Meet the Editor, Nicole Rollender
Trendspotting 2009
Sometimes I bring home wearables for my husband or parents to wear so I can see how the typical end-user rates them. My husband practically lives in high-performance, easy-care polos and waterproof, breathable work wear jackets. One day, I brought home a deep V-neck T-shirt for him, which he tried on right away. There were a few problems: The shirt was way too tight and the profusion of chest hair nestled between the deep V was disturbing (slightly reminiscent of a bad ’70s flick). That tee came off pretty fast and has been in a drawer ever since. End of the men’s V-neck, right?
Well, for our cover story, we surveyed 2009 winter, spring and summer designer collections, as well as new supplier catalogs to see what the top wearables trends are for next year. And guess what? I’m sure that my husband will be thrilled to find out that the ultra-deep, V-neck shirt is the “it” style for men – and not just for metrosexuals. Suppliers such as American Apparel (asi/35297), Alternative Apparel (asi/34850) and Broder Bros. Co. (asi/42099) are carrying roomy (and closer-to-the-body) silhouettes in T-shirts and soft, lightweight sweaters that can be paired with a crisp oxford shirt.
Surprisingly many of the runway trends that we identified – including gypsy-inspired jewelry, high-performance polo shirts, plaid and tartan accessories, bohemian luxe layering, and feathers and fringe – are available in our industry.
However, while also working on the cover story, Wall Street has been in the middle of a possible collapse. In August, retail spending dropped unexpectedly, as consumers pulled back in reaction to the Wall Street collapse. The U.S. Census Bureau reported that retail sales in August were $381.2 billion, a decrease of 0.3% from the previous month, but still 1.6% above August 2007. However, discount retailers’ sales are up – for example, Wal-Mart’s sales in September were up 5.8%.
And, for the holiday season, consumers’ retail spending will only rise slightly as people contend with higher food and fuel costs, a rising unemployment rate and a falling housing market. The National Retail Federation forecasts that holiday retail sales will rise 2.2% this year, making them below the 10-year average of 4.4% and the lowest since 2002, when holiday sales rose 1.3%.
We talked to suppliers and distributors to see how the economic unrest has affected their business, and as of mid-October, they reported that it was pretty much business as usual, for the time being. Girisha Chandraraj, senior vice president of marketing for Broder, says so far the credit crunch hasn’t affected customers’ ability to pay. “Things have been as good as they have been. Things will change though, as a lot of our customers rely on credit lines,” he says.
On the distributor side, Kevin Montecalvo, owner of Newburyport, MA-based Proforma InPrint Management (asi/300900) and a 32-year veteran of the ad specialty industry, hasn’t yet seen effects from a shaky economy. “So far, we’re up from last year,” he says. “We have more salespeople than in previous years.” Some of his competitors are cutting their budgets, so he’s getting more business. Montecalvo has seen an uptick in demand for more value-priced items, but is optimistic that the wearables industry will stay relatively steady.
I’d like to know how the in-flux economy is affecting your business. E-mail me at: nrollender@asicentral.com. Include your full name, job title, business name and ASI number, as I’d like to publish some of your letters in an upcoming issue.
Finally, ASI was the winner of four national awards for editorial and design from FOLIO: magazine recently. I’m proud to say that the June issue of Wearables received a Gold Award for “Best B-to-B Full Issue” and was selected for covering the latest apparel trends, including lingerie and five categories of novelty T-shirts. Read more about the FOLIO: awards in ASI President and CEO Tim Andrews’ blog at ASICentral.com.
See you in 2009! And, here’s wishing you and your families, friends and colleagues a wonderful holiday
season and a Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Nicole Rollender
