Private label · How to
Private-label branding & retail-ready packaging for your knitwear
How a blank tee becomes your brand: woven vs printed labels, neck prints, hang tags, poly bags, barcodes, and retail-ready packaging — plus the artwork a factory needs and how custom trims affect MOQ and lead time.
Founder, Trishakti Apparel 2 min read
Private label means the garment ships as your brand, not a blank. That’s a chain of small decisions — labels, tags, packaging — that together make a product look retail-ready. Here’s how it works and what to prepare.
Labels: woven, printed, or heat-transfer
- Woven labels — the premium feel, ideal for the main brand label; higher setup, best for repeat programs.
- Printed labels — cost-effective and flexible, common for care/content labels.
- Heat-transfer / neck print — a soft, tagless look printed straight onto the neck; popular for tees.
Tags and trims
Hang tags carry your logo, story, size, and barcode; size stickers and care/content labels complete the set. Custom buttons, drawcords, and tipping personalise polos and hoodies. Each custom trim has its own minimum and lead time — plan them alongside the garment.
Retail-ready packaging
Retail-ready (or “floor-ready”) finishing means the garment needs no extra work before it hits your shelf or ships to a customer: folded to spec, poly-bagged, barcode/GTIN applied, and packed into labelled cartons with an accurate packing list. E-commerce sellers often add branded polybags or inserts.
What artwork the factory needs
- Vector logo files (AI/EPS/PDF) for labels and prints.
- Exact colours as Pantone (TPX/TCX) references, not just screen colours.
- Placement and size specs for each label, tag, and print.
- Barcode/GTIN numbers if we’re applying them.
How branding affects MOQ and lead time
Custom trims (especially woven labels and custom hang tags) carry their own minimums, so very small runs may share stock trims or accept a slightly longer lead time while custom trims are made. We’ll flag this when we quote.
We do labelling, tagging, and retail-ready packing in-house, so your order arrives branded and shelf-ready. See our capabilities or send your branding brief.
About the author
Santosh Rijal runs Trishakti Apparel, the export knitwear factory his family built on three decades in Nepal’s fashion trade. He writes about sourcing, duty and production from the factory floor in Gaindakot.