If promotional clothing does its job, it will become an heirloom – vintage T-shirts, retro fashion boiler suits and dresses, previously loved ties and bags, all these are desirable but fragile items. Modern promotional clothing may become the much-desired heirloom of the future, and knowing how to care for it can help you and your team enjoy your custom printed or embroidered work-wear, your team T-shirts or your on-tour hoodies.

Giving this information to your clients, either as a cute promotional leaflet or as a care page on your website, can have an unexpected bonus effect – it builds customer loyalty by showing that you have an ethical approach to making the most of the clothing you sell/provide.

• Washing – if your T-shirts are printed, always turn them inside out before washing and dry them on a line, inside out, not in a tumble dryer. This means that the printed image isn’t constantly being rubbed up against other fabrics which can abrade it. Wash dark fabrics on the lowest possible temperature.
• Stains – salt is the best way to remove deodorant stains from dark clothing. Just wet the stain with cold water, pour salt onto it and gently press it into the stain. Next day, add about 2 tablespoons of salt to the wash water. To avoid these stains in the first place, apply deodorant the night before – it prevents damp and odour just the same, but it stops the aluminium in the deodorant getting onto the fabric. If you spill something oily on promotional clothing, soak the stain, as soon as possible, in pure washing up liquid – preferably an environmentally friendly one as it’s less likely to contain bright pigments like blue or green that can actually tint the garment. Leave for an hour and then dip the stain in a small bowl of white vinegar and wash. Most oily stains will have completely disappeared.
• Pressing/Ironing – not everybody irons their T-shirts but most people iron, or have their shirts laundered – if your cotton shirts are monogrammed, it’s best not to iron over the embroidery directly. Instead lay an old white pillowcase or tea-towel over the embroidered area and run the iron over that.

In Punjab, a recent press conference has made a startling claim – recent outbreaks of ‘hot-headed’ behaviour by the police (including lathi charges – lathis being the Indian equivalent of a baton) could be put down to the colour of their new uniforms: black.

The uniforms have been changed from white to black recently, and a senior policeman and several of his colleagues concurred, but others have said that it’s more necessary to have a change of police thinking than of police uniforms.

However – colour psychology has some interesting insights into this idea. It claims that colour can have a profound effect on behaviour and further, says that black clothing denotes authority, power, strength, evil (?), intelligence, death or mourning, while grey, a popular colour for military uniforms, and for casual clothing in the motor industry, gives an aura of neutrality, timelessness and practicality. Blue – the colour most chosen for casual clothing across the world, provides an atmosphere of calmness, wisdom, loyalty and truth but may also seem cold and uncaring.

When choosing uniform items, highlighting with a contrasting colour can be useful. So blue can be made warm and jolly with orange printing, or grey can be given life and verve by the addition of purple embroidery.

Closed loop manufacturing has become an increasing focus of Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and McDonald’s are leading the way. It’s no surprise that uniforms that are related to the London Olympics have been under scrutiny for their environmental impacts, and that high profile companies are keen to ensure their promotional activities are in line with the latest social and environmental guidelines.

Many organisations, from Marks & Spencer to the National Grid, are looking into producing closed-loop clothing, whereby some of the polyester in the original garment is broken down into a polymer that can then be respun into a yarn that is rewoven into new clothing.

A London based consultancy, Worn Again, is helping other corporations to repurpose their corporate clothing into new items. For example, the old Eurostar headrests were repurposed into bags and utility pouches for Eurostar train managers, Royal Mail winter jackets have also been recycled into bags. It’s claimed that 33.4 million uniforms are purchased each year, of which something less than 5% are recycled.

The key messages here are:

1. Look at corporate clothing through its entire lifetime and plan an end-of-life use that can be a good story for the corporation.
2. Set up clothing collection systems in the workplace to gather corporate clothing for re-cycling or closed-loop processing.
3. Re-use, repurpose and recycle any workplace clothing that can’t be built into a closed loop process, and ensure that embroidery or printing can contribute to the repurposing by have logos printed in areas that can then be re-used to make smaller, ‘ready-branded’ items.

Iris van Herpen may not be a household name, but her new clothing technologies may be about to change the face of promotional clothing forever. van Herpen is a Dutch designer, beloved of Bjork, amongst others, and she’s currently staging an exhibition in Groningen that features clothing she has created for catwalk shows. And each piece has been modelled using 3D software.

It’s counterintuitive to what most of us know about clothing design, which is the idea that designers use the actual fabric and drape, cut and shape it around a model to see what’s possible – but van Herpen has other ideas. This new technology pushes the boundaries of what can be done with fabric, just as simulation software allows surgeons to push the limits of what can be done with surgery.

As an example, Bjork wears a 3D print dress with constellations on it for the promotional video for her single, Moon. Similar applications for promotional clothing could be 3D street maps to help people locate new businesses. And of course, for the next few years, such promotional clothing, whether it’s a printed T-shirt or a 3D hat that ‘changes’ the head shape of the wearer (Klingon printed hats are already being explored by the Star Trek franchise, apparently) will be headline-earning, and that’s the purpose of good promotional garments.

Geeklist has had an interesting couple of weeks. It all started with them launching a promotional video showing a pretty woman dancing around in a Geeklist T-shirt and underclothes. Somewhat to their surprise it didn’t go down too well with the many women in the tech industries who used the social media that Geeklist features on to complain.

Then something odd happened. The Geeklist team became defensive and started attacking the people who were tweeting about the T-shirt wearing video, telling them their tone was inappropriate and they should ‘take it offline’.

Finally they saw sense, but not until a darkly brilliant bug report made the rounds of their industry, playing a mind-game with the situation that has become a meme in how not to promote your brand.

So what went wrong?

1. Failure to engage with the client base – not least in that a woman is likely to have pointed out the alternative interpretations of their video (if they’d consulted one)
2. Failure to engage with T-shirt designer – most T-shirt companies, designers and printers have a clear idea how to steer clear of controversy, and a good sense of how close to go to that edge, because they’ve worked with many clients trying to promote themselves (seems Geeklist didn’t consult their designer/printer about their intentions either)
3. Failure to respond to the problem sensibly – when they were challenged on Twitter, Geeklist went after the challengers – failing to notice that in one case, it was a major client who had raised concerns and inflaming the situation even further by being rude to somebody who’s paying their wages …

While they will probably survive this, Geeklist have provided a perfect example of how a simple, low-budget promotional gimmick can blow up in your face if you don’t think it through and get some expert advice!

As British football fans focus on the recovery of Fabrice Muamba after a collapse on the football pitch, supportive T-shirts abound. Meantime, in New Jersey, America, a new T-shirt raises awareness of brain injury – its causes, its treatment and the need to raise funds for people with such injuries. The limited edition shirt is on sale for a month only.

Footballers are lifting their team shirts to show messages of support for Fabrice Muamba and his family, and the awareness of the risks of cardiac arrest and the value of knowing CPR and being able to do it on somebody whose heart has stopped.

Such awareness raising activities can be a valuable support to community activities – also being promoted this week is a walk for a hospice, linked to Davina McCall’s personal trainer whose relatives benefited from the hospice’s existence and TOWIE star Amy Childs wearing a Sport Relief T-shirt.

Of course not every business can find a celebrity to endorse them, but just about every business can find a good cause that needs public awareness and offer to sponsor a T-shirt or polo shirt that will help raise the profile of the cause. It can be extremely cheap, and by linking a subtle brand element such as a logo, to the awareness raising T-shirt, companies can create a long term association between themselves and a popular and worthy cause which benefits both parties.

Linking such T-shirts to an event can be even more positive: a marathon team, a group undertaking a world record, a flash mob or just giving out information leaflets about the cause in the street all bring a new recognition of the cause, and of the company that is supporting it through branded clothing.

The cult of the celebrity chef has become established around the globe: TV chefs have huge followings and branded restaurants are found everywhere from cruise ships to capital cities.

Now kitchen uniforms get the star treatment, as increasing numbers of venues opt for stylish clothing, not just for table staff, but for kitchen employees too, to bring a sense of the theatrical to dining out. Personalising chef’s uniforms has become a standard treatment, especially in ‘view’ dining venues where tours of the kitchen, or windows opening on to it, are commonplace. This allows each chef to create a sense of identity for him or herself, and gives them a chance to personalise the experience each diner receives.

Hotelier has recently reported on this phenomenon with particular focus on the Middle East, where celebrity chefs have just started to appear, but where colourful uniforms for kitchen staff have been much more acceptable than has been the case in the USA and Europe, until very recently.

Retaining key staff is also a feature of personalising uniforms for employees as have embroidered names or other identifying emblems such as logos can help companies to keep individuals and promote their identities within their industry.

A nuts and bolts article by Forbes shows how clothing brand Mishka has linked its garments to music to create a compelling blend for consumers, but what can non-clothing brands do to distinguish themselves from the competition?

Mishka has developed a relationship with hip-hop groups that has fed a loyalty factor into its garment sales. When groups like BBU are endorsed by DJs like Diplo, the spin-off for the clothing company that supports the group is a group of fans that wear Mishka clothing to show their fandom for Diplo, or BBU or several other bands.

The average business may not feel equipped or even keen, to get into the world of music promotion, but every founder has some kind of outside interest. For Mishka’s Mikhail Bortnik it was skate graphics and band T-shirts. For a car dealership owner it may be classic cars, the proprietor of a white goods store may love bowling, or the wife of the founder of a software company may be committed to growing vegetables. Whatever the passion, there are ways to promote relationships in the community through clothing, sponsorship and genuine grass roots enthusiasm.

Mishka was one of the first clothing retailers to have a blog ‘The Bloglin’ which launched in 2007 and became a check in point for fashion fans and music fans alike.

Bowling tournament schedules can be posted online with reviews of previous games, tips and hints about what to grow now and what to cook with what’s seasonally available can be treated similarly. Recipe lists given away with white goods – bowling bags or vegetable bags or baseball caps printed with the company logo for anybody doing anything outdoors, sponsored bowls or weed clearances for a local charity … the ideas are limited only by the ingenuity of those involved, and it’s much easier to promote a good cause than a company, any day. Getting staff involved is just as easy. You can set up a bowling team or a workplace vegetable bed, offer a prize for the best score or the biggest potato, and then put out regular press releases about the company’s charitable activities, supported by photos of the team wearing branded clothing.

Most companies know that they have to respect the trademarks, specifically the symbols, of other companies and organisations. But even large organisations sometimes fall foul of the law, whether absent-mindedly or in full cognisance of their actions.

A legal case currently being heard in the U.S. District Court of New Mexico is alleging both trademark violations infringements of the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act. This act legislates the sale of Indian arts and crafts and covers fake artworks and claims that falsely suggest products are of American Indian manufacture or provenance. The Navajo tribe has around a dozen registered trademarks the cover use of the Navajo and Navajo Nation names on clothing, footwear, textiles and household products both in shops and as online retail sales. The lawsuit points out that “The fame or reputation of the Navajo name and marks is such that, when [somebody uses similar marks] with its goods and services, a connection with the Navajo Nation is falsely presumed.”

Urban Outfitters had already weathered a storm in 2011 when it produced underwear and a hip flask that the Navajo Nation cited as being “derogatory and scandalous,” particularly in relation to alcohol which is banned from the Navajo (Dinee) Reservation.

The retailer has removed the products from its website after receiving of a cease-and-desist letter but items, particularly craft goods such as belts, bags, hats and boots are still being retailed through shops, according the lawyers for the Navajo Nation.

A spokesman for Urban Outfitters stated that “we interpret trends” and claims that the company will continue like “many other fashion brands” to explore the Native American inspired trend in T-shirts and other products.

When designing and choosing promotional clothing it’s tempting to call upon established themes and well-known or well-loved images to support a new brand or to call attention to a product, but it’s important to ensure that infringements of trademarks do not lead to negative publicity.

We’ve all become used to seeing racing drivers and Grand Prix motorcyclists, and their vehicles, emblazoned with sponsorship decals and promotional symbols, but now Honda’s MotoGP team is benefitting from a new technology created in partnership with the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) which combines promotional clothing with sensors that collect and transmit data over a wireless network.

The T-shirts are able to conduct a real-time monitoring of the rider, creating an intelligent garment that is non-invasive and allows sports professionals to analyse the overall performance of an athlete by, for example, assessing if body temperature or dehydration are contributing to a slowing of response time, or whether physical effort during a race is leading to a build up of lactic acid in the rider’s body which can slow recovery time.

The clothing could also combine promotional activity with data gathering – it is possible, for example, for embedded LEDs in a garment to flash in unison with a rider’s heartbeat, which could lead to an interaction between clothing and race commentators who would be able to interpret the rider’s emotional responses via the rate at which symbols on clothing flashed or changed colour.

The clothing will be road-tested during the Qatar Grand Prix in April.