PRINTING United Expo 2024: 3 Apparel Trends from the Show Floor

Sure, PRINTING United Expo has a massive amount of space dedicated to screen printing, direct-to-garment and direct-to-film printing, but there’s also ample acreage for apparel at the Sept. 10-12, 2024 trade show – considered the most comprehensive event for the printing industry in the world.

Indeed, distributors and decorators have been roaming the show talking to print equipment manufacturers and apparel suppliers alike about the latest in apparel trends and decoration styles.

Here’s a from-the-expo-floor look at three notable trends generating interest.

Patterns, Vibrant Colors

Digital printed apparel and other textiles can allow for all-over prints, not just of logos, but other design elements to tell a brand story.

Camila Mosquera, marketing director for Greentex America, a vertically integrated fabrics manufacturer, said that one of the main things the company wanted to show off this year was the ability for digitally printed fabrics to allow for eye-catching design.

A collection of digitally printed textile products from Greentex America showcased the all-over print style.

“I think nowadays people want to show their personality more, so we wanted to make it more appealing and more relatable,” Mosquera said. “We wanted to change it up a little and maybe go more colorful, more playful, because that’s what digital print is in the end – it’s art, it’s design.”

That idea extended to a fair few apparel suppliers showing off tie dye and bold colors for T-shirts, sweatshirts, bags and other products.

“We have a couple of different washes out there that are huge -- that have gone over really well,” said Kevin Dunham, vice president of inside sales for Colortone (asi/45581).

Tie dyed T-shirts and sweatshirts from Colortone (asi/45581)

Dunham said that the supplier has noticed distributors are interested in two opposite ends of the spectrum: colorful tie dye and then simple neutrals.

“A lot of people are going toward neutrals, not always the brights and the neons,” he said.

Neutral tees from Colortone (asi/45581)

For the bright styles, though, distributors can best work with their clients for branding on such busy material by keeping things simple. Place a logo, preferably in white or black to pop against the colorful tie-dye, and then let the colorful display do the talking.

“You can decorate these things any which way,” Dunham said. “The cool thing about these T-shirts is that you don’t really need much. A name drop, a logo -- the T-shirt does all of the work for you with all of that color.”

Alternative Decoration Techniques

While digital printing, direct-to-film, direct-to-garment and of course screen printing are well represented at the show, there are machines on display that allow for apparel promos to add a dimension – literally.

Roman Pracko, president of Practix USA, which specializes in decoration equipment, was on site to demonstrate its embossing methods on T-shirts, creating a pop-out display with the fabric itself.

T-shirts embossed by the Practix MFG press

“It’s just a different feel,” Pracko said. “The 3-D effect brings a lot of attention instead of just one dimension. 3-D always pops more.”

With an engraved die, the process only takes about 20 seconds, which Pracko compared to the process of a heat transfer. He also demonstrated how the applied backing material allows for the decoration to keep its shape over time.

“With the backing material it washes a minimum of 30 washes,” he said. “The machine is very heavy pressure, 10 tons, so it’s not a little hand press. And that’s what helps it bond and keep the shape.”

Innovations in Convenience

When decorators are using direct-to-garment printing, they need to pre-treat the material before applying the decoration. HanesBrands Inc. (asi/59528) recently debuted its line of T-shirts that come with pre-treatment already applied, allowing decorators to simply unbox the T-shirt and get printing.

Brooke Harmon, senior sales representative for Hanesbrands, said that the pre-treated T-shirts have been the topic of most of her conversations with distributors on the show floor.

HanesBrands (asi/59528) PrintNow T-shirt comes pre-treated for decoration

“As people look at machines, they’re interested in why buy a pre-treat machine and a T-shirt when you could kind of do it all in one -- and get a product that’s already pre-treated inside and outside,” she said.

The Hanes pre-treated T-shirt has the same silhouette as its Perfect Tee, but with a 35-cent price increase.

“We wash the garment in pre-treat, so then it’s on the shelf, ready to go,” Harmon said.