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Cotton Flex Fabrics: Where Performance Meets Comfort

Discover Cotton Flex fabrics: performance cotton fabrics engineered for leggings and shapewear. With natural breathability, dynamic stretch, and durability, Cotton Flex delivers the softness consumers love with the technical performance your brand demands.

Six women wearing activewear and holding yoga mats

Why Create With Cotton?

Cotton Flex combines the comfort of natural fibers with the technical edge of performance. While other brands lean on synthetics, cotton’s inherent natural benefits give you the opportunity to own the fiber story, positioning your products with a narrative that blends innovation, natural comfort, and consumer trust.

Cotton is a versatile material, available across a range of constructions, and it can be blended with spandex or other fibers to enhance stretch and recovery.

  • Differentiate Your Brand: Stand out with a natural cotton story not often told in the performance wear market.
  • Enhance Sustainability Story: Leverage cotton’s natural benefits to support your brand’s environmental goals.
  • Drive Innovation: Use Cotton Flex versatility to design apparel that performs, lasts, and resonates with today’s consumers.
  • Highlight Natural Comfort: Emphasize cotton’s hypoallergenic,1 irritation free feature, ideal for apparel designed to be worn close to the body.

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Cotton Flex for Activewear: Performance That Breathes

Cotton Flex fabrics are designed to move with today’s active lifestyles, delivering stretch, superior breathability, and luxurious softness without a synthetic or plastic feel. By combining cotton’s natural advantages with performance innovation, Cotton Flex enables brands to offer activewear consumers prefer.

Dynamic Stretch

Engineered for movement with shape retention for a lasting fit.

Superior Breathability

Cotton is an eco-friendly fiber for sports bras and leggings, delivering breathable comfort that wicks away moisture and resists odor buildup.2

Unmatched Softness

Natural fiber activewear, like Cotton Flex, keeps consumers comfortable and fresh.

70%

of consumers prefer activewear made with cotton, according to research from Cotton Incorporated’s Lifestyle MonitorTM Survey.3

Cotton Flex for Shapewear: Support That Moves With You

Shapewear should sculpt without sacrificing comfort. Cotton Flex delivers flexible support, all-day comfort, and strength for garments that move naturally with the body — meeting consumer expectations for both performance and wearability.

Sculpts Naturally

Cotton-rich fabrics offer breathable compression for a natural, flexible fit.

Confidence in Every Layer

With moisture-wicking, hypoallergenic properties,1 cotton shapewear provides a fresh, irritation-free experience.

Durable & Strong

Engineered for durability and strength, cotton shapewear products deliver a smooth, soft finish.

87%

of consumers say cotton is safe for the environment, according to research from Cotton Incorporated’s Global Sustainability Survey.4

Cotton Flex for Athleisure:
Eco-Conscious Comfort 

Cotton is favored for athleisure like hoodies, joggers, leggings and more — allowing comfortable movement from workouts to grocery runs. 

Versatile

As a natural fiber, Cotton Flex can create premium athleisure with a luxe handfeel that supports your brand’s sustainability story.

Ultimate Comfort

Cotton Flex is ideal for lounge and yoga wear that is soft, moisture-wicking, and gentle on skin.1 

All-Day Performance

Cotton athleisure is optimal for stretch and recovery, fitting well and performing even after activity.

Strengthening Your Brand’s Sustainability Story

Cotton Flex fabrics provide a natural, plant-based alternative to synthetics. Choosing cotton can help strengthen your brand’s sustainability story and align with consumer preference for natural fibers.

Sustainable Fiber Base: Cotton is a natural, plant-based fiber that forms the foundation of Cotton Flex fabrics. Starting with cotton helps brands build sustainability stories rooted in nature.

Consumer Confidence in Natural Fibers: Research shows consumers associate cotton with trust and sustainability.4 Using cotton in performance fabric for shape wear and activewear aligns with growing interest in natural fiber options.

Designed for Responsible Innovation: Cotton Flex fabrics demonstrate how natural fibers can be integrated with performance benefits to create durable products that may support brand sustainability initiatives and ESG commitments.

Move Away from Plastics: As a biodegradable fiber,5 cotton can help brands develop plastic-free athleisure capsules.

Bolls of cotton in a field

Download Digital Fabrics

Download 3D files for select cotton-rich leggings and shapewear fabrics to support your design and development process. Files are compatible with CLO and Browzwear, making it easy to integrate cotton into your digital workflows.

Download Leggings & Shapewear

Explore Featured Fabrics

Discover cotton-rich fabric for shapewear and activewear selected for performance. Each fabric offers a soft hand feel, supportive stretch, and reliable recovery — ideal for close-to-body styles that require both comfort and structure.

#DK-2861-1
Cotton/Spandex Stretch Double Face Knit
LEARN MORE
#DK-2861-2
Cotton/Spandex Stretch Double Face Knit
LEARN MORE

four women wearing activewear and holding yoga mats and water bottles

Ready to Source or Design?

Explore vetted suppliers offering cotton-rich legging and shapewear fabrics, ready for development and sourcing.

Many of our sourceable fabrics are not published online and are available only through direct consultation. To request swatches, explore sourcing-ready materials, or get tailored recommendations, connect with a CottonWorks™ account manager.

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Page References

1

Product Investigations, Inc. (2019, December 31). Determination of the irritating and sensitizing propensities of TJ Be All mechanically cleaned “True Cotton” on human skin (Report No. PI-40547). Prepared for Cotton Incorporated, Cary, NC.

2

McQueen, R. H., Harynuk, J.J., Wismer, W.V., Keelan, M., Xu, Y., de la Mata, A.P., (2014), “Axillary odour build-up in knit fabrics
following multiple use cycles”, International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 274-290

3

Cotton Incorporated 2022 Global Activewear Survey, U.S. data, n=852

4

Cotton Incorporated. (2023). CCI & Cotton Incorporated’s Global Sustainability Survey n=7,219

5

Li, Lili; Frey, Margaret; Browning, Kristie. Biodegradability Study on Cotton and Polyester Fabrics. Cornell University, October 2008-September 2009.