There is no one answer for how much a design will cost to produce. There are many factors in play and the top influences might not be what you think. In my experience, these are the four things that contribute the most to your production cost.
Materials
You will always need some sort of materials when making physical garments. There are the fabrics, trims, hardware, labels, thread, and more. Fabric and materials make up a significant percentage of a garment’s cost to produce and they are one of the first things that gets looked at when brands need to reduce costs.
The fibers involved are one of the biggest factors in the material cost. Natural fibers will cost more than man-made fibers. Synthetic, petroleum based fibers like polyester will be the cheapest. (They will also be the lowest quality, though.) To a point, you do get what you pay for with materials. Cost should not be the only basis on which you choose fabrics for your designs.
When evaluating fabric costs, look at not just the price per yard, but also the fabric width and the yield of your design. Your patternmaker can help you identify which material options are the best fit for your design and how your budget will be affected.
Production Volume
Production volume is a cost factor that is often overlooked. I get asked all the time about how much it will cost to make a particular design. The first thing I always respond with is “how many do you plan to make?”. All else being equal, the more units you produce at once, the cheaper the per-unit cost is. Small batch does not mean smaller price.
The most expensive quantity to make is 1 unit. Though, as Kirby Best, the founder of on-demand production facility Bespoke Manufacturing Company mentioned on the How Fitting® podcast, when you consider all the costs per each unit sold – including inventory warehousing, sales discounts, unsold inventory, etc. – the cost to produce individual units on demand becomes much more attractive.
The cost per unit decreasing as production volume increases is true regardless of what country you produce in. Plus, this principle applies not only to cut and sew costs, but also to fabric and trim costs. Most mills and suppliers have tiered pricing that goes down as order volume goes up.
I never recommend brands produce more than they planned just to reduce per-unit costs, but it is helpful to know where the volume price breaks are so you can plan profitably as your brand grows.
Design Complexity
It is probably obvious that certain designs cost more to make than others due to the amount of seams and complexity of construction. A lined blazer, for example, takes longer to cut and sew than a tee shirt and, therefore, is more expensive to produce. The more pieces needing to be cut and the more steps needing to be sewn, the higher the cost.
Knowing your customers helps you avoid details that add to the cost, but don’t add to the value. If you find you need to reduce costs, you can consider reducing the complexity of your design, but only after evaluating the complexity of the sewing.
Complexity of sewing is where a well-made pattern and a thought-out design can make all the difference for the production cost. A pattern that has not been optimized for production might be creating more work (and increasing the cost) for the factory sewers. A good patternmaker will be able to work with your factory to achieve even a complex design in the fewest sewing steps possible. Ideally, you’ll be able to keep your complex design, but lower costs by making the sewing more efficient without reducing quality.
Country of Manufacture
You might have thought of country of origin first when it comes to garment production costs. While your production factory’s location does affect your cost, it is not the biggest thing that affects your cost in my experience.
Certain countries do have lower minimum wages and cost of living than others. These different regulations and local markets can mean lower cut & sew costs within these countries. However, wages are not the only cost to consider.
You also want to look at the cost of shipping (both for materials to your factory as well as finished goods from your factory), import brokerage fees, duties, and now additional tariffs for goods coming into the USA. These additional costs can potentially offset the savings gained by producing in a country with lower wages.
Production and shipping time, while not directly monetary costs, do influence total production costs. If you have aggressive launch dates or short sales windows, you might end up paying rush fees or air shipping which add to your cost significantly.
When deciding what country to produce in, remember to look at the bigger picture to determine whether there is actually a financial benefit or not.
Materials, production volume, design and sewing complexity, and country of manufacture are the biggest factors that affect garment production costs. As you can see, it is not just production decisions that influence costs. The conversation starts way sooner during design and development of each product. Set a budget and design into that from the beginning to keep your costs in line with your brand’s pricepoint and financial goals.