Blog: the clothing manufacturing business, explained.
What's worth understanding about this industry, whether you're a brand, a designer or a supplier, (minimums, fabrics, processes, cost and more), explained in plain language by a team that has manufactured for brands for over 20 years.
On the GAT blog we publish industry insight: production guides (minimum order quantities, fabrics and trims, sewing and decoration processes, timelines and how cost is built), industry data and trends, and knowledge for brands, designers and suppliers. Content to help you decide with confidence: no jargon, no sign-up.
All content (41).
What small batch production is, and how it changes the garment
Short runs change how a garment is cut, sewn and inspected, not just how many are made. What happens on the floor, and what it costs per piece.
Read
How to source a clothing manufacturer in Latin America, channel by channel
The four channels that reach a garment plant in LATAM, the export agency of each country, and what to have ready so your first email gets answered.
Read
How to find small batch clothing manufacturers for emerging brands
How to find a clothing manufacturer that takes small runs, and the questions that reveal if a factory really does small batch. From one that starts at 36.
Read
How to find a clothing manufacturer in Mexico, and what a maquila does not include
Where Mexican garment production sits, what a maquila does and does not include, and what to confirm before you ship fabric across a border.
Read
What a garment factory is, and how to tell the four kinds apart
A garment factory turns fabric into finished clothing on a line. What each area does and the four kinds you will be quoted by, described from inside one.
Read
What to check before hiring a textile maquila for swimwear or activewear
What to check before hiring a textile maquila for swimwear or activewear: capacity, who buys the fabric, sample approval and where CMT stops paying off.
Read
White label or wholesale, and what each one actually leaves you owning
Wholesale resells someone else's brand. White label puts yours on an unbranded product. What each buys you, what it costs, and which garments suit each.
ReadSmall garment factory: how to choose one for a short production run
What a small garment factory can and cannot do with a short run, and how to judge one. Written by a plant that starts at 36 pieces per style and colour.
Read
Maquila meaning: the definition, the origin and three real examples
Maquila means a plant sews garments from the patterns and fabric you supply. CMT is the closest English term. What it covers, and when to ask for it.
Read
What a Manufacturing Package Really Includes
What a manufacturing package covers: development, materials, cutting, sewing, quality control and delivery, plus the work your brand still owns.
Read
The 10 types of clothing manufacturer, and which one you actually need
From a CMT workshop that only sews to a vertical mill that makes its own fabric: the 10 types of garment business and which one your brand actually needs.
Read
How a clothing startup finds a manufacturer that will actually take the order
Finding a manufacturer at startup scale is a filtering problem. Filter by minimum, then category, then development. Price comes after those three.
Read
Resource management in fashion, seen from the factory floor
Resource management in fashion manufacturing: who carries the cash, the calendar and the materials of a collection, and what stays on your side.
Read
What a low MOQ actually means, and who really offers one
MOQ is counted per style and per colour, not per order. What counts as low, why factories set one at all, and what a small run costs you per garment.
Read
How the private label manufacturing process runs, stage by stage
What happens between choosing a garment and receiving branded stock: sampling, timelines, what the factory provides and what stays your cost.
Read
FPP full form and what a full package factory commits to
FPP stands for full package production: the factory buys the fabric, cuts, sews, finishes and packs. What the acronym covers and where it stops.
Read
How to find an FPP manufacturer, and how to tell a real one from a broker
Where full package plants are, how to tell a real one from a broker calling itself FPP, and the eight things to confirm before your first order.
Read
How to start a luxury clothing brand, and why private label will only take you part of the way
Luxury is made of fabric, construction and scarcity, and none of them come from a catalogue. What it actually takes, and why private label caps you.
Read
What custom clothing manufacturing is, written from inside the process
Custom manufacturing builds a garment to your design, not from a catalogue. The eight stages, what each one decides, and who does what at every step.
Read
Bespoke vs custom clothing, explained from the cutting floor
Bespoke is cut from scratch for one person. Custom adapts a pattern and repeats it. Which one a brand can actually produce, from a plant that sews both.
Read
Where soccer jerseys are made, what they are made of, and who actually sews them
The brand on the badge rarely sews the shirt. Which countries produce jerseys, what fabric they use, and why player and replica kits differ.
ReadWhat nearshoring means for clothing production, and what it costs you
Moving apparel production closer to the buyer trades unit price for speed, oversight and smaller minimums. What it fixes, what it costs, when it fails.
ReadHow to start a private label clothing brand, step by step
How private label clothing works and how to start one: what a factory needs from you, the real minimums, and the order of steps that works.
ReadWhat wholesale clothing is, and whether it is a good business to be in
Wholesale clothing means selling in bulk to shops at a lower unit price. How the margin works and how to pick a supplier, seen from the production side.
Read
How to find a manufacturer to make your clothes, and how to tell it apart from a middleman
Four channels that reach a real plant, how to compare quotes that are not comparable, and the six questions that expose an intermediary.
Read
Private label or custom manufacturing, and how to tell which one you are being quoted
Private label puts your name on a garment someone else developed. Custom builds it to your design. Cost, control, MOQ and speed, compared first hand.
Read
How to find a clothing manufacturer in Colombia, written from inside one
Where Colombian garment production is concentrated, the routes that actually reach a plant, and the six questions to ask before you compare a price.
Read
White label or private label: what actually changes for your brand
White label puts your logo on a garment that exists. Private label develops it for your brand. Control, time and exclusivity, compared by a manufacturer.
Read
What print on demand is, explained by the people who cut and sew
Print on demand prints your artwork on blank stock with no minimum. What it covers, what it cannot change, and when a brand outgrows it.
Read
What fashion product development covers, and why the cost is decided here
The work between a design idea and a garment ready to produce. The six stages, who does each one, and why this is where the unit cost is really set.
ReadOn demand manufacturing or a custom clothing manufacturer, compared honestly
On demand prints one unit after the sale. Custom manufacturing cuts and sews a run before it. Cost, control, lead time and MOQ compared side by side.
ReadWhy US brands manufacture in Latin America, and where the argument breaks
Days of shipping instead of weeks, a shared working day and far lower minimums. Why US brands produce in Latin America, and where the argument breaks.
ReadWhat 3D clothes design replaces, from a plant that samples in it
3D garment design judges fit, proportion and drape on screen before fabric is cut. What it removes from a development, and the two things it never will.
ReadWhat a clothing sample is, and what a digital one can and cannot replace
A clothing sample proves the garment before you fund a run. What a digital sample settles, what only a physical one can, and why brands skip neither.
Read
AI fashion design, seen from the factory that has to sew it
AI fashion design cuts weeks off concept and fit, but the approved physical sample still decides. What changes inside a clothing factory, stage by stage.
Read
What generative AI changed in fashion design, from the plant that has to build it
Where generative AI genuinely speeds up garment design, where it stops at the factory door, and why everyone's AI collection is starting to look alike.
Read
How to choose a clothing manufacturer, ordered by what costs most to get wrong
Ten checks ordered by how expensive each is to get wrong, plus what to look at on a sample garment to judge whether a factory can actually make it.
ReadHow to start a clothing brand in the USA, from the factory floor
What it takes to launch a clothing brand in the US, written by the people who make the garments: minimums, timelines and where the money goes.
Read
How long a clothing sample takes, measured on our own floor
How long a clothing prototype actually takes, stage by stage, and which part of the wait is sewing and which part is waiting for fabric to arrive.
ReadClothing factory vs full package service, and how to tell which one you are buying
A clothing factory sews what you ship it. A full package service buys the fabric, develops the pattern and delivers garments ready to sell.
ReadWhat full package production is, from the plant that runs it
One manufacturer develops, sources, makes and inspects your garment. What full package covers, how it differs from CMT and where the cost goes, first hand.
ReadRather talk about your project?
Get a free quote and an estimate in minutes.
Start your quote