T-shirts are quickly becoming the must-have fashion staple. In 2017, logomania took flight, and made the logo tee a necessary statement piece. For 2018, it’s all about the graphic tee. To highlight the movers and shakers in the industry, GQ profiled seven L.A. brands about their inspiration and fashion insights.
With graphic tees making their mark on the fashion world, there’s no better time for promotional apparel suppliers and distributors to move forward with their T-shirt goals. To give you some on-trend ideas, we grabbed some tips from GQ’s article.
1. Tie-Dye is Cool Again
The team behind Online Ceramics created a following for their Grateful Dead tie-dye T-shirts that earned themselves a John Mayer collaboration. Clearly, tie-dye T-shirts are back in style, and that’s great news for your next concert tee promotion.
2. Hand Drawn is High End
While it might seem counterintuitive to put the printing press aside for a promotion, Vance Studio has been pumping out hand-drawn tees to fans everywhere. It adds a unique spin on the classic, and everyone loves the idea of owning a one-of-a-kind piece. While we’re not suggesting you should migrate your digital business to the hand-drawn world, we think it’s always important to consider how you can make your promotions more of a hot commodity.
3. Recycling is All the Rage
GQ claims T-shirt company Some Ware is “at the center of the graphic-T-shirt-hype economy,” so they must know a thing or two about the business. Founders Brendan Fowler and Cali Thornhill DeWitt (the designer for Kanye West’s “Pablo” merchandise) print all their T-shirts on recycled, one-size-fits-all tees, which seems straight-forward enough. We know a one-size-fits-all approach might be counterintuitive, but a recycling initiative can boost your clout.
4. Look For Inspiration Everywhere
The one thing that all these T-shirt vendors have in common is that they’re constantly finding inspirational sources from the world around them. Whether it’s politics, music, art, ’60s surfing, the Vietnam War or books, there’s no shortage of ideas. Think about what inspires you, and chances are your end-users will appreciate it, too.
