Performance and Personalization Add Flair to Teamwear

Enhanced moisture-wicking properties and the demand for new looks and designs on the playing field are making a major impact on team sports uniforms.
May 6, 2008

This Polyester Brushed Tricot warm-up (style 868) from Tonix Corp. includes two concealed side pockets, an adjustable open bottom hem with cord lock and piping with color block. Sizes S-4XL come in 10 color combinations.

By Jamar Laster

As a promotional products distributor, you can turn lucrative profits selling team uniforms. Just make sure you’ve tapped into the current market and its trends so you can give your customers exactly what they want, which is, more than likely, something similar to the styles they’re seeing at retail.

Uniforms that feature multiple colors and accents — as opposed to traditional, solid colors — are a burgeoning trend in the team sports uniform market. “Baseball uniforms, especially the jerseys, reflect the trend that teams no longer want solid colors,” says Doug Wilcoxson, national sales manager, Bomark Sportswear, Cincinnati. “Today, we’re seeing more inserts and piping that set the garments apart from others in terms of color.”

Andy Lehrer, vice president, Teamwork Athletic Apparel, San Marcos, Calif., agrees, saying that baseball is departing from its traditional ways as far as design elements are concerned. Instead, manufacturers and suppliers are seeing uniforms with more cutting-edge looks. “In the past couple of years, we’ve seen more inserts being incorporated into baseball jerseys so that there’s a second color,” Lehrer says. “We’re seeing some accent piping under the arm, on the sleeve, on the shoulder or some combination thereof. There’s a lot of popularity in garments that incorporate some sort of an insert. That’s easily the biggest trend in baseball.”

What’s driving this trend? Lehrer says it’s the visibility of on-field wear — predominantly in the collegiate and professional ranks — not only in baseball, but also in other team sports. “If you look at what major colleges are doing, their uniforms have stepped it up,” he says. “The major leaguers wearing their spring training baseball jerseys with the inserts just a few years ago, or players in other sports wearing their jerseys, led to other players saying, ‘That’s kind of cool.’ Those garments are what’s influencing the entire [team uniform] industry because players are ready to wear something other than the traditional.”

These emerging color trends are only one piece to the team sports uniform puzzle. According to industry insiders, enhanced fabric performance capabilities — including moisture-management and anti-microbial characteristics, which both continue their influential steamroll through all apparel segments — and personalized styles also are noticeable trends.

Performance Properties Still Primary
Though performance-enhancing fabrics aren’t new to athletic wear, they collectively serve as the most influential trend in not only the team sports arena, but most other segments in the decorated apparel industry. “Today in teamwear, there’s more of a demand for not only the moisture-management [properties] that include moisture-wicking and quick-evaporation [capabilities], but also anti-microbial properties,” says Andrea Engel, vice president of sales and marketing, Broder Bros. Co., Trevose, Pa. “The idea of having apparel that helps you perform and isn’t just a body covering [that includes] your team’s colors is probably the single biggest driver [of the performance trend].”

Wilcoxson says performance properties continue to flourish in popularity because they keep expanding into different fabrics and wearable items. “We’re now seeing performance properties, including moisture-management and moisture-wicking capabilities, being applied to items that they weren’t traditionally being applied to, including hats, socks and shorts,” he says.

Broder, as an exclusive distributor of Champion USA products in the decorated apparel channel, has seen the brand undergo recent changes to garner a broader appeal. As a result, says Engel, the company is targeting younger, style-savvy consumers who lead active lifestyles, while not abandoning its athletic heritage. “I think [Champion] is looking to really upgrade the brand and make it relevant to more [consumers] than those who remember wearing Champion when they were in high school 20 years ago,” Engel says.

According to Claire Edgar, director of brand marketing for Champion USA, Winston-Salem, N.C., this development has given the company an opportunity to expand enhanced moisture-management and performance properties to other clothing lines. “One of our moisture-management fabrics, Double-Dry, is showing up in key categories of the business,” she says. “For example, Broder is offering a ladies’ Double-Dry fleece program. Anti-microbial or inherent odor- and bacteria-reducing processes, such as Freshguard, are popping up everywhere — including across teamwear and activewear.”

Michael Chen, general manager, Tonix Corp., Fremont, Calif., acknowledges the popularity of performance properties across all sports categories. “In addition [to the strong interest in performance fabrics], lightweight and durable outerwear pieces are ideal for the team market,” he says.

Many may wonder how long the performance technologies of today can stay relevant as the teamwear market moves into the future. According to Engel, performance properties are becoming more complex as pre-existing ones become standard. “Apparel technology is no different than any other technology,” she says. “What was made five years ago was probably the hottest technology at the time, but now it’s standard. You will continue to see enhanced properties like quicker evaporation and other moisture-management properties. Nanotechnology research also is huge right now.”

Bill McIver, vice president of sales and marketing, Holloway, Sidney, Ohio, concurs. He says many of the company’s 2008 offerings feature moisture management as a staple property of the company’s Dry-Excel fabric. However, the key to the popularity of the garment is the type of treatment applied to it.

“Moisture management has previously been huge for Holloway, and it continues to be,” he says. “[The hottest technological trend now] is most of our fabrics are molecularly treated, meaning woven into the fabric, and can stand the test of time. It’s not a sprayed-on application. There may be other performance [garments] available that are less expensive, but if they include sprayed-on treatments, those [moisture-management] capabilities will disappear a lot quicker through washings.”



On the Horizon
Moisture-wicking and performance properties will continue to drive teamwear, with bacteria-reducing properties, lightweight fabrics and garments that add warmth without weight being key entry points for technological innovation, says Champion’s Edgar.

“You will continue to see enhanced qualities,” Engel says. “Garments that incorporate UV protection will be huge. You will also see lighter-weight fabrics that provide better support and aid in movement.”

McIver says the market’s seeming harmony with collegiate and professional sports teams only guarantees that things will, indeed, keep changing. “I think you will continue to see evolutions in jackets and warm-ups. There will continue to be developments in moisture-management fabrics, whether it be improved anti-microbial capabilities or UV protection. These properties also may translate into warm-ups.”

For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail Jamar at jlaster@impressionsmag.com.

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