STRENGTHENING NICHE CATEGORIES, ENSURING QUICK TURNAROUND TIMES AND LANDING THOSE CELEBRITY endorsements are all factors in succeeding in the accessories division, known for its lightning-quick trends and fickle consumers.
Although most accessories vendors say the category remains one of the strongest and fastest-growing in the fashion industry, momentum can be maintained only by giving retailers exactly what they want, and by being able to predict where the market is headed.
“We’ve doubled profits over last year, and have been doing better each quarter,” said Shannon Head, owner of Oona Sera, a maker of yoga bags in Berkeley, Calif.
Head has zeroed in on a particular demand — for fashionable and functional yoga bags — and made them durable as well as trendy. She uses a high-tech Japanese fabric that is water-repellent, washable and long-lasting, and offers printed bags with nature-inspired motifs. And while she started selling to health food stores, she hopes to expand her distribution base by landing accounts with spas and resorts, as well as specialty boutiques. The bags are a crossover item, going from yoga to overall totes and diaper bags.
“I’m optimistic about 2007 because we have new styles coming out with the kinds of features that people have asked for, and we’re getting our name out there,” she said.
Not only do companies need to get their names and products in front of consumers, they must also be able to provide immediate inventory to retailers.
“People always want things as soon as possible,” said Myla Reed, special projects coordinator of Los Angelesbased Charm and Luck, a maker of bags in styles including tattoo motifs and featuring horseshoe rhinestone buckles, bleeding hearts and skulls. “But overall, business is up.”
Being on top of shipments is crucial, she said. “We use very good leather, and sometimes it takes time to get the right kind. And there are always copycats out there; we just try not to be around them.” Some producers also say that retailers are buying in larger quantities, hoping to bring an entire look to their stores rather than just one or two pieces.
“We’ve had a great start to the year because demand has been much higher and people are buying bigger quantities, so it’s quite a turnaround,” said Alicia Rossi, marketing manager of New York bag line Talulah. “The accessories sector has a lot of life left in it. People are more interested in handbags that have a story behind them and that make a statement.”
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Although trend-hopping defines the category, Rossi said that a wider trend was consumers seeking accessories that had classic appeal.
“I think more and more people are not looking for trends anymore, and instead want something that speaks to them,” she said. “They don’t want to carry around something that is completely mainstream, but something that has its own statement. And because there’s so much copying in this industry, you have to be your own worst enemy and keep reinventing yourself. It keeps everyone interested, including buyers, who will then keep coming back.”
That said, the impact of having a celebrity wearing or carrying a particular accessory cannot be underestimated. John Brady, president of hatmaker Shady Brady in Ukiah, Calif., said that a new priority was “placing products in fashion magazines, on the heads of stars, so we have a higher visibility. We feel like we have to try and influence trends in fashion, offering styles that the really large manufacturers have difficulty doing,” he said. “We have certain looks that are very time-consuming to produce, but people are looking for those kinds of details, for hats that stand out in a crowd.”
Brady said he could gauge the impact almost immediately of having one of his hats photographed on a star.
“We get calls right away,” he said. “We know within a day or two of the magazine being released. People instantly start calling, looking for a store nearby that carries the style they have seen.”
Owing to that, Brady said he needed to be able to turn orders around immediately. “We have to get a new product out right away. And because everything is made in the U.S., we don’t have to worry about delays.”
Brady said he was hoping for as good a year as he had last year, adding that while hat sales had cooled a little in some sectors, they had heated up in others.
The enduring challenge, he said, was to “stay ahead of the style trends. That’s what is most important to customers. If they see something in a major box store, they suspect that’s the end of the trend, because the larger box stores are always a little slower on their feet than boutique and specialty stores. We get a lot of feedback from the smaller stores as to what’s selling.”
Sally Kellman, co-owner of the San Francisco Hat Co. in San Leandro, Calif., said that trends — and, largely, sales — were being driven by celebrities in music and film; short brims and fedoras had experienced a resurgence largely owing to the fact that famous people had been photographed wearing them.
But beyond that, she also wanted to focus on hats that had a purely functional purpose. “People also need hats for utilitarian reasons, for sun and rain protection,” she said, adding that some of her headgear was made from high-tech fabrics like Gore-Tex.
“We’re seeing a lot more interest in that sort of thing,” she said. “In the last couple of months, at the shows, there was a lot more energy and buzz, a lot more traffic. Things seemed to be more active and upbeat. And I’ve been hearing from accessories people that everyone seems happier.”