How long sampling takes, and why
Once the pattern and fabric are settled, a sample takes 3–5 days. Most delays happen before that clock starts, and most of them can be avoided.
What happens in those days
The 3–5 days cover cutting and sewing the sample once the pattern is drafted and the fabric is in hand. When it is finished, we go over it with you point by point and send detail photos of the front, the back and the inside, with notes on anything we would change.
What adds time
- Open questions. If the size, fabric or a construction detail is still undecided, the sample waits for the answer.
- Fabric that has to be found. A specific colour or composition can take longer to source than the sample takes to sew.
- Special trims or treatments. Custom buttons, prints, embroidery or washes depend on outside suppliers.
- Changes after the sample. Every change means another round.
How to keep it to one round
Send everything on the list in What to send a factory before asking for a quote, answer our questions in one go, and when you review the sample, write your comments as a list: what to change, by how much, and where.
After the sample
Once you approve the fit, fabric and trims, we make the pre-production sample that the whole order is held to. Then bulk production takes 20–25 days. The full picture is in How long an order takes.
Questions
Do the 3–5 days include shipping the sample to me?
No. The 3–5 days are making the sample. We send you detail photos straight away; shipping the physical sample takes extra time depending on where you are.
How many sample rounds are normal?
Often one, sometimes two. A second round is usually about fit or a fabric change, and it is much shorter when the changes are written down clearly.
Can you speed up a sample?
Tell us your date when you send the style. If the fabric is in hand, we plan around it.