How Custom Can We Get? True Stories of Extreme Custom Orders That May Surprise You
Every article of custom sports apparel Boathouse makes for teams, groups, or individuals is truly custom. We match your fabrics, colors, options, notions and of course, logos to fit your brand, personality, sport, environment, and budget. Once we were even asked to take a chunk of painted block from a stadium's basement to color match for a Pro Football team – and we did! So how custom can we get? Here are some true stories of extreme custom orders that might surprise you.
Custom Waterproof Jackets For Journalists Reporting Extreme Weather.
A worldwide broadcasting company contracted us to build a specific product for their TV journalists. They couldn’t get the required level of customization from other outerwear brands who import, but luckily found Boathouse online and learned that we could build the large amount of custom waterproof jackets rated 8,000mm or higher in a very particular color, with specific branding needs, that meet their exact specifications in a very short time. At least 8,000mm waterproof rating? No Problem! Boathouse Gore-Tex Jackets are rated at 28,000mm, meaning they can withstand 28,000mm of rainfall in a single day without letting moisture in.
A Jacket That Looks Like A Pill Or Nasal Spray Packaging?
Some of the most fun and challenging custom built products came to us from the pharmaceutical and tech industries. We designed & made hundreds of purple Gore-Tex Jackets with yellow stripes to match the launch of a new “purple pill”. (Any guess on what pill? let us know in the comments below!) We designed & built thousands of jackets in the exact 3 colors to match nasal spray packaging, which was challenging but not impossible as the colors were nowhere on the spectrum of normal athletic or fashion colors. We custom dyed these colors within only a few weeks time, and delivered the order a few weeks after that. Along with the fabrics we emblazoned the brand over the entire jacket. The custom jackets were issued to the entire sales force promoting the product.
Another fun project was for "the pioneer of cable movies and content". To be used as an employee holiday gift, we made these jackets to match the brand colors and logo. This was not too difficult as the colors were close to our standard. The challenge here was to make matching jackets for the CEO’s dogs – which we did – thanks to one of our floor managers who has been making dog coats for years.
On the tech side we often build products, mostly in sublimated tops, with crazy colors and graphics to match their brand launches, company events, new strategies – cause what’s better than to wear the strategy you are pursuing?
Some of the Most Unique Custom Color Challenges Come From Pro Football.
It was early 2000’s and many of the pro football teams were rebranding. As part of the rebrand the graphics people they hired were getting particularly touchy about the base colors. (A note to all graphic designers working in other mediums…while you can create any colors digitally, other than print, it’s very expensive to create fabrics, notions, and textiles in small quantities). We were making all of the Gore-Tex Parkas, Jackets and sideline gear for the Pro football teams at this time and asked to invest in 3 or 4 different shades of burgundy. That seems a bit excessive, don’t you think? We had to provide Cardinal for one team, Claret for another team, Burgundy for another team…light Maroon for another. We did it and most got consumed, but thankfully they went back a few years later to more consistent colors (phew). Another Pro Football team chose the color Cobalt. This was one of our favorites, but they dropped it a few years later in another round of rebranding.
We Can Match A Football Uniform Color to a Chunk Of Block.
But the most creative and challenging came from our local team, whom we root for ALWAYS. The team wanted a darker, vibrant, unique green. One of the leaders of the team hired an artist to paint about 100 shades of “darker, vibrant, unique green” in the bowels of the old stadium, on the interior cinder blocks. In order for Boathouse to match the chosen green we were summoned to the basement of the stadium, and shown the selected color on the cinder block. When asked the color standard specifications being used no one could say. We were told to take the chunk of the block to match the color. And so we did. Took one shot. We dyed three fabrics to match the local team color and the rest is history.
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