The Future of the T-shirt
Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 12:59PM 
This was supposed to be the futureI asked incredibly sharp T-shirt blogger Andy of Thunderfrogs to share his views on what lies ahead for the humble t-shirt. Using his observational superpowers, he isolated shifts in the industry to predict... The Future T-shirt! (Fu-shirt?) Watch for them on Teecycle as soon as they become... The Past T-shirt! (PasTee?).
In the future, technological advances will make our clothes lighter, warmer, softer, more breathable -- and even increase our personal safety.
T-shirts are already being created out of bamboo for extra softness, and out of polyethylene fiber to make them stabproof. Yes, stabproof. My brother lives in London and has a stabproof hoodie. In the future, they may even be able to stop bullets.
Other technological advancements recently have included improved plastisol inks including speciality inks like UV colour change, super glow in the dark, metallic foils and gradients that allow stunning special effect or realistic prints.
The market share of belt-printed designs -- huge prints that cover the whole front of the tee and even run onto sleeves and hems -- is also set to increase in the future, as more screenprinting companies are forced to invest in equipment that clients demand.
Imagery
Band t-shirts are still massively popular, despite (or because?) falling album sales. I suspect that although many fans may be illegally downloading their favourite tunes, they are quite willing to shell out for merchandise that identifies them with their musical idols (and can use the money they saved on album purchases to do so). Bands are increasingly looking for alternative revenue sources as music sales plummet, and merchandise sales make a welcome addition to tour takings.
Brand t-shirts will continue to be popular, as people continue connect themselves with the perceived values of the brands of their choice. At the same time, increased awareness also leads to the backlash seen in spoof brands like Aberzombie.
Inevitably some brands will go out of fashion, and sales slide until they go from designer threads to next year's budget buy.
Speaking of zombies, they've been the most recent big trend in tee-design. From Obama to Mario, no-one has escaped the process of zombification.
The most successful brands aren't necessarily the ones with the best designs - they're the ones with the most effective marketing. While the old adage "sex sells" still holds true, many other techniques are being used to separate you from your hard-earned.
Limited edition t-shirt runs and sale periods are nothing new, but the concept is taken to a new level with pop-up stores: real world shops that appear overnight and disappear again after a few days, creating a sense of urgency in the consumer that results in hasty impulsive purchases.
Another example of the scarcity principle at work is the one-tee-each-day concept pioneered by shirt.woot; and being emulated by TeeFury and teextile. By making each tee available for just one day, the consumer must decide quickly about their purchase - though the reality is that the design may well end up being printed again at a later date by another store. Given the success those that have experimented with this approach seem to have enjoyed, it's a given that we can expect more of this in the future.
Recently I have seen an increase in "secret sales" - a link to a part of the webstore that offers discounts not found on the main site. The link is then shared via email or social networking sites, and the information is treated as more valuable by the recipients (and therefore shared more), because information is valued higher if it's information others don't have.
[Teecycle Editor’s Note: Can you find the secret code on Teecycle’s site?]
Designers
Increasingly, designers are retaining ownership of their designs by opening stores of their own, or using print-on-demand services to cut out the middle-man. Where designs are sold, they are being sold for a limited period or with limited rights, and residual earnings are increasingly expected.
Designers can have as much or as little involvement in the retail process as they want, from fulfillment services like Spreadshirt or Red Bubble to one-man operations like Seibei or Linty Fresh.
Community
The modern world has seen a steady erosion in local communities. Where people were once friends with their neighbours, they often now prefer to be members of communities with a shared interest - these like minded individuals are usually brought together by the internet.
Businesses have begun to take advantage of these selective social ties, offering Facebook pages, twitter streams, and other methods of active association to increase brand awareness.
Economics, Sustainability and Recycling
In a world with a finite amount of resources, wanton Western consumerism has a negative global effect that is oft ignored in the pursuit of economic gains.
For years most t-shirts were produced in sweltering factories in the far east, where workers endured long hours in terrible conditions for little pay. Recently, the public has "cottoned on" to the human suffering caused by this aspect of the industry and now expects the people who produce their clothes to earn a decent wage from doing so.
American Apparel, whose sweatshop-free t-shirts are produced in downtown L.A., has become so ubiquitous that they can now be described as the industry standard. This trend for ethically-produced goods has seen a lot of growth, and is set to continue for some time.
In the future I hope that just as consumers increasingly choose organic foods, they will choose environmentally-conscious products - like pre-loved t-shirts from Teecycle!
Reader Comments (1)
I think this is a great idea, it is about time the American people demand their products made in by people other countries be treated fairly.