“Who’s your manufacturer, bro?”

“Quit gate keeping, where do you get your stuff made?”

or

“Here are the secret manufacturers where ::insert any luxury brand:: makes their embroidered cap.”

Does any of this sound familiar? If you are following any fashion hashtags on TikTok, then it probably will. And it’s often said using that same Eleven Labs AI voice generator.

What are my thoughts as a product development manager actually in the industry? ::yawn::

Knowing where luxury brands manufacturer their products is interesting, sure, and can matter in the sense that luxury brands are known for their quality materials that have longevity in both material, construction and style.

This is something EVERY clothing brand should aspire to.

I work with the same manufacturers as almost all of the luxury brands since so many of the high-end market fashion houses have their products or aspects of their products made in Portugal.

But while it may sound impressive, name dropping isn’t what matters.

What matters, what really really matters, is that the manufacturer you reach out to is the right manufacturer for YOUR products.

For example, let’s say I have a client looking to create a woman’s luxury swimwear line. And they saw a video about how manufacturer X makes Louis Vuitton’s leather belts. While the swimsuit brand knows that the LV belts are made of the finest most buttery leather out there, that manufacturer isn’t relative to their swimsuit line is it? (hint: the answer is no, unless they are making real leather swimsuits?) You wouldn’t want to work with that manufacturer because they aren’t the right manufacturer for swimsuit material or cuts. That manufacturer doesn’t have the machines or the technicians or the materials for swimsuits.

What is relative, is that the manufacturer the swimwear brand needs has the capabilities to work with swimwear fabric, and their pattern and sewing technicians have the skills to work with swimwear patterns and swimwear fabrics.

Imagine now this client wants to work with a manufacturer that makes luxury swimwear. Then I would start the pre-production process with the swimwear manufacturer that works best with this clients designs. Not with the swimwear manufacturer that makes Alexander McQueen swim trunks just for the sake of it.

Finding the right manufacturer doesn’t mean following what some random Tiktoker says based off of what they found on ImportYeti.

Finding the right manufacturer means finding the right manufacturer for YOUR DESIGNS and for your brand’s core values. But that’s a post for another day 😉

Manufacturer and showroom visits, factory tours and attending trade shows are part of the day-to-day activities at Franky Dune. I like to share as much and as often as I can on Instagram. Come say hi!