Screen Printing - December 2019/January 2020 - 25

[Left] A mood board highlights athleisure and the color blue. Image
courtesy of Joanna_Art by JWP. [Above] Distressed foil is used to
create a patina finish. Image courtesy of AMB3R.

Here are four suggestions on how to become a trend expert for your customers:
1. Follow blogs and social accounts that deliver fashion
trends. More specifically, follow casual wear. Streetwear
accounts are great to get the pulse on what the youth are
wearing. If you haven't noticed, streetwear is infiltrating
all genres of apparel and is where many trends start, so
follow non-sponsored Instagram influencers to get a nonfiltered view of personal style direct from the trendsetters.
Setting up an RSS feed for blogs is a great way to skim
through what fashionistas are talking about.
2. Deep dive into Pinterest for specialty decoration ideas.
What better place to start than a platform on which millions of
people have already done the research for you? You can follow
my Specialty Ink & Heat Transfer board, Appliqué board, and
Embroidery board to get started. Because your ideal customer
base might not be as "on trend" as current fashion advocates,
start to collect ideas that will resonate with their style. If you
service more of a preppy crowd, collect pins you see from Ralph
Lauren, Lacoste, or Vineyard Vines. Observe the colors, garments, and decoration techniques they're utilizing. Feel free to
delegate this task to your marketing team or to multiple people
in your organization. The more people on your staff who understand where the marketplace is and will be going, the better you
can support your customers instead of just taking orders.
3. Utilize your supplier's marketing materials and industry
magazines, like Screen Printing, to get recommendations.
Many manufacturers do not lean on their suppliers to help
their customers understand garment trends. Within the last
year, I've seen the top blank companies and suppliers launch
trend reports and industry-specific apparel recommendations.
They're actively showcasing how their customers are decorating blank garments. Industry magazines are a key place
to discover new and trending products along with tips on
using specialty processes with a focus on how to make them
production-friendly so you aren't sacrificing profit, time, or
quality for the "cool factor."

4. Take a trip to the mall. There's no better way to
research what trends your customers could integrate into
their merchandise program than seeing what the biggest
brands are using in their latest season release. Not only will
you get insights on color, fabric, and silhouettes, you can
also see the common decoration techniques used in those
lines. This is an often-overlooked, "easy" way to get up to
speed on current trends.

GARMENT TRENDS
Coming from a fashion background, I schedule market research into my daily/weekly list of things to help my business
grow. Even though it's a hobby of mine to keep up with trends,
I document the things I can directly apply to my customers' merchandise lines. While the fashion trend landscape is
constantly changing, things trickle down a little slower in our
industry based on consumer needs/wants. That means you
will have ample time to build your marketing materials and do
some research and analysis before demand grows.
The consumer is much more informed than they were
20 years ago when it comes to the apparel they wear. While
the heavyweight cheap cotton tee is still the most popular
garment in our industry due to low cost, there's a shift of
demand that's based more on what the masses want, which
is actually not the cheapest tee possible. While I can't get on
the oversized heavyweight tee bandwagon personally (I'm
sure you've seen these styles from all the big blank brands),
I do recognize that it's popular. I take that into consideration
when developing for my customers' merch lines. Agility will
help you service the marketplace better.
Scott Trippanera, a consultant who works with major retail
brands, shared with me that "stylish, lightweight fleece tees
are trending for spring 2020 as transitional fleece wear for the
warmer SoCal market. And a short sleeve French Terry tee
fits the bill perfectly. The fleece shirt is spec'd on a traditional
activewear tee pattern that crosses over from the surf and
skate market; it has the stylish length, roominess, and comfort
DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020

Screen Printing - December 2019/January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Screen Printing - December 2019/January 2020