Me at 3:30 AM After Half a Bottle of 白酒 in the Taxi to the Hotel Agreeing with the 司机 Why 湖南 Is the Best. I’ve Never Been to Hunan. [start a clothing brand]

(And I’m slurring “对对对” like I’ve got roots in Changsha.)

It’s late. Real late.

I’ve just survived a 4-hour factory dinner complete with every regional dish you can deep-fry, boil, or drown in chili oil — and about six uninvited toasts of 白酒 that I was too polite (or too tipsy) to refuse.

Now I’m in a taxi with a driver telling me, unprompted, that Hunan is the best province in China. I have no evidence to support or refute this claim. But I’m nodding with conviction, agreeing wholeheartedly, probably shouting “辣椒最棒！” because I want the ride back to feel like a diplomatic win.

If you’re laughing, you’re probably in production.

If you’re confused, you’re probably about to be.

Either way: welcome to what it really looks like to start a clothing brand.

This is the kind of chaos no one includes in their 5-step Instagram post titled “How I Launched My Brand in 30 Days.”

But this? This is the real syllabus.

And it’s exactly why I made Garment Sourcing 101.

Because beneath every funny sourcing story is a lesson.

And beneath every lesson is the brutal truth: starting a clothing brand requires more than taste. It requires tolerance — for people, processes, pressure, and yes, for poorly timed baijiu.

If You’re Starting a Clothing Brand, You’re Gonna End Up in Weird Situations

No one tells you this upfront.

They tell you about:

• Picking Pantones

• Setting up Shopify

• Designing logos

They don’t tell you about:

• Sitting through a 12-dish banquet where your supplier insists you try goose neck

• Pretending to understand dialect at a speed that should be illegal

• Agreeing to a shipping date just to escape the dinner table

And yet — this is all part of sourcing.

When you start a clothing brand, you’re not just building product. You’re navigating an entire supply chain culture — with its own rules, rhythms, and deeply embedded traditions. Some of those are contractual. Most are relational.

And if you don’t understand both? You’ll get burned, baijiu or not.

The Real Cost of Not Knowing the System

I didn’t always get this.

In my first few years working with factories, I thought the work was mostly technical: get the fabric right, make a solid spec sheet, negotiate price, approve samples.

But that’s just the surface.

The real success happens in the unspoken:

• Did the factory want to do a good job for you?

• Did they feel respected?

• Did they see you as a one-off or a partner?

Because when a problem happens — and it will — the answer you get depends entirely on the relationship you’ve built. That’s what they don’t teach you on YouTube.

And that’s what I unpack in Garment Sourcing 101: how to not only source product, but build leverage — the kind that keeps your production on track and your stress levels (somewhat) contained.

15+ Years In, and I Still Smile and Numbly Agree at 3:30 AM

You’d think that after a decade and a half of sourcing and manufacturing, I’d start declining these dinners, avoiding the rituals, and flying out before the Friday toast-fest begins.

Nope.

Because I’ve learned this: the factory floor isn’t always where the most important deals happen.

Sometimes it’s in the taxi.

Sometimes it’s over hotpot.

Sometimes it’s on your third baijiu when the factory owner leans in and says,

“We had another order lined up, but we’ll prioritize yours.”

That’s what happens when you play the long game. When you understand that manufacturing isn’t just operational — it’s relational.

And sometimes? That means becoming an overnight Hunan enthusiast just to keep the peace.

Starting a Clothing Brand Is Not a Solo Pursuit

Here’s the trap a lot of new founders fall into: they think it’s about their vision.

And sure — it starts that way.

But pretty soon, you realize that to bring your vision to life, you’re going to need a small army of people across the world who actually care.

Which means:

• Communicating clearly

• Building respect

• Following up like a pro

• And, occasionally, saying “干杯!” with a smile, even though you want to cry

You don’t need to drink your way through dinner to build a great brand. But you do need to understand the power dynamics, the nuances, and the systems behind sourcing. That’s where your leverage lives.

That’s where real production happens.

You Can’t Fake This Part

Design you can fake. Marketing you can outsource.

But production? Sourcing? Supplier relationships?

That’s the part you have to earn.

You earn it by:

• Knowing what you’re talking about

• Asking the right questions

• Documenting everything

• And showing factories that working with you is worth it

That’s what Garment Sourcing 101 gives you — the roadmap to becoming that kind of founder. The one suppliers trust. The one who gets texted first when a fabric is short. The one who gets real ETAs instead of empty promises.

And yes — the one who knows how to nod along in a taxi and still get the production done the next morning.

Final Word (From the Back Seat)

You don’t have to pretend you’ve been to Hunan.

You don’t need to know every dialect or drink anyone under the table.

But if you’re starting a clothing brand, you do need to understand the full picture:

That this industry runs on people just as much as it runs on process.

That your sourcing wins are built long before the PO is signed.

And that surviving the late-night taxi rides, the awkward dinners, the surprises in sampling — isn’t just part of the job. It is the job.

So learn the language.

Build the system.

Respect the culture — even if you don’t understand every word.

And next time someone tells you Hunan is the best?

Just smile, agree, and know you’ve already won — because you’re building your brand the right way.

Even if you’ve never been.