ImagesMagUK_March_2021

www.images-magazine.com 50 images MARCH 2021 A ccording to Geoff Thorne “leavers transfers have quickly become as much a tradition in the calendar as end-of- year school photographs and provide for the pupil a wearable personal memento of fun times with classmates before he or she moves onto the next stage in life”. As managing director of Jester Prints, which for more than 40 years has provided a textile transfer manufacturing service – from creating the artwork through to making the final no-weed transfer, ready for decorators to apply to hoodies – it’s an area of the market Geoff knows well. Being proactive The issue this year, and to some extent last year, is that ‘fun times’ with classmates have been thin on the ground. Lockdowns combined with socially distanced learning has meant that some students who are currently in their final year of A-levels might not even know all their fellow students. And school leaders, already under significant pressure, understandably might not have ‘order hoodies’ at the top of their to do list. It’s up to decorators to be more proactive this year if the usual orders are still to come in – and the signs are that hoodies are not only still wanted by students, but are being Lockdown leavers Leavers hoodies have increased in popularity in the UK over recent years. Images finds out what impact the pandemic is having on these profitable products less likely that they have the group dynamic that makes leavers hoodies exciting, especially for sixth formers.” It may be, however, that orders are going to come later this year, if Geoff’s experience is replicated across the country. “It’s too early to tell for 2021, but in 2020 the demand seemed pretty similar to pre-pandemic years,” he says. “The size of orders was very similar but, not surprisingly due to school closures and lockdowns, orders were placed a lot later than in previous years.” Indeed, he ran the first ‘21’ style transfers last year at the same time that some late orders for 2020 were still coming in. bought as a memento of a year that will – hopefully – be like no other. Ohm Clothing in Devizes, Wiltshire, would normally contact schools in January about hoodies, but changed its approach this year due to the pandemic, says director Jemma Brown. “We started to talk to schools in September 2020, mainly because we thought it would be great to give the leavers a chance to have something special, as soon as possible.” The change in ordering schedules was already evident last year. Aimee Hibberd, director of Sticky Ink Studios in Newport, Wales, says the company would usually expect to get enquiries around November/December time, with work (ie getting the advertising out to students so they can pick the garments and/or designs they want) starting in January, with a cut-off for orders around the end of March/ mid-April. “During the pandemic so far we had schools make contact [with us] much later in the year – one as late as the start of May – as they decided leavers hoodies might make their students feel more normal, but it’s certainly a lot different to previous years,” says Aimee. Demand for hoodies has “definitely dropped”, Aimee continues, which she believes is mostly due to pupils not physically being in school. “It seems Jester Prints manufactures no-weed transfers for leavers’ hoodies Students are being offered a greater colour choice this year, says Jemma Brown of Ohm Clothing