Barcelos, Northern Portugal
Clothing Factory in Portugal
White Cotton operates a vertically integrated garment factory in Barcelos, in the heart of Portugal's textile region. Cutting, sewing, embroidery, printing, finishing, quality control, and packing — everything happens under one roof. No middlemen, no outsourced steps, no guesswork about where your garments are being made. This is a real production facility with industrial machinery, skilled workers, and decades of textile heritage.
Barcelos
Northern Portugal
Full Production
Under one roof
OEKO-TEX
Certified fabrics
In-House QC
Every garment checked
The Production Floor
Inside Our Clothing Factory
Our factory sits on Rua Industrial do Corujo in Lijó, Barcelos — a town that has been producing textiles for generations. The facility is purpose-built for garment manufacturing, with dedicated departments for every stage of production. When you work with White Cotton, your clothing is not being passed between subcontractors across different cities. Every step happens here, in one building, under our direct supervision.
The production floor is organized into six departments: cutting, sewing, decoration (embroidery and printing), finishing, quality control, and packing. Each department has its own equipment, team, and workflow. A production manager coordinates the flow of every order from raw fabric arrival to finished garment dispatch. This vertical integration means faster lead times, tighter quality control, and lower costs — there are no margins stacked on top of margins from multiple vendors.
We invest continuously in our machinery. Our sewing floor runs industrial overlock, coverstitch, flatlock, and lockstitch machines — configured in flexible production lines that adapt to different garment types. The decoration department houses multi-head embroidery machines, screen printing stations, and DTG/DTF digital printers. This means we can handle everything from a simple logo print on a t-shirt to complex multi-technique designs combining embroidery, screen print, and appliqué on the same garment.
What sets a factory apart from a trading company or agent is tangibility. We own the machines. Our team cuts the fabric, sews the garments, and inspects every piece before it ships. When there is a problem, we fix it on the spot — no phone calls to a third-party subcontractor in another region. When you visit (as a production client), you see exactly where and how your clothing is made. That transparency is what "factory-direct" actually means.
Department by Department
Factory Departments
Cutting Department
Raw fabric arrives and is inspected for defects, then spread on cutting tables in layered stacks. Our cutting team follows optimized marker layouts to minimize waste — typically achieving 85–90% fabric utilization. We handle everything from single-ply prototype cuts to multi-layer bulk cutting for large orders.
Sewing Floor
The core of our factory. Industrial overlock, coverstitch, flatlock, and lockstitch machines are arranged in production lines configured for each garment type. Our seamstresses assemble garments piece by piece — from collars and cuffs to full body construction. We sew everything from lightweight 180 GSM t-shirts to heavy 1100 GSM sherpa jackets.
Decoration Department
Embroidery, screen printing, and digital printing all happen in-house. Our multi-head embroidery machines handle flat, 3D puff, chenille, and chain stitch work. Screen printing covers water-based, plastisol, and specialty inks. DTG and DTF printers handle photographic and unlimited-colour designs. Heat press stations apply transfers, labels, and patches.
Finishing & Washing
Garments that require post-production treatment go through our finishing department. This includes thread trimming, ironing, steam pressing, and garment washing where specified. We offer enzyme wash, stone wash, and garment dyeing for the vintage and lived-in aesthetics many brands require.
Quality Control
Every single garment is inspected before it leaves the factory. Our QC team checks stitching integrity, seam strength, measurements against the approved spec sheet, colour accuracy, and decoration placement. Inline inspections happen during production, not just at the end. Any piece that does not meet spec is reworked or replaced — nothing ships without passing QC.
Packing & Dispatch
Approved garments are folded, tagged, and packed according to your specifications. We handle custom hang tags, woven labels, care labels, poly-bagging, tissue paper, stickers, and carton packing. Orders are prepared for shipping with detailed packing lists and can be dispatched to any destination worldwide.
Product Categories
What Our Factory Produces
Fabric Library
Fabrics in Our Factory
In-House Capabilities
Decoration & Finishing Techniques
Location & Access
Where the Factory Is
Our factory is located in Barcelos, in the Braga district of northern Portugal. Barcelos is part of the Minho region — historically one of the most important textile production areas in Europe. The town and its surroundings are home to dozens of garment factories, fabric mills, and finishing facilities, creating a dense supply chain ecosystem that benefits every manufacturer in the area.
Getting here is straightforward. Porto airport (OPO) is the closest international airport, approximately 45 minutes by car via the A3 motorway. From Lisbon, the drive takes about 3.5 hours via the A1 motorway, or there are domestic flights to Porto. The town of Braga is 30 minutes away and offers additional accommodation options. For production clients visiting the factory, we can arrange transport from Porto airport or recommend nearby hotels.
Factory Address
Rua Industrial do Corujo 10, 4750-784 Lijó, Barcelos, Portugal
45 min from Porto Airport (OPO) · Braga District · Northern Portugal
Full-Package Production
Factory Services
Private Label Manufacturing
Private label manufacturing is the process of producing garments exclusively to a client's specifications, bearing their brand name and labe...
White Label Manufacturing
White label manufacturing lets you select garments from our existing product catalog and add your own branding — labels, tags, and packaging...
Custom Clothing Manufacturing
Custom clothing manufacturing is a full-package production service covering every stage from pattern creation to finished, packed garments. ...
Collection Development
Collection development is an end-to-end service that takes your brand from concept to production-ready patterns at no extra design charge. W...
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I visit the factory?
Factory visits are available for production clients — meaning brands that have approved samples and have a bulk order confirmed or in progress. Once you reach that stage, we arrange a full guided tour of our cutting, sewing, finishing, and QC departments. Our facility is in Barcelos, about 45 minutes from Porto airport (OPO). We do not offer tours for pre-production enquiries, but we are happy to share photos and videos of the production floor during the quoting process.
What machinery does the factory use?
Our factory is equipped with industrial overlock machines, flatlock/coverstitch machines, single-needle lockstitch machines, buttonhole and button-sew machines, automated cutting tables, heat presses, embroidery machines (multi-head), screen printing stations, and DTG/DTF digital printers. We maintain all equipment in-house and upgrade regularly to keep production efficient and consistent.
What is your production capacity?
We produce thousands of finished garments per month across all categories. Capacity depends on garment complexity — a basic t-shirt requires fewer operations than a lined jacket with embroidery. We run a flexible production schedule that accommodates both small runs (50 units) and larger bulk orders (5,000+ units). During peak season (August–November), we recommend booking production slots 6–8 weeks in advance.
How many employees work at the factory?
Our team consists of approximately 20 skilled workers covering every department: cutting, sewing, embroidery, printing, quality control, finishing, and packing. Many of our seamstresses and technicians have 10–20+ years of experience in the Portuguese textile industry. We also have dedicated pattern makers and a production manager who oversees every order from start to finish.
What does your quality control process look like?
Every garment passes through a multi-point QC inspection before packing. We check stitching integrity, seam strength, measurements against the approved spec sheet, colour consistency, print/embroidery placement, and overall finish. Defective pieces are flagged and reworked or replaced. For bulk orders, we perform inline inspections during production (not just at the end) to catch issues early. We can also accommodate third-party inspections if your brand requires them.
What certifications does the factory hold?
We hold OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification, which means every fabric we use has been independently tested for harmful substances and is safe for skin contact. We also work with GOTS-certified organic cotton and BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) materials. Our factory operates under full EU workplace and environmental regulations, including proper waste management and fair labour standards. We provide traceability documentation for every order upon request.
Where exactly is the factory located?
Our factory is located at Rua Industrial do Corujo 10, 4750-784 Lijó, Barcelos, in the Braga district of northern Portugal. Barcelos is part of the historic Portuguese textile belt, one of Europe's densest clusters of garment manufacturing. We are approximately 45 minutes by car from Porto airport (OPO) and 30 minutes from the city of Braga. The A11 and A3 motorways provide direct access.
Do you handle everything in-house or outsource any steps?
We are a vertically integrated factory — cutting, sewing, embroidery, screen printing, digital printing, finishing, quality control, and packing all happen under one roof. This gives us full control over timelines, quality, and costs. The only steps we occasionally source externally are speciality finishes like garment dyeing or stonewashing, which require dedicated industrial laundry equipment. Even then, we manage the logistics and QC of those steps.
Ready to Produce at Our Factory?
Send us your design brief and receive a detailed quotation within 48 hours.