There are so many things we love about making clothing on demand. Some of the main reasons we make on order are due to sustainability and ensuring we are using every scrap of fabric as consciously as possible, and avoid any fabric/garment waste.
As much as we like to think we know our customers really well, it's near impossible to predict which styles and sizes are going to sell best in each print. So making on order allows us the flexibility to design new styles for different seasons using the same fabric and avoid end of season old stock clearances.
This means when the weather warms up we have the option to change production from pants to shorts, and long sleeve dresses to short, or sleeveless. Making on order also allows us to give our customers some custom options, ie; change of dress lengths, necklines or sleeves as required.
As individuals we all want express your own style in what we wear, and we love the way our small batch production gives the garments a unique and individual element.
So what's not to love?
There are so many positive things about making on demand, but just like anything in life nothing works out perfectly all the time. The biggest difficulties we face with made on order manufacturing is trying to ethically maintain our 5-7 working day production lead time. All our garments are made locally by our small team of highly skilled dressmakers so it's vital that we're continually managing our teams production capacities.
We are extremely fortunate to have an amazing team and this is rarely a concern, but nothing works out exactly as planned 100% of the time. Such is life that sometimes people get sick, or come across unexpected hurdles that restrict the amount of work they're able to do. This is all just a part of life that's unavoidable.
As a small family owned business another one of our biggest challenges is managing the time to take a break. As mentioned in previous blogs the flexibility for fun family time is one of things we love most about running our own business. But, it can also be very tricky to get an extended break without returning to an overwhelming amount of work. This invariably means we end up working around the clock to ensure we get your orders out as quickly as possible.
Which production method works best?
There are definite pros and cons for both, but for us making on demand provides the most options and works best with our ethical values. But there is always more than one way to do things, and new ways to improve the way we do things.
Having more stock on hand would give us the ability to ship straight away and never worry about production lead times. We do love it when we get an order for an item that's in stock, so over the summer months we'll be aiming to be well stocked in swimwear and our best selling clothing garments.
We would love to get your feedback if you run your own business or personal insight as to ways you feel made on demand fashion works well or not so well we'd love to hear from you?