Sourcing Solutions & Apparel Supply

Apparel sourcing means finding production partners who can hit your quality standard, your ethical standard and your delivery date at the same time. Any two of those is straightforward. All three, repeatedly, is the job. We do that part so you do not have to.

We source garments to your specification from manufacturers who meet our standards for ethical labour and sustainable production, and we have been doing it for over 30 years. That covers a blank tee for a print run at one end and a full own-brand range at the other. Because we also print, dye and finish in Leicester, the garment is sourced by people who know exactly what is going to happen to it next.

What We Look At When Sourcing

Fabric, Yarn and Knit

The headline GSM figure on a spec sheet tells you very little on its own. Two garments at the same weight can feel completely different depending on the yarn, the knit structure and how it has been finished. A heavy fabric made from a coarse yarn is not a premium garment, it is just a heavy one. We look at the construction, not the number.

Fit and Cut

Fit is assessed against how the range is actually going to be sold. A boxy cut that works for a streetwear drop is wrong for a corporate uniform, and a slim fit that photographs well can generate a wall of returns if your customer base does not match the sample size. Getting this wrong is expensive twice: once in stock and once in returns.

How the Garment Takes the Print

This is the check most sourcing agents cannot make, because they do not print. Fabric composition changes how ink lays down, how it cures and how the colour reads. A blend that looks ideal on paper can dye unevenly or give you a washed-out print. We assess garments against the specific method you have chosen, whether that is screen, digital, transfer, hybrid, embroidery or a dyehouse finish.

Ethical Labour and Sustainability

Standards at the manufacturer, not just on the certificate. Our own Leicester operation holds SEDEX SMETA 4-Pillar certification including the SMETA 7 additions from January 2025, completed an Arche environmental audit in January 2025 and takes part in the Worldly Higg Index environmental assessment. We apply the same expectations to the partners we source from, and the detail on our own position is on the sustainability and CSR page.

Sourcing for Brands Selling Globally

If you supply into multiple markets, the sourcing brief gets harder. Volumes are bigger, the tolerance for variation is smaller, and the questions from your accounts about where a garment was made and under what conditions are more pointed than they used to be. Documented, audited supply is no longer a nice extra; for a lot of accounts it is the entry requirement.

We work as the print and supply partner for brands operating at that level, and the sourcing side is deliberately conservative because of it. We would rather propose a garment we know behaves than one that quotes better and surprises you in month three.

Sourcing and Production in One Place

Most brands run a sourcing agent, a printer and a finisher as three separate relationships. Every handover is a point where the specification can drift and where nobody is quite responsible for the result. When the garment is sourced, printed, dyed, finished and packed by the same company, there is one place to go when something needs fixing.

In practical terms that means the blank is chosen with the decoration in mind, the print is developed on the actual garment rather than an approximation of it, and if the fabric does not behave, we find out at sampling and not at 3,000 units.

From Blank to Finished Product

Sourcing is usually the first step in a longer job. Once the garment is right, the same site handles design, colour separation, printing, dyeing and washing, and finishing to retail standard. After that you can take the goods away, hold them here through stock inventory management, ship them to customers through dropshipping and fulfilment, or deliver bulk into accounts through retail supply and own-brand production.

Custom Sourcing for Specific Requirements

Not every brief is answerable from a catalogue. If you need a garment in a weight, cut, colour or composition that is not available as a standard blank, tell us the requirement and we will look at what can be sourced or made. Our dyehouse can also take a standard blank a long way, with overdyeing, washes, specialised cuts, cropping and added trims, which is often a faster and more proportionate route than commissioning something bespoke.

Minimums, Lead Times and Sampling

Sourcing minimums are set by the manufacturer and the garment, and we confirm them when we quote. Where we are printing on garments we have sourced, our screen printing minimum is 25 pieces per design and digital printing and Print On Demand® carry no minimum.

Standard production turnaround is 5 to 10 working days from approval of artwork and payment. Sourcing sits in front of that, and how long it takes depends on whether the garment is available now or has to be made. Ask for a sample before you commit to a range, and build the time for it into your plan.

Who We Source For

Clothing brands building an own-label range from scratch. Established brands supplying into retail and needing documented, audited supply. Print suppliers and agencies who need a blank sourced against a specific print method. Bands and promoters through our band and tour merch printing. Businesses buying workwear and uniform who want the same garment available again next year.