Four lines of work, engaged together or separately.

Each has a defined scope, a stated duration and a deliverable list. Nothing here is billed by the hour against an open brief.

Positioning & brand strategy

What the brand is for, who it is against, and what it may credibly charge. Settled before anything is drawn or costed.

Most product problems are positioning problems wearing a technical costume. A brand that has not decided what it is competing on will keep asking a factory to solve a question the factory cannot answer.

We start by mapping the category as a buyer actually experiences it — shelf, feed, and search — then fix the position, the price architecture and the language. That work sets the constraints everything downstream is built to.

Typical duration

2–3 weeks

Pattern book from Germany, 1760, showing bands of ink-drawn weaving drafts across a gridded page. — Pl. VPattern book, Germany, 1760. Bands of draft, worked out before a single thread was warped.

Deliverables

01Category and competitor map, with price and distribution laddering
02Positioning statement and reasons to believe
03Brand architecture and naming, where a portfolio requires it
04Price architecture across entry, core and top tier
05Verbal identity: voice, nomenclature, product naming convention
06Brand book covering the above, in a form a supplier can be briefed from

Range & product development

The line plan and the specification. A tech pack complete enough that two factories on two continents quote the same garment.

A range is an argument about a customer's wardrobe, not a list of things you like. We build the line plan against the positioning — how many styles, in what weights, at what margin, arriving when.

Then we specify. Bill of materials, points of measure, graded size chart, construction notes, stitch and seam call-outs, trim and label schedule, care and content. Ambiguity in a tech pack is paid for later, in samples and in air freight.

Typical duration

2–3 weeks per capsule

Page from a French fabric sample book of 1850 with ten printed cotton swatches in red, black and violet florals. — Pl. VIIFabric sample book, France, 1850. Ten colourways to a page, each with its own run.

Deliverables

01Range architecture and line plan, with option counts and margin targets
02Technical packages: BOM, POM, graded size chart, construction detail
03Fabric and trim development, with mill-level alternatives costed
04Colour standards and lab-dip approval protocol
05Fit session records and pattern correction notes
06Grading rules and size-set confirmation

Sourcing & supplier matching

Matching a specification to the factory that should actually make it, then running the quotation and negotiation properly.

There is no best factory. There is a factory whose machinery, minimums, calendar and compliance position fit the specification in front of it. Getting that match right is most of the work.

We shortlist against the spec, run a structured RFQ so quotations are comparable line by line, review audit and certification standing before samples are commissioned, and negotiate commercial terms — price, minimum, payment, Incoterm — as one package rather than one at a time.

Typical duration

2–4 weeks to shortlist

A complex silk handloom in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, strung with hundreds of warp threads and pattern cords. — Pl. XIVSilk handloom, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Photograph by McKay Savage.

Deliverables

01Shortlist of vetted manufacturers with capability and capacity notes
02Structured RFQ and a like-for-like costing comparison
03Factory vetting file: registration, audit standing, certification, references
04Costing analysis: fabric, trim, CMT, wastage, overhead, landed cost
05Sample management from proto through to pre-production
06Negotiated commercial terms and a signed manufacturing agreement

Production management & quality

Purchase order to delivered carton. Critical path, inspection at agreed gates, and documents that clear customs.

Production is a calendar problem punctuated by quality decisions. We hold the critical path, chase the long-lead components before they become the reason a season is late, and inspect at gates agreed in writing before cutting starts.

Inspection is to a standard, not to an opinion: AQL sampling per ISO 2859-1, pre-production sample approved before bulk cutting, inline checks during the run, and a final inspection at full carton availability.

Typical duration

Runs with the production calendar

A weaving shed filled with rows of power looms under a north-light roof. — Pl. XIWeaving shed, Queen Street Mill, Lancashire. Photograph by Clem Rutter.

Deliverables

01Purchase orders and a time-and-action calendar against the launch date
02Pre-production, size-set and shipment sample approvals
03Inline and final inspection reports to AQL 2.5 major / 4.0 minor
04Packing, labelling and country-of-origin compliance check
05Freight booking, Incoterm handover and customs documentation
06Post-delivery defect analysis and corrective action for the next run

Engagement terms

Fees are fixed to a phase, and stated before it starts.

Strategy and development: Fixed fee per phase, scoped and quoted from the first call. Invoiced 50% on start, 50% on delivery of the phase.
Sourcing and production: Fixed monthly retainer for the duration of the programme, or a per-order commission on FOB value where a client prefers to pay against delivery. Stated in the agreement, never both.
Sampling and freight: At cost, passed through with the supplier invoice attached. We do not mark up samples, courier or freight.
No hidden factory margin: We take no commission from a manufacturer, on either side of a transaction. If a factory offers one, we decline it and tell you it was offered.

Enquiries

Which of the four do you need?

Often not the one a client expects. Send us what you have — a deck, a sample, a spreadsheet, a photograph of something you saw — and we will tell you where we would start.

Open an enquiry