Feel like shopping for clothes with someone else’s wallet? ASI Show Fort Worth offered that possibility, featuring leading retail brands, high-end basics and curated niche finds. Apparel suppliers in the promo industry continue to elevate the style standard with trend-forward offerings that would feel at home on retail shelves. Here’s what suppliers showcased across a range of popular apparel and headwear categories.

Polos

Through the years, the polo has remained a staple of corporate wear – universally deployed, but rarely beloved. Still, this category always has room for subtle innovation that more creatively incorporates branding while still emphasizing comfort.

Counselor Top 40 supplier SanMar (asi/84863) has released a new polo under its Port Authority line featuring a longer placket and a true dress shirt collar – in line with trending menswear brand Collars & Co. The polo can be worn by itself, but can also mimic a dress shirt when part of a layered combo. “When I wear a sport coat, I wear this underneath it,” pointed out Jason Ziemann, a territory manager for the company.

This Port Authority polo (K700) from SanMar (asi/84863) features a longer placket and spread collar that looks like a dress shirt when underneath a sport coat or quarter zip.

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Siva Kandaswamy of Sparkpolo (asi/88427) points out that most polos in the market, regardless of price point or quality, are ultimately the same. “At the end of the day,” he said, “they’re all blanks. It’s not specific to the brand.” The custom polos from Sparkpolo take a different approach. The Buford, GA-based company features tasteful step-and-repeat prints that double as subtle branding – Toyota logos that from afar look like geometric patterns, or a shirt for food brand Tyson decorated all over in tiny chicken feet.

Sparkpolo also adds woven and silicon labels for an additional subtle branding hit, and has added coordinating hoodie and quarter-zip styles where the pattern can be incorporated in the inner lining. “We don’t want the wearer to be a walking billboard,” Kandaswamy said.

This custom polo (1001) by Sparkpolo (asi/88427) for Toyota features a branded allover print and coordinating lining in a new quarter-zip style.

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Workwear

Workwear is another category that continues to evolve – incorporating stylish, everyday comfort outfits that can be worn on the job, at home and everywhere in between.

“Workwear has become trendier, like a fashion piece,” said Zoe Klement, brand channel specialist for Dri Duck Traders (asi/50835). The Overland Park, KS-based supplier was backing up the statement with tasteful crossover outerwear such as a canvas bomber and a dry canvas jacket that are sturdy enough for tough jobs but designed for broader appeal.

The 8-oz. cotton/nylon jacket (left, 5057) from Dri Duck Traders (asi/50835) features stylish details like a quilted lining and zippered pocket.

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At the show, Counselor Top 40 supplier Workwear Outfitters (asi/98258) featured several new pieces across its stable of brands, including uniform company OOBE, which it purchased in 2024 and brought back into the promo market. With the intention of “providing quality product from the front of the house to the back of the house,” said National Account Manager Jamie Lasher, the Nashville-based supplier featured sleek quarter zips, attractive price-point polos and lightweight SPF 50 hoodies especially suited for marine, landscaping and construction. The supplier has also incorporated stretch into its classic twill shirts, as well as pants from Dickies and Bulwark. “We’re trying to be more enticing to that younger demographic,” said Lasher. “We want to be more retail-friendly and retail-designed.”

This Red Kap quarter zip from Workwear Outfitters (asi/98258) features a cadet collar and performance fabrics.

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Tops

Long ignored and then begrudgingly acknowledged, women’s apparel is finally getting its due with tops that are stylish and polished yet still ultra comfortable. Charles River Apparel (asi/44620) featured the Willow mock-neck sweatshirt, made from soft cotton-recycled polyester fleece and available in four refined colors.

This women’s mock-neck sweatshirt (5726) from Charles River Apparel (asi/44620) features a trendy high neckline and soft cotton-recycled poly fleece fabric.

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SanMar’s spacer knit fabric, particularly in the MERCER+METTLE quarter- (MM3100/MM3101) and full-zip styles (MM3102/MM3103), have been an instant hit with end-buyers and end-users. The garments are available in a warm range of neutrals that includes Celestial Blue, Purple Ash and Silver Pine.

Counselor Top 40 supplier S&S Activewear (asi/84358) showed off a passel of trendy tops at the show, including an eye-catching quarter zip from Adidas with retro colorblocking across the shoulders and sleeves in polished neutrals like Halo Blue and Alumina.

This Adidas women’s quarter zip (A601) from S&S Activewear (asi/84358) is made from recycled polyester fleece and features bold colorblocking.

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Meanwhile, according to S&S Activewear Strategic Account Manager Sydney Myers, T-shirts continue to skew “urban” and “heavyweight” with features like drop shoulders and boxy cuts. For example, the company’s new American Apparel French terry mid-length boxy top (FTCB0) sports a wide rib collar and oversized fit. That and other tops pair easily with the American Apparel women’s French terry wide leg pants (FTP00). “Sets with matching sweatshirts and pants are really big right now,” Myers added.

Neutrals and earth tones were all over the show, but Los Angeles Apparel (asi/67971), which has a flagship store in Soho, has witnessed a different trend. “We’ve seen in our store that the neons are back,” remarked Pat Honda, who handles sales and other tasks for the company. The supplier – which manufactures all of its wares in Los Angeles – featured several new products, including a garment-dyed Supima tee, a thermal-lined fleece hoodie, a light cotton poplin jacket and a sheer cheesecloth shirt.

This heavyweight garment-dyed hoodie (HF-09) from Los Angeles Apparel (asi/67971) is available in a wide range of colors, including bright orange.

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Smart Blanks (asi/87811) debuted a new wash collection in three styles: vintage, mineral wash and “grunge” that featured splotches along seams and pockets and other swaths of fabric – an ultra-trendy look for a younger demographic. “There was a very big trend this past year with paint spray looks,” said Shayan Yusuf, who handles marketing for the Anaheim, CA-based supplier.

Headwear

As if it wasn’t already apparent, the excess of attendees wearing ballcaps on the show floor confirmed that headwear has morphed from casual only into a staple of modern fashion that can be worn in practically any social setting. Headwear suppliers continue to iterate the category with new styles and decoration techniques.

Caps Direct (asi/43804) featured hats with its unique “AI Print” – a step up from sublimated embroidery that allows for fine details and unique touches. “It gives it a new dimensional look,” said JaMya Dean, associate merchandiser for the Overland Park, KS-based supplier.

The “AI Print” used on these hats from Caps Direct (asi/43804) allows for fine detail on embroidery, patches and transfers.

Hunter Wilson, territory sales rep for Counselor Top 40 supplier Outdoor Cap (asi/75420), said five-panel rope caps continue to be on fire, with duck camo prints in particular proving very popular. The Bentonville, AR-based supplier is now selling apparel items, such as fishing shirts and performance hoodies, that serve as a natural complement to industries purchasing hats.

In addition, the company showed colorful headbands from JUNK Brands; the performance T-shirt-like fabric makes it a natural tie-in to industries such as construction and medical, along with sports teams and exercise-focused clients. “It really started in the CrossFit space,” Wilson said, “but it expanded big into youth team sports.”

This JUNK Brands performance headband (Big Bang Lite) from Outdoor Cap Company (asi/75420) is suited for a variety of industries.

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