Looking back over the past 12 months, the first thing that comes to mind is how both the economy as a whole and the decorated-apparel industry, in particular, have continued to thrive.
This same time last year I wrote, “Barring any kind of craziness on the part of the powers that be, I see no reason why business shouldn’t continue to boom across the board, with everyone from equipment, consumables and blank apparel suppliers to decorators themselves getting in on the fun.”
Granted, there’s been some turmoil on the blank-apparel side of the equation, case in point Delta Apparel filing for bankruptcy this past summer. However, I’d argue this is a very much an example of the exception proving the rule, as Delta’s cash crunch appears (in this writer’s opinion) to have come as much as a result of the company having gotten itself overextended financially as it did a result of market conditions.
Elsewhere, the industry has been doing just fine, with technological advances continuing to be made across the board and strong sales, on both the commercial and retail sides of the equation.
As evidence of this fact, look no further than the past few Impressions Expos. Not only has the number of exhibitors and attendees continued to grow. But exhibitors have been reporting plenty of leads and plenty of sales. The shows’ dozens of educational conferences sessions have also boasted full classrooms and record numbers of attendees looking to take advantage of current market conditions to either launch or grow their businesses.
2025 Another Good Year for Decorated Apparel
Looking ahead, I foresee more of the same. This January’s 2025 Impressions Expo in Long Beach, California, for example, is on track to be the biggest expo in decades, with over 300 exhibitors had already reserved in excess of 124,000-square-feet of floor space. Impressions’ upcoming expos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Dallas, Texas, are on track to score big as well.
In terms of technology, look to see big changes in the areas of sustainability, direct-to-film (DTF) decorating and the use of artificial intelligence.
In terms of sustainability, the industry’s efforts to minimize its impact on the environment can be seen in everything from the growing use of recycled fibers in everything from hoodies to trucker hats, to the improved filtrations systems now available for use with screen-printing washout booths and “green” materials like Madeira USA’s new E-Zee Green 100 percent recycled embroidery backing.
Kudos to the industry’s blank apparel manufacturers, in particular, for the increased emphasis of quality over quantity—the idea here being to provide consumers with a caliber of custom-decorated apparel they’re going to want to wear over and over again, as opposed to wearing something only once or twice before adding it to the waste stream.
Direct-to-Film (DTF) Continues to Improve
Shifting gears to DTF, look for increased automation, along the lines of the new ROQ IMPRESS automated heat-pressing system, and higher and higher quality transfers in terms of everything from look to longevity and hand, or “feel,” and ease of use.
There are currently a number of different top-quality custom DTF transfer providers out there going at it hammer and tongs with an eye to increasing market share—think Ninja Transfers, STAHLS’ Transfer Express and 613 Originals, among others.
The result has been a race to the top, as it were, to see who can offer the best transfers at the best price, the fastest, most convenient delivery service, you name it—to the benefit of heat-press decorators everywhere.
It’s been fascinating to watch as DTF equipment manufacturers, heat-press suppliers and custom-transfer providers have become among the highest-profile exhibitors at Impressions’ three annual expos in recent years. Expect the trend to continue in 2025.
Generative AI and Decorated Apparel
Finally, there’s artificial intelligence, or AI. On the one hand, it’s inevitable more and more decorators are going to begin taking advantage of “generative” AI in an effort to further fast track their design processes. On the other, well, who knows?
As regular Impressions Expo conference presenter Marshall Atkin, a leading AI proponent and author of the “Midjourney: Elevating Print Creativity Newsletter” has said, “You’ve probably heard AI is going to replace people, right? That’s totally bogus. However, people using AI are going to replace people not using it, because somebody is going to be able to out design you, and they’re going to be able to do it faster because they are using this tool.”
At the same time, though, I can’t help wondering whether customers might not grow weary of the what it strikes me can be the somewhat “pre-fab,” for want of a better word, look of an awful lot of AI images out there.
Who knows, maybe practitioners and the technology itself are already well on their way toward solving this problem. Time will tell. One way or the other, as with all things 2025, it will be interesting to see how things shake out!
