Launching your own sportswear brand can be an incredibly exciting journey, but it requires a structured process and clear strategic direction that all successful starts ups follow. At Blue Associates Sportswear, we’ve helped launch over 250 sportswear brands globally and worked with a further 250+ established activewear brands. We understand exactly what it takes to transform a great idea into a market-ready product.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or already have a concept in mind, this step-by-step guide breaks down the key (basic) stages of launching a successful sportswear brand, from the initial concept and design through to factory sourcing, production, and marketing.
1. Concept
Every successful sportswear brand begins with a solid concept. This involves identifying your target market, brand ethos, and the gap in the market your products will fill. Are you focusing on sustainable activewear? Performance running gear? High-fashion gym wear?
Whatever your niche is, make sure your concept has legs and isn’t a cut and paste of another brand.
Define what makes your brand unique. This becomes the foundation of your branding and will influence everything from design and fabric sourcing to how you market the brand later.
Work out the brands WHY?
Tip: Develop a clear mission statement and tone of voice early. This sets the creative direction and helps align everyone working on the project. Keep this ready to hand and read it every 6 months to make sure you are still following the same trajectory.
2. Business Plan
A well-structured business plan is vital for mapping out your vision and finances. It should cover:
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Market analysis
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Competitive landscape
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Financial forecasting
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Sales and distribution channels
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Brand positioning
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Funding requirements
This is not just a tool for investors, it’s your roadmap. It helps ensure you’re prepared for each step ahead and remain focused on long-term goals.
3. Design
Once your concept and business plan are locked in, it’s time to get creative. The design stage involves sketching out your first collection, determining functionality, and working closely with designers to bring your ideas to life.
Blue Associates Sportswear offers specialist design support tailored to sportswear, incorporating the latest trends and performance technologies. Design at this stage should include both style and function — think moisture-wicking fabrics, ergonomic fits, and details like thumb holes or reflective trims.
Above all, make sure the design fits the brief in terms of performance, features, construction and cost. Find a design team that can source all of the trims and fabrics aligned to your budget and brief.
4. Fabric Sourcing
With designs in place, you’ll need to move into fabric sourcing. This is a crucial step as the materials you choose will define your product’s performance, feel, and sustainability credentials.
At Blue Associates Sportswear, we work with a global network of over 150+ fabric mills to source high-quality, innovative, and often sustainable fabrics. Whether you’re seeking recycled polyester, organic cotton, or bamboo blends, choosing the right fabric sets your brand apart in terms of quality and purpose.
When sourcing fabrics, consider:
- Stretch and recovery
- Breathability
- Moisture management
- Durability
- Environmental impact
- MOQ’s
- Price
- Export issues
- Care instructions
- Fibre performance
5. Tech Pack Creation
The tech pack is your blueprint for production. It includes all the technical details needed by your factory or supplier to create your garment exactly as intended. This includes:
- Flat sketches
- Construction details
- Stitch types
- Measurement specs
- Trims and labels
- Fabric details with nominated suppliers
A detailed and accurate tech pack reduces miscommunication and ensures consistency during sampling and production. At Blue Associates Sportswear, our team creates highly detailed tech packs that are factory ready.
6. Factory or Supplier Sourcing
Now that your tech packs and fabrics are ready, it’s time to find the right factory or supplier. This can be one of the most challenging parts of launching a sportswear brand.
A good factory not only has the technical capabilities to execute your designs, but also aligns with your values (like ethical working conditions or sustainable manufacturing).
At Blue Associates Sportswear, we’ve spent years vetting and building relationships with suppliers and factories worldwide, ensuring they meet high standards of quality, ethics, and reliability. We connect brands to the right manufacturing partners based on product type, MOQs, lead times, and more.
We have a network of around 45 trusted suppliers across Europe, China and Vietnam.
7. Sampling
Once you’ve selected a factory, they’ll begin making your samples. This is your first tangible look at your product and often a reality check.
Sampling helps you assess:
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Fit and functionality
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Fabric behaviour
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Construction quality
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Design execution
Expect to go through a few rounds of sampling. It’s rare to get a perfect sample on the first try, so patience and precision are key.
Note that samples are made from available fabrics. The fabric will be the right quality as you have specified, however the colour will be what’s available at that time in the fabric mill.
8. Fitting and Revisions
With samples in hand, it’s time for fitting sessions. You’ll test each garment on fit models from your target demographic and make detailed notes on how to improve the fit, comfort, construction and performance.
At Blue Associates Sportswear, we guide brands through this process and ensure feedback is translated into actionable changes for the next sample round. Our fit models come to our studio every week where we assess the samples that have arrived. We look at how the seams lie, the general fit and function of the garment and their features and make adjustments to fine tune the garment to perfection.
Usually we produce 2 samples before we place the order for bulk. This is when we are happy with the fabric, general cut and features and of course, price.
9. Size Sets
Once the fit is approved, your factory will produce bulk size sets, one garment in each of the sizes you plan to sell. This step ensures that the grading (adjustment of fit across different sizes) is accurate.
This is a crucial step for reducing returns and improving customer satisfaction later. A poorly graded garment might fit well in size M but feel completely off in size XL.
We measure each size set sample to make sure the grade we created has been followed.
10. Pre-Production Samples (PPS)
After the size set is approved, the factory will create pre-production samples (PPS). These are made using the final bulk fabrics, trims, and construction methods – essentially a production-ready sample.
It’s your last chance to approve the product before bulk manufacturing. Make sure everything from colour accuracy to stitching quality meets your standards.
It also helps us sleep at night before the bulk fabrics are cut.
11. Production
Once the PPS is signed off, production begins. This stage can take 4–12 weeks depending on order volume, product complexity, and your chosen factory’s capacity.
Your factory will manufacture your full order, perform quality control checks, and prepare the goods for shipping. At Blue Associates Sportswear, we help oversee this process to ensure timelines, quality, and communication are maintained from start to finish.
We request shipment samples to study and sign off before the bulk is shipped.
12. Website & E-Commerce
While production is underway, it’s time to focus on your website. Your online presence is your storefront, especially for DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands.
Key things to consider:
- Shopify or WordPress?
- Brand storytelling and content
- Product photography
- Size guides
- Payment and shipping setup
- T&C’s
- Blog
A seamless e-commerce experience improves trust and increases conversions. We often help clients with brand development and content for launch campaigns, so every touchpoint aligns with their brand identity.
We build websites for some of our start-up clients and make sure the SEO is built into each page so the site can be seen by search engines.
Website build is more than building something that functions. A professional website will be built so it reads positive to search engines with fast loads speeds and SEO that makes sure your brand can be found.
13. Photo Shoot
Once you have final production samples or stock, you’ll need high-quality images for your site and marketing campaigns. A professional photo shoot should include:
- E-commerce product shots (on-model and flat lay)
- Lifestyle imagery for social and ads
- Brand videos or reels
- Motion/gif assets for ads or email marketing
The visuals must reflect your brand values and target audience — whether that’s high-performance athleticism, luxury fashion, or community-driven lifestyle.
We can help art direct your shoot and can plan the entire thing. Models, location, photographer, edit, shoot list, accessories, hair make up… you name it, we have everything covered.
14. Marketing & Launch
This is the stage where all your hard work comes to life.
Your marketing strategy should begin before your official launch. Build anticipation through:
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Social media teasers
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Influencer partnerships
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Email newsletters
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Early access campaigns
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Paid ads and PR outreach
Once your brand goes live, ongoing marketing is essential to drive awareness, grow your community, and increase sales.
We help clients with full go-to-market plans that include organic and paid strategies, ensuring a successful launch and consistent brand growth.
Launching a sportswear brand requires more than just a good idea — it takes planning, expertise, and reliable partners. From branding and design to factory sourcing, sampling, and production, each step must be carefully executed to bring your vision to life.
At Blue Associates Sportswear, we offer a complete turnkey solution for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to create their own sportswear brand. With over 25 years of experience and an end-to-end service that covers everything from concept through to production, we’ve helped over 250 brands around the world make their mark in the competitive world of performance apparel.
Whether you’re looking for help with design, sourcing, tech packs, or factory introductions, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.