My husband works in the fashion industry so I think I can provide a reasonably good answer as to why on-demand clothing isn't particularly feasible. The way th

My husband works in the fashion industry so I think I can provide a reasonably good answer as to why on-demand clothing isn't particularly feasible. The way the industry works is, there are a few (much fewer than you think) vertically integrated companies that makes all our clothing. Let me illustrate what I mean by vertically integrated by explaining what my husband's company does. Basically, they make stuff such as men's shirts under every imaginable label from lower end such as private label at J.C. Penney to mid-market brands like Nautica to up-market brands like Thomas Pink. They own the process completely, from growing the cotton to making the fabric to putting the shirts together in Asia to shipping into warehouses in the US to saying when the shirts go on sale. Other than labels providing a license (e.g. Calvin Klein granting the exclusive rights to make shirts under their label) and Macy's providing the floor space (Macy's being the same company as Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, Filene's, Marchall Field's, etc), they do everything. As you can imagine, when you have a few companies covering every fashion category sold at practically every store, you have almost perfect efficiency. The cost savings for vertically integrated, economies-of-scale companies like my husband's are enormous to the point where you could never get anywhere close to the low, low prices they are able to charge. So what you are left with is selling your custom stuff at price points that put you in the same category as designer clothing (often accompanied by free alterations) and custom tailoring. And why would someone buy a slightly customized cheap shirt/jeans/whatever when for the same money, they can buy an upmarket designer item, or have it tailor-made? I am not saying you can't have some niche categories where you do customization. Cafe Press does pretty good with t-shirts. I just don't think there is a positive answer to your question, "How can I give my designer friends the ability to do low-volume production cost-effectively".