Apparel Production for Startup Clothing Brands: The First Order

A first order is shaped by one decision: how many styles it contains. The minimum is counted per style and per colour, so one style in one colour starts at 100 pieces and three styles in one colour each start at 300. A tech pack is not required to begin, since a reference garment, photographs or a sketch is enough, and on the ODM route the pattern and grading are produced for you. Sampling takes 3–7 days, bulk takes 15–25 days after written approval excluding shipping, and the sealed pre-production sample is what a reorder is measured against.

How many styles belong in a first order

Style count multiplies the minimum. One style in one colour is 100 pieces; three styles in one colour each is 300. A style is defined by its pattern, so the same fabric cut two ways is two styles with their own minimums. Colour is the second multiplier: one style in three colours is three counted units, again at 100 each.

Two consequences follow. The piece total is not a target you set, it is the product of the style count and the colour count. And sizes are the free variable, because within one style and one colour the size spread can be as wide or as narrow as needed without changing the count.

Paths for a first order: pieces to plan for, what each risks, and who it suits
Path	Pieces to plan for	What it risks	Who it suits
One style, deep: one style, one colour, full size run	100	All feedback rests on a single silhouette	Testing fit and fabric before building a range
One style, deep: one style, three colours	300, one style at the sampling credit	Three colour bookings and more fabric bought up front	One silhouette already settled, sold in a colour range
Two to three styles, spread: two styles, one colour each	200, two counted units	Two patterns to approve in parallel, no credit on either	Comparing two silhouettes in the same drop
Two to three styles, spread: three styles, one colour each	300, three counted units	Three samples to review before any bulk starts	Launching a small range from the outset
Samples first, bulk decided afterwards	Sampling is charged and credited once the first order of that style reaches 300	Sampling spend stays as a cost if no bulk follows	Settling fabric and fit before committing to units
Bonded or seam-sealed style, one colour	200 per style per colour	Higher minimum before any unit is made	A bonded garment as the signature product

Read the table as a sequence rather than a menu. Most first orders are really a decision about what needs to be learned: whether the fit works, whether a colour range sells, or whether two silhouettes perform differently. The structure that answers the open question at the lowest counted quantity is the one to start with, and the next drop can widen from there. Where the first drop is a single style, small batch orders sets out how those 100 pieces are split across sizes.

Starting without a tech pack

Three starting points work. Send a reference garment and state what should be copied and what should change. Send photographs of what is wanted and identify the closest catalogue item. Or send a sketch with whatever measurements exist. Where a tech pack already exists, send the size chart and construction notes and the garment is built to it.

On the ODM route the pattern and grading are produced from whichever of those is supplied, so a first physical sample can be reviewed before any formal document exists. The same route covers the processes run in our plants: laser cutting, garment wash, heat transfer, flatlock and bonding. Laser cutting seals the edge as it cuts, mainly on synthetic fibres.

Whichever starting point is used, name the fabric and the target weight, and name the processes the garment needs, because those two answers determine the sample that comes back. Pick the closest reference style from the catalogue before writing, and state the changes against that item rather than in the abstract.

The sequence from reference style to reorder

The order of operations is fixed, and each step has to close before the next one opens:

Pick the closest reference style and state the changes required.
Confirm fabric, weight, colour references and the processes involved.
Review the sample, produced in 3–7 days.
Approve the pre-production sample in bulk fabric and trims and have it sealed as the line reference.
Run bulk in 15–25 days after written approval, with shipping outside that figure.
Reorder against the same approved order file and sealed sample.

Plan the calendar backwards from the date the goods have to be in hand. Sampling is 3–7 days, bulk is 15–25 days after written approval, and transport sits outside both, so the approval step in the middle is the one within your control. A sample returned with one consolidated set of measurement and construction comments keeps the sequence moving; a sample returned in stages adds sampling cycles. The timeline with its checkpoints is set out in how to start a clothing line.

What sampling has to settle

The end point of sampling is the sealed pre-production sample. It is built in the bulk fabric and trims, it is approved in writing, and it stays at the factory as the reference the line is built to. Every later check, from measurements and construction through finishing and the final carton inspection, is made against it alongside the approved order file.

That makes the sample review the place where decisions that are expensive to reverse get made. Check the fit on the body intended for sale, the hand of the fabric after any wash, the measurements against the size chart, and the position of decoration and labels. Once the sample is sealed, a change to any of those goes back through approval, because the sealed sample is what bulk is measured against.

Inspection covers incoming materials, cutting, in-line construction, finishing, measurements and packing, and finished cartons are sampled to AQL 2.5 under the ISO 9001 quality system.

Choosing a size range with no sales history

Without sales history there are two workable starting points. The first is to take an existing pattern and state how it should change: copied as it stands, widened, shortened, lengthened, or moved to a different neckline. The second is to work to the size chart of the market being sold into, and send that chart with the order.

Either way the size split is set by you, because sizes mix inside one style and one colour at no change to the counted quantity. Put the size chart and the grading notes into the order file, and measure the finished size run against the approved specification and the sealed sample before the cartons are inspected.

Where fit is the open question, concentrate the run on the sizes that can be sold with confidence and let the sample settle the grading. A first order is a starting point rather than a fixed plan, and the sealed sample keeps the fit consistent when the range is widened later.

Budget lines for a first order

Four lines make up the spend. The first is sampling, which is charged and credited against the order value once the first order of that style reaches 300 pieces. The second is bulk production.

The third is trims. Woven labels and hangtags start at 1,000 pieces each, and jacquard labels and silicone badges start at 300 pieces each. These sit alongside the garment minimum rather than adding to it, so a small first run can carry a trim quantity several times the garment quantity. Decide which identification elements are custom at this stage and which are applied another way.

The fourth is testing. Third-party testing can be arranged, and a laboratory nominated by you has to be within China. Payment is T/T with a deposit and the balance before shipment, or L/C at sight for full container loads, and trade terms are EXW, FOB Shenzhen Yantian or DDP. Further background is in working with startup brands.

Send the reference style or tech pack with the quantity per colour, the size range, the fabric and the processes involved, and the structure, quantities and lead times will be confirmed in writing. Start at contact SLSPOLO, or read what to ask a manufacturer before the first exchange.

Frequently asked questions

How many styles should a startup put in its first order?

The minimum is counted per style and per colour, so style count decides the total: one style in one colour is 100 pieces, two styles in one colour each is 200, and three is 300. A style is defined by its pattern, so two bodies in the same fabric count separately. Start with the smallest style count that answers the open question, then widen the range on the reorder against the sealed sample.

Can production start without a tech pack?

Yes. Send a reference garment with the changes marked, photographs with the closest catalogue item identified, or a sketch with the measurements you have, and the ODM route produces the pattern and grading from it. If a tech pack exists, send the size chart and construction notes instead. In every case name the fabric, the target weight and the processes, since those determine the sample that comes back.

How long does a first order take from sample to bulk?

Sampling takes 3–7 days and bulk takes 15–25 days after written approval, with shipping outside both figures. Between them sits the approval step, which is the part you control: returning one consolidated set of measurement and construction comments keeps the sequence moving, while comments returned in stages add sampling cycles. Reorders run against the same approved order file and sealed sample.

What is a sealed pre-production sample?

It is the sample built in the bulk fabric and trims, approved in writing, and kept at the factory as the reference the production line is built to. Measurements, construction, finishing and the final carton inspection are all checked against it alongside the approved order file. Once it is sealed, any change to fit, fabric, measurements or label placement goes back through approval first.

Do trims have their own minimum on a first order?

Yes, and they run alongside the garment minimum rather than adding to it. Woven labels and hangtags start at 1,000 pieces each, and jacquard labels and silicone badges start at 300 pieces each, regardless of whether the run is 100 or 300 garments. That is why trims are decided separately: choose which elements are custom on the first run and which are applied another way, such as neck information by heat transfer.