CASUAL LIFESTYLE VENDORS ARE BUILDING THEIR BRANDS and strengthening the bottom line with a broader range of styles, improved fabrics, and better sourcing and production programs, while focusing on wholesale distribution systems to more effectively target retailers.
More fashion is always a top priority for apparel companies, and it can be achieved by creating new lines and acquiring established brands.
At Rousso Apparel Group, an importer and manufacturer of better-priced women’s sportswear, casual and career apparel based in New York, chief executive officer Victor Rousso is attempting to grow the company by both internal and external methods. The company acquired the Garfield & Marks and Womyn brands in December and is growing the MiFresia label it launched last year. Other Rousso Apparel Group brands include Oleg Cassini, Naturally Organic World, Bill Blass, Larry Levine, Allen by A.B.S., Coffee Shop and Nina Leonard.
“We are growing through customer service by fulfilling our customers’ needs with product that is fashion-forward for any everyday woman,” said Rousso. “Growth is coming naturally by retaining customers and from the acquisition of new customers. We are also on the lookout for new brands that can add to our group.”
The company is planning overall growth this year, including doubling the volume of its MiFresia line, though Rousso didn’t disclose specific figures.
At Antilia Femme in New York, national sales manager Richie Winkler said the company was seeking growth through fashion diversity, novelty and by differentiating the company from other brands. “We’re adding new fabrications such as shiny charmeuse, wovens and exciting prints such as unusual stripings. Our sales were almost double for 2006, which was our strongest year ever. And January 2007 was our strongest month ever.”
Much of the company’s success has come through it’s ability to seek out trends and provide new merchandise quickly. “We’re keeping a keen finger on the pulse of the industry and taking some calculated projections,” he said. “When we hear about a possible emerging trend, we study it and then if we think it will eventually reach consumers, we go ahead and produce a huger number of the looks, even though we have no orders in hand. Then when a store comes in looking for a trend, we’re ready for them with immediate deliveries available in large quantities. It’s paying off for us.” Wholesale fall prices at Antilia Femme are $8.50 for a simple blouse with little embellishment to $18.50 for a more elaborate, embellished blouse.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
Alps Sportswear in Lawrence, Mass., has updated its offerings to remain current and desirable. “Our fall 2007 line introduces some new yarns such as lambswool mixed with angora and cashmere,” said Jerry Stone, vice president of sales. Our color palette is wider than ever, from pastels to brights, and we’ve added a few styles that are more shaped but not tight or fitted, to flatter our consumers’ bodies.” Wholesale prices are $15 for a fleece top to $40 for a lambswool and angora sweater.
Fine fashions and fabrics may wow consumers, but they can break a company’s financial back unless sourcing and production operations are well-organized and efficient.
“We do global production that includes European countries such as Germany as well as China and India,” said Antilia Femme’s Winkler. “But, regardless of the locale, we keep an extremely close watch on our quality levels, making sure everything is just right for us and, ultimately, our retail accounts. That’s why when a retailer comes in asking for at least 100,000 units of a trendy item for fast delivery, we will automatically be ready. We constantly study the market and the fashion industry and know how and when to evolve, change and grow.”
Once the products are made, well-oiled distribution systems are helping vendors reach retailers and consumers.
“We are doing grassroots marketing at the consumer level and planning sale days and [retail] trunk shows in major regions of the country,” said Rousso. “These efforts, along with strong public relations and customer relations efforts, are the keys to our growth and future. Right now, we are finding a resurgence of the specialty store business. Consumers love the level of service and the uniqueness of the product they are getting from specialty stores. We plan to help the stores provide the best service possible to their customers.”
Tom Williamson, vice president of sales and marketing at Aventura Clothing Co. by Sportif USA in Sparks, Nev., said the company had four channels of distribution to attract customers. “We have a wholesale network of over 1,000 momand- pop specialty retailers, a growing catalogue business, a booming Web business and now a namesake store that opened in Sparks in 2006, which we use as a style laboratory to test new styles and gauge consumer response. We could also conceivably open more namesake stores, but it wouldn’t be until at least the next three to five years. All our efforts are about putting more focus on our lifestyle fashions and making them a destination buy and something different than what’s in the marketplace.”
Williamson said sales at the year-old Aventura were expected to rise at least 15 percent this year.
Stone at Alps Sportswear said the company had been around since 1934, which means it has seen the growing importance of marketing products and getting them to consumers. “We’re working with our more than 900 retail accounts to play up and merchandise the novelty look and feel of our brand, especially in light of all the newness, which we feel will even further grow the company,” he said. “This means telling the shoppers about the heritage of the brand and showing them the pointelle and cabling detailing and encouraging them to try on and experience the ultrasoft hand of the yarns we’re using.” Stone said Alps expected to see gains of at least 10 percent to 15 percent this year.