You have a jacket you want to sell under your own name. The design is settled, or nearly. Then the questions start: what goes on the label, who makes the care tag, whether a branded zip pull costs extra, what file the maker needs for the hang tag, and what the law says has to be sewn inside. Get one of these wrong and you find out when a customer, a retailer or a marketplace does.
This guide goes through every branding element on a private-label jacket in the order a customer meets them, what to send for each, and what changes the price. It applies whoever makes your jackets.
Private label, white label and fully custom
The terms get used loosely, and suppliers do not always mean the same thing by them. A working definition:
| White label | Private label | Fully custom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design | The maker’s existing design, unchanged | A base design adapted to you: leather, colour, lining, hardware, fit | Your design, from a sketch, photograph or sample garment |
| Branding | Your label added | Your labels, tags and packaging throughout | Your labels, tags and packaging throughout |
| Who else can buy it | Often anyone | Depends on the supplier; ask | Should be you only |
| Pattern | The maker’s | Adapted from a base | Made for you |
| Sampling | Often none | Usually one sample | One sample, sometimes two rounds |
The line that matters most is the third row. If the design is sold to anyone, your label is the only thing that separates your jacket from the one on the next listing. Ask any supplier whether your pattern will be used for anyone else.
Ours is not: your pattern is used for your orders only, never for another customer, another colour or a stock design, and we offer a mutual NDA before you send anything. You can start from a base in the catalogue and change it, or send your own design through custom.
Every branding element, one by one
Woven main label
The label in the collar or on the inside back neck. It is the first thing a customer sees when they open the jacket and the one that does most for perceived value. Woven labels hold fine detail and last as long as the garment; printed labels are cheaper to make but can look thin in an outer garment. Decide the size, the background colour, the thread colours, and whether it is sewn on all four sides, on two ends, or folded into a seam.
Care and content label
Usually sewn into a side seam inside the jacket. It carries the fibre content, care instructions, and the country of origin. Textile garments sold in the US generally need fibre content, country of origin and the identity of the company responsible (your company name or an RN number issued by the FTC), plus permanent care instructions under the FTC’s Care Labeling Rule. Leather garments are treated differently under parts of these rules, and garments with both leather and textile parts need some thought. Rules change and depend on the product, so confirm the requirements for each style before you print, with the FTC’s guidance or a compliance adviser.
Size label
A small separate label or a line printed on the main or care label. Separate size tabs make sorting and restocking easier for retailers. Our sizes run XS to 3XL, graded from your approved sample.
Hang tags
The card attached outside the jacket, usually on a sleeve or the main zip. It carries your brand, the style name or number, the size, and often a price or barcode. Card weight, finish, string or plastic fastener, and whether it is printed on one side or two all change how it feels in the hand. If you sell to retailers or through a marketplace warehouse, check their barcode and tag rules first.
Branded hardware
Zip pulls, snaps, buttons and buckles with your logo cast, engraved or stamped into them. It is one of the clearest signals of a considered brand, and it is the element most likely to change the price: custom hardware needs its own tooling and minimums at the hardware maker. Standard hardware in brass, nickel or gunmetal, including YKK zips, is included; branded hardware changes the price, and we quote it for your design before you commit.
Embossing and debossing
Pressing a logo into leather, either raised (embossing) or sunken (debossing). Common on leather patches, pocket tabs, zip-pull tabs and the inside facing of a leather jacket. It needs a metal die cut to your artwork, and it works best on simple marks with no fine lines. A debossed leather patch counts as decoration, which is inside our price; for embossing elsewhere on the jacket, ask and we confirm it in your quote.
Custom linings
The lining is the part a customer sees every time they put the jacket on. Options include viscose twill, quilted polyester, satin and sherpa, matched to a colour you send. Lining is included in the price; choosing quilted or satin changes it. If you want a printed lining with your pattern or logo, ask early, because it affects both sampling and lead time.
Individual bagging and hanger-ready packing
Each jacket folded or hung in its own bag, ready to go straight onto a rail or into a fulfilment bin without being repacked. If you sell through a marketplace warehouse, check its bag rules, which can include suffocation warnings and barcode placement.
What artwork to send for each element
Good files save a sampling round. Send vector artwork wherever you can, with colours given as Pantone references or a physical swatch, because screens do not show colour reliably.
| Element | What to send |
|---|---|
| Woven main label | Logo as a vector file (AI, EPS, SVG or PDF), finished size, background and thread colours, fold or edge style |
| Care and content label | Fibre content by percentage, care instructions, country of origin, your company name or RN number, any extra lines your channel requires |
| Size label | Size range and format: separate tab or printed on another label |
| Hang tag | Print-ready file front and back with bleed, finished size, card weight, fastener, barcode files if needed |
| Branded hardware | Vector logo, which pieces carry it, finish (brass, nickel, gunmetal) |
| Embossing or debossing | Simple single-colour vector mark, finished size, position |
| Lining | Colour reference or swatch; repeat file at full scale for a printed lining |
| Bags | Any print, warning text or barcode you need on the bag |
If you already have labels printed, send them and we sew those in. If you do not, send the artwork and we make them.
What is in the price, and what changes it
On our line the standard branding is included rather than billed on top. Several options change the price, and we say which before you pay.
| Included in the price | Changes the price |
|---|---|
| Woven main label | Branded hardware |
| Care and content label | Quilted or satin lining |
| Size label | Leather grade, such as full-grain hides |
| Hang tags | Heavy hardware |
| Individual bagging, hanger-ready | Complex panelling |
| Patches, embroidery, names and numbers | Chenille work |
| Colour matched to your reference |
Published prices for leather jackets start at $114 a piece all-in for 5 pieces, $102 for 50 and $95 for 200, with freight and US duty inside them, and there is no minimum order. Full figures are on pricing.
How labels make a jacket look finished
A customer rarely notices a good label. They notice a bad one immediately: a printed satin label curling at the edges, a care tag that scratches, a hang tag on thin card, a logo slightly off-centre. Small things decide whether a $180 jacket feels like a $180 jacket.
- Match the label to the garment. A dense woven label with a folded edge suits leather and melton; a thin printed label undercuts them.
- Keep the palette tight. Label, hang tag and lining in colours that belong together read as one brand.
- Put the label where the customer looks. Centre-back neck for the main label; care labels low in a side seam where they do not scratch.
- Use weight and texture on the hang tag. Heavier card with a clean layout outperforms a busy design on thin stock.
- Repeat the mark once, not everywhere. A logo on the zip pull and the main label is confident. On every surface it looks like a promotional item.
Small things decide whether a $180 jacket feels like a $180 jacket.
Your branding checklist
- Decide white label, private label or fully custom, and ask whether your pattern stays yours.
- Prepare vector logo files and Pantone references.
- Specify the main label: size, colours, fold, position.
- Write the care and content label: fibre content, care symbols, country of origin, company name or RN.
- Confirm labelling requirements for each product and each sales channel.
- Choose the size label format.
- Design the hang tag front and back, with barcodes if needed.
- Decide on standard or branded hardware, and get the price for branded before committing.
- Choose the lining and any embossed or debossed details.
- Set the packing: individual bags, any warning text, hanger-ready.
- Check every element on the sample before approving it.
Mistakes to avoid
- Wrong care symbols. The US recognises the ASTM symbol set; mixing systems or using symbols that do not match the instructions confuses customers and can fail a retailer’s review. Write the care instructions for the actual garment, especially leather, which should not be machine washed.
- Missing country of origin. Imported goods must be marked with their country of origin, and garments carry it on a sewn-in label. Leaving it off can hold up the shipment at customs.
- Fibre content that does not add up. Percentages must match the real fabric, shell and lining declared separately where the rules ask for it.
- Low-resolution logos. A JPEG from a website will not weave cleanly. Send vector files.
- Fine detail on small labels. Thin lines and small text fill in when woven. Simplify the mark for labels and dies.
- Approving the sample without checking labels. The sample is the standard the order is made to. If the label is wrong on the sample, it will be wrong on every piece.
- Forgetting the channel’s rules. Retailers and marketplace warehouses often have their own tag, barcode and bagging requirements.
Nothing of ours appears on the jacket
A private-label jacket should carry one brand: yours. On our orders, the jacket arrives hanger-ready with your label in the collar and nothing of ours on the label, the hang tag, the hardware, the lining or the bag. That holds for a single piece and for two hundred.
For retailers this matters twice: the jacket can sit on your rail beside your own range, and you can reorder what sold in the sizes it sold in without a container.
Summary and next steps
- Private label means your branding throughout on a design adapted to you; ask who else can buy the design.
- Main label, care and content label, size label, hang tags, bagging and hanger-ready packing are included on our line.
- Branded hardware, quilted or satin linings and leather grade change the price, and we quote them before you pay.
- Confirm US care, fibre and origin labelling requirements for each product before you print.
- Send vector artwork and check every label on the sample before approving it.
The fastest way to see your branding on a real jacket is a sample: about 14 days to your door, duty-paid, with the fee credited against your first order. Start with a sample, or read more for brands.
