Vela Performance New Zealand: Odor-Free High-Waist Leggings Built on Built-In Antibacterial Masterbatch Yarn
Vela Performance is a New Zealand-based activewear label whose leggings programme sells directly to consumers and through selected retail partners. The team asked us to rebuild the fabric from scratch because customers trained daily and washed lightly, which is the worst case for odour build-up. The target was performance measured after repeated wear rather than after a single use.
Vela Performance: odour-control swatch set for the leggings programme
The challenge
The smell built up at the inner thigh and the waistband, where sweat sits longest during a session. The previous fabric was a standard synthetic knit with no odour strategy, so bacteria broke the sweat down on the fabric and the smell became permanent after a few weeks. Community feedback from the brand's ambassador group made the problem urgent: the brand needed a fix before the next bulk booking, not a new supplier search.
The fabric solution
We built the programme around Built-In Antibacterial Masterbatch Yarn on a polyester filament knit base. The mechanism matters: the active agent is locked inside the fibre so it cannot be washed off the surface. Keeping the base at interlock knit with 22% elastane and 240 GSM meant the hand, the stretch and the cover stayed exactly where the design team wanted them, because odour control changed the chemistry and the construction rather than the silhouette.
Wear trial and fit approval of the polyester filament knit fabric
Development and implementation
- Week 1: brief agreed, sweat zone mapped, target set as above 99% bacterial reduction retained after 50 washes by JIS L 1902.
- Week 2–3: laboratory knits produced and tested; add-on level adjusted until the target was met with margin.
- Week 4–5: wear trial on finished leggings, assessed after eight hours of wear.
- Pre-production: wash durability confirmed at 50 washes or more, care wording written as standard laundering with no special requirement.
- Bulk: fixed recipe, consolidated dye lots, JIS L 1902 repeated on every lot.
Specification delivered
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Product | High-Waist Leggings |
| Base construction | interlock knit with 22% elastane, 240 GSM |
| Odour-control system | Built-In Antibacterial Masterbatch Yarn |
| Performance target | above 99% bacterial reduction retained after 50 washes |
| Test method | JIS L 1902 |
| Service life | 50 washes or more |
| Added cost | an 8% yarn premium |
| Certification | OEKO-TEX Standard 100, REACH compliant inputs |
Results
The wear panel scored the new fabric two points cleaner on a five-point scale, and the brand rewrote its product page claim to match the test method. The odour value was re-measured on bulk fabric rather than on the approval sample, so the result reflects what customers actually received. The programme is now on its third repeat with the same recipe.
“Two seasons on, the odour value is still there. That is why the style stayed in the range.” — Vela Performance Product Team
Inline inspection and packing before the leggings shipment
Key takeaway
Care instructions are part of the product. Stating the right wash conditions on the label is what keeps the measured value alive after the garment leaves the store. For Vela Performance, that turned a recurring complaint into a feature the brand could sell.
