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FEBRUARY 2017 images 73
Consistency is key for garment
decorators. When 100 blue
T-shirts are ordered for a job,
each shirt needs to be the exact
shade of blue that the client requested or
there will be complaints. Many customers
will also expect their shirts to be the exact
same shade of blue on all subsequent
repeat orders, even several years down
the line. It’s no wonder then, that the
industry’s apparel brands invest so heavily
in colour control processes that will guar-
antee such consistency. And then there’s
Comfort Colors…
This US brand has built its reputation on
doing the complete opposite – selling
T-shirts and sweatshirts that, because of
the special dyeing process used (more on
that later), are subtly unique. Highly pop-
ular with US college students, these super
soft, vintage-look garments arrived in the
UK last year following Gildan’s acquisition
of Comfort Colors in 2015 and instantly
captured the imagination of students and
a wide range of other end users on this
side of the Atlantic too.
Comfort Colors may be a relatively new
brand to UK decorators – and, indeed,
to the Gildan stable of apparel brands
– however the label boasts a long and
rich heritage stretching back more than
40 years. It was this heritage, along with
the unique selling points of its dyeing
process, that persuaded Gildan to com-
plete the $103.3 million acquisition of the
company in March 2015. Jeff Bartley, key
account executive at Gildan, fills in some
background detail. “Comfort Colors was
founded in 1975 by Barry Chouinard, an
entrepreneur who started a small con-
characteristics that make them unique.”
Pigment dyeing is a dye process that
gives apparel a vintage, lived-in look.
Pigment dye produces washed down
colours that continue to soften and age
with repeated washing. The pigments are
insoluble colour particles that attach to
the surface of the fabric with the use of a
binding agent. Slight shade variations are
inherent in the pigment dye process.
Direct/reactive dyeing is a process that
uses a set of dyes and chemicals that
will react with the fibre and which will
become embedded in it. This is similar
to the process that is used to dye fabric,
but the difference is that an additional
enzyme wash is used to make the fabric
super smooth.
Garment dyeing is a more expensive
process, but it’s what makes Comfort
Colors garments unique. This process
results in an extensive array of colours
from bright, bold colours to soft,
muted tones, and also creates the
softness that consumers want, says Jeff.
“Comfort Colors’ premium products and
unparalleled garment dyeing process is
what has fuelled its exponential growth
over the past few years,” he explains.
Before Comfort Colors was acquired by
tract dyeing operation for hosiery manu-
facturers in the northern US with a 1,600
square foot space and a single employee.
One year later, the company ventured
into T-shirts in response to the growing
demand for colourful tees among US
customers.
“In the mid-1980s, the company devel-
oped a revolutionary method of creating
neon T-shirts that were truly unique on
the market. This method then evolved
into a proprietary dyeing process that
allowed Comfort Colors to achieve a vin-
tage, worn-in look and feel, and a collec-
tion that’s crafted for ultimate comfort.”
T-shirts to dye for
Comfort Colors’ unique dyeing process is
what sets its garments apart from those
of most other imprint brands. “Comfort
Colors apparel is dyed in garment form as
opposed to dyeing the fabric,” Jeff Bartley
explains. “Our dyeing process gives the
effect of 50 wash cycles: it achieves
a worn-in look and ensures that our
garments won’t shrink more after dyeing.
“Within the garment dyeing process,
we have two different sets of colours:
pigment dyed and direct/reactive dyed.
Both of these processes have their own
Apigment of
the imagination
Gildan’s Jeff Bartley talks about Comfort Colors’ unique dyeing process, how this one-time
contract dyeing company evolved into a major apparel brand, and how Gildan has developed
and expanded the Comfort Colors collection for 2017
IS
BRAND PROFILE
Gildan brings to the Comfort Colors
brand the added dimension of sustainable
production