Ten Seconds and a Squat Will Tell You Whether Leggings Are Sellable

Leggings became one of the strongest lines in Nigerian womenswear, and not because of fitness.

They get worn under dresses, with long tops, to the market, to work in some offices, and to the gym almost incidentally. That widened the market enormously.

It also raised the standard, because a legging worn in public has to pass a test a gym legging never faced.

The squat test

Put a sample on. Squat. Have somebody look.

If the fabric goes sheer under stretch, the product is unsellable in this market whatever the price was.

This is the most common failure in leggings anywhere in the world, and it is entirely a function of fabric weight and knit density. Ten seconds, on a sample, before any money moves. No specification sheet substitutes for it and no supplier assurance is worth as much.

Four-way stretch, and why two-way is not enough

Two-way stretch moves in one direction, usually across the body. Four-way moves in both, and more importantly it comes back.

Recovery is the part that matters commercially. A legging that stretches but does not recover bags at the knee and the seat within a day of wear and never returns to shape. The customer describes it as the leggings going bad, and she is describing it accurately.

Ask for the elastane percentage and, separately, the recovery rate. Cheap elastane loses its recovery within months even when the initial stretch felt right in the shop.

The waistband is the second decision

High-waisted is what sells here, and the reason is practical rather than aesthetic. It stays put.

A low or mid waistband rolls down during wear, and a legging the wearer keeps pulling up is a legging she stops wearing.

Look for a wide waistband, ideally with an internal drawcord on the sports styles. Check it does not fold over when the wearer bends, which is the fault that makes a good legging feel cheap.

Specifications worth confirming

Colour, and where the volume is

Black will be most of what you sell, and it is tempting to order only black.

Do not. Navy, grey and deep neutrals sell steadily, and prints sell fast to a younger customer while they are current.

Weight the order heavily to black, take a solid quantity of the other neutrals, and use a small allocation for prints. Then record what runs out and correct the next order against it, which is the advantage of ordering new stock rather than buying a bale where a colour that sells out can never be repeated.

Sizing, S to 3XL

Foreign size curves are wrong for this market, and on a fitted garment they are wrong in a way customers feel immediately in the changing room.

Get actual garment measurements per size in writing rather than trusting the letters, and weight the first order toward the middle and upper sizes.

Our women’s high-waisted yoga pants and leggings run S to 3XL in four-way stretch, with colours and sizes mixed freely across the order.

Building the thousand

1,000 pieces across the whole order, not per colour. Leggings combine naturally with women’s V-neck t-shirts and denim shorts to build a complete womenswear order in one consignment.

On freight, leggings are one of the better apparel items. They compress well and pack densely, so more value fits into the same container space than with bulkier garments.

Tell us the market and the sizes

Everyday wear, sports, or both, and where you trade. We will confirm fabric weight, elastane recovery and gusset construction with the supplier, run the opacity test on samples before the balance is paid, and give you the landed cost per piece in naira with every line itemised.

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