The ultimate guide for sourcing the right fabric supplier for your clothing line
Whether you are just starting out or expanding your existing clothing business, finding a reputable fabric supplier that can meet your needs can be tricky; in fact, it can be hard to know where to begin. Here are some hints and tips to help you find your perfect supplier.
What type of fabric do you need?
The first thing you need to do is decide what type of fabric you will need based on what you plan to do with it. You might need plain woven, synthetic knits or even designer cotton fabric. Once you have narrowed this down, you can start looking for a supplier.
Communication
This can be a major factor in whether you get your perfect fabric. Suppliers receive hundreds of information requests each day, so email is the best way to communicate. You need to get to the point quickly and make your questions easy to pick out. Using bullet points is a great way to make sure the supplier will see the important information and will also make your email much clearer and easy to follow. If you need to send messages back and forth, consider using a different colour to write your response underneath their questions to eliminate the need for repetition and the time taken to write out the questions again in a new email.
Importing fabric
You could look at overseas suppliers to get certain specialities, or you might be lucky enough to find your perfect fabric on home soil from a supplier such as http://www.higgsandhiggs.com/fabrics/designers.html, thus saving on import costs. Different countries are known for their speciality makes; therefore, if you are looking for something very specific, you may want to go directly to the appropriate country. Bear in mind that if you want to purchase in bulk regularly, there are certain requirements you need to be aware of https://www.gov.uk/guidance/clothing-footwear-and-fashion#import-regulations-in-the-clothing-sector.
If you are looking for a regular supplier, there are a lot of things to consider to ensure you obtain quality fabric suited to your budget. You should not need to settle for something basic when there is a whole host of quality fabric out there. Once you know where to look and how to continue the working relationship, you will wonder what you did before.
