How It All Started
Bryden was started in 2013 by Donovan Mathews to solve a problem he’d lived through himself.
In 2009, Donovan launched his own t-shirt brand, Ardentees. Getting it made was harder than it should have been: he spent a year sourcing before he found a manufacturer who could actually hit the quality bar he needed. After selling Ardentees in 2013, he went on to help build private labels from the ground up at Zalora and Lift12, working across design, sourcing, and supply chain operations.
That experience, on both sides of the table, as a brand owner and as the person running production, is what Bryden is built on. Donovan started the company alongside co-founder Kai Cheng Ho to give other fashion brands the manufacturing partner he wished he’d had from day one.
Today, Bryden is led by Donovan Mathews and works through a network of 34 certified factories across China, including one cut & sew facility Donovan has personally invested in.
We hold GOTS, GRS, OEKO-TEX, and FSC certifications, and over 13 years we’ve produced for 1,000+ brands in 50+ countries, from first-time founders ordering their first 80-piece run to established labels scaling a full collection.
Our mission is simple: solve the hardest problem in starting or scaling a clothing brand, finding a factory you can actually trust.
With our commitment to product quality, craftsmanship, and constantly improving our process, we take that burden off founders and brand teams so they can focus on building their business, not chasing down suppliers.
Through our design-driven culture and the expertise of every person on the Bryden team, working across a vetted network of 34 certified factories, we make finding the right manufacturing partner the easiest part of building a brand, not the hardest.
Our Vision
To be the company that best understands and satisfies the product, service, and needs of fashion brands globally.
What We Stand For
People:
To provide a good working environment where people are inspired to grow and give their best
Clients:
To be a reliable and helpful partner that exceeds expectations
Products:
To produce products that meet the quality expectations of our clients and their customers
Partners:
Nurturing a network of partners and building mutual loyalty
Social:
Ensuring our partners provide a fair wage and safe working environment
Ethics:
Being a trustworthy partner by upholding the values of honesty and protecting the IP of our clients
Our Founder Story
I started in e-commerce and fashion in 2009 with my own t-shirt brand, Ardentees. I wanted to give designers and artists a way to put their creativity into the world, and customers a way to buy it. Finding the right manufacturer took me a full year. That search, and everything I learned from it, became the reason Bryden exists.
I sold Ardentees in 2013 and went on to work with fashion and e-commerce startups including Zalora and Lift12, helping build their private labels from the ground up: setting up design and sourcing teams, finding factories and suppliers, and coordinating supply chains from sourcing through delivery.
What inspired me to start Bryden was realizing that everything I’d struggled through could spare someone else the same year I lost. My goal is to solve the problem I had, finding a manufacturer that actually gets it right, for the brands that come to us. Today, that means giving every brand we work with access to a network of 34 certified factories we’ve vetted ourselves, so they never have to go through what I did.