Case Study: Custom Wooden Button for a Fast Fashion Retail Chain in Ireland

Wooden Button for a Fast Fashion Retail Chain in Ireland

A Fast Fashion Retail Chain approached us with a wooden button requirement for the Ireland market. The brief was specific: a defined look, a hard launch date and a unit cost that had to survive freight and duty. This case study records what was specified, what went wrong in sampling and how the bulk order was delivered.

The challenge

• Elastic that lost recovery after three washes
• Shade drift between the approved lab dip and the bulk lot
• A trim that passed sampling but failed in-line because it was never cycle tested

What we specified

How it was resolved

1. We rebuilt the specification around Genuine Leather and locked the tolerance before bulk.
2. The finish was moved to Enzyme Wash Finish after strike-off tests showed better durability.
3. A pre-production sample was approved and retained as the golden reference.
4. Production ran with in-line inspection and a mid-run photo report.
5. Cartons were packed to the client's own barcode and ratio specification.

Result

• 2,000 pieces delivered inside the 10-week window.
• Unit cost held within 3.0% of the original quotation.
• Inspection-related rejection stayed under 1.0%.
• The specification is now on file, so reorders reproduce the approved sample.

What we would repeat

Approve a pre-production sample made from the actual bulk base material. Substitute material behaves differently in finishing.

Planning something similar?

Share the programme details and we will propose two alternatives — one optimised for unit cost, one for lead time — and let you choose.