Material Bags & apparel
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PMA Product Award winners were announced in early January 2021 following two rounds of intensive judging and discussion. Like many of the Product Award categories, judges were looking for those twists of innovation and inspiration, great credentials and product sell. With an extended qualifying period for the Awards, recognising the exceptional trading times the industry has faced over the last few years, the Bag & Folder and Apparel categories had stiff competition. With high quality entries across the board, the narrow margins to award platinum, gold and silver awards tested our judging panels. Only those exhibiting at Merchandise World were able to enter. In the apparel category, United Brands of Scandinavia landed Platinum with their all-round good-looking winner, the Prime Softshell Jacket, with PF Concept’s Elevate Macin Insulated Jacket grabbing gold and The Outdoors Company’s North Face 100
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Glacier Full Zip Promotional Fleece secured silver. The quality of these shortlisted entries and overall availability of superior quality clothing to the promotional industry was discussed by the judges at length. The step change in sustainable credentials in particular ensured the entries not only scored highly on their performance but highlighted the advancements in technology and materials, producing apparel to satisfy a demanding end user market. Moving to the Bags & Folders category judges were pleasantly surprised by the range of entries, innovation and clever twists to bring the surprise and delight moments looked for when reviewing ranges. Entries delivered a wide scope of uses and Juniper’s delicious Designer Jute Tote bagged platinum, JuteBag brought home gold with their Kobe Natural Jute Shopper and Xindao’s clever XD Design Flex Gym Bag’s silver award reflected the close competition in this category. Judges
MARCH/APRIL 2022
Bags and apparel are firm merchandise favourites, and with demand set to rebound, PM looks at what’s new
comments here discussed the need for this category to keep delivering excellence and inspiration to the marketplace and this year it didn’t disappoint. As well as the BPMA Product Awards, there are plenty of other developments in the category. We rounded up some of the most interesting.
MANTIS GETS HEAVY Heavyweight tees are making a comeback, not just in merchandise but also in retail. The new M03 from Mantis comes in at 220gsm and is made from 100% organic or ‘in conversion’ to organic cotton. This means cotton harvested during a farm’s transition to organic production. It takes up to three years to reach certified organic status even though farmers adopt fully organic practices right away, removing harmful pesticides and fertilisers as well as using GMO-free seeds. The heavier material is great for
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