Finding the right fabric is one of the most important parts of the fashion supply chain. The fabrics a business chooses for its collections can have a big impact on its identity, how people see its quality, and its long-term reputation. Many fashion companies, both new and well-known, make mistakes while choosing and sourcing textiles, even if it’s important. If you make these mistakes, you could end up spending more money, having to wait longer for manufacturing, getting lower quality, or even hurting your brand’s reputation.
We’ll talk about the most typical mistakes fashion firms make when buying fabric, why they happen, and how to avoid them in this article.
1. Prioritizing Cost Over Quality
One of the biggest mistakes fashion manufacturers make is picking textiles based mostly on how cheap they are. It could seem like a good idea to save money in the short term, but cheap textiles might cause problems with quality, such pilling, shrinking, fading, or discomfort. These problems lead to unhappy customers, returns of products, and long-term damage to the business.
Because they employ higher fibers, stronger weaving, and more advanced finishing procedures, high-quality fabrics cost more. Brands should not just look at price when making decisions. They should also look at cost per wear and client happiness.
2. Ignoring Fabric Performance and Functionality
A fabric may seem great on a swatch, but how it works in real life is what really matters. Before making a lot of clothes, a lot of fashion companies don’t test the textiles to see if they can stretch back, breathe, shrink, or hold their colour.
For instance, if you use a gorgeous cotton fabric for activewear that doesn’t stretch, the clothes could not be comfortable or useful. Ignoring climate concerns, such using heavier fabrics in summer collections, can also make clothes less wearable. Testing the performance of fabrics is not just an option; it’s a must.
3. Lack of Supplier Research
Building solid, trustworthy ties with suppliers is generally necessary for getting fabric. People often make the mistake of trusting the first supplier they find without doing enough research. Bad choices of suppliers might cause problems including cloth that isn’t always the same quality, deliveries that are late, or not following industry standards.
Fashion brands should thoroughly evaluate their suppliers by looking at their certificates, asking for fabric samples, visiting factories (if they can), and reading reviews from other businesses. Long-term relationships with trustworthy suppliers are very important for building trust and consistency.
4. Overlooking Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs)
Many fabric suppliers have minimum order quantities (MOQs), and if you don’t pay attention to this at the start of talks, you could run into problems later. A tiny firm could agree to buy a fabric without knowing that they need to buy hundreds of yards, which is much more than they require for production.
If you don’t take MOQs into account, you could end up with too much stock, cash flow problems, or even having to terminate a project. If you’re a growing brand, the best thing to do is to talk about MOQs ahead of time and engage with suppliers who can handle smaller or more flexible orders.
5. Not Considering Sustainability
People who buy clothes today want them to be clear and last. If brands don’t care about how their fabrics affect the environment, they can lose customers who care about the environment. Using fabrics that aren’t good for the environment, such non-certified polyester or regular cotton, which use too many resources, can hurt both the world and a brand’s reputation.
Instead, brands could look at eco-friendly fibers like organic cotton, recycled polyester, Tencel, or others. Working with suppliers who offer traceability and certifications like GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) or OEKO-TEX will help you gain credibility and trust from customers.
6. Miscommunication About Specifications
Another prevalent problem is that fabric providers don’t communicate clearly or at all. Brands typically don’t include enough information regarding the weight, weave, colour, finish, and expected performance of their fabrics. Because of this lack of clarity, fabrics don’t meet criteria.
It is important to communicate clearly through extensive tech packets, fabric test data, and clear swatches. Brands should never think that a supplier “knows what they mean.” Instead, every demand should be written down, confirmed, and agreed upon before production starts.
7. Forgetting About Lead Times
Finding fabric takes time, especially when working with vendors from other countries. People sometimes don’t realize how long it takes to make, dye, polish, and ship fabrics. Brands that don’t pay attention to lead times typically run into difficulties at the last minute, which means they have to choose a different fabric or miss launch dates.
Fashion firms should plan their sourcing calendar months in ahead and include extra time for anything that go wrong, including customs delays or production bottlenecks.
8. Ignoring Fabric Testing and Compliance
To save money, a lot of manufacturers don’t do independent fabric testing, although this can lead to big difficulties. Fabrics generally have to meet safety regulations, especially for clothes for kids or clothes that will be sold abroad. If you don’t test for flammability, chemical composition, or colorfastness, you could fail inspections, have to recall products, or even face legal action.
Compliance is not a choice; it is a very important duty. Testing fabrics early makes ensuring that clothes fit both customer needs and government rules.
9. Over-Reliance on Trends
It’s tempting to follow trends, but making decisions on where to get fabric based only on what’s hot right now is dangerous. For example, if a firm buys a very hot fabric without thinking about how long it will last or how easy it will be to get more, they can wind up with stock that they can’t sell when the trend fades.
The best way to do this is to mix trendy textiles with classic ones that will last and fit with the brand’s image.
10. Neglecting Hidden Costs
The cost of fabric isn’t just the price per yard. Shipping, customs, storage, and fabric waste during cutting are some extra costs that many manufacturers don’t think about. When you include together these hidden costs, a cloth that looks cheap may turn out to be far more expensive.
Instead of merely the supplier’s basic pricing, brands should figure out the entire landed expenses. This all-encompassing method keeps you from getting unexpected bills.
Why Smart Fabric Sourcing Matters
Fashion is built on fabric. It determines how a piece of clothing feels, works, and lasts. Mistakes in sourcing can hurt your brand’s reputation, consumer loyalty, and profits. Taking the initiative to test fabrics, make specifications clear, and value sustainability lays a solid platform for success.
TexNex INC: Your Reliable Fabric Sourcing Partner
Finding the right fabric is hard, and it takes knowledge, connections, and industry knowledge. TexNex INC is here to help. TexNex INC is known for its dedication to quality, creativity, and sustainability. It helps fashion brands choose materials that fit their vision and the needs of the market.
TexNex INC helps clients avoid the frequent mistakes when purchasing fabrics by having a large network of suppliers throughout the world and a strong focus on compliance. TexNex INC offers trustworthy, clear, and affordable services to both new businesses that need flexible MOQs and established fashion houses that need large-scale sourcing solutions.
Fashion manufacturers can relax knowing that TexNex INC will meticulously check their textiles, make sure they work well, and provide them to them on time.
FAQs
1. Why is fabric testing important before production?
Testing fabric makes sure that it meets criteria for quality, safety, and performance. If you skip this stage, you can end up with problems like shrinkage, fading, or not following the rules, which might make customers unhappy or cause recalls.
2. How can small fashion brands manage high MOQs from fabric suppliers?
Smaller firms can choose suppliers that focus on low-MOQ orders, cooperate with sourcing agencies like TexNex INC, or work with other designers to share large fabric orders.
3. What’s the difference between sustainable and conventional fabrics?
Traditional fabrics are made using processes that require a lot of resources and chemicals that are bad for the environment. Sustainable fabrics, on the other hand, are made using methods that are good for the environment. Sustainable materials not only have less of an effect on the environment, but they also appeal to modern, eco-conscious shoppers.
Conclusion
Getting the right fabric can make or ruin a fashion business. The faults listed above are prevalent, but they can be avoided if you take the appropriate approach. Fashion companies may cultivate a reputation for excellence by focusing on quality, building strong relationships with suppliers, and thinking about how well their products will do in the long run.
Brands may cut out unnecessary risks and speed up their procurement processes by working with reputable partners like TexNex INC. In the competitive fashion business, good sourcing isn’t just about getting the right textiles; it’s also about setting the stage for long-term success.