NEW YORK — Legwear vendors are primed for a spring fling.
The comeback of legwear on February’s fall runways, especially styles like footless tights, boosted typically flat sales this past spring, jump-starting a turnaround in an industry that has been depressed over the past few years.
“Leggings are an easy item that is driving people to the legwear department right now,” said Michael Fink, vice president and women’s fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue. “It brought such new interest into the whole legwear area.”
Vendors said they are confident the momentum will continue into fall, their primary season for moving product, and next spring, adding that percentage gains could reach into the double digits.
Total women’s legwear sales in 2006 for the 12 months ending May 31 saw a drop of 2.6 percent to $2.86 billion, according to The NPD Group, the Port Washington, N.Y., market research firm. Socks underwent a 2.1 percent increase in sales to $1.76 billion, but sheer hosiery dropped 9.1 percent to $999 million and tights tumbled 10.9 percent to $103 million.
“We were up against some tough circumstances, like Hurricane Katrina and rising gas prices, that impacted the economy and took its toll last fall,” said Romaine Sargent, vice president and general manager of Sara Lee Hosiery, which produces legwear for Hanes, DKNY and Donna Karan. “We started seeing a small turnaround during the holiday season, but then the total category started undergoing a real uptick for spring. Having leggings, as well as opaque tights and over-the-knee socks, on the runways added a lot of interest to the category. As the legging trend is just beginning to hit the mainstream, we’re confident it will continue forward in spring 2007, and possibly beyond.”
Vendors offered a range of footless hosiery looks for spring, including styles in brighter hues like light purple, mauve and bone for Donna Karan; lightweight versions with Eighties-inspired animal prints at Chinese Laundry; cropped versions finished with a lace band at Hot Sox, and a cut-and-sewn silhouette in a soft viscose that hits at just above the knee and bears small horizontal stripes at Hue.
“Once the ankle-length footless style was out there, women adopted it, and now they are experimenting with different lengths and looks,” said Catrinel Popa, vice president of merchandising and design at Kayser-Roth Corp., which includes the Hue and No Nonsense brands. “That’s one of the reasons we are confident it will go forward, and we are trying to give that customer options, whether it is through length, or textures like lace or mesh, or different fabrics.”
Related Articles
You May Also Like
Other looks that are emerging as strong trends in the legwear category for spring include feminine anklets in lightweight fabrics like cotton or sheer nylon that could be paired with heels and platform sandals, over-the-knee socks with colorful patterns or pointelle detailing, fishnets in a range of treatments from basic openwork to complex lace-like effects, and Forties-inspired hosiery with back seams. The color palette ranges from neutrals like black, chocolate, tan, army green, dove gray and white to fuchsia, ballerina pink, porcelain blue and purple.
While leggings and fashion looks such as over-the-knee socks are making news in the category, vendors see other important programs shaping up for spring, including a demand for more eco-friendly natural fibers, comfort technology, shaping hosiery and multipacks.