Who this guide is for
Wholesale yoga clothes buyers are a varied group: studios adding a retail corner, boutiques building an activewear rail, online sellers testing a category, and distributors supplying several stores. Their quantities differ, but the questions are the same. Which buying model fits? What should the assortment look like? How do you know the goods will hold up, and what are you responsible for once they carry your label or enter your store?
Three ways to buy wholesale
| Model | What you get | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Stock styles from a supplier range | Existing designs in existing colors, sometimes with your logo added | Fast and flexible on quantity, but the same styles may be sold to others |
| Private label on existing patterns | A proven pattern made in your chosen fabric and colors with your labels | More distinctive, with reference MOQs per style per color and a sampling step |
| Fully custom program | Your own design, fit and fabric choices from a tech pack | Most control, most sampling, longest calendar |
Many buyers start with the middle option: a proven legging and bra pattern, made in a fabric and color set that fits their customer, carrying their own labels. Our private label page describes how that works on desk programs.
Planning the assortment
A small yoga assortment usually works best when it is built around a few core pieces that sell together. Leggings are typically the anchor, with a bra and a top or two that match in color. Sets sell more easily when the pieces share a fabric and dye lot, so the colors actually match on the rail. Our studio retail assortment note goes into product mix for small spaces.
- Core: a black or dark legging and matching bra that stay in range season after season.
- Color story: one or two seasonal colors across the same core pieces.
- Extension: one feature piece, such as a ribbed seamless set or a one-piece suit, if your customers ask for it.
Resist adding many styles in many colors on a first order. Each style and color carries its own minimum on custom and private label programs, and a spread-out first order leaves you with broken size runs everywhere.
Size curves
A size curve is the share of each color quantity allocated to each size. An even split looks fair and usually leaves you short in the middle sizes and overstocked at the ends. Use your own sales data where you have it. Where you do not, weight toward the middle sizes and keep a smaller allocation at the extremes, then adjust on reorder. On custom and private label programs, sizes can usually be mixed within the color quantity; ask whether there is a minimum per size.
Prepacks and carton assortments
Wholesale goods can be packed by single size per carton or as ratio packs, where each carton holds a fixed size mix of one style and color. Ratio packs are convenient for stores that order the same mix each time. Single-size cartons are easier for warehouses and online sellers who pick by unit. Decide which you need before the order is confirmed, and give carton marking instructions by style, color and size. See shipping cartons, polybags and labels.
Checking what you buy
Stock or custom, ask for evidence before you commit:
- Fabric sheet: composition, base and finished GSM, finish. For performance leggings the reference range is about 75-80% nylon and 20-25% spandex at 230-280 GSM, or polyester and spandex for printed and value lines.
- Sample: one piece of each style in your lightest color, checked for opacity in a deep squat and for workmanship at seams, gusset and waistband.
- Test reports where relevant: colorfastness to laundering (AATCC 61) and perspiration (AATCC 15 or ISO 105-E04), pilling (ASTM D4970) and dimensional change (AATCC 135).
- Inspection before shipment: measured against the approved sample, with results shared before the balance is paid.
Labels and your responsibilities
If you import goods or sell them under your own label in the US, labeling responsibilities follow. Garments need fiber content by percentage, country of origin and dealer identity such as an RN number under 16 CFR 303, and care instructions under 16 CFR 423. Clothing textiles fall under flammability rules in 16 CFR 1610, with exemptions for certain fabrics. Children's items bring CPSIA requirements, and state rules such as Proposition 65 and PFAS restrictions in textile articles may apply. Avoid unqualified eco claims under the FTC Green Guides, and label bamboo-derived fabric as viscose or rayon made from bamboo. The compliance overview collects these.
Certificates on wholesale goods
Suppliers may mention OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100, GRS or GOTS. These are available on request where the mill or factory holds them and should be verified by certificate number lookup. A certificate on a fabric does not automatically allow you to make a claim on your hang tag; scheme rules, such as the GOTS labeling grades or the GRS label threshold, set what can be said.
Terms and timing
Agree in writing the quantity per style, color and size, the approved sample reference, the ex-factory date, the inspection terms, the payment milestones and the delivery term. For custom and private label programs, reference timing is typically 7-15 days for a first sample and 30-45 days of bulk after approval and fabric availability, confirmed in writing for each program. Stock goods may ship faster, depending on what is actually in stock. If you are deciding between delivery terms, read FOB vs DDP.
Reorders
The best wholesale programs are built for reorder. Keep the approved sample, fabric sheet and inspection report for each style, and track sell-through by color and size from the first week. When a core style sells, reorder early in its running color; the pattern and fabric are known, so sampling is largely skipped. See reorder planning.
Getting started
Tell the desk what you sell, where and to whom, which pieces you want, your color story and a quantity range. We coordinate with partner factories on the right route for each style and confirm reference MOQs and dates in writing. Browse wholesale yoga clothes or send a brief.