Custom Clothing Labels and Packaging for Private Label Brands

A customer picks your hoodie off the rail. Before they try it on, they have already read three things: the brand name stitched inside the collar, the hang tag, and the bag it came out of. None of those are the garment. All three decide whether it reads as a mass-market label or a premium one.

Labels and packaging are the cheapest part of a private label order and the part most often left to the last minute. That ordering is backwards. A woven label has to be woven, a hang tag has to be printed, and both have to arrive at the sewing floor before the first garment is finished. If you start these conversations after bulk production begins, you will either ship with the factory's stock labels or delay the whole order.

What Counts as Clothing Labels and Packaging?

Buyers use "label" loosely. In production, five different items get called a label, and they are ordered from different suppliers at different times. When brands ask us to quote custom clothing labels, they usually mean two of them: the brand label in the neck and the care label in the side seam.

Item	Where It Sits	Its Job
Brand label	Centre back neck, inside	Carries your logo and brand name
Care and content label	Inside side seam	Fibre content, origin and washing instructions
Size label	Below the brand label or in the side seam	Size designation for the market you are selling into
Flag tag	Side seam, hanging outward	Small folded tag with the logo or a short slogan
Hang tag	Attached to the garment at retail	Price, barcode, size, brand story

A private label clothing packaging order is a separate list: the polybag the garment is folded into, the tissue paper or sticker inside it, and the mailer or gift box for direct-to-consumer orders. We produce accessories and packaging alongside the garment through our own custom apparel production process, which is why a first order can ship with your labels already sewn in rather than arriving plain and needing a second trip.

Which Label Type Should You Choose?

Choose woven when the label is part of the brand and will be read up close. Choose printed when you need fine detail, small text or many colours, and when the label is a legal care label rather than a design element. Choose heat transfer when the garment is sheer or lightweight and a sewn label would show through or scratch. Choose a leather or faux-leather patch when the product is a cap, a denim jacket or anything workwear-adjacent. Choose satin when the budget is tight and the label sits against the skin.

Label Type	How It Is Made	Strengths	Limits
Woven	Threads woven into the design on a loom	Premium feel, does not fade, unlimited washes	Small text and fine gradients are hard to weave
Printed (satin or cotton)	Ink printed onto a ribbon, then cut and folded	Cheapest, sharp detail, multi-colour and small type	Print can wear with repeated industrial washing
Heat transfer	Printed film pressed onto the fabric	No stitching, invisible from outside, very light	Can lift at the edges on stretch fabric
Satin	Woven or printed on smooth satin ribbon	Soft against the skin, low cost, good for care labels	Feels less substantial than woven
Leather or faux-leather patch	Debossed, embossed or stitched patch	Strong visual statement on caps and outerwear	Heavier, higher cost, not suitable for lightweight knits

Most brands end up with two: a woven brand label in the neck and a printed care label in the side seam. That pairing gives you the premium feel where it is seen and the fine print where it is legally required.

What Has to Appear on a Care and Content Label?

This is the part that is not a design decision. In the United States, the FTC requires fibre content, country of origin and either care instructions or a warning that the item should be washed before use. In the EU, the fibre composition must be listed in descending order by weight, and care symbols follow the ISO 3758 standard. Getting this wrong is not a branding problem; it is a compliance one, and it can stop a shipment at customs.

Practically, that means the care label has to be locked before the fabric is finalised, because the fibre percentages come from the fabric, not from your design. If you switch from a 100% cotton jersey to a 60/40 blend mid-project, the care label changes with it. Order the care labels after the fabric is confirmed, not before.

What to Specify on a Label Order

A clothing label manufacturer asks for the same handful of details every time. Sending them in one message instead of five avoids a week of back-and-forth.

Field	Example	Why It Matters
Label type	Woven, damask weave, both sides	Determines cost, lead time and how fine the detail can be
Size in millimetres	30 × 50 mm, folded centre	Width is capped by the neckline opening
Fold	Centre fold, end fold or straight cut	Wrong fold means the label will not sit flat when sewn
Colours and thread	Pantone references, ground colour, thread type	Thread colour affects both look and cost
Backing and finish	Soft backing, laser-cut edges, heat-seal	Rough edges scratch; this is a comfort decision
Quantity per size	600 total, 150 each of XS–L	Size labels are usually ordered per size, not per style

One detail that catches people out: size labels are counted per size, not per garment type. If you order 600 tees across four sizes, you need 150 of each size label, not 600 of one. The same applies to custom hang tags with the size printed on them.

Packaging Options for a Private Label Order

Packaging splits into two jobs. Wholesale packaging has to protect the garment and carry a barcode. Direct-to-consumer packaging has to survive a courier and create an unboxing moment. Most brands need both, because the same style sells through a stockist and through their own store.

Option	Best For	What to Watch
Polybag with size sticker	Wholesale and stockist orders	Some markets now restrict single-use plastic; ask for a recycled or paper option
Printed hang tag	Retail and marketplace listings	Barcode and size must match the label inside the garment
Tissue paper and sticker	DTC orders, gifting	Adds a fold step, so it needs to be planned into packing time
Branded mailer or gift box	Launch drops and premium price points	Bulky items raise freight cost more than the box itself costs
Woven or printed tape and seals	Any unboxing-led brand	Cheap to add and it is the first thing the customer photographs

We source zippers, buttons, drawcords and trims through the same channel as the labels, so a single order can include the garment, its branding and its packaging. Using one clothing packaging supplier for all of it removes the classic failure where the garments are finished, the labels are still on a boat, and the launch slips three weeks.

What Do Labels and Packaging Add to Unit Cost?

Less than most first-time brands expect, provided the quantities make sense. The figures below are the pattern we see on private label orders; the exact number depends on label type, colour count and whether the packaging is stock or custom.

Order Size	Cost Pattern	What Drives It
Under 500 pcs	Highest per-unit label cost	Weaving and printing have their own minimums; you pay for unused capacity
500–2,000 pcs	Cost falls sharply	Most label minimums are cleared; you move to a realistic unit price
2,000+ pcs	Low and stable	Driven by label size, colour count and thread, not by quantity
Any size, stock packaging	Cheapest packaging route	Stock polybags and blank tags carry no tooling cost
Any size, custom box	Adds tooling plus freight	A die-cut box needs a plate; volume is the only way to spread it

The practical rule: order your labels at the same quantity as the garment, and do not order a custom box for a first run of 300. Start with stock packaging and a printed sticker, prove the style sells, then invest in tooling on the repeat. If your first order is small, read our guide to low MOQ clothing manufacturing first, because the same minimums apply to labels.

How Long Do Labels Add to Lead Time?

Woven labels typically need the longest run-up because the design has to be woven to a jacquard file and the loom scheduled. Printed labels are quicker. Custom packaging, especially a die-cut box, is usually the slowest item in the whole project and the one most likely to be forgotten.

The scheduling rule that matters: labels must be at the sewing floor before the garments reach the collar-attaching stage. A label arriving a week late does not add a week to the order; it can stop the line entirely, because garments cannot be finished without them. Give the label and packaging specification to your manufacturer at the same time as the garment spec, not after sampling. Our breakdown of custom clothing manufacturing lead time shows where the label stage sits in the sequence.

Five Mistakes That Delay a Label and Packaging Order

Mistake	What It Costs You	Fix
Ordering labels after sampling	Label lead time gets added to the whole order	Start the label conversation at the same time as the garment spec
Care label written before the fabric is confirmed	Whole label run has to be redone if the blend changes	Lock fabric first, then order care labels
Artwork supplied as a low-resolution image	Fine text in the logo becomes unreadable	Send vector files; simplify the mark for weaving
Size labels ordered as one quantity	Some sizes run short, others are left over	Order per size against the size curve
Custom box ordered for a first run	Tooling cost per unit becomes uneconomic	Use stock packaging plus a printed sticker until volume is proven

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum order for custom woven labels?

Woven label suppliers usually set their own minimum in the low thousands of pieces per design, because a jacquard file and a loom setup have to be paid for. That minimum is separate from your garment minimum. In practice most brands order labels at the same quantity as the garments and simply accept that a 300-piece order carries a higher label cost per unit.

Should the care label be woven or printed?

Printed, in most cases. Care labels carry a lot of small text and symbols, and fine type is exactly what weaving handles badly. A printed satin or cotton care label is cheaper, sharper and easier to update when the fabric changes. Keep the woven label for the brand mark where the texture is the point. Custom printed labels for clothing are also cheaper to reorder, which matters because the care label has to be rewritten every time the fabric changes.

Can I put my own labels on a stock garment?

Yes, and it is a common way to launch quickly. You can buy an in-stock style and have your own brand label and care label sewn in, with your hang tag and packaging added. The garment itself is not exclusive, so this works best as a first season or a test, not as a long-term position. If you want the fit and fabric to be yours, that is a custom development and follows a different route.

Does custom packaging increase shipping cost?

It can, and the effect is bigger than most people plan for. Packaging is bulky rather than heavy, so a gift box can raise freight noticeably even though the box itself is cheap. For international orders, compare the landed cost of a branded mailer against a polybag plus sticker before committing to a custom box on a large run.

How early should I order labels and packaging?

At the same time you confirm the garment specification, and before sampling if possible. The label artwork can be developed in parallel with the fit samples, and the care label content only has to be finalised once the fabric is locked. Treating labels as a late add-on is the single most common reason a private label order ships late.

Next Step: Get Your Branding Spec Priced

Whether you need custom clothing labels and packaging as one order or as two, send us the garment, the label artwork and the packaging you have in mind, and we will come back with a combined quote that covers the garment, the branding and the packing. Doing it as one order is almost always cheaper than three suppliers and it removes the scheduling risk.

We produce knitwear across t-shirts, dresses and women's co-ords, and handle accessories and packaging through the same production process. Comparing a garment label manufacturer China-based or closer to home comes down to two questions: what is the minimum per design, and will they hold stock for your reorder? Read the questions to ask a private label clothing manufacturer before you place the order, or request a quote with your label artwork attached.