Hi ladies! We have always received questions about how our TCL apparels are made so here’s an insider look into what goes on during our manufacturing process!
When it comes to conceptualising designs, our co-founders Bree and Bert get inspirations from everywhere - from social media, from people they see on the streets, magazines and even their daily lives! Being inspired is part of their job and since they love what they are doing, it usually flows naturally!
On a monthly basis, our co-founders visit our factory overseas to check on the manufacturing process, try on new samples and to source for new fabrics and prints. There are new prints in the market everyday and monthly trips allow them to be updated with the newer prints!
It might sound easy but this calls for quite a bit of foresight on their part as there will be a lapse in time from when the design is sent in, production, manufacturing and the final launch of the apparel on our site. A typical timeframe from manufacturing till the time it’s launched takes about 3-4 months easily! Not an easy task but it is definitely something that comes along with experience in the industry!
We manufacture about 100-120 designs monthly and each piece goes through different stages in the production process. For eg, every single part of a single apparel is cut by the fabric maker. Once the different parts are cut, they are pieced together to form one single apparel.
This intriguing process is also one of the most important ones, calling for extreme precision so that we can deliver apparels of great fit and measurements!.gif)
.gif)
To ensure that every TCL apparel we produce is of great quality, Bree and Bert wear and try every piece of sample before they go into production. Some days are especially tiring as they try at least 40-50 samples at the factory and it takes up about 8-10 hours!
During which, they will make adjustments and alterations to the sample pieces. Such as adjusting the length, adding or removing details to better suit the vibes of the apparels. If the fit is off, more adjustments will be made and for some samples, a second or even a third sample are required before that design is passed on to the manufacturing stage. Some samples also fail the test and these are the ones that do not go past the sampling stage. 
Despite being technologically advanced, there is a lot of manual work involved in the manufacturing industry to ensure quality. For instance, all our buttons are hand-sewn to ensure that they are secure and every single piece of apparel is folded and packed by hand!
This is definitely a more time-consuming method to go for but quality is something that TCL strongly emphasises on. Our aim has been and will always be to deliver quality apparels that can withstand the test of time. Opting to stick by this method was a no-brainer for us after we weighed out our pros and cons!
Our co-founders also work closely with our team in the factory to strive to improve things - from the production process to the welfare of the workers! Every visit to the factory always inspires them as it is most rewarding seeing how the entire production team takes pride in their work.
Despite countless of visits (they shared they have made more than 50 trips!) that they have made to the factory, Bree and Bert shared with us that each visit still serves as a form of inspiration for them and they too, are constantly learning new things on every trip..gif)
Every apparel you see on The Closet Lover is the culmination of hard work from countless of people from behind the scenes. It is a joint effort from everyone! From the coming up of the design, to the sample, adjustments and eventual manufacturing, packing, shipping and actual listing of sale - there is an unspoken commitment from each one of us to deliver our promise of quality apparels to you ladies.
While there is definitely still room for improvement in parts of our daily operations, quality and style, we hope you ladies can feel our team's sincerity in delivering quality apparels at an affordable price! Everyday, our team is learning and striving to improve the experience that we deliver to you ladies based on the feedback that we receive.
There's no doubt that the learning will never end for us and we are glad to be part of this journey with all of you! We hope these little BTS snippets above gave you ladies a better idea of the story behind our TCL apparels! (:
If you ladies have any feedback or comments to share with us, feel free to drop us a note on our socials @theclosetlover or reach out to us via email at enquiries@theclosetlover.com! We're always here to listen and grow with all of you.
Till the next!
