Why European-Made Running Gear Matters: Quality, Ethics & Performance

Produce, consume, discard, repurchase, pollute... Slow down.

At Misool, we've decided to go against this exhausted model. As a young brand, our ambition reflects the future we desire: creating more responsible, more ecological, more ethical running apparel. In the world of sportswear, most major brands outsource their production to the other side of the world. This involves a long chain of subcontractors, making tracking and traceability particularly complex. We chose to stay close and to produce within the European Union. Because we made a commitment. For us, for you, for the runners of tomorrow.

In this article, we explain all the reasons that led us to choose European made running gear for our locally produced running clothes.

At Misool, we focus on simplicity: a short, clear, and fully controlled production chain.

- One supplier: fabric from the south of France.
- One manufacturing location: our partner workshop in Portugal.

Impossible to blur the lines.
Impossible to get lost in a list of questionable subcontractors.

This short supply chain allows us to personally know each partner and to control every production stage down to the millimeter. From fiber to finished product. It also makes us agile and responsive: correcting a detail, improving a pattern, and inspecting each piece before it leaves the workshop.

For you, this translates into the assurance of having high-quality running apparel, designed with transparent supply chain practices and high standards.

Our mission is to produce ecologically and ethically. Because one doesn't work without the other. Locally produced sportswear then became essential, not as a choice, but as an obvious necessity.

Made in Europe isn't an empty marketing argument. It allows every runner to reduce their environmental impact by tackling the easiest area to decrease: transportation. We decided to keep distances as short as possible. Result: the distance between our fabric supplier, our workshop, and our headquarters never exceeds 1,600 km.

Choosing a short supply chain limits unnecessary trips and reduces our CO₂ emissions. It also allows us to work with lean production, without overproduction.

Ethics encompasses two essential pillars in producing sportswear:

1. the choice of raw materials;
2. knowledge of the working conditions in the workshops that manufacture them.

European manufacturing, close to home, allows us to combine these two essential elements.

Our technical fabric is French. It meets all the criteria we were looking for: lightness and breathability for performance, durability and proximity for ethics. Our technical textiles are OEKO-TEX® certified: they contain no harmful substances. In terms of resistance, it can withstand more than 30,000 washing cycles — three times more than average.

A Misool t-shirt or short means long runs, entire seasons, and many more kilometers before thinking about replacing it.

Our ecological commitment translates into a human commitment. Out of the question not to know precisely the production location and the working conditions behind it. By choosing Portugal:

- we support a human-scale workshop with valuable expertise;
- we preserve local production jobs;
- we avoid resorting to exploited labor on the other side of the world.

Better yet, we worked jointly with the 20 seamstresses and 5 pattern makers working behind the scenes to create high-performance and comfortable running clothes.

Choosing Misool means supporting these skilled individuals and refusing indecent working conditions.

To create the perfect running garment, we chose a particular manufacturing method, rarely used in the sportswear industry: bi-stretch weaving. This gives the apparel properties that are both elastic and resistant.

Additionally, we wanted to achieve a piece with perfect finishes: flat seams and printed labels to avoid any risk of chafing.

This level of requirement needs a trusted partner with unique expertise, and above all... European.

It's this combination — between French fabric and a Portuguese workshop, responsible production and ethical choices — that allows us to offer ultra-lightweight apparel (54g for a size S t-shirt) through European manufacturing.

Designed to be forgotten. And not to be replaced every 3 months (validated by our ambassadors!).

The quality benefits of European manufacturing are clear: superior craftsmanship, attention to detail, and garments built to last. This is what European manufacturing excellence delivers.

At Misool, we run to go further: on the road and in our choices.

You too? Then welcome.

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[1]: Institut Français de la Mode. (2024). Le sourcing textile européen en 2023 : correction après l'euphorie post-Covid. Retrieved from: https://www.ifmparis.fr/fr/actualites/le-sourcing-textile-europeen-en-2023-correction-apres-leuphorie-post-covid

[2]: Institut Français de la Mode. (2024). Sourcing de proximité : où l'Union européenne s'approvisionne-t-elle en habillement ? Retrieved from: https://www.ifmparis.fr/fr/actualites/sourcing-de-proximite-ou-l-union-europeenne-s-approvisionne-t-elle-en-habillement