Whether you chose to target retailers or the public or both, you will need appropriate sources of production.

•    If you are to supply Supermarkets (ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury’s etc,) you will need bulk production at very low cost.  Need to think about sourcing in the Far East. Large quantities only, long lead times, difficult garment inspection issues and often Letter of Credit upfront payments.  

•    If you are to supply Discounters (Matalan, Peacocks, Officers Club, Poundstretcher, Ethel Austin etc) you must have rock bottom priced production which is only found in the Far East.  Need to be buying fabric at clearance prices in large quantities.

•    If you are to supply Design-Led retail groups (Karan Millan, Oasis,Jigsaw ,Hobbs, New Look, Internationale, River Island, Next etc) you will need medium quality factories with full quality inspection systems, producing at ‘regular’ price level.
All the design led retailers that produce their own “in-house” merchandise in Eastern Europe have selected Romania and Poland to produce the lion’s share.  They produce some goods in China but much has been moved back to Eastern Europe for shorter lead times and more flexible production flow.  Many of the top Eastern European factories have already been approved by the QC Teams of these retail groups.

•    If you are hoping to supply Department Stores, you will need very high quality production in smaller quantities.( Many Department Stores’ majority offer is now major brands only).  The ideal place to find this type of production is the UK and Western Europe.  These were the areas historically producing garments for the UK.  Now that much production has moved to Eastern Europe and the Far East, these old established producers have high quality, flexible production available with short lead times.

•    If you are selling to Independent boutiques, you need much smaller production, needing to produce up to, say, 12 items per style, then you need very different production capability than if you were supplying bigger groups of shops.

You could produce with individual machinists, seamstresses or alteration tailors.  You need production where you can produce individual samples if required or 5 or 6 items per style.  Some machinists will cut and sew, some just sew.  It would help if you can cut the fabric yourself or you may need the services of a bespoke cutter.  Having individual producers will allow you to say ‘yes’ to even the smallest order or request for samples.  If you decide to produce this way, you need to find workers close to your business base allowing you to visit them whenever they have work of yours.

In the UK, small order designerwear factories have always been in short supply, many being on exclusive contracts to branded designers and retailers only.  The remaining factories will produce 50 per style, but they would rather make 150 per style.  With anything below 25 per style, you may experience problems.

Please Remember:

All factories will only start to work on your order once all the trimmings and materials have been received by the factory.
Any garments that are produced overseas will need finishing and presentation work once they arrive in the UK and before despatch to your customer.
Garments do not do well travelling over long distances.
Many major retail groups will not buy from start ups, regardless of how good your designs are, the risks are too great for them.
Many of the High St retailers, discounters and supermarkets produce the majority of their offer themselves (in-house),usually overseas. This leaves far less need for ‘bought in collections’ from outside suppliers.
ALL production must be able to be quality controlled at any stage in production, either by you or(more often) by a quality control technician working for your customer.

Good luck with your search for appropriate production.

If you need help with sourcing production or a strategy for producing all your orders please email me.

michael@designerhelp.co.uk