Established in 1997 we have been designing, developing, sourcing and marketing high-performance sportswear for blue-chip sports clothing brands and startups around the globe ever since. Many of our designs and therefore clients often win awards like “Best in Test” against their closest competitors due to our innovative product that we design and produce for them, as we approach product design and development in a different way to most sportswear brands.
Because we work with sportswear brands in so many different sports we are able to look at the activewear market as a whole rather than focus our research on one specific sports activity. This general knowledge of the whole sportswear market allows us to share technologies, fabrics, research, manufacturing techniques and garment features from one sport that may not be obvious to another.
For this reason, we are often brought into established high profile sportswear brands (see some of our previous work here) that have internal sportswear designers and development teams, to bring some fresh thinking and innovation to their brand, whether it be a new product or developing their existing apparel.
We also work with many start-up brands who have a lack of experience in design, product development or how to source sportswear but have a great idea, a potential route to market and funding in place. Many of these start-ups are now successful brands with some now established as brand leaders within their sports sector.
When we work with any client we ALWAYS start with a blank page and break each garment down into its basic ingredients, right down to which fibres to use to extract the highest performance for the end-user. We then source fabrics from our vast library of technical mills around the world and if we can’t find a suitable material we start to develop a bespoke material, specifying which fibres to use, how they are blended and the performance finishes required.
Once we have determined the fabrics we start to design the garment based on the required features and target price points. We also design and develop all the bespoke trims such as cord locks, buckles, buttons, adjusters and swing tickets. If you are looking to enter or expand your sportswear accessories catalogue, then we can also help you there as well as your sportswear products like the ever-expanding sustainable sportswear market.
After we fully understand our client’s consumer and their needs, we usually end up producing 2 prototypes and one final sample before bulk production starts and the cost of these samples varies depending on the factory selected for the bulk. It also depends on the activewear sample that we are developing, as simple styles using less expensive fabrics and components will cost less than a complex waterproof sailing jacket made from GORE-TEX.
The lead time to produce samples varies too, again depending on the complexities of the garment but also the capacity of the supplier’s sample room. Sometimes it can be a couple of weeks and in the worst case could be a couple of months depending on when we sample hits the sample room.
We source from a large network of highly trusted sportswear factories in Europe and the Far East and select the partner based on the brand’s requirements taking into account the minimums, quality, service and technical ability. Our philosophy is simple – “If we produce the very best product at competitive costs then hopefully you sell more. If you sell more, we produce more sportswear garments and everyone wins.
It has taken decades of knowledge and experience to really understand how to achieve designs that answer our client’s briefs, not just in terms of brand style and performance but critically making sure these are commercially viable.
If you are looking to source a sportswear designer, please request a free quotation and talk to us to understand the advantages of working with us.
