Clothing Label Placement: Where to Put Brand, Care and Size Labels

A label in the wrong place costs you twice. Customers notice a scratchy neck tag or a care label that sticks out of a sleeve, and retailers or market surveillance notice when composition information is hidden or missing. Good placement is decided before the first sample is sewn: it belongs in your tech pack, next to the label size and fold. This guide sets out where each type of clothing label usually goes, why, and how placement changes from T-shirts to swimwear, bags and hats.

The three labels almost every garment carries

Most garments carry three pieces of information, either on separate labels or combined on one or two:

• Brand label – your logo, the most visible label and the one that shapes how the product feels as a brand.
• Care and composition label – fibre composition (mandatory in the EU), care symbols, country of origin and often several languages.
• Size label – a small label or a line of text that tells the buyer and the shop which size they hold.

Each has its own logic: the brand label is placed to be seen, the care label to be found and read years later, and the size label to be checked quickly on the shop floor.

Brand label placement

Centre back neck

The classic position is the inside centre back neck, sewn into the neck seam or onto the back neck tape. It is visible on the hanger, it is where buyers look first, and it helps the wearer orient the garment. Centre-fold and end-fold woven labels are the standard choice here. Keep the label narrower than the neck tape is deep, so it does not curl over the collar edge.

Hanging loop

On jackets, coats and some knitwear, the brand label doubles as a hanging loop: a loop-fold or mitre-fold label sewn into the neck seam. This saves a separate hanger loop, but the label must be strong enough to carry the garment's weight, so choose a dense damask quality and sew both ends securely.

Side seam, hem and outside details

A small flag label in the outside side seam or the lower hem is a quiet branding detail popular on T-shirts, hoodies and casual trousers. On the outside, branding can also move to a patch, a leather or silicone badge, or a metal plate on bags and outerwear.

Care and composition label placement

The care label is placed for readability and access rather than display. The most common industry convention is the wearer's left side seam, inside the garment, sewn into the seam as a hanging label. On tops the label is usually positioned somewhere between roughly 8 and 15 cm above the hem; the exact distance comes from your own or your retail customer's specification, as there is no single legal measurement.

What the law does require is that composition information under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 is durable, easily legible, visible and accessible. In practice that means:

• sewn in permanently, not only attached with a hang tag or a removable sticker;
• in a position where the buyer can read it before purchase without unpicking anything;
• printed on a material that stays legible after repeated washing.

For the content itself – fibre names, percentages, languages and care symbols – see our guide to EU care label requirements and the care labels collection.

Size label placement

You have three options for size information:

1. Stacked with the brand label – a small size tab sewn under or beside the neck label. Quick to find on the shop floor and simple to sew.
2. Combined – the size woven or printed on the back of a centre-fold brand label, or added as a line on the care label.
3. Printed tagless – the size is part of a heat transfer print inside the neck.

On shirts, the size is often a small separate label next to the brand label on the back yoke or collar band, so the shopper can read it with the shirt folded. For trousers, the size usually sits on the back waistband next to the brand label, sometimes with the waist and leg measurements. Small woven or printed size tabs work in all three positions.

Placement by garment type

The table shows common practice, not rules. Your retail customers may have their own placement manuals; when they do, follow those exactly.

Stretch, swim and lingerie

On elastic garments, a stiff label can restrict stretch or show through thin fabric. Use soft satin or printed labels, keep them small, and consider printing everything that can be printed directly onto the fabric. Compression and performance wear is often fully tagless.

Outerwear

Coats and jackets have room for more: a brand label at the neck, a care label in the lining, a size label and sometimes a separate label for padding or filling content. Keep composition for shell, lining and filling clearly separated, and place the label where it can be reached without opening the lining.

Comfort: avoiding itchy labels

Most complaints about labels are about the neck. Four decisions remove most of them:

• Choose the right edge. Ultrasonically cut labels have soft, sealed edges that do not fray or scratch.
• Keep neck labels short. Move long care text to the side seam, where it does not touch sensitive skin.
• Sew all edges of flat labels so corners do not lift and rub.
• Go tagless where it makes sense. Heat transfer labels print brand, size and basic care information inside the neck. Composition must still be complete somewhere on the garment, so many brands combine a tagless neck print with a printed care label in the side seam.

Babywear has stricter comfort and safety needs; our article on labels for kidswear covers them in detail.

Fold type and seam allowance

Placement and fold go together. A label sewn into a seam loses part of its length in the seam allowance, typically 8–10 mm, so the visible part is shorter than the finished label. A label sewn flat onto a surface keeps its full size. As a rule of thumb:

• Into a neck or side seam: centre-fold, loop-fold or straight cut with one end in the seam.
• Flat onto neck tape, yoke or lining: end-fold or straight cut, stitched on all edges.
• Hanging loop: mitre-fold or loop-fold.
• Many languages in a side seam: booklet fold, sewn along one edge.

Cut lengths and diagrams for each fold are in label fold types explained, and our guide on how to choose label size shows how placement limits the dimensions.

Put placement in your tech pack

Write placement down for every style: position, distance from a reference point (for example "left side seam, 10 cm above hem"), which way the label faces, and which edges are sewn. A simple sketch with measurements prevents most sampling mistakes. When you order labels, share the same information with us: we use it to recommend the fold, the material and the size, and a dedicated contact person supports you at every step from proof to delivery.

Frequently asked questions