Garment Labelling For Your Clothing Line

GARMENT LABELLING

Starting your fashion business?…  And you’ve made it past the starting block?…. Congratulations!! …. Well done!!!! ……You did it!!!!!  

…Now you‘re probably thinking about things like materials, pattern makers, manufacturing and garment labels.

If you’re anything like the floundering fashion designer you more than likely haven’t considered the legal obligations regarding your garment labelling. 

After designing your fantabulous garments the last thing you want to hear is that it can’t be sold in your target market because it’s missing a label or that the label is missing vital information.   

If you shipped a delivery of incorrectly labelled garments to your customers, and they were held up for weeks on end at customs,  ultimately not meeting your customers delivery date. Not only would you loose the money it cost you to produce those garments, you could loose the loyalty and trust of your customers.

It’s not just a beautifully designed logo on a branded label that you need.    The most important labels are the little white ones with washing instructions, size, fibre content etc, usually stitched on an inside seam of the garment.

Look at the reason designers have so many returns and shipping headaches and I’m sure that you’re probably making some of the same mistakes when it comes to your garment labelling.   Floundering fashion designers focus all their energies on the silhouette and colours yet don’t put any time into the really important things required to get their designs in their customers wardrobes….like labelling the garments correctly.    

If you don’t instruct your customers how to care for your beautiful silk chiffon dress, angora sweater or camel coat,  they could wash them incorrectly and irreversibly damage the fantabulous garments that you've lovingly designed.    Then you would have the cost of repairing or making and shipping a replacement to your customers.

Another mistake the floundering designer makes is that they put the wrong information on the label and don’t realise how serious that seemingly minor mistake is.    Fraudulent labelling is a crime, so you really don’t want to make THAT mistake !!!

So, in this post I thought I would talk about GARMENT LABELS.    What is required by law and what is just a good idea to include.   

…..I want you to take action and get the ball moving so that you don’t make the same mistakes many other designers do.  So, I’m going to give you a brief excerpt from Pillar three of the MAIC Method©  in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy, my signature group coaching programme.

Garment labels are vital to sell your fashion designs.  They have to comply with various country regulations and provide consumers with information to help with their buying decision and how to care for it.

There are two categories of garment labels:

1. Your logo or brand name label which is attached visible usually on the back neck facing  or thereabouts, depending on the garment.
2. The labels with care instructions, fire content, county of origin, size, flammability etc which is usually attached on the inside side seam.

Here I’m talking about the second category of labels.  Some of these are required by law and some are not but may be required if you're exporting or are just good practise to include.

LEGALLY REQUIRED LABELS - UK AND EU

So, here I’ll go over some basic legal requirements for clothing labels in the EU and UK.    So, what are you legally required to attach to your garments?

(Note:  At the date of writing the UK , even though it has left the EU, has retained EU Law regarding labels.   This could change so if you're reading this at a future date you should check the same regulations still apply.)

The label does not have to be attached to your samples or prototypes unless you intend to sell them although it is good practise to attach labels to your samples for the following reasons:

• You might sell it in a sample sale
• If you wear it yourself and need to get it cleaned the dry cleaner will not take responsibility unless it has a label.
• You can attach quality control (QC) or Sealed Sample identification stickers or write on them with a garment market i.e. “sample no.1 01-07-21”

🧶FIBRE CONTENT

In the EU and UK it is you, the designer’s responsibility to ensure that your products carry a label indicating the fibre content of your textile products, either on the item or the packaging.  -

🔥FLAMMABILITY

There are strict laws governing the fire safety labelling of nightwear in the UK and EU. Nightwear, and garments worn as nightwear, are subject to certain labelling requirements concerning their flammability.

NOT LEGALLY REQUIRED - but good practise to include:

🌏 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Country of origin labelling is technically not compulsory in the EU OR UK unless there was something in the design which could be construed as misleading the consumer. 

💃 WASHING INSTRUCTIONS

It is not mandatory to include washing instructions on your labels in the UK.   However, it is strongly encouraged

🔟SIZE LABELS

By law, you don’t have to add a size label to garments in either the UK or the EU. There’s not even a single shared standard when it comes to sizing, as I’m sure you’ve noticed when shopping for clothes! 

✈️IMPORTER & BRAND DETAILS

Some markets require garments to be labelled with the name and address of the importer or brand.

☘️ENVIRONMENTAL LABELLING

Its becoming increasingly popular (though not a legal requirement) to add environmental labelling.

UNITED STATES REQUIREMENTS

In the United States, the US Customs and Border Protection (CPB)  and the FTC (the Federal Trade Commission) manage labelling requirements for apparel and textile products in the US.   The CPB handles the inspection and control of textile products entering the United States and the FTC handles administration of care labelling. 

If you don’t comply with the regulations you can receive a financial penalty of $16,000 per violation. Care labels must include the following:

🌏COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Your garment can only be labeled "Made in USA" if it was manufactured in the USA and made from materials that were manufactured in the United States.  

💃WASH AND CARE INSTRUCTIONS

All textile manufacturers selling products in the United States are required to provide labels advising consumers the best ways to care for them, suggested washing temperatures and any cleaning methods which might harm the garment must be disclosed.

🧵MANUFACTURER IDENTIFICATION

A garment label on a textile product sold in the USA is required to include the registered identification number (RN) of the manufacturer, importer, or corporate entity handling the sale of the product.  Including the name of the manufacturer on your garment label can also help market and reinforce your brand identity.

🧶FIBRE CONTENT

All garments sold in the United States must have clear labelling showing the fibre content.  This has to be done in compliance with the Textile and Wool Acts, and the contents must be listed in descending order in terms of percentage. (ie. 82% Cotton, 10% Polyamide, 8% Other Fibres)

For more labelling information go to:  https://www.ftc.gov

OK….So, now you know what to include in your garment labels.   You know what is legally required and what to add optionally depending on the market you are selling to.   However if you don’t know about the actual fibre content of your materials it won’t really do you any good and you could attach an incorrect label, have your garments stuck in customs or buy rolls of expensive fabric that is not suitable for purpose.

If you want access to the fibre and fabric directory in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy click the link below to join the waitlist.

CLICK TO JOIN THE WAITLIST FOR FEA