Pantone Fashion Color Report Sprint 2012

In search of the latest color trends? Here is the latest from Pantone.

http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=20911&ca=4

Here is a link to a helpful online tool that helps with finding complimentary colors.

http://colorschemedesigner.com/

Plastisol vs. Water base Inks Screen Printing

PLASTISOL:
Pros – best color accuracy based on pantone color matching, creates vibrant colors, most resistant to fading, able to layer colors without any blending, less expensive to produce.
Cons – creates thicker texture and weight to garment (more hand), can chip or peel over time, when printing over seams can bunch up and create ink clumping areas in the end product, less ideal for creating faded or ‘vintage’ looking designs.

WATERBASE::
Pros – creates little to no ‘hand’, environmentally friendly, can print over seams better since the ink seeps into the shirt itself, great for creating distressed/worn ‘vintage’ designs.
Cons – more expensive to produce, possible issues with fine detail when printing dark garments, layering colors can cause problems, can be harder to do a pantone match, fades after first wash resulting in what could be duller colors than expected. An extra garment wash process can be done at the end to soften the print more for an out of the box retail look and feel.

Importing vs. Domestic Production

Usually direct import orders will carry a cost of $2500 or more to meet minimum production quantities whether the item is $1.00 or $10.00 each. Overseas orders take 30-75 days which includes transit by boat. In most cases manufacturing takes 30 days and transit by ocean 20-30 days. You do need to allow extra time for sampling and proofing. At times, air freight is used to meet deadlines, however, it is not usually cost effective. Savings from doing overseas production compared to domestic production continue to marginally get smaller and smaller and maybe 10-20 years from now Made In The USA will be more available. This is due to increased overseas production costs including higher wages, less government subsidies, and increased shipping costs. We have seen a drop in product quality from direct overseas production, maybe because of the financial strains on those factories and fewer factories to work with. Most promotional products are all made overseas as blank goods and then held in the USA for imprinting on demand as orders come in. This probably won’t change anytime soon. Apparel production is the category where we see the most movement back to the USA. Companies want to keep less inventory on hand and get market faster with new products. The saving of doing these orders overseas is smaller now and the quality control is difficult. The benefits of waiting 4 months for an order rather than 1 month is not as appealing anymore. USA factories are gearing up to meet this new demand.

What Apparel does not wear out too fast?

Catalog and online product pictures and descriptions make these items out to be winners when they might be losers. With so many options for t-shirts, polos, and fleece; how do we know what is really a winner? If the end user will be putting clothes in a washer and dryer, than blending fabrics get the most value. Fabrics with polyester, spandex, and lycra, are more fade and shrink resistant than all cotton. Polyester is plastic based fiber; this is why this fiber is so resistant to wear. Mixing in the cotton in the blend keeps if feeling good on the skin. These blended fabric items will wear out as well over time. I have heard that the life of polo shirts is 20 washes and then it begins to wear-out. The better you treat your clothes the better they will treat you. We always recommend to hand dry your apparel to help the shape, color, and decoration last longer.

Performance Fabrics

Over the past few years performance fabrics have become all the rage. Used mostly in sport shirts and t-shirts, these fabrics can vary quite a bit. Most of these fabrics are 100% polyester and in some cases anti-microbial and moisture wicking attributes are added. Be aware that antimicrobial additives are on the surface of the fabrics and after some washes are pretty much gone. One challenge with these fabrics is weight which can range from 3.0 – 5.5 oz. If the fabric is too light weight then embroidery does not take well due to puckering. If you are doing embroidery, hoop the material loose to avoid puckering. In many cases decorators are using heat transfer applications to achieve optimal stretch and print result though it is a more expensive process compared to direct screen printing. Try to stay away from white as a fabric color due to the thickness of the materials. As cotton prices surge polyester fabrics became even more popular, however, these fabric costs are on the rise as well due to oil costs and other factors. China is buying up the world supply of cotton and even polyester so prices will continue to rise. Performance fabrics will continue to be popular because they feel good on the skin, they don’t fade or shrink, and we all want to add performance to our life.

Cotton Prices Surge

T-shirt and other cotton goods costs are going up and up and up. Raw cotton prices have risen as much as 56% recently upended roughly two decades of cheap cotton. Speculators in commodities markets are partially to blame although Pakistan, the fourth-largest producer of cotton, saw its crops affected by devastating floods this summer. Heavy rains in China crimped that nation’s crop, resulting in a 5.4% drop in global production in 2010. China is the largest cotton producer, followed by India and the U.S. Even though India and the U.S. reported bountiful harvests this year, it didn’t make up for the declines in China and Pakistan. What does this mean for you, the decorated apparel buyer? A $5.00 printed t-shirt will now cost $5.65. We expect prices increases biannually if not quarterly.

Pantone 18-2120 Honeysuckle is Color of 2011

The 2010 color of the year was PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise, which was well received. Honeysuckle 18-2120 is in the Pink Family.

Chinese Import Prices Surge in 2011

Most promotional products coming in from China are 20-50% more in 2011. Strikes for higher wages are winning out and the cost of labor is increasing everyday. One factory gets word of a raise in another and the domino’s fall, over and over again. It is said that the Chinese government provides money to factories so they will sell products even cheaper, like subsidizing but in secret which is not legal in the world economy. That is not happening as much now as part pf China’s efforts to ease world concerns over market manipulation. A bag that cost $5 last year is now $8.00 and so on.