We analysed over 1,900 real-life sustainable uniform and merch buying decisions made by businesses who used our product recommendation tool between 2023 and 2025.
To analyse this data, we reviewed actual search behaviour and purchasing decisions from real life business customers, to gain much more accurate insights compared to self-reported surveys.
Here’s a quick snapshot of our findings:
- 46% of buyers wanted a good price without compromising on ethics.
- 40% of our customers asked for organic cotton.
- The classic T-shirt still rules uniform orders.
- Recycled fabrics? Not yet big in our customer base (<3%), but we think it’s coming.
So, what does that tell us about the future of sustainable uniforms?
In this article, we’ll dive a little deeper into what this means, and whether the importance of sustainable fashion is seeping into the uniforms worn in coffee shops, tech startups, and creative office spaces up and down the UK.
At A.M. Custom Clothing, we’ve had a front-row seat to this emerging trend, and the findings were pretty surprising. We’ve gained insights into what business buyers are looking for when it comes to uniforms and merchandise.
The Rise of Sustainable Uniforms
The clearest takeaway: sustainability has moved from niche to normal.
Of the businesses that used our tool:
46% said their top priority was balancing price and ethical standards. Showing it’s now expectation to be able to get a good price without compromising on values.
Another:
18% of companies told us that sustainability and ethics were their highest priority, even above price.
Only 35% of our customers were purely price-driven.
This mirrors a bigger industry shift. Businesses and brands know that what their teams wear speaks volumes about company values. Gone are the days of a race to the bottom; forward-thinking businesses care about more than just the cheapest price, and in 2025, sustainability isn’t optional, it’s expected.
Additionally, low price-fueled keywords such as ‘cheap workwear’ appear to be following a downward trajectory in terms of search interest. When using tools like Google Trends within the UK, we can see that the search figures for such terms are decreasing, reinforcing this sentiment.
The T-Shirt Reigns Supreme
Our customer base is primarily made up of progressive, design-conscious businesses across the UK and Europe. This includes businesses such as creative agencies, tech start-ups, hospitality brands, coffee shops, independent retailers and purpose-driven small businesses, who lean toward soft, wearable, and ethically produced basics that staff love to wear.
This is reflected in our findings, where the humble T-shirt is still one of the most popular products year on year. In every year of our dataset:
More than 50% of businesses were looking for T-shirts for their team uniforms or merchandise.
Pullover hoodies and sportswear followed as popular choices.
Interpreting this data, it is clear that uniforms have become brand statements as much as functional workwear.
Organic Cotton: A New Standard in Sustainable Uniforms
Perhaps the most striking finding was the demand for organic cotton:
40% of businesses requested organic cotton products, despite the slightly higher price tag.
This figure remained incredibly stable across all years, even amid inflation and economic uncertainty.
This indicates that organic cotton is no longer necessarily considered an eco-luxury and is becoming a standard expectation for company uniforms.
We predict that:
By 2026, organic cotton could account for 45% or more of uniform requests across industries.
Recycled Polyester: Booming Globally, But Not Yet in Our Segment
Here’s where things got really interesting for us. Globally, recycled polyester (rPET) is one of the fastest-growing sustainable fabrics. It’s especially booming in performance workwear, PPE, and industrial uniforms where durability matters.
But:
Fewer than 3% of our customers requested recycled materials.
Why the gap? It comes down to the market segment.
Our customer base tends to be creative agencies, tech startups, small businesses, independent coffee shops, and hospitality brands. Their focus is often on soft natural fabrics, image, and comfort, not necessarily technical fabrics.
We fully acknowledge:
Recycled polyester is seeing wider adoption across heavy-duty workwear and uniforms. It simply hasn’t yet emerged as a demand driver amongst these customers.
In our experience, we do expect that to change. We believe rPET will become a major part of the workwear conversation as it’s already clearly growing rapidly. While synthetic fabrics and products are sometimes a necessity, we typically advocate for natural fibres over synthetic ones, as they don’t release microplastics.
Uniform Is the New Brand Billboard
The rise of branded sustainable uniforms signals a deeper shift:
- Companies are actively building environmental and ethical values into their identity.
- Buyers expect full transparency from suppliers.
- Sustainability is no longer a “nice to have”; it’s built into procurement policies.
As we head into 2026:
The suppliers who can deliver scale, ethics, and price will define the next era of workwear and merchandise.
So… what does all this mean?
It’s pretty clear, sustainability isn’t the side dish anymore, it’s part of the main order. Brands, businesses, and even tiny independent coffee shops now expect their uniforms to be ethical by default. But (and it’s a big but), they still want a great price and quality.
In the next few years, we expect to see:
- More brands require both price and purpose in equal measure.
- Recycled materials continue to move into the mainstream alongside organic cotton.
- Suppliers who can’t meet buyer expectations for both ethics and service won’t keep up.
At A.M. Custom Clothing, we’re proud to continue to lead the way in this evolution, with sustainability and ethics woven into the DNA of the company, from day one. We’ve always believed sustainable workwear should be accessible. Not a compromise, not an add-on, just the standard. This data tells us we’re heading in the right direction.
