Custom Activewear and Gym Wear Manufacturing From 50 Pieces
Activewear is the least forgiving thing a new brand can launch. A hoodie that runs slightly large is still a hoodie. A legging cut on the wrong fabric goes sheer in a squat, rolls at the waist, bags at the knee after three wears and comes back to you.
Almost all of that is settled before anything is cut: which fabric, how far it stretches, how well it recovers, and how much smaller than the body the pattern is cut. Get that sequence right and the sewing is straightforward. Get it wrong and no amount of good stitching rescues the garment.
This page sets out what we ask an activewear founder about, and why. You do not need answers to all of it and you do not need a tech pack. A sketch, a moodboard, a reference photo or a garment you already own and want bettered is enough to start. We handle the pattern and fit development from there.
Activewear production at a glance
Activewear manufacturing specification
Everything below is standing policy, not an estimate. Where a figure is a range, the range is real and depends on your spec.
- Minimum order
- 50 piecesSpecific designs, colours and fabrics can affect the MOQ. Send your range and we will confirm it for yours.
- Production method
- Cut and sewGarments are made from patterns developed for your fit. We hold no stock and do not decorate ready-made blanks.
- Tech pack
- Not requiredA sketch, a moodboard, a reference photo or a garment you already own is enough. We handle patterns and fit development in house. No tech pack needed.
- Sample lead time
- 2-3 weeksSampling always comes first. Bulk starts only once you approve.
- Bulk lead time
- 3-8 weeks after sample approvalPlus shipping to your destination.
- Fabric
- Sourced or produced per orderComposition, stretch, weight and opacity are part of your spec. We do not publish a fabric list; what is available for your garment is confirmed with your quote. Pantone colour matching and custom-dyed fabrics are available. Yarn is from OEKO-TEX certified suppliers.
- Fit development
- Patterns, fit and grading includedCompression fit depends on how far your fabric stretches and recovers, so fabric is settled before the pattern is cut.
- Decoration
- Sublimation, screen print, DTF and embroiderySublimation is the usual route on performance polyester because nothing sits on the surface to crack. The right method depends on how far the panel stretches.
- Branding
- Custom labels, woven tags and custom trimsPrivate label and white label both available. Your garments carry your branding, not ours.
- Based
- London, UKManaged from London and manufactured at our own dedicated overseas facility.
- Quality control
- 4 stagesFabric inspection, in-process checks, post-production inspection and a final pre-shipment review.
- Payment and shipping
- Bank transfer, shipped worldwideTerms are agreed as part of your quote. The UK is our priority market. We also ship to the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Send a sketch, a moodboard or a garment you already own. All three work.
Performance Fabric and What Each Property Does
Activewear is a fabric decision before it is a design decision. Six properties do almost all the work, and the complaints brands bring us are nearly always one of the six.
| Property | What it does | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Moisture management | Synthetic fibres do not soak water into the fibre the way cotton does. The knit moves sweat to the outer face where it can evaporate, which is why a polyester training top feels dry and the same shape in cotton feels heavy. | Cotton-rich athleisure is comfortable and photographs beautifully, but it holds sweat. Decide early which of the two garments you are actually making. |
| Four-way stretch | Fabric that stretches across its width and along its length. Anything that has to move in two directions at once, such as a legging, a sports bra or a fitted short, wants it. | Two-way stretch on a compression legging feels restrictive at the bottom of a squat and throws the strain onto the seams instead of the cloth. |
| Recovery | How completely the fabric returns to shape after being stretched. Recovery, not stretch, is what keeps knees and seats from bagging out. | A fabric can have generous stretch and poor recovery. It feels excellent in the hand and looks tired a fortnight after your customer buys it. |
| Elastane content | Elastane, also called spandex and sold under brand names such as Lycra, is the fibre that provides both the stretch and the recovery. It is the number that changes everything about how a garment fits. | Chasing a headline percentage. The figure only means something alongside the base fibre, the knit and the weight, and it is the reason the pattern cannot be cut before the fabric is chosen. |
| Opacity | How much light passes through the fabric once it is stretched over the body. Squat-proof is not a marketing word, it is a real and frequently failed requirement. | It is judged flat, unstretched, in the wrong colour. Light shades and heather greys are the hardest to hold, and a fabric that passes in black can fail in grey. |
| Handfeel | A brushed or peached inside face lifts a soft nap: warmer, more matte and the feel most people call buttery. A smooth face is cooler, slicker and takes a print more cleanly. | A brushed nap can flatten and pill with wear and it is warmer than some training wants. A smooth face shows every seam and print edge, so the sewing has nowhere to hide. |
You do not have to arrive with answers to all six. Sending a garment whose fabric you like is a faster brief than a specification, and we can work from it.
How much elastane, roughly
Treat the table below as orientation rather than a specification. Elastane behaves differently in a dense knit than in a thin one, so 12 per cent in one fabric is not 12 per cent in another.
| Roughly | What it gives you | Typically used for |
|---|---|---|
| 5-8% elastane | Enough give to move freely. No hold, and no meaningful support. | Training tops, loose shorts, layering pieces, athleisure cuts. |
| 10-15% elastane | Real hold with recovery that survives washing. The workhorse range. | Leggings, sports bras, fitted shorts. Most gym ranges live here. |
| 18% and up | Firm compression. Strong hold, harder to pull on, and the fit tolerance narrows. | Compression pieces where support is the product rather than a feature. |
What is available for your spec is confirmed with your quote, and you feel the result on your sample before anything goes to bulk.
Polyester, nylon or cotton blend
Polyester and nylon are both synthetic and both move moisture. Polyester is the fibre sublimation bonds to, so if you want all-over print it is effectively the decision. Nylon tends to feel softer and more matte with a denser drape, and it does not take sublimation the same way, so decoration has to be planned around it. A cotton-elastane blend is the athleisure route: easy to wear, good against the skin, and the weakest of the three at moving sweat.
We do not publish a fabric catalogue. Availability moves, and quoting from a stale list helps nobody. Tell us what the garment has to do, or send one whose fabric you like, and we will confirm the options for your spec with your quote.
If you want a specific claim on your labelling or your product page, whether that is an applied finish, a performance rating or a named fibre brand, raise it at the enquiry stage and we will tell you whether the fabric supports it. We will not put a claim on your garment that the cloth cannot back up.
Putting Artwork on Fabric That Moves
On a hoodie, almost every decoration method works and the choice is aesthetic. On stretch fabric it is technical. Anything that sits on top of the cloth has to stretch as far as the panel underneath it, and most inks cannot.
| Method | How it behaves on stretch | Best for | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sublimation | Dye bonded into the fibre. Nothing sits on the surface, so there is no film to crack and no hand feel. It stretches because it is the fabric. | All-over prints, panel graphics, full-colour artwork, and anything on a high-stretch area. | Needs polyester-rich fabric, so it will not work on nylon or cotton-rich cloth. Needs light grounds and cannot print white, so white in your artwork is the fabric showing through. |
| Screen print | Ink laid on the surface as a film. On a panel that stretches, the ink is the part that cannot. | Looser, low-stretch pieces: training tops, woven shorts, layering garments. | Strong flat colour, consistent across a whole run, and each colour is a separate screen. Keep it off high-stretch panels. |
| DTF (direct to film) | A printed transfer heat-applied to the surface with a defined edge. It carries the same limitation as screen print. | Low-stretch garments, photographic or multi-colour artwork, runs with many different designs. | Excellent detail. It sits on top of the cloth rather than becoming part of it, and you feel it. |
| Embroidery | Stitch locks the area it covers. The embroidered patch stops stretching while the fabric around it carries on. | Small marks on stable areas: a chest logo on a training top, a hit on a waistband or a cuff. | It needs a backing you can feel from the inside. Scale it up on a stretch panel and it puckers and distorts the fit. |
| Chenille and acid wash | Both are ours to offer, and both are wrong here. Chenille is a thick tufted patch; acid wash is a finish for cotton-rich cloth. | Streetwear, not performance wear. | We would rather tell you at enquiry than at sampling. If your range spans both worlds, we can run different methods across different styles. |
Labels are part of the same decision. Custom labels, woven tags and custom trims are all available, and Pantone colour matching applies to your fabric and your artwork. The one worth settling early is the neck label: a woven tag nobody notices inside a hoodie is a known irritant inside a vest worn against bare skin. Tell us where you want your branding and we will confirm what works with your fabric.
Sizing and Fit for a Garment Cut Smaller Than the Body
Negative Ease
A compression garment is deliberately patterned smaller than the body it is made for, and the stretch of the fabric closes the gap. The amount taken out is the reduction, and it is the single number that decides whether the garment supports you, slides down, or refuses to go on at all.
How much you take out depends on how far your fabric stretches and how well it recovers. Change the fabric and the pattern is wrong. That is why an activewear order runs fabric first, pattern second.
Grading Across Your Range
Grading a compression garment is not a matter of adding a centimetre per size. The reduction has to keep working from your smallest size to your largest, and a body at the top of the range is not a scaled copy of one at the bottom.
Decide your size range before grading rather than after, and fit the sample on real people at both ends of it, not only on whoever happens to be in the studio.
Testing the Sample Properly
A hoodie sample can be judged by looking at it. An activewear sample has to be worn. Squat in it, run in it, sit in it for an hour, then wash it and do the lot again. Check opacity stretched, in daylight, in the colour you are actually selling.
Note every place it rides, rolls or rubs. One sample revision round is free, so it pays to gather all of that before you send your notes back.
Your Size Chart
Build your published size chart from your own graded specification, not from a competitor's website. It is the first thing a customer checks and the most common reason activewear comes back.
We give you the measurements your garment is actually made to. What you print on the product page is then a commercial decision you make from real numbers rather than borrowed ones.
How an Activewear Order Runs
The lead times below are real ranges rather than best cases: samples in 2-3 weeks, bulk in 3-8 weeks after you approve your sample, plus shipping time to you.
1. Send Your Activewear Idea
WhatsApp Is Quickest
Send whatever exists: a sketch, a moodboard, a reference photo, or a garment you already own that fits the way you want yours to fit. Tell us what the piece has to do in the gym and we will ask about fabric, fit and decoration from there. If the design is not finished, our team provides full design support and handles the technical development.
- MOQ is 50 pieces. Designs, colours and fabrics can affect it, so ask about yours
2. Fabric First
Stretch, Recovery and Opacity
We hold no stock, so fabric is sourced or produced for your order. Composition, elastane content, weight and handfeel are settled now, because the pattern cannot be cut correctly until we know how far the cloth stretches and how well it comes back. Pantone colour matching and custom-dyed fabrics are available.
- Fabric is settled before the pattern, not alongside it
3. Pattern, Reduction and Grading
Cut For Your Fabric
The pattern is developed against the fabric you chose: rise, inseam, waistband depth, gusset, panel lines and the reduction that gives the garment its hold. It is then graded across your full size range so the fit works at both ends of it rather than only in the middle.
- Pattern cutting, fit development and grading are included as standard
4. Your Sample
2-3 Weeks
You train in the garment before anything goes to bulk. Squat, run, sit, wash, repeat, and check opacity stretched in your real colour. A free sample of each design is included with every committed bulk order; a standalone sample without a bulk commitment is charged. One sample revision round is free, further revisions are chargeable, and changes to your quote are always free.
- Nothing goes to bulk until you approve your sample
5. Bulk Production
3-8 Weeks After Approval
Your approved sample becomes the reference for every piece in the run. Garments are cut, stitched and finished by hand at our own dedicated facility, with your labels, tags and trims applied to spec.
- 3-8 weeks after sample approval, plus shipping
6. Quality Control and Shipping
4 Stages, Then Worldwide
Every order passes fabric inspection, in-process checks, post-production inspection and a final pre-shipment review before it is packed. Your order then ships worldwide. The UK is our priority market, and we also deliver to the USA, Canada, Australia and Europe.
- Checked at four stages before anything leaves the factory
Custom Activewear FAQs
As seen in
As seen on
King Promise
Che Lingo
Blanco
Grace Ajilore
READY TO SPEC YOUR ACTIVEWEAR RANGE?
Send a sketch, a moodboard or a garment you already own and want bettered. We will come back with a tailored quote, settle the fabric, cut your pattern to it, and make your sample before anything goes to bulk.
Get Your Activewear Quote on WhatsApp
