Have you ever dreamed of running your clothing brand? Fortunately for you, starting a hoodie business is one of the easiest and most profitable ways to enter the fashion world today. The global hoodie market was valued at approximately $19 billion in 2023.
Hoodies are a wardrobe essential for all ages and styles. Whether it’s streetwear, minimal fashion, or graphic designs, there’s a hoodie for everyone.
In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to start a hoodie business in six simple steps, from doing market research to launching your store and promoting your brand.
6-Step Guide to Start a Successful Hoodie Business
Starting a hoodie business is no easy feat, but it can be manageable with the right tools and goals at your disposal. Below, we’ll show you how to start a hoodie business in six easy-to-follow steps.
Step 1: Market Research for Your Hoodie Business
The revenue of the hoodies market worldwide in 2025 is estimated to be US$69.45 billion, with the United States contributing US$14.36 billion. This market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 1.35% from 2025 to 2029.
Before you design your first hoodie or open your store, it’s important to understand who you’re selling to and what they want.
Identify Your Target Audience
Start your research by figuring out who your hoodies will appeal to most. If you know your potential customers, your marketing efforts will be much more refined and manageable.
- Who do you want to sell to? (Teens, college students, fitness lovers, bookworms, gamers?)
- What’s their style? (Minimalist, streetwear, bold graphics, vintage?)
- What’s their budget? ($25? $50? More?)
- Where do they shop? (Etsy, Instagram, Amazon?)
Find a Profitable Niche
Rather than trying to appeal to everyone (like selling generic hoodies to the masses), successful brands identify and serve a specific audience exceptionally well.
This could be eco-conscious yoga enthusiasts who want sustainable activewear, vintage car lovers seeking retro-inspired apparel, or gamers looking for ultra-comfortable streaming hoodies.
Analyze Competitors
To figure out your path when considering how to start a hoodie business, take a close look at your competitors. Check out their best-selling hoodie designs for inspiration, analyze their pricing strategies, shipping speeds, and customer feedback to understand market expectations.
Also, examine their website and social media presence to grasp their online aesthetic and dissect the brand story or overall vibe they are cultivating to connect with their audience.
Validate Your Hoodie Idea
Before fully committing to your hoodie business, it is wise to test your concepts with your potential audience. Begin by gathering feedback on your designs from friends and online communities. Quickly gauge preference on hoodie styles or quotes using Instagram polls.
Share mockups on social media to see which designs resonate most with potential customers. Finally, set up a basic landing page with an email sign-up to measure overall interest in your concept.
Step 2: Develop a Solid Business Plan
Now that you know who your target audience is and what kind of hoodies you want to sell, it’s time to put together a clear, simple business plan.
What to Include in Your Business Plan
When outlining how to start a hoodie business, your business plan should detail all the essential components of your venture. Let’s start with the basics –
Business Name: Make it memorable, easy to say, and brandable.
Mission Statement: Why are you starting this business? What do you believe in?
Vision: What do you want to achieve in one year, two years, or even five years?
Define Your Niche and Audience
Use your market research to narrow down who you’re targeting i.e., their age, interest, and lifestyle. Determine your unique style, and ensure that it appeals to your target audience.
The “why” matters most: perhaps your hoodies solve a specific problem (like odor-resistant fabric for travelers) or tap into an emotional need (nostalgic 90s designs for millennials).
Choose Your Business Model
There are three main approaches, each with specific tradeoffs. Your choice depends on your budget, available time, and how hands-on you want to be.
- Print-on-Demand (POD): Low risk, no inventory. Platforms like Gelato, Printful, or Fourthwall handle printing and shipping.
- Self-fulfillment: Buy blank hoodies, print at home or locally, and ship them yourself. More control, but more work.
- Wholesale: Buy hoodies in bulk, customize, and sell. You’ll need storage space and upfront money.
Startup Budget and Pricing Strategy
Startup costs vary by model, but typically include design creation, product samples to test quality, basic website hosting, and initial marketing funds. Don’t forget operational costs like return labels or packaging inserts.
Pricing should account for all these expenses plus your time – a common formula is (production cost × 2) + labor + profit margin.
Set Clear Business Goals
Establishing well-defined business goals is a fundamental step when you’re learning how to start a hoodie business.
Short-term (first 3 months):
- Launch your first hoodie design
- Get your first 10 customers
- Grow to 100 followers on social media
Long-term (6–12 months):
- Add 5 more designs
- Hit $1,000/month in sales
- Get featured by influencers or blogs
Marketing and Sales Plan
Your strategy should match where your audience spends time. Instagram and TikTok work well for visual products like hoodies – showcase them in lifestyle settings rather than flat lays.
Consider small collaborations with nano-influencers (1K- 10K followers) who align with your niche. Email marketing builds lasting relationships; offer a first-purchase discount to collect addresses.
Always track which channels bring conversions and double down on what works.
Step 3: Design, Develop, and Source Products
This is where your hoodie business starts to come to life! In this step, you’ll choose your hoodie styles, create eye-catching designs, and find the right way to get them printed and shipped.
Choose the Right Hoodie Styles
Before creating designs, you need to decide what kind of hoodies you want to offer. Think about what your target audience would love to wear. Here are some popular hoodie types to consider:
- Pullover Hoodie: Classic, cozy, and perfect for bold front designs.
- Zip-Up Hoodie: Great for layering. Less space on the front for design, but stylish.
- Cropped Hoodie: Trendy and ideal for a younger audience.
- Oversized Hoodie: A streetwear favorite—super comfy and fashionable.
- Hoodie Dress: Stylish and unique, especially for women’s fashion lines.
Create Your Hoodie Designs
Now comes the exciting part: making your hoodie designs real. If you are designing them yourself for your how to start a hoodie business, use easy tools like Canva, Adobe Express, or Procreate.
Look at what’s popular on Pinterest, Instagram, or Behance for ideas. Remember, simple designs can be great.
Choose a Print-on-Demand Partner or Manufacturer
Now that you have your hoodie designs set, let’s start manufacturing them. There are two options for you to choose from –
Option 1: Print-on-Demand (Beginner-Friendly)
Print-on-demand (POD) means you upload your design, and a company prints and ships the hoodie only when a customer places an order.
Pros:
- No need to buy inventory upfront
- No need to store or ship products
- Low risk and easy to start
Cons:
- Lower profit margins
- Less control over shipping speed and packaging
Option 2: Custom Production (Advanced)
If you’re looking for greater control over quality and higher profit margins, manufacturing custom hoodies provides an advanced alternative.
You can purchase blank hoodies in bulk from wholesale suppliers like Bella+Canvas, Gildan, or AS Colour, which typically have discounted rates for larger quantity orders.
Once you have your blank inventory, you can partner with local printers for various customization methods like screen printing for bold designs, embroidery for premium detailing, or direct-to-garment (DTG) printing for complex artwork.
Pros:
- Higher quality control
- Better profit margins
- More packaging and branding options
Cons:
- Requires upfront investment
- Inventory management
- Takes more time and effort
Step 4: Develop Your Brand Identity
Your brand identity is how people recognize, connect with, and remember your hoodie business. It’s more than just a name and logo, it’s the personality of your brand.
A strong brand helps build trust, stand out from competitors, and attract loyal customers.
Pick a Brand Name
When you are picking the name for your brand as part of figuring out how to start a hoodie business, it should be simple to spell and easy for people to recall.
It should be different from others and related to the feeling or purpose of your brand. Before finalizing, research competitors to ensure uniqueness and check domain/social media availability.
Design Your Logo
Your logo is the visual handshake of your brand. Focus on clean designs that remain recognizable whether printed on a tiny care label or displayed on a storefront.
If you’re including text, ensure legibility at small sizes. The logo should incorporate your primary brand colors and potentially an icon that represents your niche.
Choose Your Brand Colors
Colors psychologically influence perception more than most realize. While black and white create sleek, premium aesthetics perfect for minimalist brands, earthy greens and browns communicate sustainability. Vibrant neons attract youthful, energetic audiences, while muted pastels appeal to softer, trend-conscious buyers.
Limit your palette to 2-3 primary colors for consistency, with 1-2 accent shades.
Define Your Brand Voice
This is your brand’s personality expressed through words. A streetwear label might use edgy, abbreviated slang, while a luxury brand would adopt refined phrasing.
Create a simple voice chart listing do’s (phrases that fit) and don’ts (phrases to avoid) to maintain uniformity as you grow.
Visual Branding (Photos and Style)
Cohesive imagery makes your brand professionally memorable. Establish photo guidelines: Will you use bright studio lighting or moody natural shots? Flat lays or modeled shots?
Tools like Placeit or Printful’s mockup generator help create professional product visuals without expensive photoshoots.
Step 5: Build Your Online Hoodie Store
With your products designed and your brand identity ready, it’s time to create the most important piece of your business, your online store. Let’s look at how to set up your online hoodie store.
Choose the Right Platform
There are multiple ecommerce platforms out there that can help you quickly build your store online. But not all of them are developed to handle small businesses effectively. EasyCommerce is one such platform that has all the essential ecommerce tools built in and requires very little investment to get started.
It’s a plugin for WordPress, so all you need to get started is a WordPress site, a domain name, and a web hosting service.
Customize the Look of Your Store
Your store should match your brand identity. EasyCommerce comes with pre-made templates that you can edit using the drag-and-drop editor of WordPress.
You can customize your store by adding your logo and brand colors, using consistent fonts and images, keeping a section for best-selling hoodies on the homepage, and including banners or sliders for promotions and new arrivals.
Here are a few tips on what to include in your store –
- Add high-quality product photos from different angles
- Include detailed descriptions for each product with size guides
- Offer multiple payment gateways (both popular and local options) at checkout
- Add a page for contact, about us, privacy policy, and refund policy
- Include a section for customer reviews on product pages
Set Up Marketing Tools
To make your marketing efforts easy, you need to get real-time insights on your sales numbers and customers. You also need to keep connections with your customers via email and social media platforms.
You can connect analytics to your ecommerce store to check where traffic is coming from. Use Klaviyo or Mailchimp to manage your customers’ emails (EasyCommerce also has email customizers), and use addons like Hubspot to track your customer data in an organized way.
Step 6: Launch Your Hoodie Business
You’ve done the hard work, your hoodie designs are ready, your store is built, and your brand is set to shine. Now comes the exciting part: launching your hoodie business to the world.
Create Buzz for Your Launch
A strong launch lets you create excitement that will carry into your first sales. Start by setting a clear launch date, giving yourself 1-2 weeks to prepare for either a soft launch (a quiet test phase) or a full grand opening.
Announce on Social Media
Start showcasing your brand before launch day. Share behind-the-scenes content like design sketches, packaging previews, or your workspace setup on Instagram and TikTok.
For broader reach, post in relevant Facebook groups or Pinterest boards where your target audience spends time.
Test Everything Before Going Live
Avoid launch-day glitches by running test orders. Check that –
- Payments process smoothly
- Shipping rates are calculated correctly
- Order confirmations arrive promptly
- Print quality meets your standards
Create Urgency
Boost early sales by releasing a limited-edition “First Drop” design or offering an exclusive launch discount (like 20% off for the first week).
This can encourage quicker purchases and make customers feel like they’re getting something special.
Analyze and Optimize
Track which marketing efforts drive the most traffic and sales. Pay attention to:
- Top-performing social posts
- Best-selling hoodie designs
- Cart abandonment rates
Wrapping Up
Learning how to start a hoodie business is more than just selling comfortable clothing; it’s about building a brand, connecting with a community, and creating a product people love to wear.
So whether you’re dreaming of launching a streetwear empire or just want a side hustle with style, this is your moment. Take that first small step and see your hoodie business grow.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. How much does it cost to start a hoodie business?
A. If you use a print-on-demand platform, you can start your hoodie business for under $100, or even for free in some cases. The biggest costs are usually design tools, domain registration, and any paid marketing efforts.
Q. Do I need to register my hoodie business?
A. It depends on your country or state. If you’re starting small and testing the market, you might not need to register immediately. But once you begin making consistent sales, it’s smart to register your business for legal protection and tax benefits.
Q. What’s the best platform to sell hoodies online?
A. For beginners, Shopify, Etsy, or Fourthwall are great options. They’re beginner-friendly and
integrate well with print-on-demand platforms like Printful, Printify, and Gelato.
Q. What hoodie styles sell best?
A. Classic pullover hoodies are the most popular, but zip-ups, cropped hoodies, and hoodie dresses are trending too. It all depends on your audience. Start with a few and expand based on feedback.
Q. How can I make my hoodie designs stand out?
A. Focus on niche-specific designs, use bold colors or meaningful messages, and pay attention to current trends. If you’re not a designer, hire a freelance graphic artist or use tools like Canva, Adobe Express, or Printful’s Design Maker.