Use Our Data: Make Custom Apparel Your Frat Will Love
Fresh Prints makes custom apparel for college students ALL the time. We even hire student entrepreneurs to run our business on their campuses. In 2022 alone, we printed 671,939 products and created 203,833 designs.
It comes as no surprise that by working with Apparel Chairs from Fraternities and Sororities for 10+ years, we not only understand but can also predict campus fashion trends, popular designs for frat t-shirts, trending products, and sought-after brands. We’ve also been able to predict the success of a custom Greek order based on when the order was placed!
In this post, we’ll break down what we know so you can use data from us to create the best custom apparel for your Frat (but let's get it out of the way, frats will always love t-shirts most!).
- Designs Frats search for the most
- Products frats search for the most
- Brands frats search for the most
- 2023 Frat product trends
- 2023 Frat design trends
- Average price Frats pay for merch
- Merch order event timeline
Designs Frats search for the most
The Fresh Prints art gallery is our 3000+ collection of original Fresh Prints designs that were huge hits when we made them for our customers. Aside from mocking up design requests from our customers, our Art team spends a whole lotta time updating the gallery with trendy designs.
We’ve classified designs by Greek event, type of org, season, and style. Our data reveals that these design styles are the ones Fraternities have searched for the most to use on frat t-shirts.
Retro
A design style with interest that waxes and wanes but never truly dies, retro is a classic. It ranks highest on our website searches.
80s/90s
Do trends die out or do we just rediscover them a few decades later and add a modern touch? In our experience, it’s the latter. We’re constantly updating our 80/90s designs according to the trend of the season.
Minimalist
Whether it be your org letters on frat t-shirts or a neat design on the front of a hat, minimal designs make it easy for your members to wear your merch outside of campus.
Clean Streetwear
Fraternity Streetwear designs balance just the right amount of fun and neatness.
Classic
Classic art styles can turn your merch into an iconic/memorable design style from the past.
Products frats search for the most
The Fresh Prints Product Gallery features 1000+ products from a wide variety of brands. Collegiate clients often already know what type of product and brand they want before ordering.
Our Product Sourcing team regularly widens our collection to keep up with changing product preferences. Here is a list of products that Fraternities have searched the most on our website:
Shirts
Class T-Shirt by Comfort Colors
Classic and safe. The most popular search and orders we get are for custom frat t-shirts.
Hoodies
Bond St. Hoodie by Fresh Prints
Mostly popular for events in chillier days, hoodies are a great alternative for frat t-shirts.
Crewnecks
The Houston Crew by Fresh Prints
Popular all year round, light-weight and heavy-weight crewnecks are another great variation to the classic shirt.
Hats
It's a close tie between hats and crewnecks ngl!
Sweatpants
Gramercy Sweats by Fresh Prints
Usually ordered with a matching shirt or hoodie, sweatpants are an Apparel Chair’s go-to to complete a whole custom look for their members.
Brands frats search for the most
Our Product Sourcing team regularly researches and onboards brands based on evolving campus trends. A lot of brands go in and out of trend. Here is a list of brands you can put your designs on whenever because they’ve never lost popularity (yet).
Comfort Colors
Comfortable and affordable. Comfort Colors is a classic choice for all our collegiate customers. In 2023, their products were searched a staggering 18,940 times.
Nike
Sportswear but beyond! Orgs love to customize bands, hats, shirts, backpacks, etc. from Nike all year round. In 2023, their products were searched 5,173 times.
Champion
Champion logo’ed everything that took the world by storm in the last few years. In 2023, their products were searched 3,915 times.
Fresh Prints
We launch products we know you’d love to live your best 4 years in. In 2023, our products were searched 3,445 times.
The North Face
Bougie and worth it! Custom The North Face orders spike around fall and stay popular until the end of January. In 2023, their products were searched 2,061 times.
2023 Frat product trends
Here’s a list of products our Product Development team predicts will trend in 2023!
Rugby Shirts
Fashionable and athletic. Sharp enough to be dressed up, street enough to be dressed down.
Sherpa Crewnecks
Sherpa Crewneck by Charles River
Soft, textured, and warm. And looks really sick!
Sweats
Gramercy Sweats by Fresh Prints
Always trending but more so in 2023, expect to see a decent amount of logo'd sweats as merch on campus.
Sherpa Jackets
This winter, we're going for luxury. This incredibly soft fleece jacket is the right fit for this year's cold weather.
Stitched Hoodies
A statement asymmetrical stitch on the hood? Sign us up.
2023 Frat design trends
80s/90s
Y2K
Preppy
Psychedelic
Average price Frats pay for merch
You could customize an affordable item or splurge and go for something high-end! It all depends on your budget. If you want to know how much orgs pay for popular items per item, here is our data from last year.
- Shirts - $22.45 - $30.59
- Headwear - $14.90 - $25.89
- Sweatpants - $29.70 - $42.60
- Hoodies - $39.00 - $45.98
- Crewnecks - $35.62 - $40.90
- Jackets - $55.55 - $74.79
- Shorts - $20.15 - $30.82
Merch order events timeline
Your org’s event timeline may look different but here is a list of events for which orgs typically order merch.
Jan/Feb
- Spring Recruitment / Bid Day
- Cold Weather Merch (General PR)
- Date Party / Mixer / Social Merch
- Mountain Weekend / Winter formal
March/April
- Philanthropy
- Formal
- Parent’s Weekend
- Spring break
- Date Party / Mixer / Social Merch
April/May
- Graduation & Senior Gifts
- Date Party / Mixer / Social Merch
August/Sept
- Fall Recruitment / Bid Day
- Family / Parents Weekend
- Homecoming / Game Day / Tailgating
Oct/Nov
- Formal
- Retreat
Nov/Dec
- General PR Merch
- Date Party / Mixer / Social Merch
- Graduation stoles / Senior gifts for members graduating in Dec
- Spring Recruitment Planning
There you have it! Behind the scenes at Fresh Prints - the insightful data you need to know to make the best custom apparel for your Fraternity in 2023. Happy customizing!