Most of the questions I get aren't about yarn count. They're about timing. So here's the short version: from a confirmed order we ship in 2 working days, and air freight to the EU or the US runs 3-5 days on top of that. That's the entire physical timeline. Which means the shirting fabric buying calendar is rarely a logistics problem - it's a decision problem. The planes aren't the bottleneck. Your approval loop is.
Start with the sample book. We organize them by series, one volume per series, and each volume carries every in-stock design in that series - so you're not chasing swatches one at a time. There's a 工本费 in principle, and it's negotiable; long-term clients get them free. Once you confirm, books ship in 1-2 working days. Any inquiry, email or phone, gets a reply and confirmation within 24 hours on business days. I'd rather send you three series and have you reject two than send one and have you guessing.
On quantity: 1米起订, cut in 0.1m increments, so you can take a colourway without committing to a roll. Volume pricing starts at 50米 (95折), 100米 (9折), 300米 (85折), freight excluded. If you're building a season, consolidate. One 300米 order across four colourways beats four 50米 orders on price, and it gets woven once instead of four times. Commercial terms stay simple: HKD, FOB, payment before shipment. No letter-of-credit gymnastics.
Here's why the calendar actually bites. We work with 2500+ partner tailors and ship 5000 sample books a year. Read that as a demand signal: everybody samples in the same window you do. If your fabric decision lands late, you aren't waiting on our lead time - you're waiting in a queue behind people who decided earlier.
The fabric side is straightforward enough. Long-staple cotton, 40-200 纱支, 100-200 g/sqm, 140-150 cm width, DP3.5 non-iron. We've been shipping since 2009, so the specs haven't drifted on us.
Build your calendar backwards from the day finished shirts need to leave your door. Add cutting, sewing, finishing, pressing, then your own account shipping. Our piece is 2 working days plus 3-5 in the air - it's the smallest block on the chart and the one people obsess over anyway. Budget your real weeks for lab dips, fit approvals and the two revisions your buyer always asks for. Order fabric so you're cutting with margin, not cutting in a panic.
Send me your season's target weight and construction - email or phone, and you'll have a confirmation within 24 hours on a business day - and I'll point you at the series worth sampling. Full range at gianvitomilano.com.
#shirtingfabric #textilesourcing #leadtimes
Shirting fabric sourcing: How a bespoke shirt maker should…
#Shirting #FabricSourcing
