The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Over the past several months it seems that someone posts "I want to start a Affliction or Ed Hardy clothing line" but has no clue where to begin or understands how hard it is. So here is my rant to help you guys as much as i can. Feel free to add some more info if i miss something.
Is it hard to get the same shirts?
Yes and no.
The best bet is to get shirts from Bare apparel (only wholesale company that offers tea stain and lava wash shirts as far as i know) or contact JS Apparel. That is the company that supposedly makes the shirts for Affliction, Ed Hardy and god knows who else. Some are made in the USA and some are made over seas.
What ink do they use and how do I get a soft hand print like them?
That is simple. Discharge Printing. This process removes the physical dye from the shirt and replaces it with a colored pigment of your choice (or just don't use anything and get the bleach kinda look) without damaging the fibers like bleach would.
How do they print all over the shirt?
Some people would say cut and sew for these brands but it is not. Its all done by belt printer or by a auto press with over sized pallets for Affliction, Xtreme Coutoure, Archaic, Warrior Wear and Tap Out. I am absolutely amazed at how many misaligned prints Xtreme Coutoure has. Its pretty crazy. My friend owns a fight shop and I stare at these shirts every time im there. Some are so off center its funny. Still sells though.
How do they get the gold or shinny lettering on there?
Its foil. It comes in gold, red, silver, blue or any other colors you can think of. You screen a adhesive or plastisol on the shirt then pop it in a heat press with the foil on top close it and it sticks to wherever there is adhesive or plastisol. Voila. Shiny letters.
Here is a list of fight companies and the shirts they use. Feel free to ad some stuff. I am revealing a couple of manufacturers that some of you may not be familiar with but I poked around enough that i found out what most use.
Affliciton, Ed Hardy, Archaic, Extreme Couture, Sinful = JS Apparel
Tap Out, Premiere fighter, Warrior Wear (basic shirts), Triumph United, Hostility and many others = Allstyle Apparel or B & H company
Warrior Wear womens and premium mens shirts = Apparel Wiz
That's my post. Enjoy and lets build on it so we don't have to keep making the same posts over and over. Could make it a sticky there Rodney since this seems to be such a popular subject as of late.
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Their shirts go through many treatments and washes. Very custom and expensive. The closest thing you will get get is Bare Apparel for those or a some sort of the acid washed shirt from American Apparel or Alternative. Unless you order alot of PFD shirts yourself and go to a dye/wash house you will never get the same shirt.
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Look at this Ed Hardy shirt. There is no way that this is printed on a belt printer. The print covers the entire front, and continues to the back of the shirt. There are too many colors in the design to be printed on a belt printer after the shirt is assembled also. Color registration is a major issue, and that many halftone/process colors printed on a belt printer would never line up. I think most are belt printed, but some are cut and sewn.
__________________ Unik Ink Specialty Printing-oversize & all over printing
Impressions 2008 Awards winner- Manual Textile Screen Printing
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Unik Ink
Look at this Ed Hardy shirt. There is no way that this is printed on a belt printer. The print covers the entire front, and continues to the back of the shirt. There are too many colors in the design to be printed on a belt printer after the shirt is assembled also. Color registration is a major issue, and that many halftone/process colors printed on a belt printer would never line up. I think most are belt printed, but some are cut and sewn.
You are right. I didnt mean to say every single shirt was done by a belt printer. Especially for Ed Hardy. This post should have been more about just the fight gear. Xtreme Coutoure is all belt printed and so on. You would honestly be surprised if you saw how many of those dont line up. Also each shirt is different even though its the same design most of the time. I should try to post some pics of the actual shirts if I have time to go down there and take photos so you can see the differences.
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by fresh123
I know some of their shirts go through lots of treatments, but many of them don't.
Like these:
What brands of shirts would be similar to those?
Many brands are like those. Your best bet is JS Apparel (very well priced). If you want that super soft shirt you should look for the 30/1 ring spun cotton. Even the American apparel 50/50 poly cotton shirt is super soft and similar in style.
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
that is a tube body tee shirt so cut and sew is out. i could print this on my 20x28" press. yes that shirt has been loaded 3 times. first you print the back, flash the discharge, rotate to the side, print, flash, rotate to the front, over print the discharge(yes the prints overlap) and adhesive, flash, then run it through a gas dryer and heat press the foil. at $75 bucks each you can handle a shirt a few times no sweat. the printing is the easy part, finding a artist who knows how to design for this type of work is rare. stan
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by staned
that is a tube body tee shirt so cut and sew is out. i could print this on my 20x28" press. yes that shirt has been loaded 3 times. first you print the back, flash the discharge, rotate to the side, print, flash, rotate to the front, over print the discharge(yes the prints overlap) and adhesive, flash, then run it through a gas dryer and heat press the foil. at $75 bucks each you can handle a shirt a few times no sweat. the printing is the easy part, finding a artist who knows how to design for this type of work is rare. stan
I can't comment on how that shirt is printed, but I can tell you that Ed Hardy shirts are side seamed, not tubular.
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
yes it looked like it was a fitted tee, kinda had a coke bottle look to it. i'm still pretty sure about the printing as i've had to do a job like this. thanks stan
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Bare has some very nice choices for those that want to run with a processed t.
Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier/C-Bara/Smet are all owned by Christian Audigier. He has many contractors that do full package programs for him so some styles will vary a little from the other. I just visited a full package house that does Ed Hardy and is running 20,000 units a week for him!
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
i think it's pretty cool that the market has gotten to the point that no one blinks at a $75 price tag for a tee shirt. opens up the designs to more extreme printing and larger profit for the print shop. stan
Re: The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by staned
i think it's pretty cool that the market has gotten to the point that no one blinks at a $75 price tag for a tee shirt. opens up the designs to more extreme printing and larger profit for the print shop. stan
Not sure how long that's going to last with the economy in ruins. I think that "contemporary" is going to go away since a lot of the contemporary designers are now offering their product at discounted prices to move product. When things get better and these contemporary designers start to hike their prices up the boutiques will be asking why prices are going up when they were able to offer product at a reduced price.
is this "discharge printing"? like to get that print, wouldnt it need to be like rubber to catch all that detail?
Yes! They just reset the shirt on the pallet so they could hit the side. That's how you get the rap around print but you have to make sure the artwork works with it.
This is a discussion about The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!! that was posted in the General T-Shirt Selling Discussion section of the forums.
The Ultimate Affliction, Ed hardy and so on post!!! 
