Custom Tracksuits for Clubs and Teams: Fabric, Fit and Getting the Colours to Match

A tracksuit is the highest-value item most apparel brands sell, because it is the only one where the customer buys two garments in a single decision. It is also the easiest order to get subtly wrong, and the mistake is almost never the one people worry about.

The colour-match problem

Buy a hoodie from one supplier and a jogger from another and they will not match. Buy both from the same supplier at different times and they still might not, because they came from different dye lots.

Fabric is dyed in batches. Two batches of the same specified colour, from the same mill, on the same machine, land close but not identical — and grey marl is the worst offender, because the marl effect comes from blending fibres and the blend ratio drifts. In daylight, a top and bottom from different lots read as a mismatch even when nobody can say why.

The fix is not a better colour specification. It is cutting both garments from the same fabric batch in the same production run. That is what makes a co-ord look intentional rather than assembled, and it is the single reason to order a tracksuit as a set rather than as two products.

Fabric weights, and what each one is for

• **280–320 GSM brushed-back fleece.** Everyday leisurewear and warmer climates. Drapes rather than holds shape. The right pick for a retail range priced to move.
• **340–380 GSM.** The middle of the market and the safe default for club and school kit. Substantial enough to feel like a real garment, not so heavy it is uncomfortable indoors.
• **400–450 GSM heavyweight.** Streetwear and premium retail. Dense, structured, holds an oversized shape. This is what customers mean when they say a hoodie feels expensive.
• **Lightweight polyester or poly-cotton.** Training and warm-up kit rather than leisurewear. Wicks, dries fast, and takes sublimation for all-over designs that fleece cannot.

The same weight logic applies to hoodies ordered on their own, and the fabric detail there goes further if you are only buying tops.

Choosing the top

The jogger is largely a solved problem — tapered or straight, cuffed or open hem. The top is where the decision is.

1. 1**Hooded.** The default for streetwear, gym and school leavers kit. Most volume, most familiar, and the largest surface for a back print.
2. 2**Quarter-zip.** Reads as sportier and more adult. Popular for club training kit and for corporate teams who want athleisure without a hood.
3. 3**Full-zip.** The practical choice for anyone putting it on and taking it off around an activity — coaches, staff, matchday. Also the easiest to wear over a shirt.
4. 4**Crew.** No hood, no zip. Cleanest canvas for a chest print and the cheapest of the four to make.

Sizing a squad

Tops and bottoms are sized independently, which matters more for tracksuits than for any other garment. A player who wears an XL top very often wears an L bottom, and forcing a matched pair means half the squad has kit that does not fit.

Send the size list as two columns rather than one. We produce it exactly as specified at no extra cost, because our 20-set minimum is per design rather than per size.

Also order a few sets above your largest listed size. Squads change, and a reorder for one person pays setup all over again.

Decoration that survives the season

Kit gets washed hot and often, which narrows the sensible options.

• **Embroidery** for club crests and sponsor logos. It outlasts everything else and does not crack. Tonal embroidery — thread the same colour as the fabric — looks considerably more expensive than it costs.
• **Screen printing** for larger single-colour graphics at volume. Most cost-effective past roughly 50 pieces per design.
• **DTF** for full-colour or photographic artwork at any quantity, including gradients that screen printing cannot hold.
• **Heat-sealed numbers and names** for squad kit. Individual per-garment personalisation with no extra setup.

The comparison in more depth is in our guide to DTF vs screen printing vs embroidery.

What a 20-set minimum covers

Twenty sets — a top and a matching jogger counts as one set — is low enough for a single club squad, a school year group or a first retail drop. Sets start at $53 a piece, which is the hooded top and the jogger together, with volume tiers reaching up to 40% off on larger runs. Production is 10–15 working days from artwork approval, before freight.

If you only want the bottoms, joggers and trousers are their own range from $22. If you want the full set, start on the wholesale tracksuits page or run your numbers through the price calculator.