Key Steps for Small Brands Starting the Manufacturing Process by Product Development Expert Leslie Barbazette

With more that 20 years of experience, Leslie Barbazette is a distinguished product development and design expert with a robust portfolio in the fashion and design industry. Currently, she serves as the Vice President of Production and Operations at Karen Kane, a renowned family-owned apparel company based in Los Angeles. In this role, she has been instrumental in modernizing the company’s systems and processes, enhancing efficiency, and promoting smarter work strategies. Her hands-on approach and commitment to innovation have revitalized Karen Kane’s production capabilities, emphasizing local manufacturing with their cutting and sewing operations based in LA.

Barbazette started her career as a graphic designer in London and transitioned into the apparel industry after moving to Oakland in 2001. Her journey began in customer service for a small apparel brand, where she gained experience in various departments and discovered her passion for development and production. She then moved to Levi’s, where she worked in multiple roles over nine years, including a stint in Hong Kong.

Before joining Karen Kane, Barbazette held the position of Head of Product Development, Production, and Technical Design at The Great, while her significant tenure at Stitch Fix between 2018 and 2022 saw her create and lead the brand Mohnton Made, a sustainable knitwear line. Her expertise extends to managing the men’s product development and production team at Stitch Fix, where she implemented strategic initiatives such as fabric platforming, which significantly reduced lead times and increased production flexibility.

Barbazette’s journey is marked by a passion for quality, innovation, and sustainability. Her insights offer invaluable guidance for brands looking to navigate the complexities of product development and manufacturing, emphasizing the importance of efficiency, sustainability, and strong partnerships.

Can you tell us about your journey in the fashion and manufacturing industry and how you got started?

I was a graphic designer living in London after college and moved to Oakland in 2001 right after the tech bubble burst and there were thousands of out of work graphic designers. I worked in a bookstore and got a job with a small apparel brand doing customer service. As I learned the different departments in that brand, I found my way into development and production. A close colleague left the company for Levi’s where a temp opening came up and she recommended me for the position, and I got it. From there, I had several roles within Levi’s over nine years including a stint in Hong Kong working with the Denizen brand in 2010-2011. I really admired Levi’s commitment to fair labor practices and was proud to work there.

How has your role at Karen Kane allowed you to modernize systems and processes, and what impact has that had on the company?

In my role at Karen Kane, I focused on how to make “the system” (the PLM/ERP) work better for the team. The team was great at inputting info in the system, but would also add the same info into Excel spreadsheets because the system didn’t have good reporting, so they could never validate the info in the system as correct; creating two sources of truth, Excel and the system. I worked closely with the software company to upgrade reports so the team could stop using excel and rely on the info in the system. This made the team’s efficiency greatly increase, reduced double work, and errors were caught quickly because they could see what was input in the system.

How do you balance creativity and practicality in your role, and what advice do you have for others looking to do the same?

I try to always look for roles that have both, I find that when I’m in a creative role as the sole focus, I rarely have bandwidth outside of work to do anything creatively on my own. In those creative roles, there is always a lot of non-creative work to be done, and it can be a challenge to think creatively on the fly while answering emails and updating spreadsheets, but that’s usually what it takes; it’s very rare to have a lockdown of just creative thought in the workplace, so learn how to communicate creative ideas in the normal flow of work.

I think the best designers are the ones who understand the production process inside and out – they get how something is made and can push the boundaries to make something new and innovative within the framework of what’s possible. I would encourage creative people to learn the nuts and bolts of the production process – go to factories, ask questions – so you can be a better designer and better partner to your cross functional team.

What are the key steps small to medium businesses should take when starting their manufacturing process?

Find great manufacturing partners that share your vision and will grow with you. Bring them along, explain where you want to be in five years and how that benefits them, show them other brands like yours that have grown. Keep them updated on your business progress and how you are meeting or missing your goals and their role in that, good and bad. 

How can small brands effectively streamline their production processes to increase efficiency?

Invest in a PLM (product lifecycle management) tool from the beginning if you plan to have a lot of styles. Housing this info in a tool instead of across several Excel sheets will save you a lot of time in the future when you end up implementing one and need to go back and enter all of that info again. Bonus if you can find one that is tied to an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system already.

What are some best practices for optimizing production planning and scheduling for small businesses?

Use shared fabrics across multiple styles; this limits the amount of financial exposure you have across too many raw materials. Ensure you choose versatile fabrics that can span across multiple seasons. Holding stock in only a few fabrics gives you flexibility to ebb in and out of different styles and respond quickly to styles that work. Hold that fabric at your factory and work with the factory to give you a quick production timeline because fabric is on hand.

How important is it for brands to implement sustainable manufacturing practices, and what are some practical ways to start?

Very important. This comes back to partners you can trust. If you are partnering with someone that doesn’t pay their staff a fair wage or doesn’t pay overtime, how can you trust their integrity that they are shipping according to your spec? How will they handle quality issues, will they be upfront about them? Finding partners that work with integrity is key to the entire production process and brand integrity.

Can you share some strategies for managing and reducing production costs without compromising on quality?

Be curious. Work directly with your manufacturing partner and ask if your design is the most efficient it could be. You’ll find that if you’re flexible in the design, you can gain efficiency in yield/utilization of raw materials, decrease waste. The manufacturer is the expert in their machinery and staff and if they are seeing inefficiencies in your product and are charging you more for them, encourage them to let you know that and be open to feedback. Often you won’t be able to tell the difference in the finished product. 

What role does technology play in modern manufacturing, and how can small businesses leverage it to their advantage?

When I first started at Levi’s I was faxing tech packs overseas to get samples and production made. We’ve come a long way since then and there are improvements made continuously. Focusing on how to do something once, instead of twice or three times, is usually how I approach technology. Finding a system that everyone can access easily, including vendors so the info doesn’t need to be retyped in an Excel doc or email saves everyone time. Technology makes teams more efficient and more accurate. If you type something three times, chances are one of those times you’re going to have a typo, so type it once and let the system push it to the places it needs to go.

How should small businesses approach scaling their production as they grow?

Carefully. Build as much flexibility into the product line as possible, so you can share raw materials. Test new ideas with your manufacturers and pay more for them to produce less, take a lower margin on those runs, so you can test an idea at the right retail and see if it checks. If it does, make more at a lower price and your margin will increase.

What are the benefits and challenges of domestic manufacturing versus international manufacturing for small brands?

Domestic manufacturing provides fast lead times, quick development, and a close connection if you’re in the same city. Lower volume production is usually acceptable with domestic vendors because they are smaller operations, so this is generally a great option for small brands. If you’re in the US or Europe, that usually means production is more expensive, so looking for efficiencies is crucial to working domestically.

Overseas manufacturing is usually ahead of the curve on larger volume efficiencies, so if you’re growing fast and can meet overseas MOQs, you’ll increase your margin by going overseas, but you lose the close connection, quick development and fast lead times, generally. It’s necessary to weigh what’s most important at each stage of business growth – flexibility vs margin is usually what it comes down to and how to find the right manufacturing partners that can help you deliver both, because it’s rare.

How can brands create a robust quality control system that catches defects early in the production process?

It’s important to clearly communicate upfront with your manufacturer what your requirements are when it comes to quality. There are multiple levels of industry standards and figuring out where your brand lands in that landscape is important. If your production is made locally, stop by during production and see it going through the lines, ask questions and point out where something isn’t up to standard. If you’re working overseas, enlist a company to do a third-party audit and ensure your production is meeting spec before it ships. The biggest issue I see is brands don’t take the time to understand the industry standard quality matrix so they don’t know how to communicate their expectations to their manufacturers.

How can brands use data and analytics to improve their manufacturing efficiency and product quality?

Look for trends in the data that tell you what resonates with your customer and focus on that. Look at customer returns and understand why something is being returned – is it a quality issue? Does it meet spec? Keep track of this information and look for trends that can inform product quality issues and address them with your manufacturers.