Textile trade shows are a great way to find textile/fabric suppliers. Trade shows such as Texworld and the IFAI Expo are two of the many trade shows you can attend in the US. If you have the budget to travel overseas, Intertextile Shanghai is one of the larges trade show that focus on suppliers from Asia.

Many of the large established maunfactures attend trade shows, such as the Canton Import and Export Fair. The key is to look for manufactures that already supplies to established brands. Once the manufacture meets the QA standards of the large brands, their quality remains consistent regardless of the company they produce for. Most of the time the minimum order quantity they request are up for negotiation. Same for the sampling cost. Most manufactures are willing to wave the sampling cost if a production order is placed at a later time.

Sourcing at the end of the day requires a lot of ground work. It takes time and effort to locate the right suppliers, visit and audit their facilities, and prices negotiate. However, this really saves money in the long term because you will have solid supply chains you can count on and trust. One way to approach this is to consolidate. Consolidate the number of suppliers, and make each sourcing trip count by finding multiple suppliers at once.

Best of luck in finding the right suppliers for your products!