Women's Ready-to-Wear Wholesalers
Wholesale directory for the clothing trade — ready-to-wear.
Ready-to-wear — prêt-à-porter — is the fashion term for clothing marketed in a finished condition in standard clothing sizes. Some fashion houses create ready-to-wear lines that are mass-produced and industrially manufactured; others offer lines that are still very exclusive, produced in limited numbers for a limited time. Unlike haute couture, these lines are never one of a kind. This page lists a women's ready-to-wear wholesaler selling to the trade.
Ready-to-wear Guides and Resources
Women's Wholesale Clothing Categories
Women's Ready-to-Wear Wholesalers — Company Listings
Teddy
Teddy (Italy): Ready-to-Wear made in Italy. In 1961 Vittorio Tadei, who is the sole administrator of the Teddy company today, left his job as a public accountant to help his family in their clothing shop in Riccione. He was so successful at his new job that after a few years he created a small workshop specializing in the design and production of knitwear to be sold in his family store. Today, in 2006, Teddy is a global company. Its wholesale merchandise is distributed through a network of 7 distribution centers located in Bologna, Milan (Lachiarella), Milan (Cernusco), Paris, London, New York and Amsterdam and there are more then 9000 clients representing 92 different countries from around the world. Retail distribution includes 4097Terranova, Calliope and T&C stores located in 36 nations and 8 Rinascimento stores. Teddy Group statistics: turnover of 284 million Euro, over 400 people employed, utilizes over 1500 ancillary personnel.
What Ready-to-Wear Means for a Buyer
Ready-to-wear sits between couture and mass production. A couture garment is made for one customer; a ready-to-wear line is designed once, graded into standard sizes and manufactured in quantity, so a store can buy finished stock off the rail of the supplier's range rather than commissioning garments. High-end ready-to-wear lines are sometimes based on a famous gown or pattern, duplicated to raise the designer's visibility, which is why the same silhouette can appear at several price levels in one season.
For a store buyer, the term changes the questions that matter. There is no fitting-to-measure to hide behind: the line stands or falls on whether its standard sizes fit your customers, whether its fabrics and making justify its price tier, and whether the supplier delivers complete size runs on the agreed date. Ask how sizes are graded, which sizes a pre-pack contains, and what happens to your order if a fabric is substituted mid-production.
The Supplier on This Page
Teddy, listed below, is an Italian ready-to-wear company: the line is made in Italy and sold to retailers internationally. Italian ready-to-wear is bought on fabric quality and making — the hand of the cloth, the finish inside the garment, and the consistency of fit from one delivery to the next. Request the current line sheet and fabric compositions before ordering, and confirm minimum quantities per style and colour, since European lines often sell by the style rather than by the carton.
Season planning matters more with imported ready-to-wear than with domestic stock. Lines are shown and booked months ahead, shipping and currency add lead time, and a reorder of a strong seller may not be possible once the production run closes. Buyers who work with continental suppliers keep a season file — line sheets, order confirmations, delivery notes — for each house, so the next season's booking starts from what actually sold.
Price tiers inside ready-to-wear are wider than in any other department. At one end, industrially manufactured lines compete on price and volume; at the other, limited ready-to-wear from a named fashion house is produced in small numbers, sold through selected stores, and priced closer to couture than to the high street. Both are legitimately ready-to-wear — finished garments in standard sizes — so a buyer should judge a line against its own tier: the exclusive line on design, fabric and scarcity, the volume line on consistency, delivery and value across a full size run.
If you sell women's clothing at wholesale and are not listed, you can add your wholesale business to Apparel Search through the Add Your Company page in the footer.
Common Questions
What is ready-to-wear?
Clothing marketed in a finished condition in standard clothing sizes. Ready-to-wear lines are manufactured in quantity — some mass-produced, some exclusive and limited — but, unlike haute couture, they are never one of a kind.
Who is the ready-to-wear wholesaler listed here?
Teddy, an Italian ready-to-wear company whose line is made in Italy and sold to retail trade buyers. Its listing below gives the company's own description and website.
What should a buyer confirm before ordering imported ready-to-wear?
The size grading and pre-pack contents, fabric compositions, minimum quantity per style and colour, and the delivery date — imported lines are booked a season ahead and a sold-out style often cannot be reordered.