Custom Underwear Packaging & Labeling Guide

Packaging and labelling as a specification, not an afterthought

Packaging and labelling are where a private label order stops looking generic, and they are also where the most avoidable delays happen — because they are decided at artwork and packing stage, in the factory, rather than at the distribution centre where a problem first becomes visible. A label set printed in a single western language tends to be flagged at goods-in; a polybag specified after production is a polybag that repacks the order.

Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. manages packaging and labelling through the same partner network that runs the garments, so the labelling artwork, the polybag specification and the assembly are all settled before the order runs. In the trade since 2009, incorporated in Xiamen in 2013; we own no production facility.

The label set: what has to be on the garment

• Fibre composition — required in the EU in the official language of the member state where the goods are sold, under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011; required in the US by percentage under the FTC’s textile rules.
• Care instructions — the care symbols and wording, set to ISO 3758 and to the destination market’s expectation. Care instructions must be in English for a US sale.
• Country of origin — mandatory on a US-bound garment; on an EU-bound one the treatment differs, so the requirement is checked against the destination rather than assumed.
• Importer or responsible person details — the block differs between a UK and an EU shipment and is not interchangeable.

The deeper treatment of this, including the EU versus US comparison and the tolerances on stated fibre content, is in the underwear label requirements guide.

Label format: four routes

• Heat-transfer (tagless) — printed directly onto the fabric. The most comfortable against the skin, and the usual choice on seamless and children’s constructions where a sewn label would sit against the body. The trade is that the print is set at the factory and is not removable.
• Woven labels — a premium hand, sewn into the side seam or centre back. Not compatible with a fully seamless construction, because sewing one in reintroduces the seam the construction removes.
• Printed or jacquard waistbands — the brand carried on the elastic itself. The most visible route on a men’s programme, and the one where the band width and tension have to be matched to the fabric weight.
• Hangtags — full-colour cardstock carrying the barcode, size, care information and brand story, attached at the factory rather than at the retailer.

Packaging formats

• Individual polybags — clear or printed with your logo, with a resealable strip where the garment will be handled before sale. Polybag composition is now a regulated matter in the EU rather than a free choice — see the PPWR compliance guide.
• Belly bands — a printed card band wrapped around a folded garment, common on boxer briefs and cheap to change between colourways.
• Rigid gift boxes — for gifting and premium positioning, usually with a tissue wrap and a size sticker.
• Retail floor presentation — hangers, size stickers and barcode tags, where the garment is to be hung rather than stacked.
• Multipacks — two-, three- or five-packs with the barcode on the outer pack, which changes the carton configuration and has to be agreed at the order stage.

Barcodes and e-commerce prep

Barcodes are produced to the GS1 standard, and the format is decided by who scans what: a retail floor sale scans a single unit, a multipack scans the outer pack, and a marketplace sale — an Amazon FBA-style programme, for instance — needs the label placed where the operator can scan it without opening the bag. All of this is factory-stage work. Tell us the channel at the enquiry rather than after the order, because a barcode added late means repacking.

The sequencing that avoids rework

1. Fix the destination markets per SKU, because the label set follows from them and a regional brief produces a label set that clears nowhere.
2. Fix the label language and the importer block before the artwork is approved.
3. Fix the packaging format and the channel prep, because both are factory-stage decisions.
4. Approve the artwork and a packaging sample before the order runs.
5. Only then confirm the carton configuration and the packing plan.

Wider context on private label programmes, including how packaging sits inside a first order, is in the packaging and private label guide. Request packaging samples →

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Last updated: 2026-10-17 · Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. — OEM & ODM underwear sourcing partner

Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — OEM/ODM underwear sourcing and supply-chain partner in Xiamen, China; in the trade since 2009, incorporated in 2013. Based in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster, Fujian Province, south-east China.