How To Connect with Fabric Suppliers?

7 Feb

Did you know that fabric mills put out collections twice per year, much like fashion brands do (obvi. not talking about fast fashion brands putting out “collections” 52 times a year).

So how do fashion brands get their hands on these upcoming fabric collections?

1.

Well the most obvious answer is attend trade shows. But let’s be honest, not every brand is based in New York, LA, Paris or London where all of the most important trade shows take place.

2.

The next option would be to find the supplier you need and email them. Meaning, you research the supplier, the fabric they make, their location, and their email address

Tip: What’s the best way to get a supplier’s email (not their website’s info@company-name.country-acronym)? What I mean is the best way to have the fabric supplier’s commercial sales email address is to attend trade shows (see my first answer 😉).

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3.

So, you can’t get to a trade show, and you don’t have supplier’s direct email address? You can use their website email address or contact form and cross your fingers they get back to you

Tip: Send emails from your business account with your website and social media in your email signature. This such a small thing that truly makes an impression. Honestly, I’ve had suppliers tell me they ignore all email requests that come from personal email accounts (ie. yourname@gmail.com)

4.

Fourth recommendation is to connect with a fabric agent. Most countries have agencies that are representatives for multiple fabric suppliers.

How to find them? Check the fabric supplier’s website to see if they have a dedicated page for their fabric representatives or a list of reps on their contact page.

5.

This next suggestion is how I searched for suppliers back when I was starting a small collection and didn’t know a single contact in the EU. I went to trade show websites and looked at their exhibitor’s list. I then researched each and every exhibitor’s website looking for the details I needed for my designs.

This leads me to number six…

6.

Equally, I would go to trade show’s instagram profiles because they would highlight exhibitor’s in their stories and on their carousel’s.

7.

Last suggestion is to search supplier’s directories that come from well connected people in the industry like myself. These curated directories aim to share contacts to help brands easily and successfully connect with the right supplier for their collections.

You can check out our Low MOQ supplier’s directory here:

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