A sample takes 7 to 15 days. Bulk production takes 35 to 45 days. Those are Keytop’s actual windows, and they are close to the industry norm for footwear.
They are also the two numbers buyers most often plan wrong, because both clocks start later than people assume.
The clock does not start when you send the email
The sample window runs from the point where your requirements and specifications are usable, not from the day you first make contact. “Usable” has a specific meaning here, and it is worth being blunt about it.
A brief that says “a white leather sneaker, similar to this photo, size 36 to 45” is not usable. Nobody can cut a pattern from it. Somebody has to come back and ask what the outsole is, what the lining is, where the logo goes, what the sizing reference is, and what colorway the photo is supposed to represent. Every round of that costs days that get counted against your timeline but were spent waiting on you.
A brief that is usable names the construction, the upper and lining material direction, the outsole type, the size run and the market it is graded for, the branding positions, and the packaging expectation. It does not have to be a full Tech Pack. It has to be complete enough that the sample room can start without asking.
The same is true of the bulk window. Thirty-five to forty-five days runs from the point where the specification, the sample approval, the material assumptions, the packaging, and the production slot are all confirmed. Not from the day you approve the sample. If the packaging is still undecided when you sign off the sample, the clock has not started.
What a realistic first-order timeline looks like
For a first program with no existing mold, plan the sequence rather than the total:
Brief review and quotation. Days, not weeks, if the brief is complete. This is also where the factory tells you if something in the brief will not work at your quantity.
Sampling: 7 to 15 days. One round. Assume you will want a second round, because most buyers do once they have the shoe in hand. A second round is another 7 to 15 days, and it is not a delay, it is the process working.
Sample approval. Yours. This is the step buyers underestimate; it takes as long as it takes you to check fit against your own size chart and get an internal decision.
Bulk: 35 to 45 days after everything above is confirmed and a production slot is held.
Shipping. Not part of the factory window at all. Sea freight to Europe or North America adds several weeks on top, and the transit time belongs to your forwarder, not your factory.
Adding it up honestly, a first custom footwear order from an approved brief to goods on the water is usually three to four months, and most of the variance sits in the two steps the buyer controls: the completeness of the brief, and the speed of sample approval.
What makes it longer
A new mold. Tooling has its own lead time and its own cost line, and it happens before sampling can finish. If your design needs an outsole that does not exist yet, ask for the mold timeline separately rather than assuming it is inside the sample window.
Material that is not in normal circulation. A standard upper leather is on the shelf. A specific coated textile in a specific weight from a specific mill is not, and the mill’s own lead time becomes yours.
Changing the specification after sample approval. This resets more than people expect. “Same as sample, but the tongue label moves” is a new approval and, depending on what moved, new tooling or new material.
Seasonal congestion. Chinese New Year stops production for several weeks and creates a queue on either side of it. Peak season before it is the hardest time to get a slot. If your launch is in spring, the conversation should happen in autumn.
Keytop’s windows, stated plainly
| Stage | Window | Clock starts when |
|---|---|---|
| Sample development | 7 to 15 days | Sample requirements and usable specifications are confirmed |
| Bulk production | 35 to 45 days | Specification, sample approval, material assumptions, packaging and production slot are confirmed |
Both are owner-confirmed timing rules, not marketing estimates. Neither includes international freight, and neither includes the time a buyer spends deciding.
What to send if you want an accurate schedule
Give the factory a target date and work backwards together, rather than asking “how fast can you do it” in the abstract. To get a schedule you can actually plan against, send:
- The product family and construction, with a reference if you have one
- Quantity, colorways, and the size run for your destination market
- Whether an existing mold can be used or a new one is needed
- Branding and packaging requirements, including anything your retailer mandates
- Your launch date, and whether you intend to reorder
The fifth item changes the answer more than buyers expect. A program that will reorder gets planned differently from a one-off, because the mold, the approved specification and the production slot can be held.
If you have a launch date, work backwards from it rather than asking how fast production can go. Send the brief with the target date attached and the schedule comes back against your calendar, not ours. Send a footwear brief, or browse the footwear families to see what already has tooling.