Labels and packaging, decided properly.
Labels and packaging are specified last and cause the most last-minute delays. This guide covers what belongs on a garment label, how the neck is branded, and how packaging choices move both unit cost and the unboxing moment.
Two things are happening here at once. One is compliance: most markets expect a garment to carry fibre composition, care instructions and country of origin in a durable form. The other is brand: the neck label, the hangtag and the mailer are the parts of the product a customer physically handles.
Requirements differ by market and change over time, so treat what follows as the general shape of the obligation and confirm the specifics for the countries you sell into. What does not change is that these items have their own lead times and need to be specified early.
See the tech pack guide →At a glance
1. The neck: three ways to brand it
The neck label is the first branded thing a customer sees inside the garment. There are three common approaches. A sewn woven label reads as traditional and premium and suits most brands. A sewn printed satin or cotton label is softer and cheaper and suits lighter garments. A heat-applied transfer leaves no label at all, which is the tagless look used where comfort against the skin is the priority.
Each has trade-offs. Woven labels carry a minimum order quantity of their own and a lead time, so order them before you need them. Heat transfers avoid the itch but need a fabric and a curing temperature that will accept them, which matters on performance fabric.
- Woven: durable, traditional, own minimum and lead time
- Printed satin or cotton: softer and lower cost
- Heat transfer: tagless comfort, fabric dependent
- Decide early, because label lead times are real
2. What the care and content label carries
In general terms, most markets expect a garment to carry, in a durable and permanently attached form, the fibre composition, care instructions and the country of manufacture. Many also expect an identifier for the responsible business, and a size marking.
Fibre composition means the percentages of each fibre by weight, named properly. Care instructions are usually given as the standard symbol set for washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional care, often with a short line of text. Country of origin is where the garment was manufactured. Requirements, language rules and symbol conventions vary by market, so confirm the detail for each country you sell into before the labels are printed.
- Fibre composition by percentage, named correctly
- Care symbols for wash, bleach, dry, iron and professional care
- Country of manufacture
- Size marking and a business identifier
- Confirm the specifics for every market you sell into
3. Placement, durability and language
A care label has to survive the life of the garment, which is why it is sewn rather than stuck, and why the print method matters. Placement is a design decision with a comfort consequence: centre back neck is traditional, the inside side seam is common on fitted garments where a neck label would be felt, and a wash-care book folded into a seam is standard where several languages are needed.
If you sell into multiple markets, plan for the label to carry every required language rather than running separate label versions for each destination. Separate versions multiply minimums, complicate packing and create the risk of the wrong stock going to the wrong market.
- Sewn, durable, and legible for the life of the garment
- Side seam placement avoids neck irritation on fitted styles
- Use a folded care book where several languages are needed
- One multi-market label usually beats several versions
4. Hangtags
A hangtag is not required, but it is where most brands do their storytelling, carry a size marking on the shop floor, and put a barcode if they sell through retail. Decide the material, the finish, the size, the string or safety pin attachment, and the exact attachment point, because a tag attached through a knit can leave a hole.
Keep the information hierarchy simple: brand mark, size, price or barcode if needed, and a short line of story. Card stock, uncoated versus coated, edge painting, foiling and die cutting all change the perceived value and the cost. If you are producing at small quantities, a plain, well-designed tag on good stock usually reads better than an elaborate cheap one.
- Material, finish, size and attachment method all need specifying
- Attach through a seam or a loop, not through the fabric face
- Keep the tag's information hierarchy simple
- Good stock and restraint beat elaborate finishing at low volume
5. Polybags, folding and cartons
Inside the factory, every garment is folded to a specification and bagged. The polybag protects the garment through transit and storage. Specify the bag size, thickness, whether it is self-seal, whether it carries a printed brand mark, and whether a suffocation warning is required for your markets. Recycled content and compostable options exist and change cost.
Then cartons: how many pieces per carton, whether packed solid by size or in an assorted ratio, carton dimensions, gross weight limits and what is printed on the outside. Assorted cartons make life easier for a small brand shipping direct to customers; solid cartons make life easier for a warehouse.
- Polybag size, thickness, seal type and any required warnings
- Folding method, specified and sampled
- Pieces per carton, solid or assorted by size
- Carton marks: style, colour, size, quantity, weight
6. Mailers and the unboxing moment
If you ship direct to customers, the mailer is your packaging, and it is the only part of the operation the customer photographs. The choices are a poly mailer, a rigid or corrugated box, or a paper mailer, each with different protection, weight and cost characteristics.
Weight drives shipping cost, so a heavier box has an ongoing cost per order that a one-off unit price does not show. Branded printing has a minimum order quantity, so a custom mailer is a volume decision. A common route for a small brand is a plain recycled mailer plus a printed sticker or a printed tissue wrap, which gets most of the effect for a fraction of the commitment.
- Poly, paper or corrugated: protection against weight and cost
- Every gram of packaging repeats on every order shipped
- Custom printed mailers carry their own minimums
- A sticker or tissue wrap gets most of the effect at low volume
7. How packaging choices move unit cost
Packaging affects your numbers in three places. It adds a direct per-unit cost at the factory for bags, tags and inserts. It adds a labour cost, because folding, tagging and bagging take time and elaborate presentation takes more of it. And it adds weight and volume, which raises freight on the way in and shipping cost on every order out.
The useful discipline is to decide where the money buys something the customer notices. A heavier hangtag stock is noticed. A thicker polybag is not, because it is thrown away in the first ten seconds. The costing guide shows where these lines sit on a full cost sheet.
- Direct material cost per unit, at the factory
- Labour cost for folding, tagging and bagging
- Weight and volume, which raises freight and shipping
- Spend where the customer notices, save where they do not
The finishing items brands forget
Every one of these has a lead time. Leaving them to the end is the most common cause of a delayed dispatch.
Neck label
Woven, printed or heat transfer, with artwork, size and placement. Woven labels carry their own minimum and lead time.
Care and content label
Fibre composition, care symbols, country of manufacture, size and a business identifier, in every language you need.
Size tab
Where a separate size marking is used, its placement, material and how it relates to the neck label.
Hangtag
Stock, finish, dimensions, attachment method and the exact attachment point on the garment.
Polybag and fold
Bag size, thickness, seal, print, any required warnings, and the folding method, sampled and approved.
Carton and marks
Pieces per carton, solid or assorted packing, dimensions, weight limits and what is printed on the outside.
Labels and packaging are the cheapest part of the garment and the most common reason a shipment waits. Specify them at tech pack stage, not at pre-production.
Common questions
In general terms most markets expect fibre composition by percentage, care instructions, country of manufacture, a size marking and an identifier for the responsible business, in a durable permanently attached form. The exact wording, language and symbol rules vary by market, so confirm them for every country you sell into.
Woven reads traditional and premium and is durable, but carries its own minimum order quantity and lead time. Heat transfer gives a tagless feel and suits garments worn against the skin, but depends on the fabric accepting the transfer and the curing temperature.
Yes. The inside side seam is common on fitted garments where a neck label would be felt, and a folded care book in a seam is standard when several languages are required. Specify the placement in the tech pack.
Not for compliance. It is useful if you sell through retail, where it carries size and barcode, and it is where most brands do their storytelling. At low volume a simple tag on good stock usually reads better than an elaborate one.
It shows up in three places: direct material cost, the labour to fold, tag and bag, and the weight and volume that raise freight and per-order shipping. Decide where the spend is visible to the customer and economise elsewhere.
By the pre-production sample at the latest, and ideally at tech pack stage. Woven labels, custom hangtags and printed mailers all have their own minimums and lead times, and they are a frequent cause of delayed dispatch.
Get the finishing details specified early.
Tell us your labelling and packaging plan, or ask us to build one with you. Either way, it goes in before sampling, not after.