Why Using a Fall Layering Design Strategy Could Bring in More Sales

It’s Layering Season

When we think of Fall, we think of the leaves changing colors, pumpkin spice everything and cheering on our home team back in the stands. When we think of Fall fashion, though, we think layers. Whether you’re in the Midwest like me and your Fall look requires a couple extra layers for those random 40 degree days or you’re in the South and your layers consist of adding a flannel shirt as your actual “jacket”-- we can all agree that layering is the key to Fall fashion. With the release of our Fall Style Guide, let's take a closer look at how you can strategize your sales for the season.

Rethinking Your Fall Sales Strategy 

If you or your clients are looking to create an apparel collection, you’re definitely hoping they buy more than one item. Keeping in mind the idea of layering in fashion could be the key to doing just that, and I’m going to explain why.

Thinking strategically about your artwork and its specific placement on typically layered items like t-shirts, flannel button-ups, vests, jackets and caps, will give you the ability to create a more cohesive collection of merch that can be worn stylishly together or alone without looking like a walking advertisement.

Helping people to visualize how multiple items in your collection could be worn together seamlessly as one fashion outfit will make the idea of buying a pair of items almost irresistible, especially if their favorite band, event, festival, or school’s name is on them.

Putting the strategy to work.

The key here is to use placements on each layered item that allow for some branding to be visible, but not overbearing when multiple items are worn together.For example, let’s think about how we could decorate merch for a Fall Festival. A common Fall outfit you might see is a tee and flannel paired together with a puffer vest, joggers, and beanie. Based on that, we could add these items individually to our collection, but decorate them in a way they can be fashionably worn together.

⁃ A small logoed patch at the bottom of the t-shirt or hem, along with an additional decoration on the sleeve or back of tee, keeps the front looking clean when it’s being worn with a jacket, vest, or woven shirt on top. A print on the back will be visible though, when worn alone.

⁃ A logo placement on the sleeve of the flannel shirt and print on the back allows for your design to show through when worn under the vest and when worn alone.

⁃ Then top it off with a left chest placement on the vest.

Mix and Match Logos with Messages

Fall is all about community events and it’s a great opportunity for the decorated apparel and promo industry. It’s the perfect time for people to get together and celebrate all things Fall as well as sell some really cool stuff--Oktoberfest, Apple Harvest Fest, Pumpkin Festivals, and Balloon Festivals are just a few of the popular Fall events happening across the US bringing amazing opportunities to curate layering inspired collections.

Events and holidays present a great opportunity to add in fun and powerful messages to your apparel designs, so your collection isn’t just full of event logos printed on the front of each item. This helps the pieces complement each other and could tempt people to buy a pair of items together – One with a logo and another with the phrase front and center.

Designing for the cause.

One super impactful campaign in the Fall is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. October is all about Pink and thinking thoughtfully on how to pair these items is key. Here’s one way you could merchandise for these events:

⁃ Choose a pink tie-dyed t-shirt and add an event logo to sleeve. Keeping the front of the tee design-free, allows the pink tie-dyed pattern to shine on its own and be the accent color of the layered outfit. Also consider adding a word, phrase or saying on the back for extra emphasis.

⁃ In this case, we’re pairing the tee with grey full-zip hoodie and adding a word design to it on the left chest. Since grey is a neutral color, it pairs well with pink and any other colors someone might want to wear with it.

⁃ To top it off, our pink pigment dyed cap is going to be where we’ll put the event logo front and center. Since hats are an accessory people wear often, this makes for a great place to put the branding of a company or event.

⁃ And of course, we need to add a pair of comfy socks and hot pink flannel pants to the collection too, giving people a complete head-to-toe offering.

This layering strategy is also a homerun for school spiritwear and could really help increase that average selling price for merch at games or fundraisers.

Keep Your Branding Seen

This strategy also works for giveaways and corporate gifting, because it helps to keep your branding seen in various situations. Fall hunting season usually runs from September to December, so this is a great time to curate collections, giveaways or gifts for avid hunters and outdoor lovers. They have to layer up while hunting out in the cold elements, so let’s think about how we could decorate these items to be worn together.

⁃ Decorating the sleeves of the camo jacket and a long-sleeve tee, will allow your brand or messaging to be shown at all times, including when you need to place a safety vest on top of either one.

⁃ Then top it off with a leather patch on the front of a camo hat, to give it a premium look that blends in a bit more with the earthy tones in the pattern.

Putting it all together

If you’re trying to figure out how to decorate your collections or giveaways, this layering strategy could help give you a place to start. With endless design options and placements available to decorate apparel, thinking about how to combine design elements and placements in an impactful way can help you score more sales and brand recognition opportunities in the future.