Saying goodbye to teachers, classmates, and those horrible maths lessons is a huge moment for kids and teenagers, and leavers hoodies are an increasingly popular way for schools to celebrate this annual occasion. The staple of our Leavers Season range, leavers hoodies are the perfect garment for celebrating the milestone of leaving school, offering incredible customisation potential and supreme comfort, but what else do you need to know about them?
In this AWDis guide, we’ll do a deep dive into the famous leavers hoodie, covering everything you need to know. Styles, colours, design methods – we’ll explore it all so that you’ll be ready for this summer’s leavers season.
The Heart of Leavers Season: What Are Leavers Hoodies?
Leavers hoodies are commemorative garments worn by schoolchildren to mark their final few weeks before leaving for university, college, or secondary school. Originating in the early 2000s, leavers hoodies were designed to give students a casual, cool way to stand out from their younger peers and celebrate the excitement of leaving school.
Starting out simple, leavers hoodies originally displayed just the school logo, but they’ve since evolved into a canvas for student expression. As symbols of camaraderie and cherished tokens of schooltime memories, leavers hoodies have also expanded beyond hoodies to include sweatshirts, T-shirts, and zoodies under the umbrella of leavers apparel.
Picking Your Style: Which Leavers Hoodies Should You Choose?
The leavers’ hoodie has become a cultural phenomenon, defining students’ experience as they approach the final few weeks of school. As mentioned above, leavers apparel contains much more than just a hoodie these days, so how do you select the right style of garment for your students?
Choosing the Right Leavers Hoodie
If you’re looking for classic style that gives your students the quintessential leavers season feel, you can’t go wrong with our College Hoodie. Available in 100+ colours, this staple garment combines the comfort of a brushed inner fleece and double-fabric hood with the design potential of its clean, cotton-faced fabric surface. Little ones can also enjoy this hoodie’s iconic style with our Kids’ Hoodie.
For a garment that offers something different, our Zoodie is an alternative leavers hoodie that students will love. The versatility and practicality of a zipped hoodie give youngsters the freedom to wear their leavers’ apparel however they want, and this flexibility is especially valuable during the warm summer months at the end of the school year. Delivering the same customisation potential with its cotton-faced fabric, personalising zoodies is just as easy and expressive.
Opting for a Leavers T-Shirt
If you’re looking for the ultimate companion piece to pair with a leavers hoodie, or maybe you’re bypassing the hoodie altogether, a leavers T-shirt offers the perfect solution. Lightweight and comfortable, our T-shirts are ideal for warm summer days while giving kids a canvas to express their school pride or individuality.
Whether you choose our 180 T or 150 T, the PurePrint fabric of our leavers T-shirts makes them the perfect design surface for classes to celebrate their final few weeks together. Both garments also boast a relaxed fit, a ribbed crew neck, and twin-needle stitching, offering a smart, stylish look that works on its own or under a hoodie. Younger children can also enjoy this style with our Kids’ 180 T and Kids’ 150 T.
Why Not Try Something Different?
Leavers season is all about bringing students together to celebrate what they’ve achieved throughout their final school year, so it doesn’t necessarily matter what garment they choose to wear. As long as it’s high-quality and built for customisation, a leavers garment can take a variety of forms.
Take our AWDis Sweat, for example. A comfortable classic, it offers the same brushed inner fleece and high-quality canvas as a hoodie while providing a different style option. Or maybe your school wants to go full American style with our Varsity Jacket. Alongside vintage college style, this garment features a brushed inner fleece and a knitted collar for total comfort, plus a cotton-faced fabric back built to showcase school pride.
Choosing the Ultimate Shade: What Are the Best Leavers Hoodie Colours?
Once you’ve selected the best hoodie or garment for your students, another big decision awaits: what colour leavers hoodie to get. You might not have the budget to let every student pick their own colour, and there’s something unifying about an entire year group wearing the same-coloured hoodies. With that being said, what are the best colours to select?
One of the simplest choices is to go with your school colours, allowing students to represent their school pride and show love for the place that has brought them together. If this isn’t the right choice, however, here are some other suggestions:
- Dark Shades: Colours like black, grey, and navy are stylish and modest, providing a suitable contrast for text and bright logos to stand out.
- Light Shades: Bringing a bit more energy to your leavers hoodie, colours like white, pink, and baby blue offer great readability for dark text and logos.
Personalisation is Everything: How Can Leavers Hoodies Be Customised?
One of the biggest strengths of the AWDis Leavers Season range is the customisation options available on every garment. Whether you prefer DTG, embroidery, screenprinting, or vinyl, there are so many methods for personalising a leavers hoodie, but in what ways can you ensure your classes’ hoodies are totally unique? Here are some popular options:
- Graduation Year: It’s one of the most popular customisation options for a reason. Featuring the graduation year on the back of a leavers hoodie offers plenty of font and design choices and allows students to feel proud of their special moment.
- Names: Whether they are positioned within the graduation year numbers or throughout the hoodie, printing the names of every graduating student immortalises their time together, making each hoodie a treasured garment.
- School Crest/Logo: Especially when embroidered with bright, bold colours, school crests can transform leavers hoodies into stylish symbols of school pride!
- Custom Graphics: If students share memorable school moments or want to pay tribute to a beloved teacher, custom graphics can add colourful, expressive, and personal touches to hoodies.
Timing is Everything: When is the Best Time to Order School Leavers Hoodies?
Last but certainly not least, it’s important for leavers hoodies to be selected, designed, and ordered in time to arrive before the end of term. To allow ample time for sizes to be sourced and designs to be finalised, we recommend completing orders by the end of December at the very latest. This may seem early, but it will ensure that students get their hoodies in time to enjoy them while still at school.
Select the Perfect Leavers Hoodie With AWDis
Leavers season is an exciting time, so make sure your students get the hoodie, sweatshirt, or T-shirt that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. Explore our Leavers Season range for the best garments for customisation, and check out our ranges for even more blank garments. Got questions? Reach out – our team is always here to help!
