What to Wear?

What to Wear?
Ladies' styles, hot new colors dominate promotional apparel this year

By Teri Carnicelli

JUST BECAUSE your client's job may be in the button-down corporate world doesn't mean he or she can't dress in the latest styles and fashions--minus the feathers and see-through lamé, of course.

Promotional apparel suppliers are quick to follow what's happening in the fashion world in their own garment offerings, providing new styles that look hot but are always cool comfort against the skin.

RISING WAVE OF WOVENS

Bill Blumstein of The Apparel Source says many suppliers and manufacturers agree there will be a continued trend toward more casual attire, like sport shirts and wovens, in the workplace.

"In today's market there is more variety than ever before in these garments."

Jockey/PremiumWear

Though the company's predominant products are the basics, like tees, fleece and sports shirts, this year the addition of a new line of wovens from Forest & Hue is expected to boost sales. "They make excellent quality denim and twill products that will fit right into the corporate casual market," Blumstein says.

Sure to draw a lot of attention is Forest & Hue's premium brushed twill, featuring a contrast collar/back yoke, double needle stitching and two-button cuffs. The shirt is constructed of 5 ounce, 100 percent brushed cotton and comes in seven standard colors.

Eric Rubin, president, Blue Generation, also sees an increase in the popularity of wovens this year.

It used to be a knit-driven market, and with the introduction of the denim shirt into the promotional industry, it opened up the woven part of the business."

Three year ago the company carried one denim shirt and six colors in the twill shirts. This year Blue Generation offers four colors in denim and 24 in twill.

"We will be the source for every corporate color that a company could want, as well as any size needed, from men's extra small to 6XL, long sleeve plus talls, and 18 of the twill colors in short sleeve," Rubin says. "From the same color palette, we are running 13 colors in ladies twills in both long and short sleeve."

The four colors in denim also come in men's and ladies cuts and in short and long sleeves.

"We've covered the whole gamut that anybody could want in either a twill or denim shirt," Rubin points out.

Gina Mahoney of Capital Apparel feels that retail/specialty store-influenced designs will be a major trend for next year.

"The wovens will have a more traditional, tailored fit, but remain versatile in styling to cross lines between dress and casual wardrobes," she says.

Mahoney predicts that Capital Apparel's business in 2001 will be driven by its Sanded 40's Twill Shirt, the 60's Denim Shirt, and the Mercerized Polos.

Following the rising interest in wovens, Edwards Garment Co. has increased its twill offerings to include the Edwards Chino Shirt, made of 5.5 ounce twill in both long and short sleeves. It's available in unisex sizes extra small-4XL.

"Our 60 percent cotton/40 percent poly Oxford shirts, available in both men's and women's dress shirt sizes, is consistently one of our top sellers," says Kelly Meininger, Sales manager, Special Markets Division for Edwards. Something the company is doing that is fairly unique to the industry is offering a selection of coordinating bottoms.

"With more and more promotional products distributors getting into uniform sales, pants are a key item. And they are such an easy add-on sale to orders that would ordinarily just include shirts," she points out.

INNOVATIVE FABRICS, STYLES

Sometimes the best way to attract attention is by offering a new type of fabric, or even an unusual or creative way to package it.

For example, the new Ezepack system of jackets from Ash City fold into their own back pockets, and then can be carried like a small pack over your shoulder.

"It's going to be a big hit," says Ash City's Donna Hoskins.

Jim McCoy, director of marketing for Pearl Northwest, says that the demand for waterproof/breathable (WPB) fabrics, as well as for technical and functional apparel, will grow in the non-retail outerwear market.

He predicts big sellers for the company's Dutch Harbor Gear line will be the micro fiber velour designs (the Salish, Darrington and Rosario groups), as well as the Mt. Parka (WPB) styles--Winlock, Skokomish and Sol Duc.

Trends toward surface interest body fabric with fancy collars, stripes and mercerized cottons have been noted by Winner Mate Sportswear's Bob Vaughn.

"Our new micro fiber basic jacket, style 6028, as well as the new micro fiber fancy style jacket, style 6032, are a tremendous value in micro fiber," he says. The company also offers two new shirts, one featuring a popcorn stitch solid surface interest and the other a single mercerized, two-ply yarn mini feed stripe.

New fabrics are still 'hot,'" agrees Byron Reed, director of Marketing for Weatherproof^®/MV Sport^®. "We are introducing a stretch cotton shirt, our microsuede is still going strong, and we are also bringing in a faux leather jacket. We think the faux leather is going to be strong; we see it doing well on the retail level."

Reed says the corporate market has gotten more fashion aware--distributors' customers are asking for better items in terms of fashion and quality. But it's not just the corporate market that is looking for better quality.

"There is a very big need out there for the same quality offerings in a poly-cotton, wrinkle-free and stain-resistant shirt," says Blue Generation's Rubin.

For 2001, Blue Generation is offering 13 colors in a matching twill and knit polo pique shirt, which will be wrinkle-free and soil-resistant.

"We expect it to be a tremendous seller this year, because there are a lot of people who want the easy care of a 65/35 blend shirt, plus there is a big market in the restaurant, hotel and uniform trade that needs this particular item."

The company is using a Teflon coating on the shirt for the soil resistance, which also adds to the longevity of the garment.

ACTIVE, CASUAL LOOKS

Better-quality constructed garments can also be found in the more sporty category of apparel offerings.

Winner Mate

"One hundred percent combed, ring-spun cotton is fast becoming the new standard for premium and promotional apparel," says Brannon Craig, Strategic Accounts manager for Jerzees. "It offers the softest hand, best drape, optimum durability, and the tightest knit, making it a superior decorating canvas."

Last year Jerzees introduced the Ultimate T-shirt--the "Zt"--and later this year Jerzees will launch its Ultimate Fleece, called the "Z-Class" fleece. It, too, is made from combed, ring-spun cotton.

"Early orders from our wholesalers have exceeded our expectations," Craig says. "We anticipate these products will create a great deal of excitement in 2001. Jerzees has clearly 'raised the bar' for quality activewear."

Sara Lee Branded Apparel and its Hanes Printables line of promotional goods is also making strides in premium quality casual and activewear.

"We continue to be very 'bullish' on T-shirts for the coming year with the continued success of the Hanes Beefy-T as America's No. 1 brand of T-shirt, and the recent re-launch of our Hanes Heavyweight T-shirt," says Laura Burrows, Director of Product PR for Hanes Printables.

Sportsman

Other anticipated big sellers are Hanes' cotton pique sport shirts for men and women, and the new Basket Weave Pique styles for both men and women.

Not to be outdone in the activewear category, PremiumWear has stepped up with a new relationship with the highly recognized Jockey brand. Ellen Schwartz, Marketing associate for PremiumWear, is excited about the addition of the high-profile brand and expects great response to the new styles offered through PremiumWear, such as the heavyweight high vee jersey with chest stripe.

This knit shirt is made of 100 percent combed ringspun cotton heavy jersey that has been fabric washed. The shirt features a stylish contrast piped welt inset chest stripe.

"We believe that activewear defined by fashion fleece and fashion color jersey styles, much like you would see in an upscale destination resort, will become very popular," says Roger Carroll, vice president of Marketing for King Louie International. As a result, King Louie has introduced the TimeOut brand of activewear, which Carroll says has already proven itself in the resort and collegiate markets, as well as TimeOut for Her, which has proven itself in the golf market.

In the activewear category, he predicts one best seller this year will be style A608, The Cruiser, which is a long sleeve fashion jersey of 9 ounce, 100 percent cotton flatback French rib. "Another activewear item we anticipate doing big numbers will be style A609, The Hampton, which is a boucle fashion fleece," he says.

Distributors should note that many suppliers are adding new styles based on what distributors are hearing from their own customers.

For example, Willow Pointe Sportswear's 28-style offering has been extensively reviewed with customers after the product planning and development stage is complete.

"We rely heavily on our customers' input to establish our product offering," says Peter Rielly, president of Willow Pointe.

Expected to draw demand for the company this year are styles 116, 117 and 119, a trio of men's athletic styles constructed of 100 percent cotton with traditional color offerings of gray heathers with black, navy and red accents. While style 116 is more of a street-cut polo, styles 117 and 119 are made for golfing.

"A golf shirt, for ease of swing and movement, should have elongated shoulder seams, enlarged armholes and slightly longer sleeves," Rielly says. "A golf shirt for both men and women is a little bit larger in those three areas, because you don't want anything binding you when you are swinging a club."

But sometimes bigger isn't always better--especially when it comes to women's apparel.

WHAT WOMEN WANT

When it comes to "what women want" in promotional apparel, selection is everything.

Hanes

Bob Schmidt, owner of Advantage Marketing Group in Bloomington, Minn., says, "In the last 18 to 24 months, suppliers have really come to recognize that there are women out there in the corporate workforce who want clothes actually made for them. Up until a couple of years ago, you couldn't find stuff for women; they had to wear a man's polo or a unisex twill.

"Now there are hundreds of selections just for them. Women like having a shirt styled for them, and they appreciate the giver for making the extra effort to buy something to fit them."

Wayne Lineberry, MAS, vice president of Norcross, Ga.-based Corporate Specialties Inc., agrees with his fellow distributor. "More and more corporations are asking for the women's shirt to be a true cut for women, not a unisex with a long tail that hangs down to their knees."

Many suppliers have heeded the call for more true-cut women's fashions. Donna Nigro, vice president of Crystal Springs Shirt Co., concurs that "ladies products will continue to make an impact, especially those with more tailored styling."

Crystal Springs

King Louie offers a dedicated ladies line, called TimeOut for Her, while Hanes has several Hanes Her Way^® selections available.

"With women representing more than 50 percent of the workforce and with more women moving into highly influential business positions, we expect styling specifically for women to be strong," Burrows says. "We anticipate this trend to influence styling, fabrications and fit this year and beyond."

If you want to look at very specific styling for women, look no further than Pacific Sportswear's new Twister cap. The company has taken the standard 6-panel cap and added a scrunchie for a woman to put her ponytail through. The new cap is called, appropriately, "A Different Twist." And speaking of caps ...

HATS WHERE ITS AT

Looking for that perfect hat to go with your client's new trendy ensemble? You can find a promotional smorgasbord--from high colors to low crowns, buckets to brass buckles, even sandwich bills--for surprisingly few bucks.

King Louie

What's hot for headwear in today's retail market? Knits, sandwich bills--and anything Flexfit, says David Porter, Sales manager for Sportsman Caps.

But if you're looking for the hottest style of hat, look no further than the versatile visor.

"We have several products that combine some of the hottest features in headwear today," Porter says. These include the Sportsman Sandwich Visor, style 2190, and the Flexfit Visor, style 8777.

"The new Sport Visors will be the hottest product in the market," agrees Russ Rowan, director of Product Design, Development & Advertising for Toppers Inc.

This year Toppers introduced its Gen-X (style 3904) and Evolution (style 3900) Sport Visors--each a low profile visor with a baseball visor design.

MV Sport

KNP Headwear saw a huge jump in sales of its CT400OV visor last year--so much so, it couldn't keep up.

"In total, the demand we faced exceeded stock by as much as four times, depending on the color selection," says Joseph Reboy, Sales associate for KNP Headwear.

KNP's visor has a natural sandwich peak, a comfortable and smartly designed backstrap, a more low-profile crown and a premium cotton twill. It is relatively easy to embroider and is constructed to provide clean image resolution that is wrinkle-free and well presented.

For 2001, KNP is beefing up its stock availability as well as adding a second line of solid color, garment-washed cotton twill visors, style CT4930V.

"The two lines, working in concert, are poised to become our top sellers for the new season," Reboy says.

The sales staff at Alternative Apparel also believes that the biggest hat trend for 2001 will be the visor. Alternative Apparel has introduced the AH97 visor for 2001, and expects it to be the company's "hottest" promotional item for the upcoming year.

Rowan comments that headwear is a staple in how people express themselves today. "Not only are the styles today new and innovative, the prices are just as attractive."

TAKE MY ADVICE ...

Blue Generation

Now you know what's sizzling in the promotional apparel market. You may think the great fashions could sell themselves--but guess again. Some say selling apparel is a whole different animal from your promotional pens, mugs, mousepads and more. So how do you tame that beast?

Distributors looking for free advice need look no further than the apparel suppliers and manufacturers themselves.

Business gifts, trade shows, employee relations, event marketing, public relations, brand awareness, and recognition programs are some the outlets that apparel can be used for promotional products, advises Crystal Springs' Nigro.

"There are apparel items that can fit almost any budget and promotional need," says Jerzees' Craig. "If you want the recipient to really wear or use the promotional apparel item, spend the extra money to make it stand out in his/her wardrobe."

Promotional apparel can be extremely imaginative because it is a blank canvas on which an artist can express himself. If you are just putting a corporate logo on an apparel item, Craig says to consider a garment with some texture or unique features or color combinations.

Jerzees

"If you select a basic apparel item, allow the artist to explore and create unique designs to maximize the visual impact. Distributors who hesitate to sell apparel as a promotional solution because of price or lack of imagination are missing a big piece of the promotional pie."

Rich Soergell from Pacific Sportswear agrees that the key to selling apparel is to get creative. "Be imaginative and use appliqué, embroidery, reflective or glow embellishments and don't just sell on price. Sell on creativity and commitment that the order will be done on time."

Building on Soergell's comments, David Porter, Sales manager for Sportsman Caps, says, "The decoration is what gives each promotional item its individual signature and flair. When it comes to decoration, be it on headwear or any other promotional product, the imaginative capabilities are literally endless."

All too often, price is the first part of the conversation. In apparel, it shouldn't be the leading indicator, says Pearl Northwest's McCoy. "The salesperson needs to ask a couple of other questions first, like how is the product going to be used/worn, what kind of durability/life expectancy is the client looking for, etc. You must find out those answers first. The best business is repeat business. Sell them the wrong stuff once, and you may never see them again."