Activewear Manufacturers for Startups Building New Brands

In launching an activewear brand, the entrepreneur faces endless choices before selling the first product. The activewear manufacturers for startups would assist the entrepreneur in sourcing fabrics, product development, sampling, customization and manufacturing, but the perfect partner should meet the brand‘s purse and early-stage requirements. A startup needs more than a manufacturer that could just produce a garment; it wants a supplier that turns a small range of product concepts into a viable market test.

Start With a Focused Collection

Introducing ten or twenty activewear styles all together mayunnecessarily pressure a new brand.

Having a smaller range allows the founder to spend more time on product quality, branding, photography, packaging and listening to customer feedback. It is possible for many fitness brands to begin having a small focused range of leggings, sports bras, shorts and training tops.

Having a dedicated first collection simplifies development. Each new shape will have an increasement in fabric, color, size combinations, pattern, sample, and production component.

Choose Products That Match Your Experience

However, not all activewear products are equal in terms of manufacturing difficulties.

Most T shirts and loose fitting training tops are fairly simple in comparison to fitted sports related garments such as leggings and sports bras. Specifications for a performance based leggings include but are not limited to; the amount of stretch and recovery, waistband construction, seams and coverage.

Sports bras add yet another layer of complication because support, fit, stretch and comfort have to function as one.

All new brands though, should select product, based on their financial budget, customer and experience of development, rather than imitating another successful brands line of collection, in it‘s completeness.

Fabric Choice Comes Early

The fabric has the ability to alter the appearance, performance, cost, and hand of the activewear product.

Why Nylon Connects to This Moment: Nylon connects to this moment on account of the fact that the fiber has both stretch and durability, as found by the Textile Exchange, as well as being a material that is often seen in activewear, swimwear and other technical tailored pieces.

Polyester is a dominant material throughout the textile industry. Textile Exchange states that polyester is the most common fiber on the planet while recycled polyester is only a fraction of it.

The startup then should considers more than the most popular fiber. The hand, stretch, recover, moisture transfer, durability, look and price shall be taken into time consideration.

MOQ Can Change the Whole Plan

When considering a company with a small amount of capital, the minimum order quantity plays a much bigger part.

Publicly listed activewear manufacturers have very different minimums. Some highlight minimums at about 30 and 50 pieces for style, others around 100 pieces per style / SKU (ZYPFIT)

The minimum order quantity (MOA) is subject to style,color,fabric, size range, decoration, and other custom requirements.

One supplier might still take on a small sewing order, while still requiring a larger fabric order. Another supplier might work it out based on the minimum by style and color.

It seems that startups should compare the Whole MOQ condition rather than only comparing one figure of each different factory.

Low MOQ Does Not Mean Low Cost

A limited production run minimizes the stock holding risk; however, it cannot be assumed to deliver the lowest unit price.

Pattern making, product sampling, fabric buying, trims, labels, printing, packing and production commencing all adds to the final costing.

A startup ordering a small number will amortize the development costs over less garments.

Instead, we should look at the total launch budget. Product costs need to be considered in conjunction with costs for photography, packaging, shipping, marketing, website and other launch costs.

Samples Tell You More Than Photos

Unfortunately, photos cannot reveal the squatting sensation of the leggings or the sports bra‘s mobility.

Sample one provides a real item for a founder to evaluate. The team can examine the fabric, fit, stretch, waistband, seams, logo placement, how it looks overall, etc.

Sometimes you can read a pair of leggings and look good on the screen but too tight around the waist. Look attractive tank top and shoulder restrictions.

Samples are sent out so that any problems can be rectified by the brand, prior to first production run.

A Clear Tech Pack Makes Communication Easier

A good tech pack provides the manufacturer with valuable information about the product.

Measurements, fabrics, colors, stitching, artwork, labels, trims, and packaging information can be included on the document.

While a pretty elaborate technical package can be very useful for the first meeting, a simple references on garments or clear sketches, photos and notes can do the job and help the manufactory understand the initial concept.

The more detailed the brief, the easier it is to discuss price and development.

Test the Parts That Matter

There is no reason a startup should have to go to such exhaustive limits. While development might pose this as potential, it need not. A startup does not have to test every property across every sale.

Due to construction of the new leggings may require a closely in the area of stretch & recovery, opacity, color fastness and pilling. Classic running shirt or training top may need in the area of moisture management, shrinkage, color fastness and durablity.

AATCC has textile test methods for moisture management, colorfastness, abrasion, laundering, and dimensional stability. These processes are valuable tools for brands and manufacturers to measure textile performance.

The testing strategy should be structured on how the product will be used rather than go down the checklist of testing.

Think About the First Order as a Test

The initial production run can provide a startup with far more insight than sales figures.

The customer also is the one who can tell you which color is catching the eye, which size is moving the quickest, which fabric has a nicer hand and which product should be reordered.

A first run of a smaller scale can also bring the manufacturing problems to light in time before more investment is made into the brand.

When a product has High demand, the brand can push for a larger order and enhance the next lot using actual customer feedback.

Plan for the Second Order

A startup should not select a supplier only for its first order.

Availability of materials and printing capacities, consistency of color and pattern records, trims, packaging may impact future orders.

A manufacturer that maintains clean specifications of the product can make repeated production easier, which is placed to the approved sample and specification rather than from scratch.

Growth is much simpler once the supplier is capable of providing both small initial terminations and occasional larger repeat orders.

Look Beyond the Factory Price

The best outcome is not always the lowest quotation.

Suppliers with activewear experience can contribute with fabric sourcing, pattern making, sampling, construction advice and quality check.

A number of producers do advertise publicly that they are set up to produce at very low minimums and I know some also have sample and private label facilities as an alternative to bulk production. A handful also promote sampling first and pattern services prior to bulk production.

Such services may have more influence on a new brand than a slight variation in quoted unit price.

Materials Need a Practical Strategy

From the start it is possible to incorporate Sustainability into the product conversation.

According to Textile Exchange, recycled fibers constitute “a relatively small percentage of the overall market” and “textile-to-textile recycling is still less than 1%”. Furthermore, the textile organization emphasizes the dominance of polyester and the difficulties of recycled synthetics.

That news provides customers of new businesses with a more realistic picture of material selection. Even the use of recycled content can be in line with a brand‘s positioning, however the material must also be sufficiently stretchable, durable, good looking, accessible, and price range.

A good supplier should help to compare these factors instead of just suggest one material because it is more sustainable.

Choose a Manufacturer That Can Grow

The best supplier for a start-up might not be the largest factory.

A good fit may be the activewear experience, flexible product development, sourcing fabric, samples development, customization quality assurance and communication.

Experience counts when a product is cut with stretch fabrics, fitted pattern, special construction or performance requirements.

Communication is equally important. The supplier should be able to describe what is right, what is wrong, and what would bring the cost of production up.

Custom Activewear Manufacturing With JiuvelWear

JiuvelWear provide fabric sourcing, developing samples, custom manufacturing and quality control services to brands that developing custom activewear. Dongguan Jiuzuo Clothing Co.,Ltd. has experience to developing product for fitness, training, lifestyle and other apparel categories.

Within the product range, joggers, T-shirts, tight fitting leggings, sports bras and tank tops may be used.

A project can start from a sketch, a tech pack, a reference garment or a loosely defined product idea. And the team can move through choices of fabric, developing patterns, making samples, working through revisions, branding, on to the large quantities.

For startups choosing activewear manufacturers for startups, the most key relationship should be able to manage first order and all subsequent orders. The manufacturer can assist the brand in controlling the initial inventory, enabling the sampling process to refine the product, and establishing an evolving production capacity.