Blank Clothing Manufacturers Creating Better Brand-Ready Apparel

A blank apparel can be perceived as basic T-shirt or hoodie, but it is purchased by business for a much larger purpose. They may print a graphic, provide embroidery, stitch their own label or create an entire clothing line from this basic apparel. For this reason, blank clothing manufacturers function as an important element in the prototype of many apparel businesses.

Blank Clothing Has a Purpose

Plain Clothing- refers to garments which arrive without any completed branding, or major artwork printed on them. The garment is sent to the consumer blank, and the buyer adds his own branding/ logo at a later stage.

This is something that sets blank apparel apart from typical retailers’ non-branded clothing. A screen printer will probably want a flat surface for the graphic. An embroidery operation might seek a more stable textured fabric to support the stitching. A fledgling labels may desire a pristine product from which it can rebrand and label the piece.

Finally, the use alters the definition of a blank good.

A thick cotton hoodie can be acceptable for a street wear line-up. A lightweight T-shirt is probably better for a promotional business. Wide fit sweatshirt may be the best option for a lifestyle brand.

Who Buys Blank Apparel?

Blank Clothing[26] attitudes include:

Screen printers may be interested in surface flatness and printability. Embroidery shops are concerned with the stability of fabrics and the characteristics of the garment construction. Clothing companies may be concerned with fit, fabric hand, labels, colors and overall appearance.

Some online sellers use blank garments as a base. They can simply add some of their own design on to them without having to purchase an entirely new one from scratch.

As for a smaller designer this system will significantly cut down on development time. There is no need to develop a pattern, buy fabric and develop every construction detail. Instead the designer can work off of an existing blank style and concentrate on the branding.

The Garment Must Work With Decoration

Printing alters the demands made of a blank.

A graphic can be large covering a lot of the front or back. Embroidery adds weight and stitching. Heat transfers adds additional material to the fabric. The decoration methods may also have different effects after washing.

Fabric surface is important here. The smoother the surface the cleaner the print. Heavier textured fabric may give a different effect. Also the stretch is important when the garment carries a large graphic or embroidery.

Buyers would do well to make a prototype sample of the huge order using the particular decoration method they are interested in, on the actual blank they intend to use. Even the finest looking blank can look marred upon printing.

Fabric Weight Shapes the Finished Product

GSM provides a helpful benchmark for purchasing blank clothing, however; the number itself is not the entire picture:

Two T shirts can have an equivalent weight of fabric but still have different hand. The fiber make up, yarn, knitting, finishing technique, the way in which the item is constructed, will all affect the required hand feel.

25. Denser fabrics could appear heavier; lighter/looser fabrics could give a softer and flexible feel. Neither necessarily a better choice.

Now consider the end products. If the product you want to produce is a high quality oversized streetwear T-shirt a more substantial body and more rigid structure may be required. If it‘s an everyday casual T-shirt a lighter fabric with greater movement may be desirable.

Fit Becomes Part of Your Brand

When a business has their own logo or graphics added, it helps identify that the shape of the garment is from that company.

That makes fit an all-important decision even when the garment begins as a blank.

Oversize T-shirts will give a different profile from normal-fit T-shirts. Drop shoulders change shape of the silhouette. Longer sleeves may look more streetwear, while a more body close fit may be for a more traditional line.

In addition, variation in size is just as important. If one run of a product differs significantly in size from the last run, consumers are aware of this, even if the design has not changed.

Stock Blanks and Custom Blanks Serve Different Goals

Pre-made blanks provide speed. Yourcompany can select one of the already existing shapes and simply order the available colors and sizes to start decorating or reselling.

Made-to-order blanks gives you a lot more control.

A brand can design its own specs, fabric weights, colors, trims, labels, packaging and details of construction. This will require more work up front but will result in a product that appears to be less of a blank.

This will be dependent on stage of the business. A new printing business might want stock garments, as they will want flexibility and quick turn round. Growing fashion label, might need to look at producing custom blanks, in order to define brand identity.

Quality Shows Up After Decoration

Even a blank garment has to be resistant to everything that occurs in the time after it is made.

Can be exposed to weaknesses during printing, embroidery, laundering, folding, packaging, shipping and handling at the retail level.

Before bulk production, buyers need to conduct some test on product: test shrinkage, color fastness, finishing, quality of seams, handfeel, measurements etc. and then do testing on finished product through actual decoration practice.

For instance, a printed T-shirt may look good when fresh from the printing process but then crack or distort a number of washes. An embroidered sweatshirt may not be affected visually but then pucker around the embroidered design.

Testing the finished product provides far more information than just weighing the empty garment.

Consistency Matters When You Reorder

Numerous companies are shocked when they realize the true cost of a supplier after ordering from them for the first time.

Let‘s say a printing firm discovers a T-shirt that customers love. They begin to produce that same T-shirt once a month. Should the next production have a different weight of fabric, shade of color or measurement, the business has a problem.

For apparel brands, the same problem arises. Once a blank is accepted as a good product, it can emerge as a core offering and therefore a repeat production must be one that is very similar to it.

Keep record of the fabric, measurement, colour, area of decoration and labels and approved samples. Clearly specification makes same order easier.

MOQ Depends on the Type of Blank

Stock blanks usually provide the buyer with more options because the styles are already manufactured by the supplier.

Custom blanks are handled differently. With new fabric, custom color, special trim, or a special pattern, the minimum may be higher:

MOQ also has implications for product testing. A producer would consider reducing their running costs of developing multiple looks by choosing smaller orders for each one, instead of producing the majority of their spend on one product.

A better measure would be to see how much inventory you should need to be able to test and sell the product.

Relabeling Creates Another Opportunity

A few businesses will buy blank garments for branding. These companies may offer a faster route to the private-label garment.

The label alone is one piece once the label is complete, there are additional elements to consider: the care label, a hangtag, packaging, size information, and everything else.

A clean white blank garment will give the label more options, so this could be recycled onto other ranges by changing the images, labels and packaging.

This kind of flexibility allows blank garments to be attractive to companies that are interested in testing out a design before moving on to fully custom products.

The Best Supplier Depends on Your Next Step

Not every business requires a factory with identical customization levels.

It will depend on the company as to what we supply it. For example, a print shop may primarily require blank T-shirts and hoodies, while an online seller may require large quantities of direct-to-consumer preset 10s. Or a developing clothing label may require measured dimensions, fabric design, labels and packaging.

Planning for the future is important too.

Suppose you anticipate researching from straightforward blanks into fully custom apparel, then working with a manufacturer that takes on product development may be helpful.

JiuvelWear, operated by Dongguan Jiuzuo Clothing Co., Ltd.,supports OEM and private-label development of clothing products from the fabric sourcing to pattern development, sampling, bulk production and quality control.

Blank apparel provides companies with an effective jumpingoff point; however, the garment must still function as something that is able to actually be worn. The proper fabric, fit, construction, compatibility with decoration, and uniformity in production allows a blank blank to become something citizens identify as belonging to a brand.