What a UK Clothing Factory Actually Needs From You
A factory needs six things before it will quote or cut, and a fashion sketch is not one of them.
Most first approaches fail not because the idea is bad but because the enquiry is unanswerable. A manufacturer reading "hoodie, heavy cotton, 100 units, how much?" cannot price it — the same sentence describes a £9 garment and a £40 one. What follows is what they are actually waiting for.
The six things, roughly in the order they'll ask
| What they need | Why it decides the price | If it's missing |
|---|---|---|
| A complete tech pack | It's the only unambiguous description of the garment | No quote, or a quote that changes |
| Fabric and trims, named | Fabric is usually the largest single cost | They assume, and assume cheap |
| Size run and grading | Determines cutting and fabric consumption | They cut one size, or guess a grade |
| Quantities, per colour | Sets whether the job is economic at all | Quoted at a minimum you can't meet |
| Target cost | Lets them propose a spec that fits | Priced for a garment you can't sell |
| Delivery date | Books machine time | Slots into whatever gap exists |
1. A complete tech pack
This is the document the whole relationship runs on. BOMME Studio's list of what manufacturers want is the standard one: flat technical drawings, a bill of materials, measurement specifications, construction instructions, colourways and packaging details.
In practice a factory reviews a pack in a fairly fixed order — what the style is, what it looks like from each side, how it's built internally, the hardware, every component listed, the measurements with tolerances, and finally the order of assembly. That's the seven sections a Seamix pack is built around, and the order is not arbitrary; it's the order a production manager reads in.
The test of a pack is not length. It's whether a stranger could build the garment without phoning you.
2. Fabric and trims, named rather than described
"Heavy cotton" is not a specification. A factory needs composition, weight in GSM, and ideally a supplier or a physical swatch. Colour needs a Pantone reference, because "navy" spans a range you would not accept across two production runs.
Trims mean everything: zip type and length, thread, buttons, labels, drawcords, eyelets, care labels, polybags. Every unnamed component is one the factory chooses for you, and they will choose what they already have in the building.
There's a constraint here that catches people out. Fabric suppliers typically sell by the roll, and Hook and Eye put a roll at around 100 metres per colour. Your order has to consume most of a roll to be worth running, which means your fabric choice can set your minimum quantity before the factory's own minimum does.
3. Your size run and how it grades
A factory needs a base size with every point of measure listed, a tolerance on each, and the rules for how those measurements change across the run. Fifteen to twenty-five points of measure is normal for a simple garment.
Tolerance is the part beginners skip. Saying a chest is 62cm means nothing without saying whether 61cm is acceptable. Without tolerances, either every garment is a reject or none is, and you will discover which the day the shipment lands.
4. Quantities — and the minimum order reality
This is where most first plans break. Published UK minimums from one manufacturer give a sense of the shape:
| Garment type | Minimum per design and colour |
|---|---|
| Scarves, scrunchies, tote bags | 30 |
| T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, joggers, leggings | 50 |
| Trousers with fly-front zips, socks, beanies, gloves | 100 |
Those are one company's numbers as of September 2026, not an industry standard — minimums vary enormously between factories, and some UK units advertise none at all. But two things in that table generalise.
The minimum is per design and colour. Fifty units across black and sand is not one order of fifty; it's two orders of fifty. New brands plan three colourways and discover their first run is 150 garments rather than 50.
Sizes split freely inside it. A 50-unit minimum can be 10 small, 20 medium, 12 large and 8 XL. The constraint is the colour, not the size curve.
5. A target cost
Factories ask what you want the garment to cost. This feels like a negotiating trap and is usually the opposite — they're asking so they can propose fabric and construction that land near your number.
Give a range, say it's a range, and say what the retail price needs to be. A manufacturer who knows you're aiming at £45 retail will suggest a different fabric from one who thinks you're aiming at £120, and both suggestions are useful.
6. A reference garment, if you have one
Not required, but it resolves arguments faster than any document. Posting something with the drape, weight or fit you want tells a factory in ten seconds what a paragraph struggles to convey.
It supplements the spec rather than replacing it. A reference shows the shape; it says nothing about your measurements, your fabric or your trims.
Putting it in the first email
Most enquiries are too short to answer. Here are two versions of the same approach.
Unanswerable: "Hi, I'm starting a streetwear brand and I'm after a heavyweight hoodie, boxy fit. Can you let me know your prices and minimums? Happy to send a picture of the vibe I'm going for."
A production manager reading that has no garment to price. They will either reply with a generic rate card or ask six questions, and either way you have lost a week.
Answerable: "Hi — I'm developing one style, a drop-shoulder hoodie, for a first run of 100 units across two colourways. Tech pack attached: 18 points of measure, graded S–XL, with tolerances. Fabric is 400gsm loopback, 100% cotton; I have a supplier but am open to yours if it's cheaper at this volume. Trims are in the bill of materials — metal eyelets and flat drawcord are the only non-standard items. Target landed cost is £14–£17 a unit, retailing at £65. I'd like samples in November and bulk delivered by mid-January. Do you take work at this size, and what would you need from me next?"
The second one takes ten minutes longer to write and typically gets a real number back within a couple of days. It works because every question the factory was going to ask has already been answered, and the last sentence makes it easy for them to say no quickly if the job is too small — which is information you want early, not after three weeks of politeness.
Two things worth including that people leave out. Say how many styles you have. A factory prices a one-style enquiry differently from someone bringing six. Say if you are new. Some manufacturers specialise in first-time brands and will guide you; others genuinely don't want the hand-holding, and would rather tell you so than discover it at sampling.
If they don't reply, it is usually the order size rather than anything you wrote. Ask directly whether there's a quantity at which the job works for them.
What they don't need
A fashion illustration. Production runs on flats and numbers. If drawing is the part you're stuck on, it isn't the gate you think it is.
A finished pattern, usually. Most manufacturers cut their own from your tech pack, and often prefer to — they know their machines and their shrinkage. Ask before commissioning one separately.
Your brand story. It matters to customers. It does not help a production manager decide anything.
Everything perfect first time. Factories expect to ask questions. What they can't work with is a spec so thin that every answer changes the price.
The order it actually happens in
- Enquiry. You send the tech pack, quantities, target cost and dates.
- Quotation. Priced against that spec. Change the spec and the price changes.
- Sampling. A first sample, usually a prototype rather than a sellable garment.
- Fit comments. You measure it and respond in numbers, not adjectives.
- Second sample. Assume this exists. Budget for it.
- Sealed sample. The approved reference both sides measure production against.
- Bulk production. Machine time booked, fabric cut.
The expensive mistake is changing your mind after step 6. Everything before it is conversation; everything after is cut fabric.
What actually goes wrong
Vagueness. Covered above, and it's the big one. Every unstated detail becomes the factory's decision.
Splitting the minimum. Planning colourways without checking whether the minimum is per colour. Check before you design the range.
Fit comments in adjectives. "Feels a bit boxy" cannot be actioned. "Chest 3cm too wide, armhole 1.5cm too deep" can be. This single habit is the difference between two sampling rounds and five.
Budgeting only for production. Sampling is a real cost and typically several times a production unit. What a tech pack costs is a separate line again.
The pattern behind all four: a factory is not judging your taste. They're judging whether your document answers their questions well enough to put fabric on a table. Answer the six things above and you are, from their side, an easy customer — which is worth more than it sounds when you're the smallest order in the building.
Sources
Common questions
Can I send a factory a photo and ask for a quote?
You will usually get a rough number with heavy caveats, or a request for more information. A photo tells a factory the look but none of the measurements, fabric or trims that determine the price, so any quote based on one will change later.
Do I need a pattern before I approach a factory?
Usually not. Most manufacturers cut the pattern themselves from your tech pack, and many prefer it that way because they know their own machines. Ask before paying for one separately.
Why is the minimum order per colour rather than per style?
Because fabric is dyed and supplied by the roll. A second colourway means a second roll, so the setup cost is repeated rather than shared.
What if I don't know my target cost yet?
Give a range and say it is a range. A factory asks so they can propose fabric and construction that fit your budget. Refusing to answer usually produces a quote aimed at the wrong garment entirely.