Step 1 — Brief and costing

Send your reference sample, tech pack, sketch or photo, together with quantity, colourway count and target FOB price. Vague briefs produce vague quotes, so the more specific you are, the more useful the response.

At this stage you should receive a costing, an MOQ, and a realistic sample and production timeline.

Step 2 — Yarn and swatch

Before a full sample is made, approve the yarn and the colour. A knitting swatch shows the stitch structure, the gauge and the hand-feel at very little cost, and it is far cheaper to change your mind here than later.

If colour accuracy matters, request lab dips against your Pantone reference and approve them in daylight.

Step 3 — Sample and approval

The sample is your contract in physical form. Check measurements against your size chart, check the trims, check the label placement, and wear or wash it if you can. Anything you do not raise now is likely to be repeated in bulk.

Keep the approved sample. It becomes the reference for the final inspection.

Step 4 — Labels, tags and packaging

Woven labels, care labels, hangtags, size stickers and polybags are usually produced in parallel with bulk. Send print-ready artwork early, because label lead time can otherwise become the bottleneck.

Decide now whether goods ship retail-ready or bulk-packed — it changes your packing cost and your warehouse workload.

Step 5 — Bulk production and QC

Production runs knitting, linking, washing, pressing and finishing. In-line checks catch problems while they are still fixable; final inspection verifies quantity, measurements, workmanship and packing.

Agree your tolerances in writing before production starts. A tolerance that is not written down is not a tolerance, it is a disagreement waiting to happen.

Step 6 — Shipping and documents

Confirm the shipping method, Incoterms and who handles export documentation before production finishes, not after. Express air, air freight and sea freight each have very different cost and timing profiles.

Finally, fix your reorder price in writing with the first order. It saves the same negotiation next season and protects you from quiet increases.