June 2007

Commentary: Embellish It

When selling apparel, offer sophisticated and stylish decoration options.

By Wendy Gray

If you take a walk through the mall today you’ll see one of the biggest apparel trends – embellishment. From studs and stitching to flocked and flashy all-over designs, today’s hot decorating trends are everywhere. Where the embellishment’s placed on the garment is also important: Decoration can appear on a garment’s neck, sleeve, shoulders, hip, yoke, collars and cuffs or, for that matter, just about anywhere. Why is this important? Just as color and styling trends at retail influence the promotional apparel scene, so do these trends in decoration. More and more end-users are looking for the latest retail looks, which means not only showing them new colors and styles, but also suggesting alternative decoration techniques to achieve these looks. For years, left-chest embroidery and full-chest screen printing have been the norm, but there are so many more options that can help turn a logo from ordinary to extraordinary. Consider these four tips for suggesting decoration ideas to your customer. 1. Think outside the left-chest box. Whether you’re talking embroidery or other embellishments, the left chest isn’t the only good placement on a garment. Depending on whether your client wants his logo to be more discreet, or bold and loud, other logo placements might work better for his needs. 2. Know your options. Just as you educate yourself on what apparel products are available from your suppliers, you need to become knowledgeable about decoration techniques on the market. Here are just five options. • Embroidery. Look for specialty threads such as metallic and matte threads that give a design a more retail look. A variety of new appliqués are also available that add textural interest, shimmer or shine as a background or part of a design. Appliqué lettering is also a big look in the market, inspired by the retro collegiate sweatshirt look.

Wendy Gray is director of creative services for Avenel, NJ-based Vantage Apparel.

For years, left-chest embroidery and full-chest screen printing have been the norm, but there are so many more options that can help turn a logo from ordinary to extraordinary.

• Screen printing. There are a variety of specialty inks and creative techniques that can be used to achieve those looks that are popular at retail. Foil and shimmer inks can add sparkle and shine, while high-density and suede inks add textural interest. Consider distressing a logo’s artwork to give it that worn Abercrombie & Fitch look. Ask your decorator if she has a name-drop program allowing you to customize a retail design with your customer’s name or logo.

• Digital printing. This newer method of four-color process printing allows you to print directly from a computer file onto a garment. It’s great for multicolored complex designs or low-quantity runs since there are no screen charges involved. It’s also an eco-friendly process because it utilizes water-based inks with no excess ink waste.

• Heat transfers. There are several different kinds of transfer embellishments that can be heat applied to a garment. These include printed transfers that look very much like a screen print, flocked transfers that consist of colored fibers with a soft hand, and studded transfers that use metallic and rhinestone studs to create a design. The latter are especially popular in the women’s market.

• Multimedia. Combining a couple of these techniques is another hot retail look. You’ll need to get direction from your decorator as it’s not always possible to use some of the techniques together; for example, you can’t combine a heat transfer with regular screen-printing inks. However, a screen print with elements of embroidery or a digital print with a studded transfer design over it can really change a simple design into something unique and special.

3. Understand your audience. You really need to know your customer’s needs and objectives to offer the right decoration options. You should no longer look at screen printing as just a cheaper decoration alternative to embroidery. Today’s screen printing, especially when using specialty inks, can have a high perceived value – just check out the price tag on the fashion tees in any surf or skate shop.

4. Samples help sell. The decoration techniques described above are best explained to your customer along with a sample. You might think a studded transfer would be a great idea for a customer, but it’s hard to visualize without seeing a sample. Ask your decorator what sales tools she offers to help sell her techniques.

Telling your customers about these new decoration techniques will help you stand out and, most importantly, increase your sales.