The Impressions Product Guide

	Brought to you by Impressions and ISS
	March 24, 2009 • Vol. 6, No. 5


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High-Margin Headwear
The tough economy challenges all decorators, but those who print or embroider hats may have a little advantage over the competition. The price point for caps is lower in general than for many other types of garments that customers may pass on this year due to budget restraints. Caps are valuable advertising vehicles — especially when decorated with eye-popping multimedia designs — so check out the following guide to the latest in headwear.

For the latest news and tips, visit us at impressionsmag.com.

Royal Apparel's snug infant cap (style RA2033ORG) is made of 6-ounce organic cotton and comes in one size. It comes in an array of colors.

eConscious takes the mesh trucker cap organic. The mesh portion of style 7070 Re2 Trucker is made of 100% recycled polyester and the rest of the fabric is 100% organic cotton. The 8-ounce twill cap is available in oyster, earth, jungle, pacific and black, all with white mesh.

This vintage two-tone (style i1025) from Cap America Inc. is a low-profile, six-panel hat made with washed chino twill that has a soft feel and slightly worn look. The design is meant to feature detailed embroidery on the white front panel.

This salmon model is the newest in Dri Duck Traders Authentic Wildlife Series, which features highly detailed embroidery. The cap is made of 100% cotton twill and features an embossed leather patch and an adjustable Velcro strap.

Flexfit/Yupoong five-panel style 6560 is designed especially for screen printing. With a hard structure buckram, this mid-profile cap has a 3¼" crown and sewn eyelets with matching under visor. It is available in black, khaki, navy, red and white.

Otto Cap's style 23-898 is made of UV Guard cotton that offers a sun protection rating of UPF 50+. The low-profile cotton twill cap has a sandwich visor and is available in 11 color combinations.

Style 3630 from Bayside is an unstructured cap made from 100% cotton twill. Made in the U.S.A., this six-panel soft crown is available in one size, and has a pre-curved bill and adjustable strap with hide-away side buckle. The front imprint area is 2¼" x 4".

This new promo-price Valucap style is from Sportsman Cap Network. Made of brushed cotton twill, it's available in 21 varieties of solids and two tones. It has a pre-curved visor, soft structure and low profile, and is one size.

The Wax-Alternative Cap (style HPD-605) from Outdoor Cap is a six-panel, low-profile style made from pigment-dyed twill. It is unstructured with a pre-curved visor. It comes in one size.

Head to Toe (HTT) Headwear style 774 is a semi-structured cap made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. It features a Velcro closure and comes in eight stock colors.

The Skull Kap (style 4820) from Aprons Etc. is made from 100% cotton and comes in one size. The cap ties in the back, and comes in red and black.

Style 6260 from Augusta Sportswear is a mesh two-color visor made from 100% wicking polyester. It features a sweatband that folds down for easy embellishment, pre-curved bill, and hook-and-loop fastener.

Imprints Wholesale carries a wide variety of Anvil's headwear, including styles that are pigment dyed, brush twills, low-profile twills and camouflage.

ERB offers hard hats and other safety protective products. In addition, ERB can print 4-color logos on these hard hats.

The Reebok Flexfit cap (style 7995) from Dunbrooke features a matching under visor, pre-curved visor, sewn eyelets and matching Reebok logo on the left side panel. Sizes S/M and L/XL come in six colors.

Dalco Athletic's umpire cap (style C710U3N1) features pro-stretch three-in-one sizing, ranging from sizes S-XL. The cap is made from breathable mesh, comes in black or navy and has a 2-inch bill.

The NapCap from Z Marketing Group features a flip-down eye shield so the wearer can block out light to take a nap. The NapCap has several imprint areas and can be custom produced with any corporate or souvenir image. Blank caps come in black, blue and khaki.

Wisconsin Knitwear style 5202 has a smooth cuff and is made from 100% high-bulk acrylic yarn.

The Eagle cap (style EA102) from Whispering Pines Sportswear is made from 100% polyester mesh and features a low profile, pre-curved visor, matching eyelets, Velcro closure and Cool-Crown mesh lining.

The Vansport bucket hat (style 0142) from Vantage Apparel is made from soft-brushed 100% microfiber polyester and has a three-panel, 2-ply crown. It comes in navy, black and white.

This eco-friendly cap from TSC Apparel is made from 100% organic cotton and features a low profile, sewn eyelets and pre-curved visor. Style ORG600 comes in a wide range of colors.

Spirit Industries offers a baseball bat hat imprinted with a wood grain pattern. It can also be printed with full-color logos, and is an ideal concession or souvenir item.

The Wildlife Series six-panel cap from Rockpoint Apparel features a mossy oak breakup pattern, Velcro closure and waterproof bill.

Philadelphia Rapid Transit offers this knit beanie (style 6655), which is made from 75% recycled cotton/25% recycled polyester. It comes in several stock and custom colors and features a waffle weave pattern.

This garment-washed, six-panel cap (style I-6570) from Paramount Apparel features a 100% brushed cotton canvas crown, four rows of visor stitching and six metal eyelets. It comes in elmwood, stone and tan.

One Stop Inc.'s six-panel twill cap (style EZ508) is made from 100% recycled pop bottles. It comes in one size with recycled woven labels and hangtags.

Mega Cap's Mega Flex cap (style 6860) has a low profile and is made from 97% cotton/3% Lycra spandex. It features a stretchable moisture-wicking sweatband and comes in an array of colors.

This 100% cotton six-panel cap from Monag is available in sizes for infants and toddlers. It comes in white, navy, khaki, pink and denim.

The Alo women's headband (style W7000) is made from 90% nylon/10% Lycra spandex knit jersey. It features moisture-wicking and antimicrobial capabilities and comes in nine vibrant colors.

Bella's reversible beanie (style 150) is made from 5.8-ounce 100% cotton and features elastic at the bottom opening and darts at crown to help it retain its shape. It is garment washed and comes in an array of colors.

Pacific Sportswear & Emblem Co. recently introduced its custom Fiber-Tech Blinking Fiber Optic headwear line. With a 504-hat minimum, the company will embroider all hats ordered to a customer's logo and placement specifications, and then incorporate up to 85 fiber optic lights into the embroidery.


Check out our coverage of this cool category! Link to fun and informative stories below.
The Art of Headwear Multimedia decoration on caps can return high margins.	How to Embroider Caps Follow these tips on how to get embroidery right on caps.

Catalogs are perhaps the single most important tool you have as a decorator. Click on the links below to see how Impressions has developed true-to-form virtual versions of these industry vendors' catalogs:

American Apparel

Article 1

Augusta Sportswear

Blue Generation

Continental Clothing

Flexfit

Gildan

Holloway Sportwear

Pepco Poms

Miss an issue of IPG? Click below to catch up.

2/24/09: Embroidery Equipment and Supplies

2/10/09: Plackets

1/28/09: Organic and Sustainable Products

1/13/09: T-shirts

12/16/08: Digital Equipment and Supplies

11/18/08: Active Lifestyle Apparel

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Impressions Product Guide Editor: Susie McManus, smcmanus@impressionsmag.com
Editor in Chief: Marcia Derryberry, mderryberry@impressionsmag.com
Senior Editor: Terry Murphy, tmurphy@impressionsmag.com
Managing Editor: Jamar Laster, jlaster@impressionsmag.com
Associate Publisher/National Sales Manager: Laurie Gonz, laurie.gonz@nielsen.com
Graphic Designer: Ben Carpenter, BC Squared, www.bc2design.com
Advertising Account Executive: Jeanine Morgan, jeanine.morgan@nielsen.com

About Our Sponsors

Royal Apparel is a vertically integrated manufacturer of fashion apparel. Since 1992, RA has combined current styling with the latest production technology, producing 95% of our line in the USA. We are dedicated to the environment and proudly offer an extensive collection of 100% Organic cotton products. We guarantee a couture fit with a wide selection of colors and fabrications enhanced with a customer service experience that treats our clients like royalty every time.

Gildan is a vertically integrated marketer and manufacturer of premium quality branded basic apparel. The company manufactures basic T-shirts, sport shirts and sweatshirts for sale in the wholesale imprinted sportswear industry in the United States, Canada and other international markets. Gildan's overall mission is to deliver better value through better design.

Kavio! provides unmatched workmanship, innovative design and exceptional customer service to the apparel industry. Kavio! offers the promotional products, imprinted and embroidery markets with a range of basic to fashion apparel available in a multitude of vibrant colors. Our collection includes Kavio! Juniors, Jr. Plus, Women, Girls, Infants, Youth and Guys.

Digital Art Solutions leverages years of experience to make complex graphics and imprinting issues simple for the widest audience. The centerpiece of this is our integration of production-ready digital art and add-on graphics software: Smart Designs Art System. By combining artwork and software into a single integrated system, our clients design and produce custom graphics in a fraction of the time compared to traditional design and production methods.

Roland is a worldwide leader in developing profitable solutions for decorating apparel, from jerseys, caps and bags to jeans and T-shirts. The GX-24 desktop cutter cuts everything from twill and flock to heat transfer material. The VersaCAMM prints and cuts Heat Transfer Material for full-color transfer logos and artwork in custom shapes. Add rhinestone bling with our EGX-30A or EGX-350 engravers.

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