Athleisure & Streetwear Manufacturer for Startup Brands

What does ZipaSports make for an athleisure label?

ZipaSports manufactures the core of a lifestyle range: hoodies, joggers, crewneck sweatshirts, tees, shorts, piqué polos and caps, cut and sewn to your pattern and finished with your labels at the factory in Sialkot, Pakistan. Each style is made to order in your colour and fit, from 20–25 pieces per design, so a founder is not choosing from a blank catalogue and printing on top of it.

The garment pages that cover this range are hoodies and jackets, gym tops for tees and tanks, leggings and shorts and caps and headwear. Matching bags come from the same factory if the range needs them.

The difference between athleisure and gym wear, from a production point of view, is fabric weight and fit rather than method. An athleisure hoodie is heavier, boxier and decorated to be seen on the street; a training hoodie is lighter and cut closer. ZipaSports runs both, and the brand decides which by choosing the fleece and the pattern in the next two sections. Established brands have no MOQ limit, so the range can grow one style at a time.

Which fleece weight should a startup hoodie be?

Fleece weight is the first decision, because it sets how the hoodie hangs, how it prints and how it feels in the hand at the point of sale. ZipaSports offers two fleece families for lifestyle ranges, listed on the cotton-polyester fleece and performance fleece pages.

For a first athleisure drop, most brands pick one cotton-polyester fleece in the upper part of the 280–350 GSM band and run the hoodie, crewneck and jogger from the same roll, so the set matches in colour and shrinkage. Fabric swatches are sent with the physical sample so the weight can be felt before bulk is approved.

Which decoration method suits a lifestyle range?

Athleisure is decorated to be looked at, so the method matters more than on a training top. All six methods run in-house at ZipaSports and can be combined on one garment.

A common first-drop combination is a puff-print wordmark on the chest with a small embroidered mark on the sleeve, and a screen-printed back graphic on the tee. Sublimation is not used on cotton-polyester fleece, because the dye only bonds to polyester; keep all-over prints for the polyester pieces.

How does a first drop get planned?

A first drop is a small number of styles run deep enough to be worth photographing and stocking. The planner below is the layout ZipaSports sees most often from lifestyle startups; each row is one design, so each row carries its own 20–25 piece minimum, split across sizes as you choose.

Six styles in one colourway at the minimum is roughly 120–150 pieces. Adding a second colourway doubles the designs, so a startup that wants two colours usually launches three styles in two colours instead of six styles in one. Lower quantities are possible on request for a test run, and reorders have no MOQ limit once the brand is trading.

How does private label work on a hoodie?

Every piece leaves ZipaSports carrying your brand and nothing else. The private-label set for a lifestyle range is applied on the sewing line and at packing, and is detailed on the labels, tags and packaging and private label pages.

• Woven neck label in your artwork, or a heat-transfer tagless print inside the neck for a cleaner streetwear finish.
• Printed size tag and care label with fibre content, worded for the UK, USA, EU, Canada or Australia as you confirm it.
• Woven side-seam or hem tab, the small flag detail lifestyle brands use.
• Hang tag with your string or pin, and a branded polybag or printed box per piece.

Your pattern, artwork and label files are not resold or shown to other buyers. Approved Pantone references, the fleece specification and the label placement are kept on file so a reorder six months later matches the first drop. The mockup shows the label positions alongside the garment, so the whole product is approved in one round. The design service is free: a sketch or a reference photo is enough to start.

How are fit and sizes handled for a boxy or oversized cut?

Fit is where athleisure brands differ most from teamwear, and it is handled by pattern rather than by fabric. ZipaSports drafts patterns and grades sizes on computerised systems, so an oversized drop-shoulder hoodie, a cropped crewneck or a relaxed-taper jogger is drawn to your measurements rather than adapted from a gym block.

Standard grading covers adult XS–5XL and women's XS–4XL, and youth sizes are available for a kids' line. Most lifestyle brands run a unisex chart; send your own size chart with chest, body length, sleeve length and hem width per size, or send a garment you like and the pattern room measures it. The size chart guide lists the points of measure to include.

A fit sample is the step that protects the launch. It is produced in 5–7 days at sample cost, credited against the bulk order, and it lets you check the shoulder drop, the hood size and the rib depth before 25 pieces are cut. Measurement checks against the approved size spec run on every bulk piece, and pre-shipment photos are sent on request. Small measurement tolerance within the chart (±1–1.5 cm) is normal in cut and sew; anything outside the approved spec is a defect and remade.

What are the lead times and shipping to the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Europe?

Lead times for an athleisure order are the same confirmed figures as every ZipaSports order. The free digital mockup arrives within 24 hours of the brief; a physical sample takes 5–7 days; bulk production is 15–25 business days after approval, or 7–12 days on express at additional cost; and DHL, FedEx or UPS delivers to the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Europe in 5–10 days. Sea freight at 3–6 weeks is an option once drops grow large.

Plan a drop calendar around those numbers rather than around a launch date alone. Fleece is cut after approval, so the clock starts when the mockup, the size breakdown and the label files are all signed off; a late label file holds the whole order. Reorders of an approved style move faster because the pattern, digitised embroidery and screens already exist, and there is no MOQ limit on them for an established brand.

Every shipment carries a commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin. Import VAT and duty are the importer's responsibility on arrival unless otherwise agreed; the import duties guide and the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and EuropeIrelandNew ZealandUAESaudi Arabia pages give the detail per market.

What do you need to send us, and what does the guarantee cover?

Send the items below and the studio returns a mockup within 24 hours. A tech pack is optional.

Quality Guarantee: if any garment arrives with a manufacturing defect, we remake it free of charge; the remake goes into production within 3 days of your report. Print faults, stitching faults, a wrong size against the approved spec or a wrong quantity are covered; change of mind is not, because made-to-order garments carry your labels and cannot be returned. Report with photos and the order reference within 7 days of delivery. Full terms are on the quality guarantee page.