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BRAND PROFILE

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

C onsistency 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-

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

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

Gildan brings to the Comfort Colors brand the added dimension of sustainable production

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

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

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