If you’re buying workplace uniforms it can be tough to decide what’s best for your team. There’s a wide range of variables: price, colour, cut, design, printing, embroidery … the permutations seem almost endless. Here are a few tips to simplify the decision-making process:

• Price is vital, but remember that initial price may not be the whole story. Thin, cheap clothing may not launder well, or may fade or warp, giving a poor impression of your business and maybe causing your staff to feel demoralised. You may also end up replacing cheap uniforms quicker. Google your shortlisted brands and see what reviewers have to say about durability.

• Colour matters, and it’s best to pick something that resembles your business logo, often called your ‘livery’ in the trade. A complementary colour can harmonise with that livery, while a contrasting colour adds life to the item. Designers and garment printers have vast experience in what colours work well, so call on their expertise to help you get something that will look good and be easy to see. Take their advice on whether to go for embroidery or printing too, as they will have knowledge of clothing use in similar industries to yours.

• Allow for weather variations, and remember that an air conditioned office may be colder than a heated driver’s cab, so your view of what your employees need may be inaccurate. Give them the opportunity to layer clothing: a vest under a shirt or a polo-shirt that can be worn with a jacket or fleece, a cap or a knit hat.

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.

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.

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.

‘Karl’ is an online fashion collection which will be offered to net buyers for a month before it is made available in shops.

It’s an increasing trend which analysts identify as being part of the move towards rejuvenation of the fashion industry via the web. Online clothing retail has become a large growth area in otherwise moribund economies, and brands like Versace have seen it as a way of maintaining exclusivity for differing areas of their clothing empires, for example by having an online brand specifically targeted at preteens that doesn’t impinge on their established brands for adults.

In the ten years from April 2001 the overall value of online clothing retail grew by an astonishing 3,200% according to a report by the Interactive Media in Retail Group. This may be in part due to the fact that better-off individuals are more likely to buy named brands and also less likely to be suffering the effects of the recession. Mid-range branded clothing is also growing comfortably through online retailing and group purchasing has increased, suggesting sports teams and small companies are focusing on the benefits to be gained from buying uniforms or team clothing online with free postage, easy returns and discounts for larger orders.

Burberry and Coach have also moved into the online retail market which offers several other benefits, including the ability to discount more heavily. Sports brands such as Nike and Adidas in particular are keen to expand their access to new markets and this is likely to mean that online shoppers benefit from bargains in the months ahead.

While Facebook is the Goliath of social networking, there are many Davids out there, getting niche attention.

One way that brands and businesses are using bespoke social media is to drive networking through only the media that will reach their ideal customer base. So for example, Levis is using Instagram, the hip and retro photographic network, to find models for its next advertising campaign. One committed Instagram user is Jamie Oliver, and Barack Obama’s campaign team use the photo networking site too, as do Burberry, MTV and Bergdorf’s, Gucci, Billboard Magazine and Starbucks.

It’s easy to see that there’s a target market there: liberal, food conscious, keen to be on trend but not a brand slave … and that Instagram carries a message that links similar brands so that Jamie Oliver can be seen wearing Levi’s jeans, or a Bergdorf’s catwalk model spotted drinking Starbucks – the linkages create interest that drives activity.

So for Redbull, for example, find that posting pictures of casually clad people doing ‘out there’ things in daily life – skateboarding to work or dancing in an underground train – links their brand to a small but dedicated social media outlet that will drive attention to their product.

Promotional clothing has an unusual role in this kind of media, because it’s an almost wordless communication – Burberry works hard to ensure its models have a distinctly British look and boosts that by setting them against quintessential British backgrounds to give a strong, if silent, message to viewers.

Storify is being used by many big brands in a similar fashion, but to wrap social media into a brand line (eg Levi’s recent foray into the way women see themselves through their clothing choices) that gives a social media boost to a brand led statement. Tumblr is another social network that is being used to integrate promotional activity, branded clothing, consumer aspirations and peer recommendation.

For many companies, offering a personalised or branded gift at Christmas has several purposes:

1.    It recognises customer loyalty
2.    It creates brand recognition
3.    It offers a thank you to new customers who may not be fully engaged with the brand yet
4.    It establishes the company offering the gift as being substantial and caring.

These are great marketing opportunities that shouldn’t be neglected even when marketing budgets are tight. In fact, thinking creatively around the idea of a business to customer gift is a great way to establish some brand features that will encourage your customers to think of the company as one that supports them in tough times.

Branded clothing has practical value, unlike the traditional forms of corporate gift such bottles of wine or spirits, boxes of chocolates or the more modern and less personal approach of giving vouchers.

At the top end of the scale, monogrammed shirts, or hoodies for younger individuals offer a superb, highly-personalised approach to gift giving. It’s not a cheap way to recognise the customer’s value but for the truly valued client, it’s a brilliant approach. Think outside the box though, and see if you can select something that the customer will really value: sports clothing with a monogram that a customer can use for their favourite sport is an ideal way to say thank you.

In the middle of the market, T-shirts offer a chance to give a gift that gets worn, and is fully appreciated without breaking the bank. If your customers are young, find a young designer to style your company logo in a completely new way, that reflects current trends but if they’re more traditional, go for a classic and simple statement, maybe the company logo as a sleeve print or small embroidered detail with neat and unobtrusive contact details below it.

For the masses, if you have lots of customers and/or want to buy something that can be used for both Christmas gift and general promotional purposes, think about branded hats or lightweight bags. Don’t fall for too much novelty though: amusing images like Santa riding on your logo etc are only funny for a very short time and then fall out of favour and have no value to the recipient. It’s better to think about longevity and choose a hat or bag that will be used year round. Practicality is the key to a successful gift and you can double the promotional whammy you get from such items by running a competition that offers to reward the person who takes the best picture of their hat/bag in an unusual place or in a location appropriate to your business. Post the photos on facebook and tweet about them in your twitter account to get the maximum cross-platform marketing boost from your promotional clothing spend.

After their first Rugby World Cup win in 24 years, All Blacks fans have bought up and bought out virtually every piece of promotional clothing bearing their teams name in the entire country.

Nobody can ever know how well sporting promotions will work out because one of the variables is the performance of the team that wears the sponsored clothing, but when it works, it really works.
Major New Zealand retailers have sold out of stock with one retailer sending out more than 100,000 fan-wear items including hats, scarves and shirts. Most stores, whether physical or online, ran out of stock before the final weekend’s matches.

New rugby shirts were printed to commemorate the win, and they have already sold out too.

Interestingly, New Zealanders also bought many hats, bags and scarves to support the Pacific Island teams who are their near neighbours, showing that once a sporting event catches the information, many smaller promoters and brands benefit from the rush to possess a memento of the event.

Whether it’s a sunshiny top to be worn by professional dance partners on a cruise ship, a crisp white number for staff at a convention or a durable grey T-shirt for delivery drivers to wear when representing your organisation, a T-shirt is a brilliant shop-front for your organisation.

Some individuals in a business can carry a different message to others – one company in the West of England has delivery staff who wear ‘How’s my smiling?’ T-shirts, featuring a delivery van image and a number to call if the delivery person is particularly pleasant … as a result of this simple message, they are finding that they get first orders from organisations in buildings they’ve delivered to, because the T-shirts have created a recognition factor.

Words and pictures

One key feature of a marketable popular T-shirt is a popular or funny slogan. Can your business create an amusing but professional slogan or image that makes it memorable? Sheila’s Wheels insurance company made a splash with their vivid pink TV adverts – and the follow through led to a ‘fan’ site, downloadable adverts and music and even staff wearing pink and Sheila’s Wheels tribute acts! The Meerkats are producing an even bigger public recognition factor – can your business do the same?

Choose a garment

Using really high quality blank T-shirts and good print quality gives you durable and attractive T-shirts for your employees.

Work with your printer

A T-shirt printer has the skills and capacity to produce fairly short runs so you can test the water on your new ideas, maybe by outfitting a single department or region, before sinking lots of capital into them.

Freddie Flintoff is 6ft 4in tall. That’s significant, as he’s just become the figurehead of online shop Jamaco, where he’ll model for the catalogue as well as having his own clothing range Flintoff by Jacamo appearing on the virtual shelves early next year. What’s the appeal?

Well Jacamo sell clothing up to 5XL and Flintoff has regularly complained how difficult he finds it to get his favourite clothing styles, such as cargo trousers and relaxed fit shirts, in his size. The match between his size and the customer base, make the role a natural one.

Over in the USA, Guy Harvey Inc is a company that markets and licences the artworks of Guy Harvey – a nautical artist famous for his marine landscapes. The company works hard to build brand, from organising promotional clothing for events through to links with cause-related marketing work with Harvey’s own foundation and research institute. This includes printing and selling more than 50,000 printed T-shirts to support the cleanup of the Deep Water Horizon disaster.

Profits will fund a special fishing research fund set up through the foundation to create partnerships with local universities and laboratories looking at marine cleanup issues. By creating promotional clothing that is relevant and gives back to the community, the link between Harvey’s artwork, marine conservation and giving back to the natural world are all strengthened. Promotional clothing can thus become a central part of an organisation’s brand identity, as well as a way of funding activities that give a company a great public profile.