Selection and quality control
How we select and control quality
A brand that produces with Riccitelli Milano never has to find, vet or supervise a factory. That is our work, and it is done before the brand arrives. This page explains how we choose the Italian workshops that make each collection, how we keep them to our standard, and what the brand receives as proof.
Our workshops and mills remain confidential. What we publish is the method, because the method is what a brand is actually buying.
Produced in Italy, answered for in Milan
Specialisation first
A workshop that says it can make any category of clothing is a warning sign. Tailoring goes to tailoring rooms, knitwear to knitwear specialists, leather to leather workshops, jersey to jersey lines.
Trial before trust
New workshops start with development and samples under our technical direction, then with a limited production we inspect in full, before they are given volume.
Standards in writing
Every workshop works under our written quality standard, our code of conduct and our confidentiality terms, with the certifications the product requires checked before the first order.
Reviewed every season
Dates kept, defect rates at inspection, consistency between samples and production, and how problems were handled decide what a workshop is assigned next.
Quality control, stage by stage
We do not work with a workshop because it answered an email. A workshop enters our chain after it has been visited by our team, after we have seen the rooms, the machines and the people at work, and after it has made something for us that we could judge with our own hands.
Materials in
Fabrics and trims are checked on arrival against the approved reference: colour, hand, weight, defects, shrinkage where relevant. A lot that fails does not go to the cutting table.
Development
First patterns and samples are fitted with the brand, with written fitting notes at each round. The industrial sample that goes into production is one we have approved together, with the tech pack updated to match.
Pre production sample
Before bulk cutting, a sample made in the production workshop, in the production fabric, is signed off by the brand. Nothing is cut in volume before that signature.
In line
Our team inspects during production as well as at the end: cutting, construction, measurements against the spec, pressing. Deviations are caught while they can still be corrected.
Final inspection
Finished garments are inspected against the approved sample and the measurement chart, on a sampling plan sized to the order, with a written report the brand receives before shipment. A brand that uses its own or an independent inspector is welcome to do so, and the appointment is arranged through our team.
When something goes wrong
Production has problems. The difference is who carries them. If a lot fails inspection, we say so, we show the report and we propose the correction, the remake or the split delivery. The brand hears it from us, before the shipment, with the numbers. This is what answering for the result means, and it is the reason brands keep producing with us season after season.
Proof at every stage
Each document exists because a sourcing manager once asked for it. They are part of every programme, not extras.
Chosen by proof, kept by results
- Step 01Visit
Our team sees the rooms, the machines and the people at work before anything is placed.
- Step 02Development first
Samples and development under our technical direction, judged with our own hands.
- Step 03Limited production
A first run inspected in full before the workshop is given volume.
- Step 04Standards and certifications
Written quality standard, code of conduct, confidentiality terms, certifications checked.
- Step 05Seasonal review
Dates kept, defect rates, consistency and problem handling decide the next assignment.
The same method applies to a workshop that has produced with us for years. A place in our chain is kept by results, not by habit.
One contract, from the yarn to the campaign
Riccitelli Milano produces the collection and, if the brand wants it, the images that sell it.
The same team that follows the garments from the fabric to the packed order can produce the campaign, the lookbook and the launch from Milan, on the same calendar and under the same confidentiality. For brands producing in Italy from abroad, this is the shortest path between the first sketch and the first sale.
What brands tell us about their last producer
- Supervision"We spent more time supervising the factory than designing the next season."
Supervision is our work. The brand receives fitting notes, a pre production sample to sign and inspection reports, and deals with one team in Milan.
- Samples"The sample was perfect and the bulk arrived different."
Bulk is cut only after the pre production sample, made in the production workshop in the production fabric, is signed off. In line inspection catches drift while it can still be corrected.
- Silence"Problems reached us when the shipment did, and nobody had said a word."
If a lot fails inspection we say so before the shipment, with the report and a proposal: correction, remake or split delivery.
- Generalists"The factory said it could make anything, and it showed."
Each category is assigned to the workshops built for it. A workshop that claims every category is exactly the one we do not use.
Frequently asked
How do you choose the workshops that make my collection?
By specialisation and by proof. A workshop enters our chain after a visit by our team, after development and samples under our technical direction and after a limited production we inspect in full. It works under our written standards and is reviewed every season.
Will I know which factory makes my garments?
The brand knows the category of workshop, the region and everything recorded in the production file and in the passport. The workshops themselves stay confidential: they are part of the service we provide, and we answer for their work.
Do you make a pre production sample before bulk?
Yes, always. A sample made in the production workshop, in the production fabric, is signed off by the brand before anything is cut in volume.
What happens if a sample is wrong?
It is corrected in the next round with written fitting notes. Sample rounds are part of the scope agreed at the start, and nothing goes into production until the brand has approved the industrial sample.
Can I use my own quality inspector?
Yes. Independent or in house inspectors are welcome at the pre production and final stages. The appointment is arranged through our team.
Do you ask for full payment up front?
No. Payment follows the stages of the scope agreed in writing, from development to delivery, as set out in the quotation and the contract.
Where is the production done?
Throughout Italy, in the workshops that specialise in each product, coordinated from our studio in Milan. The workshop assigned to each batch is recorded in the production file and in the passport.
Will you answer if we are not a large brand?
Yes. Every qualified request receives a written reply, as soon as possible and in order of arrival. The project form is the fastest way to get a scope.
Start
Produce under a method you can read
Tell us what you make and what you need to be sure of. We will send a written scope with the control points for your programme.
The project qualification form takes about five minutes. It asks what you make, in what quantities and on what calendar. You receive a dated reference straight away and a written scope as soon as possible, in order of arrival. Or contact our Milan studio.