Maybe you're starting out, maybe you're in deep to your clothing / fashion brand. But regardless if you're selling one item a week out of your garage or 10,000 from your factory, there is one thing in common; SAMPLING IS ESSENTIAL.
So you've got the best idea for a brand or clothing item, you've watched all the YouTube videos, you've searched Alibaba high and low and finally you have found a manufacturer.
Many manufacturing hubs will either be CHINA, INDONESIA, INDIA, PAKISTAN or even TURKEY. Regardless of where your manufacturer is based, you'll need to get your hands on some physical samples before you place your bulk order.
Sampling is important for several reasons, but I'll be quick in explaining this: on paper your tee shirt / shorts / jacket / bucket hat/ Anything, can look amazing. You think the blue print is perfect right? Wrong. So many things can go wrong between the idea in your brain to seeing customers across the word repping your product.
Manufacturers are dealing with hundreds of different customers and hundreds of different products. You give them a tech pack with all the right dimensions, sizes and grading and you're only half way there.
Always order samples!! I'd you're going to invest money in getting a product made, you need to make sure it's absolutely up to scratch, you need to physically hold a sample before you've pulled the trigger on ordering 200 of them.
Use the sampling process to iron our any issues that can (and likely have) arisen. So whilst it can be an expensive exercise, it's worth the investment. And trust us, it's better to have one garment wrong rather than 100. Trust us.
NEVER SKIMP ON SAMPLES.
- OBLVYN