The most common questions we get sent  by our community is..

What’s the best route to launch a fashion brand manufacturing or wholesale?

The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It really depends on the type of business you want to build, your goals, and your resources. This blog isn’t here to push you toward wholesale or manufacturing. Instead, the goal is to give you clarity on a more cost-effective, low-risk way to bring your vision to life: starting with an MVP (minimum viable product). By focusing on the essentials, you can test your concept, learn what works, and grow without draining your budget from day one.

One of the reasons we launched NBG was to prove that the fashion business idea you have in mind doesn’t need to be as complicated as you think. The truth is, when it comes to fashion, there’s nothing truly new under the sun. Think about it where do you believe your favourite fashion brands get their inspiration from? The industry has become so unoriginal that most brands are simply copying and pasting from high-end designers. Don’t believe me? Just look at Zara, Shein, and H&M brands that have been called out countless times for ripping ideas directly from luxury labels. I challenge you: take a scroll through Net-A-Porter, Farfetch or Harrods, and then compare what you see to what your favourite retailers are selling. Chances are, you’ll quickly recognise that many of those “new arrivals” are heavily influenced by well-known designers that can be found on well known high-end marketplaces.

So with that in mind, do you really need to manufacture items from scratch spending hundreds on production, tech packs, and samples for something that may not even sell? Or, instead, could you take the smarter route: go wholesale, source a few series from Turkey, private label those pieces, and test the waters first? This way, you save money, reduce risk, and focus on what really matters…. Traction and proving whether your idea can scale or is even profitable. Research shows that 90% of startups eventually fail, and most of those failures happen between years two and five. The question is: would you rather be the brand that poured resources into producing hundreds of unsold units, or the one that worked smart, validated demand, and built a foundation for long-term growth?

Manufacturing Route

I’m not saying you shouldn’t take the manufacturing route. If you genuinely have an idea for a clothing brand that fills a real gap in the market, then manufacturing might be the better option. For example, niche categories like petite, plus-size, modest, or more unique designs often remain underserved in the wholesale ready-to-wear market. In cases like these, creating your own line through manufacturing could be the smartest move. Or maybe you simply want to design from scratch to have full control over the fit, size grading, and customizability giving you the freedom to create pieces your customers can’t find anywhere else and that align perfectly with your brand. In this case, manufacturing may indeed be the better option. However, it’s still important to exercise caution and start with a small collection. This is where you’ll need to carefully screen and locate manufacturers who can accommodate small-batch orders, allowing you to test the market with fewer products instead of committing to a large-scale production run. Remember, you don’t want to be the startup that manufactures hundreds of units only to find they won’t sell. It’s therefore imperative to factor in that even small-batch manufacturing runs can often have higher per-unit costs than ready-to-wear wholesale items.

‍When you manufacture from scratch, you’re paying for multiple layers of upfront work from sourcing fabric, creating patterns, and producing samples, to developing tech packs and meeting minimum order quantities (MOQs). Each of these steps adds to the cost, and because small batches don’t benefit from economies of scale, the per-unit cost can be significantly higher than if you were able to meet larger minimum order quantities (MOQs). In contrast, buying wholesale allows you to test the market with lower investment, pivot quickly if needed, and minimize financial exposure while still getting products that can be private labelled to align with your brand.

Over the past year, NBG has become more than just a database and consultancy, but every call now comes with a side of counselling and free therapy ha-ha! Most of these calls come from people who took the manufacturing route first either because they had no idea the Turkish wholesale market existed, or they fell victim to a fake business guru who sold them a pipe dream, convincing them that manufacturing was the best option. Many of them still have inventory they produced dating back to 2021… ouch. We then explain to them how to test the market with small batches, pivot their collections, and figure out which products sell before investing in large-scale manufacturing. It’s all about reducing risk, saving money, and learning from early mistakes because no one wants to be stuck with stock that gathers dust while the brand stalls.

Conclusion

This is why NBG focuses primarily on B2B wholesale ready-to-wear apparel. As we mentioned from the beginning, there’s nothing new under the sun in fashion the item you’re considering manufacturing may already be available on the market. So why risk the time and money starting from scratch when you could test the market first, achieve product-market fit, and gain traction before committing to scaling. We hope this blog has helped you clarify the difference between wholesale and manufacturing. Ready to see the styles Turkey has to offer and kickstart your business?  Why not Dive into our supplier database today we’ve made it easy and affordable: just £19.99 for access, or £59 for lifetime access. Your next best-selling product could be just a few clicks away!