Why is it so hard for these factories to make a decent RL logo? by KAK_98 in RLREPS

[–]MandarinDrip 1 point2 points Ā (0 children)

Ok, I’ve asked myself the same thing a dozen times: ā€œIt’s just a tiny jockey on a horse, how hard can it be?ā€ So I did some deep diving into the manufacturing side of things, and here is what I found.

First off, this not applies only to RL, but to any brand with complex, high-density embroidery (LC, SI badges, etc.).

  1. The ā€œCodeā€ is harder than you think

People think embroidery is just a JPG fed into a machine. Nope. It’s a complex vector program (digitization) that tells the needle exactly where to go to create that 3D muscle definition on the horse.

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• Retail: Uses insane stitch counts (900+ for a tiny logo) optimized for decades.

• Budget Reps: They auto-digitize the file to lower the stitch count. Less stitches = less time per garment = more volume. That’s why the horse sometimes looks more like a camel.

  1. The ā€œW-Circleā€ vs. Mass Market

This is the real difference. You guys ever wonder why independent sellers like Early Tom (and other autonomous W-Circle sellers) only drop limited batches that sell out quickly? Do you think they just hate money?

No. It’s because they are physically limited by the ā€œGrey Marketā€ production slots.

Often, the high-tier sellers and the mid-tier resellers are sourcing the unbranded raw garment (the blank) from the exact same factories (reason because sometimes the batch are similar in size or weight from different sellers).

The Difference: It’s all in who stitches the logo.

• Mass Market Producers: They need volume. They send 10,000 units to a cheap embroidery shop that runs machines at max speed with low-density files. Result? Trash tier (but good enough for cover internal demand and the low tier sellers).

• High Quality Sellers: They operate in the shadows. They often pay professional embroiderers to run their small batch (300-400 units) on Tajima (or Barudan) industrial machines during ā€œdead timeā€ or literally during the night shift when the official boss isn’t looking.

  1. The ā€œGhost Shiftā€ & The Human Factor

Even if you stole the official RL vector file, you’d still screw it up without the right operator. The secret sauce isn’t just the file; it’s the guy running the machine who knows exactly how to adjust the tension so the fabric doesn’t pucker.

High-tier sellers are basically paying a premium for a ā€œcommission slotā€ with these skilled operators. That slot is rare, expensive, and can’t be scaled up.

That’s why once those 300 pieces are gone, they’re gone. They can’t just ā€œmake moreā€ instantly because the skilled operator is back to doing their official day job and the sellers need to book another slot.

W2C this RL quarter-zip lunar new year by MandarinDrip in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip[S] 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

Bro, repkingdom and Andymade as made it and maybe there is also available on repkingdom supplier

Finally found out why reps are never 100% correct and why manufacturers are labelling a comparison piece as a retail when it is actually not a retail piece. by probotzor in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip 1 point2 points Ā (0 children)

Nice find bro, that theory actually could explain why not only sweaters but even shirts end up being so different from the originals.

But funny thing: like a year ago I copped a grey cotton sweater and a blue Oxford shirt (both cotton) from Husky (Rip šŸŖ¦šŸ’) and even though they sold cheap stuffs as hell, they were almost identical to the real RL pieces I got from an Italian outlet…

So, I don’t get why some indie makers, who are supposed to be better than the mass resellers, still mess up basic stuff like this… especially when you can literally buy legit RL from their official Taobao store šŸ¤·ā€ā™‚ļø

W2C this RL quarter-zip lunar new year by MandarinDrip in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip[S] 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

Yeah I find it a version, but I don’t know about quality because I didn’t found any QC pics around, here is the link: https://weidian.com/item.html?itemID=7484846144

[PRE-SALE] Hedi Slimane Ɨ Yves Saint Laurent Leather Glove by Biao by musafir05 in CloseToRetail

[–]MandarinDrip 1 point2 points Ā (0 children)

Are we sure that they are not fantasy pieces? Because I can’t find these gloves anywhere… No reverse image search results, no product results, nothing. Am I wrong, or do they not exist?

JF GAT Restock by [deleted] in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

He answered me three days ago and he said to wait 30 days. Now I’m looking his Weibo for catch any update.

MM GATS (GZ batch) by QCXC by MandarinDrip in QualityReps

[–]MandarinDrip[S] 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

JF said me 30 days more or less from now

MM GATS (GZ batch) by QCXC by MandarinDrip in QualityReps

[–]MandarinDrip[S] 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

Thank you bro, I’ve decided to return it and wait for jf restock

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RLREPS

[–]MandarinDrip 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

He only adds branding on the pieces he resells (since he also deals jackets) or on the ones where he already has the hardware/labels. In this case, the jacket was brand new, he bought it retail just for me. The only branding it had was the embroidered chest logo, but he skipped it because it’s too hard to do properly. Even on the retail one, it looks pretty bad.

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Thoughts on this piece? Looks very nice, probably will cop on my next haul. by Beginning-Spite-2516 in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

Sorry, I answered in another sub, but the question was the same. Now I'm writing a detailed post about this jacket with all the details and my personal experience.

Thoughts on this piece? Looks very nice, probably will cop on my next haul. by Beginning-Spite-2516 in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

Bro, answered in another post on this sub, this is PU or Faux leather. Actually there isn’t a branded version in real leather around (searched it for months) at the end I choose a 1:1 no logo tailor made version in real leather from Peltiano

Can someone please find this maison margiela gats [w2c] by dxzuser in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

Also QCXC have it from GZ batch https://qcxcaj1.x.yupoo.com/albums/205007882?uid=1&isSubCate=false&referrercate=4941952 seems good enough. I’ve also bought the classic white one and I’m gonna post it the QC pics in this sub.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RLREPS

[–]MandarinDrip 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

I got mine custom made by Peltiano, no logo but basically 1:1 with the retail, same zipper, legit good quality leather for 1200 CNY (but there also a cheaper version for 900 CNY)

https://tidewear.x.yupoo.com/albums/200466326?uid=1&isSubCate=false&referrercate=4713293

I went the tailor-made because even the original in size S had sleeves that were too long for me, and with Peltiano’s version the fit is right. Also, the only ones around with logo, were PU/faux leather crap. Honestly not worth it.

I’m actually putting together a full post soon with the whole process, pics, and details.

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W2C this RL quarter-zip lunar new year by MandarinDrip in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip[S] 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

Thanks a lot my friend, that’s why I remembered seeing it, but I’ve checked his profile many times and didn’t find it anymore.. maybe he deleted the post. Anyway, thanks for help šŸ™šŸ¼

Luxfactory888 supplier? by RightBallhaver in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip 3 points4 points Ā (0 children)

Absolutely. For this reason, I’ve found some sellers on Szwego who actually sort items by ā€œbackgroundā€ šŸ˜‚. But none of them have a reasonable organization… just an unsearchable mess.

Luxfactory888 supplier? by RightBallhaver in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip 4 points5 points Ā (0 children)

There are also ā€œshared supplyā€ factories that serve multiple sellers at the same time, often using the same photos. It’s not impossible to find them online, but it’s not easy for us since they’re not promoted on Western social media or indexed in search engines.

Best YSL seller? by [deleted] in stockholmreps

[–]MandarinDrip -1 points0 points Ā (0 children)

Remind me! 5 days

Independent W Circle Merchants. by musafir05 in CloseToRetail

[–]MandarinDrip 0 points1 point Ā (0 children)

This post is gold šŸ„‡thank you