Throughout the past several years, one theme has shown up consistently in the apparel decorating community: collaboration. We see it in contract shops working with promotional products, manufacturers partnering with brands to create limited-edition apparel drops, and even shops working with each other to create awesome decorated apparel. The most recent collaboration between Spectrum Designs and T.J. Maxx puts the pin in what an awesome partnership looks like.

Early in November 2024, Spectrum Designs, a nonprofit whose mission is to “create meaningful and inclusive employment and vocational training opportunities in a neurodiverse world,” unveiled its first in-store partnership with the off-price retailer. Through the partnership, six different designs created by the Spectrum team will be available in over 500 T.J. Maxx locations throughout the holiday season.

Creating a New Collaboration

According to Tim Howe, COO at Spectrum, the partnership was made possible by Bioworld, a company they started collaborating with in 2023. Howe describes that order, which was for Sanrio, as a pivotal moment for Spectrum. “Completing that order was one of our team’s proudest moments,” he says. “Many of our employees were once told they would never work a day in their lives, yet here they were, creating merchandise for Sanrio.”

And now, that proven track record and relationship of trust is playing out in Spectrum’s first-ever retail partnership.

The process to complete the order for T.J. Maxx has been a big but rewarding one. “It was a 10,000-piece order, so it was split between our two production facilities in Port Washington, New York, and Westchester (New York),” explains Howe. “While bulk orders are familiar to us, the anticipation of seeing these specific shirts reach such a wide audience was exhilarating. The highlight was when some of our team members spotted the designs they printed in a T.J. Maxx store.”

Each design in the six-piece collection is unique, though they all share a common element. The Spectrum logo is integrated into the artwork of each one.

“Bioworld contributed to the design process by providing inspiration, but the designs were created entirely from scratch by our team,” says Howe. “Every shirt includes a tag that informs the wearer that it was fully produced by our neurodiverse team.”

More Than a T-Shirt

A Spectrum Designs employee unloads shirts off the dryer. | Credit: Spectrum Designs

For the entire Spectrum organization, this collaboration is an exciting accomplishment that’s about more than just a T-shirt. “The retail collection is one part of what we’ve wanted to accomplish: showcasing our team’s talents to the world,” Howe says. “We’re not simply a company where people with disabilities make things; we’re a company made up of people with disabilities. From the beginning, we aimed to be a visible part of the local community, and now, we want to take it further and show the world the capabilities of a neurodiverse workforce.”

In addition to the retail collaboration, Howe and Patrick Bardsley, co-founder and CEO at Spectrum, also partnered with other industry folks to co-author the book “INKclusivity: Company Benefits of Disability Inclusion & How-to Implementation Guide for the Print Industry.” And the company is excited for what’s next on the horizon.

“This newest collaboration allows us to expand that impact even further by putting items printed by our team front and center alongside other quality merchandise at T.J. Maxx,” says Howe. “We are hoping to expand our retail line further and go into other retailers such as Walmart. … We always strive to showcase the strength of neurodiversity in the workplace. Our impressive catalog of work with Bioworld speaks for itself, and it’s hard to find anyone who isn’t moved by the impact it’s created.”