Sector guide · Schoolwear
School uniform is workwear with the hardest wear-tester on earth: a child, five days a week, forty weeks a year. The buying logic is the same as any uniform fleet — fabric weight, wash survival, embroidered badging — plus two things trade buyers never face: growth and affordability.
The two routes
Schools and suppliers work with us two ways. Supply and customise: we provide the sweatshirts, polos, cardigans and PE kit, embroidered with the school badge before dispatch — one order, consistent colour across sizes and reorders. Badge-only: the school or its existing supplier already has a garment line and needs the badge embroidered properly — digitised once, stitched consistently, batch after batch.
Either way the badge is the constant: a properly digitised school crest is a one-off setup that then reproduces identically for years. Print looks cheaper per unit and peels by February half-term on daily-washed kit — the embroidery vs print logic applies with extra force at this wash frequency.
The kit
| Garment | The spec that matters | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Badged sweatshirts | 280 gsm+, taped neck, cotton-rich face | The daily workhorse — buy the weight, not the price |
| Polos | Piqué, the team-polo rules in miniature | Survives the wash count a school year demands |
| Cardigans & V-necks | Knit that keeps shape at 40 °C washes | The smart layer that goes home on a peg — name tags matter |
| PE kit | Wicking tees, shorts, teamwear crossover | The one category kids outgrow mid-year |
| Book bags & accessories | Badged, wipe-clean | Small items, large goodwill |
The school-specific bits
Sizing for growth is the discipline trade uniform never needs: parents buy a size up in September and the garment must look acceptable both oversized and outgrown — which favours classic cuts over slim ones and generous hems. Affordability matters in policy terms too: statutory guidance pushes schools to keep branded items minimal and costs reasonable, so the smart uniform spec concentrates the badge on one or two garments (sweatshirt, polo) and keeps the rest generic — a structure that also happens to make the embroidered items feel worth their price.
Durability closes the loop: a garment that survives sibling hand-me-down is the cheapest uniform a family ever buys, and the school's brand looks better in year two than a faded reprint ever does.
Ordering
Questions
Yes — badge-only work is half the schoolwear trade. The school crest is digitised once, then stitched consistently onto garments we supply or garments the school's existing line uses, batch after batch.
Wash frequency: school kit is washed more than almost any workwear, and printed badges crack and peel under that cycle while stitching survives the garment. Over a school year, embroidery is the cheaper badge.
280 gsm or heavier with a taped neck — the weight is what survives daily wear and washing while keeping its shape. Lighter promotional-grade sweatshirts look identical in September and tired by October.
Concentrate branding on one or two garments (badged sweatshirt and polo) and keep the rest generic — the structure statutory guidance encourages. Durable garments that survive hand-me-downs cut the real per-family cost more than any discount.
Supply and customise, or embroider what you already use — send the logo and the headcount.