Headwear LIVE: What you missed

Catch up on the UK's biggest hat printing event!

Did you miss Headwear LIVE 2023?

On Wednesday 28th of June,?the UK's only garment decoration event dedicated to hat printing?took place at the Heat Printing Innovation Centre at?Target Transfers in Essex. If you missed out on this exclusive event, don't panic. We've got the run down of everything you missed and more.

With a morning and an afternoon session on offer, heat printers of all types travelled cross country to attend Headwear LIVE at Target Transfer HQ with many quoting 3-4 hour car journeys and others travelling by plane to get a look at the?360IQ Hat Press.

Both sessions kicked off with welcome drinks and light networking sessions before getting down to the nitty-gritty, and the real reason for the impressive attendance numbers.

The Talks

Target Transfers?Marketing Manager and heat printing extraordinaire Andy Rogers started the seminars with a brief history of Stahl's and the incredible affiliations we've acquired with the?NFL,?NBA?and our most recent partnership with?Barcelona FC.

Andy worked in unison with?Ashford from?Beechfield Brands?to help the guests tackle the UK hat market with sections of the talks based on trending hat styles, hat buying and pricing and how to start and grow a hat business.

Andy demonstrated the best practices for fusing hats on the?360IQ hat press?while showcasing?Stahls' 3D High Build HTV?and?Custom Heat Applied Badges. He then moved on to fusing?UltraColour Max transfers?onto cap bills with the?Fusion IQ Heat Press?and the?Hotronix Bill Platen.

After discussing the pro's of expanding your product range, Ashford showcased the?Beechfield Brands?range of bags, keyrings and other accessories.

Aaron from?Ralawise?was then invited up to the stage to discuss the distribution of Beechfield products via Ralawise and how beneficial Ralawise can be to a heat printing business.

Networking

The floor then opened into a Q&A session with many interesting questions and shared thoughts.

After this, the guests were given a goody bag with Beechfield products inside and encouraged to choose a pre-decorated hat or two to take home and use as a sample to secure hat-related business.

The crowds were then free to roam, try out the products and chat with the exhibitors about their businesses.

What did we learn:

• Don’t try and tackle the whole market.?Apply it to your existing strengths.
• In 2022, the headwear market increased by 17%. People are buying more and more hats.?
• Hats are considered?premium products?and therefore, the public expects them to be priced a little higher than other garments.
• The term snapback does not apply to a hat in general, just a specific fastening at the back of the hat.
• Beanies?are not a one size fits all product.?They come in different fits so it is important to ask your customer specifically what they want so you can tailor your offering.
• The 360IQ Hat Press reduces scorching but heating through the inside of the hat as well as the upper platen. It's also?the only way to apply chunkier decorations?like badges, without scorching your hats (and ruining the product)
• Heat Applied decoration is much easier and quicker than the long drawn out process of using an embroidery machine.?(No broken needles!)

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