Private Label Towels from Imabari: What Buyers Should Know

Short answer: Imabari, a city in Ehime Prefecture, is Japan’s largest towel-making area. Many of its weavers take orders for other brands, from embroidering a logo on a stock towel to weaving a towel to your specification. The “Imabari Towel” name and logo are a certified brand with their own rules, so whether your towel may carry them is a separate question from where it is made.

Why Imabari

According to a Japanese government publication, Imabari accounts for more than half of the towels produced in Japan. The area has woven cotton for well over a century, and its mills, dyers and finishers sit close together, which is what makes small and specialised runs possible.

The five-second rule

The best-known Imabari test is for absorbency. A one-centimetre square of towel is floated on water, and it must begin to sink within five seconds. The general Japanese industrial standard allows sixty. Towels certified under the Imabari Towel brand must pass this test along with others for quality, as set out by the regional towel association.

The brand label is not automatic

“Made in Imabari” and “Imabari Towel” are not the same thing. The Imabari Towel name and its logo belong to a certification system run by the regional association. A towel made in Imabari does not automatically carry them, and a private-label towel under your own brand may or may not be allowed to show them, depending on the association’s rules and the maker’s certification. Ask the maker before you plan packaging around the logo.

What can be made for your brand

Level	What it looks like with towels
Name imprinting	Your logo embroidered or printed on a stock towel
Private label	The maker’s towel with your woven label, band and packaging
ODM	A stock weave in a colour, size or border of your choosing
OEM	Yarn, weight, weave, size and colour to your specification

Woven-in logos (jacquard) and custom colours involve setup and dye lots, so they come with larger minimums than embroidery on a stock towel. See why minimums vary.

What to ask an Imabari maker

• Which towels in their range can take embroidery or a woven label, and in what sizes?
• What weight (grams per square metre) and yarn are their standard qualities?
• Whether a custom colour is possible, and what minimum it brings.
• Whether the towel will be certified as Imabari Towel, and what that means for your labels.
• Washing and care information for your care label.

Getting quotes

If you want me to ask Imabari makers for you in Japanese, send a brief: the towel you have in mind, quantity, and where it is going. I bring back each maker’s own figures in writing. You can also see towel makers who list themselves in the maker directory.