The Apparel Ordering Calendar: When to Order for Each Season
By The Velocity Wear Team
Order roughly two to three months ahead of each seasonal peak. Production runs around 10–15 working days from artwork approval for screen printing and embroidery, or nearer 15–20 for sublimation and complex jobs, plus 2–5 working days tracked UK delivery — and every peak is busy precisely because everyone needs the same thing at once.
Why Peaks Compound Delay
Lead times are not constant across the year. When a large number of orders arrive simultaneously — as they do before summer, before Christmas and before season starts — the whole pipeline is under load, and the buffer that would normally absorb a proofing delay is not there. Ordering outside the peak does not just give you more time; it gives you time when there is more capacity to use it.
The Calendar
Working backwards from the dates that repeat every year.
- January fitness and new-year retail: order in November. December loses working days to the holiday period and coincides with the Christmas peak.
- Spring sports seasons and outdoor kit: order in January and February, before the pre-season rush.
- Summer events, festivals and teamwear: order in March and April. Ordering when the weather turns puts you in the busiest fortnight of the year.
- Autumn term, freshers and society merch: order before the summer break, in the preceding term, while the committee placing it is still in post.
- Christmas retail and corporate gifting: order in September or early October at the latest.
The Recurring Mistake
Almost every rushed order shares a cause: it was placed when the need became emotionally urgent rather than when the calendar required it. The weather turned, term started, someone noticed Christmas was coming. Because the trigger is the same for everyone, the orders all arrive together. The only reliable fix is to work from dates rather than from urgency, and all of these dates are known a year in advance.
“"You are never the only person who noticed that summer was coming."”
Consolidating Across the Year
For organisations ordering repeatedly — clubs, schools, employers, event organisers — there is a further advantage to planning annually. Bulk discounts reach up to around 40% as quantities rise, so combining what would have been three or four separate orders into one or two larger ones materially lowers the per-piece cost. It also reduces the number of times you are exposed to a peak-period deadline.
Building In the Proofing Stage
One detail catches people out repeatedly: production time is counted from artwork approval, not from when the order is placed. Any delay in supplying artwork, collecting sponsor logos, confirming a name list or approving a proof extends your timeline rather than being absorbed by it. Build that stage into the calculation explicitly, and treat sponsor and partner artwork as the first task rather than the last.
Practical Planning
Orders start at 20 pieces with mixed sizes allowed, so a small test run ahead of a large seasonal order is straightforward and worth doing when the specification is new. Model your annual quantities in the free instant price calculator to see where consolidation helps, and preview designs in the free Design Studio before approving artwork.