How Much Does an Apparel Consultant Cost?

The four ways consultants charge

Hourly or per session

You buy a block of time against a specific problem. Best for a defined question — review this cost sheet, critique this tech pack, sanity-check this factory. Low commitment, easy to test someone with, and the model least likely to drift.

Fixed project fee

A defined deliverable for a defined price — a complete tech pack, a factory shortlist with vetted quotes, a costing rebuild. Best when the scope is genuinely knowable up front. Ask what happens if the scope changes, because in apparel it often does.

Monthly retainer

Ongoing access and a standing commitment of time. Best once the work is continuous rather than episodic — you are in development or production and questions arrive weekly. Cheaper per hour than ad-hoc, and the model where you most need a written scope.

Percentage of production spend

A commission on what you spend with the factory. Common with sourcing agents. We do not work this way, and we would encourage you to think hard before anyone advising you on cost is paid more when your costs go up.

What actually drives the number

• Scope — one deliverable, or running the whole production process
• Product complexity — a jersey tee and a tailored jacket are not comparable work
• Number of styles, colourways and sizes
• What already exists — a brand with designs and a reference garment needs less work than a sketch
• Whether sourcing is domestic, overseas, or both
• Whether you need someone physically on a factory floor
• How fast you need it — compressed timelines cost more everywhere

Think about it against the cost of being wrong

The comparison that matters is not “advice versus free”. It is advice versus the cost of the mistake it prevents. A first production run with the wrong minimums, a fabric you cannot reorder, a cost sheet that hides your real margin, or a deposit paid to a supplier who cannot deliver — each of those is routinely worth multiples of what the advice costs.

That logic cuts both ways. If the decision in front of you is small, the advice is not worth buying, and we will tell you so.

How we quote

1. A free discovery call to understand the product, the stage and the blocker
2. We tell you which engagement fits — including “none of them, here is what to do first”
3. A written scope with deliverables, so you know what you are buying
4. A fixed figure for that scope, before you commit to anything
5. If the scope changes, we re-quote rather than invoice a surprise

We publish the models rather than a price list because quoting a number before understanding the product would be guessing, and you would be comparing our guess to someone else’s guess.

Comparing quotes properly

If you are weighing up several consultants, normalise them the same way you would normalise factory quotes:

• What exactly is the deliverable, in writing?
• How many revision rounds are included?
• Who owns the tech packs, patterns and factory relationships afterwards?
• Is there any payment from a factory or supplier involved? Ask directly.
• What happens if the scope changes?
• What is explicitly excluded?

Two quotes with the same number can be very different pieces of work. The one that specifies less is not cheaper; it is just less specified.

Where the free option is genuinely enough

Our guides and templates are free and ungated for a reason — a brand that specs properly, costs honestly and inspects against a standard does not need to pay for the basics. Work through those first. If you get through them and the blocker is still there, that is the point at which paying for help is worth it.