No see-through

Let's address the elephant in the room: see-through leggings. If you've ever had a pair go transparent mid-squat, you know the unique combination of embarrassment, frustration, and betrayal that follows. You trusted those leggings. They let you down literally. At Avae Wear, we've made a simple promise: our leggings will never be see-through. Here's how we keep that promise.

The See-Through Problem

See-through leggings are alarmingly common in the activewear industry. A 2023 survey found that over 40% of women have experienced see-through leggings during a workout. It's not a niche problem it's an industry-wide quality failure.

The impact goes beyond embarrassment. See-through leggings undermine your confidence. They make you second-guess every squat, every deadlift, every time you bend over to pick up a dumbbell. Instead of focusing on your training, you're wondering if everyone behind you can see through your leggings. That mental distraction has a real effect on workout quality.

Why Some Leggings Fail the Squat Test

Cheap Fabric

The most common cause is low-quality, thin fabric. Budget leggings use fewer grams of fabric per square metre, which means less material between your skin and the outside world. At rest, the legging looks opaque. Under stretch at the bottom of a squat, during a lunge, or bending over the fabric thins out and becomes translucent.

High Polyester Content

Polyester is cheaper than nylon, so budget brands use more of it. The problem: polyester fibres are thinner and less dense than nylon fibres. A 90% polyester / 10% spandex legging will have significantly less opacity at stretch than an 90% nylon / 10% spandex legging. The numbers matter.

Excess Spandex

Some brands use 25-30% spandex to make their leggings feel super stretchy. More stretch sounds good, right? Not when it comes at the cost of opacity. More spandex means less nylon, which means less density, which means more light passes through. The "buttery stretch" that marketing departments love to promote is actually the reason the leggings are see-through.

Untested Colours

A legging can be perfectly opaque in black and completely see-through in pink. Darker dyes naturally provide more opacity. Brands that test only their black colourway and assume lighter colours will perform the same are setting their customers up for failure.

Avae's Testing Process

We test every single colour, in every single production batch, through multiple stages:

Stage 1: Fabric Testing

Before any legging is designed, we test the raw fabric. Swatches are stretched to 250% of their resting state and assessed for opacity using both visual inspection and light measurement. If the fabric shows any transparency at max stretch, we don't use it regardless of how good it feels or how affordable it is.

Stage 2: Garment Testing

Once the legging is constructed, it's tested on real bodies through full range of motion. Deep squats, lunges, deadlifts, hip hinges, and leg presses. Testers assess opacity from multiple angles under bright gym lighting (the most unforgiving lighting environment there is). Any transparency = back to the drawing board.

Stage 3: Colour Testing

Every colour gets its own dedicated testing round. Black, Brown, Red, Pink each one is put through the same squat test independently. We don't assume that because black passes, other colours will too. Each colour has different dye density, different visual properties under stretch, and needs individual verification.

Stage 4: Batch Testing

Manufacturing isn't perfect. Fabric can vary between production batches due to dye lots, machine calibration, and raw material variation. We test samples from every production batch before it ships. If a batch falls below our opacity standard, it gets rejected even if the same design passed testing in a previous batch.

The Fabric Technology

Our squat proof leggings use an 90/10 nylon-spandex blend the same composition that leading performance brands rely on for opacity, durability, and feel. Here's why this specific blend works:

• 90% Nylon provides the density. Fine-denier nylon fibres pack tightly together, creating a fabric structure that blocks light even when fully stretched. It's the structural backbone of opacity.
• 10% Spandex provides the stretch without compromising density. The 20% ratio is precisely calibrated enough for full range of motion, not so much that the fabric thins out under tension.

The fabric weight also matters. We use a heavier gsm (grams per square metre) than many competitors. More material per square metre = more density = more opacity. It also means the legging feels more substantial not heavy, but present. You feel the quality the moment you put them on.

Every Colour Tested

Our current Enhance Legging collection comes in four colours: Black, Brown, Red, and Pink. Every single one is individually tested and verified for squat proof opacity. Here's what that means in practice:

• Black. Our easiest colour to keep opaque, but still individually tested to our standard
• Brown. A rich, deep tone that maintains opacity under stretch
• Red. A medium shade that requires careful dye density to remain opaque; tested and verified
• Pink. The lightest colour in our range and the toughest test; passes our squat test with full opacity

If we can make Pink squat proof, you can trust every other colour in our range.

Our Squat Proof Promise

This is our commitment: every Avae legging is squat proof. Every colour. Every batch. Every time. No exceptions, no fine print, no "results may vary." If you squat in our leggings, no one sees through them. Period.

We stand behind this because we test relentlessly. We reject fabric that doesn't meet our standard. We test every colour independently. We verify every production batch. The result is a legging you can trust completely so you can focus on your training instead of worrying about what's visible.

Ready to experience leggings you'll never have to worry about? Shop our squat proof collection tested, verified, and guaranteed.