What Is Relabelling and How Does It Work for Brands?

What Is Clothing Relabelling and How Does It Work? If you're starting a clothing brand, you don't necessarily need to manufacture garments from scratch to create something that looks and feels like your own. Clothing relabelling allows you to take suitable blank garments, remove or replace the manufacturer's branding and add your own labels and finishing. Combine this with custom printing or embroidery and you can create a professional own-brand product without the quantities, costs and lead times normally associated with bespoke manufacturing. In this guide, we'll explain how clothing relabelling works, which garments are suitable, the different types of labels available and what you should consider before putting your own name inside a garment. Already know what you're looking for? Take a look at our clothing relabelling and bespoke clothing service. What Is Clothing Relabelling? Clothing relabelling is the process of replacing the original branding on a suitable garment with your own branding. Typically, a business or clothing brand chooses blank garments from a wholesale clothing manufacturer. Depending on how the garment has been made, the original brand label can then be removed and replaced with a custom woven, printed or heat-applied label. The result is a garment that presents your brand rather than the manufacturer of the blank. This approach has been used by clothing decorators and fashion brands for many years. It provides a relatively straightforward route into creating an own-brand clothing range without having to design and manufacture every garment from the ground up. For startups in particular, it can be a useful stepping stone between simply printing a logo onto a T-shirt and commissioning completely bespoke garments. If you're at the beginning of that journey, you may also find our guide to starting your own clothing brand useful. Is It Legal to Relabel Clothing in the UK? Yes. Clothing can be relabelled in the UK, but businesses still need to comply with applicable textile-labelling and consumer-protection requirements. Relabelling shouldn't be used to mislead customers about what a product is or its characteristics. Textile products are also subject to fibre-composition labelling requirements. Removing a manufacturer's brand label therefore doesn't mean that important product information can simply be discarded. Exactly how information is retained will depend on the garment and the relabelling method being used. If you're selling clothing under your own brand, it's sensible to check the current UK requirements relevant to your products rather than assuming that replacing the neck label is the only consideration. Which Garments Can Be Relabelled? Not every blank garment is equally suitable for relabelling. If you're planning an own-brand range, one of the first things to look at is how the manufacturer's original label has been attached. Some wholesale clothing is specifically designed with relabelling in mind. You may see product descriptions containing terms such as: Tear-away label Tear-out label Removable label Cut-away label Tag-free Removable brand label These garments are generally much easier to work with because the manufacturer's branding can be removed without having to dismantle part of the garment. Other garments have labels permanently incorporated into a seam. These can sometimes still be relabelled, but removing the original label may require considerably more work. If you're unsure, it is much better to check whether a garment is suitable for relabelling before ordering hundreds of them. Our labelling and bespoke clothing team can help you choose appropriate garments before you commit to an order. How Are Original Clothing Labels Removed? This depends entirely on how the original garment has been manufactured. Tear-Away Labels These are specifically designed to be removed. The label can normally be carefully torn away from its attachment point, leaving the garment ready for your own branding. This is one of the easiest options for brands planning to relabel wholesale clothing. Cut-Away Labels Some labels are designed so that the manufacturer's branding can be carefully cut away. Depending on the garment, a separate information label may remain. Sewn-In Labels Traditional woven labels can sometimes be removed by carefully unpicking the stitching. This requires more work and isn't suitable for every garment. If the label forms part of a seam or the garment needs to be opened and resewn, considerably more labour is involved. This is why choosing the right blank garment at the beginning of a project can make a substantial difference to both cost and finish. Ways to Add Your Own Clothing Label Removing the manufacturer's branding is only half of the process. You then need to decide how your own brand will appear inside the garment. Woven Neck Labels A woven label is the traditional choice for fashion and retail clothing. Your logo, brand name or other information is woven into a physical label which is then sewn into the garment. Woven labels can create a particularly premium finish and are a good option when the label itself forms an important part of your brand identity. Printed Neck Labels Instead of sewing another physical label into the garment, your branding can be printed directly inside the neck. This creates the familiar tagless finish found on many modern T-shirts. Printed neck labels can include elements such as: Brand name Logo Garment size Website Short message or slogan They're particularly popular on T-shirts because there is no physical neck label to irritate the wearer. Heat-Applied Neck Labels Another option is to apply your branding using a heat transfer. This can provide a clean, detailed finish and works well for many garments where a tagless appearance is wanted. Suitability depends on the garment fabric and construction, so the labelling method should always be considered alongside the product being used. Swing Tags Swing tags don't