ATLANTA — The pink logo of a woman wearing a sweater might not be as recognizable as Ralph Lauren’s polo pony or the Nike Swoosh, but the strategy behind the One Girl Who… sweater line is the same.
The company hammers home a feel-good message through creative branding tools to a wide range of women.
Owners Bruce Gifford and Dan Jaffe, each apparel industry veterans with 30 years of experience, conceived the line in 2002.
The name, One Girl Who…, was inspired by Jaffe’s wife, who used the phrase as her signature in correspondences.
“It’s not just a quirky name, but a message for the brand,” said Gifford. “It has a positive aura and suggests possibilities; it also communicates the versatility of the brand.”
Gifford, who started his career with the Country Miss line in the Seventies and later launched the knit line Molto Fino, handles production, distribution, finance and marketing. Jaffe, formerly with sportswear firm Apparel Industries, designs the line and is in charge of sales and merchandising. Corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, Calif., with sales and service handled out of a New York showroom.
This fall, a sterling silver charm necklace engraved with the phrase “gratitude” on one side and “One Girl Who…” on the back was introduced as a gift-with-purchase promotion and gift to buyers.
Each season will launch a new charm to add to the necklace, beginning with “faith” this spring. Next fall, customers will be able to vote on the “word of the season” through the company Web site, onegirlwho.com.
The line launched for spring 2003. A synthetic T-shirt division was added last year. For 2004, sales are expected to reach $15 million and are projected to double to $30 million next year. With 2,000 specialty store accounts in the U.S. and Canada, including Nordstrom, the line will expand into the European market next year.
With a total of 300 sweaters and T-shirt styles each season, sizes 4 to 14, the line is diverse enough to reach daughters, mothers and grandmothers, Gifford said. Novelty looks represent 75 percent of sweaters.
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The owners shop Asian yarn markets several times a year, often developing exclusive production deals. Tweeds, space-dyed yarns, bouclés, leather and knit combinations, along with a growing cashmere program, feature details such as satin trim, embroidery and whipstitching. In T-shirts, a market more saturated than sweaters, One Girl Who… uses synthetics, such as Lycra spandex, rayon and nylon blends to better compete with cotton lines. Sweaters are priced $55 to $75 wholesale, and T-shirts $30 to $40.
Brand identity pervades all materials. The logo, with One Girl Who… in a signature scripted font, adorns buttons, metal hang tags and zipper pulls. Regional sales representatives are required to give the line prominent space and placement in showrooms in a shop concept with olive green walls. The owners sent the first samples to sales reps in brightly gift-wrapped boxes. Rather than color cards, seasonal color choices are featured on scarves that buyers keep and wear.
“You have to sell the sales force first,” said Gifford. “Buyers also love us because we give them free stuff that also gets our message out.”
Retailers are also using the new gratitude necklaces as customer gifts. A gwp deal with Nordstrom, the line’s largest account, is pending, said Gifford.
To continue growth through branding, the company recently hired Westhill Partners, a marketing firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York, to explore nontraditional advertising and promotion. Focus groups this spring will explore retailers’ and consumers’ needs.
For Lynn Brodsky, owner of Over the Top, a Chicago specialty store, the strength of One Girl Who… is its appeal to a broad range of ages and shapes. Attracting a loyal following, the brand’s sales and sell-throughs surpassed all other lines in her store, said Brodsky. More than marketing techniques, Brodsky appreciates the line’s design and price.
“I don’t know if marketing sells the line, but it does get people’s attention and they think it’s cute,” she said.