Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Spring 2016 - 10

every baseball league used some version of
a two-button henley, a color-block V-neck
or a braid-trimmed V-neck. They used that
same style year after year.
As more select programs popped up, the
need to look different than the other programs became more popular. This also led
to programs wanting a new look each year.
While this led to a more stylish look in athletic uniforms - panels and trim became a
way to differentiate - it also led to a nightmare for manufacturers and distributors as
far as inventory control was concerned.
Years ago, when a new style entered your
line (meaning a totally new style, not just the
same style with a different panel and piping pattern), it stayed there for 15-20 years.
10 * Spring 2016

In today's world, even your best styles have
a shelf life of four to six years, which leads
to two major challenges for manufacturers:
how to exit styles without taking a huge loss
on inventory, and how to introduce enough
new styles each year to replace those styles
that are becoming dated and keep up with
the competition.
Due to the desire to stay ahead of the
competition and to quench the constant
thirst for a new look, sublimation has come
to play a much bigger role in athletic uniforms over the past several years. This ranges
from fully customized sublimated uniforms
to sublimated patterns that can then be
personalized with a screen-printed or heatapplied graphic.

Of course, the second has created a challenge for the decorator as dye-migration
rears its ugly head during the personalization process. Suppliers and decorators have
diligently worked together to try to resolve
the issue resulting in a variety of solutions,
including silicon inks, printing gray bases
and, last but not least, patterns that are rollerprinted on the fabric (by screen printing)
rather than by sublimation. The latter option
reduces the possibility of dye-migration as
the pattern was cured at a higher temperature than traditional sublimation is cured at.
In the previous article I mentioned the
fact that select programs often demand
name-brand products rather than lessexpensive, less-recognized brands. I referenced that while those name-brand
companies have great products, it isn't
rocket science and it isn't brain surgery. It
is sports apparel. Many of the lesser-known
brands have similar products that are less
expensive. Much has stayed the same in this
regard; most select programs do still favor
name brands.
While it may not be rocket science,
there certainly is science involved in
today's athletic apparel, from wicking to compression to antimicrobial properties. I believe we will continue to see more advanced science
in athletic apparel in the future. While
name-brand companies continue to be on
the forefront of that science, other lesserknown brands continue to follow their
lead and continue to offer comparable
products at lower prices.
While some things remain unchanged,
there have been a lot of significant changes
to the team and league business in the past
eight years. Due to technology, social media
and the impact of more and more select
programs, I anticipate that this industry
will see even more change in the next eight
years. Now that the life cycle for athletic
styles has become more short-lived, it is
even more important for companies to be at
the forefront of those changes.

Doug Wilcoxson is national sales manager
for Bomark Sportswear, where he has been for
more than 20 years. He also has coached youth
sports and served as a league director. Email
him at dwilcoxson@bomarksportswear.com.
Garments courtesy of Augusta Sportswear;
Photography by Blake Tyers Photography

Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Spring 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - Team & Spirit Apparel - Spring 2016