26 Apr 5 Places to Look for Clothing Manufacturers
Finding the right clothing manufacturer for your fashion line is essential. The right clothing factory can help you produce the best possible designs, at the best possible cost, so you have a profitable fashion business on your hands. It can be a little daunting trying to find a clothing manufacturer that suits your needs. Here are some ideas of where to start the search.
- Specialist Directories
When looking for UK clothing manufacturers one of the best places to start is a specialist directory or business listing service, either online at directories such as letsmakeithere.org or from one of the fashion publications. It is a good idea to search using a set of criteria so you can narrow down your choices, as the directory can contain thousands of possibilities. Make sure you look in a high quality directory and not just an out-dated list of places that you can find on some online sites.
- Trade Shows
Fashion tradeshows are ideal places for making contacts and finding the experts you need for making your clothes. When you go to a tradeshow you get access to many different manufacturers and suppliers in one place.
- Online Search
Probably the most obvious place to look when you are searching for a clothing manufacturer is Google. But this is not in any way the easiest. You have to do a considerable amount of work to filter out the unsuitable factories and find the ones that really suit your needs. Some businesses may not keep an active online presence. Others may be great online but poor in practice.
- Fashion Schools and Universities
Take a look at what is being advertised or recommended by people at your fashion college, or your local university. These places are likely to have plenty of contact with current manufacturers and it is also a good place to get referrals.
- Referrals
As you move through a long list of potential suppliers, many of them will not be able to meet your needs but they could be highly respected in the industry. If they are unable to work with you, ask them if they have any recommended factories that could be better suited to your needs. You can also pick up some good options by asking colleagues or people you study with to recommend their suppliers, although this can sometimes be hard since people are reluctant to give out the names of their highly prized factories in order to prevent oversubscription.
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