Clothing Logo Design 101 (2024)

Why do 53% of clothing brands fail? They don’t put enough time and money into brand marketing.

Big retailers can afford to put up millions of dollars and months of work to create a clothing logo. But boutique owners and designers? You know, the ones hustling on their own without a huge budget? They’re left to play catch-up.

One minute they’re sourcing materials and getting a grip on their supply chain. Then, they’re pivoting from Plan A and setting prices on all their items . . . again.

Once the sun sets, they’re busy browsing store and studio locations to move into. Where’s the time to create a clothing logo?

Here’s why opening a clothing boutique or designing clothes on your own puts you in a real catch-22—you can’t build a brand without a memorable logo.

Consumers recognize a brand by its logo more than any other brand asset. And, how well they remember it influences how likely they are to support them.

In this blog post, we’ll cover:

• Clothing logo design best practices
• The most-popular clothing logo designs
• Examples of clothing and boutique logo designs
• How to build a logo

Let’s get your logo runway ready.

What Goes into a Clothing Logo Design?

Clothing logos share the same basic anatomy as other logos. Both use a wordmark, icon, and tagline, but how and why you deploy them makes all the difference.

What Design Elements Should Be Used in a Clothing Logo?

Clothing logo designs apply colors and fonts differently vs. their non-industry counterparts. No single font family dominates the industry.

However, the colors and font you choose will indicate to your audience which clothing subcategories you focus on most.

What Should Clothing Logos Message?

Before you make a big announcement or launch a new campaign, document what values your logo will represent. Establish consistency with brand identity by developing a set of brand guidelines that ensure your authenticity translates well across all channels.

Consumers decide to engage with brands most when they share values with them.

What Colors Should the Logos Be

The colors on your logo should be based on what emotions you want to evoke among your target audience members.

Four colors are the most popular among clothing logos: red, blue, black, and white.

Despite red being a dangerous flame-throwing color, it’s by far the highest-used of these four. Since it stands out the most, clothing logos sporting red take an ambitious step in gaining as much brand awareness as possible.

Blue calms us, which is great for clothing logos that also support efforts to improve customer satisfaction. And black and white are associated with luxury clothing brands.

What Are the Most Popular Logos for Clothing?

Now that we have an idea of how specific elements serve a greater purpose and symbolize a deeper meaning, it’s time to walk through examples of the most popular clothing logos.

Lacoste

Inspired by founder Rene Lacoste—and his nickname—the eponymous French retailer dons a crocodile on its logo.

Lacoste became the first brand ever to feature a logo on its clothing upon placing a cartoon-ish crocodile on its flagship tennis shirts.

Nike

Phil Knight only paid $35 for one of the greatest logos ever. Nike took flight after the Jordan brand launched. Still, the swoosh stuck around thanks to the mind-blowing simplicity of its smooth and breezy design.

The swoosh’s black and white colors helped Nike run its own race toward unhinged brand longevity and not cave into the moment. And, it’s this overall combo that makes Nike more official than a referee anytime it sets a trend or engages publicly.

Star athletes and everyday brand loyalists may not root for the same teams, yet both will probably still agree the swoosh is the bona fide G.O.A.T. of logos.

Gap

Gap spent $100 million to bid farewell to their original logo in 2010. The world’s largest jeans brand suffered so much backlash on social media that they returned to their previous logo design after a mere six days.

The denim brand’s biggest fans weren’t just complaining about the prospect of never seeing a 1 x 1 navy blue square with “GAP” again. They panicked because that nostalgic symbol always found a way to be there for important stages of their lives.

Examples of Clothing Logos

No matter how much sweat and tears global retail powerhouses poured into their storefronts, they eventually had to play chess—not checkers—with their logo designs to emerge as household names.

Since you have a better understanding of how global brands put basic logo design practices to action, let’s go ahead and peruse these five examples of clothing logos below:

1. Casual Apparel Logo

When apparel lines opt for a dark logo, it’s easy to panic over how many opportunities they may lose without colors that catch our eyes more quickly.

As tempting as that shoulda-coulda-woulda game is, it’s not needed since this casual clothing logo masterfully adds tinges of black into a beach-loving apparel brand.

Pairing this odd duo sounds crazy at first. By not overdoing the dark tints, the logo allows the up-and-coming apparel brand to soak up some sun AND enter the premium casual wear category.

Now they can earn more revenue per product.

2. Luxury Formalwear Logo

Luxury logos like this formal wear brand symbol are suited up in black because of how directly it exudes elegance and prestige.

The dash of red below the brand name hints at romantic themes for target audience members who plan on attending a wedding.

Meanwhile, it’s the font that steps up and seals the deal. Luxury serif fonts—such as Silver South Serif—send a serious message that your brand means business.

3. Baby Clothing Logo

Strive for happy vibes when designing a children’s clothing brand symbol. This baby clothing logo totes a yellow background and looks ready to play!

Bright rainbow colors and a silly cursive Pacifico font tap into a giggly and appropriate brand charisma.

4. Organic Hair Boutique Logo

Kind of like when you recycle or cut down on toxic waste, going green with a logo for a hair boutique emphasizes eco-friendly brand values.

In other words, this logo points its audience toward a robust collection of organic hair products and treatments the boutique sells.

5. Beauty Boutique Logo

The tight-knit relationship between feminine brands and pink logos isn’t ending soon, right?

Not so fast! The Mandys Pink that graces this beauty boutique logo pulled a classic switch-a-roo and is apparently a “very light warm orange.”

Aside from some unexpected mythical pink chaos, this logo manages to glitz up the backdrop with a cursive script family font and a slightly tilted wordmark.

In the end, the logo achieves an effortless aesthetic that lets the world know they have elegant taste without having to try hard.

Customize Your Clothing Logo Design in PicMonkey

Our friends at PicMonkey make it incredibly easy to design a high-quality logo fast, no matter where you plan to use it.

Start with a professional template (or DIY with a blank canvas). Either way, customization is your friend.

In PicMonkey:

1. Click Create new > Templates.
2. Type “Logo” into the search bar and select your favorite layout.
3. Customize the look with your own brand’s font and color scheme. Interested in experimenting? Try curving your text or adding an outline for extra pop. Explore PicMonkey’s graphics collection and see if one (or more) belongs in your design.
4. When you’re all done, click Download on the top toolbar and export your logo.

Need a transparent background? This is key if planning to place your logo on clothing.

Luckily, it’s easy to accomplish in PicMonkey.

1. Select your background layer and click Background color on the left tools menu.
2. Click the Transparent box.
3. When finished with your design, download as a PNG file. This will ensure that your background remains transparent.

All set!

Find more logo tips and inspiration with these articles:

• Logo Design for Beginners: How to Create a Logo That Lasts
• How to Create a Pro Logo for Your Small Business
• 5 Simple Logo Color Combinations That Go Well Together
• 25 Modern Logo Design Examples and Ideas to Energize and Inspire
• The Complete Guide to Website and Blog Logo Design

Cover image via Undrey.