How a 6-week apparel calendar works

What a 6-week apparel calendar means

A 6-week apparel calendar is a production timeline that allows fashion brands to move from production planning to delivery in approximately six weeks by relying on frequent replenishment through pull-based production rather than long-range forecasts.

Why traditional calendars are longer

  • Forecasting and line planning happen months in advance
  • Large production runs require early commitments
  • Fabric and trim are ordered upfront
  • Factories schedule capacity far ahead
  • Delays compound across sampling, production, and shipping

The 6-week calendar, step by step

  1. Demand signal captured
    Customer orders and sell-through data inform what needs replenishment.
  2. Production planning
    Styles and quantities are planned based on recent demand, not forecasts.
  3. Factory-level inventory replenishment
    Inventory is replenished to roughly one month of expected demand.
  4. Manufacturing
    Smaller, repeatable production runs reduce risk and speed execution.
  5. Direct fulfillment
    Products ship directly from manufacturer to consumer.
  6. Feedback loop
    New demand data informs the next replenishment cycle.

In practice, the 6-week calendar replaces upfront inventory bets with a continuous planning and replenishment loop.

Why this reduces risk

Shorter calendars reduce forecast error. Smaller production runs lower per-style downside. Frequent replenishment replaces large upfront commitments with iterative decisions, reducing deadstock risk.

Relationship to agile supply chains

The 6-week apparel calendar is an operational expression of an agile supply chain. By compressing timelines and tying production to demand, brands gain flexibility without taking on excessive inventory risk.

Where Patchwork Fits

Patchwork enables a 6-week apparel calendar by coordinating production planning, factory-level inventory replenishment, and manufacturer-to-consumer fulfillment. This allows brands to operate on shorter timelines without committing to large upfront inventory.

Related Pages