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With fashion continuing to drive the children's apparel market, industry players are attempting to work more quickly and efficiently to make sure they have the right looks on the floor at the right time.

"Where in the past there may have been some breathing room to bring fashion to mass, this luxury no longer exists," says Cindy Quinn, divisional merchandise manager of Bradlees. She says the chain, which experienced modest increases in children's Back-to-School sales in fall of 1999, is counting on fashion woven tops for boys' come spring 2001; mesh accents, bright prints, patterned borders and similar elements will set these items apart from the pack. On the girls' end, tank tops with pearl-tone buttons and trims and tops in puckered cotton (many with floral or ruffled border and trim) are anticipated winners.

Buying merchandise far closer to its intended in-store debut date than in the past constitutes a key retailer strategy for grappling with the need to promote ample quantities of fashion-forward garments when their popularity is at its peak. It also positions these stores to compete more effectively with specialty operations.

Quinn and her counterparts at chains such as Ames, Kmart and Sears say a greater percentage of their children's wear open-to-buy remains uncommitted until almost the last minute. For example, it is not unusual for goods that are slated to hit stores in June to be ordered in March. In the past, buys would have been finalized around December.

"Things can change drastically between the time we start to decide what we will carry and when we plan to sell it. Anytime manufacturers can promise to work on super-short lead time we take them up on it," says a Sears spokeswoman.

Children's and parents' ever-louder cries for kids' apparel with looks that mirror juniors, young men's and even adult clothing is also inducing retailers to commit to pint-sized incarnations of older styles, without waiting to see how the latter fares with customers. Ames Department Stores represents a case in point. Until recently, the retailer would test fashion garments in its children's departments while showing full-blown presentations of corresponding juniors and young men's styles. Only if consumer response proved positive did it move ahead with line expansions.

Not any more. "People are screaming for more fashion and far fewer basics in kids' now, not later," explains Sandy Sansavera, Ames' senior vice president and general merchandise manager. "As a result, testing styles just isn't an anymore." He adds that the strong injection of fashion into kids' licensed apparel poses an additional challenge to his team, and to colleagues at other chains hat have also eschewed testing. "We not only have to cross our fingers that the fashion is right, but we have to worry that the property will fly."

Sansavera believes tops with spaghetti straps and multicolored shimmering or sequined borders will gain ground with girls. Boys will gravitate toward athletic silhouettes: brightly colored, printed camp shirts worn over muscle T-shirts, zip-off pants and shorts that extend several inches beyond the knee.

The Children's Place, like many retailers, makes heavy use of a dedicated trends department to ferret out the hot items. "This way," says Nina Miner, vice president of trends, "we are ready with the ideas, trims and sample fabrics before designers need them and have plenty of time to interpret the looks, so kids can have them at the same time as their teen siblings."

This spring, the girls' collection from The Children's Place will emphasize hombre and overlaid print tops, denim bottoms with ruffles, frays and self-fringes, chunky knit sweaters and sweater vests, and intricate decorations on the hems of both tops and bottoms. The big news for boys' will be bottoms of all lengths, woven shirts and preppy styles.

In addition, some retailers are emphasizing fashion in private-label brands at the obvious expense of basics. Notably, Sears is incorporating trendy embellishments like zippers, animal prints, pocket treatments, trims and texture into its T.K.S Basics and other children's collections. Products are then merchandised, as they would be in a specialty store, with ensembles shown riotwearether and separated by theme.

For instance, a group being marketed under the moniker "Add Some Zip" includes lightweight sweaters, with diagonally positioned zippers and jackets with zippers on the cuffs. A "Go Wild" group for girls has tops, bottoms and underwear in animal prints, while tops with bell sleeves, embroidered ponchos and beaded denim pieces are part of the "Folk-A-Delic" ensemble.

Fast-Paced Reactions

Licensors and manufacturers, too, clearly see the need to address the demands posed by the fashion cycle. For example, Nickelodeon has requested that its licensees layer on domestic sourcing capabilities, according to Gail Stem, vice president of soft goods licensing. Companies that have shifted sourcing activities to U.S.-based firms, and/or those situated as far away as Mexico and the Dominican Republic, are being granted licenses to produce garments bearing the likenesses of Nickelodeon properties, Rugrats and Blues Clues, far more than those that insist on sourcing primarily in Asia.

"Asian-based sourcing just doesn't make vendors sufficiently limber to handle the requirements of retailers, who now buy for a 10 percent to 15 percent turn in the first week and want to be able to get an immediate reorder if first-week performance is as expected," Stem asserts.

Warner Bros. Consumer Products follows a similar strategy, says Karen Weiss, vice president of apparel licensing. Like Nickelodeon, the company works more closely with licensees at the design stage, so that looks expected to be popular among juniors and young men are interpreted and adapted in sufficient time to be on the floor at the same time as "older" versions of these pieces.

"Even importers are beginning to understand the importance of moving from nine-month-long production cycles to 120-day ones," Weiss says. "Many have opened domestic factories to afford quick turnaround."

Meanwhile, Happy Kids and Haddad's Apparel Group are among manufacturers whose production runs have been significantly shortened to facilitate just-in-time delivery.

"Cutting lead time has been critical. Ours have been slashed by half, if not more," notes Sam Haddad, vice president of Haddad's Apparel Group.