Team apparel for sales kickoffs and offsites.
A kickoff capsule is one hero piece, one everyday piece and one accessory, which comes to $53.09 at list with one DTF print on each piece and $41.41 at the 150-piece tier. The plan below runs ten weeks from brief to boxes at the venue, and it keeps the year off the garment so the capsule can be reordered for every hire after the event.
Kickoff apparel fails in a pattern. The event team orders late and trades quality for speed, the year goes on the chest because it's on the deck, and everyone gets a size L tee at registration. By the second morning nobody's wearing it, and by the next quarter it's a rag.
Treat the kickoff as the launch of a collection instead of a handout, and the same money buys something people keep wearing.
What goes in a three-piece kickoff capsule
Pick three categories and stop, because every item past that dilutes the strongest one.
- One hero piece, the garment people would buy for themselves. The zip hoodie ($25.22 with one DTF print) in 330 GSM brushed fleece with a YKK metal zip is the reliable pick, because it goes on over a lanyard, comes off in a warm breakout room, and looks right on a video call in February. It's cut roomy through the body and true in the sleeve, and it takes a print across the back, or tonal embroidery at the chest that we price in one business day.
- One everyday piece, which is the tee ($17.02) for a casual culture or the polo ($20.18) for a customer-facing one. This is the piece that shows up every week after the event. Both run true, and both take a full-color DTF graphic as well as embroidery.
- One accessory. The cap ($10.85 with a print) is one size, fits 54 to 61 cm, and is the piece that ends up in the photos. Pick the beanie if the retreat is somewhere cold, and we'll quote it in one business day.
Hero, tee and cap, each with one DTF print, list at $53.09 together, and every number below is built on that capsule.
The 10-week timeline, from brief to venue
Kickoff dates lock months ahead, which makes them the easiest event to get right and the most embarrassing to get wrong. Give yourself 8 to 10 weeks before the event, and use the 10-week version here if you want a sample stage.
| Week | Milestone | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Brief and design | Put your logo and headcount into the Design Studio. It designs a collection across all eight products and saves it under your name, then a designer on our team finishes it. |
| Weeks 2 to 3 | Samples in hand | If you want to see the pieces first, a paid sample set takes about two weeks. Put the hoodie on three people of different builds and photograph it under stage lighting. |
| Week 4 | Sizes locked, order approved | Send the share link with a five-day deadline and a stated default, and add the buffer. Production starts the day you approve. |
| Weeks 5 to 7 | Production | Three weeks from the day you approve. Each piece is sleeved with the wearer's name. |
| Weeks 8 to 9 | Shipping to venue | Two weeks within the US once the run you approved is finished. It goes in bulk to the hotel or conference center, addressed to the event lead. |
| Week 10 | Buffer | A week in hand lets the boxes reach the venue before the event lead does. |
Skip the sample stage and the same plan fits eight weeks. The shipping guide covers bulk versus split-to-home delivery. If your event is further out than ten weeks, put the extra time into the design.
How many capsules to order
Order for registered attendees plus a buffer, and count everyone, including executives, speakers, partners and the AV crew who'll be in the photos.
- One capsule per registered attendee, in the size each person entered on the share link.
- A 5% buffer in M through XL for late registrations and the person who spills coffee before the keynote. Order more for open registration, and none for a fixed list you've collected sizes from twice.
- Speakers and executives get the same capsule. A keynote in their own sweater in front of 120 people in matching hoodies is a missed photo.
Worked example for 120 attendees
A 5% buffer of six on 120 attendees makes 126 capsules: 126 zip hoodies, 126 tees and 126 caps, or 378 pieces. That clears the 150-piece threshold, and the whole order takes 22% off.
| Line | Qty | Each | List |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zip hoodies | 126 | $25.22 | $3,177.72 |
| Tees | 126 | $17.02 | $2,144.52 |
| Caps | 126 | $10.85 | $1,367.10 |
| Total | 378 | $6,689.34 |
At 22% off, each zip hoodie is $19.67, each tee $13.28 and each cap $8.46, so the order comes to $5,217.66. That's $1,471.68 off list and $41.41 for each capsule against $53.09, and the pricing guide explains how the tiers work. Without the buffer, 120 capsules come to $4,969.20 at the same tier. The six spare kits cost $248.46, which is what it takes to say "we have one for you" at the registration desk.
The no-year rule keeps the capsule wearable.
Put no year and no theme on the garment. That one decision determines whether the apparel is worn in March or binned in February.
A hoodie that says "Kickoff 2027, Summit Together" is a souvenir that expires when the event ends and can't go to April's new hire. The same hoodie with the brand mark and this year's colorway is a collection piece, reorderable by email and wearable at next year's kickoff. Whoever still has it in three years has a tenure marker.
The theme still gets its moment on the card inside each sleeved bag and on the stage. Our brand guidelines for merch guide explains how to keep one pattern language across events.
Hand the capsules out at check-in.
Registration is where apparel programs die in a pile of size L tees. Every piece comes sleeved with the wearer's name, so nobody at the desk has to sort by size.
- Ship one box per track or team if the event has tracks, and otherwise pack alphabetical boxes of 25 to 30 bags.
- Put the capsule in the room, not at the desk. A name-sleeved bag on the hotel bed beats a queue, and it's where the photos happen.
- Keep the buffer box at the desk, labeled by size, with one person who knows it exists.
- Announce the dress moment. "Hoodies for the team photo at 4 p.m. on day one" gets 120 people in the capsule at once, and that's the shot on every slide for a year.
Reorders after the event
The kickoff order is the first of several. Each of these three triggers is one email with a quantity, because your design and everyone's sizes are already on file with us.
- New hires get the kickoff capsule as their onboarding kit. Send the share link at offer acceptance, because a reorder has the same production and shipping weeks as the first order once you approve it.
- The ask-for-more week. Some people will want a second hoodie for a partner. Leave the share link open for a week after the event and send those as one reorder.
- The next event. June's regional offsite reorders the same collection in the same colorway, with no redesign and no sample cycle.
Finance and technology sales teams run this loop the same way and differ only in the everyday piece. For a booth-sized order with a hard date, the booth apparel guide covers the backwards schedule.
Related reading
- Team Onboarding Kits: the capsule after the event
- Managing Sizes and Reorders for Growing Teams
- Why Your Team Doesn't Wear the Merch
Questions we get.
What should sales kickoff swag include?
Three pieces. Choose a hero piece people would buy for themselves (the zip hoodie), an everyday piece (a tee or polo) and an accessory (a cap or beanie), and skip the filler. A three-piece capsule worn for a year beats a bag of eight things left in the hotel room.
How far ahead do I need to order apparel for a sales kickoff?
Allow 8 to 10 weeks before the kickoff. Design and approval take about two weeks at your pace, and a paid sample set adds two more if you want one. Once you approve, production takes three weeks and shipping to the venue takes two, and the last week is buffer. A reorder skips the design stage because the design is on file, but the production and shipping time after approval is the same.
How many pieces should I order for a 120-person kickoff?
One capsule per registered attendee plus a 5% buffer in M through XL for late registrations and speakers, which comes to 126 capsules, or 378 pieces for a three-piece capsule. An order that size is past the 150-piece threshold and takes 22% off. Guests and executives count as attendees. Collect their sizes along with everyone else's on the share link.
Should the event year or theme go on the apparel?
No. A year or theme expires the garment the day the event ends. Design on the brand's permanent pattern language and put the theme on the packaging card and the stage instead. Undated apparel is still worn at the next kickoff, and it can be reordered for new hires.