MANUFACTURING
Our facility will use environmentally sustainable production practices and pay our workers fairly for their skilled labor. Emerging designers, eco-fashion pioneers, and a growing business looking for a production partner to scale with, will all be ideal partners.
OFI’s manufacturing arm will offer consulting services to establish confidence and understanding before the client begins to bring concept to reality. We will offer a range of development services to prepare clients for manufacturing including: pattern drafting, sample making and grading - necessary first steps before manufacturing can begin. OFI will provide small batch (and scalable) manufacturing services for independent designers and established brands, utilizing manufacturing facilities in Oklahoma (and eventually in partner facilities across the DC Network).
TECHNOLOGY
Fashion Technology has become a rapidly growing and vibrant ecosystem. In 2009 total investments in Fashion Tech totaled $50 million; by 2014 the number had risen to $2.8 billion. OFI, and its partner institutions, want to be on the cutting edge of this trend. Supply chain modernization technology, the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence to help guide business decisions, or the incorporation of social media tools and platforms to impact purchasing decisions are all examples of Fashion Tech.
SMALL BATCH MANUFACTURING Our facility will specialize in small volume (low minimum cut and sew manufacturing) cuts of 6-500 pieces. This lends itself to emerging designers and new brands, high-end brands that require special handling or quality, brands seeking rush orders, or brands seeking runs for publicity or up-front inventory for start-up sales. All garments will be sewn by highly-skilled sewers capable of all garment categories, with special handling.
Services will include:
• Grading
• Marking
• Cutting
• Fusing (individual or block fusing)
• Send-out Coordination (screen printing, embroidery, pleating, etc)
• Production Sewing (6-500 pieces per style)
• Hand Sewing
• Trimming
• Packing
All small-volume production will be contracted with turnarounds of 4-8 weeks, with rush deliveries available in as little as 1-4 weeks. All projects will go through an intensive quality control check. A top-of-production (TOP) is provided for approval by the customer, with QC checks completed regularly during production, and upon completion, ensuring quality and timing meet our standards.
SUSTAINABILITY & ETHICS Sustainable fashion, also called eco fashion, is a part of the growing design philosophy and trend of sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system which can be supported indefinitely in terms of human impact on the environment and social responsibility. It can be seen as an alternative trend against fast fashion.
Slow fashion, the alternative to fast fashion, advocates for:
• Good: quality manufacturing lengthens the life of the garment
• Clean: production that does not harm the environment
• Fair: accessible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for producers
OFI is dedicated to ethical and sustainable practices, and have made it a central part of their mission to approach fashion in an ethical and transparent way that considers both people and the planet.