Blog
Matias Santos, Founder
The most common miscalculation in clothing brand building is the production timeline, not by a small margin but by a factor of two or three. A founder budgets eight weeks from brief to product in hand. The real number, for a first order with a new factory, is more often five to seven months. This isn't a Portugal problem or a factory problem. It's a structural feature of how apparel production works, and the gap between expectation and reality is concentrated in specific, predictable stages. Here is the honest, stage-by-stage breakdown of what a full production cycle actually looks like.
Jun 20, 2026
Matias Santos, Founder
The standard payment structure in clothing manufacturing is 30% deposit before production, 70% balance before shipment. Most brand founders accept this split as if it's a law of nature. It isn't. It's a default optimised for the factory's interests, and most brands never negotiate it because they don't know what's actually negotiable. Payment terms are where more first-time brands lose money than in any other part of the process, not through fraud, but by structuring payments that leave them no leverage when a factory delivers late, wrong, or inconsistently. Here is how to structure terms that protect you without souring the relationship.
Jun 20, 2026