OGIO Women's Cardigan Named Overall Apparel Winner at ASI Fort Worth 2026

At ASI Show Fort Worth, which ran March 9–11, attendees handed the Overall Apparel win to a piece that most workwear buyers wouldn't expect to dominate a trade show floor: a cardigan. The OGIO Women's Cardigan (LOG862), distributed through SanMar (asi/84863) and constructed from a rayon/recycled poly blend, took the top apparel prize in the Product Showcase, where all winners were voted on by event attendees rather than a judging panel.

The cardigan's pitch is straightforward and clearly landed. "Suitable for office workdays and cozy nights in, the OGIO women's cardigan (LOG862) is a polished, comfy staple for any closet," reads the product description. "Made from a rayon/recycled poly blend, it's an ideal pick for front desk staff in any sector." That positioning, somewhere between elevated basics and practical uniform-adjacent dressing, speaks directly to the branded-apparel market's ongoing appetite for pieces that don't read as corporate-issued.

The full Product Showcase covered categories well beyond apparel. The Sublimation Store (asi/89376) took Bags and Backpacks with its Custom Sublimated Backpack (SUB-BACKPACK), a fully customizable piece designed for travel teams, high school programs, and collegiate athletes, with options for names, numbers, colors, and team mascots. Terry Town (asi/90913) won Blankets and Throws with its Textured Microfleece Blanket. Additional category winners in drinkware, technology, and sports were recognized on the floor, though the full list extends beyond what the showcase published at launch.

The show floor itself leaned hard into two distinct trend directions. On the apparel and headwear side, reimagined workwear, innovative polos, and updated women's tops dominated distributor conversations. On the hard goods side, sensory products, fidget plushies, experiential goods, and reimagined tech items drew serious attention. Pendleton Woolen Mills (asi/77058), the Portland, Oregon-based company founded in 1909, made a notable return to the trade show circuit after a prolonged absence. Its blankets, towels, and heritage-pattern goods were described as a hit, which signals that premium, legacy-driven product is finding renewed traction in the promo market.

Keynote speaker Nick Friedman, co-founder of College HUNKS Hauling Junk & Moving, addressed the end-buyer relationship directly, offering attendees actionable takeaways on building trust and delivering solutions that close business.

One of the more memorable moments from the show came out of a team competition that awarded top marks to a crew from SportingU (asi/332661): Danny Brown, Margaret Dykstra, Cody Dronkers, Logan DeWitt, and Whitney Bell, joined by Craig Watson of Impressions Advertising Specialties. Their winning pitch proposed a school community event built around food trucks, bounce houses, and giveaways of T-shirts and socks to the first 1,000 attendees. Bell put the case simply during the table presentation: "If you want to show that community spirit, there's nothing better than a kid wearing a T-shirt."

ASI Show Chicago follows next, running July 21–23, with fASIlitate in New Orleans also on the calendar for later in the year. For distributors who missed Fort Worth, the OGIO cardigan and the Custom Sublimated Backpack are both searchable through ESP and ESP+.