Team wear is one of those things startups tend to deal with reactively, someone books a conference, someone asks about hoodies, and suddenly there's an urgent request with a two-week deadline and no brief. This guide is designed to get ahead of that. Whether you're outfitting a team of 10 or 100, here's how to source branded apparel that people will actually wear.
Why Team Wear Matters More Than It Looks
The obvious reasons are well understood: conference visibility, team identity, brand expression. But the less obvious ones are worth naming. Team wear is one of the clearest signals a growing company can send about how seriously it takes its brand. A cheap, ill-fitting company hoodie doesn't just reflect poorly on the garment, it reflects on everything the company claims to stand for.
A quality piece of team apparel gets worn at weekends, at the gym, at dinner. That's brand presence no paid campaign can replicate, your merch becomes an investment.
The Three Approaches
- Stock garment + customisation. A quality blank garment from an established manufacturer, customised with embroidery, screen print, or heat transfer. The fastest route to market, widest size availability, lowest MOQs. Best for: teams needing apparel quickly, smaller initial orders, or programmes requiring regular replenishment.
- Cut-and-sew / bespoke manufacturing. Garments designed and produced from scratch. Full control over silhouette, materials, labels, and detailing. Higher quality ceiling, higher cost, longer lead time (typically 6–8 weeks), higher MOQs (50+ units per style). Best for: companies treating apparel as a serious brand investment, or conference capsule collections where differentiation is the goal.
- Print-on-demand. Individual garments produced and shipped on request with no stock held. Useful for small teams, global distribution without central stock, or one-off gifting. Trade-off: higher cost per unit and limited control over garment quality.
Most startup and scale-up teams are best served by the first model, quality stock garments with premium customisation, with selective use of the second for flagship pieces.
Choosing the Right Garment
- Weight matters. For hoodies and sweatshirts, 350–400gsm is the range associated with premium quality. Anything below 280gsm will look and feel cheap regardless of how good the branding is.
- Fit range matters. Especially for international teams. Make sure the chosen garment comes in a full size range and check the fit guide - European, American, and Asian sizing conventions differ significantly.
- Fabric composition matters. 100% organic cotton, 80/20 cotton-poly blends, and 100% recycled fabrics each have different feel, durability, and sustainability implications. If sustainability is part of your brand positioning, the fabric choice should reflect it.
Customisation Methods
QUICK GUIDE TO CUSTOMISATION
Embroidery: Premium, durable, best for chest logos, caps, and collared garments. Works best on darker garments and carries a quality signal that's immediately visible.
Screen print: Cost-effective for larger placements and multi-colour designs of up to 5 colours. Best on cotton. Not ideal for complex gradients or 5+ colours.
3D embroidery: Three-dimensional effect that adds significant visual interest and tactile quality. Popular in streetwear, effective at events where people notice what others are wearing.
Heat transfer / DTG: Good for photo-quality designs and small runs. Less durable than screen print or embroidery over repeated washing.
Textile embossing: The technique uses heat and pressure to press a design into the fabric, creating a raised 3D effect with texture and depth. It works especially well on smooth textile surfaces and gives the piece a more subtle, premium finish.
MOQs and the Startup Reality
Minimum order quantities are the source of most frustration in team wear programmes. The realistic picture:
- Screen print: typically 50 units
- Embroidery: typically 25 units
- Bespoke cut-and-sew: typically 100 units per style
- DTG / Transfer print: typically 25 units
For early-stage startups, embroidery on stock garments is usually the best entry point, lower MOQs, fast turnaround, premium result. As the team grows, a bespoke manufacturing run for a flagship piece becomes worth the investment.
Planning for the Long Term
The teams that get the most value from apparel programmes think of them as ongoing, not one-off:
- Keep a small stock of core items for new hires and ad-hoc requests, don't wait until you need them urgently.
- Refresh seasonal pieces annually. The hoodie designed in 2022 may not reflect how the brand has evolved.
- Document what worked, fabric, fit, customisation method. A written record means not starting from scratch every time.
Planning your next event? We manage everything from product selection and design through to production, international shipping, customs, and on-site delivery, so your team can focus on the event, not the logistics behind it.