Sourcing guide · October 2026
Minimums, fabric origin, duty, lead times, fees and how to tell a factory from a middleman. Written by a factory owner in Medellín; where a competitor does something better, it says so.
Short answer
A swimwear manufacturer in Colombia usually works full package from Medellín, the country’s swimwear hub. At Tulum Fashions the minimum is 150 units per style (up to 3 colors), development and sampling take about 4 weeks, production 6–8 weeks after sample approval, and air freight to the US takes 3–5 days. US duty on Colombian apparel is 12.5% as of August 2026, not duty-free.
Key takeaways
The factory behind this guide
A team that has developed and shipped swimwear and resort wear for brands in the US and Europe.
Up to 3 colors inside that minimum, with small runs from 100 units.
From approved sample and deposit, after about 4 weeks of development and sampling.
Air freight from Medellín to your door.
Who you will meet
| Type | What you get | Typical risk | Choose it for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swimwear specialist with a US office | Patterns, fabric and sampling in-house; a showroom or office in the US | Higher fees than a general factory | Fit-critical swim and resort lines |
| Atelier or small custom workshop | Very small runs, hands-on | Capacity and consistency on reorders | Prototypes and capsule drops |
| Swimwear brand that also does private label | Proven fit blocks and fabrics | Your line competes with theirs for capacity and ideas | Fast launches on existing blocks |
| General full-package factory | Every category under one roof, export paperwork included | Swim expertise varies; ask for swim references | Multi-category programs |
Colombia has made swimwear for the Caribbean coast for decades, which means pattern makers who understand cup construction, bonded seams and elastic tension without being taught. That is the real reason to source here, and it is worth more than any duty argument.
The duty argument still matters, but only in one direction. Into the European Union and the United Kingdom, Colombian apparel enters at 0% under the EU–Colombia and Andean–UK agreements, against the 12% that Chinese apparel pays. Into the United States it is 12.5% with a certificate of origin, and Central America enters at 0% under CAFTA-DR. So against Honduras or Guatemala, Colombia does not win on duty. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling.
Rates verified August 2026 and they move. Ask for landed cost per shipment, not a percentage from a chart.
This is the part that costs brands money and almost nobody explains before the invoice.
The 0% into Europe requires double transformation from yarn. The fabric has to be Colombian or European. If your factory cuts and sews imported Asian fabric, your order does not qualify and the duty comes back, even though it was made in Colombia.
So the question to ask is not "do you export to Europe". It is: "which mill is my fabric coming from, and will you issue a certificate of origin for it?" Colombian mills such as Lafayette and Protela issue one. An imported nylon from Asia will not, no matter who sews it.
These are ours, published so you have something to compare against. A factory that will not give you equivalents is a factory that has not costed your product.
If a factory quotes you two weeks for a first production run, they are quoting a best case that needs every fabric in stock and nothing to go wrong. Ask what happens when the dye lot comes back off-shade.
Before you choose
Search for a swimwear manufacturer in Colombia and you will end up talking to one of these. None is better in every case; each fits a different brand.
Full-package swimwear, with sales in the US and production in Colombia. Minimums are often not published. Ask for minimums, sample fees and lead times in writing before you pay for development.
Custom samples, small runs and printed fabrics, usually described as start-up friendly without a figure. Ask what happens on the reorder: can they repeat the style on time at a larger volume?
Sells its own collection and produces for other brands, usually without published minimums. Ask who owns the patterns and prints, and whether they will show up in their own line.
Knit and woven programs, with swimwear accepted case by case and often at a higher minimum than tops. Ask for swimwear they have shipped: elastic recovery, lining, chlorine-resistant fabric.
Where we fit: a full-package factory in Medellín built around swimwear and resort wear for women and men, with a showroom and development office in Los Angeles. Our terms are published in the table above, so you can hold every other quote against them.
What we make
For women and men, with the cover-ups and resort pieces that sell next to them. Every category opens its own page with minimums, fees and lead times.
Private label
Private label swimwear is made to your design and sold under your brand. In Colombia the risk is rarely the sewing; it is who ends up owning the work. Settle these four points in writing before the first sketch.
The patterns, grade rules and tech packs developed for your styles belong to your brand. If you move to another supplier, you take them with you.
Your woven label, hangtag and care label are applied in production, so the swimwear ships ready to sell under your name.
Fit is approved on a physical sample before production, with three fit rounds included in the sample fee.
150 units per style with up to 3 colors, sizes mixed. Small runs of 100 to 149 units are possible with up to 2 colors and a +35% short-run surcharge.
We sign an NDA before your first sketch and never publish our clients. If you are developing in Los Angeles, see our private label page for LA brands.
A good share of what comes up when you search for Colombian swimwear factories is not a factory. Some are agencies in Miami placing your order in Medellín with a margin on top. That is a legitimate business and sometimes worth paying for, but you should know which one you are talking to.
Four questions that settle it in one call:
A factory answers all four in the same call. A middleman gets vague, offers a scheduled visit "next week", and never names the mills.
If you need 50 units, no serious Colombian factory will run it, and the ones that say yes will price it as samples. Buy development and a sample instead, sell the pre-order, then come back with the volume.
If you compete on the lowest possible unit price at ten thousand units per style, Asia wins and it is not close. If you sell into the US at high volume and duty is your main lever, Central America enters at 0% and Colombia does not.
Colombia earns its place on short runs, fast reorders, real development, and shipping into Europe without duty. That is a specific case, not every case.
Yes. Private label swimwear is made to your design and sold under your brand. Tulum Fashions produces it full package in Medellín from 150 units per style with up to 3 colors, and the patterns and tech packs developed for your styles belong to your brand.
Most established factories sit between 100 and 300 units per style. We run 150. Anything advertised under 50 is a sampling atelier or a middleman.
Yes, and it is common. Just understand that imported fabric costs you the European 0% preference.
The serious ones do. Free development is either recovered in your unit price or it is not real development.
Up to three, with a minimum of 50 units per color; each additional color adds 50 units to the run (200 units = 4 colors, 250 = 5).
Swimwear specialists with a US office, small custom ateliers, swimwear brands that also do private label, and general full-package factories that take swimwear case by case. The section above shows how they differ and what to ask each one. If our minimum or our lead time does not fit your project, we will say so rather than take the order.
Also read: Nearshore apparel manufacturer for US brands · Alternatives to China for swimwear production · Full-package clothing manufacturer in Colombia
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Full-package manufacturing from Medellín, Colombia. Minimum 150 units per style. We answer within 24 hours.
