Plastic-free white label leggings, your label on the waistband
Most brands adding a plastic-free line start with leggings, and they are right to. This page covers what the program is, what you supply, what we supply.
White label vs private label vs OEM, defined quickly
These three terms get used interchangeably and they should not be.
White label means the factory has an existing, developed product and applies your brand to it. The pattern, fabric build, and construction are already proven. You choose from a defined menu and you own the label, the colorway, and the retail position. Fastest path to market, lowest development cost.
Private label means the product is developed to your spec and the SKU belongs to you exclusively. More control, more development weeks, more cost. That program is at plastic-free private label activewear.
OEM usually means full-package manufacturing to a buyer's engineering spec, where the buyer supplies the pattern and often nominates the fabric supplier.
This page is white label with a private-label upgrade path. Start on our developed legging blocks, prove sell-through, move to a proprietary pattern once volume justifies it.
Related: what OHZEHN-TEX is.
Why leggings are the right first SKU for a plastic-free line
Three reasons, in order of importance.
Volume. Leggings are the highest-volume activewear category for most DTC brands.
Leggings are where the honest alternatives break. Cotton has no meaningful recovery, so a cotton legging bags out at the knee and seat inside a few wears. Merino is beautiful for base layers and is not squat-proof at legging weights. Tencel and modal have gorgeous hand and drape, and they lose shape under repeated tension. Each is a legitimate plastic-free choice for the right garment. None survives a legging, because a legging has to stretch four ways, hold opacity through a deep squat, and snap back afterward. That is why most plastic-free activewear brands quietly run polyester or nylon in their leggings. Comparisons at Tencel vs polyester and merino wool in activewear.
The customer can feel it. A plastic-free tee is a claim on a label. A plastic-free legging that holds a squat, does not go sheer, and recovers after a wash is a claim the customer verifies with her own body. That is the difference between a sustainability line that sells once and one that repeats.
The program: fabric, construction, colorways, samples, timing
Fabric spec
The baseline build is OHZEHN-TEX™ at 220 GSM, the standard legging weight. The platform runs 150 GSM through 320 GSM.
| GSM | Character | Best legging use |
|---|---|---|
| 150 to 180 | Light, high drape | Summer legging, lightweight 7/8, layering tight |
| 220 (baseline) | Standard compression, four-way stretch | Core legging, the SKU most programs open on |
| 240 to 260 | Firmer hand, higher opacity | Sculpt fits, lighter colorways |
| 280 to 320 | Dense, warm, maximum opacity | Cold-weather, brushed-back, high-compression |
Fiber content across the platform is bio-based PA6.10 nylon plus a plant-derived stretch fiber in place of elastane. Detail at plastic-free performance fabric and plastic-free stretch fabric.
Construction options
The developed blocks give you these choices without opening a new pattern:
| Decision | Options | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rise | High-rise, mid-rise | High-rise is the default on most 2026 DTC blocks |
| Seam | Flatlock, coverstitch | Flatlock for a chafe-free finish, coverstitch for a cleaner exterior line |
| Gusset | Diamond gusset, no gusset | Improves squat range, reduces center-seam stress |
| Waistband | Bonded, folded, contoured, drawcord | Bonded reads most premium, adds a construction step |
| Pockets | None, side drop-in, waistband, dual | Side drop-in is most requested, adds unit cost |
| Length | Full, 7/8, capri, bike short | 7/8 sells through highest across most US brands |
Colorway math
Fabric minimum is per color, not per program, and that decides your launch shape. Most first programs run one or two stock colors plus one custom hero color, which keeps committed fabric down and skips the dye-development weeks on the stock shades.
Sample path
A sample is quoted against your style on the first call, whether it is an existing stock color or a custom color or build. Send the spec through the activewear tech pack template so the first sample comes back closer to right.
Timing and terms
. Testing below these minimums first?
What you supply, what we supply
Brand and spec
Brand name and label art. Size spec and grade rules, or approval on ours. Colorway direction and Pantone references. Woven label, care label, and hangtag artwork. Your target retail price, so we quote toward your margin rather than away from it.
Everything downstream
Pattern, construction, and cut-and-sew. In-line QC and final AQL inspection. Poly bags, cartons, carton marks. Compliance documentation including OEKO-TEX Standard 100. Freight and customs support. Hangtag co-brand rights under license.
The hangtag: an ingredient brand on your garment
A fiber claim printed by the brand making the claim is the weakest possible form of it. An ingredient brand solves that the way performance apparel always has: the fabric carries its own mark, the garment brand licenses the right to display it, and the mark answers for the fiber while your brand answers for the product.
Your brand owns the garment, the label, and the customer.
Plant-derived percentage, plastic-free fiber content, PFAS-free at the polymer level, and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 are provable. Full biodegradability is still in third-party testing and should not appear on a tag until that certification is issued.
Related: the full private label program.
Landed cost, worked as a range
Fabric price is one line of what a legging costs at your 3PL door. The lines that matter are FOB unit price, ocean or air freight, duty at your HTS classification including any Section 301 exposure, brokerage, drayage, and 3PL receiving. Run your own numbers in the landed-cost calculator, which uses your actual FOB, freight quote, and duty rate rather than a headline number.
A worked example, given as a band rather than a point value, because your real numbers depend on construction, color count, freight booking, and classification:
| Line | Basis | Effect on landed unit cost |
|---|---|---|
| Order size | one color, one style | The fabric-minimum starting program |
| FOB unit price | Quoted to your tech pack | Largest single line, typically over half of landed |
| Ocean freight | Rate at booking, split across | Single-digit percent of landed at this volume |
| Duty and Section 301 | Your HTS classification | Material. Worth classifying correctly before the PO |
| Brokerage, drayage, 3PL | Your providers | Small per unit, non-trivial in total |
We will not publish a landed number we have not quoted against your spec, and any supplier who gives you one before seeing your tech pack is guessing. Fabric price curves are at bio-based nylon pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I white-label plastic-free leggings?
Yes. You supply the brand, the size spec, the colorways, and the label art. We supply the OHZEHN-TEX™ fabric, the construction, the QC, the packaging. The garment ships with your label on it.
What is the MOQ?
Two minimums. Starting on a stock color rather than a custom dye lot is the cheapest way to open a first program.
How is this different from your synthetic leggings program?
Same mill, same construction menu, same QC standard, different fiber. The conventional program runs recycled or virgin nylon with elastane. This one runs bio-based nylon with a plant-derived stretch fiber. The general activewear program is at activewear manufacturer in China.
Open a plastic-free leggings program
Send the tech pack, or a sketch and a size spec if the tech pack is not built yet.