Sporting embroidery – London Olympics

15Jun12

The London Olympics is almost upon us, and the anticipation is rising. Funnily enough, embroidery and printing play quite a part in the sporting scene. From school yard football matches across the country to the Olympics stadium, athletes are emblazoned with embroidery and print from our humble industry.

We interviewed a few Wilcom users to see what they are doing in the sporting arena, both on and off the field…

We spoke to Allan from UK company New Balance about how they use Wilcom embroidery software for their renowned running shoes…

New Balance is one of the few large fashion labels who still manufacture in theUK. They’ve had Wilcom software since 2000 and embroider between 4000-5000 shoes per week!

The company actively supports the running community and many of their sponsored athletes from all over the world are gearing up to give their New Balance shoes a run in the London Olympics. But don’t expect to see just the standard white running shoe anymore. When asked about the key trends in garment and shoe embellishments, Allan says “Bright colours and new innovations in materials mean the Running industry is changing seasonally”.

And when it comes to the London Olympics off the field, another Wilcom customer Arco is charged with much of the uniforms and workwear decorations. Arco has been with Wilcom for 11 years now and embroiders a whopping 40,000 garments each week. When asked about the challenges of decorating workwear, Tracey West from Arco reported that they need to look carefully at the fabrics and their suitability for embroidery. “Wilcom’s Auto Fabric Assistant helps to determine the best stitch types and settings to support the fabrics. The team name feature also helps to change the properties for quick production.” And when it comes to trends in workwear, it seems colours are all the rage here too with Tracey reporting, “There is a trend towards non-standard colours. Currently 70% of all orders are non-standard colours”.

Sports are a big part of the decoration industry and we’re sure many Wilcom users are busily producing many a sports team uniform, whether it is for the international stage of the Olympics or the kids’ hockey, football, basketball competition down the road.

 

 

 

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