I need help finding a skiing outerwear manufacturer!

Bateman

Bateman

Active member
having a really hard time finding manufacturers abroad. (china/india etc) If anyone have any clue where lets say, Armada, Saga or Fasc, (any brand, really) + karma
 
Where are you looking for clothing? China and India are kindof different places... Most big technical outerwear companies will have ways to get stuff anywhere like patagonia, TNF, and companies like that.
 
I have a Korean friend who skis, and he says he's seen some jibberish stuff in Korea before. So you should be able to find other brands which do outerwear. This would mean shipping from Korea to China, which is surely cheaper than the states to China. Similarly with Japan, you could be probably get hold of some freeski outerwear there, and ship to China. (Maybe it wouldn't be cheaper, or the logistics of shipping may be too difficult. I can't remember what the shipping situation was like, it's been a while since I live in Asia.)

It wouldn't surprise me if you could buy some decent outerwear in HK. Again though, I can't confirm.
 
There are a lot of manufacturers out there, but basically no company is willing to give out their manufacturers name so you will have to do a lot of digging to find one yourself. I know the company that we are working with at unbound right now does outerwear for a dew of the recognizable names. That being said, if you are working over seas, unless you know exactly what you are doing and have previous experience developing outerwear then don't bother. It's hard to communicate without something turning out exactly how you want it unless your tech pack is perfect.
 
I think Stose is the only one who got this thread right. OP isn't looking to buy gear in Asia, he is looking for manufacturing companies who make the good for famous brands in Asian factories.
 
What I meant is it's hard to communicate, and it's hard to get your product to look exactly as you want it unless your tech pack is perfect.
 
Yep, you guys got it. I used some yellow-pages sort of thing, just for manufacturers and sent an inquiry to 130 diffrent manufacturers. Gotten about 7 replies so far, a lot of them are stoked on making pretty complex stuff thats not really anything like anything in their catalogue. this'll be hard
 
Found one who will provide these quality standards: This is from an email.

Thanks for your inquiry of our Ski Jacket on ************** The unit price of this product you are looking for is approximately USD50.57/pc FOB SHANGHAI. Features of this product include:

1. Material:

Shell: 100% nylon Taslon, waterproof and breathable ( over 6000mm)

Lining: 100% nylon 210T Taffeta

Filing: 200gsm cotton

Interlining (hood and collar) 100% polyester fleece

2. Size:

According to your size chart (These will be from s-2xl with a tall fit

3. YKK zippers

At front fly, under arms, on the pockets

4. All Seam-sealed as required.

Does this seem like good outerwear quality for you guys? I mean, would you buy a jacket with these features?

Thanks
 
The factory gave specs of the jacket they would make^

it said breathability and waterproofing 6k+

I would not buy a jacket that has that low of waterproofing or breathability
 
See, this is exactly why i post this here. I will make sure the waterproofing is significantly better and the jacket is more breathable. Thanks a bunch.
 
It seems like you aren't quite sure what you are doing, so I'm assuming it will take multiple samples to get it right which means a lot of money on your end. Also what you described up there is basically a windbreaker
 
You need to look at available products and see what industry standards are. You got some things right like taped seams, but 6000 waterproof breathable doesn't cut it these days. Standard I'd say now is 10,000 and most premium brands are making 20,000.
 
Wait until February 2014 and go to ISPO's supply halls; it's much easier to deal with manufacturers face-to-face.
 
Allthough this isn't bad advice, really good infact if i happened to be american, but I'm really not planning on waiting a year and then getting a flight to USA.
 
Well I'll be damned. I have an aunt who works as a designer, who used to work for Quiksilver, mammut and Helly Hansen, aaand she lives in munich. I might take a trip down there, get some advice from her and go to the ISPO.
 
Do this. You are really going to want to talk face to face with your manufacturer. Also maybe have your aunt help you out with the technical side of your outerwear
 
Yeah that's not bad. As stated above, 20k is kind of becoming a new standard, but 10k is the absolute lowest I would go
 
still wouldn't buy it.

If I'm gonna buy a jacket from a new company, I want it to be better than the last jacket I owned. Why would I put myself down in quality right off the bat for a brand that has no reputation to begin with?

I'd say minimum 15k. Its expensive as a manufacturer but high quality. How do you think Saga became so reputable so quick?
 
No, for a couple reasons: Like he said, my jacket now is 20,000 and why would I replace it with a less advanced jacket? You can't break into a market by just doing the bare minimum to pass, you have to go above and beyond and give the people a reason to take notice. Also, in this thread you didn't know what industry standard waterproof/breath ability was, you didn't understand the industry term "6k" and someone had to explain it, you didnt know which country the trade show was in, and you said that you wouldn't fly to the US to go a trade show even though you are supposedly trying to establish a new brand: this tells me you haven't done your research and you're not taking your venture seriously. You'd have to take a year to develop your project and then demonstrate that you know how to make a jacket before I would consider buying one from you.
 
Yeah almost any company isn't going to tell you where there stuff is made especially if you're trying to start up a competing brand.

That being said we don't just use one factory. It takes a long time to find the right people to work with and establish a quality relationship where they understand your needs and can actually make the products the way you want them.

But best of luck to you and above all try to make something unique and original. Don't be just another brand that bites others.
 
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