Merch™ · The owned commerce division
Anyone can print a shirt.
We build the brand.
Merch turns an idea, an audience or an existing company into a print-on-demand brand, then gives it the identity, storefront, content and growth system it needs to keep selling. Almost nobody gets past the launch post. That is the part we build.
How Merch works
Merch runs in two directions.
Our own brands
Umbrella owns the brand, funds it and carries the risk. Origin creates the concept, identity, product expression and store. Scale creates and runs the demand. Merch owns the commercial result.
These are not case studies somebody handed us. They are our own money, and they are where we find out what actually sells before we recommend it to you.
Brands we build for partners
We build and grow print-on-demand brands for companies, creators, artists, events and communities with an audience or a commercially viable idea.
The second exists because we do the first. What we learn spending our own budget on product, price, creative and conversion is what we bring to yours.
Merch™ · our own brands
We test it on our own money first.
Crojačnica
Selling · in rebuild
An established Croatian apparel brand with a real audience and real sales behind it. Currently in rebuild, with more than six new collections in production.
More than 20 million views across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. [confirm exact figure and date before publish]
The Veil Torn
Prelaunch · Q1 2027
In build. Positioning, identity and art direction are complete and the brand is in prelaunch. It launches in Q1 2027.
LCKD IN
In build · Q1 2027
In build, on the same model. It launches in Q1 2027.
Origin creates the brand, the product expression and the store. Scale creates and runs the demand. Merch carries the commercial result. It is the same sequence we would run for you, with our capital instead of yours, which is the only honest way to find out whether the process works.
Who this is for
You need an audience or an idea. Not a warehouse.
Companies that want a merchandise or culture-led product line.
Creators and influencers with an engaged audience rather than a large one.
Artists, musicians, events and communities.
Experts and public figures with a recognisable point of view.
Existing print-on-demand sellers whose brand, store or growth is the thing holding them back.
People with strong designs and no operating system around them.
People with an audience and no product concept yet.
Four ways to start
Bring everything, bring something, or bring nothing.
Build from scratch
You bring the audience, the opportunity or the ambition. We develop the brand concept, positioning, name where one is needed, identity, product and collection direction, original designs, the store, the content and the launch.
Start from our design system
We hold developed concepts and collection directions that can be adapted to you, or licensed for a defined period, territory or product category. The rights model is documented before anything is produced, so nobody has to argue about ownership later.
Bring your own designs
You supply the artwork. We handle technical review, print preparation, product selection, mockups and sampling, then build the brand framing, store, content and launch around it. You warrant that you own or have licensed every asset you supply.
Co-create
We develop the collection together. Who owns the master brand, who owns each design, which products and territories are permitted, the term, the approvals and what happens to the artwork if we stop working together are all written down before the first file is made.
What Merch handles
Brand and product
Audience and opportunity review
Brand concept and positioning
Naming and identity
Collection themes and product graphics
Product and price architecture
Print method and production files
Mockups and sampling
Store and commerce
Platform recommendation
Storefront strategy and build
Product pages and catalogue setup
Checkout and payment coordination
Analytics and tracking
Email and lifecycle foundation
Customer-service workflow design
Launch and growth
Launch idea and drop calendar
Product and lifestyle content
Email and social launch sequence
Paid creative
Paid acquisition through Scale
Conversion and offer testing
Reporting and next-collection learning
How to work with Merch
Start with whether it will work.
Nobody should build a full brand before finding out whether anyone will buy it. Each of these is a real stopping point, and the first one is designed so you can walk away from it with something useful.
Start here
Merch Read
A fixed-scope feasibility engagement. Audience and opportunity review, brand and collection direction, a recommended product and platform model, an initial unit-economics model, the launch pathway and the risk list.
It ends in a straight recommendation to proceed, test or stop. We would rather tell you it will not work than sell you a launch that fails. Follower count on its own is not evidence of demand, and this is where we find that out.
Test
Merch Drop
One limited collection or campaign. Concept, design route, selected products, a collection page, launch content, an optional paid campaign and a post-drop report on what actually sold.
The right first move for most creators and for any organisation testing a first collection. It validates demand before anyone commits to a full brand.
Build
Merch Brand
A complete print-on-demand brand built from scratch. Strategy and position, name and identity, the first collection, the store, launch content, measurement, the initial launch and testing period, and an operating handbook so the brand can run without us in the room.
Build, existing brand
Merch Store
For a partner who already has a brand and designs. Design and asset review, product and supplier setup, store design and implementation, analytics, launch and a clean operational handover.
Also the right route for an existing print-on-demand seller whose products are fine and whose brand, store or growth is the thing capping the revenue.
Continue
Merch Partner
An ongoing co-operated brand or merchandise programme. Collection calendar, design and content, store operations, paid growth through Scale, reporting and supplier coordination.
This one is selective. It requires stronger qualification, transparent economics and a written responsibility matrix, because both sides are carrying risk.
Commercial arrangements
How we get paid.
The arrangement follows who contributes what, and who carries the risk.
A fixed build fee, when you want ownership and a clean handover.
A fixed build fee plus a retainer, when collections and campaigns are continuous.
A reduced build fee plus a share of defined sales, when the opportunity justifies us investing alongside you.
A design licence or per-unit royalty, when you are using our artwork.
Ongoing growth management through Scale.
Selective co-investment and profit share.
The last two are partnerships, not a standard offer. We assess audience quality, evidence of demand, who owns the intellectual property, your promotion commitment, the margin, the work required from us and the risk we would be carrying.
Nothing is agreed on a percentage until the cost waterfall, the reporting source and the payout schedule are written down. A share of an undefined number is not a deal, it is a future argument.
The honest part
What we are, and what we are not.
We are not the manufacturer. Production and fulfilment are completed through selected print-on-demand partners unless another arrangement is contracted.
You, or the commerce platform you sell through, remain the legal seller. Payment processing, VAT and tax, refunds, returns, chargebacks, consumer-law compliance and customer support sit with the seller of record, not with Umbrella, unless we have contracted something different in writing.
Print-on-demand lowers inventory risk. It does not remove operational risk, and anyone telling you it is passive income is selling something.
We do not launch a product without confirming rights.
We make no sustainability or ethical-production claim without evidence from the supplier.
Advertising spend is separate unless it is explicitly included.
We do not guarantee sales. What we do instead is make it cheap to find out, which is the entire reason a Merch Drop exists.
How it runs
Six stages, three places to stop.
01 Qualify. Audience and demand evidence, the objective, product categories, rights and licensing, target markets, budget and risk tolerance, who the seller of record will be, and what you are committing to do to promote it. No proposal before this is understood.
02 Define. Brand or collection concept, the customer, product architecture, price and margin model, drop or evergreen, platform and supplier shortlist, and the criteria for success and for stopping.
03 Design and sample. Design, production files, product mockups, sample orders, print and colour review, packaging details and product-page content.
04 Build the commerce system. Store, catalogue, analytics, payment and policies, customer-service workflow, email, tracking and reporting.
05 Launch. Content, organic activation, partner or creator activation, paid campaigns, the drop calendar, and support ready before the doors open.
06 Read and improve. Sales and margin, product performance, conversion, paid acquisition, refunds and quality, repeat purchase, creative learning, then the next drop or the decision to stop.
Three gates, and we will hold them.
The written concept and the economics are approved before design starts. Physical samples are approved before commercial launch wherever it is practical. A test purchase, fulfilment and refund path is completed before you open the doors. Skipping a gate to hit a date is how a launch turns into a refund queue.
One company
Merch is not a separate team.
Merch is not a separate company, a separate team or a side project. It is the commercial wrapper around work the other two divisions already do.
Origin creates the brand, the product expression, the identity and the store.
Scale creates and runs the demand, the testing, the conversion work and the measurement.
Merch packages that around products, suppliers, drops and commerce operations, and carries the commercial result.
It also means the learning runs in both directions. What sells, at what price, to which audience, with which creative, goes straight back into how we advise clients who never sell a single product.
Questions we get asked
The five we hear most.
Is this just print-on-demand?
Print-on-demand is the production method. What we sell is the brand, the store, the launch and the growth system around it.
Do I need designs already?
No. We can build everything, adapt concepts we have already developed, or work with what you have.
Who owns the brand and the designs?
It depends on the arrangement, and it is written down before work starts. We do not leave ownership to be argued about later.
Will you take a share instead of a fee?
Sometimes, and only after a Merch Read. That is an investment decision on our side, not a discount on yours.
Can you guarantee it sells?
No, and nobody honest can. We can make it cheap to find out, which is what a Merch Drop is for.
Start with whether it will work.
Tell us about the audience, the idea, or the brand you already have. If we do not think it will sell, we will say so, and that answer is worth more than a launch nobody buys.