Solutions
Manufacturing for fashion startups
A first collection is a capital allocation problem before it is a design problem. The right plan spends the money on the styles most likely to repeat, and validates them before the fabric is booked.
The commercial reality
What actually constrains you
The most common first-collection mistake is not a bad design — it is spreading a limited budget across too many styles at quantities too small to be economic. Twelve styles at a very small quantity each usually produces twelve high unit costs and no money left for a second order.
The second most common mistake is committing to bulk without validating. A sample costs a fraction of a bulk run; a bulk run of a garment nobody wants costs the whole first season.
The workable approach is to concentrate: fewer styles, a validated fit, and a first run sized so that the winners can actually be repeated.
What we do differently
How we work with startups
We show you the real break points
Fabric minimums and per-style setup costs mean unit cost is not linear. We show where the cost curve actually flattens, so the first order is sized deliberately.
We tell you which styles to cut
If a design is unlikely to repeat, or carries a cost that will not work at your price point, we say so before you spend on it.
Sample first, then commit
One validated sample is the cheapest risk reduction available at this stage.
Everything is recorded for the repeat
The pattern, the fabric source and the trim list are kept, so a successful style can be repeated rather than redeveloped with the second season's budget.
Typical programme
What an engagement looks like
- Development of a small, focused first range
- Sampling and fit validation before any bulk commitment
- A first production run sized to allow a real repeat
- Private label branding applied to a proven construction
Services most often used
- ODM Development — Start from a reference, a trend or a gap in your range.
- Sampling — A sample is not a preview.
- Private Label — Our construction, your brand.
- Product Development — The stage between an idea and a producible garment: construction decisions, material selection, pattern drafting, sample rounds and a locked specification you can repeat.
What to have ready
You do not need all of this to start a conversation. Having it ready shortens the first quotation considerably.
- A clear idea of who the customer is and what they will pay
- A target price and a total first-order budget
- Designs or references for a small number of styles
- The date you intend to launch
- An honest assessment of how much you can commit to a first run
Avoid these
Three things that cost startups money
Spreading the budget across too many styles
Concentrate. Fewer styles, better validated, at a quantity that makes the unit cost work.
Committing to bulk before validating the fit
The sample is the cheapest test available. Skipping it converts a small cost into a large one.
Designing around a fabric before checking its minimum
A fabric minimum that exceeds your whole production run means the fabric is not available to you, however good it looks.
Start a project
Working under a similar constraint?
Describe the problem rather than the product. We will tell you which engagement model fits and what it would take.