Sportswear production: where to start
Contract manufacturing, minimum order quantities, quality control — a practical guide for those looking for a factory for the first time.
The first question almost every new brand asks is “our own workshop or contract manufacturing?” The answer is almost always the same: contract. Your own production means capital investment, staff and logistics that only pay off with a steady order volume, not at a stage when demand hasn't been proven yet.
How to find a factory
Ask not for a general portfolio but for samples in your exact category: if a factory mostly sews office shirts, its experience with technical knitwear may be zero, however impressive the catalogue looks. A good sign is a factory's willingness to discuss the tech pack in detail rather than immediately naming a price per piece.
A minimum order isn't always evil
Many people fear high minimum order quantities (MOQ), but a small first batch has a downside: the smaller the volume, the higher the unit price and the less willing the factory is to dig into the details of the order. It's often wiser to agree on a medium-sized batch with a factory genuinely interested in quality than to chase the lowest MOQ from a random contractor.
Quality control starts before, not after
Checking the first sample is a mandatory stage that shouldn't be skipped to save time. A mistake in the pattern or fabric composition missed at the sample stage will repeat across the whole batch — and fixing it will cost not the price of one item but the price of redoing hundreds.
Turnkey brand launch
Finding a manufacturer, quality control of the first batch and handling defects — we take on the whole road from pattern to finished product.
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