Start with the customer, not the catalog
Many new hijab brands begin with a mood board and a long list of colors. The brands that reach a confident second order usually begin somewhere else: with a clear picture of who will wear the product, where they will buy it and what frustrates them about what they buy today. A hijab that slips during a commute, a chiffon that needs two pins and an underscarf before it sits right, a jersey that turns see-through when stretched, a print that fades after a few washes. Each of these complaints is a product brief waiting to be written.
Write down three things before you contact any supplier. Who the customer is: students, working professionals, parents buying for the family, people new to wearing a hijab, or gift buyers. Where you will sell: your own online store, marketplaces, social channels, pop-up events or a community shop. And what your first range does better than what is already on the shelf. These three answers decide the fabric, the shapes and the price position, and they make every later conversation with a workshop shorter and more useful.
Choose a narrow first range
A first range does not need every style. It needs a few products done well, in colors that reorder. A common starting point is two styles in two fabrics: a jersey rectangle for everyday wear and a modal or chiffon rectangle for dressier looks, or a jersey instant hijab with a matching underscarf. Our hijab styles overview maps the shapes and the fabrics that suit them, and the fabric guide compares grip, drape and opacity.
Minimums are counted per color and per design, so breadth costs more than depth. Eight colors in one fabric ties up more stock than four colors in two fabrics, and usually leaves more slow sellers. Start with a core of dependable neutrals, add two or three seasonal shades, and let sales tell you where to go deeper. The range planning guide explains how to set depth per color and when to add a print.
The table below lists the decisions a first range needs and where each one ends up in writing. If a decision is not written down, it will be made for you, usually by whoever is cutting the fabric.
| Decision | What to settle | Where it is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Customer and channel | Who buys, where, and what problem the range solves | Your brief |
| Shapes | One or two styles to start | Spec sheet |
| Fabric | Fiber, stretch, opacity and feel; weight confirmed on the spec sheet | Spec sheet and approved swatch |
| Size | For example a rectangle around 70x180 cm, adjusted to your customers | Spec sheet |
| Edge finish | Overlock, rolled hem, pressed hem or laser cut on some knits | Spec sheet and sewn sample |
| Colors | Core neutrals plus seasonal shades, each with a color reference | Lab dip approvals |
| Labels and packaging | Fiber content, origin, care, identity, bag and tag | Label artwork and packing spec |
| Quantities | Pieces per color against reference minimums | Written confirmation before bulk |
Understand minimums and the calendar
Reference ranges help you plan a budget before you ask for a quote. For stock colors in standard styles, workshops in the Yiwu cluster typically start from about 50 to 100 pieces per color. Custom-dyed colors usually start higher, often set by the dye lot. Custom prints typically start from about 100 pieces per design, depending on fabric and print method. Every figure is a typical reference range and is confirmed in writing for each program; the MOQ and lead time page shows how fabric, color and print change them.
Time matters as much as quantity. Stock samples can ship in days. Custom samples take about seven working days in published examples, up to around two weeks for new prints or colors. Bulk production typically takes about 25 to 35 days after sample approval, and longer in the busy period before Ramadan and Eid. Demand in this category peaks ahead of those dates, and the dates move each year with the Islamic calendar. Work backward from your launch date, add shipping and a margin for a second sample round, and you will see when the brief needs to be ready.
Build your label from day one
A brand is a promise that the next scarf will match the last one. That promise lives in the label and the spec sheet. In the United States, a hijab is a textile product: the label states fiber content by generic name and percentage, country of origin, and the identity of the company responsible, by name or RN. Care instructions are expected on wearing apparel, and whether a particular scarf or cap is covered is a classification question for your compliance adviser. Fabric sold as bamboo jersey is labeled as viscose or rayon made from bamboo. Our compliance overview summarizes the rules, and private label covers sewn labels, hang tags and packaging.
Sample like you plan to wear it
A sample is not a photograph prop. Wear it for a day. Wash it the way the care label will say. Hold it up to a window to check opacity. Pin it, unpin it and pin it again to see whether the fabric marks. Look at the edge where it falls near the face, because that is where customers look first. Check the shade in daylight and under shop lighting, because some dyes shift. Write down what you liked and what you would change, then send those notes back in one message rather than in pieces.
Once you approve a sample, keep it. The approved sample, the spec sheet and the lab dip cards are what bulk production is checked against, and they are what a reorder is matched to a season later.
Launch, listen, then reorder
The first weeks after launch are research. Track sales by color, not just by style. Read every question customers ask on product pages and in messages, because the same three questions usually come back. Record why items are returned: too short, too slippery, see-through, wrong shade. These notes are the brief for your second order.
A good reorder deepens the colors that sold, drops the ones that did not, and adds one new thing: a fabric, a shape or a print. It keeps the spec sheet unchanged unless there is a reason to change it, so customers who loved the first batch get the same product. If you want to change a fabric or a finish, sample it again rather than assuming it will behave the same.
Where the desk fits
We coordinate partner workshops in the Yiwu scarf and modest-wear cluster for brands at every stage, from a first range of a few colors to repeat programs. We write the spec sheet with you, manage lab dips and strike-offs, check bulk against the approved sample and keep every figure in writing. When you have a customer, a channel and a first idea of the range, send it through the sample request form; the first reply names a fabric, a sampling plan and the questions still open.