Current Trends in Ecommerce Through Direct Marketing: Design Ideas for Hoodies

The hoodie is as much of a custom apparel standard as t-shirts, though you continually see original designs attracting new customers. In the world of direct marketing, you're seeing a lot of fun designs blending the new with the old. When you consider how much room hoodies have, it's a virtual marketing space to print any type of design.

Those of you considering selling hoodies in the direct marketing field might want to see what's going on first. Never worry about seeking other sources to find creative inspiration because many direct marketers do the same.

While you never want to copy, you can take existing ideas and build on them.

Here's some recent hoodie trends from independent sellers.

3D Imagery on Hoodies

Take a look around on places like eBay, and you'll see some hoodie sellers offering something unique: 3D printed images. These look truly stunning when seen from afar because they give a depth of illusion. Plus, images look almost real thanks to digital printing techniques. Images of animals, eyes, and even amorphous shapes add something different.

In other cases, you can add personalized images like faces of celebrities, or family members. You'll even find hoodies with corporate logos and labels for an offbeat look.

Variations on the “Keep Calm” Quote

You're probably aware of the “Keep calm and carry on” quote that came out of Great Britain. It's become a major meme over the last several years and seen on t-shirts everywhere. Now you're seeing it on hoodies in various combinations.

One of the biggest trends is creating “Keep calm” quote variations on the front of hoodies. Examples include “Keep Calm and Let the Production Accountant Handle It”, or “Keep Calm and Let the Head Cheese Handle It.”

A lot of other quotes are available as well, especially longer ones covering the entire front of the hoodie. Long quotes with word stacks are a popular design trend.

Pullover, Lightweight, and Zipped Hoodies

While pullover hoodies aren't new, you're seeing a lot more of them now, with black and white being the most popular colors. Many direct marketers now customize your own message on these pullover hoodies for customer convenience.

Complementing these are more lightweight hoodies that fit almost like a slightly heavier t-shirt. These come with pockets in the front to give the hoodie feel without feeling overly bulky.

The same goes with zipped hoodies, which recently made a comeback in various forms.

Hoodies Made Exclusively in America

In April of this year, AdWeek published a piece about an entrepreneur named Bayard Winthrop who realized it was impossible to buy a hoodie made in the U.S.A. He was told making them here wasn't profitable enough any more, something he aimed to amend.

Rather than partner with a major corporation, he decided to sell his American-made hoodies through direct marketing. Known as American Giant, it's been deemed the greatest hoodie ever made. You can't argue with this considering it's made with heavyweight cotton fleece, shoulder ribbing, and strong elbow pads.

American Giant is now a leader in selling hoodies directly to consumers.

Classic Rock Group Logos on Hoodies

It once was you'd see vintage rock group names and logos on t-shirts. You're still seeing this as vintage t-shirts continue being popular through direct marketing channels. Now, you're seeing classic rock logos on the front of hoodies as well.

A good example is The Beatles, which many sellers offer in different combinations.

Simplified rock logos are prevalent overall, including ones with Coldplay and Radiohead being popular.

Keep reading us at TeeSpy as we look at more trends in direct marketing apparel.