This Gildan-owned T-shirt model is popping up in all places

When trying by means of Wyatt Cannon’s T-shirt assortment, there is a frequent theme: the Consolation Colours label.

Rising up, Cannon would usually discover Consolation Colours attire when on the lookout for souvenirs throughout household journeys. In school, Cannon satisfied his a cappella group to display screen print on the corporate’s clean shirts. When the 24-year-old has made tie-dye T-shirts for himself, it is with Consolation Colours product.

“I’ve liked this model my complete life,” stated Cannon, who estimates round half of his shirts are Consolation Colours. “This sort of materials and texture and vibe of T-shirt ought to simply be extra of the usual.”

Cannon is a part of a loyal and rising base of shoppers driving demand for the half-century-old, Gildan-owned shirt model. The label’s ballooning success in recent times can assist clarify Gildan’s inventory outperformance and has led to plans for an enlargement into further product classes.

Gildan is tight-lipped about particular model efficiency and declined to share Consolation Colours’ gross sales information with CNBC. However firm executives have stated Consolation Colours took off, particularly during the last yr, and has turn into a number one model inside Gildan, which additionally sells attire beneath its namesake label and American Attire.

“Consolation Colours might be the fastest-growing trend model,” Glenn Chamandy, Gildan’s co-founder and CEO, stated throughout a name with analysts earlier this yr. “Once you stroll right into a memento retailer as we speak, you may see Consolation Colours on each single a kind of tables the place you used to see trend manufacturers earlier than.”

Gildan acquired Consolation Colours for round $100 million in 2015 in hopes of increasing inside the fundamentals class of North America’s printwear market, in line with a press launch saying the deal. On the time, Gildan known as the Vermont-based attire maker “one of the crucial acknowledged manufacturers” in locations like school bookstores and resorts.

The model publicizes that its shirts are 100% cotton from the U.S. Its “pigment pure” dyeing system creates the shirts’ “signature pale look” and requires much less power and water use than different comparable processes, Gildan says.

Consolation Colours’ recognition exploded in 2024 with round 40% year-over-year development, firm executives have stated on earnings calls. That helped drive gross sales in Gildan’s broader activewear class 6% larger in the identical interval.

Chamandy informed analysts in late July that Consolation Colours is “knocking it out of the field once more this yr” and helped push the activewear class up 12% within the second quarter. The model is planning to develop into hats, luggage and women-specific clothes in 2026 because it rings in its fiftieth anniversary, Howard Upchurch, advertising and marketing and merchandise chief at Gildan, stated in a press release to CNBC.

Gildan, which introduced earlier this yr it was buying Hanesbrands because it additional builds out its fundamental attire enterprise, is predicted to report earnings on the finish of this month.

U.S.-listed shares of Gildan, which is a Canadian-based firm, have surged greater than 175% during the last 5 years. That is nearly double the extensively adopted S&P 500‘s return over the identical interval.

Although Gildan has touted Consolation Colours as a hit story inside its bigger empire, shoppers have not essentially made the connection.

Cannon stated he views Consolation Colours as “crunchy” and “granola,” whereas Gildan feels just like the “peak of consumption capitalism.” The Connecticut-based advertising and marketing supervisor stated Consolation Colours’ distinctive tag of woven cloth is one high quality that makes the model really feel extra “homey.”

On Etsy, printers hawk Consolation Colours shirts with numerous designs and a few even permit buyers to add their very own. The model has additionally gotten a lift from TikTok, the place content material creators share movies of their Consolation Colours merchandise that viewers should purchase through the platform’s buying characteristic.

Relative search quantity for Consolation Colours within the U.S. spiked to all-time highs on Google this yr, underscoring the model’s rising consciousness amongst shoppers. Then again, Gildan has tumbled in search recognition from a peak in 2023.

Consolation Colours has amassed a “very loyal” base made up notably of Gen Z clients, in line with Sheng Lu, an affiliate professor on the College of Delaware whose analysis focuses on the attire business.

These younger buyers worth consolation and classic aptitude, each of which align with Consolation Colours’ merchandise, Lu stated. Consolation Colours’ emphasis on sustainability may bode properly with a buyer base that is aware of their environmental footprint.

“This model positively is in an excellent spot,” Lu stated.

Consolation Colours’ rise is especially fascinating on condition that the model focuses extra on promoting in bulk than on to shoppers, in contrast to different T-shirt makers like Nike, Lu stated. He defined that since Consolation Colours is especially promoting product through middlemen who can display screen print on them, the shirts find yourself showing extra distinctive — which is one other fascinating high quality for Gen Z buyers.

Behind the scenes, Gildan is probably going benefiting from Consolation Colours’ sourcing within the Western Hemisphere, Lu stated. Whereas nations on this area have been hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the levies have usually been much less steep than these slapped on Asia, he stated.

As a result of buyers are inclined to view T-shirts as a staples, these things could present stability even when client sentiment falls, Lu stated.

Plus, throughout the nation, Consolation Colours shirts are outfitting social teams and sitting on merchandise stands at occasions. Musical acts together with Maggie Rogers and Mumford & Sons printed tour merchandise on Consolation Colours shirts. Manufacturers starting from Coors Gentle to Star Trek promote its attire, as do native bars and eateries. Ladies’s soccer staff Gotham Soccer Membership has a number of official Consolation Colours spirit put on shirts.

When Chelsea Inexperienced opened The Yard Milkshake Bar, she already knew of Consolation Colours from seeing the model on school campuses. She stated it is the preferred kind of merchandise for The Yard Milkshake Bar, notably with youthful buyers who’re acquainted the model and generally use the shirts for sleepwear or as seaside coverups.

“I knew that I had Consolation Colours T-shirts already in my closet,” Inexperienced stated. “I used to be like, ‘that is what I need.’ I did not even analysis it.”

To make sure, Inexperienced acknowledged that the shirts will be pricier than some opponents’ and he or she at instances bumped into provide shortages through the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the colour choices and high quality have made overcoming these obstacles worthwhile, she stated.

Social organizations comparable to Cannon’s collegiate a cappella group have additionally turned to Consolation Colours. Equally, fraternity Sigma Chi and sorority Pi Beta Phi every promote dozens of Consolation Colours shirts of their on-line outlets.

On a fraternity-focused Reddit discussion board, a person requested what T-shirt manufacturers folks used for display screen printing. One respondee stated Consolation Colours is their “go-to.” Use Consolation Colours, one other stated, “otherwise you’re liable to getting tar and feathered.”