Activewear manufacturers for startups and workout clothes brands

The minimum is per color, and that changes the math

Most founders plan a launch in styles: a legging, a bra, a short. Factories count in colors. Here is how five of them write the same rule on their own pages.

BOMME Studio in Los Angeles publishes "150 units/style" for cut and sew and adds "Two colors or prints per style at the 150-unit minimum" and "five sizes per colorway, included in your minimum." That is the most generous wording we found: one legging in two colors and five sizes can be 75 per color and about 15 per size. Hongyu Apparel in Dongguan states "100Pcs/style/color (4 sizes)" for custom work. Bryden writes two floors at once: "100 pieces per colour per design, with a total order minimum of 500 pieces." Full Speed 100 in downtown LA puts "technical activewear" in its top tier at "200-300 pieces per style per color." Thygesen in Hanoi starts at "3,000pcs per design" with "1000 pcs per color."

Now plan a modest launch: three styles in three colors. At Hongyu that is 9 color minimums of 100, so 900 pieces. At Full Speed 100 it is 1,800 to 2,700. At Bryden it is 900, which clears its 500 total. At BOMME it is 150 per style with two colors included, so a third color is the question to ask. Same launch plan, a threefold spread in units, before anyone has quoted a price.

Why the fabric mill sets the floor

The sewing line could make 30 leggings. The fabric is what cannot be bought in small amounts. A Chinese nylon spandex exporter, Ningbo MH, lists its 80/20 four way stretch at 130 grams per square meter, 152 cm wide, with "MOQ:3000m/color" and a 25 to 35 day lead time. Worked model, our arithmetic from those published numbers: 3,000 meters at that width and weight is about 593 kg of fabric in one color. A run of 150 leggings uses a small fraction of that.

That is why the two business models exist. A cut and sew shop (CMT) sews fabric you buy, so its minimum can stay low: BOMME is explicit that "Domestic production is cut and sew only" and the client supplies fabric. A full package factory buys the fabric for you and has to use the dye lot, so its minimum rises: BOMME's own Vietnam full package program starts at "600 units/style", and its planning guide says full package and seamless programs typically run 600 or more per color per style. If a factory quotes 50 pieces full package in a custom color, ask where the fabric comes from. Usually it is stock fabric in stock colors.

What development costs before the first production unit

Three US shops and one Chinese factory publish development money, and the range is wide. Hongyu charges "$50 per piece" for a simple sample and "up to $80 per piece" for a complex one, with 8 to 15 days sample time. BOMME lists development "From $800 per style" (Essential), "From $1,500" (Technical) and "From $2,500" (Advanced Technical), says the fee is "waived on production orders of 600 or more units per style", and is clear that on a 150 unit cut and sew run "sample development is paid and comes first." TEG in the LA Arts District sells packages: The Capsule, 5 styles, at $14,280 with fully custom patterns or $10,625 from block patterns, up to $37,800 for 15 styles, with part of the contract credited toward production. Tack Apparel makes a pre-production sample free with a production order, but only after the deposit, and charges for a sample before that without stating the amount.

Worked model with stated assumptions: a three style launch developed at BOMME's Technical tier is about $4,500 in development before the first production unit, against roughly $150 to $240 for three Hongyu samples. The gap pays for patternmaking and fittings in LA. Decide which you are buying before comparing quotes.

Lead time starts when the materials land

Published lead times look short until you read when the clock starts. BOMME: "most CMT runs complete within 6-8 weeks after receiving all materials from you." Euphoric Colors in LA starts its 8 week development clock "based on the receipt of all design materials, fabrics, and trims from the client." Full Speed 100 publishes the components: pattern 1 to 3 weeks, sampling 2 to 4 weeks, fabric "1-2 weeks for domestic in-stock fabric, 4-8 weeks for custom or imported fabric", production 3 to 6 weeks, and 12 to 16 weeks in total for complex garments with imported fabric. Apparel Production in New York says domestic production takes 2 to 3 weeks once samples are made if the fabric is domestic, plus "a 4-week extension" if it comes from overseas.

Offshore the totals are longer. Bryden quotes bulk at 4 to 6 weeks after sample approval but the full process at "4-6 months on stock fabrics and 6-8 months if custom fabric development is required." Thygesen says 10 to 12 weeks including fabric production. So the honest planning number for a first custom color run is three to eight months, and a 3 day rush figure on a factory page refers to stock blanks.

The US address that is not a US factory

Two patterns showed up in this category and both matter before you pay a deposit. First, a US mailing address with no stated plant. One LA area label lists a Long Beach address with a four digit unit number, which is the shape of a mailbox service, and does not say where sewing happens. Another lists a Sunset Boulevard suite and, on its contact page, an office in Karachi. Neither is wrong to do, but a buyer expecting a made in USA run should ask for the sewing address in writing.

Second, minimums that disagree with themselves. One sportswear site states "starts from 50 pieces per style" and "starts from 15 sets" on the same page, and third party lists repeat whichever number is lowest. The fix is the same in both cases: put the minimum, the unit and the sewing location in the quote. BOMME does this by design: sewing in LA or its Tijuana facility is "disclosed in writing per program."

Tariffs on imported activewear in October 2026

Duty now moves the US versus offshore comparison more than labor does. After the Supreme Court struck down the IEEPA tariffs on February 20, 2026, a 10% Section 122 surcharge (Federal Register document 2026-03824) ran for 150 days. On July 23, 2026 a presidential memorandum directed new Section 301 tariffs tied to forced labor enforcement, 10% for a listed group that includes Bangladesh, Mexico, Pakistan, Cambodia and India, and 12.5% for all other investigated economies, which law firm and SEC filing summaries report includes China and Vietnam, effective July 24. These sit on top of normal duty, which for synthetic knit apparel is among the highest in the tariff schedule, and Chinese apparel still carries the older 7.5% List 4A duty (reported).

Two practical consequences. US sewn garments avoid these additional duties, although imported fabric does not. And USMCA qualifying goods are reported as exempt from the new 301 tariff, which is why a Tijuana cut and sew option, like BOMME's, is worth pricing. We do not classify products or give customs advice: check the exact line at hts.usitc.gov or with a licensed customs broker before costing.

Brief to send so every quote comes back comparable

Send the same brief to every factory on the shortlist. List each style with a tech pack or reference photos, fabric content and weight (Bryden recommends 250 GSM or more with at least 20% spandex for squat proof yoga and high impact wear), seam types (flatlock, coverstitch, bonded), the colors per style and the size range per color, and two quantities, for example 150 and 600 per style, so you can see how much of the price is development.

Then ask four questions in writing. Is the minimum per style, per color or per design, and are sizes included? Who buys the fabric, and what is the mill minimum per color? When does the lead time clock start? Where is the garment sewn? The AI sourcing agent sends that brief to every matched factory, logs each answer in the same columns and keeps the quotes side by side, so the comparison is minimum against minimum. For broader apparel sourcing see our custom clothing manufacturers guide, and for a full low quantity overview the low MOQ manufacturers page.