Scores of disgruntled manufacturers and specialty retailers are unhappy about the timing of the first official February market week here.
The initial idea of combining the traditional January and March venues into one blockbuster market has been debated among industry executives for more than a decade. January was an important edition for warmwear, sleepwear and robes. March was pivotal for makers of bras and shapewear to preview and launch new concepts and product.
The Intimate Apparel Council came up with a compromise that was intended to transform February into a huge venue that would satisfy the needs of the entire innerwear industry. The goal was to address the changing buying patterns of retailers who were becoming more demanding for shorter lead times, timely deliveries and trend-right merchandise that would open up the pocketbooks of consumers.
But for the majority of innerwear executives, something got lost in the translation, asserted vendors and merchants. They are in a quandary over international time constraints, travel plans, strained budgets and, in some cases, whether they should attend New York market week, which is scheduled Feb. 5 to 9, as well as the Feb. 7 to 9 Lingerie Americas trade fair here.
In addition to jet lag, and the exhausting task for exhibitors of setting up multiple trade stands here and in Paris during the first week in February, specialty store retailers who also serve as small business owners rely on the innovation and fashion products exhibited at trade fairs. Adding fuel to the debate is that February will be especially tough for boutique merchants who would rather be at their stores for pre-Valentine’s Day business, the biggest selling holiday for lingerie gift-giving.
The Salon International de la Lingerie in Paris from Feb. 2 to 5 compounds the crunch because it ends on the opening day of the New York market. The fair is considered a key venue for designers, merchandisers, distributors, sales representatives and retailers from the international marketplace. The French forum also provides exposure for up-and-coming talent and smaller brands, which, depending on financial resources, exhibit both at SIL and Lingerie Americas.
Explaining how the IAC set the Feb. 5 to 9 market week, chairman David Martino, also president and chief executive officer of Denton, Tex.-based Russell-Newman Inc., said, “What happened is one year ago we went to retailers and design houses about going to four markets instead of five. We checked with Paris [SIL], and we were told their show would be the last week of January. Then, six months later, Paris changed their minds, but our dates had already been set.”
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Mary Howell, vice president of industry relations for the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the organization of which the IAC is part, said in an e-mail sent to a vendor that the IAC “sponsored a task force to determine the need to change to four markets a year. After consulting most of the major department stores, it was agreed that beginning in 2007, the intimate apparel industry will go to four markets a year in New York, and the published dates were the ones agreed upon by those major department stores.”
Steve Chernoff, IAC vice chairman and chairman of Long Island City, N.Y.-based Rago LLC, said, “What happened was it was decided it was a logistical convenience for manufacturers and retailers, for the people who find it convenient. The specialty stores or a conflict with global lingerie business was never taken into consideration in any manner, shape or form.”
From a manufacturer’s perspective, Josie Natori, chairman and ceo of Natori Co., said she initially thought that showing her collections at her apartment in Paris would facilitate matters, but changed her mind because it would be a logistical nightmare.
“I feel this is all so uncoordinated, because we can’t be showing in Paris, so we’ll be with a distributor showing at SIL. We won’t even be able to stay in Paris full-time because we have to fly back Sunday, the latest, in time for the New York market. And we won’t even have time to have our pre-market sales meetings, which we do on a Saturday.”
Natori further noted, “We are scrambling to make samples for three collections. It’s very inconvenient. Some stores will still be in Europe, and will come to New York the following week. I think it was right to reduce the markets, but it probably would have been better the third week of January.”
Richard Murray, president of Wacoal America, the U.S. unit of Wacoal Japan, noted, “It’s my understanding that the way the dates were set was, ‘Here are the suggested dates. Do you have any comments?’ Any comments were ignored, because the dates had already been set. Most people are doing what they have to do to get by. The expectation is it will be better next year.”
Flora Nikrooz, who designs sleepwear bearing her name at Age Group, said, “The pressure of getting collections ready on time is bad enough, but this is a totally ridiculous situation. We are not showing in Paris, so we are fortunate. But I think this situation is unfair and very, very uncomfortable.”
Several specialty retailers voiced their opinion on the issue.
Ruth Brennan, owner of Bits of Lace, a lingerie boutique in Charleston, S.C., noted, “It’s going to be extremely limited this year. We’ve been going to the Paris show for three years, and we love to see cutting-edge ideas. But we’ll have to eliminate the Paris show this year, because we can’t be away nonstop for that length of time. It doesn’t give us the opportunity to attend both the Paris show and Lingerie Americas. But we’ll go to Paris at a later date.”
Peregrine Honig, co-owner of Birdies, an intimates shop in Kansas City, said she has doubts about attending the New York market.
“Every year we go to the New York show, and it’s the one where we find great international brands. But the reason we’re not coming this year is because it doesn’t seem like it will be as big this year. We are considering going to the Paris show for the first time.”
Yolaida Duran, owner of Alla Prima, a lingerie store in San Francisco, said, “I don’t know how this came about, but to have to leave your store before the most important holiday season is not only bad, it’s insane. We’re going to see disgruntled retailers and incredibly tired vendors falling asleep at their stands. And you know there will be vendors who will say ‘We don’t have our samples yet from Customs, can you come back tomorrow?’ Well, I can’t. I have to do showrooms like La Perla and Dolce & Gabbana, which take an entire day.”