If you’ve been a parent before the age of the internet, you’ve known the dread of digging through your child’s school backpack and finding a crumpled t-shirt order form. If you were lucky, you were able to find the form before the dreaded due date. However, collecting information and money to order uniforms, gear, and apparel hasn’t only been a challenge for parents.

Coordinating bosses and supervisors in offices have long known the pain of contacting and collecting the order size, quantity, color, and cash for their employees’ uniforms. The general process consisted of gathering everyone’s order information, visiting the apparel store, and hoping no employees who forgot to turn-in their forms were left behind.

As the internet has evolved, it’s strange to look back at these old and tedious processes of shopping. In a way, none of the variables of how we shop for offices and classrooms have changed. The need to gather information on size, color, and quantity is all still present, but the approach to how we choose to shop has completely revolutionized.

Today, schools and businesses all take advantage of online shopping. However, online shopping is not simply a typical website with a virtual shopping bag. Virtual stores produced for the convenience and customization of specific apparel have elevated online shopping to become an organized and painless process.

First, an online store is developed to specifically feature the uniforms and apparel needed for students, athletes, or employees. Next, a link to the online store is sent along with an entrance ID and password. Once logged inside, users are free to browse through the different options in uniforms, apparel, and gear until they’ve finished shopping. A credit by the employer is often given to each account to make the buying process quick and convenient, and accounts without credits are able to perform a regular transition through a secure site.

Online shopping also offers the convenience of access. Links to the online store are available to view at any time. If users have questions about what apparel to order, they can simply open the site with their employers and clarify any concerns. The online stores will ultimately deactivate, but can be reactivated if users need to order apparel at a later date. Within no time at all, uniforms and apparel will be ordered, customized, and delivered.

The internet has grown and evolved to change so many different aspects to the way we shop. What once was a headache of missed due dates and lost orders forms is now a customized chance to browse and buy. We’ve come quite a long way from finding crumpled papers buried in backpacks.

Over the past year, our team has worked to collaborate and create custom leather patches to showcase and advertise different company designs and school logos. These leather patches are made not only with care and precision, but also some of the latest branding technology.

Andres Roncancio states the creation process for these custom patches begins with essential coordination between the designing team and clients. According to Roncancio, a common challenge in translating original logos into leather is the process of condensing down to a single-color design. Since most colors cannot be recreated in the natural material of the cowhide leather, Roncancio works with customers to recreate their original designs into a translatable, textured logo.

After a design is solidified, the logo is then loaded and produced by a laser table machine, which melts the final design into the cowhide material. According to Roncancio, the production process of the leather patches first began as more of an embroidery process. After testing different types of sewing technologies, the laser machine proved to manufacture the most precise and sleek finished products.

Since the laser technology is still relatively new and the production process is so precise, translating these designs into the leather patches can often be a complicated process.

Roncancio explains the natural cowhide material used in the production of these patches can often make the manipulation of complex designs difficult. While synthetic material offers more control over the laser’s melting process, the natural cowhide material provides an overall quality well worth the challenge.

As leather patches continue to trend among fashion and apparel, Roncancio is excited to continue creating and crafting different styles of leather designs. Some of his favorite finished patches include the designs for Tecate, Summit Brewing Company, and Lagunitas Brewing Company.

With a concentration in care and execution, these patches serve as a unique feature to showcase sophisticated and sleek designs and logos. As our production and technology evolve, our team looks forward to refining our approach to design and apparel. Although the ever-changing nature of these technologies and productions are complex, they challenge us to recreate and reinvent our manufacturing process.

At a glance, scarves as an accessory are products of function or fashion. Whether they’re used as a statement piece or another winter layer, scarves are stitched with different means and methods. However, scarves also serve as a memento to one of the world’s most popular sports: European football (soccer). 

Although the scarf’s origin in soccer may have been rooted in functionality, its evolution with the game has solidified it into a emblem of fandom.

So how did the scarf become such an integral symbol of team loyalty?

You see, soccer games were once not only played in winter weather, they were also greatly anticipated. Matches during holidays such as Christmas and Boxing Day were among the most attended each year. Since the frigid temperatures at these holiday games were unavoidable, fans began to rethink gameday attire.

Changing Palettes

Common gameday attire from the past included clothing and fabric mostly made of black and mute colors, meaning most soccer fans were dressed in uniformly all the same shades of black, brown, and gray. As soccer games continued to draw large crowds of fans, scarves naturally began to join outfits as another accessory to the cold.

As the fan’s wardrobe changed, so did team colors. While players originally wore their own clothing to games, they began to coordinate with teammates by wearing matching, brighter sashes to distinguish themselves from longer distances on the field. According to the Football Association, in 1867 the official FA handbook wrote-in rules calling for teams to wear uniform striped sweaters with an alternating color.

And so, teams began to showcase their stripes. Most commonly, these stripes were joined with colors decided by the players’ associated school.

Soon enough, color became contagious on the field and found its way to the fans.

Finding Common Community

With the simple striped pattern of the scarves, fans could showcase both their personal pride and passion as a community member. Even when the game schedule was eventually shifted to avoid winter weather, soccer scarves had become too significant of a prop to leave at home.

Instead, fans began to hold their scarves during matches as symbols of team loyalty, pride, and respect. Team slogans, crests, and even the faces of players began to adorn the woven fabrics.

Today, it is impossible to miss the scarves raised and waived by passionate fans in the stands. Young fans collect their first team scarf as a rite of passage and older fans often display their scarves at home.

Although they might look like a simple accessory, soccer scarves are worn and raised as a passionate tradition and exercise of team pride.