Polo Shirt Manufacturer

The minimum is 150 pieces per style, per colour, but a polo has more parts that carry their own minimums. A separately knitted rib collar with elastane is a bought-in component with its own minimum per colour, and contrast tipping means the collar and cuff are knitted with a second yarn, which adds a colour minimum at the knitter. Every body colour is dyed as a separate lot, and tipped collars multiply that by colour combination. So 450 navy polos with white tipping is one fabric lot and one collar lot, while three colourways of 150 are three of each and cost more per piece. The placket, interlining, buttonholes and buttons are agreed before production, and that spec carries into every reorder. A deeper run shares the collar setup, pattern and sample across more shirts, so each polo costs less past roughly 500, then 1,000 pieces. Before you split a polo order three ways, run it through the MOQ calculator.

Piqué for a classic, structured polo, jersey for a softer, modern one, and interlock if you want something in between. The raised piqué texture lifts the shirt away from the body to let air through, and gives the collar and placket enough body to stand, which is why it stays the default polo cloth. For hospitality, club or corporate polos, it is almost always the answer. Jersey is a smooth single knit with more drape, closer in feel to a good t-shirt, but it clings and shows body shape. Interlock is a double knit, smoother than piqué and more stable than jersey. Price follows the yarn, because knitted fabric is bought by the kilo: interlock uses more yarn per square metre than jersey and is the dearest of the three, with piqué in between. Most cotton piqué polos sit at roughly 190 to 220 GSM; other weights are in our fabric and GSM guide. For a fashion range, sample both.

A polo is cut and sewn from knitted piqué, jersey or interlock like a t-shirt, but it adds a collar, cuffs and a placket, each specified before production. The collar is either self-fabric with a fused interlining, or a rib collar with elastane for recovery, bought in ready-knitted. If you want tipping, the collar knitter works it in with a second yarn on the collar and cuff, so it cannot be added later. The placket, self-fabric or an applied piece, is interlined, then given buttonholes and buttons. On the line, shoulder seams are taped so they do not stretch, the collar is attached, and side vents get a bar tack so the side seam does not split. The logo is almost always embroidered. Before a run is released, Walter Meyer, who leads our quality control and has 38 years' experience, checks collars for roll and recovery. Our tech pack template has rows for the collar, seams, trims and embroidery placement.

Curling is almost always an interlining problem. A polo collar is a separate knitted or flat-knit piece, and without the right interlining fused inside it, the collar has nothing holding it flat — so it rolls at the points after a few washes. Cheap polos either skip the interlining or use one too light for the collar fabric. The fixes are specification rather than craft: an interlining weight matched to the collar, fused properly at the right temperature and pressure, and a collar knitted at a firm enough gauge to hold its own shape. Tipping and edge finishing add stability too. We spec the interlining alongside the collar rather than treating it as a trim detail, and you will see the difference in the pre-production sample after we wash it.

Yes: flat, puff, appliqué, chenille or tonal, depending on what your artwork suits — and we will tell you which rather than defaulting. There is one setup cost you pay once: digitising, where the logo is converted into a stitch file specifying every needle movement, sequence and underlay. That file is yours and reorders skip the cost. What matters most is sending vector artwork, because clean outlines convert to stitch paths without interpretation; a blurry PNG has to be redrawn, and redrawing means someone guesses at your logo. Also tell us the finished width in centimetres and where it sits — left chest, back, sleeve — because those placements have different maximum sizes and backing requirements. Fine detail below about five millimetres will not hold in thread regardless of the file quality.

Yes. We make performance polos in piqué or interlock with elastane for recovery, or in a polyester blend where moisture management matters more than natural feel. Polyester moves sweat along the fibre instead of absorbing it, which is why a polyester blend suits a polo worn for hard exercise better than cotton, which soaks it up and stays wet. The construction changes as well: side seams are often flatlocked to sit flat during movement, the collar is knitted to a firmer gauge so it holds its shape through repeated washing, and the placket is lighter so it does not stiffen the chest. If the polo is for golf, hospitality or team wear, tell us at the quote stage, because expected wash frequency changes both the fabric and the collar spec. We can also sublimate performance polos for all-over graphics, which only works on polyester; cotton will not take it.

Tipping is a contrast trim applied to the edge of a polo collar and cuff — usually one or two fine stripes in a different colour to the body. It is a small detail that reads as considered rather than decorative, which is why it appears on club, hospitality and premium sportswear polos far more than on plain retail ones. Practically, it is knitted into the collar rather than sewn on afterwards, so it has to be specified before the collar is made and cannot be added later. That means picking the colours at the same time as the body fabric. Two or three millimetre stripes are the usual widths. It adds modestly to cost because the collar is a separate knitting setup, and none of that changes on reorders.