Most resources for clothing brand founders cover two things: how to design your collection, and how to find a manufacturer. What comes in between — the actual process from sending a brief to receiving finished product — rarely gets explained in any detail.
The result is that most first-time founders hit the same friction at the same points. The sample takes longer than expected. The revision round catches them off guard. The bulk lead time turns out to be longer than the website suggested. And the launch date slips.
None of this is unusual. It's what happens when you don't know the timeline before you're inside it. This post walks through each stage so you can plan around it properly before it happens to you.
Stage 1: The Brief and the Tech Pack
Before a sample is ever made, the manufacturer needs to understand exactly what you want. This starts with the brief and, ideally, a tech pack.
A tech pack is a technical document that covers everything the production team needs to work from: the garment measurements, the fabric specification including weight and composition, print or embroidery placement with exact dimensions, colour references and label instructions. Without it, the manufacturer fills in the gaps themselves, and those gaps tend to become the problems you find in the first sample.
At René Bassett, the tech pack process is built around our own blanks, which means the base measurements and construction details are already established. What you define are the variables specific to your brand: your print or embroidery, your label, your colourway.
The brief and tech pack stage typically takes a few days of back and forth if you're starting from scratch. If you come prepared, it can be resolved in a single conversation.
What slows this stage down: unclear placement instructions, missing colour references, undecided sizing, changes after the brief has been agreed.
Stage 2: Sample Production
Once the brief is confirmed, the manufacturer produces a sample. This is a single finished garment made to your specifications, produced the same way the bulk order would be.
Sample lead times vary depending on the supplier and their current production schedule. At René Bassett, samples are typically produced and dispatched within a few business days for standard styles and decorations. Custom colourways or more complex decoration techniques may take slightly longer.
What you receive is the actual piece: the blank in your chosen weight and colour, with your print or embroidery applied, your neck label attached if you have one. This is the product you're going to sell, not a prototype. It needs to be right before anything goes into bulk.
What slows this stage down: production schedule at the factory, complexity of the decoration, custom fabric requests.
Stage 3: Sample Review and Approval
This is the stage where most brands lose the most time, not because the process is complicated, but because it requires a decision and many founders delay making it.
When the sample arrives, check it carefully against your brief. Look at the placement of the print or embroidery relative to the collar, the chest seam and the side seam. Check the measurements against your size spec. Hold the fabric and compare it against what you expected for the GSM and composition you specified. Wear it, wash it once, wear it again.
The questions worth answering at this stage are: does the placement look right on an actual body, does the weight feel like the product I want to sell at the price I'm charging, does the print or embroidery hold up to its first wash, and does the colour match what I approved.
If something needs to change, this is the moment to identify exactly what, and to communicate it precisely. "The chest hit feels too high" is more useful than "the print placement is wrong." The more specific the feedback, the fewer rounds it takes to get to an approved sample.
What slows this stage down: vague feedback, indecision on small details, changes to the brief during revision rounds.
Stage 4: Revision Round
Not every brand needs a revision round. Some samples come back exactly right on the first attempt, particularly when the tech pack was thorough and the manufacturer has worked with similar briefs before.
When revisions are needed, the manufacturer adjusts the specific elements flagged in the review and produces a corrected sample. In most cases, one revision round is enough to reach an approved sample. Two rounds is not unusual. Three or more typically indicates the brief wasn't clear enough from the start, or that significant design decisions are still being made during the sampling process.
At René Bassett, you can review placement options digitally before a physical sample is produced, which reduces the most common reasons for revision: print position and size. This doesn't replace the physical sample, but it eliminates the rounds that are purely about placement decisions.
What slows this stage down: continued uncertainty on design decisions, changes to the product concept after sampling begins.
Stage 5: Bulk Order Placement
Once the sample is approved, the bulk order is placed. This is when you confirm the quantities per style, size and colour, finalise the decoration specifications based on the approved sample, and confirm your delivery address.
For brands ordering with René Bassett, bulk orders with decoration have a minimum of 50 pieces per style and colour. This applies to screen printing, embroidery, DTG and DTF. Blank orders without decoration have no minimum.
One thing worth planning at this stage: if you have neck labels or hang tags to attach, they need to be ready before bulk production is complete. The labelling service runs in parallel with or immediately after production, so any delays in receiving your labels translate directly into delays in dispatching your order.
What slows this stage down: late confirmation of quantities, missing label files, last-minute changes to colourways.
Stage 6: Bulk Production
This is the stage most founders think about least because it happens without much input from the brand. The manufacturer produces the full order to the approved spec, applies decoration, attaches labels if included, and quality checks finished pieces before packing.
Lead times for bulk production vary by order size and current schedule. At René Bassett, standard bulk orders typically move from production start to dispatch within a few weeks. Larger orders or complex decoration combinations take longer.
The most important thing to understand about this stage is that bulk production lead time starts from the moment the order is placed and all files are confirmed, not from the date of your first conversation with the manufacturer.
Brands that start the process early and have files ready move significantly faster than those who are still making decisions during bulk production.
What slows this stage down: file changes after production starts, label delivery delays, decoration complexity.
Stage 7: Quality Check and Dispatch
Before an order leaves the facility, it goes through a quality check. At René Bassett, this is done in-house by the same team that produced the garments, covering measurements, decoration accuracy, label placement and overall finish.
Once the order passes quality check, it is packed and dispatched via courier. René Bassett ships worldwide via UPS. Within the EU, standard shipping typically arrives within a few business days of dispatch. International shipping timelines depend on destination and customs processing.
What slows this stage down: quality issues that require rework, courier delays, customs holdups on international shipments.
How Long Does the Whole Process Take?
The honest answer is that it depends on how prepared you are when you start.
A brand that comes with a clear brief, a confirmed product concept, approved files and labels ready can move from first contact to bulk delivery faster than one that is still making decisions at the sample stage. The process itself is not slow. The gaps between stages are where time is lost.
As a rough guide: for a standard decorated order using one of our existing blanks, the realistic timeline from first contact to delivery is typically four to eight weeks. Brands that have worked with us before and are reordering a familiar product can move faster. More complex projects with custom colourways or multi-style decoration take longer.
If you want to understand what the timeline looks like for your specific project, the most direct way is to book a free consulting call. We can map out the stages based on your actual brief and tell you what to prepare at each point.
What to Do Before You Contact a Manufacturer
The most useful thing you can do before you reach out to a manufacturer is to make the decisions that the sampling process will ask you to make anyway.
Know your product. Which styles, which weights, which colourways. Know your decoration. What technique, what placement, what size. Know your quantities, at least approximately. And know your timeline, including when you need to receive finished product.
None of this needs to be fully resolved before your first conversation. But the more of it you have clear, the faster the process moves.
If you're earlier in the process and still figuring out which blanks to build on, the Starter Pack is a fast way to get the product in your hands before making those decisions. Order the samples, test the fabric and fit, decide on your styles, then start the production conversation with something concrete.
Looking for more guidance before you choose a supplier? Our free guide on how to choose a clothing manufacturer covers the questions worth asking before you commit to a production partner.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to get a sample from René Bassett?
For standard styles with existing blanks, samples are typically dispatched within a few business days. Custom colourways and more complex decoration combinations may add a few days to the timeline. Contact us with your brief for a specific estimate.
How many revision rounds should I expect before sample approval?
Most orders are approved within one to two rounds. Thorough briefs and clear feedback reduce revision rounds significantly. Brands that review placement digitally before the physical sample is made often need fewer physical rounds.
What is the minimum order for a bulk decorated order?
The minimum is 50 pieces per style and colour for all decoration types including screen printing, embroidery, DTG and DTF. There is no minimum for blank, undecorated orders.
Do I need my labels ready before I place my bulk order?
Ideally yes. If you want neck labels attached before dispatch, the label files need to be submitted and approved before or at the time the bulk order is placed. Delays in label delivery push back the dispatch date by the same amount.
Can I order samples before committing to a supplier?
Yes. There is no minimum on sample orders at René Bassett, and ordering samples does not commit you to a bulk order. The Starter Pack is a practical way to test multiple styles at once.
What happens if quality issues are found during the check?
Pieces that do not meet the quality standard are flagged before packing. Depending on the issue, they are reworked or replaced. The goal is for everything that leaves the facility to match the approved sample.
Does the bulk production lead time include decoration and labelling?
Yes. The lead time covers the full production cycle including decoration and label attachment, ending at dispatch. Shipping time from Portugal to your destination is in addition to the production lead time.
What is the difference between a sample and a bulk order in terms of production?
A sample is produced individually and manually in some stages to allow for adjustments. Bulk production runs at scale using the same machines and specifications as the approved sample, which is why the sample approval stage matters.
Related Reading
From Sample to Bulk Order: The Production Timeline Explained
Most resources for clothing brand founders cover two things: how to design your collection, and how to find a manufacturer. What comes in between — the actual process from sending a brief to receiving finished product — rarely gets explained in any detail.
The result is that most first-time founders hit the same friction at the same points. The sample takes longer than expected. The revision round catches them off guard. The bulk lead time turns out to be longer than the website suggested. And the launch date slips.
None of this is unusual. It's what happens when you don't know the timeline before you're inside it. This post walks through each stage so you can plan around it properly before it happens to you.
Stage 1: The Brief and the Tech Pack
Before a sample is ever made, the manufacturer needs to understand exactly what you want. This starts with the brief and, ideally, a tech pack.
A tech pack is a technical document that covers everything the production team needs to work from: the garment measurements, the fabric specification including weight and composition, print or embroidery placement with exact dimensions, colour references and label instructions. Without it, the manufacturer fills in the gaps themselves, and those gaps tend to become the problems you find in the first sample.
At René Bassett, the tech pack process is built around our own blanks, which means the base measurements and construction details are already established. What you define are the variables specific to your brand: your print or embroidery, your label, your colourway.
The brief and tech pack stage typically takes a few days of back and forth if you're starting from scratch. If you come prepared, it can be resolved in a single conversation.
What slows this stage down: unclear placement instructions, missing colour references, undecided sizing, changes after the brief has been agreed.
Stage 2: Sample Production
Once the brief is confirmed, the manufacturer produces a sample. This is a single finished garment made to your specifications, produced the same way the bulk order would be.
Sample lead times vary depending on the supplier and their current production schedule. At René Bassett, samples are typically produced and dispatched within a few business days for standard styles and decorations. Custom colourways or more complex decoration techniques may take slightly longer.
What you receive is the actual piece: the blank in your chosen weight and colour, with your print or embroidery applied, your neck label attached if you have one. This is the product you're going to sell, not a prototype. It needs to be right before anything goes into bulk.
What slows this stage down: production schedule at the factory, complexity of the decoration, custom fabric requests.
Stage 3: Sample Review and Approval
This is the stage where most brands lose the most time, not because the process is complicated, but because it requires a decision and many founders delay making it.
When the sample arrives, check it carefully against your brief. Look at the placement of the print or embroidery relative to the collar, the chest seam and the side seam. Check the measurements against your size spec. Hold the fabric and compare it against what you expected for the GSM and composition you specified. Wear it, wash it once, wear it again.
The questions worth answering at this stage are: does the placement look right on an actual body, does the weight feel like the product I want to sell at the price I'm charging, does the print or embroidery hold up to its first wash, and does the colour match what I approved.
If something needs to change, this is the moment to identify exactly what, and to communicate it precisely. "The chest hit feels too high" is more useful than "the print placement is wrong." The more specific the feedback, the fewer rounds it takes to get to an approved sample.
What slows this stage down: vague feedback, indecision on small details, changes to the brief during revision rounds.
Stage 4: Revision Round
Not every brand needs a revision round. Some samples come back exactly right on the first attempt, particularly when the tech pack was thorough and the manufacturer has worked with similar briefs before.
When revisions are needed, the manufacturer adjusts the specific elements flagged in the review and produces a corrected sample. In most cases, one revision round is enough to reach an approved sample. Two rounds is not unusual. Three or more typically indicates the brief wasn't clear enough from the start, or that significant design decisions are still being made during the sampling process.
At René Bassett, you can review placement options digitally before a physical sample is produced, which reduces the most common reasons for revision: print position and size. This doesn't replace the physical sample, but it eliminates the rounds that are purely about placement decisions.
What slows this stage down: continued uncertainty on design decisions, changes to the product concept after sampling begins.
Stage 5: Bulk Order Placement
Once the sample is approved, the bulk order is placed. This is when you confirm the quantities per style, size and colour, finalise the decoration specifications based on the approved sample, and confirm your delivery address.
For brands ordering with René Bassett, bulk orders with decoration have a minimum of 50 pieces per style and colour. This applies to screen printing, embroidery, DTG and DTF. Blank orders without decoration have no minimum.
One thing worth planning at this stage: if you have neck labels or hang tags to attach, they need to be ready before bulk production is complete. The labelling service runs in parallel with or immediately after production, so any delays in receiving your labels translate directly into delays in dispatching your order.
What slows this stage down: late confirmation of quantities, missing label files, last-minute changes to colourways.
Stage 6: Bulk Production
This is the stage most founders think about least because it happens without much input from the brand. The manufacturer produces the full order to the approved spec, applies decoration, attaches labels if included, and quality checks finished pieces before packing.
Lead times for bulk production vary by order size and current schedule. At René Bassett, standard bulk orders typically move from production start to dispatch within a few weeks. Larger orders or complex decoration combinations take longer.
The most important thing to understand about this stage is that bulk production lead time starts from the moment the order is placed and all files are confirmed, not from the date of your first conversation with the manufacturer.
Brands that start the process early and have files ready move significantly faster than those who are still making decisions during bulk production.
What slows this stage down: file changes after production starts, label delivery delays, decoration complexity.
Stage 7: Quality Check and Dispatch
Before an order leaves the facility, it goes through a quality check. At René Bassett, this is done in-house by the same team that produced the garments, covering measurements, decoration accuracy, label placement and overall finish.
Once the order passes quality check, it is packed and dispatched via courier. René Bassett ships worldwide via UPS. Within the EU, standard shipping typically arrives within a few business days of dispatch. International shipping timelines depend on destination and customs processing.
What slows this stage down: quality issues that require rework, courier delays, customs holdups on international shipments.
How Long Does the Whole Process Take?
The honest answer is that it depends on how prepared you are when you start.
A brand that comes with a clear brief, a confirmed product concept, approved files and labels ready can move from first contact to bulk delivery faster than one that is still making decisions at the sample stage. The process itself is not slow. The gaps between stages are where time is lost.
As a rough guide: for a standard decorated order using one of our existing blanks, the realistic timeline from first contact to delivery is typically four to eight weeks. Brands that have worked with us before and are reordering a familiar product can move faster. More complex projects with custom colourways or multi-style decoration take longer.
If you want to understand what the timeline looks like for your specific project, the most direct way is to book a free consulting call. We can map out the stages based on your actual brief and tell you what to prepare at each point.
What to Do Before You Contact a Manufacturer
The most useful thing you can do before you reach out to a manufacturer is to make the decisions that the sampling process will ask you to make anyway.
Know your product. Which styles, which weights, which colourways. Know your decoration. What technique, what placement, what size. Know your quantities, at least approximately. And know your timeline, including when you need to receive finished product.
None of this needs to be fully resolved before your first conversation. But the more of it you have clear, the faster the process moves.
If you're earlier in the process and still figuring out which blanks to build on, the Starter Pack is a fast way to get the product in your hands before making those decisions. Order the samples, test the fabric and fit, decide on your styles, then start the production conversation with something concrete.
Looking for more guidance before you choose a supplier? Our free guide on how to choose a clothing manufacturer covers the questions worth asking before you commit to a production partner.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to get a sample from René Bassett?
For standard styles with existing blanks, samples are typically dispatched within a few business days. Custom colourways and more complex decoration combinations may add a few days to the timeline. Contact us with your brief for a specific estimate.
How many revision rounds should I expect before sample approval?
Most orders are approved within one to two rounds. Thorough briefs and clear feedback reduce revision rounds significantly. Brands that review placement digitally before the physical sample is made often need fewer physical rounds.
What is the minimum order for a bulk decorated order?
The minimum is 50 pieces per style and colour for all decoration types including screen printing, embroidery, DTG and DTF. There is no minimum for blank, undecorated orders.
Do I need my labels ready before I place my bulk order?
Ideally yes. If you want neck labels attached before dispatch, the label files need to be submitted and approved before or at the time the bulk order is placed. Delays in label delivery push back the dispatch date by the same amount.
Can I order samples before committing to a supplier?
Yes. There is no minimum on sample orders at René Bassett, and ordering samples does not commit you to a bulk order. The Starter Pack is a practical way to test multiple styles at once.
What happens if quality issues are found during the check?
Pieces that do not meet the quality standard are flagged before packing. Depending on the issue, they are reworked or replaced. The goal is for everything that leaves the facility to match the approved sample.
Does the bulk production lead time include decoration and labelling?
Yes. The lead time covers the full production cycle including decoration and label attachment, ending at dispatch. Shipping time from Portugal to your destination is in addition to the production lead time.
What is the difference between a sample and a bulk order in terms of production?
A sample is produced individually and manually in some stages to allow for adjustments. Bulk production runs at scale using the same machines and specifications as the approved sample, which is why the sample approval stage matters.
Related Reading
What Is a Tech Pack? And Why Every Brand Needs One Before Production
How to Choose a Clothing Manufacturer
Clothing Hang Tags: Why the Details Define Your Brand
Screen Printing Guide for Premium Blanks
Order a Starter Pack to Test Before You Commit
Book a Free Consulting Call
Written by
Ricardo Vieira
Ricardo Vieira is the founder of René Bassett and has worked in the Portuguese textile industry for over 10 years. He grew up close to garment production — his family's company operated in the sector — and developed a technical understanding of fabrics, fabric weights and customisation processes that shapes every product René Bassett brings to market. He writes about everything a clothing brand founder needs to understand about blanks, fabrics and production before launching — or scaling — a brand.