Lingerie Manufacturing Cost Breakdown: Where the Money Actually Goes

The six blocks inside an FOB price

The table below gives the ranges we see on a lace bra set produced in the 1,000 to 3,000 piece range. The shares are structural, not a quotation: a seamless bonded bra moves weight away from labour and into fabric and moulding, while a heavily embellished set does the opposite.

Fabric is decided by the marker, not by the metre price

Buyers usually compare lace by price per kilogram. The number that actually lands in the FOB price is price per finished garment, and that depends on how much of the width is usable in the marker.

• A lace that is 15 cm wide and a lace that is 22 cm wide can carry a similar kilogram price and produce a 25 to 35 percent difference in consumption per set.
• Stretch lace and rigid lace are not interchangeable. Choosing rigid lace to save cost usually forces a different cup construction, which adds labour back.
• Satin is specified in momme. Moving from 16 to 19 momme adds weight and drape and raises cost in a way that is visible on the hangtag but invisible in a photo.
• Moulded cups carry a mould cost per size. On a five-size run, that cost has to be absorbed by the order; on a one-size sample it looks negligible.

This is the first place where a cheap quote is usually explained: the sample was made with a better lace than the bulk order will be. Ask for the lace article number and the width in writing before you compare prices.

Trims are where thin quotes hide

Trims are small, numerous, and easy to substitute without changing how a sample looks in a photograph. Four items account for most of the gap:

• Underwire. A quality coated underwire with a sealed tip costs several times what an uncoated wire does, and the difference shows up after ten washes, not on the sample table.
• Hook-and-eye. Two rows by three hooks versus three rows by four hooks changes both trim cost and sewing time on the back wing.
• Strap elastic. Width, recovery and the finish on the edge all move the price. Elastic that loses recovery turns a 34B into a returning customer complaint.
• Labels. A woven main label, a printed care label and a heat-transfer size label are three different cost lines. Own-brand production usually needs all three.

Labour tracks the number of operations, not the clock

A lace bra typically moves through 40 to 70 separate operations before it is packed. The count is driven by construction, and it is the reason a simple bralette and a moulded balcony bra with the same fabric can differ by a wide margin.

Why order size changes the unit price more than buyers expect

Six fixed costs get divided by the order quantity. At 1,000 pieces they are heavy; at 5,000 they are almost invisible:

1. Pattern making and grading across the size run.
2. Development sample, fit sample and salesman sample rounds.
3. Mould or dye lot set-up when a colour is not in the running range.
4. Printing plates or engraving for branded labels and packaging.
5. Line changeover time, which is paid whether the order is large or small.
6. Testing: one test report covers one order, so a small order pays the same absolute amount.

This is not an argument for ordering more than you can sell. It is an argument for knowing where your break point is: on most lace sets the unit price falls noticeably between 1,000 and 3,000 pieces per style per colour, and much less between 3,000 and 10,000. Our stated minimum is 1,000 to 3,000 pieces per style per colour depending on fabric and construction.

Six things that quietly add cost after the quote

1. Small quantity surcharge. Below the minimum, the same fixed costs are spread over fewer pieces.
2. Rush orders. Jumping the queue means paying overtime or moving another customer out of a line.
3. Custom colour. Dyeing below the dye-house minimum creates a minimum charge regardless of your quantity.
4. Custom packaging. A branded box needs a die, a minimum print run and storage.
5. Extra testing. Retailer-specific protocols, fibre composition testing or additional colourfastness panels.
6. Payment terms. Longer terms are financed somewhere, and it appears in the price rather than on the invoice.

How to compare two quotes on equal terms

A unit price means nothing on its own. To compare properly, six things must be identical on both sides:

• The same tech pack, including the size range and the measurement table.
• The same fabric article numbers, widths and weights.
• The same trim list: underwire, hook-and-eye, elastic, labels.
• The same order quantity per style per colour.
• The same packaging and carton configuration.
• The same Incoterm and the same testing scope.

If a quote cannot be broken down into these six lines, it is not a comparable quote yet. Ask for the breakdown. A factory that cuts and sews in its own workshop can tell you which block is carrying the cost, because it pays those costs every month.

If you want to see how these blocks work on a real product, the category pages below show construction, materials and minimums for each line we run: bra manufacturing, satin pajamas and loungewear, swimwear and seamless bonded underwear.