Minku Apparel is a custom t-shirt manufacturer for brands across the USA, producing boxy heavyweight tees from 50 pieces per design with full private-label finishing. We run 180 to 240 GSM combed cotton, decorate in-house with screen print, DTG, and embroidery, sample before bulk, and ship DDP to any US address in roughly 5 to 8 days by air. For an American label in the world’s biggest streetwear market, this is the factory behind your core piece.
This page covers how we manufacture tees for the US market: cotton weights and cuts, in-house decoration and private labelling, MOQ and pricing in dollars, sampling, and DDP shipping with US import duty and customs already handled.
Why the tee is the core of the US market
The United States is the largest and most competitive streetwear market on earth, with distinct scenes in New York, LA, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, and dozens of cities in between – and across all of them, the graphic tee is the foundation. It is the volume driver, the entry price point, and the canvas that carries a brand’s identity. American consumers are the most tee-literate in the world; they know the difference between a heavyweight blank and a cheap wholesale shirt instantly. A US label needs a boxy heavyweight combed-cotton tee with the weight, structure, and print quality to compete nationally, whether it is selling in a single city or shipping direct-to-consumer coast to coast.
Cotton weight, fit, and cut for the US
Weight is what separates a premium tee from a giveaway, and the US market notices. We run combed cotton from a 180 GSM mid-weight to a dense 240 GSM heavyweight, in a boxy structured drop, a fitted classic, an oversized block, or a cropped cut. Ring-spun and combed yarns give a smooth print surface and a soft hand, with side seams, double-needle stitching, and a ribbed set-in collar that holds shape. Because the US spans climates from a Miami summer to a Chicago winter, we can spec weight to your market – a 200 GSM for warm-region drops, a 240 GSM heavyweight for cold-climate labels. Every measurement is logged so reorders match nationwide.
Decoration that makes an American tee
The tee is where decoration earns its keep, and we run it all in-house. Screen print delivers bold, opaque graphics with plastisol or soft water-based inks, DTG handles photographic and multi-colour art with no minimum penalty, and puff or flat embroidery adds a premium chest or sleeve hit. All-over print, garment dye, acid wash, and tie-dye cover the full range of American streetwear finishes. Every tee carries your woven inside label, neck tape, and hem tag, so it reads as your brand from the fabric out. In a market this crowded, owning the blank – your weight, your drop, your inside branding – is the difference between a real label and a printed wholesale shirt.
Screen print
Best for bold, limited-colour graphics and larger runs, with durable plastisol or soft water-based inks. Cost per unit drops as quantity climbs – ideal for a US label scaling a hit design nationally.
DTG
Prints photographic and multi-colour art directly into the cotton with no colour-count penalty, ideal for detailed art and smaller drops. A dense combed-cotton face holds the detail crisply.
MOQ and pricing in dollars
Minimum is 50 pieces per tee design, so a US founder can test a graphic before scaling. Pricing is quoted in dollars and tracks cotton weight, fit, and decoration, dropping as you move into reorders. Because the tee is the volume driver for most American labels, consistency across reorders matters more than shaving pennies – so we price on a heavyweight blank that stays identical drop to drop. Request a quote for landed cost per unit anywhere in the USA.
DDP shipping and duty across the USA
Tees are light per unit, which makes air freight efficient, and we ship Delivered Duty Paid. DDP means US import duty and customs handling are already in your landed price – no broker bill after delivery. Air freight lands your tee order at any US address in about 5 to 8 days once QC clears. Cotton knit tops carry their own US HTS duty rate, and under DDP we build that into your quote instead of leaving it at the border. For small first runs, low-value shipments may fall under de-minimis handling, but even on a formal bulk entry your landed cost is fixed before we ship – clean math for setting nationwide retail. Flat-packed tees make replenishment fast.
Ready to build the tee your American label runs on? See the full custom t-shirt manufacturing program, explore the wider custom streetwear manufacturing range, and check MOQ and pricing. When you are ready, get your custom quote.
Custom T-Shirt Manufacturer in the USA – Tees for American Streetwear Brands | Minku Apparel — In Detail
