Three starting points: catalog, OEM, ODM
Every intimates program starts from one of three positions. A catalog program takes an existing, proven style and applies the buyer's brand to it - labels, hangtags, packaging - which is the fastest route and carries the lowest minimums. An OEM program hands the plant a buyer-written tech pack and has the style built to it: new pattern, fit sessions, a sealed sample. An ODM program asks the plant to develop, with the buyer selecting and adjusting from the plant's proposals; a first ODM program typically runs longest, 60-90 days to bulk, because development sits in front of production. The route chosen decides the minimum, the sample timing and how much of the fit risk the buyer carries into the first order.
What a minimum actually counts
The first thing to fix in the conversation is the unit: an intimates MOQ counts pieces per color, not pieces per style. A five-color brief program at a 2,000-piece-per-color reference is a ten-thousand-piece program to the cutting table, the dye lot and the inspection schedule. Buyers who model quantity per color early make calmer decisions about color counts and ladder depth, and the arithmetic is the same for bras, where a three-color program at 1,000-3,000 pieces per color lands between three and nine thousand pieces depending on where in the range the color count and the per-color quantity settle.
Two habits keep the counting honest. First, quote every color at the same quantity: a mixed inquiry - three colors at one figure and two at another - returns numbers that cannot be compared like for like. Second, state the quantity per color in the brief, not only the total, because plants schedule by color, and a total without the split invites assumptions that surface later at the dye lot.
What the minimum does not include
A quantity range answers one question only: how many pieces per color a plant will schedule. It does not answer what happens around the run. Development work on a new pattern, lab reports ordered per lot, custom packaging runs and freight all sit outside the piece count and are agreed as separate lines in the program sheet. This is why two programs at the same reference quantity can carry very different workloads: one reuses a proven style and an existing trims card, the other develops lace, dyes elastics to match and prints a custom pack. When comparing options, buyers do well to compare the whole program sheet rather than the piece figure alone - the note on intimates cost factors walks the lines that surround the piece.
Why the minimums exist
Minimums are not a negotiation posture; they track setup work that does not shrink with the run. A pattern must be made and marked. A dye lot must be mixed at a workable volume. Lace development typically carries its own mill minimum, commonly 500-1,000 meters per colorway, before any garment is cut. Findings - hooks, sliders, rings, bows - are ordered per thousand against the trims card. A size set must be sewn and approved across the ladder before bulk releases. Each of these steps costs roughly the same whether the run is large or small, which is why the smallest workable runs cluster around the catalog models, where most of the setup already happened once.
Typical reference ranges
The table below collects the reference ranges the desk plans against. They are typical across the category, not quotes for a specific order; every figure is confirmed in writing for each program, and the current table sits on the MOQ and lead time page.
| Program type | Typical starting quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Branded bra, own tech pack | 1,000-3,000 pieces per color | New pattern, fit sessions and sealed sample in scope |
| Catalog bra model with branding | 500-1,000 pieces per color | Existing proven style, label and pack changed |
| Panties: brief, bikini, boyshort, thong | 2,000-5,000 pieces per color | Higher piece counts, lighter garments |
| Period styles | 1,000-2,000 pieces | Layered gusset construction, per spec sheet |
| Lace fabric development | 500-1,000 meters per colorway | Mill minimum before any garment is cut |
| Findings: hooks, sliders, bows | Per thousand | Ordered against the trims card, not per garment |
Sizes inside the minimum
A minimum counts across the size ladder, not per size. The breakdown - how many pieces of each size within the color - is a planning decision of its own: a marketplace style often runs a core ratio heavy on the sizes that sell and light at the ladder ends, while a brand launch may weight the ladder more evenly to gather fit data. Either way, the grade rules and the size set are approved before bulk, because a minimum spent on a ladder with a broken grade is the most expensive way to learn sizing. The mechanics continue in the note on sizing and grading for production.
Sample and bulk timing around the minimum
Timing references follow the same pattern. Catalog-model samples typically run 7-15 days, branded samples 15-25 days and custom-printed work 20-35 days. Bulk typically runs 30-45 days for a catalog model, 35-50 days for a branded style and 60-90 days for a first ODM program. These sit on the same page as the quantities and are confirmed in writing per program; the practical use is calendar planning. A program that must land in a warehouse by a date works backward through bulk, inspection and freight from that date, not forward from optimism.
Shaping a first program inside the ranges
Three habits keep a first program inside the workable ranges. Cut colors before cutting depth per color: two colors at a healthy run per color sell through better than five colors at a thin one, and a reorder is cheaper than a first run. Start from a catalog model with private-label branding and move the style to full OEM at reorder, once the market has voted. Keep the first ladder conservative - the core sizes - and extend toward the ends once real size data exists. The branding layer is covered in the note on private label intimates and the standing options on the OEM and private label page.
How the desk plans a program
The desk coordinates the whole sequence: brief, shortlist by family, samples, size set, bulk, inspection. A brief sent through the quote form with lines, colors and quantity per color comes back with matched plants and the reference table for the program, and the wider process context sits in the note on sourcing intimates from China. Nothing in the ranges above is a promise about a specific order until it is confirmed in writing - which is exactly how a planning figure should behave.