What to Expect from a Clothing Manufacturer in Bangladesh: How We Work, in Writing
When you place a clothing order, you are putting your own business in someone else's hands. It does not matter whether the order is 150 pieces or 50,000. You need the product to arrive when it was promised, you need to deal with someone who speaks your language and knows the work, and you need to be told what is happening to your order without having to chase. Most factory websites answer that with adjectives. This page answers it with what we actually do at each stage, and with a way to check every claim before you pay anything.
We are Collective Studio, a family-run knitwear factory in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, run by Jashim Uddin and his daughter Homaira Jashim, who is the person most brands deal with. What follows is how we work, written down so you can hold us to it.
The short version
- You deal with the people who run the factory, in English, and we reply within one business day.
- You see your order being made: photos at every production stage, and a live video call from the floor if you want one.
- Quality is measured against a sample you approved and we sealed, by a QC team led by Walter Meyer, who has 38 years in the trade.
- You get the inspection report before you pay the balance.
- One landed price: we quote DDP, so duty, clearance and freight are inside the figure.
- The same treatment at every order size, from 150 pieces per style and colour to full bulk.
- Everything above can be checked: an address, a certificate number, registration numbers and public reviews.
Every claim, and how you can check it
| What we say | How you can check it yourself |
|---|---|
| We are a real factory, not an agent | Put our address on a map: Plot-A-132, Road No. 02, BSCIC Industrial Area, Panchabati, Narayanganj 1420. Then ask for a live video call from the floor during a working shift. |
| We are GOTS certified | Our certificate number is RSC 9687. Ask for the scope certificate and check that the name and site on it match the name on your quote. |
| We are a registered exporter | Our company registration, VAT number and export licence number are published on our certifications page. Match them to your invoice. |
| Named people are responsible for your order | Jashim Uddin and Homaira Jashim run the business; Walter Meyer leads quality control. See the founders and the people on the floor. |
| Clients recommend us | Our reviews are on our public Google Business Profile, written by the clients themselves. We quote them word for word below. |
| Your order is inspected | Ask for the inspection report. On every order it is sent to you before the balance is due. |
Who you talk to
You talk to us, not to a call centre or a trading desk. Enquiries get a reply within one business day. Our floor works Sunday to Thursday, 09:00 to 18:00 Bangladesh time, so a European morning overlaps our afternoon, and our Amsterdam office covers the rest of the European day for design conversations, samples and compliance paperwork, in English. For Australian brands, Janelle Rawlins, founder of Mindful Merch in Noosa, Queensland, coordinates our orders, so that first conversation can happen in your own time zone.
Language matters more than people admit. A measurement misunderstood in an email becomes 500 garments cut wrong. One of our clients in the Netherlands put it in his review: "They speak fluent English, which makes communication very easy."
What you receive at each stage
| Stage | What we send you | What you decide |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry | A reply within one business day, and a quote once we understand the garment | Whether the quote works |
| Sampling | A first sample, made in roughly ten days and sent by courier | Fit and comments; most brands need one or two rounds |
| Pre-production sample | The final sample, which we tag and keep as a sealed reference | Approval: this garment becomes the standard for everything after |
| Fabric | Fabric dyed to your approved lab dip | Colour approval |
| Bulk production | Photos at each production stage | Nothing, unless you see something you want to raise |
| Inspection | The inspection report against the agreed AQL standard | Whether to release the balance |
| Shipping | The commercial invoice, packing list and origin details, before the goods move | Nothing: we ship DDP and handle customs and duty |
Our guide to the garment manufacturing process explains each stage in more detail, including the four points where your approval stops the line.
How quality is controlled
Quality is not an opinion on our floor. It is a comparison. Your approved pre-production sample is tagged and kept as a sealed reference, and Walter Meyer, our QC lead with 38 years in quality control, measures production against it. Garments are inspected against AQL levels during the run as well as at the end, so a defect is caught at 200 pieces and not at 5,000. On a 150-piece run the team checks every garment. If you want to understand the numbers on the report, our guide to quality control and AQL explains them, and the free AQL calculator shows the sample size and limits for any order.
Time: what we say, and what moves it
Sampling takes about ten days, bulk production forty to fifty days once the pre-production sample is approved, then freight on top. The honest part is this: the clock starts at your approval, and it stops at each of your approvals. A lab dip that waits a week for a reply adds a week. The decisions that are yours are the tech pack, the lab dip, the pre-production sample and the inspection report, so answer those quickly and the dates hold. The launch date calculator counts back from the day you want to be on sale to the day an order has to be confirmed.
Money: when you pay, and for what
- Samples are charged at a fixed price, separately from bulk, confirmed in the quote before work starts.
- A deposit starts bulk production, and we buy your fabric and trims with it.
- The balance is due against the inspection report, before shipping. You see the result first.
- One landed cost. We quote DDP, so duty, clearance and freight are inside the price you approved.
We quote each order individually and keep no fixed price list, because the garment, the fabric and the quantity all move the figure. Our guide to reading a garment quote shows what to look for in any quote, including ours.
A small order is not a small client
Our minimum is 150 pieces per style and per colour. Some suppliers advertise less, and we do not claim to be the lowest. What we do claim is that the size of the order does not change how you are treated. A first-order brand gets the same tech pack help and photos at every production stage that large accounts get, the same sealed sample, the same QC team and the same inspection report. A first order is how a brand tests a factory, and we treat it that way.
What clients say, in their own words
These are quoted word for word from our public Google Business Profile, where you can read them in full.
"Very hard working people who want to please their customers and grow partnerships together. Homaira is very knowledgeable in the knit industry and always willing to learn more." Warren, Green Jeans, Canada
"They are very friendly, professional, and provide fast service. They speak fluent English, which makes communication very easy. The quality of their manufacturing is excellent." Burney Vaz Dias, Netherlands
"A thorough approach to detail governed by a genuine standard of quality. Masters of and partners in the process!" Donald Dolce, USA
What we will not promise
- The lowest minimum in Bangladesh. Ours is 150 pieces per style and colour, for garments cut and sewn from your own pattern.
- Everything under one roof. We own the cut-and-sew floor. Spinning, knitting and dyeing are done by partner mills we specify to and inspect.
- Every kind of garment. We make knitwear. For denim, jackets, woven shirts and tailoring we introduce our partner buying house, CMB Sourcing Ltd, which is a separate company.
- A price before we understand the garment. A quote given without questions is a guess.
We would sooner be described accurately than favourably. A factory that tells you what it does not do is easier to trust on what it says it does.
How to test any factory on the same points
Use this page as a checklist for whoever you are considering, not only for us. Ask who you will be dealing with and how quickly they reply. Ask what you will be sent during production. Ask whose sample production is measured against and who measures it. Ask when the balance is due and what you see before you pay it. Ask for an address, a certificate number and a video call. Our guides to questions to ask a manufacturer, avoiding manufacturer scams and choosing a factory in Bangladesh go further.
If you would like to test us, send us your brief. You do not need a tech pack to start, and we reply within one business day. You can also read more about clothing manufacturing in Bangladesh with us, or see our factory profile.
Frequently asked questions
How will I be kept updated while my order is being made?
You are sent something at every stage without having to ask. After your enquiry you get a reply within one business day and then a quote. During sampling you receive the physical sample by courier, usually in about ten days, and you send back fit comments. Once the pre-production sample is approved and the deposit is paid, we buy fabric and trims and send photos at each production stage, so you can see cutting, sewing and finishing as they happen. Before shipping we inspect against the agreed AQL standard and send you the report. The commercial invoice, packing list and origin details go to you before the goods move. If you would like to see the floor for yourself, we arrange a live video call during a working shift, or a visit in person. A first order of 150 pieces gets the same updates as a large bulk order.
Who will I be dealing with, and do they speak English?
You deal with the people who run the factory. Collective Studio is a family business led by Jashim Uddin and his daughter Homaira Jashim, and Homaira is the person most brands speak to. Conversations, quotes and paperwork are in English. Our floor in Narayanganj works Sunday to Thursday, 09:00 to 18:00 Bangladesh time, which overlaps a European morning, and our Amsterdam office covers the rest of the European working day for design conversations, samples and compliance paperwork. For brands in Australia, Janelle Rawlins, founder of Mindful Merch in Noosa, Queensland, coordinates our orders. Enquiries are answered within one business day. A client in the Netherlands wrote in his public Google review that we speak fluent English, which makes communication very easy. You can read that review, and the others, on our Google Business Profile, which is linked from this page.
How do I know the bulk order will match the sample I approved?
Because production is measured against that exact sample, by a named person. When you approve the pre-production sample, we tag it and keep it as a sealed reference. Walter Meyer, who leads our quality control and has 38 years in the trade, measures production against it. Garments are inspected against agreed AQL levels during the run as well as at the end, so a fault is found early and not after thousands of pieces are sewn. On a run of 150 pieces the team checks every garment. Fabric is dyed to the lab dip you approved, and you approve every label on the pre-production sample. Before the goods ship you receive the inspection report, and the balance is only due once you have it. If you want to check the report yourself, our AQL calculator shows the sample size and the accept and reject limits for your order.
Is a 150-piece order treated differently from a large one?
No. The process is the same at every size. A brand placing its first order of 150 pieces per style and colour gets the same tech pack help, the same sampling rounds, the same sealed pre-production sample, the same photos at every production stage and the same inspection report as an account ordering in bulk. The quality control team is the same team, led by the same person. What does change with size is the price per piece, because fabric and set-up costs are spread over fewer garments on a small run, which is why we quote each order individually. We also do not claim to have the lowest minimum in Bangladesh. Some suppliers advertise fewer pieces, often by decorating ready-made blanks, which is a different product. Ours is for garments cut and sewn from your own pattern. Many brands start small precisely to test a factory before they scale.
How can I check a factory in Bangladesh is real and reliable before I pay?
Ask for things the supplier cannot fake, and check them yourself. Start with a street address and put it on a map. Ask for a live video call from the production floor during a working shift, which an agent without a factory cannot give you. Ask for certificate numbers and the certificates themselves: a GOTS scope certificate names the certified company and site, and both should match the name on your quote. Ask for the company registration, tax and export licence numbers, and match them to the invoice. Read the reviews on the supplier's public Google profile, where the reviewers are named. Then look at the payment terms. A deposit to start and the balance against an inspection report means you see the result before you finish paying. We publish all of these for our own factory, so you can run every one of these checks on us.
Where this applies
The manufacturing pages this guide relates to, if you are costing a real run.
Free tools & guides for this
Sources & further reading
Have an idea? Let’s make it.
We manufacture from 150 pieces per style and colour, with GOTS-certified organic options and photos at every stage. Send a sketch or a sentence — we’ll reply within one business day.
