How do you know you&#;ve found a quality clothing supplier or manufacturer?
&#; Quick Answer: You should establish a few things first that define your clothing brand. Once you know your niche, scale, budget and level of sustainability, you can weigh factors like a manufacturer&#;s location (domestic vs. overseas), their product specialty, shipping costs, and standard of quality. If these factors align with the business you&#;re aspiring to create, you&#;re more likely to have a smooth time working with a fashion supplier once you&#;ve approved some samples and spoken with other brands they&#;ve worked with.
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Whether you're dreaming of becoming a fashion mogul or simply want to sell stylish or everyday clothes online, discovering the perfect manufacturers and apparel suppliers is key to your success in starting a successful brand.
The fashion industry is tough, often ruled by big brands with deep pockets and years of experience. But don't let that discourage you&#;thanks to the rise of eCommerce and boutique fashion, many hopeful entrepreneurs, just like you, have been able to learn how to start a clothing brand and have been more than successful.
If you're reading this, your clothing business idea is probably already taking shape. You've got a niche, maybe some cool designs, or ideas for the clothes you want to sell. But here's the challenge: you're not sure where to kick off or whom to trust for your manufacturing needs.
I get it&#;this part of your business journey may seem intimidating. Executing on your dream means investing time, trust, and money in something with an unknown outcome. However, I'm here to guide you through finding top-notch clothing manufacturers and wholesale suppliers to make that outcome a little more sure. In fact, I'll share some fantastic ones in this article.
No need to feel daunted or overwhelmed; let's turn your dream of creating a clothing brand by starting off with 8 key steps to begin and 10 trusted manufacturers to look into. Trust me; you can start either an online store or an original clothing line that truly stands out with our experience-backed guidance and resources.
Clothing Manufacturers: Getting Started
The first thing you should ask yourself when launching a clothing business is: Do I really need a clothing manufacturer? If you&#;re simply wanting to sell clothing items online, then you may be better off starting with dropshipping and sourcing products from a clothing supplier. That way you don&#;t have to worry about the production side of things as you can choose pre-made clothing items from a catalog. You also don&#;t have to buy a whole lot of stock that might not sell. It can save you a lot of time, money, and unnecessary risk. For unique and tailored solutions, consider exploring custom clothing options to ensure your products stand out in the market.
For example, if you&#;re planning to sell blank t-shirts, there&#;s not much point in trying to reinvent the wheel when there are a lot of suppliers already stocking every kind of blank t-shirt under the sun. Obviously, you'd want to sell custom t-shirts.
Be sure to check out SaleHoo Directory if you are interested in dropshipping clothes!
However, if you have a unique idea for a new range of clothing, or you&#;re a fashion designer wanting to launch your own brand, then you will need to work directly with a manufacturer.
There are pros and cons of working with a clothing manufacturer.
Clothing Manufacturer Pros
- You can produce unique clothing items
- You can establish your own brand
- You can generally sell items at higher prices
- You have greater control over branding and marketing
Clothing Manufacturer Cons
- You have to make a significant investment upfront
- You have to buy bulk items that might not sell
- You have greater legal obligations
- You expose yourself to more risk
BONUS: Learn more about the pros and cons of manufacturing in our Beginner's Guide to Finding Private Label Manufacturers
What to Look for in a Clothing Manufacturer
If you&#;re getting started on your clothing business journey, there are a few things to consider before you choose a clothing manufacturer.
1. Can They Make Your Product?
This might seem like an obvious question, but it&#;s an important one. Not all clothing manufacturers are capable of producing all types of clothing. For example, outdoors or exercise clothing often requires special materials, such as lycra or waterproof fabrics. You need to be sure that the manufacturer you choose is able to make the clothing products that you want. Even better, you should try and use a manufacturer that specializes in making the clothing that you want. If you&#;re starting a clothing business that sells stylish summer dresses, then you would do well to work with a dress manufacturer that has a lot of experience with dresses. Just like if you want to sell luxury clothes then you might like to work with one of the luxury clothing manufacturers, etc.
2. Domestic or Overseas Clothing Manufacturer?
You need to decide whether you&#;re going to work with local manufacturers in your country or area, or overseas manufacturers. Typically, this means choosing between manufacturers in the United States and Europe or manufacturers in Asia (typically China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh). It&#;s quite rare to find economically-viable clothing manufacturers in smaller countries, but if being locally-made is important to you, you might be able to make it work.
Domestic (US, Europe) Clothing Manufacturers
There are a lot of benefits to working with domestic clothing manufacturers. Firstly, it&#;s much easier to meet with the manufacturers, inspect their factories, and discuss your specific needs without a language barrier. There are more stringent labor regulations and better working conditions. Consumers are becoming more conscious of these things and being &#;locally made&#; can be a powerful selling point. You&#;ll also have the benefit of faster shipping times, which keeps customers happy. The quality also tends to be higher.
However, all of this comes at a financial cost. It typically costs more to use domestic manufacturers, although you will also have grounds to charge more for your clothing items.
Overseas Clothing Manufacturers
The main benefit of using overseas manufacturers is cost. They are almost always a lot cheaper, which is why so much clothing is made in China. However, this is typically because labor standards and working conditions are unregulated, which is something you need to keep in mind.
It&#;s also more difficult for you to visit and inspect factories. And while overseas manufacturers can produce quality clothing, this relies on you choosing a reputable manufacturer.
Shipping times are also much longer when the products are being sent internationally. However, if you&#;re buying your clothing items in bulk and shipping them yourself, this isn&#;t a major issue.
The other benefit is that you can often have a greater range of options with overseas manufacturers - fabrics, styles etc - and they&#;re more inclined to bend over backward to do business with you.
3. What is the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)?
When you&#;re working with a clothing manufacturer, you need to know what their minimum order quantity is. That means the minimum number of items you need to purchase in a single order. The MOQ could range from 200 to items, or even more. It&#;s very rare for manufacturers to not have an MOQ. This is important for you to know because if you start working with a manufacturer and go to place your first order, and they tell you that you need to buy units of the swimsuit you want to manufacture, you might not be able to afford it. Also, it&#;s not a good idea to buy clothing items if you&#;re not sure you can sell them all. That way, you&#;re left with excess stock that&#;s difficult to move.
In short, make sure the MOQ is manageable for you before you start working with a clothing manufacturer.
4. Can They Provide Product Samples?
Try before you buy. There&#;s a reason there are changing rooms in clothing stores and that&#;s because people want to know what they&#;re getting before they commit to buying it. The same goes for your manufacturer. If you&#;re getting a manufacturer to produce clothing items for your business, you want to make sure that you can get samples before committing to a large order. This is important because if something&#;s not quite right, you can make adjustments until it is. Imagine getting an order of hundreds of jackets that you&#;ve designed, only to find that they don&#;t quite fit right or they&#;ve used the wrong kind of button.
The easiest way to do this is by bringing it up in your communication early on. Most manufacturers will be more than happy to provide samples, usually for a modest fee, but it&#;s up to you to get them to commit to it from the beginning.
5. What Are Their Fees and Shipping Costs?
In the excitement and rush of bringing your clothing business to life, it can be easy to overlook basic due diligence. All it takes is one or two lines in an to ask the manufacturer if they have any additional fees you should know about, and what their shipping costs and times are.
This is really important information that can help you decide whether you work with that manufacturer or not, so make sure you address it early on.
BONUS: Check out our guide to communicating with manufacturers and suppliers (including scripts you can use!)
6. What Is Their Production Capacity?
This is something you might not think about until business is booming. When you&#;re just getting started with your clothing line, you&#;re probably focused on getting your first order and making sales. But what happens if business goes better than expected, and your clothing sells out quickly? Can you rely on your manufacturer to produce your clothing quickly and at a greater capacity moving forward? This is why you should ask your supplier about their production capacity. Make sure they have the ability to notch it up if needed. Also ask about turnaround time or lead time, meaning how long it takes the manufacturer to fulfill your order. You don&#;t want to have to wait weeks or months for an order, missing out on potential customers and sales in the process.
7. What Is Their Standard of Quality?
Unfortunately, this isn&#;t something you can ask a manufacturer in an and take their word on. However, you can do your own research by reading reviews of the manufacturer online, visiting the factory (if possible), and ordering samples. Remember that the quality of your garments determines your reputation, so you want to be sure that your manufacturer produces clothing to a high standard. You will be better off paying a slightly higher price for higher quality goods than risking your reputation just to save a few dollars.
8. What Other Brands Have They Worked With?
This is one of the best ways to test the reliability of a manufacturer. Ask them what other brands they&#;ve produced clothing for. Then look at the websites for those brands. Are they successful? What&#;s their customer feedback like?. Contact the owners of those brands and ask them how they&#;ve found working with the manufacturer. Have they had any issues? Are they happy with the quality? There&#;s nothing like real-world testimonials to provide you with the peace of mind to proceed with a manufacturer. Or they might sound warning bells that will help you to decide to go with a different manufacturer.
Where to Find Reliable Clothing Manufacturers
It&#;s relatively easy to find clothing manufacturers online. The tricky part is knowing which ones are reliable and which aren&#;t.
Here are a few tried and true ways to find clothing manufacturers.
Industry Meetups and Trade Shows
Trade shows (also known as trade fairs) are exhibitions where manufacturers showcase their products and services. It&#;s a great way to meet manufacturers in person so you can discuss your specific needs. The same goes for industry meetups. You can&#;t beat talking with a manufacturer face-to-face. It helps to build trust and confidence and establishes a more personal business relationship. To continue the networking efforts, share an Apple Wallet business card with attendees as it allows easy contact sharing with just one click.
SaleHoo&#;s Verified Supplier Directory
The SaleHoo Wholesale Directory has more than 8,000 low-cost suppliers and 1.6 million products and brands. There are more than 200 clothing suppliers all around the world. The best thing about SaleHoo&#;s supplier directory is that all of the manufacturers have been verified by SaleHoo staff, so you know they are trustworthy. It just takes one click to see all of the manufacturer&#;s contact information, including number, business , and physical address, as well as details such as their trustworthy score, product range and quality, and customer service information.
Online Marketplaces
You can find manufacturers on popular, China-based online marketplaces such as Alibaba and AliExpress. Manufacturers often sell directly via these platforms so if you come across a listing that&#;s similar to the clothing product that you want to make, you can try contacting the seller and asking if they are a manufacturer. You have the added benefit of being able to read reviews and contact previous customers. However, you do need to be wary of scams and you should still undertake due diligence using the guidelines above.
BONUS: Learn more about how to find reliable manufacturers in China
Facebook Groups
Facebook is a great place to find fellow entrepreneurs and communities with similar interests to you. There are many groups to choose from but look for ones that are specifically for eCommerce entrepreneurs. You will be sure to find questions and answers in them to do with finding reliable clothing manufacturers!
Just keep in mind their rules before you join. A few helpful groups to get you started include Shopify Entrepreneurs, Kingpinning, and Ecommerce Entrepreneurs.
Or head to the Facebook search bar and search for your query and see what groups pop up. A quick search of &#;clothing manufacturers&#; returned a ton of different group results! But it will take some time to check them out for relevance. So, it is a good idea to join well-established eCommerce groups first that are full of helpful people willing to point you in the right direction and help you on your journey.
10 clothing Manufacturers You Can Use for Your Online Business
1. Pineapple Clothing (SaleHoo Featured Supplier)
Pineapple Clothing is a US-based clothing supplier and manufacturer of women&#;s and children&#;s apparel, known for its unique prints and designs intended for everyday use and for special occasions. While they sell direct to consumer, they also supply and manufacture clothing for retail stores.
Find more great clothing manufacturers in SaleHoo&#;s supplier directory
Good Clothing Company, based in the US, provides both small batch and large scale manufacturing services for independent designers and established brands. The company prides itself on using environmentally sustainable production practices and paying its workers fairly for their skilled labor. They provide a simple online form to make an enquiry about manufacturing with them.
Apparel Production Incorporated is a distinguished and highly experienced garment manufacturer in New York. Established in , the company has always been committed to producing superior garments at the most reasonable prices with the help of its domestic and international manufacturing networks. The company has worked with high-end fashion labels.
Indie Source is full-service clothing development and manufacturing consultancy, based in Los Angeles. It provides fashion designers and clothing businesses with a personalized, in-house product development team which includes a dedicated project manager and experienced sourcing specialists, patternmakers, and sample makers.
Portland Garment Factory is a full-service creative design and fabrication studio, based in Portland, Oregon. They provide concept, design, and manufacturing services, specializing in more creative, designer clothing. The zero-waste studio is committed to upending the traditional factory model, through ethical labor practices and environmental sustainability.
Billoomi Fashion is an India-based private label clothing manufacturer of ready-to-wear woven and knitted garments for men, women, and children. The company has clients around the world and is equipped to handle any volume and any type of clothing manufacturing, which suggests that production capacity won&#;t be an issue.
Dewhirst design, develop and manufacture a wide range of men&#;s, women&#;s, and children&#;s clothing. The company was established in , so it has more than a century of experience. Dewhirst has manufacturing capabilities in several countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Given the locations of some of its factories, Dewhirst takes care to uphold ethical values in terms of workplace conditions, health and safety, and sustainability.
Zega Apparel is one of the full-service apparel manufacturers. They are based in Karachi, Pakistan. It seems as though they can cater to almost any customer requirement and have the motto &#;you name it we have it.&#; They pride themselves on their values and claim to have good working conditions for their employees. A great benefit of using them is the fact they have low minimum order requirements which makes them a good option for start up entrepreneurs.
Contact them via at or you can also give them a call.
Euphoric Color is a full-service clothing manufacturer based in Los Angeles. They have a wide range of clothing options available including swimwear, sleepwear, activewear, and more so they are likely to have what you need. They also offer premium eco friendly fabrics. To get in touch fill out their inquiry form under their clothing manufacturers section.
DSA manufacturing is based in the UK and offers a range of high quality clothing manufacturing. They pride themselves on effective communication from start to finish and have no nasty or hidden costs.
A bonus is they offer design, marketing, and photoshoot packages which could be good if you are just starting out. Also, they work with many clothing companies from around the world which means their production capacity is likely to be good. However, they have a minimum order quantity of 100 which might be a deterrent for new eCommerce entrepreneurs.
Get in touch by contacting them via their contact form.
Alternatives to Clothing Manufacturers
Dropshipping
You don&#;t always have to work with clothing manufacturers if you want to work in the clothing eCommerce space. In fact, these types of businesses often require more startup capital than other eCommerce models such as dropshipping. With dropshipping, you don&#;t have to carry inventory, which can save you a lot of money. Once you get an order, all you have to do is contact your dropship supplier and tell them to ship the product directly to your customer. However, it would be hard to create your own designs in a dropshipping model. You&#;d most likely be limited to selling the supplier&#;s existing designs. There are plenty of clothing dropshippers around the world that you can work with. If you&#;re worried about shipping times, you can find clothing dropshippers in the SaleHoo Directory that are local to your market. That way, once you get an order, you can have your clothing dropship supplier quickly send the order to your customer.
Wholesale
You can also work with clothing wholesalers where you buy clothing in bulk at a highly discounted price. This process is often straightforward and less complicated than working with clothing manufacturers since there aren&#;t that many specs and details to confirm. Once you purchase the clothing at a wholesale price, you&#;re able to sell it to your customers at a retail price, therefore making a profit.
Print on Demand
Working with print on demand clothing suppliers is another effective business model if you want to get into the clothing industry and sell apparel online. Like dropshipping, with print on demand clothing suppliers, you don&#;t need to carry any inventory. With this business model, you&#;ll need to come up with prints and designs upfront and add them to your website. Once you get an order, you&#;ll work with a print on demand clothing supplier to add your print design on their product, and then send it to the customer. Note that because you&#;re working with a print on demand supplier by having them add your prints to their products when you get an order, the design changes can only be print design changes. You won&#;t be able to create a completely different piece of clothing or change the style. The only change you&#;ll be able to make is adding a print design to their existing product.
Bonus: How to Start a Clothing Business
Starting a clothing business may seem like a pretty daunting process. But it is possible! Outlined below is a brief step by step to help you on your path to success.
1. Pick a niche
Just like with any business, picking a niche is a fundamental first step. It&#;s important to ask yourself: How am I going to stand out and who are my clothes targeting? Busy moms, who want comfy yoga leggings? T-shirts that represent aspects of a certain country?
For example, take a look at Black Milk. They started out by specializing in unique designed leggings and have now added to their range but the prints are still very unique and target customers who aren&#;t afraid to make a statement and stand out.
Naturally, when you are picking your niche you will need to narrow down the type of clothing you are selling. And the material you are going to use or the specific and unique design.
2. Develop your brand
There are many things you will want to think about when developing your brand. For example, it is important to identify your target audience, the products you want to make, your unique point of view, logo, colors, etc. Creating a business plan is a good idea during this step!
3. Research your competition
Now that you have a pretty strong idea of the type of clothes you are going to sell, it&#;s a good decision to do some research on your competition and look at how you are going to stand out. To start, take a look at how they are promoting their clothes and their brand tone and voice. It will give you some idea of how you can differentiate yourself.
4. Create a budget
Before you get started creating your clothing line it&#;s important to know what you are in for. Think about all the costs involved. For example the costs of working with your manufacturer, shipping, legal fees, website costs, etc.
5. Understand your legal requirements
Every country has different requirements. Check out the business license regulatory body in your country or region for more information on this.
We have a few helpful articles below to get you started if you are in the following countries:
6. Design your clothes
Lots of manufacturing companies have in house designers to work with. You could use one of these or work with a designer of your choice. Alternatively, take a course or check out design programs like Adobe Illustrator.
7. Work with your manufacturer
This is a big step on its own. You will want to communicate with a few different manufacturers to make sure you are working with one best suited for you and your products.
Remember manufacturers can offer Full Production Package (FPP) or Cut, Make Trim (CMT) packages. FPP means they are with you the entire way from design to patterns to producing the final garment.
When working with your manufacturer make sure you take into account the information mentioned in this article like communication, MOQ&#;s, samples, and timeframes. Also, you will likely need to provide them with a tech pack!
8. Take your clothes to market!
Once you are happy with your test product and have committed to a full product run you&#;ll want to start the process of taking your clothes to market! This process involves:
- Setting up your online store
- Pricing your products
- Marketing
- Packaging & shipping
- Creating a returns policy and handling customer issues
- Working with your manufacturer to make sure production is never an issue
You&#;re Ready to Start Your Clothing Business
Now that you know what to look for in a clothing manufacturer, where to find them, and have a few options to get you started, you should be in a good position to get your clothing business underway.
While it&#;s a highly competitive market, there are still plenty of opportunities to capitalize on new trends and creative ideas and build a sustainable online business. If you&#;ve got great ideas and a drive to bring them to life, there&#;s no reason why you can&#;t create a successful clothing line.
So what do you think? Have you had any experience sourcing clothing manufacturers? What are the common obstacles have you faced?
I hope this guide has been helpful. If you have any questions or any other tips for working with clothing manufacturers, please leave a comment below.
FAQs
Luxury clothing is the most profitable piece of clothing to sell. Basically, if you can increase the perceived value of the type of clothing that you want to sell, you&#;ll be able to get high profits. This is why anything in the luxury business can be highly profitable. However, with luxury products, you may need to increase your marketing and branding budget. Also, pieces like underwear, bras, swimwear are also profitable too because they have very low refund rates. With these types of clothing, customers aren&#;t allowed to make refunds once they&#;ve tried on the garment.
China, Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Bangladesh, India, Vietnam are some of the best countries to find clothing manufacturers. However, it really depends on what type of clothing you want to sell. If you want to get into the luxury section, places like Italy, Turkey, France, and the US may be able to produce higher quality clothing. If you want to go for something more mainstream or even sell lower priced clothing your best bets are finding a clothing manufacturer in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India.
You&#;ll need at the very minimum $173 USD to start a clothing business. This amount, however, would be for a dropshipping or private label store. If you want to work with a wholesaler or a manufacturer, you would probably need at least $500 to open a small scale clothing business with not that many product lines. If you&#;re planning to create clothing a business with lots of collections, sizes, and designs, you may need to start off with $5,000 or more.
Learn More: How much does it cost to Dropship?
The average profit margin on clothing can range from 5% to 25% depending on your product and material cost. For example, clothing companies like Zara can have a profit margin that ranges from 7-25% depending on the the material costs.
*This post contains affiliate links.
I never cared for Louis Vuitton bags. But a few weekends ago I visited the fashion house&#;s exhibition, which showcased the heritage of the brand and the early iterations of its iconic pieces. I was floored by the impeccable craftsmanship, care and detail put into the bags and trunks from over a century ago.
I left the exhibit feeling inspired, but also sad. Browsing all those creations built to last for decades, the same thought kept popping up in my head:
Things just aren&#;t made the same anymore.
I&#;m sure you&#;ve experienced it yourself. Maybe you have a J. Crew sweater from six years ago that&#;s still going strong. But the modern-day replacement has somehow sprouted holes in only a month.
In a recent mini podcast, my friend Britt lamented about a pair of beloved boots whose quality went downhill, while the price stayed the same.
And I still remember the first time it happened to me, too.
I&#;d been wearing Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers since I was in middle school. Right before I went to college, production of the shoes had moved to Asia from the US (hi, globalization). The pair I bought not long after made me wonder if I&#;d had a brain transplant and bought the wrong shoes. Not only did the shoes feel stiffer and less comfortable, but the core Chuck Taylor feature, the toe cap, was a totally different shape. All the subtle differences added up to an unsettling feeling like I was wearing knock-offs on my feet. These were not the Converse I used to know.
I haven&#;t bought Chuck Taylors since.
When it comes to clothes, I don&#;t think anyone can deny that quality is declining. In our global economy, our priorities have changed. In the old days, our belongings were built to last, because we had fewer options for replacements. Now we anticipate new trends every few weeks. We expect clothes to be cheap. In fact, we get annoyed when they&#;re not. I was on a forum recently, and someone was asking for recommendations for a shirt that&#;s durable, made in the US, and less than $40. I&#;m sorry dude, but that stuff costs money.
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So it&#;s not hard to see why quality is such a mystery these days. How exactly do you spot it? And without having to be some kind of fashion expert? Because nobody likes spending money only to feel cheated soon after. And when out shopping, it&#;s not practical to inspect every single detail without looking like a weirdo. You need the most effective ways to be able to spot quality when you&#;re out and about, so you can be a more informed shopper.
In this post I&#;ll walk you through the main features I look for in high-quality clothes and shoes. I&#;m not an expert, but I&#;ve shopped long enough and at various price points to be able to discern differences, and I&#;ve been sewing and drafting my own clothing patterns for years. I also own a mix of both high-quality and lower-quality clothes, and where I can, I&#;ll try to point out the differences between each.
What Does Quality Mean?
Everyone likes to throw the word &#;quality&#; around, but no one ever actually defines what &#;quality&#; is.
The first rule of quality is that it&#;s subjective.
When most people refer to &#;spending more for quality,&#; they want their clothes to be more durable than cheaper alternatives. But they can&#;t explain exactly how those more expensive items will last longer.
To me, quality is all about the fabric and the construction. When nice fabrics meet excellent construction, you get a garment that tends to last longer and age gracefully.
Now that we&#;ve defined quality, let&#;s talk about the common myths about quality.
Quality Myth #1: The Higher the Price, the Higher the Quality
Conflating price and quality is the biggest mistake I see. Most people will see a $30 pair of shoes and automatically assume they&#;re higher quality than a $10 pair of shoes.
But prices can be deceiving.
In general, higher prices do mean higher quality, but there are just as many instances where more expensive items are only expensive because of brand perception and marketing. For example, is this $495 T-shirt really going to last 33 times longer than a regular Hanes T-Shirt? And at a certain level, there comes a point where the more expensive item no longer provides tangible value, but minute details that most people won&#;t recognize or value. There&#;s a reason why I didn&#;t mention quality in my post about why I buy expensive things. Because expensive does not always equal quality.
Quality Myth #2: There are Go-To Brands that Are Always High Quality
Be careful about associating quality with certain brands as a whole. I see it a lot on forums where people recommend brands that are &#;known for their quality.&#; But they never mention which types of clothes held up well. The type of garment matters.
For example, with J. Crew, sometimes you get a great quality pair of jeans, but then everyone throws shade at their cashmere sweaters.
Every brand or designer has their strengths and weaknesses. Think about it. Is there anyone you know who&#;s really awesome at everything?
If you make your purchases based on brand alone, then you&#;re bound to be disappointed.
If you want my picks for quality brands for specific items, here are my favorites.
Quality Myth #3: All Fabrics Are Created Equal
The last mistake I see people make is thinking that all fabric types are created equal. &#;Cashmere is cashmere, and cotton is cotton.&#; So if you grab an $130 Everlane cashmere sweater, it&#;s the same as a $1,175 Loro Piana one, right? I mean, both sweaters say they&#;re made out of 100% cashmere.
Not so fast.
Just because two items are both made from 100% cashmere, doesn&#;t mean they&#;re the same fabric quality. I actually got into an argument about this online! There are different grades of cashmere, and the better cashmere will be made out of longer fibers, which makes it ridiculously soft.
And don&#;t get tricked into thinking cashmere from the same factory is the same, either. The quality variances for cashmere also exists for other natural materials, like cotton and leather. For example, when I&#;ve bought leather skins, I usually am offered choices ranging from skins with noticeable imperfections to ones that are nearly flawless. Better materials cost more money.
So if higher prices aren&#;t a guarantee, and neither are brands, then what&#;s the best test for identifying quality?
NOTE: For specifics, I made an ultimate guide for how to identify high-quality sweaters.
The Easiest Way to Discern Quality
The easiest way to recognize quality is by experiencing it yourself in person. Go to a high-end store, like Nordstrom or Saks, and feel the clothes. Note how heavy and sturdy the fabrics feel, and how they drape. Try some of them on. Then go to less expensive stores and compare similar items, noting the differences. Clothes are super tactile, so by handling higher-quality clothes yourself, you&#;ll be able to recognize those same qualities in the future.
So not everyone lives close to a high-end store. In that case, go to thrift store and dig around for the real vintage clothes (pre-s). For the most part, true vintage items are built like tanks, and the differences between those and lower-quality clothes from today are unmistakable.
But the tactics above won&#;t work if you&#;re shopping online. Next, let&#;s talk about the specific features to watch out for.
The Three Things I Look for in High-Quality Clothes
The three things I look for in high-end clothes are natural fabrics, good construction, and where they&#;re made. Let&#;s dive into each.
1. Natural Fabrics
When it comes to fabrics I&#;m a total purist, and the number one thing I check is whether or not a garment is made out of 100% natural materials. If I see an item made out of synthetic materials like polyester, rayon (except if it&#;s vintage), nylon, etc. I&#;ll probably put it back immediately. From my experience, natural fabrics feel better against the skin, wash better, and last longer. Of course, there are exceptions for things like hosiery and exercise clothes, when synthetic materials are used for functional reasons. Still, I&#;ll only wear cotton and merino wool tops for running. I tried to wear a polyester &#;exercise shirt&#; from Old Navy and I hated how it felt.
Sometimes designers use synthetic materials for design reasons, but for the most part, checking for natural fabrics is a solid 80/20 test for quality. If you have crappy, flimsy fabrics, the best designs and construction won&#;t save it.
Now let&#;s talk about specific fabrics and how to tell if they&#;re good or not.
CASHMERE
Cashmere should be super soft, because the nicest ones will be made of longer, thinner fibers. The fabric should also feel thick and densely woven. To test the strength of the fabric, pull on it a little. A higher-quality cashmere will bounce back. Also check the tag to see if it&#;s two-ply or one-ply, as one ply will be more prone to developing holes. Have you ever been at a fast fashion store and thought you found a deal on cashmere? Well, someone had to cut corners to keep the price down. I&#;ll bet that the fabric is thinner and the yarns are woven much more loosely. Neither of these features will do much for the garment&#;s longevity. But on the other side, even expensive cashmere can be a rip-off, developing holes in a matter of months. So again, don&#;t assume something is higher quality just because it&#;s more expensive. Because cashmere is such a gamble, I actually won&#;t buy any cashmere new. Instead, I&#;ll look for vintage versions on eBay or in thrift stores where I&#;m more certain the quality will be high. I have a vintage-y one from Barneys that doesn&#;t seem to ever pill or grow any holes. The best part? It cost $30.
Cashmere checklist:
-Is it 100% cashmere, and not a blend?
-Is it two-ply?
-Is is super soft and not itchy?
-Is it woven tightly?
-If you pull it slightly, does it bounce back?
WOOL
Technically, cashmere is a wool because it comes from an animal, but I&#;ll refer to wool as any non-cashmere material used for sweaters and coats. I&#;d take wool over cashmere any day of the week. Wool as a material is less delicate than cashmere, so already it&#;s primed to last longer. Wools can come from a bunch of different animals, and there&#;s a lot more variety in terms of texture. The highest-end wool will be merino wool, which will feel really fine. The finer the wool, the higher quality it is. That&#;s why you&#;ll see names ranging from &#;Fine Merino Wool&#; to &#;Ultrafine Merino Wool&#; (the highest). But for any wool sweater, there are general tests you can do to assess the quality. Again, check the label. The fabric should be made out of 100% natural materials (a blend with cashmere, etc. is OK). The wool should be thick and should bounce back when pulled slightly, and the weave should be dense and tight.
Wool checklist:
-Is the fabric substantial?
-Is it woven tightly?
-If you pull it slightly, does it bounce back?
SILK
Ah, my favorite luxury fabric. Silk quality is determined by momme weight. So, if a shirt&#;s momme weight is 16, that means 160 yards of the silk weighs 16 pounds. The heavier the momme, the sturdier the fabric, thus the higher the quality. But most brands won&#;t give up their momme weight, so you can learn to judge silk by feel.
I have a 100% silk shirt from Equipment and a 100% silk dress from Boy by Band of Outsiders. I bought a silk button-down from Everlane, but returned it because I didn&#;t like the quality or fit. And once I bought a silk dress from Zara. Here are the differences I&#;ve noticed between the silks I own and the Zara one: The shirt and dress feel luxurious, thick and heavy. This is most likely due to the sandwashed finish, which makes the fabric extra soft, and almost suede-like. The fabric is super fluid, so if I draped it over my hand, you&#;d see the outline of my fingers underneath. To contrast, the Zara dress was also 100% silk, but felt much thinner, less densely woven, and didn&#;t really drape much at all.
Silk checklist:
-Does it feel super soft and drapey against the skin?
-Is the fabric thick and substantial?
-If you hold it up to the light, is it fairly opaque?
COTTON
Cotton is one of my favorite everyday fabrics, because not only is it so much easier to care for than the other natural materials, it&#;s also the most affordable.
Cotton should feel soft, not scratchy. The longer the fibers of the cotton, the softer they&#;ll feel. That&#;s why sometimes you try on a pair of jeans and they feel scratchy. The cotton is probably made of shorter fibers that are poking your skin. Lots of people will also tell you to avoid thin fabrics because they tear easily, but high-quality fabrics can still be thin, as long as they&#;re densely spun. When you hold it up to the light, you shouldn&#;t see much light coming through the holes. Since cotton is used for a wide variety of garments, I&#;ll go through how I assess quality for each:
For denim, I&#;m super picky about the fabrics. I&#;ll only wear 100% cotton or jeans with a slight stretch, composed of 98% cotton and 2% elastane. I&#;ve found that jeans with more stretch than that will tend to be thinner. I like denim to feel like denim, not like spandex. I also like a heavier weight cotton, since jeans are my workhorses. However, this is my personal preference.
Woven button-down shirts can be thick or thin and still be high-quality, although I&#;ve noticed that my higher-quality shirts tend to be made out of noticeably thicker fabrics.
For T-shirts, I look for 100% cotton&#;no blends with polyester or spandex. I&#;ve had good luck with T-shirts made out of cotton from Peru.
Cotton checklist:
-Is the fabric thick and substantial?
-Is it soft against the skin?
-Stretch it slightly with you hands. Is it densely woven?
LEATHER
Leather quality is determined by the type of grain. The best leather is full-grain leather, which retains the imperfections (like bug bites) of the hide without any sanding or corrections. It&#;s basically like the top layer of your skin, so it will be flexible and durable. The next best is top grain leather, which is when the full grain leather is sanded away to remove the imperfections. Top grain leather is thinner than full grain, and less durable. Most of the products (handbags, shoes, etc.) we see in stores will be made out of top grain leather. Both types are durable, but full grain leather will age beautifully, developing a nice shine, or patina, and top grain leather will feel plastic-y over time. The last type of leather is bonded leather, which is basically leather scraps all mashed up to create a new sheet of leather. Avoid bonded leather at all costs!
Aside from grain types, like wool, there are so many different types leather to choose from&#;calf, lambskin, deer, etc. Some are naturally thick and hearty, and others are thinner and more fragile. It all depends on what you&#;re using the leather for (garments will use thinner leather), so it can be hard to generalize quality for leather. One consistent thing I look for in nice leather is a natural high sheen (as in the picture below). I own leather shoes, so here&#;s a side-by-side comparison to show the differences in quality. The sneaker on the left retails for $410, and the one on the right cost $80. Both have wrinkles, but you can see the shoe on the right has aged worse than the one on the left.
Oh, and if you want the full lowdown on leather jackets, read this post by The Essential Man.
Leather checklist:
-Is it soft and supple?
-Does it smell like leather?
-Scratch your nail against it. Does it create a mark or disappear?
2. Construction
The quality of construction depends on how well fabric pieces are stitched together. An initial test could be holding the garment up to the light and stretching one of the seams to see how much light comes through. If the thread is really tight and even, this is a good sign.
FINISHING TECHNIQUES
Have you ever turned a garment inside out and checked out what the inside looks like? There are actually different techniques for finishing the raw edges of the seams, and some are considered to be more high-end than others. First, let&#;s look at the technique that you&#;ll probably find in most of your clothes: the serged edge.
To create a serged edge, there&#;s no real manual work involved, besides feeding the fabric through a machine called a serger. It sews the seam, finishes the edge, AND cuts off the excess fabric for you.
Check the vertical seam on this shirt. The serged edge is the loopy-looking stitch along the edge. The stitching on this shirt is CRAZY. It looks wobbly and overall plain messy.
All of my high-end shirts use more complicated methods. For example, the flat felled seam in the example, which you&#;ll recognize as the common seam finish on the inside of your jeans. It not only looks nice and clean, but it&#;s a more durable finish than a serged edge. The raw edges are totally enclosed, and the seam is pressed and sewn down so it&#;s flat. This type of finishing technique requires more steps than a serged edge, taking longer to complete.
TOPSTITCHING THREAD
If the thread is visible on the outside (called topstitching), that will give you a clue to the level of quality, as well. Look for thick thread with a hint of shine to it. The thread should be smooth without a ton of fibers starting to fray.
STITCHED SOLES VERSUS GLUE
When it comes to shoes, look at how the upper is attached to the sole. Have you ever had a sole just come right off on you? That&#;s probably because the sole was just glued on. Quality goods will be stitched together, which will provide a much stronger bond.
In the $80 example below, you can&#;t see any stitch marks, so the leather and the rubber are joined together by glue.
In contrast, look at that nice stitching on the $410 shoe.
3. Where It&#;s Made
I&#;ll always look at the tag to see where the item was made. Good manufacturing can happen in any country, but I&#;ll use the country to determine how much I&#;m willing to pay. For example, I know labor costs in the US is expensive, so I&#;m willing to pay more for an item made here. But if I know an item is made in a more cost-effective country and the price is still high, then I&#;ll think twice about that purchase.
Tip: If you see a product page online, and the country of origin is NOT listed, or it says &#;Imported&#; it means it&#;s not made in a &#;well-regarded&#; manufacturing country like the US, UK, Italy, Spain or France.
What to Watch Out For
Here&#;s a list of quick watch-outs for when you&#;re shopping. Retailers are masters at manipulating copy so you&#;re in the dark about what you&#;re actually buying.
Fabric blends. For example, if you see the fabric listed as &#;cashmere blend,&#; don&#;t get tricked into thinking that&#;s full-on cashmere. It could mean it&#;s 1% cashmere and 99% garbage.
When there&#;s no fabric composition at all. Lots of online retailers will leave out information like the fabric percentages. Instead, you&#;ll see &#;polyester/elasthane&#; so you won&#;t have a real sense of the actual proportions of the fabrics. For example, there&#;s a big difference in how an item feels if it&#;s made out of 99% elasthane versus 10%.
&#;Genuine Leather&#; labels. Real quality leather goods don&#;t have to declare themselves as genuine leather. Only cheap leathers will have this label.
Outlets and TJ Maxx. I know lots of people find designer deals at these stores, but remember that some items are made specifically for these stores, using lower-quality materials. If I find a good deal, I usually do a quick Google search to see if the designer or brand actually sold the item on their own website.
Where to Shop for Quality
By now, you know to look for thicker fabrics that are tightly woven, not scratchy, and with well-constructed seams.
Now the million-dollar question is: where do you buy this stuff?
The reality is, with declining quality, the smartest thing to do is to never pay full price for your clothes.
And if you&#;re on this blog, you&#;re probably money conscious and wondering how to get the most value out of what you buy. My favorite way to get higher quality for less is to buy designer brands secondhand. Here&#;s where I&#;d recommend shopping and the best things to buy at each:
My Favorite Go-To Brands
So wait&#;I said before that there aren&#;t any go-to brands. That&#;s true, but I&#;ve had consistent experiences with brands for specific types of garments. Since people ask me about this type of stuff, I&#;m adding my opinions here.
Vintage
My personal pick for cashmere sweaters. Cashmere is so expensive and delicate I wouldn&#;t buy it at brand-new prices. Look for ones made in Europe on eBay.
Equipment
The only silk button downs I buy. They are thick, feel like velvet, and you don&#;t have to pay an arm and a leg if you buy them secondhand.
Rachel Comey
Especially the stacked heeled booties. The leather soles she uses are thick and flexible, and she usually adds on rubber caps and half-soles, so the shoes will last longer.
Common Projects
Love these super soft nappa leather sneakers. I haven&#;t seen any other that are as sleek and nice as these.
Falke
I consistently have good luck with their socks and hosiery. I&#;ve had a pair of wool tights that have lasted for years and years, and I haven&#;t had any of their socks start to sag on me yet.
Lotuff
These vegetable-tanned leather bags are thick and sturdy and feels like it will last for decades. Sure the smooth, thin lambskin of a Celine bag is nice, but sometimes you want a bag you don&#;t have to baby as much.
Should You Buy Higher Quality Clothes?
Fun facts:
I own plenty of clothes that are made in China.
Ones with the run-of-the-mill serged seams on the inside.
And shoes made out of so-so leather.
So do you really need higher quality clothes?
Not necessarily. (Edit: I wrote a whole guide for when to save or splurge.)
I wanted to write this post, because sometimes I feel like when people say they want to buy higher quality, they don&#;t know exactly what they are in for.
They are the people who think the only reason to buy more expensive things is because of quality. If that&#;s you, then stick with the cheaper stuff.
Because buying based on quality is just part of the equation. If quality was the end-all, be-all, then we&#;d all be shopping at LL Bean because they have a lifetime guarantee on all their products. In theory, that stuff could last forever. Or we&#;d have people buying the highest quality parka known to man, even though they might live on a tropical island.
Buying based on quality alone is not rooted in reality. There are lifestyle questions to ask yourself, like: Are you somebody who&#;s detail-oriented about everything you do? And: are you ready to care for your clothes?
Lastly, emotional reasons can&#;t be ignored.
We buy clothes because they make us feel a certain way.
We buy clothes because we want to control how others perceive us.
We buy clothes because they&#;re exactly what we dreamed up in our heads.
So if you&#;re someone who appreciates finer details, and you have the lifestyle for it, then higher-quality clothes could make sense for you. But if you don&#;t value high quality, then don&#;t sweat it, because there&#;s nothing wrong with that.
Earlier in the post, I said quality is subjective. Quality means something different depending on who you are. And at the end of the day, the very best quality is the kind that suits exactly what YOU need.
What about you? What&#;s your threshold for quality? How do you spot quality when you&#;re out and about or ordering something online? Anyone in the fashion industry&#;chime in with your insights, please!
Image: The Luxe Strategist
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