Yoga wear supply & private label
Yoga wear supply & private label
“Butter-soft” and “brushed polyester” are marketing words, not specifications. Here is how to turn them into numbers you can put in a purchase order.
Fabric is 35–45% of the FOB price of a yoga garment and almost all of the customer’s first impression. Getting the specification right before sampling saves more money than any negotiation later.
Nylon-spandex and polyester-spandex behave differently, and the difference is visible on the body.
Grams per square metre decides opacity and how the garment hangs. For leggings:
| Weight | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 180–200 gsm | Sports bras, tops, summer shorts | Light, breathable; too thin for a squat-proof legging |
| 220–240 gsm | Leggings, bodysuits | The mainstream range; opacity depends on knit, not just weight |
| 250–280 gsm | High-compression leggings, winter | Holds shape, feels substantial, warmer |
| 300+ gsm | Fleece-lined, outerwear | Bulky for studio wear; check stretch recovery |
Ask for two numbers: stretch percentage (how far it extends before resistance) and recovery (how much it returns). Good leggings fabric extends 120–160% and recovers to within 3–5% of original width after five washes. A fabric that extends well but recovers poorly looks baggy at the knee by week three.
Butter-soft usually means a fine-gauge interlock with a peach finish — sanded lightly on the face so it feels smooth and slightly matte. It shows fewer deep colours than a shiny knit and photographs well, which is why brands like it.
Brushed means the inside has been mechanically raised, creating a soft, warm hand-feel. It is excellent for autumn/winter and for comfort-led lines, but it pills faster at friction points if the yarn is short-staple. Ask for a pilling result (Martindale or ICI) — 4 or above is what you want.
Neither term has a legal definition. A purchase order that says “butter-soft” is unenforceable; one that says “75/25 nylon-spandex, 230 gsm ±5%, peach finish, pilling ≥ 4, recovery ≤ 5% after 5 washes” is.
Opacity is the single most common return reason on leggings, and it is predictable before bulk. Do this on the actual production fabric, not a photo:
If you can read text through it, the fabric is too light, the knit too open, or the colour too pale. Fix it in the specification, not in the marketing copy.
Ask for results on three tests, because they fail differently:
| Parameter | Example |
|---|---|
| Composition | 75% nylon / 25% elastane |
| Weight | 230 gsm ±5% |
| Finish | Peach (butter-soft), both sides |
| Stretch / recovery | ≥ 130% stretch; ≤ 5% growth after 5 washes |
| Opacity | No show-through at 150% stretch, darkest and lightest colour |
| Pilling | ≥ 4 (Martindale, 4 h) |
| Colour fastness | Wash ≥ 4, wet crock ≥ 3–4 |
| Certification | OEKO-TEX Standard 100, class II |
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is issued to the fabric and the mill, not to the brand or the trading company. Ask for the certificate number and check the article list covers the fabric weight and colour range you are buying. If a supplier cannot produce a number, treat “OEKO-TEX certified” as a claim, not a fact.
Ask for a swatch card: 20 × 20 cm of each candidate fabric, labelled with composition, weight and finish. It costs a courier envelope, and it lets you wash, stretch and photograph all three options side by side before you commit to a sample garment. Most mills will send one against a courier account.
Once the fabric is fixed, the rest of the project — pattern, sampling, bulk — becomes a scheduling exercise rather than a negotiation.
See the fabrics we hold or ask for a swatch card for the three weights you are considering.
Yoga wear produced with our partners in Xiamen, China.
Wholesale, OEM and private label for brands worldwide.