When it comes to customising clothes for your brand, few decisions are more important than selecting the right fabric. Whether you’re looking to design some simple but effective t-shirts, or you want to make a statement with some personalised denim jackets, creating clothing for brand events or campaigns begins with choosing the right material for your canvas.
Making this decision requires a few important considerations, all of which will help identify the materials appropriate for your brand’s customised apparel. At AWDis, we recognise that perfecting personalised clothing isn’t just about choosing a design and applying it to a shirt or hoodie. It starts with understanding how the garment will be worn, what it needs to do, and what really matters to the people wearing it. Whether it’s for team kits, merch drops, or branded uniforms, getting these details right makes all the difference.
Understanding Why Fabric Choice is Key
Before taking the steps to choose the right fabric, it’s helpful to understand the importance of the decision and the benefits that making the right choice can bring. Getting it right means better print results, longer-lasting wear, and a fit that people actually enjoy wearing. Here’s why fabric choice really counts when it comes to branded clothing:
- Brand Perception: Fabric can communicate a lot with its quality, so selecting a premium material that suits its purpose can say a lot about your brand’s vision and foresight.
- Printability: Not all fabrics are created equal when it comes to decoration – some materials are better suited to certain print techniques than others, so making the right choice can be pivotal to ensuring the long-lasting vibrance of your customisation.
- Comfort: Your brand’s clothing needs to feel good as well as look good, so its fabrics need to be comfortable to wear.
- Durability: Clothing that lasts wash after wash has a much better chance of becoming a wardrobe staple, so choosing fabrics that keep their shape and colour is pivotal.
What’s the Occasion?
The first step to choosing the right material for your brand’s custom apparel is determining what the clothing’s purpose is. Before you even think about applying a design, get clear on who’s wearing it, where they’ll be wearing it, and what they’ll be doing in it.
Will the clothing be worn for a physical or sporting activity? Will the clothing be worn outside or in chilly weather? Is the clothing designed to celebrate a specific event, such as leaving school? Answering these questions will help narrow down the options for potential materials, leaving only those that are appropriate for your brand’s needs.
For example, if you identify that the clothing you are personalising needs to be worn during a company sports day, its materials need to be lightweight and breathable, such as the 100% polyester, 135 GSM Cool Smooth T from the AWDis Just Cool range.
Think Customisation, Think Properties
Once you know what your clothing needs to do, the next step is to figure out what the fabric needs to deliver. Think about how it will be customised – because not every fabric works the same across different decoration methods. For example, choosing the best fabric for t-shirt printing depends on whether you’re using screen print, DTG, or heat transfer.
If we take the AWDis Surf T, for example, its 99% cotton/1% polyester composition means that it’s versatile enough to accommodate a wide range of decoration methods, including embroidery, screenprint, and vinyl. However, should you find that your design would work best via a water-based ink screen print, the 100% ringspun cotton Tie-Dye T is better suited to this method.
Across the spectrum of apparel materials – spanning cotton, polyester, linen, wool and more – different garments will have different properties that vary in suitability depending on the design you have in mind. But it’s not just about print compatibility – performance matters too. For example, the Women’s Cool Training Shorts are exceptional at wicking moisture thanks to their 87% polyester/13% elastane composition, making them ideal for high-intensity activities.
Identify Priority Number One
Finally, choosing the right material for your brand’s customisable clothing starts with getting clear on your core priorities. We’ve already looked at two big ones: the purpose behind your apparel and the properties it needs to perform well. But there’s a third priority that’s becoming more and more relevant: sustainability.
More and more clothes are being made with recycled materials, and at AWDis, we recognise the importance of this movement in helping the planet. Our Ecologie range was created with sustainability at its core, offering fits that give pre-loved materials a second life and keep them out of landfill. Take the Iguazu Sustainable Knit Hoodie, for example. Made from a 70% regenerated cotton and 30% recycled polyester blend, it’s a smart, eco-conscious choice when you’re looking for the best fabric for hoodies, without compromising on comfort or style.
Another priority may be that you need your materials to accommodate as many different colours as possible to provide your employees with a range to choose from. At AWDis, we’re proud to offer products in up to 100 colours, giving your employees or customers the freedom to choose shades that reflect their identity. But colour choice isn’t just about variety – it’s about quality too. Selecting the right fabric blend ensures those bold hues, from baby pink to apple green to sapphire blue, stay vibrant wash after wash.
For example, our iconic JH001 Hoodie comes in a variety of material blends that allow it to come in different colours. From 52% ringspun cotton/48% polyester for charcoal to 75% ringspun cotton/25% polyester for heather grey, tone and shade are dependent on composite materials, so deciding your desired colour range can help focus your potential materials.
Conclusion
Choosing the right material for your brand’s custom apparel is integral to ensuring the clothing is both suitable for its purpose and compatible with your chosen design method. Considering these factors, in addition to additional priorities such as sustainability and colour range, will help you determine the most appropriate material for your brand.
At AWDis, our range of garments is crafted with a range of top-quality materials to enable you to customise the perfect pieces for your brand. Check out our ranges and find the perfect customisable clothes for you. Got questions? Reach out – our team is always here to help!
