Byline: Kim Mitchell

Roughly five years after women's apparel burst onto the promotional/corporate wearables scene as the next new hot market segment, some industry players are saying the sizzle has fizzled.

Women's apparel sales, they argue, continue to represent only 10 to 15 percent of overall logoed clothing sales. Growth of the category is, at best, incremental, they complain. Time to give it up and identify the next, new hot market segment, they urge.

We're not buying it. We say women's wearables are poised for yet another revolution - or perhaps an evolution - but one that employs more stand-alone and fashionable retail looks and color stories.

And we're not alone.

"Women make up 46 percent of the work force. So why are we shipping only 15 to 20 percent women's?" says David Bebon, director of special markets for New York City's Capital Mercury Apparel, which brings women's styles from Bill Blass Premium to this marketplace. "In general, this industry, including my own company, has not provided true women's styling and tasteful apparel. I hate to say it but we need to start looking more at retail brands like Ann Klein and Talbots and pay better attention to what is selling."

Bebon says he is being brutally honest as a result of his wife's clear-eyed perspective: "I'll show her a woman's piece that sells great and that I think is great, like our twin set or my end-on-end wrinkle-free shirt, with no pockets and a spread collar, the kind that ladies like, and she'll look at it and say, 'Are you kidding? I wouldn't be buried in that.'"

As a result, Bebon says Capital Mercury and Bill Blass will launch a significant number of new stand-alone women's styles in 2006. Look for retail colors and details aplenty, he adds.

"We know what's selling," he adds. "This company does 80 percent of its volume at retail. If we want to improve sales, the onus is on us to bring more retail looks to market."

Michael Stein, vice president of design for the Greg Norman Collection, echoes Bebon's sentiments. "I believe (women's wearables) are treated as an afterthought and it shows," he says.

"Overall, the women's product offered is too basic in nature and uniform looking," Stein adds. "If the assortment is made of items appealing to women, it will work. The worst thing you can do is offer dull basics. Our best sellers started out being basic and are now something between basics and fashion items."

The call for more fashionable women's looks flies in the face of the industry's traditional approach of avoiding too trendy apparel, lest one ends up with a warehouse full of unwanted inventory.

But we're not talking about moving toward leopard skin shirts and pink feather boas here. We're talking feminine, even conservative stylings that closely follow retail details and color palettes.

Clearly this next stage in women's will require a sea change on the part of manufacturers, suppliers and promotional product distributors. So the question now becomes, are we willing to take some risks and take a fresh approach to women's wearables?

Revolution or evolution?

Let's review, shall we? We all agree that in the current marketplace there's no reason a woman can't look both professional and feminine while wearing a logo.

Companies like Gabrielle Rohde Royce have set the high-bar standard for women's logoed apparel with its "designed by women for women" cache, while companies like American Apparel showed that even the industry stalwart - the T-shirt - can offer feminine appeal. Over the past five years complimentary male-female promotional wear styles have grown both in number and quality. Today's women's wearables feature softer fabrics, slimmer silhouettes and styling.

"Based on what our sales of women's wear are and the increased product options available from manufacturers, I would have to say that (women's) styles are selling," says Keith Shannon, marketing director for Bolingbrook, Ill.-based S&S Activewear, a leading national wholesale distributor of imprintable sportswear. "The fact that almost every manufacturer now carries women's wear may mean the market may be a little bit saturated, so perhaps there is the perception that sales are flat or down."

VF Imagewear's Cindy Chatman echoes the idea that women's apparel needs to be more fashionable than men's. Chatman is business merchandise manager for VF, which markets the industry mainstay brand Lee, as well as styles under the Wrangler Hero and Red Kap labels, among others.

"It seems that sometimes we offer very conservative, staid clothing that might be 'safe' enough to appeal to the corporate buyer, but that wouldn't necessarily appeal to the female end-user who is looking for something a little more fashionable," Chatman says.

"Overall, there is a fashion gap," she adds. "There are some cool, fashion-forward women's products available, but there is definitely room for improvement."

As a result, Lee is focusing on the trend toward lighter weight, transitional fabrics for 2005.

"Pastels are always widely accepted by ladies, but punchy greens and corals are a nice update to the lighter feminine color palettes this year," Chatman adds. "Fashion cord lock pulls, flatlock stitching, and raglan sleeves lead the way in terms of details."

Retail brand challenge

Indeed, with the advent of popular retail brands such as Liz Claiborne, Lacoste, Nike, adidas, Perry Ellis and Columbia crowding the promotional market, there is a growing cry to add more stand-alone and fashionable retail looks to women's wearables.

"These brands do have an edge in that they have a retail presence created by the advertising surrounding their brand, which in the end, elevates consumer impressions," says Christi Pack, assistant marketing manager for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Hanes Printables' Silver For Her line. "However, we believe that we meet them competitively by being more in tune with the needs of embellishers and wants of consumers in our channel.

"There will always be a need for corporate wear, but the demand for more fashion-forward styles is certainly increasing," Pack adds.

In keeping with retail trends, Hanes finds its full-zip fleece jacket and fitted rib tee are top women's sellers.

"More companies are looking for casual, more fashionable alternatives to the typical corporate style," she continues. "If you look at the Outer Banks Reserve line (another Hanes company) specifically, we are now offering even more beautiful fabrics with details that women love. Silver for Her has done really well offering very fashion-forward styles that don't necessarily play in the corporate wear arena."

Depending on the buyer's use of promotional apparel, there is a need for "fashionable and more traditional corporate apparel," agrees says Vickie Lents, director of marketing for Leland, N.C.-based supplier Outer Banks. "But even with corporate apparel at Outer Banks, the women's offering has very feminine, more stylish features, such as key-hole, V-neck and Y-neck plackets."

"Our industry should worry about selling fashionable women's apparel," says Jessica Johannes, Marketing Coordinator, for PremiumWear, Inc. "There is a strong need to offer both basic apparel and fashion-forward apparel for men and the same holds true for women."

PremiumWear's Jockey line offers 19 women's products that account for 70 percent of the line. These are pieces that can be stand-alone or they can coordinate with men's pieces. "A man can wear a woven and a lady can wear a sweater that coordinate color wise and have the same feeling," says Johannes. "Our lines offer both sporty and dress coordinating apparel for both men and women, which provides an advantage over the typical cookie-cutter apparel."

Certainly, as women increasingly shape the American corporate landscape, it comes as no surprise that these brands have a competitive edge.

But while retail brands have become a powerful force in the promotional market; their presence does not represent a lock on the business. Retail brands often do not address the unique needs of the market, and don't understand the nuances of decorating and distribution.

"Simply being a high-priced brand does not guarantee quality or value," warns Bob Pierce, vice president of sales and marketing at Independence, Mo.-based Dunbrooke. "When you purchase a retail brand you are supporting national advertising campaigns and royalties."

But while retail brands are over-hyped, retail looks are what sells, he adds.