Learning path · Free
Understand production before you pay for it
Most people who contact us about launching a brand have the same three gaps: they do not know what a tech pack is, how fabric minimums work, or what a garment really costs. This path closes those gaps, so your first production decision is an informed one.
If you already sell — a brand, a store, an e-commerce, a made-to-measure service — skip this and go to the production page.
The path
Three stages, in the order they matter
Written from what actually goes wrong: people choose a factory before they have chosen a product, and discover the cost of that decision at sampling. Guides are published progressively and are marked below as they land.
Before you make anything
- In writing
What you actually need before your first production run
Product decision, target customer, price point and channel. Why production is the last decision, not the first.
- In writing
Fashion business fundamentals
Margins, landed cost, seasonality and cash cycles. The numbers that decide whether a brand survives its first year.
- In writing
Choosing a category to start in
Why the first product is usually one style, not a collection, and how category choice changes your minimum viable cost.
Product and materials
- In writing
How to read and build a tech pack
What a workshop actually needs from you: measurements, construction, trims, tolerances and labelling.
- In writing
Choosing fabrics without guessing
Weight, composition, hand and minimum cut length. How mill minimums quietly set your production minimum.
- In writing
Sampling: what it costs and how many rounds to expect
Why the first sample is never right, and what a realistic sampling budget and timeline look like.
Production and going to market
- In writing
How garment production actually works
From spec to cutting to assembly to quality control, and where delays really come from.
- In writing
Made-to-order vs buying stock
The trade-off between inventory risk and lead time, and when each model fits a real business.
- In writing
Costing a garment end to end
Fabric, making, trims, transport, duty and margin, so your retail price is not a guess.
Want one of these first?
Email us the topic you need most and we will tell you when it is published. Naming a specific topic also tells us what to write next, which is more useful to both of us than a newsletter signup.
Request a topicBefore you email us
Questions from people starting out
I want to launch a fashion brand. Can I book a call?
Not yet, and that is deliberate. Our production calls are for businesses that already sell, because that is where we can be useful in the first conversation. If you are pre-launch, a sales call mostly covers ground this learning path covers better and for free. Work through the material, decide your product and your customer, and come back when you have something specific to make — you will get far more out of the call.
What if I already sell but only in small volumes?
Then you are a fit. Volume is not the qualifier, trading is. An independent made-to-measure seller doing a handful of orders a month, or a single-location store, has real demand to produce against. There is no minimum order, so small operators are welcome to enquire directly.
When will these guides be published?
They are being written and released progressively. If you want to be told when a specific topic goes live, email us naming the topic and we will let you know when it is published rather than adding you to a general mailing list.
Do I need a company and VAT number to produce with you?
You need to be able to buy and sell legally in your market, which for most operators means a registered business. If you are still trading informally, that is usually the first thing to fix, and it sits outside what we can help with. Sort the legal and tax structure locally first, then production becomes a straightforward conversation.
When you are selling, come back
The moment you have customers and a product you want made in Italy, the production conversation becomes concrete and we are genuinely useful. Until then, this page is the more valuable half of what we can offer.