Difference between a $200 gi and a $109 All Around gi

To understand something completely, we need to break it down to it's fundamental parts.

We'll approach this from first principles.
What makes a great gi?
It boils down to 3 Fs.

  1. Fabric: What is it made of?

  2. Fabrication: How is it made?

  3. Fitting: How does it fit?

THE FIRST F

Origins of Fabric

For most people, this is the most visceral difference.
They can feel the fabric and touch it, see it's appearance.
The spectrum here is quite wide.
This is why you can find $60 gis in the market and $200 gis as well.

There are a lot of things that influence the quality of the fabric.

For most people, this is the most visceral difference.
They can feel the fabric and touch it, see it's appearance.

The spectrum here is quite wide.
This is why you can find $60 gis in the market and $200 gis as well.

There are a lot of things that influence the quality of the fabric.

Fabric Weight

This is measured in Grams per Square Meter and shows the fabric's density and durability.

Generally, a higher GSM means a heavier, more durable fabric.

This is also why your favorite hoodie is possibly of a higher GSM too.

This is also why you won't see high-end brands do a lighter GSM, it compromises a lot on the quality of the gi.

When we released our 380 GSM in addition to our 450 GSM we were a bit hesitant because people start associating those with a lower quality.

This is why we let people know that if they are in a hotter climate and want something lightweight, 380 will do the trick but they will not be as durable as the 450 ones.

This is measured in Grams per Square Meter and shows the fabric's density and durability.

Generally, a higher GSM means a heavier, more durable fabric.

This is also why your favorite hoodie is possibly of a higher GSM too.

This is also why you won't see high-end brands do a lighter GSM, it compromises a lot on the quality of the gi.

When we released our 380 GSM in addition to our 450 GSM we were a bit hesitant because people start associating those with a lower quality.

This is why we let people know that if they are in a hotter climate and want something lightweight, 380 will do the trick but they will not be as durable as the 450 ones.

Fabric Weave

Here you have a choice between Pearl Weave, Single Weave, Double Weave and Gold Weaves. All of them have their place but you'll notice that all the high-end luxury brands will lean towards a Pearl Weave formation. The cheaper brands lean more towards a single weave to save costs.

Basically, Pearl Weave has an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio.

It feels wonderfully soft against the skin.

And offers the flexibility you need

It's one of the things that our customers mention when they get our gis.

Here you have a choice between Pearl Weave, Single Weave, Double Weave and Gold Weaves. All of them have their place but you'll notice that all the high-end luxury brands will lean towards a Pearl Weave formation. The cheaper brands lean more towards a single weave to save costs.

Basically, Pearl Weave has an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio.

It feels wonderfully soft against the skin.

And offers the flexibility you need

It's one of the things that our customers mention when they get our gis.

Composition

This is one aspect where an All Around gi might actually be better than a $200+ gi.

We have done a lot of experimentation on the composition of the fabric for our gis.

Traditionally, most higher end gis go with a 100% cotton composition.

But this comes with a problem that you definitely have come across: shrinking.

With our special blend of Cotton and Polyester, here is what Coach Stephen had to say about our gis (btw, he has bought 4 gis from us):

This is one aspect where an All Around gi might actually be better than a $200+ gi.

We have done a lot of experimentation on the composition of the fabric for our gis.

Traditionally, most higher end gis go with a 100% cotton composition.

But this comes with a problem that you definitely have come across: shrinking.

With our special blend of Cotton and Polyester, here is what Coach Stephen had to say about our gis (btw, he has bought 4 gis from us):

You end up with the best of both worlds: low shrinkage + still IBJJF legal.

THE SECOND F

Fabrication

Let's do a thought experiment.

Consider clothings brands on two ends of the spectrum.
Zara vs. Hermes.

You know that the former is mostly interested in chunking out stuff.
They want to sell as much as possible.
They look at micro trends, design things and then send those out to factories. There is a disconnect between people who design things and the people who make those things.

On the end, you know that Hermes is not interested in selling the most stuff.
They have an artistic approach to making things. They have their own workshops where they make their things.
Every piece is carefully examined, passing through fingers that know their reputation is on the line.
And as a customer, you can feel a part of the artisan's soul in the thing that they have made.

This is where the problem lies with almost every single jiujitsu brand: they outsource their manufacturing.
Things are designed in a silo and then passed on to obscure factories to be made and shipped.

It's another domain where All Around is even better than luxury gis. We do everything in-house.
It gives us the freedom to explore new things.
And more importantly pay attention to the things that are not worthy of you.

All these higher end gis are made in our hometown of Sialkot.
And while I immigrated to Germany and live+work here now, my father still takes of our production.
You can call it a family business, we're fortunate to run it that way.

This is where it gets even more interesting:
All Around is in a special position.
Not only do we make things for our brand, we partner with academies and other brands to make their apparel too.
Imagine the 'know-how' that we have because of this special positioning.

Let's do a thought experiment.

Consider clothings brands on two ends of the spectrum.
Zara vs. Hermes.

You know that the former is mostly interested in chunking out stuff.
They want to sell as much as possible.
They look at micro trends, design things and then send those out to factories. There is a disconnect between people who design things and the people who make those things.

On the end, you know that Hermes is not interested in selling the most stuff.
They have an artistic approach to making things. They have their own workshops where they make their things.
Every piece is carefully examined, passing through fingers that know their reputation is on the line.
And as a customer, you can feel a part of the artisan's soul in the thing that they have made.

This is where the problem lies with almost every single jiujitsu brand: they outsource their manufacturing.
Things are designed in a silo and then passed on to obscure factories to be made and shipped.

It's another domain where All Around is even better than luxury gis. We do everything in-house.
It gives us the freedom to explore new things.
And more importantly pay attention to the things that are not worthy of you.

All these higher end gis are made in our hometown of Sialkot.
And while I immigrated to Germany and live+work here now, my father still takes of our production.
You can call it a family business, we're fortunate to run it that way.

This is where it gets even more interesting:
All Around is in a special position.


Not only do we make things for our brand, we partner with academies and other brands to make their apparel too.
Imagine the 'know-how' that we have because of this special positioning.

THE THIRD F

Fitting

This is one of the core things to look out for when you are getting your gi.

Apart from the fabric quality we have written about above, if the gi doesn't fit you properly, then it defeats it purpose.
Quite literally.

Other brands can't tackle this because of two reasons:

1. To cater for different body types, they will have to offer a huge variety of sizes. They can't do this to a complete extent because that would mean excess inventory for them (if they actually do offer those speciual sizes)

2. There are still a lot of cases where a practitioner still might not fall in the bucket that those companies offer. And because you don't have ownership of the production process, you can't offer individualised solutions to this problem.


But if you take a look at any of our pieces, you'll see this:

Almost any size imaginable.

But we didn't stop there.
We know that even then you might be between sizes.
Or might want more space in your hips and thighs.
Or might like your trousers highwaisted.
Or might prefer a more slimmer cut.

Whatever that is, for all you people, we even rolled out a custom sizing program.

This gives you the option and the freedom to tweak any detail you want and build out your dream gi.

Should we charge $200 too?

Should we charge $200 too?

We could easily charge that. Most of our existing customers would be happy to pay that price too. But we'd rather you have two great gis than one overpriced one.

We hope you started reading this with the thought 'Can a $109 gi really come close to a $200 one?'
By the time you are finished reading it, we hope it has changed to 'How much better is this $109 All Around gi compared to a $200 one?'

If you have questions that you think we haven't answered here, write to us and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.

For now, we'll let our customers do most of the talking:

We could easily charge that. Most of our existing customers would be happy to pay that price too. But we'd rather you have two great gis than one overpriced one.

We hope you started reading this with the thought 'Can a $109 gi really come close to a $200 one?'
By the time you are finished reading it, we hope it has changed to 'How much better is this $109 All Around gi compared to a $200 one?'

If you have questions that you think we haven't answered here, write to us and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.

For now, we'll let our customers do most of the talking:

Check out All Around Fundamentals