I saw a factory on Alibaba called XXX, they make button downs and have shared letters of recommendation from their customers as well. Should I trust them?

Specs In The City - Issue 1 - February 3, 202

Yes and No.

I love that they are sharing clients with you because so many factories tell brands they can’t share that info because of NDAs. And, that is total bullshit.

I have worked with companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, Marvel, and Universal Studios, and high-end designers like Marc Jacobs, Nili Lotan, and Ralph Lauren, and in all my time (over 15 years) working with hundreds of brands, I have only ever been asked to sign 2 NDAs.

That’s it.

And, the NDA prevented me from talking about the top secret project I was working on (Frozen 2) not from saying I work with Disney.

BTW, this was the type of stuff I was working on for Frozen 2 at Walmart. Basically, we had to create a bunch of products before the movie was released, and it was super important that nothing leaked. That hot pink shirt was a TOTAL nightmare to make - but that’s a story for another day.

Often, factories tell brands they sign NDAs and can’t share their client list for two reasons.

1. They don’t have clients and are hoping you will be there first.

2. Or, they did a bad job on past orders, and their clients hate them, so they don’t want you chatting.

If you go to my website you can see dozens of student reviews and brands I have helped launch. Any factory should also be able to provide you with this type of information.

So, it’s great they are giving some client letters. But - there is a lot more vetting you need to do… A LOT!

One of the most common scams I see in Asia is factories telling clients they work with mega big brands like Urban Outfitters or Nike. They choose these big brands because they know it is going to be impossible for you to contact someone at one of those companies and verify if it’s true or not.

Sadly, most new brand founders believe what factories tell them.

And the lesson here, if you take anything away from this, is to never believe what anyone says and to always do your own research.

The next step would be to ask for a few client emails and have a chat with them about their experience working with the factory - this way you can make sure these people and their glowing recs are actually real.

There are two other things I always do before working with any factory - but to find those out, you’ll need to become a client. The cheapest way to do that is to join the LMCL 2.0 program, which is $3750 for 3 months of weekly lessons, 1 live Zoom call every week where you can ask me all your fashion startup questions personally, and you even get my cell so we can chat 24/7. If you’re interested, you can get more details here.

But, rest assured, if you are asking for reference contacts, you are on the right track to properly vetting your factory.

See you next week!

That’s Haute,

Melanie