California-based wholesale clothing manufacturer Lane Seven Apparel announces it is the official T-shirt sponsor of South by Southwest (SXSW). The event, which celebrates music and creatives, runs March 8-16 in Austin, Texas. This marks the first year that Lane Seven will supply SXSW with the festival’s official merch.

Previously, Next Level Apparel held this spot, providing the festival’s merch for four consecutive years from 2016-2019. According to Meghan Brazzelle, senior sales manager at Lane Seven, there has not been a T-shirt sponsor since. Brazzelle’s working relationship with SXSW before joining the Lane Seven team helped this partnership come to fruition, says Milissa Gibson, sales director of Lane Seven.

“Being the SXSW official Mobile Merch sponsor is a natural fit for Lane Seven,” Brazzelle says. “It will allow us to amplify our retail brand to their vast audience of attendees and provide a unique opportunity to showcase Lane Seven as the top choice for bands, directors, and corporate sponsors seeking high-quality branded apparel.”

Official SXSW Merch and Live Activations

Being the event’s T-shirt sponsor means SXSW will use Lane Seven styles for all its merch, except for a few it does not offer, including a pearl snap button-up, bomber jacket, and ringer Ts. Brazzelle says official merch will be purchasable at four different locations: a booth at the convention center, local retail (i.e., sold in three airport stores), online, and the merch truck — which will feature Lane Seven’s branding.

On March 8, 12, and 13-16, Lane Seven will set up an outdoor shop next to the SXSW mobile merch truck. The tent will be transformed into the bedroom of a 1987 teenager — in honor of SXSW’s founding year — where local print shop High Voltage Studios will heat print shirts live. Check Lane Seven’s social channels for more up-to-date details.

“A lot of people haven’t seen how heat transfers work, and it’s so cool for them when they do,” Gibson adds. “We look forward to getting people psyched about the process and maybe even inspire some people to start that brand they’ve always talked about.”

Asking if Apparelist can get “sneak peek” details about the design being used during the live activations, Brazzelle shares that SXSW’s mood boards had a late ’80s and early ’90s feel — “varsity/collegiate, vintage Austin meets national parks.” To bring these designs to life, Lane Seven is partnering with Supacolor to help provide digital heat transfers and other artwork needed for the event. 

Merch Tour

Also in partnership with Supacolor, Lane Seven launched the L7 Merch Tour campaign to get its customers involved in SXSW. The tour kicks off in Austin, Texas, during SXSW, and Lane Seven is asking its customers to design artwork to be featured on the official tour apparel.

“It’s a really fun way to include our customers’ own creative ideas in SXSW,” says Alexis Shubin, Lane Seven’s marketing director. “And what better place than SXSW, where innovation meets film meets art meets music, to totally inspire someone in their own ventures. That’s what we hope comes out of this.”

How it works:

  1. The customer designs their take on the L7 Merch Tour (think The Voodoo Lounge Tour, the Appetite for Destruction Tour, and The Eras Tour).
  2. Submit the artwork under #L7merchtour across social platforms (designs must fit within a 4×4″ transfer).
  3. Lane Seven will review the entries and select one winner’s artwork.

The artwork will then be turned into a Supacolor heat transfer and used during Lane Seven’s SXSW live activation. The winner will also receive $1,000 to use at Lane Seven Apparel and $500 for Supacolor. The deadline to submit is Sunday, March 3 at midnight.