5 Best Clothing Business Ideas by Custom Clothing Manufacturers

The fashion and clothing industry is vast and offers excellent business opportunities, especially to startups and new entrepreneurs. It offers a wide range of options to start a clothing business, whether you want to sell high-fashion designs or budget-friendly options. 

The best part is that you don't even have to design clothes yourself, as there are plenty of retail businesses available. Alternatively, you can also collaborate with other businesses to get products tailored to your specific standards. 

It all comes down to selecting the right business idea that suits you. But kickstarting a whole new clothing business is daunting. 

The focus of this blog post is to explore some of the most well-liked clothing-inspired business ideas suggested by market experts and custom clothing manufacturers. 

Before that, let’s have a look at some of the essential factors in selecting a profitable business idea.

Key Factors To Choose a Clothing Business Idea

No matter what clothing business idea you choose, ensure these three factors to determine the ideal one:

Demand: Choose any business model that has high demand in the fashion industry. It will help you drive consistency and growth in sales.

Availability: Your product must be readily available in the market. And in case of increased demand, you can easily restock it for your customers.

Diversity: Your business should have a diverse range of products, setting you apart from your market competitors.

Business Clothing Ideas by Custom Clothing Manufacturers

The fashion industry is worth $3 trillion, contributing approximately 2% of the world's GDP. If you’re genuinely motivated to start your business in this industry, you can earn good profit here. 

There are a bunch of fashion business ideas, some involving clothing products and others offering services for the apparel industry. 

Here is the list of the best clothing business ideas you can work on as a potential clothing manufacturer.

1. Garment Wholesale Business

2. Sustainable Fashion Line

3. Printing and Embroidery Unit

4. Clothing Alteration Services

5. Clothing Rental Business

Garment Wholesale Business

When considering a large-scale fashion business, a garment wholesale business takes first place on the list. It is one of the most high-return clothing business models meanwhile, it also requires a huge capital. 

In the garment wholesale business, the entry capital is very high which might be challenging for startups. This business model demands purchasing apparel in bulk quantity and then distributing it to the market retailers on demand. 

If you want to start a garment wholesale business, here are a few essential aspects that you must consider. The first and foremost step is to specify your clothing product and find the most suitable clothing manufacturers and suppliers for your business. You should also have a decent storage space to keep your stock. The next step is to look for your target customers which might be local retailers or clothing stores in the town. 

The garment wholesale business requires you to purchase stock directly from suppliers or custom clothing manufacturers in large volumes to make a nice profit. As your company expands, it will become necessary to source your supplies from international companies, causing this type of business to evolve into a massive undertaking.

Printing and Embroidery Unit

Second on the list is setting up a printing and embroidery unit as it is considered a high-value process. Fashion enthusiasts and clothing manufacturers prefer adding colors and unique fashion statements to their clothes, making them more attractive. And that's where cloth printing and embroidery come in. 

There are multiple options that you can further explore in this fashion business category. For instance, there are various types of embroidery crafted differently like hand embroidery or machine embroidery. You can choose any of them depending on the demand in your region.

Similarly, you can start a cloth printing business or narrow it down further like starting a T-shirt printing business. Initially, you can go with basic screen printing and then move on to more advanced machines. Digital textile printers are becoming popular, too. So, you can even start a business with one of those and offer custom garment printing services. 

[Also read: Types of T-Shirt Printing: Best Suggestions by Apparel Manufacturers for Your Business]

Clothing Alteration Services

Another hidden business opportunity is offering alteration services to customers. To start an alterations service business, you need to know how to sew and be creative. With people paying more attention to fashion, there's a growing demand for alterations. Nobody wants to wear clothes that don't fit well nowadays, and that's where you come in.

Anyone who enjoys working with fabric, colors, and designs can start this business with just a few tools and materials. You can offer alteration services right from your home with a small investment. 

Helping people find the perfect fit can earn you a good amount of money. Once you gain popularity and you have a significant number of clients, you can easily expand your business. All you need to do is find people who are experts in this area, hire them and they will assist you offer alteration services. This way you can earn good profit from this business. 

Clothing Rental Business

The clothing rental market is growing fast, expected to double by 2025, reaching $7 billion in sales. This growth shows that people are more interested in being environmentally friendly when they shop. If you're an entrepreneur in this field, there are different ways to help customers who want to rent clothes for a short time.

You can start a fashion rental business by sharing cool pictures and descriptions of trendy items on relevant fashion platforms. If you know a lot about fashion and can put together great outfits, you could create an online store or physical shop where people can find outfits for work, dates, family gatherings, or special events.

Whatever type of rental business you start, you'll need to think about shipping, damage, and returns policies, and taking care of the clothes.

Sustainable Fashion Line

Recently, the sustainable movement has gained serious awareness, and it presents an opportunity for you to start your sustainable fashion line. Increased environmental awareness has caused many people to change their purchasing behavior and reduce negative impacts on the planet. This has led to an increase in popularity for reselling and reusing clothes, and you could open a resale shop to take advantage of this trend.

In addition to reselling, you could also offer clothing made from sustainable materials. Clothing made from natural, color-based fabrics has become increasingly sought-after in recent times. 

The primary challenge in this business model is generating leads. It can be difficult to find clients for this particular niche at the beginning. However, once you establish a bit of popularity, people from far and wide will seek you out for ethical fashion.

Conclusion

The fashion and apparel industry is enormously attracting a workforce of hundreds of thousands globally. There is something for everyone passionate about the creativity and glamour of this industry. 

Whether it's apparel suppliers, fashion consultants, or custom clothing manufacturers, the competition is extreme. However, startups can also fit into this space due to the increasing demand for expertise in every sector. Pursue any fashion business that inspires you and earn a good name and profits in this industry.