Ordering Jackets & Outerwear for the New Year Rush
By The Velocity Wear Team
Jackets for a January intake need to be ordered in November. The 10 to 15 working day build is counted in working days, and December removes several of them, so a schedule that looks comfortable on a calendar is tighter than it appears. Ordering in November puts the delivery in hand before the break rather than depending on freight moving over the holidays.
Which November date keeps January safe?
Early November for a first week of January launch, mid-November at the outside. The reasoning is that you want the boxes delivered before the holiday shutdown, not chasing you through it. Work from the launch date, allow a week to unpack, count and distribute, subtract transit, subtract the full fifteen working days, and add five days for approval. Anything that lands the order in December is relying on a period when nobody is available to answer a proof question. The production timeline itself is explained in apparel production lead times.
How does the winter break move your deadline?
It compresses everything. Working days disappear around the public holidays, approvals slow because the people who give them are away, and freight capacity is taken up by seasonal retail traffic. A build that spans late December can occupy considerably more calendar time than the same build in October, without anything actually going wrong. The right response is not to chase a faster supplier but to move the order earlier, which is the only lever that reliably works on a fixed date.
What suits a January intake?
Proper winter outerwear, because January is when it earns its keep. Padded jackets and fleece-backed softshells work for staff starting in the new year, for gyms and clubs taking on members, and for teams issuing kit at the start of a cycle. Embroidery at the chest is the durable choice for anything that will be worn all season. Keep the design free of a year or a date so that unsold pieces remain sellable in February, which is a small decision that protects the value of the whole run.
How do you stage the launch?
Take delivery in December and hold the distribution until January. That separates the logistics risk from the launch date entirely, which is the point of ordering early. Count the delivery against the packing list on arrival rather than in the first week back, so that any shortfall is raised while it is still easy to resolve. If the jackets are being shipped onward to individuals, delivery times for wholesale jackets covers what affects the onward leg.
Should you order once or twice?
Once, if the demand is reasonably known. The minimum is 50 pieces per design and the discount ladder rises with quantity to a ceiling of 35% off the 50-piece price, so one 300-piece order beats two 150-piece ones on price and removes a second delivery risk from the worst weeks of the year. If you genuinely do not know the demand, order fifty, check the fit and the finish, and reorder in January when the intake is visible. A sample at £150 credited against the bulk order is the cheaper way to test the garment itself, as the samples page explains, and ordering jackets for Black Friday covers the deadline immediately before this one on the wholesale jackets range.
