In brief
To change apparel production partners without losing a season, move a contained program first, transfer patterns, specs and approved samples instead of relying on the old vendor’s memory, and keep the existing vendor running until the new partner has shipped. Whether it is a single sample or a full seasonal program, SBS Fashion’s New York team will point you to the right next step.
Most changes happen at the wrong moment
Brands change partners when something has just gone badly: a missed delivery, a failed inspection, a price increase nobody saw coming. That is the worst time to move. The team is angry, next season’s calendar is already running, and everything is being pushed toward someone who has promised it will be different.
Run the move as a project with its own calendar. Start between development cycles, early enough for a new partner to sample alongside your current vendor and before any fabric for next season has been committed.
Find out what you own
Before you say anything to your current vendor, work out what you hold. Production patterns, grade rules, markers and the final spec often live on the factory’s system, and the version in your files may be two revisions behind what has been sewing. If a fit works because of an adjustment a pattern maker made years ago, nobody on your side may know about it. Ask for current patterns in a standard digital format as routine, long before there is any thought of moving. Collect the bills of materials with supplier names and article numbers, wash recipes, nominated trim suppliers and test reports. Pull a sample of each best seller from recent bulk and seal it. Those samples will show a new partner what you mean by right.
Move one program first
Don’t move a whole line at once. If the new partner stumbles, the season stumbles with it. Choose a style or a small group that matters enough to be a real test, short of the ones that carry the season. A core style with a known history beats a new design, since you have something to compare the result against.
Expect the first run with any new partner to be its slowest and most expensive. Operators are learning the garment and communication hasn’t settled. Watch what happens when something goes wrong. How soon did they tell you? Did a solution come with the news? Did the answer change when you pushed?
Compare like with like
A new partner’s first quote may well look higher than what you pay today. Your current price reflects years of learning on that style. It also leaves out what you absorb without noticing, such as the rework your team chases and the air freight you paid last spring. Put both vendors on the same landed cost basis, add what the old relationship has been costing you in time, and ask what the new price becomes at repeat volume.
Leave the old vendor properly
Don’t walk away from an existing vendor until the new one has shipped to your satisfaction. You also owe the old vendor clarity. In spring 2020, brands that canceled orders already placed left factories holding the fabric and the wages, and suppliers have long memories. A factory that held capacity for you or bought fabric against your forecast gets notice.
Settle open purchase orders and sample charges in writing, and ask about liabilities early. Greige, yarn and trims bought against a forecast are the usual surprise, and they appear on the final statement.
Day one with a new partner
Tell them why you left. Give them your real volumes. Share returns data and customer complaints on the styles you are moving, since a fit issue that drives returns says more than a spec comment.
Decide together how you will measure them. On-time delivery, first-time inspection pass and speed of response are simple to track and hard to argue with.
