If you’ve discovered this article chances are you’re either already printing your own apparel for your brand or business, or getting very close to your first order. In either scenario, considering ways to make your product really stand out is guaranteed to be something that has already crossed your mind. While there are many ways to do this, we’re here to discuss one of the most effective additions to your apparel to present a professional and distinct brand. You guessed it! This article is all about custom printed tags.
Custom tags can offer everything from logos and taglines, to sizing and product information, and even clever sayings and engaging messages. While the options are endless, there are a few things that all custom tags should contain before you go and remove the manufacturer tag and start running with just your branding. Infact, the Federal Trade Commission simply requires a few things on all custom clothing labels. Here is all you’ll need to know to get your label right the first time.
First, let’s start by asking ourselves an important question. What do we, as consumers and humans, want to know about our new clothes? This question pretty much guides us through this article and makes creating custom labels feel a whole lot more intuitive.
Care Instructions
One of your first thoughts is likely care instructions. The FTC requires regular care instructions be affixed to the garment, and warnings about potential damage during washing to be clearly noted. You, as the seller, have the option of either writing out these instructions with words, or using a set of standardized icons known as the Apparel/ Textile Care Symbols. Look familiar?
Types of Fabric
One of your next thoughts when answering the question of what you, as a consumer, would want to know about your garments likely includes a desire to know exactly what kind of fabric you’re purchasing. Not only does your label need to state the fiber names and percentages by weight of each and every distinct fiber, your label also needs to list them in descending order based on the percent present of each fiber. This means if you have a cotton-poly blend and it’s 80% cotton and 20% polyester, you must list cotton first with its weight percentage followed by polyester.
Country of Origin
Another common thing consumers like to know is the country that their clothing was manufactured in. Per FTC guidelines, the country of origin always needs to appear on the front side of the label so it’s easy to find. This particular label attribute cannot be covered by any other image or additional label.
Official Brand Name
Every piece of apparel available for sale needs to contain the name of the manufacturer, or dealer responsible for selling the garment. You can either show the official operating name of the company, or a Registered Identification Number (RN). Remember, the name of the company needs to be the officially licensed name in which you do business, not just the brand you go by. Need an RN? Check out this helpful resource to register one here.
Now that we’ve covered the things you need to include on your label, let’s talk options for the actual material and style of your tag! As you’ve likely noticed in your own daily clothing, there are a few different variations on labels. You can go the ultra-minimalist route and use a printed label. This means that the actual label information is printed directly on the inside of the garment without needing to use an actual physical tag. This is particularly popular in sports apparel!
Another option is a sewn label. The garment manufacturer label is removed and your new shiny label is sewn on in this process. Sewn labels have a softer feel and offer a high-end flair. A slightly more rustic alteration of this is a canvas label. This is also sewn on, but has a little more of a rigid feel to it.
Whatever you choose, J&R Marketing can help you perfect it. We offer custom apparel and products and simply love bringing our passion for branding together with our knowledge of apparel through creating custom labels. Feel free to contact us with questions, or to get started on your custom garment tags today.
