1. You might not have the IP to make high quality athletic clothing because maybe it is difficult to find the right combination of materials.
2. Fabric companies probably don’t want to sell small quantities of fabrics produced in large volumes.
3. Some fabrics may be limited to specific companies by contracts.
I also claim manufacturing at scale is not necessary to start a company making athletic clothing.
I think it probably is possible to find a niche as a small company selling (expensive) athletic clothing. I think it’s also possible that the fabrics used by mainstream athletics companies are not necessarily the best around as products made from these fabrics typically need to be made in large volumes reasonably cheaply and I would expect newer better/experimental fabrics to be neither available in very large quantities nor reasonably cheap.
I would certainly expect such a company to exist even though I don’t know of one.
- Athletic activities are social and visible, especially in professional sports.
- It’s technically difficult to start an athletic company without access to significant IP in producing advanced athletic gear - both from engineering as well as manufacturing aspects.
It’s not too difficult to start a T-Shirt company. It’s monumentally difficult to develop your own Gore-Tex or Dri-Fit, Flyknit fabric, construct clothing or shoes from it and manufacture it at scale.