Alibaba alternatives: telling a factory from an agent
Every listing says manufacturer. Here is how to work out which supplier on Alibaba, IndiaMART or a trade show floor actually owns machinery — and where else to look.
United StatesNotes from the factory
Page 2 of 5. Things worth knowing before you place an order, written from the manufacturing side.
Streetwear manufacturing: why oversized blocks need heavier fabric
An oversized tee cut in 160 GSM does not look oversized, it looks too big. What a streetwear block actually requires from the fabric, the pattern and the print — and what it costs in freight.
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What GSM actually means when you're buying T-shirts wholesale
GSM is the number every supplier quotes and most buyers misread. Here is what it tells you, what it hides, and the weight to pick for each kind of garment.
180 GSM or 220 GSM: which weight for the South African market
The two weights most SA orders come down to, and how to choose between them — by end use, by climate, and by what the extra 40 grams costs you in freight.
South Africa
Buying t-shirts by GSM: a South African buyer's guide
How to specify fabric weight so you get what you ordered — tolerances, the questions that go with the number, and how to compare two quotes that are not quoting the same garment.
South Africa
Cotton or poly-cotton for South Africa's climate
Fibre is a separate decision from fabric weight, and it changes more about how a garment behaves. What cotton, poly-cotton and polyester each do in heat, in a commercial laundry and under a print.
South Africa
How to start a clothing brand with custom T-shirts
The practical sequence — validate, cost, sample, then commit — for launching an apparel label on tees without burning your capital on stock nobody ordered.
BS EN 14682: cords and drawstrings on children's clothing
What the cord and drawstring standard covers, why the neck and hood area is treated as the highest risk, and the questions to put to a factory before a children's range goes into production.
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Sportswear manufacturing: fabrics, seams and what to specify
Performance fabric behaves nothing like cotton on the cutting table or under a print head. What to put in a sportswear tech pack — fibre, weight, seam type, decoration method and the fit details that decide whether it works.
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Tirupur: why India's knitwear comes from one district
What Tirupur is famous for, why cotton knitwear concentrated in one Tamil Nadu district, and what that concentration actually does for a buyer's lead time.
Tell us what you want made
Send a tech pack, a reference garment, or just a photo and a quantity. We come back with a quote and an honest lead time — usually within one working day.