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Strategy

Trend Spotting: Women’s World Cup Branded Merchandise

Official logoed gear for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team includes potential noteworthy trends for the promo products industry.

The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is now full-throttle into the knockout rounds. As of this writing, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT), the defending champs, remained alive in the tournament, poised for a quarterfinal clash with the host nation – France – on Friday.

Regardless of how that match ends, the U.S team has already scored a victory when it comes to the high-quality branded merchandise fans can buy. We poked through the official collection to see if there were pieces that could tip off upcoming apparel trends for the promotional products industry. We found a few.

The women’s 5th & Ocean Heritage Blend Hoodie features a heathered look and color-blocked front pouch that score notable style points. Still, the biggest trend point is the obvious: The combo of a tank and hoodie. Short-sleeve and tank top hooded sweatshirts are growing in popularity, especially with younger demographics and athletics end-users. Promo pros can pitch the style to high schools, youth sports leagues, universities, health and fitness clients, corporate wellness programs, resorts and hotels, and more. Find the hoodie here.

It’s a significant testament to how mainstream and widely popular the tie-dye trend has become to see this one-time staple of counterculture apparel adorn a T-shirt in the official merch collection for an athletics-focused audience like that of the USWNT. At retail, we’ve seen similar styling on performance shirts and T-shirts, particularly for youth and young adult end-users. Takeaway: Tie-dye-inspired patterns and similar funky prints could be increasingly sought-after by promo buyers in the market for athletic wear. Find the Unisex Junkfood Tie Dye Tee here.

Raglan T-shirts with vintage printing/styling like the one above have been on-trend for a while now – and clearly continue to be. End-buyers could be everyone from musical artists to amusement parks. Still, what we really found interesting was the clean lines and decidedly modern athletic appearance of the other raglan, which is perfect for campus bookstores and alumni associations. Find them both here.

The USWNT’s red away jersey features a tonal American flag print that’s fused all-over style in the moisture-wicking polyester fabric. The same tone-on-tone flag graphic features on a training tank. Elite travel teams, gyms, athletics clients in the education market, and others could soon be looking for something similar – if they’re not already. Find it here.