The popularity of the humble cotton tote has been on a steady increase since 2007 when designer Anya Hindmarch teamed up with Sainbury’s in a bid to encourage a more eco friendly approach to carrier bag use. Her canvas ‘I am not a plastic bag’ tote sold out within an hour. The amount of people who actually used their purchase to lug home their weekly shopping is probably close to none (they still retail on Ebay for around £100) but they were instrumental in fuelling the tote movement.
We’re super excited to announce the second in our series of quarterly collaborations in which we’ve teamed up with street artist Malarko to bring you another limited edition t-shirt pack. Bursting with all manner of screen printed goodies the container box even turns into a kitty mask, perfect for when you want to get a bit incognito and wild (while staying above the law of course).
We launched our unique cut and sew service earlier this autumn as an extension of the customisation options we already provide. We wanted to be able to deliver a complete garment printing service to our customers that didn’t limit their creativity or ideas. Here are some tips on how to make the most of it.
At 3rd Rail we’re dedicated to delivering a complete garment screen printing service. Between providing a full range of print placement options and our customisation and cut and sew service we feel like we have a pretty comprehensive list of bases covered.
What you may not have been aware of is that we recently developed boxes which are the perfect size for folded t-shirts and other garments and are fully customisable with your own design or logo. Packaging is an excellent way of re-affirming your brand identity and putting a unique stamp on your range. Here are examples of ways that we can help you do that with your printed garments.
Urban streetwear is perhaps one of the few trends of the last 40 years that has been able to evolve whilst maintaining its distinctive aesthetic and remaining constantly relevant. Re imagined by the likes of YMC, Joseph and Christopher Shannon at LCM AW15 shows that its reach extends to the catwalks of Fashion Week. Characterised by t-shirts and sweats and drawing inspiration from other constantly evolving cultures such as street art and music may be one of the factors that has helped it remain at the forefront of everyday urban wear.
One brand trying to put a fresh spin on streetwear is UK based Bear Swagger. Boasting collaborations with designers and illustrators around the globe their range includes everything from t-shirts and hoodies to hats and backpacks. Here at 3rd Rail HQ we’ve worked with them for a few seasons and recently finished printing some t-shirts and hoodies for their AW15 drop. The garments were printed using Plastisol inks, oil based and developed specifically for t-shirt printing they are often a favourite because they offer a bright and solid end result whilst also being highly fade resistant.
You don’t need to be a fashion designer to create unique garments.
Thoroughly research your clothing options. It’s very easy to default to a standard t-shirt when the excitement of creating a collection takes over and you want everything released a soon as possible. Vanity Crew have given a simple hoodie logo print an edge by choosing a garment with unique hood laces. Between our 5 main wholesale suppliers there’s bound to be something that’s going to make the most of your design.
You’ve come up with a great design and are itching to see it printed all over a fresh t-shirt but suddenly there’s all these other things getting in the way like deciding how many garments you want and realising that your artwork is not high res enough. Before you know it a month has passed and you’re still waiting to get printing, don’t worry we’ve all been there. Luckily there’s a couple of really important things you can do to make sure that you get to see your finished garment in the flesh as soon as possible.
As we desperately hold on to the final days of summer the shorter evenings are an unwelcome reminder that the winter months are fast approaching. For cyclists this means whipping out the waterproofs and paying special attention to being seen on the roads.
One brand building visibility into their designs by including reflective elements is Dalston based Hitteur. Some of their range was screen printed here at 3rd Rail using a reflective ink made up of a Lycra binder mixed with glass beads. Though the printing process itself is the same for this ink as it is for others we do use a coarser screen to allow the slightly thicker ink to pass through the mesh more easily. (more…)
Fashion month kicked off officially last Friday with New York Fashion Week.The biggest names in the industry set to descend on the capital next Friday dressed in all their (sometimes questionable) finery. In honour of LFW we decided to look at the top menswear trends for AW15 and some of the designers that influenced them with a particular focus on t-shirts because as much as we love high fashion ultimately what most people look for are clothes that are a good balance of style and wearability.
You’ve probably heard us mention The Pattern Guild quite a few times over the last few weeks since we’ve been collaborating with them on a new cut and sew project. We decided to catch up with Fergus, one half of the brand to get the inside scoop about what makes them tick and their take on 3RXPG.
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