How to start a clothing brand with a Bangladesh factory (2026 guide)

Starting a clothing brand and making it in Bangladesh is a good combination for one kind of founder and a bad one for another. This guide is for the first kind: someone who wants their own fit, fabric and labels, made properly, at a price that leaves room for a margin, and who is prepared to order a few hundred pieces rather than a few dozen. It covers what to decide before you contact anyone, what a first order costs and how long it takes, the mistakes that sink first collections, and the questions to ask before you pay a deposit.

Is Bangladesh the right country for a first collection?

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest clothing exporter, and its strength is exactly what a young brand usually starts with: cotton knitwear at a good price, made in vertical factories that spin, knit, dye and sew under one roof. T-shirts, polos, hoodies, sweatshirts, joggers, underwear and loungewear are where the country is strongest; denim and sweaters are close behind. If your first range is jersey and fleece, you are in the right place.

It is the wrong place if you want twenty pieces of each style, if your range depends on technical synthetic fabrics that no local mill makes, or if you need stock in three weeks. Bangladesh is set up for volume, and even its small-run factories start at about 100 pieces per style and colour; sea freight to Europe or North America adds three to five weeks after the goods are ready. Our country comparison is honest about where other countries win.

How much does a first order cost?

Three costs, in the order you meet them. First, development: pattern making and grading, a proto sample, a fit sample and a pre-production sample, each quoted per style, plus couriers for swatches and samples. Sample charges are often credited against a confirmed bulk order, which a good supplier states in writing. Second, the production order itself. Our starting prices for a basic style are US$4.50 a piece for t-shirts, US$5.90 for polos and US$7.90 for hoodies in our partner factories; fabric weight, organic cotton, decoration and quantity move every one of them, and small runs through our partner factory are priced separately. Third, getting it to you: freight, insurance, import duty and clearance, which our landed cost calculator turns into a delivered cost per piece.

Fabric is close to half of any garment price, so the choice of jersey weight and fibre is the decision that moves your cost most; the cost guide shows a cost sheet line by line. Budget too for laboratory testing if you sell childrenswear or to a retailer with its own manual, and for labels, hang tags and packaging, which have minimums of their own.

What is the minimum order for a new brand?

It depends on the route. Decorating ready-made blanks starts at tens of pieces but gives you someone else’s garment. Cut-and-sew from your own pattern realistically starts at about 100 pieces per style and colour, which is what our partner factory, Collective Studio Ltd., takes to support new businesses and creators. Export factories, where the lowest price per piece is, start higher; our own t-shirt minimum is 1,000 pieces. The minimum order guide explains why minimums exist and how to negotiate below one.

The practical advice for a first collection: fewer styles, fewer colours, a tight size range. Three styles in two colours each is six dye lots and six line set-ups; the same three styles in one colour is half the commitment for the same learning about what sells.

How long does it take from idea to stock?

The stages that slip are approvals and fabric, not sewing. Ask your supplier for a critical path with dates for each approval, and treat the pre-production sample as the gate that decides whether the launch date is still real. Sea freight from Chattogram to the UK or Europe takes roughly three to four weeks in transit and to the US roughly three to five, according to forwarders’ published ranges; our shipping guide has the details and the documents.

What do I need before contacting a manufacturer?

• A tech pack, or the makings of one. Sketches with measurements per size, fabric composition and weight, trims, artwork and placement. Our free template covers what a factory needs; a reference garment you like is a good substitute for a first conversation.
• Quantities and colours per style, even rough ones, because they decide which factory and which price.
• Your market. It decides labelling, testing and duty: see our guides for UK, US, EU, Canadian and Australian brands.
• A target price, or at least a retail price, so the supplier can tell you early whether the specification and the price can both be true.
• A shipping term in mind. DDP, delivered to your door with duty paid, suits a first order with no forwarder; FOB suits brands that already have one. The FOB, CMT and full package guide compares them.

Which mistakes sink first collections?

• Choosing by price per piece alone. The cheapest quote is usually a lighter fabric or an unaudited factory. Compare landed cost for the same specification.
• Skipping the pre-production sample. Bulk is judged against a sealed sample. Without one, “not what I expected” has no answer.
• Too many styles and colours. Every colour is a dye lot and every style a line set-up; the minimums multiply.
• Not knowing the factory. If your supplier will not name the factory, you cannot check its audits, and your order can be moved to a site you never approved.
• Ignoring your market’s rules. Fibre-content labels, care labels and children’s safety tests differ by country and are cheap to get right before production and expensive after.
• Paying everything up front. A deposit with the balance before shipment, or a letter of credit, keeps both sides honest.

Buying house or factory direct for a first order?

For a first collection, a buying house is usually the easier route, because it manages sampling, chooses a factory that accepts your quantity, inspects on the floor and prepares the documents, and you deal with one team. Going direct pays off once you have a style that reorders in thousands and someone who can be in Narayanganj on a Tuesday. Our guide to how buying houses work and are paid explains the trade-off, and how to find a manufacturer lists the public registers to check either way.

Questions to ask before you pay a deposit

1. Which factory will make this, and can I see its latest social audit?
2. What is the minimum per style and per colour, and what happens below it?
3. What does the price include, and what is quoted separately: sampling, testing, freight?
4. How many sample rounds are included, and are sample charges credited against bulk?
5. What is the schedule from approved sample to goods ready, and what moves it?
6. What happens if the final inspection fails?
7. Will you sign my non-disclosure agreement before I send designs?

How we work with new brands

We were started by two founders who worked together at a factory before starting a buying house, and who think the hard part of Bangladesh is not the making but everything around it. For a first collection we name the factory before you pay, seal a sample before bulk, inspect on the floor and send you the reports, and place runs under our own minimums with our named partner, disclosed. Start with the page for start-ups, or tell us what you want to make; we reply within one working day with the route, the minimum and a first costing.