What apparel founders need to understand before they approach a factory. Written in collaboration with Rebecca Kendall.
Most apparel founders don’t start with a factory. They start with a sketch. A fabric they love. A garment they wish existed. From there, the natural progression seems straightforward: find a manufacturer, send over the idea, make a sample, and start refining.
Somewhere between the idea and the first sample, the complexity of building a product begins to surface. What does the factory actually need to know? What decisions must be made before development begins? How much flexibility should a founder have around materials? What will the product really cost? And perhaps most importantly: is the factory actually the right partner to bring the idea to life?
These questions are easy to overlook when the excitement of making the product takes over.
To explore what happens before a product reaches production, I spoke with Rebecca Kendall, a sustainable fashion consultant and ethical brand strategist helping founders, SME’s and independent boutiques build brand strategies, supply partnerships and range plans that fit both the business and the customer. Rebecca spent 12 years running collections from concept through production sign-off for luxury and heritage brands.
Her perspective offers a useful reminder for emerging brands:
Product development doesn’t begin when you contact a factory. It begins with clarity.
Start with the reason, not the product
Before a founder starts talking to manufacturers, Rebecca believes they need to establish as much foundational brand strategy as possible.
That strategy informs the details required to create a first sample and, more importantly, helps determine which decisions are actually worth making.
“Most early-stage founders build around what product they want to sell rather than why it deserves to exist.”
It is a deceptively simple distinction.
A product idea may be compelling, but that alone doesn’t establish a viable business. Before investing in development, a founder needs to establish a real need in the market and develop a detailed understanding of the person they intend to serve.
Not just demographics.
Rebecca recommends looking at their values, lifestyle choices, spending habits, wardrobe frustrations, and the brands they already turn to.
The customer is the foundation. The product is the response.
That distinction has implications for nearly every decision that follows.
What does “ready for development” actually mean?
Being ready doesn’t mean having every answer. It means having enough clarity to begin making informed decisions.
Rebecca identifies several pieces that need to be in place before development begins: foundational brand strategy, an understanding of the production process, the technical documentation required to create a sample, and the ability to ask the right questions when evaluating a manufacturing partner.
For founders who don’t have production expertise, bringing in someone who does can be particularly valuable.
The reason is practical. Without clear communication and specific information, decision-making becomes difficult. Sampling rounds can multiply, costs and timelines can escalate, and uncertainty can put pressure on the relationship with a supplier.
Suppliers have their own businesses to run. A well-established factory with strong ongoing order books may not prioritize unclear new business over customers who arrive prepared.
Being prepared, then, isn’t simply about making the process easier for the founder. It signals to a potential manufacturing partner that you are ready to be a responsible business partner.
Your first conversation with a factory is a two-way evaluation
Founders often approach manufacturing as though they are evaluating a factory.
Rebecca suggests looking at it differently.
Both parties are deciding whether the relationship makes sense.
A factory should be able to demonstrate relevant experience, share examples of its work, and provide guidance around costs, minimums, and estimated lead times. A founder, meanwhile, needs to understand whether those capabilities actually align with what they are trying to build.
Some of the basic questions are straightforward:
What other brands does the factory supply?
What product categories or materials do they specialize in?
What is their capacity for new business?
What are their minimum order quantities?
What are their current sampling and production lead times?
What costs are associated with sampling, including fees, surcharges, and shipping?
Rebecca also points to a broader set of questions that are increasingly important to responsible brands.
What are the supplier’s standards around ethical sourcing and business practices? What are their working conditions and fair-wage practices? What certifications, regulations, compliance systems, and accountability processes are in place?
For a sustainable brand, these questions aren’t secondary considerations. They are part of determining whether the supplier is an appropriate partner in the first place.
Clarity has a price tag
One of the easiest mistakes for a new founder to make is assuming that the cost of the finished garment is the cost of making the product.
It isn’t.
Rebecca points to a range of additional expenses that can affect the economics of a product: fluctuating exchange rates, bank fees, tariffs, international shipping, legal costs, and the responsibilities associated with importing goods.
Those costs exist alongside the development process itself. Technical packages. Samples. Fit corrections. Testing. Additional sampling rounds. Communication. Shipping.
The more ambiguity there is at the beginning, the more opportunity there is for those costs to grow.
“Lack of clarity in the early stages, leaving anything open to interpretation usually results in unexpected and disappointing output.”
This is why technical documentation matters.
A detailed technical pack gives a manufacturer something concrete to work from. Sketches, images, and physical samples can all be useful references, but when they are the only information provided, too much is left open to interpretation - and interpretation has a cost.
Material decisions should follow strategy
Fiber, fabric, trims, and construction methods can influence cost, minimums, performance, and feasibility, but there isn’t one universal rule for when those decisions should be made.
Rebecca brings the conversation back to strategy.
If a brand is built around a non-negotiable commitment to natural fibers, for example, that principle should influence development from the beginning.
If the business exists primarily to solve a specific customer problem, the founder may need to remain more flexible and allow customer research and development expertise to guide material and construction decisions.
There will always be a balance. There will be compromises.
The important thing is knowing which decisions are negotiable and which are not before you enter the development process.
That clarity gives both the founder and the supplier a much better framework for solving problems as they arise.
The sample is where the strategy gets tested
Once expectations are aligned and a manufacturing partner has been selected, the development process begins.
Rebecca describes it as a progression of relationship building, sampling, quality control, fitting, wearer trials, adjustments, and communication.
That communication can take considerably more time than founders anticipate. Industry terminology, language barriers, cultural differences, and the simple back-and-forth required to refine a product can all add time to the process.
Then there is the sample itself. A product isn’t production-ready simply because a sample looks good on a model.
Rebecca recommends trialing multiple samples across different sizes and putting them into the hands of real people who can provide honest feedback. Depending on the complexity of the garment, founders may need to test their products for months before approving production.
Quality needs to be understood from both a technical and consumer perspective.
There is also a regulatory layer to consider. Founders need to understand the safety, testing, and labeling laws in the countries where they intend to sell. Industry-specific testing, certifications, and other compliance requirements can become complicated and expensive.
Again, this is where the foundational business strategy matters.
If a particular standard is non-negotiable for the brand, it needs to be accounted for before development, and not discovered after the fact.
Production should not be the place where you solve the product
By the time a product reaches production, the major questions should already be answered.
The sample should be signed off. Production information should align with the approved sample and across the size range. Both parties should understand expectations. Only then is the product truly production-ready.
The specifics of production timelines and cash flow will vary considerably depending on the factory, product complexity, and delivery destination. Founders may also need outside expertise from freight forwarders and customs brokers to understand the responsibilities and costs involved in importing goods.
But the larger point remains: Production should be the execution of decisions already made. Not the place where those decisions are discovered.
The more unresolved questions that make it into production, the greater the opportunity for cost, delay, and compromise.
The takeaway
There is a temptation in apparel to move quickly from idea to production, but the strongest products have another step in between: clarity.
Before spending the first dollar on development, establish:
A real need.
Why does this product deserve to exist?
A real customer.
Who is it for, and what do you understand about their life, needs, habits, and frustrations?
A clear brand foundation.
What principles should guide the decisions that follow?
Clear priorities.
What is non-negotiable, what is flexible, and where are you willing to be guided by expertise?
A realistic development plan.
Do you have the technical information, production knowledge, budget, testing requirements, and the right manufacturing partner to move forward?
Rebecca’s perspective reinforces something we see repeatedly at The Anecdote: the work before development is not separate from product development. It is what makes product development work.
The goal isn’t to have every detail figured out before you begin, but you should have enough clarity to know which questions are worth asking.
Any factory can make the product, but your strategy needs to give them something worth making.
You can learn more about Rebecca’s work through her website.