to a launch date, build sampling in as a distinct stage rather than absorbing it into the production window.

5. Plan the first run around the minimum

Our minimum is 100 pieces per style, per colour, and the planning consequence is simple: one style in one colourway is the order. The second colourway is a separate dye lot and a separate run, so it carries its own minimum.

Sizes within that minimum are yours to distribute. A size curve built from who you are selling to is more useful than an equal split across sizes, and mixed sizes are standard. If you are unsure of the curve, a weighted run towards the middle sizes is a reasonable opening position and can be corrected on the second order when you have sold through the first.

6. Confirm these things in writing before the deposit

Before money moves, six things should be on paper in the same document. None of them is unusual, and each prevents a specific and common misunderstanding later.

The approved sample reference, so both sides are talking about the same physical garment. The final size chart, because bulk is cut to it. The fabric composition and GSM, with the acceptable tolerance stated. The AQL standard for final inspection and what happens to a batch that fails it. The incoterm, so it is clear where the factory’s responsibility ends and yours begins. And the payment terms against each stage, which for us are a deposit by T/T with the balance before shipment, or L/C at sight for full-container orders.

We work on EXW, FOB Shenzhen or Yantian, and DDP door-to-door on request. If you are new to importing, say so at this stage; the incoterm you choose determines what you have to arrange yourself, and it is cheaper to settle it early.

7. The first order, step by step

The sequence for a first programme is: enquiry with tech pack or reference sample, fabric and trim confirmation, first sample round, corrections, second sample round and approval, deposit, bulk cutting, printing and embroidery on the cut pieces, sewing, final inspection, packing, balance payment, and shipment. Each step has an owner on your side and an owner on ours, and the two that most often slip are the ones waiting on a decision from the buyer: sample approval and deposit.

Bulk production runs 15 to 25 days from approved sample to packed goods. That figure is the production cycle and does not include shipping time, which depends on the destination and the method you choose and is arranged separately.

8. Frequently asked questions

Can I start with a design sketch instead of a tech pack? Yes. Send the sketch with target fabric and GSM, and we will tell you which parts of the specification are still open and need deciding before a quote is meaningful.

Do I need my own label before the first order? Not necessarily. A first run can go out under your label once the labels are produced; until then we can pack to your carton and packing specification without them.

How many samples will I see before bulk? Two physical rounds as standard. Additional rounds are possible where a fit or a construction needs more than two passes.

Can I visit the factory before ordering? Yes, and it is worth doing if you are placing a first order of any size. Visits are booked in advance and take about half a day.

Next step

Send the garment you want to make, the fabric and weight you have in mind, and where you are in the list above. If you are at the sketch stage we will tell you what to specify next; if you have a tech pack we will quote against it and itemise fabric, trims and making-up separately. We manufacture custom T-shirts, hoodies and polo shirts, and the about page sets out how our lines are set up.