Who Is Behind Represent's Manufacturing Process?

The Alibaba experience

Ok, After understanding in the first article why trying to partner with the manufacturer of your favorite brand is unlikely to work for 95% of smaller or new brands  - You probably ask yourself - What’s next for me?  How can I find a Manufacturer for my new clothing brand ?

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Why Alibaba seems like a promising solution but often fails in reality
• The hidden risks of sourcing manufacturers through wholesale platforms
• How months of searching, sampling, and hoping can lead to wasted time and money
• Why choosing the wrong manufacturer can damage your brand’s reputation permanently
• How we found a better path that will work for you as well

If you want to avoid the costly mistakes that many new brands make, read on to discover how to find a manufacturer that delivers on quality, ethics, and low MOQs—without the uncertainty.

After realizing the big guys don’t want to work with us or we can’t live up to their MOQ requirements, we started looking elsewhere. We went to a page called “Alibaba.com, a well known Chinese wholesale platform and the gateway to every product known to man, available to you in very low quantities. Here is how it went for us and I am sure for most you as well :  We spent hours and hours browsing through potential manufacturers that had products on their profile pages that looked like the ones we needed! Great! But wait a minute… that one picture there… isn’t that a photo from the original Gymshark website, only without the logo on the shirt?

I thought that’s not allowed? And look, another one - this one’s from Alphalete?! And yes, you are right - many of these manufacturers simply take those pictures from the original websites, erase the logo with Photoshop, and voilà, a new article for sale on the Chinese website. What’s the core information here?

1. Many of the items you see on Alibaba’s clothing manufacturers profile pages - are not “their” products. Those are often the original product pictures from foreign websites where the logo was photoshopped out. So the product picture you see - is often not the product they produce. You don’t know what their products actually look like - until it arrives at your doorstep.
2. Using original product pictures unfortunately is common practice on Alibaba. Although Alibaba claims to take steps to avoid these practices - It seems to us that they are not doing the best job.
3. What that means for you is - you don’t know what the actual product is going to look like or feel like until you order the sample and have it shipped - from China - to you. A sometimes very long and very costly process. Because even though the products seem cheaper than elsewhere, there is the shipping charges, the import or customs fees, the added taxes and other expenses that quickly pile up and suddenly its not so cheap anymore.
4. But wait, there’s more. After 5-7 weeks, you receive those samples. And you may discover the following : With some of them the fabric doesn’t have a good feel to it, others have a defect in the material and the stitching is uneven, there are samples that do not fit well, and others state size XL - but it actually feels like an S when you try them on. On the next one, the logo is not centered and peels off on one end. The material feels okay but has a strong chemical smell. This color does not look at all like the color you ordered, and so on. In all fairness, this is not always the case, sometimes you get lucky. But more often this is the experience you will have.

So, now you have spend a couple of hundred bucks on those samples, have a pile of clothing, and now you have even more questions and doubts than before: Is this what you can expect when ordering from them? What if all the items look like that - wrong logo, not the expected quality? Will the smell disappear? And you go and ask in the Alibaba chat room for clarification, and of course, they say this will not happen with the bigger orders. And now what? Do you believe and hope? Are you willing to put your entire budget - all the eggs you have - in this one basket? No, of course not. Because one wrong decision and one order of garbage and your dream of building a clothing brand is pretty much done.  So, you’re back at square one.

What’s next? Let’s try another country! One that’s easier to travel to and where maybe we can inspect the items beforehand. There are a few options like Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Turkey… but to make a long story short, the results are mainly the same. A lot of promises and still far from the desired results. You’ve now spent 6-12 months researching, waiting, and evaluating, haven’t made a single sale - because you have nothing to sell yet - and you spent a lot of money on bad samples and promises. I’ve heard many stories like that, and some dreams were crushed by that time. Many good ideas didn’t make it because of this.

Finding the Right Manufacturer for Your Brand

So, what’s the way to go now? How can I find the right manufacturer for my brand!? I’ll tell you what we did after exactly that experience.

Our mission from the start was that we wanted to provide a great product to our customers, manufactured sustainably and of great quality. We knew that better quality most likely means a little more expensive initial wholesale price. But we also understood that there’s a big, big risk in providing products that are just average - or even worse.

If customers find your product isn’t what they expected, they’ll return it, most likely never buy from you again, and tell their friends that your brand isn’t worth the money. With one wrong decision about who you’re going to trust with your collection - you could end it all. For good. Your brand name will have a hard time recovering, and so will your finances.

But back to what we did: We decided to keep looking for higher quality, ethical production, but with smaller quantities. Knowing it would cost a little more but most likely save our butts from bad surprises. We researched and found out that many of the successful brands had the label “Made in Portugal.” So, we went to Portugal.

We talked to a couple of manufacturers there, checked the samples and information, and decided to stop wasting time guessing and hoping and start making money. We ordered a collection of five different items: an oversized T-shirt, jogger, hoodie, shorts, and performance T-shirt - all with a very low MOQ, which allowed us to stay within our budget. The quality was amazing. We had not one - not a single - return, that was because of quality.

We had some because the size was not chosen right so we had those replaced. But no issues with quality. The opposite. The feedback was amazing and we’ve been doing this until we reached the point where we could afford placing larger orders.

With experience, market understanding, and knowing our customers, we increased our orders over time, decreased the production prices, and have run a successful brand ever since. During our time in Portugal we made connections and created a large network of all kinds of Clothing manufacturers for all types of products and today, we are able to fulfill any project that comes our way.

We have the best sources for fabric, the best smaller and larger manufacturers that we connect with the right clients based on their specific needs. I we would love to help you get started.

So if you are ready to leave the worries and uncertainties behind - Let’s talk!

FAQs About Finding the Right Manufacturer for Your Clothing Brand

Why Alibaba may not be the best option for finding a clothing manufacturer?

While Alibaba provides access to thousands of suppliers, many of the manufacturers misrepresent their products by using stolen images, making it impossible to know what you’re actually getting. Many startups experience poor quality, inconsistent sizing, incorrect branding, and long wait times for samples, making it a risky choice.

What are the biggest challenges of working with overseas manufacturers?

Some of the most common challenges include language barriers, inconsistent quality control, high shipping costs, and long lead times. Many manufacturers make big promises but fail to deliver on sample quality, and without in-person inspections, you may not know what you’re getting until it’s too late.

Why is finding a manufacturer with low MOQs so important for startups?

Startups need the flexibility to test their products, adjust based on customer feedback, and avoid large upfront costs. High MOQs force new brands to invest heavily before knowing whether their products will even sell, increasing financial risk.

What are the risks of working with low-cost manufacturers?

Choosing the cheapest option often leads to poor materials, weak stitching, inconsistent sizing, and high return rates. A single bad order can hurt your brand reputation, increase customer complaints, and result in lost sales.

Why choose Portugal for manufacturing?

Portugal is known for high-quality production, ethical labor practices. Portuguese factories focus on craftsmanship, consistency, and sustainability, making it a reliable option for startups that prioritize quality over quick, low-cost solutions.

How can I be sure that a manufacturer will deliver high-quality products?

The best way to ensure quality is by ordering samples, visiting the factory if possible, and working with manufacturers that have a proven track record. Our experience with Portugal-based manufacturers has shown that working with trusted, long-standing production partners leads to better results and fewer surprises.

How do I get started with finding the right manufacturer?

Instead of wasting months on trial and error, start by researching manufacturers with a reputation for quality, low MOQs, and transparent production practices. If you want guidance in this process, we can help you connect with experienced Portuguese manufacturers that align with your brand’s goals.