One number, several minimums
When a supplier quotes a minimum order quantity for a legging, the number looks like a single rule. In practice it is the result of several minimums stacked on top of each other: the mill's minimum for the fabric, the dye house's minimum for a color, the trim suppliers' minimums for elastic, labels and cups, and the factory's own minimum to set up cutting, sewing or knitting. The quoted MOQ is simply the highest of these, translated into garments.
The reference ranges are well known: typically 100-300 pcs per style per color for cut and sew and typically 300-500 pcs per style per color for seamless, with sizes usually mixable within the quantity. Our MOQ and lead time page sets these out by route. This note goes one step deeper, into how to find out which layer is driving your number and what you can change.
The four layers
| Layer | Who sets it | What usually moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric | The knitting mill | Using an existing mill quality instead of a custom construction or custom weight |
| Color | The dye house | Choosing a color the mill already dyes, or combining styles that share one fabric color |
| Trims | Elastic, label, cup and packaging suppliers | Stock elastic, heat transfer logos instead of custom jacquard, standard cup shapes |
| Garment setup | The partner factory | Simpler construction, fewer panels, fewer new styles per order |
Fabric
A mill that keeps a nylon and spandex interlock as a running quality can supply smaller cuts of it. If you ask for a custom weight, a different spandex share or a brushed finish on a base the mill does not normally brush, the mill has to run a full knitting lot. That lot is often larger than your garment order, and the extra fabric is either charged to you or used as the reason for a higher MOQ.
Color
Dyeing happens in lots. A custom color needs lab dips, approval and a dye lot of a minimum size. A color the mill already runs can often be cut from greige fabric dyed with another customer's order. This is why the same legging can have a lower MOQ in black than in a custom sage green.
Trims
Trims are where small programs get surprised. A printed waistband tape, a woven jacquard elastic with your logo, or a molded cup in a new shape each come with their own supplier minimum, sometimes higher than the garment quantity. A heat transfer logo or a silicone logo is usually flexible. Our note on logo methods compares them.
Garment setup
For cut and sew, setup means pattern, marker, cutting and balancing a sewing line. For seamless, it means writing a knitting program for each style and giving it machine time before the first good piece comes off. Seamless setup is heavier per style, which is why the reference range starts higher.
Find out which layer sets your floor
Ask the supplier a direct question: "If I change nothing else, what is the MOQ in a stock color? In your standard fabric? With a stock elastic?" A good partner factory can tell you which component is setting the number. If every answer stays the same, the floor is the garment setup. If the number drops with a stock color, your floor was the dye lot.
Planning a size run inside the MOQ
Because sizes can usually be mixed within the color quantity, the practical question is how to split it. A common mistake is to split evenly across sizes, which leaves the smallest and largest sizes overstocked. Use your own sales data if you have it; if not, weight the split toward the middle sizes and keep a smaller quantity at the ends. Confirm whether the factory sets a minimum per size, because some do even when sizes are mixable.
For plus sizes, ask whether the extended sizes share the same pattern grading or need a separate block. A separate block can behave like a separate style for setup purposes. Our size chart and grading note covers this.
Colors and styles: where the quantity really goes
A first collection of three styles in four colors is twelve style-color combinations. At the reference ranges, that is a large commitment even before sizes. Buyers often get further by cutting colors, not styles: two strong colors per style, chosen so that bras, tops and leggings share the same fabric color and dye lot. Shared dye lots also make set matching easier.
| Collection plan | Style-color combinations | Effect on MOQ planning |
|---|---|---|
| 3 styles x 4 colors, each color unique | 12 | Twelve separate minimums; heavy first order |
| 3 styles x 2 shared colors | 6 | Fewer minimums, and dye lots can be shared across styles |
| 2 cut and sew styles + 1 seamless style | Depends on colors | Two routes, two sets of minimums; seamless style plans at the higher range |
Reorders behave differently
Reorders usually carry lower setup effort. The pattern or knitting program exists, the fabric is known and the approved sample is the reference. If the fabric can be dyed from the mill's greige stock, a reorder in a running color may be accepted at a smaller quantity than the first order. That is never assumed; it is confirmed in writing for each program.
The layers matter here too. If your first order used a custom color, the reorder still meets the dye lot minimum unless leftover fabric is available. Ask the factory whether surplus fabric from the first run is held, how long it is kept and whether it can be used for a small top-up order.
Questions to ask before you accept an MOQ
- Is this MOQ per style, per color or per style per color?
- Can sizes be mixed, and is there a minimum per size?
- Which component sets the MOQ, and what would it be with a stock color or stock trims?
- Does a lower quantity change the unit price, and is that stated in writing?
- What is the reorder MOQ for the same style and color?
With those answers you can plan a collection that fits your budget rather than one that fits the supplier's default. If you want the desk to break down the minimums for your styles, send a brief, and see our note on small-batch production for programs at the lower end of the range.