Hi friends! Today I’m doing a round up of five places to buy fabric for your start up clothing line. As I’ve been getting your atic set up, I’ve been talking to a lot of start up apparel businesses and one of the common hurdles that comes up is how to find a fabric source that has low minimums. Before we dive in to my sources, let’s go over the different types of fabric suppliers that are out there and some of their pros and cons.

Retail Versus Wholesale | What’s the difference?

A lot! Retailers are the fabric stores that you probably grew up going to with your mom. They are easily accessible, will sell to anyone, allow you to purchase tiny amounts (sometimes less than a meter) and offer a wide range of continuously changing product.

The number one downside to shopping at retail is the cost. Prices are marked up on average 50% and as a small business, that is money that you need to grow your business. Check out my post on product costing for more details on how to calculate accurate costs.

Another downside is that if you find a fabric that you love and it sells out in store, you probably won’t be able to reorder it. Starting out in this business, you will want to test your product, see what works and ultimately “chase” back into product that is doing well. That means going back to your fabric supplier to get more  fabric. This is often not possible at retail.

Wholesale is strictly business to business. Wholesalers are cutting out the cost of supplying direct to consumer (pretty stores, large staff etc) and selling at higher volumes which gives them the ability to offer fabric at a lower price.

In general my advise would to be buy at wholesale whenever possible but there are a couple of instances where retail may make sense for you.

Types of Wholesale Fabric Sources

Fabric Mill

This is someone that actually weaves or knits the fabric. When I worked for large corporations, we often purchase our fabric directly from mills but their minimum order quantities were usually around 1000 meters. My guess is that starting up, you are not ready to commit to that level of fabric inventory. Also, the majority of fabric mills are located in developing countries which means that access to them is difficult.

Sales Reps

A sales representative is someone that will cover a certain geographic area and “represent” or show the offering of one or more fabric suppliers to potential customers. Sometimes sales reps are employed directly by the company who’s product they are offering and sometimes, they are not a direct employee and are able to represent multiple lines of fabric from different suppliers.  Since this is still a fairly direct link to the original manufacturer, prices are generally competitive but minimums can be high.

Jobber

A jobber is someone that will purchase excess fabric at a discounted price and then sell it at a premium to you. This premium that they are charging is still well below what you would pay at retail so price wise they are generally a good option. When working with a jobber, you will want to consider whether or not they are able to restock the fabrics that they are offering you. Since this is excess fabric, often times they are not able to replenish the material for you but sometimes jobbers also offer a small assortment of replenishable basic fabrics.

Converter

This is a company that purchases unfinished fabric and then manages the process of having it finished (dyed, printed, softened etc). On the outside, this will feel a lot like working with your average sales rep.

So now that you know some of the basic information about different fabric sources let’s get into the good stuff. Where can you actually buy this fabric? At first I planned to build out a list that wasn’t specific to my home town so that it would be useful to anyone but what I quickly realized is that there are so many options that it is easy to get overwhelmed. I am here to save you time and make your life easier so here is my edited list specifically for Vancouver. If you are outside of Vancouver and are struggling to find a great fabric source, let me know in the comments and I can layer on additional locations.

one | Telio

I am so excited that I found these guys. They are the real deal so listen up. Telio provides the largest collection of fabrics in Canada. All of the fabrics are designed in Canada and manufactured overseas. They are then available for viewing in their Canadian showrooms in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver and by international sales representatives. They do a great job of building out seasonally relevant collections of a wide range of prints as well as “perennial” collections which are seasonless. Highlights include organic and sustainable fibres, a line of evening and bridal fabrics as well as home decor fabrics. Their minimums are low at 15 meters but they strictly sell business to business so they will want to know a little about your company before you set up an appointment with you. Their Vancouver showroom is located in Gastown on Columbia Street. You can give them a call to set up an appointment.

two | Spoonflower

Ok, so Spoonflower is technically a retailer and not local to Vancouver so I’m already breaking all the rules but let me tell you why. Spoonflower has an incredible assortment of prints that they offer on 21 different fabrics. This is great because they have done the editing of what fabrics work best with what product categories so you can simplify the process and focus on building an assortment of prints that supports your product story.

You are also able to order a Sample Pack of all of their fabrics for $3 so that you can touch and feel the fabric before you go ahead with placing a full order.

Since they are basically a retailer and not a wholesaler, their prices are high and their minimums are low. You can buy as little as one yard and as your quantities go up, thr prices go down- up to 20% off if you order more than 100 yards.

On their website they even say to get in contact with them if you are ordering more implying that their discounts go even deeper. That being said, even with these discounts their prices are higher than what I would recommend unless you have product that is so special you are able to charge a significant premium. And that takes me to my next point.

The main reason that I love Spoonflower is your ability to have your own prints put onto their fabrics. For someone just starting out, this is a huge benefit in that you are able to offer something completely unique to your customer. None of the other suppliers that I recommend offer this with their low minimums. For this reason alone it’s worth checking out.

three | Dresssew

Don’t get mad. Number three is technically a retailer too. You have to work with what you’ve got and in Vancouver the pickings are slim. The thing about Dresssew is that a lot of the fabric that they purchase is excess from other suppliers so they are actually a jobber that is selling their product at retail. This is great for you because they are able to offer you the convenience of a retail store and prices that are more inline with wholesale. If you are doing small runs of specialty pieces this could be a good option for you but if you are trying to build a business that you want to scale, beware. This is not the type of supplier that you can go back to and reorder something that you need more of. They get what they get, sell what they have and don’t go above and beyond with customer service. Case it point they have no website (I’ve linked to their facebook page) and they only take cash or debit.

four | KenDor

KenDor started out as a family business and has been serving the lower mainland for over 60 years.  This is a local small business favourite since they offer wholesale prices with extremely low minimums of just 5 meters and the ability to restock your fabrics if you want to replenish something that is selling well.

You can view their line by appointment in their Delta showroom or they can have a sales rep come to you. Highlights of their line include a large range of natural fibers, sustainable fabrics and technical fabrics that are specifically designed for active wear. This is Vancouver after all.

five | Fabrictime Solutions

This is a new find for me and I can’t believe I’d never heard of them before. Fabrictime Solutions  is a jobber located in east Vancouver that supplies predominantly woven fabrics. They offer prices that are approximately 50% below retail but also have the flexibility to replenish almost half of their products. They have a minimum $100 spend on your first order only (weird but cool) so you can get over the minimum order issue pretty quickly. This one is all about relationship building.  A couple other things that make Fabrictime special is that they offer an assortment of trims and the ability to rent out their sewing space and cutting table.  If you want access to machinery for mock ups and sampling, this could be a cool place try out.

Alright- that sums up my picks for the best fabric sources for start up apparel companies in Vancouver. I’d love it if you shared this if you found it helpful.

xoxox

Lisa