Vela Performance Switzerland: Odor-Free Tennis Dresses Built on Coffee Ground Polyester Yarn
Vela Performance is a Switzerland-based activewear label whose tennis dresses 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 tennis dresses programme
The challenge
The smell built up at the built-in short and the chest band, 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 Coffee Ground Polyester Yarn on a polyester filament knit base. The mechanism matters: micronised spent coffee grounds trap odour molecules and add recycled content. Keeping the base at bonded knit with inner shorts and 210 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 odour reduction above 75% with recycled content above 3% by ISO 17299-2.
- 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 tennis dresses, assessed after eight hours of wear.
- Pre-production: wash durability confirmed at permanent inside the fibre, care wording written as standard laundering with mild detergent.
- Bulk: fixed recipe, consolidated dye lots, ISO 17299-2 repeated on every lot.
Specification delivered
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Product | Tennis Dresses |
| Base construction | bonded knit with inner shorts, 210 GSM |
| Odour-control system | Coffee Ground Polyester Yarn |
| Performance target | odour reduction above 75% with recycled content above 3% |
| Test method | ISO 17299-2 |
| Service life | permanent inside the fibre |
| Added cost | a 9% yarn premium |
| Certification | OEKO-TEX Standard 100, REACH compliant inputs |
Results
The premium tier sold through 22% faster than the previous season, and the same construction was extended into two further colourways. 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 tennis dresses shipment
Key takeaway
A wear trial cost two weeks and prevented a bulk mistake. Laboratory numbers predict performance, but only wearers find the complaints that reach customer service. For Vela Performance, that turned a recurring complaint into a feature the brand could sell.
