A flexible supply chain for functional knits: pick from stock fabrics and colours, get sample yardage fast, and start bulk sooner.
In short: Dozens of our best-selling fabrics are kept on a stock programme. Each comes with a trend-based colour card and dyed sample fabric we can cut straight away, and part of the greige is stocked so bulk starts sooner.
Why this is different for functional fabric
Most of our functions come from the yarn itself, such as wicking, cooling or opaque yarns, rather than only from a finish applied after dyeing. Finishes are available too when a programme needs them. Mills that make functional-yarn fabric usually work only to order, and custom yarn alone can take a long time, so lead times are long. We buy and hold the raw materials in advance, so a functional fabric can move from sample to bulk much faster.
Why we run a stock programme
Mibein also supplies China’s domestic market, where e-commerce and streetwear brands expect their fabric supplier to hold stock in advance. To serve them we keep dozens of fabric qualities ready: full colour cards based on current trends, dyed sample fabric in those colours, and part of the greige fabric on hand. Overseas designers, buyers and smaller brands can use the same programme.
How it works
- Choose a fabric and colour from the card. Each stock quality has a full colour card built around current trends. You pick from colours that already exist.
- We cut sample yardage from dyed stock. The colours are already dyed, so you can make your sample garments without paying for colour development or waiting for lab dips.
- Bulk starts from stocked greige. For some qualities we hold yarn, greige or dyed fabric in advance. Which qualities are stocked is adjusted on a rolling basis according to sales, so availability changes over time.
- Tell us early if an order is likely. If you share an expected quantity, we can reserve or prepare greige for you in advance to shorten the lead time further.
Two ways to find your fabric
Start from the garment
Designing a polo, a tee or a hoodie? Start with the garment, and we show the stock fabrics that suit it.
T-shirt · Polo · Golf shirt · Hoodie · Chino · Sweatpants
Start from the function
Developing a technical piece? Start from the property you need, with third-party test data from our development stage.
Moisture-wicking · Breathable · Cotton-feel · Stretch · Thermal · UV-protective · Opaque · Lightweight
What it changes for a smaller or newer brand
- Lower first-order risk. Our standard minimum is 150–400 kg per colour, about 500–1,000 m. When a colour is in stock, smaller quantities can be arranged, which avoids many of the upcharges that come with orders below MOQ or MCQ.
- Faster samples. We can meet almost every sampling request, and most qualities have at least one colour ready to cut, so sampling does not wait on development.
- Faster bulk. Dyed stock can ship anytime. Bulk from stocked greige takes about 15–25 days, and about 35–45 days when greige has to be knitted.
- Faster reaction to trends. Colour cards follow current trends, so you can test a colour in a small run and reorder if it sells.
Minimums, lead times and colour availability are confirmed for each quality when you enquire, because stock levels change with demand.
Example: a stock quality and its colour card
C23586 is a 180 g/m², 160 cm wide, 100% polyester lightweight hollow-yarn polar fleece on our stock programme. Its colour card currently carries 17 colours, from off-white and pastels to olive, navy and black. Each colour is available as sample yardage for development.
What to send us
- The garment you are designing, or the function you need.
- The fabric code if you have one, or a reference fabric or photo.
- Colours from the card, or your own colour if you need a custom shade.
- A rough quantity per colour and your target delivery date.
Ask for stock colour cards
Tell us the garment or the fabric code. We will reply with the stock qualities that fit, their colour cards and current greige status.