NEW YORK — As retailers cry that the denim fashion business is slowing down, manufacturers are finding that their basics business has never been better.
Manufacturers in the moderate price range say shopper interest in the basic five pocket style has kept business growing in tough times.
But it’s not just the indigo, stonewash and black denim that’s selling; misses’ shoppers are also buying muted-tone denim. Manufacturers say dark green is the lead seller by far, with natural, dark brown and burgundy finding a permanent place in the jeans department.
Up until two years ago, denim was only sold in the junior department at J.C. Penney, as a somewhat limited fashion business. But the store developed a private label line called “Hunt Club” for its misses’ area and later picked up some noted brands, including Levi’s and Rio.
Terry Rice, buyer for Penney’s misses’ casual bottoms, said that her area has seen impressive growth in the basics business.
“For our store, the denim business had always been in junior,” said Rice. “We’ve only had two or three years to establish the misses’ business, to get her to think of us as the place to come for her jeans. But it’s been doing very well, and I expect misses’ denim to be a significant portion of the overall denim business this year.”
Of her current stock, Rice noted that “the Hunt Club relaxed fit is by far our number one seller,” in basic indigo, but also in what she calls “fashion colors,” such as loden green, dark brown and wine.
She added, “We’ve tested the Levi’s product in several markets, and the 551 relaxed fit body has been very promising for us.”
Penney’s plans to roll Levi’s out to “all the stores that are interested in having it” in the fall, Rice said.
Jean Rankine, the buyer for misses’ denim, bottoms and shorts at Sears, Roebuck & Co. in Chicago, said that since the beginning of this year, her denim business was “unbelievable.”
“It’s really being driven by Lee, which represents a huge part of our missy business,” said Rankine, noting that Sears also carries Levi’s, Rio, Zena and Bill Blass jeans in some of its stores. “We’ve had fantastic selling with the relaxed fit. I’d say the denim business right now is very basic.”
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Rankine said she has a “very aggressive” plan for her denim business this year, which will be focused on increasing the category’s volume, as opposed to its distribution.
“While our denim business is very mature, we still have a lot more opportunity with Lee,” she said. “We instituted a replenishment system with them, we started carrying tall lengths last year and will start carrying petites. To me, the growth area in denim for women is in lengths.”
The firm that invented the five-pocket jean is still going gangbusters with it. Margie Hanselman, merchandise manager of Levi’s Jeans for Women, said that her basics business grew with double-digit increases last year.
Part of last year’s growth came from the addition of new inseam lengths to the core business, as well as adding what Hanselman called “core extension,” which refers to styles that stay on the line for a year or more.
“What we call core is our most basic indigo and black finishes in our most basic jean silhouettes,” she said. “For junior, that means the 501, 512, and 550 in stonewash, bleach and black, and probably the loose-fit 560 in stonewash. For misses’, it’s about the same, with the addition of the 521, 551 and 561 in stonewash.
“Core extension refers to long-running styles that aren’t season by season, but aren’t strictly core — for example, the styles with local abrasion, or white, or natural. Those have become such big volume that retailers will run it for over a year. The ivy green is now in that category.”
Based on some early bookings for this fall, Hanselman said business could exceed the company’s planned 20 percent growth.
“One of the big areas of extension is in color,” said Hanselman. “We’re doing all garment-dyed products. We’ve always done that in the 501 product, and now we’re going to be doing it with our Red Tab.”
The garment dying produces a better overall color and softer hand than piece-dying, Hanselman said.
In other Levi’s news, Hanselman said that the company has been approached by Dillard’s to test a large-size jean for the Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer.
At Bonjour, basics has been a source of steady growth. “We’ve felt that the fashion for the past year has been in the basic five-pocket business,” said Andrea Levitt, vice president of merchandising for ladies’ sportswear, noting that the company’s business with its basics program has grown over the past year.
The addition of colored denim and softer finishes added to the business, Levitt said.
But not all manufacturers are converts to the big business in basics. Dick Gilbert, president of Zena, said the basics business is purely an effect of economics, rather than a fashion statement.
“Basics just get cheaper and cheaper,” he said. “That’s the only reason they keep selling.”
Gilbert claims that the swing has opened up opportunity for him to increase his fashion jeans business.
“If I can get $23 or $24 wholesale for a pair of fashion jeans that nobody else is producing, why should I make a basic that I’ll only be able to get $14 or $15 for, and end up in a commodities war,” Gilbert said.
Nevertheless, Gilbert added, he’s planning to start production of a basic five-pocket style.
“I don’t expect it to be more than 10 percent of my business,” he said, “but I’m getting in on some coattail business.”