By
Sarah Harris
If you’re looking to boost your gym’s branding or just have some cool ideas for an athletic wear logo, you can create your own customized fitness apparel brand quicker than you think.
Graphic designers can make eye-catching images, third-party logistics (3PL) partners handle printing and delivery, and an e-commerce storefront is a perfect way to let customers select your custom gym clothing options.
Reasons to Launch a Customized Fitness Apparel Brand
Activewear is comfortable for workouts and relaxation — and it’s fashionable! Customized workout gear ties into brand loyalty, and when customers wear apparel with your logo on social media and in public, you turn them into brand ambassadors.
You can also sell your merch for profit. Every business needs multiple revenue streams, and clothing is a common one for a good reason. Customize workout clothes with colors, logos and images, and you’ll be casting a wide net that will catch new customers.
10 Steps to Create Your Own Customized Fitness Apparel
If you’re venturing into workout clothing, it’s worth doing it right. Follow these steps for the best chance of success.
1. Research the Fitness Apparel Market
Research which brands occupy the space you want and understand how they serve their customers. Do they offer a specific buying experience, have a reputation with certain key demographics or have celebrities tied into the brand’s image?
2. Design Your Brand and Logo
Everything your brand stands for should be represented by your logo’s colors, graphics, fonts and placement. Aside from key features of your clothing, such as breathability, fit and comfort, the biggest difference between your clothing and what your competitors offer is the appearance.
3. Brainstorm Fitness Apparel Styles
Research trends to see what types of apparel are hot in the market. Which demographics are you targeting, and what do they like? Do these customers want big, baggy sweatshirts or form-fitting T-shirts? Are solid colors in, or do they want complex, all-over graphics?
4. Source Materials and Suppliers
Fitness clothing uses fabrics like spandex, nylon and polyester. These fabrics provide excellent stretch, durability and breathability. You’ll also have to consider the cost of the material and how easy it is to print graphics on it.
5. Find a Manufacturer for Fitness Apparel
Don’t go with the first name you find. Research reviews from other fitness brands to see whether a manufacturer can serve you well. Look at the quality of the end product, where the company ships and how fast, how many items they can produce, which types of clothing they make and other important metrics.
Print Bind Ship works with apparel companies worldwide because we have distribution and manufacturing facilities around the globe. That way, we can get packages shipped within 24 hours of an order.
6. Set Your Prices
Think about your profit margin. Starting your clothing brand should be a way to make money, so aim for a margin of around 10%. A profit margin of 20% is considered high, and 5% is low, though low prices can help at first.
7. Consider the Platform
Will you be selling on an e-commerce platform like Shopify or Etsy? Perhaps Amazon? Or will you sell through your website or social media channels? Perhaps you want to sell in retail stores or in your gym.
If you’re selling exclusively online, you can get away with print-on-demand services and have no inventory taking up warehouse space. But if you want racks of apparel in the front of your gym, you’ll have to consider how many sets of clothing to order.
8. Market Your Apparel
If you have your own gym, that’s the first place to market your workout gear. Make sure your website and social media proudly advertise your customized fitness apparel.
If you really want to push your clothing lines and make serious money, your advertising must be more intentional. Consider sponsoring fitness influencers on social media and taking out social media ads. Get professional photos to entice people into choosing your brand.
Direct mail marketing is one excellent way to drive business. Research shows that recipients prefer physical mailers over emails because getting actual mail feels more personal. With direct mail from Print Bind Ship’s Mail Genius, you can offer promotional coupons and codes and make personally addressed notes.
9. Consider Partnering with a Fulfillment Center
You probably don’t want to handle screen printing, packaging, shipping and returns yourself, so partnering with Print Bind Ship makes life far easier for you. We manufacture quality apparel to your specs, professionally pack it, ship it and take care of returned items.
10. Evaluate Your Growth
Measure your progress to ensure your brand is profitable. Check your sales stats and social media and website metrics to determine how well your clothing sells. Do you have items that aren’t popular? Are you selling to demographics you never thought you would? Track these developments and alter your course to take advantage of the data.
You Don’t Have to Start from Scratch — Print Bind Ship Is Here for You
Starting your workout clothing brand makes sense if you’re a known commodity in the fitness world. It’s an excellent way to boost your profits and spread your branding far and wide, but you have to make sure you get off on the right foot. Get high-quality, well-designed clothing from the experts at Print Bind Ship. We work with fitness brands worldwide to provide customers with workout clothes that look great and last a long time. And we’ll make sure you have effective direct-mail campaigns through our Mail Genius service. Get started today by contacting Print Bind Ship.
FAQ
3PLs like Print Bind Ship offer custom clothing services where you can upload your graphics and get them printed on the apparel of your choice. Make sure the service you secure has a good reputation and solid ratings.
Yes, you can do the customization yourself if you have the right printing equipment. However, most brands outsource to 3PLs like Print Bind Ship.
Seek a 3PL printer that can source all the types of clothing you want and ensure they can brand the apparel properly. If you want to create a workout set and the 3PL can’t provide certain items, you’ll need to look elsewhere.