feb17_images_digital

PF PROMOWEAR

6 by Bella+Canvas,” comments Sam Turner, sales director at Fire Label Merchandising. Over at Direct Textile Designs, Mark has no- ticed a big increase in 100% polyester performance fabrics in the running/events market thanks to its moisture wicking abilities. Customers are also asking for more retail-quality styles, reports Alex. “If they’re buying their Next T-shirts and they’re costing them 15-20 quid, then when they start buying T-shirts at £3 printed up, they realise that these are just for wearing down the beach then being thrown away.” He concedes that it doesn’t happen a lot – when offered a choice of a £1.90 or a £2.10 shirt for an order for 500 or 1,000 shirts with two colours, the client is likely to opt for the cheaper one still, as “price matters” – but some clients are asking for heavier weight tees or a nicer finish as they want the T-shirts to better reflect what’s found in the shops. Gordon Glenister, director general of the BPMA, adds: “We are

starting to see more stylish garments enter the sector, even fol- lowing some of the fashion trends in the consumer market. Recip- ients want to look and feel good when wearing a branded T-shirt, and corporates want to ensure their brand is well represented. BPMA research proves that they want better quality garments: the challenge is making sure they will pay more for them.” White T-shirts continue to be the first choice on very large runs thanks to cost. “It’s cheaper for us to buy and cheaper to print so we can offer much more competitive pricing to our customers that are trying to make their budgets go as far as possible,” explains Sam. However, colour choice is not (dare we say it) as black and white as it might at first appear. “Where colours are concerned we have noticed an increase in our customers buying a wider variety of colours instead of just the bog standard black T-shirt, which used to be the norm,” continues Sam. “Part of the reason for this

PenCarrie: Sol’s Regent T-Shirt One of the best-selling styles from Sol’s in 2016 was the Regent T-Shirt (11380), part of the Sol’s Essentials Collec- tion. This T-shirt remained consistently popular amongst decorators and end users, reports PenCarrie, due to its “excellent print surface and good value”, making it an ideal high volume promotion- al T-shirt. It is available in a choice of 41 colours. w www.pencarrie.com

Henbury: Coolplus Polyester Polo Shirt Henbury says the ideal promotionalwear polo shirt is its bestselling Coolplus Polyester Polo Shirt (H475), made in a micro-piqué with permanent wicking, moisture management technology. The brand says that due to the style’s continued success and demand, its size range has been increased to 2XS-5XL and the colour range has also expanded with four new options; bright jade, mid blue, red and Oxford navy. w www.henbury.com

Stedman: Classic-T Crew Neck “When it comes to high volume articles, no other style in Stedman’s Basics collection matches the Classic-T,” says the brand. “This is the prototypical T-shirt for the pro- motional industry: Made of durable, ringspun single jersey cotton, it offers good quality at a competitive price and a perfect base for all kinds of textile decoration.” It is available in a selection of 19 colours and sizes S-3XL, meaning the Classic-T (ST2000) fits almost anyone and matches a broad range of purposes, says the brand. w www.stedman.eu

Front Row: Long Sleeved Plain Rugby Shirt Front Row nominated its Long Sleeved Plain Rugby Shirt (FR100/101) for its promowear item of 2016. This lightweight rugby shirt is available in 12 col- ours for men, in sizes S-3XL, and in eight colours for women, S-2XL. Black/ white and navy/white are available in sizes up to 4XL, with key colours for women starting at XS. w www.frontrowclothing.co.uk

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