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Cotton Leggings and Shapewear

Discover the performance advantages of cotton-rich leggings and shapewear, designed for breathable, natural comfort. Whether you’re developing everyday essentials or performance-driven silhouettes, cotton delivers the softness consumers expect with the functionality your products require.

Why Create With Cotton?

Cotton offers natural benefits for leggings and shapewear. Its breathability and soft hand feel bring comfort to close-to-body garments, while the right blends can support stretch, shape, and everyday performance.

As interest in natural materials continues to grow¹, cotton provides a familiar fiber that meets expectations for quality, function, and care. It supports movement, holds up to repeated use, and fits seamlessly into modern apparel collections.

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Cotton Activewear Built to Move With You

Cotton offers more than softness. It delivers the breathability, comfort, and durability consumers expect from their leggings. From the gym to the grocery store, cotton leggings fabrics are made to stretch, breathe, and move with the body. They also wash clean and help reduce odor over time (citation). Cotton supports broader goals around circularity and reduced reliance on synthetics. From how it’s grown to how it wears and rewears, cotton is a responsible choice for brands focused on long-term quality and natural performance.

Uncompromised Comfort & Performance

Cotton-rich leggings deliver breathability, softness,
and all-day comfort, without the synthetic feel.

Moves With You

Innovative cotton blends provide the right balance
of stretch and recovery, ensuring shape retention
and long-lasting wear.

Washes Clean, Wears Beautifully

Unlike synthetics, cotton resists odor buildup and
cleans easily, making every wear feel like the first².

70%

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

Cotton Shapewear Supports Without Compromise

Cotton offers a natural-fiber alternative to synthetic shapewear that doesn’t sacrifice performance. With a soft hand feel, moisture-wicking capability, and the ability to stretch and recover, cotton-rich shapewear fabrics deliver support that breathes.

Sculpt Naturally

Cotton-rich shapewear offers gentle compression
and support with a breathable, non-synthetic feel.

Confidence in Every Layer

With moisture-wicking, hypoallergenic
properties, cotton-based shapewear provides
a fresh, irritation free experience³.

Seamless & Strong

Engineered cotton blends create smooth,
resilient fabrics that maintain structure and
shape throughout the day.

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 fabrics selected for their performance in leggings and shapewear applications. 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
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#DK-2861-2
Cotton/Spandex Stretch Double Face Knit
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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

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

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 Comfort Testing Research (2014). AAT Research.