How apparel production works

A typical printed tee starts as a blank: a plain garment designed and sewn by a blank brand such as Gildan, Bella+Canvas or Stanley/Stella. Brands sell those blanks through wholesalers and distributors, who hold stock in regional warehouses.

A decorator then adds your design. That is either a print shop working on a batch, or a print-on-demand provider printing one order at a time. Finally the garment ships to you or directly to your customer.

Custom clothing takes a different route. A clothing manufacturer makes the garment itself from your pattern, fabric and labels, so there is no stock blank in between.

The same company can play more than one role. A print shop may also sell blanks; a manufacturer may also print.

Some print-on-demand companies are networks. They route your orders to printing facilities run by partners, often in several countries. Others print everything in their own facilities. Neither is better by default, but it affects where an item is made, how long it takes and who to ask when something goes wrong.

Profiles in the directory say which kind of business each supplier is, and who produces the order, when that is known.

The flow depends on whether you hold stock.

• Print on demand: a customer buys in your store, the order goes to the provider, they print and ship it, and you pay per order.
• Batch from a print shop: you order a run, the shop prints it, the batch ships to you or a fulfillment warehouse, and you ship to customers from stock.
• Custom production: you develop samples with a manufacturer, approve them, order bulk, then receive and sell from stock.

If you are unsure of demand, print on demand lets you test without inventory. Once a design sells steadily, a print shop usually lowers the cost per piece. When you want a garment that no blank offers, talk to a manufacturer.

Whichever route you take, order a sample and confirm prices, minimums and shipping with the supplier before committing.