Blank Apparel the New Fashion?
What is blank apparel?
Merch, blanks, brand swag, white label apparel, promotional product, or any un-branded product that you can put your brand’s logo, tag line, artwork, or catch phrase on is merch, or brand merchandise.
This is referred to as a blanks - or white-label product - in the industry. Think of it as a blank canvas. This leaves room for brands like you to personalise the product to your brand’s aesthetics. White label products are manufactured by a third-party, without any branding.
Want to get sourcing? Head straight to the directory of blanks suppliers.
Brands can print on tees, hoodies, hats, joggers, totes, pens, lanyards, stickers, coffee mugs, even cookware and toys, umbrellas, you get the idea. The list goes on.
The online world exploded this past couple of years, and the viewing audience is far more global and connected to our brands through YouTube videos, tiktoks and every other social media platform. You don’t have to be holding a live event to have lanyards made with your logo across the neck ribbon.
You can simply be set up in your spare bedroom, or a corner of your living room with a smart phone and a TikTok or YouTube account.
Do you have a catch phrase that your audience adores? Have you launched a business and want to offer branded merchandise?
Are you an artist and want to sell your art printed on totes through your Etsy or Shopify site as a way to earn extra income?
Whatever your reason is for wanting to create merchandise, you can all too easily brand the heck out of white label pieces and sell them online.
But it’s not all good….
If you are selling brand merchandise, then you are entering an already problematic fashion industry.
Once you start branding and selling tees and hoodies, like it or not, you have entered the world of fashion.
“But,” you say in protest, “I’m not a fashion designer. I review tech!”
We argue, if you are selling clothes, then you are now part of the fashion industry.
Which means you are part of a rapidly growing problem of too many clothes being manufactured.
The fashion industry is rife with issues yet still produces over 80 billion garments per year with 52 micro seasons as the standard.
blaaaarppp
Regardless if you review tech or are a makeup artist, when you are selling clothes, you are now part of the problem of overproduction.
sorry, we know you didn’t come here to hear that 😬
How can you still launch your YouTube merchandise and feel good about yourself while being mindful of its environmental impact and the humans who make the products?
How Can Your Merch be Sustainable and Ethical?
We know it feels like a LOT to look after, especially when your goals are to create a product that reflects your content and your brand. Taking on the environmental issues and social impact in fashion on top of your brand is an overload.
So, we simplified the process to help you know what to look out for when sourcing white label products.
GRAB THE BLANKS SUPPLIER LIST
Over 130 suppliers (including small order custom manufacturers!) for your brand merch.
Print-on-demand, cut & sew, wall art, home textiles, drink wear, organic cotton t shirts, heavyweight hoodies, joggers, athletic wear and SO MUCH MORE!
Our 5 Sourcing Tips
1) Brand merchandise should be demand based.
Over production and over consumption are issues in fashion that can easily be overcome. Ask yourself: Do people truly request that you turn your catch phrase into a slogan and then print it on a hoodie? Are there people in your comment section or DMs asking where they can buy your prints on a tote?
2) Opt for earth friendly materials.
Nothing is perfect, no material is without problems. But if you MUST put out merch, then try and do it in a way that has a softer, gentler impact on the environment. More sustainable materials include organic cotton, organic hemp, and recycled materials.
3) Use print on demand services.
In order to keep overproduction down, look for companies that offer print on demand. This means the product is printed on only when the order is made and the print company handles the shipping for you. This also helps you, so you don’t have boxes full of youtube merch taking up a corner of your home.
4) Ensure product is made in ethical factories.
When socially responsible companies are following ethical standards, the information is readily available on their website. Look for companies that follow Fairtrade, WRAP, B-Corp, Bluesign to name a few.
Ethical manufacturing means the workers creating your merch are being paid a fair, living wage. They work in safe, humane conditions. There is no child or forced labour. Their working conditions are safe and healthy.
5) Request traceable materials and production.
More often than not, white label suppliers that are running on ethics are more than happy to share with you how they go about doing so. What is the fabric being used? Where are the products being made? What inks are being used in the dye? The course of development should be easy to follow. You can always ask the supplier questions!
Bonus tip: Your Reputation
When someone in your community wears your shirt, they are providing you free advertising. Imagine that shirt looks terrible after one wash. Or someone calls you out in the comment section that the factory where your shirts were made forces child labor.
Offer a quality sustainable product made in a factory that offers their employees fair living wage and humane working conditions.
Good for the people behind the production of your brand merchandise and good for your brand.
Where Can You Source Sustainable Blank Apparel?
If you are ready to start logo-ing the heck out of a set of white tees, you can choose to select the best quality merch clothing from the most ethical of manufacturers and printers.
Here are a few that we see are doing their best to follow sustainable, ethical and traceable practices. Otherwise, head to our blanks apparel supplier list for the curated directory.
We share a lot on fabric sourcing, factory tours and production BTS over on Instagram.