What Are the Best Garments for Starting a Clothing Brand?
The best garments for starting a clothing brand are ones that fit the look, feel and price point you want your brand to have.
It can be tempting to choose a t-shirt based purely on price, but the blank garment plays a huge part in how the finished product looks and feels. Fit, fabric, weight and quality all matter before you've printed a single thing.
Start with a good quality blank
For most new clothing brands, starting with an established blank garment is a great option.
At Vektor, two of the garment brands we regularly work with are Stanley/Stella and AS Colour. Both offer high-quality t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies and other styles that work well as the foundation for a clothing brand, with plenty of choice when it comes to fit, weight and colour.
Think about fit and weight
Not every t-shirt feels the same. A standard-fit midweight T-shirt can work well for an everyday clothing range, while a heavier or oversized garment can create a more premium or streetwear feel.
Garment weight is usually measured in GSM (grams per square metre). Generally, a higher GSM means a heavier fabric, although weight alone doesn't determine quality. The right choice comes down to how you want the finished garment to feel when somebody picks it up and puts it on.
Think about the finished product
Before choosing your garment, consider what you're planning to do with it.
Will the design be screen printed, DTF printed or embroidered? Are you adding neck labels, woven labels or swing tags? Do you want a particular colour or an oversized fit? Making these decisions together helps avoid choosing a garment that doesn't work particularly well with the design or finish you have in mind.
Stanley/Stella or AS Colour?
There's no universal winner between the two.
Both offer excellent options for clothing brands, and the right choice will depend on the style you're trying to create, your budget and the specific garment you prefer. At Vektor, we can show you different options and help you compare the fit, weight, feel and price before you commit to a production run.
Our advice: get the garment right first
Your print can be perfect, but if the garment itself doesn't feel right, the finished product won't either.
That's why we prefer to work with brands on the complete product rather than treating the garment and print as two separate decisions. Tell us what you're trying to create and the kind of fit, feel and price point you're aiming for. We'll help you find a garment that works for your brand before we start production.