What is the minimum order quantity for custom apparel and cut-and-sew?
Confidence 4/5 Established practice
Minimum order quantity for custom apparel and cut-and-sew from China:
Roughly 100–300 pieces per style per colourway for cut-and-sew, because pattern grading, cutting and line set-up are per-style costs. Stock blanks with printed branding start far lower, at 50 and sometimes 1.
Sources
- Cut-and-sew MOQ and sampling practice — Industry practice; consistent with supplier-quoted minimums
- Apparel classification by fibre and construction — World Customs Organization HS nomenclature
- Textile labelling requirements — US Federal Trade Commission
What goes wrong with custom apparel and cut-and-sew
- Quoting before the fabric is chosen. Fabric is typically the majority of the cost.
- Skipping a fit sample and going straight to production.
- Not specifying shrinkage or colourfastness standards, then discovering both after the first wash.
- Assuming the fabric weight matches the sample; GSM varies between mills at the same nominal weight.
- Ignoring the destination labelling rules until after the goods are printed.
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