What’s the minimum order quantity (MOQ) for custom streetwear?

Starting custom streetwear but worried about high MOQs? High MOQs can stop new brands. Understanding them helps find flexible suppliers.
MOQs for custom streetwear vary greatly, from 50-100 pieces per design/color for smaller factories or simpler items, to 300-500+ for complex designs or larger manufacturers. It depends on many factors.
Minimum Order Quantity, or MOQ, is a big topic for new and growing streetwear brands. As the owner of Adiwe, a streetwear factory here in China, I get this question almost every day. It’s a real hurdle if you don't understand why it exists or how it works. Many potential clients, like trend brands or K.O.L.s, want to start with smaller batches. Even established brands like "Fifty Fifty" from England, who we work with, need to manage their inventory and cash flow. So, let's break down MOQs. This will help you talk to suppliers like us and plan your collections better.

What is the minimum order quantity of clothing?

Wondering about general clothing MOQs beyond streetwear? Generic answers often don't help your specific sourcing needs. MOQs differ by garment.
The minimum order quantity for clothing generally ranges from 50-200 pieces for basic items like t-shirts from flexible factories, to several hundred or thousands for specialized garments or large-scale production.
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The minimum order quantity for clothing in general is a broad topic. Streetwear is a specific type of clothing, but the basic reasons for MOQs are similar across the apparel industry. The number can change a lot.
Many factors influence the MOQ for any clothing item.
First, garment complexity is a big one. A simple plain t-shirt will usually have a lower MOQ than, say, a custom-designed technical jacket with many pockets, special zippers, and mixed fabrics. Making a t-shirt is straightforward. Making a complex jacket needs more steps, more materials, and more skilled labor. So, a factory needs to produce more jackets to make the setup worthwhile. For example, a basic t-shirt might have an MOQ of 100 pieces from a factory like mine, Adiwe, if the design is simple. But a really detailed hoodie, like the ones my client Fifty Fifty orders with their unique, complex designs, might need an MOQ of 200-300 pieces because of the craftsmanship involved.
Second, fabric sourcing plays a huge role. Fabrics themselves have MOQs when we buy them from fabric mills. If a factory has to buy a huge roll of a special fabric for a very small order, it's not efficient, and the cost goes up for everyone. We have 5 production lines at Adiwe, and we try to be smart about fabric. Sometimes we can group orders if different clients want similar fabrics. Or we might suggest a similar fabric that we already have in stock or can get in smaller amounts.
Third, the factory's size and how it’s set up matters. Big factories that make thousands of the same item for giant retailers will have very high MOQs. Smaller factories, or those that specialize in custom work like Adiwe, can often be more flexible. We focus on top quality and personalized designs, so we understand the need for possibly smaller, more unique batches, especially for clients in North America or Europe.

So, when you ask about the MOQ for "clothing," it really depends on what kind of clothing and how it's made.

What is the minimum order quantity MOQ?

The term "MOQ" is everywhere in business. But what does it really mean for you? Misunderstanding MOQ can lead to bad supplier talks.
MOQ, or Minimum Order Quantity, is the smallest number of units a supplier or factory, like my company Adiwe, is willing to produce in a single production run for a specific product or design.

MOQ stands for Minimum Order Quantity. It's a very common term when you're looking to get products made, especially custom products like the streetwear we produce at Adiwe. Simply put, it's the fewest number of pieces a factory will agree to make for you in one go for one specific design. If their MOQ for a hoodie is 200 pieces, you generally can't order just 50.
Why do factories have MOQs? It’s not to make things difficult for brands, though I know it can feel that way, especially if you're just starting out or want to test many designs. There are solid business reasons.
First, there are setup costs for every production run. This includes things like:

• Making or adjusting patterns for your specific design.
• Getting all the materials ready – the fabric, the thread, zippers, drawstrings, labels. Fabric suppliers often have their own MOQs for us too!
• Setting up the machines. Cutting machines need to be programmed. Sewing machines might need special attachments for certain stitches. Printing or embroidery machines need new screens or digital files prepared.
  These setup tasks cost money and time, no matter if we are making 10 pieces or 500 pieces. If we only make a few pieces, the cost of that setup spread over each piece is very high. An MOQ helps spread that cost out.
  Second, there's efficiency. Our 5 production lines at Adiwe run best when they have a steady flow of work. Stopping and starting for very small, different orders is not efficient. It takes time to switch everything over.
  Third, material minimums are a big factor. As I mentioned, the companies that make fabric, dyes, or special trims often require us to buy a minimum amount. If your order is too small, we might be left with a lot of unused material that we paid for, or we can't even get the special material you want.
  My client, Fifty Fifty, understands this. Their hoodies have complex designs and require a lot of specific craftsmanship. They know that for us to achieve the top quality they want, and to reproduce their designs perfectly, a certain volume is needed to make the process smooth and the price per piece reasonable.

So, MOQ helps make sure the production is practical and economical for both the factory and the brand.

What is the minimum lot size for MOQ?

Heard "lot size" with MOQ and feeling confused now? These terms seem very similar. This can make your decisions harder.
Minimum lot size often breaks down the MOQ further. It specifies the minimum quantity required per specific variation, like size or color, within the total order quantity for that one design.

This is where things can get a little more detailed. You have the main MOQ, which is the total minimum for a specific style – say, 300 pieces of a particular hoodie design. But then, a factory like mine, Adiwe, might also talk about "minimum lot sizes." This usually means the minimum quantity we need per variation of that style, like per color or per size.
For example, our MOQ for a custom t-shirt might be 200 pieces per design. But within those 200 pieces, we might say you need to order a minimum of, perhaps, 50 pieces per color if you want multiple colors. And then, within each color, we might need a minimum of 10-20 pieces per size (Small, Medium, Large, etc.).
Why do we have these smaller minimums inside the main MOQ?

1. Cutting Fabric: When we cut fabric for your clothes, we lay it out in many layers, called a "ply." Then we cut all the layers at once for a certain size. It’s very inefficient to set up the cutting table and the patterns just to cut a few pieces of one size in one color. Grouping helps use fabric wisely and saves time.
2. Dyeing: If you want your fabric custom-dyed to a specific Pantone color (which we do at Adiwe for personalized designs), the dye houses have minimum amounts of fabric they will dye in one batch. It’s not practical to dye just enough fabric for 5 t-shirts in a special color.
3. Printing and Embroidery: For screen printing, each color in your design needs a separate screen. Setting up all those screens for just a handful of shirts per colorway is costly. Same for embroidery – each setup takes time.
4. Managing Production: Keeping track of too many tiny variations on the sewing line can get very complicated and can lead to mistakes. Our workers on the 5 production lines are skilled, but a smoother flow with reasonable quantities per variation ensures better quality control.
   Let's think about Fifty Fifty from England. They order hoodies with complex designs. If their total MOQ is 300 hoodies, and they want them in 3 colors and 4 sizes, that’s 300 / (3 colors * 4 sizes) = 25 pieces per size/color. That's usually very workable. But if they wanted 10 colors and 6 sizes for the same 300 pieces, that would be only 5 pieces per size/color (300 / 60 variations). That becomes very difficult and expensive to produce with top quality and specialized craftsmanship.

It's always a good idea to ask your supplier to be very clear about the main MOQ and any minimum lot sizes for colors or sizes. This helps everyone plan better.

Conclusion

Understanding MOQs, whether total, per item, or per variant, is key. It helps you plan budgets, inventory, and find the right factory partner.