Which niche do you choose for your clothing brand?
One audience, one problem and one aesthetic. The biggest risk for a new brand is starting too broad. Think of technical streetwear for skateboarders, luxury basics for people who work from home or sustainable children's clothing for conscious parents.
You can always grow later. Spreading yourself too thin costs you focus, money and a recognisable brand.
What belongs in your brand identity?
More than a logo. Define your tone of voice, colour palette, typography and photography style before you design a single product.
Answer three questions: why do you exist, what can your customer find nowhere else, and which values do you hold on to, even when that costs money? Put it in a brand book of five pages at most.
How many products do you start a clothing brand with?
With two or three core products: one hoodie, one t-shirt, one accessory. Many new brands launch ten pieces or more, and then everything becomes more expensive and vaguer.
Starting small keeps your production costs low and your brand story clear, and you quickly see what works. Only expand once your first drop has sold.
How many pieces do you order per style?
At MakeaLabel from 10 pieces per style and per colour, for a plain t-shirt, long sleeve, hoodie or sweater with a print, on our base fabric and with a printed neck label. That is possible because small runs join larger productions of brands that do order normal quantities.
Other products have their own minimum, such as joggers from 25 and polos from 35. A fully custom pattern, with your own cut, contrast panels or piping, starts at 150 to 200 pieces per style and per colour.
For a first collection: rather three styles of 10 to 20 pieces than one style of 100. You learn faster which style sells and you are not left with half a container of the same style. At 10 pieces you choose two sizes, for example 5 in M and 5 in L.
How do you choose a production partner?
This is your most important decision. Do you work with a factory in Europe or in Asia, and do you go through an agent or direct? Look for a partner that is transparent about origin, makes a sample first and gives you a fixed point of contact.
MakeaLabel produces in our own workshop in Turkey, with no agents or traders in between.
Do you choose private label or white label?
With white label you put your own label in an existing style the factory already makes. That is fast and cheap, but your neighbour can sell exactly the same piece.
With private label you decide the fabric, the fabric weight, the fit, the labels and the packaging, and the product only exists under your brand. That costs an extra sample round. That is exactly the difference between a brand and a webshop with blank clothing.
Why do you need a tech pack and a sample?
A tech pack is the technical blueprint of your product: measurements, fabric, colour, prints and labels. Without a tech pack, no factory can produce seriously.
Then you have one or two samples made. A sample costs from €150, depending on the style, and a sample round takes at least 5 to 6 weeks after payment. It is not mandatory, but we always recommend it: it is the cheapest way to prevent expensive mistakes.
After your approval and payment, production also takes at least 5 to 6 weeks. We do not send a separate swatch kit: in your sample you have fabric, colour and fit in your hands in one go, and that says more than a folder of loose swatches.
Can you also see fabric and fit in real life?
Yes, in your own sample: you receive it at home, and on it you judge fabric, weight and fit in real life. The approved sample is then yours and the reference for your production.
A visit to our showroom at Marssteden 122 in Enschede is possible by invitation, within an ongoing sample or production process.
How do you calculate the retail price of your clothing?
Keep it simple for your first drop: calculate with about twice your purchase price. If you buy a hoodie for €39.99, you sell it for around €80. Your first drop is about testing the market and your first customers, not about the highest margin; with larger quantities you will come out cheaper later.
Besides production, also include labels, packaging, shipping, marketing and the margin of any shops.
How do you launch a clothing brand?
With an audience that is already there. Before your launch, build an email list of at least 500 people, post consistently on one channel for three to six months and work with three to five micro-influencers from your niche.
Your webshop does not need to do everything on day one. Make sure you have good product photos, a clear size chart and an honest brand story on your about page. A launch without an audience is a shop window nobody is standing in front of.
What do you measure after your first drop?
Which sizes sold out first, which product was left over and what do the reviews say? Use those answers for your second collection. Brands that learn quickly and dare to adjust last longer.