A major event takes place at the NEC Birmingham on 26 – 28 February 2012 – the Printwear & Promotion Live trade show. It will be of interest to anyone who produces, sells or promotes personalised hoodies.

Britain’s leading event for the decorated garment and promotional goods market, Printwear & Promotion Live covers sports, leisure, work, corporate and school wear, as well as promotional merchandise, plus the latest advances in embroidery and screen, digital and transfer printing. With over 100 exhibitors, plus live fashion shows, workshops and seminars, everything from school leaver hoodies to embroidered polo shirts will be highlighted. There will be a strong emphasis on teamwear – as would be expected ahead of the London Olympics – with many exhibitors making their debut at the show.

The organisers have pulled out all the stops to make this the biggest and best show ever. For many tshirt printers, this will be the first occasion to see the new 2012 printwear blanks from the major suppliers, and they’ll also get the chance to see the latest direct-to-garment, sublimation, screen printing and embroidery machinery. There will also be a focus on digital printing technology, which is generating a lot of interest among garment printers looking for a new way to customise hoodies.

There will be plenty of entertainment too, in the form of the ever popular daily fashion shows, sponsored for the first time by performance sports brands Dare 2b and Regatta – known for their Coolweave Cotton. printed polo shirts. There will also be daily keynote presentations in the seminar suite, with speakers from Continental Clothing, the Soil Association and Sericol. Subjects will include tshirt printing with organic screen printing inks.