MEI FAI EST. 1968 Start a project

Lishui · Nanhai · Foshan · Guangdong

Premium headwear, made with skill, heart and heritage.

With roots dating back to 1968, Mei Fai Hats brings nearly six decades of specialised headwear manufacturing to the global market. Across generations the company has grown from a traditional factory into a modern headwear platform, combining craftsmanship, technical development, scalable production and global brand experience.

Development runs of a few hundred through seasonal programmes in the tens of thousands — the same benches sew both.

Crown panel Cut ×6 · self + fusing Top button Eyelet ×4 Visor 7-row stitch · 1.2 mm board Sweatband Seam taping Fig. 01 — six-panel crown, unassembled
Founded
1968
Factory
Foshan, Guangdong
Sales office
Hong Kong
Embroidery
In-house
Order size
300 – 50,000
Sample to bulk
45–60 days
Macro — eyelet
& crown seam
Close crop of a metal eyelet set into a crown panel seam
Eyelet · set and finished in-house
Macro — visor
stitch rows
Close crop of parallel stitch rows across a cap visor
Visor · seven-row topstitch
Macro — closure
hardware
Close crop of an adjustable cap closure
Closure · snap, strap and buckle tooling
Macro — taped inner
seam & sweatband
Close crop of a taped inner seam and sweatband
Inside · taped seam, bound sweatband

01 — Silhouette

Silhouette is the soul of a cap.

Crown height, panel count, how much structure sits behind the front panel, how far the peak curves — these decide whether a cap reads sport, workwear or fashion, long before any logo goes on it. Fifty-eight years of pattern books sit in this building; if a shape has been made before we have the block, and if it hasn’t, our pattern room drafts it.

A

Six-panel

Structured and unstructured, low or high crown, curved or flat visor.

B

Five-panel

Camp caps and clean-front five-panels, with or without a taped inner seam.

C

Cycling caps

Short-brim, three-panel, mesh or cotton twill. Small runs are normal here.

D

Trucker

Foam or twill front with mesh back, plastic or metal snap closure.

E

Bucket & boonie

Reversible, quilted, drawcord, wide-brim. Lined or fully seam-bound.

F

Ivy & flat caps

Eight-panel, baker boy, newsboy — the constructions that need real sewers.

G

Brim hats

Fedora and safari shapes in felt, canvas and straw-look wovens.

H

Your own block

Send a sample or a sketch. We pattern it, sample it, and tell you honestly what it costs to run well.

Close view of a wool melton six-panel cap, showing crown seams and a sewn eyelet

02 — Embroidery & applications

Embroidery in our own building. Specialists within an hour of it.

Most factories send embroidery out. We never have — the digitiser sits a floor away from the sewing line, so a correction happens the same day instead of the following week. Work that needs a specialist plant — injection-moulded PVC, garment washing and dyeing, laser cutting, woven and leather trims — goes to partners we have used for years, all within an hour of the factory. We specify them, we inspect the work when it comes back, and it lands on our QC report rather than on your desk. One purchase order, one company answering for the result. The caps alongside are ours — M, F and H in raised script, sewn here as a house sample, because the quickest way to show what a stitch looks like is to make it.

Photo — MFH house sampleThree wool caps embroidered with the letters M, F and H in raised white script
Our own initials · 3D puff script on wool, piped peaks
Techniques
Flat, 3D puff, appliqué, tonal, metallic and mixed-technique work.
Digitising
In-house. We re-digitise for the fabric, not just the artwork.
Approvals
Sew-outs on the actual body fabric, sent before anything runs.
In-house
Digitising, all thread work, appliqué and sew-on application.
Partner plants
Moulded PVC and rubber, garment wash and dye, screen and heat transfer, laser cutting, woven and leather trims, custom hardware — specified, inspected and warranted by us.
Chenille & gold threadChenille embroidery with gold thread outline
Chenille embroidery
with gold threading
3D thread embroideryThree-dimensional thread embroidery
3D thread embroidery
tonal on twill
2D & 3D texturedCombined flat and raised textured embroidery
2D and 3D textured
embroidery
Felt patch, rhinestonesDie-cut felt patch with rhinestones
Die-cut felt patch
with rhinestones
Frayed twill patchFrayed twill patch with embroidered detail
Frayed twill patch
embroidered detail
Foil-printed twillFoil printed twill patch with serged edge
Foil-printed twill patch
serged edge
Mixed techniqueFlocking, grommets, serging and embroidery combined
Flocking, grommets,
serging & embroidery
Four-colour transferFour colour heat transfer print
Four-colour
heat transfer

03 — Materials

A fabric library, not a fabric list.

Swatches below are photographed at actual weave. Beyond them we hold a working library across naturals, wools, technical shells and certified recycled bases — and our sourcing team will chase a cloth we don't already carry. Colour matched to your Pantone or a submitted swatch, with lab dips before bulk.

Cotton twillCotton twill swatch
Cotton twill
100% cotton
Cotton ottomanCotton ottoman swatch
Cotton ottoman
100% cotton
Poly / cotton checkPoly cotton check swatch
Poly / cotton
65 / 35 check
NylonNylon swatch
Nylon
Technical shell
21-wale corduroyCorduroy swatch
21-wale corduroy
100% cotton
Trucker meshTrucker mesh swatch
Trucker mesh
100% polyester
Nylon ottomanNylon ottoman swatch
Nylon ottoman
Water resistant
Striped stretch denimStriped stretch denim swatch
Stretch denim
98% cotton / 2% elastane

Cotton & natural

  • Chino twill — the default cap cloth, 6–10 oz
  • Brushed cotton — softer hand, dad-cap builds
  • Cotton canvas — 10–14 oz, holds a hard crown
  • Organic cotton twill — GOTS certified
  • Cotton ottoman — ribbed, takes a crisp seam
  • Ripstop cotton — light, visible grid
  • Denim — raw, washed or stretch
  • Linen & linen blends — summer weights

Wool & texture

  • Melton wool — the heritage ballcap cloth
  • Wool blend flannel — softer, better drape
  • Boiled wool — dense, unlined constructions
  • Herringbone & tweed — ivy caps, newsboys
  • Corduroy — 8 to 21 wale
  • Velvet & velveteen — directional, needs care
  • Bouclé — textured fashion crowns
  • Paper straw — woven brims

Technical & performance

  • Nylon taslan — PU coated, water resistant
  • Ripstop nylon — light, packable buckets
  • Crinkle nylon — dry hand, matte sheen
  • High-tenacity nylon — abrasion resistant
  • Softshell — bonded, wind resistant
  • UPF 50+ polyester — rated sun protection
  • Wicking poly interlock — sport crowns and bands
  • Reflective tape & piping — ANSI-grade available

Recycled & certified

  • rPET polyester — GRS certified recycled
  • Recycled nylon — technical shells and buckets
  • Recycled cotton — blended for strength
  • GRS recycled mesh — trucker backs
  • OEKO-TEX base cloths — Standard 100
  • Undyed & low-water dye — reduced process load

Mesh & ventilation

  • Classic trucker mesh — open, structured
  • High-density soft mesh — finer, no skin irritation
  • Athletic mesh — tricot backed
  • Laser-cut perforation — venting without mesh
  • Bonded spacer mesh — padded technical crowns

Inner & structure

  • Hard buckram — holds an A-frame through washing
  • Soft buckram — light structure, relaxed crown
  • Fusible interlining — panel by panel control
  • Cotton twill sweatband — classic, four-needle
  • Terry & wicking bands — sport and elastic fits
  • Peak board — 0.8 to 1.5 mm, curved or flat

04 — Track record

We don't name our customers. We can tell you what they demanded.

Almost everything we make carries somebody else’s label and stays theirs, so we don’t publish a client list. What we can describe is the standard. The accounts that shaped this factory audited us on colour to a sealed standard, on stitch count, on social compliance, and on whether a first sample could be repeated a hundred thousand times without drift.

Italian fashion housesAmerican denim and workwear British heritage and streetwearFrench alpine and outdoor New York fashionGlobal sportswear North American sports licencesSurf and action sports Resort and leisure

Customer names withheld by agreement. If you need references, we will ask the accounts we can ask and introduce you directly — which is worth more than a wall of logos anyway.

From first sample to scale

The programmes that lasted did not start large. They started with one style, a few hundred pieces and a development conversation, and grew because the bulk kept matching the sample. We would rather begin small with a brand that intends to build than take one large order and never hear from you again — and the same benches, patterns and embroidery heads carry you the whole way up.

Produced under OEM agreement · Brands listed with permission

Archive — Lishui, 2003

We built at a scale we no longer chase.

Twenty years ago this site ran thousands of people and millions of units a year. We kept the buildings, the pattern books and a core of the sewers who trained here. What changed is the kind of order we take — and the amount of attention each one gets.

Aerial view of the Mei Fai factory site in Lishui, photographed in 2003

The Lishui site · 2003

The factory entrance with Mei Fai Hats signage
Factory entrance · 里水
The cutting room
Cutting room · 2003

05 — What we can show you

One label we can show in full, because we own it.

Almost everything that leaves this factory belongs to somebody else and stays theirs. Fan Ink is the exception: a premium headwear brand under the same ownership, developed and made here, sold through Lids, Urban Outfitters and Fanatics. Everything on this page is Fan Ink’s own product, shown with its permission — and the reason you won’t find anyone else’s work on this site.

Embroidered appliqué patches on wool snapback crowns, with a printed cotton bandana

Multi-colour appliqué patch · wool crown · printed cotton bandana

Two nylon bucket hats with woven ribbon bands, in daylight
Crinkle nylon bucket · bound brim
woven ribbon band, three-colour
Two washed cotton twill caps with embroidered peaks
Washed cotton twill · six-panel
peak embroidery, tonal and metallic

Fan Ink also runs its own patented closure hardware, developed alongside our engineering. When a customer needs a fastening that doesn’t exist yet, this is the bench that builds it.


06 — How a project runs

From tech pack to shipped carton.

Every stage has a name, an owner and a date. Timings below are typical for a first-time style; repeats move faster.

01

Tech pack & feasibility

We read the pack, flag what won't work, and quote against a real construction rather than a guess.

2–4 days
02

Pattern & first sample

Block drafted or adapted, sample sewn on production machines by production sewers.

10–14 days
03

Fit, fabric & colour approval

Lab dips, trim cards and embroidery sew-outs on the final body fabric.

7–14 days
04

Pre-production sample

Sealed sample signed off both ends. Nothing enters bulk before this exists.

7–10 days
05

Bulk, inspection & ship

In-line and final AQL inspection, third-party audits welcome, packed to your spec.

45–60 days

07 — The factory

One of Asia’s long-established specialist headwear manufacturers.

Cutting, sewing, embroidery, finishing and packing run under one roof, on land the family has held since the beginning. The people are the part that took longest to build: sewers who have been at the same bench since the nineties and can close an eight-panel crown or set a taped seam by feel. That depth is why we can quote constructions other factories decline.

Photo — sewing lineTwo sewers at their machines
At the machines · 2003
Location
Qifeng Industrial Zone, Lishui, Nanhai, Foshan, Guangdong 528244, China
Site
Approx. 15,300 m² of owned land and buildings
On site
Cutting · sewing · embroidery · finishing · packing · QC
Bench experience
Sewers and pattern staff who have been here since the 1990s
Accounts
Our longest customer relationships pass twenty years
Audits
Social and technical audits accommodated at any stage; current certificates sent on request, before you brief us.
Traceability
Fibre content, mill, dye house and trim origin captured per order — the file European brands will need under ESPR.

Visits are welcome. Guangzhou Baiyun and Shenzhen Bao'an airports are both within comfortable driving distance, and the Hong Kong office can travel with you.

Arrange a visit

08 — Contact

Send a tech pack, a sketch, or a cap you like.

Tell us the construction, the quantity and the delivery date. You'll get a straight answer on whether we're the right factory for it — including when we're not.

sales@meifaihats.com
Hong Kong — sales & merchandising

15/F, Millennium City 3
370 Kwun Tong Road
Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
+852 3902 2888

Foshan — factory

Foshan Nanhai Li Shui Mei Fai Hats Mfg. Co. Ltd.
Qifeng Industrial Zone, Lishui, Nanhai, Foshan
Guangdong 528244, China
廣東省佛山市南海區里水鎮旗峰工業區
+86 757 0000 0000

Registered names

Mei Fai Hats International Manufacturing Company Limited — Hong Kong
Foshan Nanhai Li Shui Mei Fai Hats Mfg. Co. Ltd. — China