Are you thinking of creating your own fashion brand or making your own fashion label? There are a few things that you must consider before diving into this. Obviously, having an eye for detail is a key skill in this process but also having a creative and good knowledge of production lines is also vital in order to understand what goes on in the factory or warehouse.
Make your own fashion label
Garment production is quite an in-depth process. If you think about how many people and the stages of production, it’s incredible. Small and medium production runs for independent brands are quicker than the larger bulk order in terms of their lead-times. They are smaller quantities to create but can be just as complex as bigger bulk production throughout the stages leading up to this.
Small and medium fashion brands tend to have a smaller team of people and also have to come across MOQ’s which are minimum order quantities. This is due to the fabric wastage and also the amount of square footage they need to design your orders.
Starting a fashion brand is just the beginning of an exciting creative journey.
How to make your ideas a reality?
Prior to the manufacturing side of it, the processes before the garments are made are complex in terms of planning, design, and pricing. Going from an idea on a mood board, a sketch on a piece of paper, or a brief outline of what is needed, to being worn, is a long and detailed process. Yet many people are unaware of what the stages are.
This is incredibly important for any small or medium business, but the scale of production can vary. The larger the MOQs, the cheaper the manufacturing tends to be, but this is all dependant on the fabrics and complexity of the garments.
There are a lot of factories that only deal with high MOQs for them to make profit but there are a few that are happy to make a one-off sample. Manufacturing has their over-heads and machinery to operate so when they decide on the MOQs, all of this is taking into consideration.
If you feel that factories’ MOQs are too high and not affordable this time, you can consider small studios with more flexible productions runs requirements. Tanya Dimitrova Sampling and Production is a West London studio that can produce 80+ garments per week, or from 5 to 200 garments per order. Whether you have sketched designs for menswear, womenswear, tailored clothes, bridal wear or jumpsuits, you can count on a high-quality production at the studio. Ideas that you have had start to become real when you receive your first sample. This is then fitted and tweaked at this stage as to what you think should be made or fitted differently.