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Document 22 of 67.

Copyright 1998 Information Access Company,
a Thomson Corporation Company;
ASAP
Copyright 1998 Capital Cities Media Inc.
WWD

August 10, 1998

SECTION: No. 158, Vol. 175; Pg. 12; ISSN: 0149-5380

IAC-ACC-NO: 21012338

LENGTH: 1587 words

HEADLINE: MAKERS AIM FOR SPACE.

BYLINE: Monget, Karyn

BODY:
NEW YORK -- Between all the socializing and schmoozing at last week's market, innerwear megabrands pursued a not-so-hidden agenda: securing more retail real estate for in-store shops, brand extensions and fashion looks showcased as collection concepts.

The newest contender, the licensed DKNY Under Wear collection at Wacoal America, is expected to swallow up more space in innerwear departments in early 1999 when it opens in 800 doors of major department stores.

In-store shops for Tommy Hilfiger sleepwear, which is produced under license by the Cypress division of Russell-Newman Inc., will begin taking shape this fall at several hundred department store outlets.

And shop areas are expected to be set up for a licensed line of Nike sports bras and active-related apparel in innerwear departments next spring. As reported, officials at Nike and the Vanity Fair Intimates coalition of VF Corp. have acknowledged they plan a launch of Nike intimates early next year.

The Nike brand will compete directly with two other big names in sports bras, each of which has shop environments: Speedo by Authentic Fitness and Champion Jogbra by Sara Lee Intimates.

Smaller companies with brands that do not have a national presence or the financial support of a giant corporation were on a mission to safeguard their turf at stores. Their argument cited such factors as a broader range of fashion assortments and color palettes, expanded prints and textures, new fabrics and creative point-of-sale materials.

Most companies, large and small, showed microfibers. The man-made fibers have been the rage in Europe for several years, but American innerwear firms are just now getting into them in a big way.

Key examples were a lightweight, nonwrinkle group of at-homewear separates at Anne Lewin at NAP Inc., shapewear of Micromattique by Specialty Intimates at Sara Lee Intimates and Jockey's European-inspired line of opaque and sheer bras and panties of Micro Modal.

While store space was the overriding topic last week, each retail group had a specific priority.

Status brands and big designer names continued to be the sought-after category for major buying groups like Federated Merchandising Corp. and May Department Stores; specialty stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Jacobson's and Nordstrom were on the hunt for luxury goods and merchandise that would distinguish them from department stores, and smaller specialty operations were generally looking for fashion resources -- especially merchandise not found at department stores.

Retailers -- big and small -- also satisfied the hunger for fashion looks at the Intimate Apparel Salon at the Doral Court Hotel, where innerwear collections from entrepreneurial companies from the U.S., as well as European and Canadian labels, were shown.

Key ideas for spring 1999 were:

Silk, whether in softly tailored pajamas at Donna Karan Intimates, or in an ombre-pattern long tank gown at August Silk.

Spa-inspired looks like luxurious cotton terry bath robes, turbans and slippers by Susan Dunn or little cotton terry bath wraps by Host For Her, and two lines at NAP, Anne Lewin and the licensed Crabtree & Evelyn collection.

A best-selling idea in catalogs: cotton gauze sleepwear and at-homewear, especially in bright colors that have a sportswear flavor. A key resource: Ariel.

Green, from pale hues of mint and apple to Nile green, celadon and a bright Jolly Rancher green.

Anything sheer and printed, whether a little bra and panty set with camouflage motif on mesh at Intimate Resources, or a sky blue and white cloud print on a long mesh slipgown by French Jenny at Richard Leeds International.

Lace -- the more expensive-looking, the better. Fancy Venice lace trims and Chantilly lace embellishments were seen in moderate and better-priced lines such as Eileen West and Eileen West Classics, a sleepwear licensee of Charles Komar & Sons, as well as upscale daywear and foundations by European labels Chantelle, Ritratti, Simone Perele and Papillon Blanc, a Canadian brand.

An emerging trend: printed shapewear in pretty, lingerie colors such as peach and platinum by such labels as Warner's at The Warnaco Group and Smoothie by Specialty Intimates.

Sizing up the general mood of retailers, Barbara Lipton, vice president and divisional merchandise manager of intimate apparel at Saks Fifth Avenue, said, "I think spring '99 looked really terrific. We are very happy with what we've seen in both sleepwear and foundations."

"Oscar de la Renta sleepwear looked absolutely beautiful, very salable, and had wonderful colors," said Lipton. "Sleepwear by Donna Karan Intimates never looked better, especially the silks and a cotton stripe group. We are very excited about Donna Karan at-homewear looks. Bridal sleepwear by Jonquil was spectacular."

Carole Hochman Designs produces the licensed Oscar de la Renta sleepwear, and the licensed Donna Karan Intimates is manufactured by Wacoal America.

Lipton noted Saks plans to continue selling the licensed Christian Dior sleepwear, which is produced by the Hochman firm, but noted, "It won't be the way we have known it. It's a very small collection; more couture-looking. We'll carry it in a limited number of doors."

As for foundations, Lipton said Chantelle, a French brand, and the licensed Natori label at Bestform Group, a unit of VF Corp., looked "very strong."

Overall, Lipton observed, "Foundations continues to fuel our business, but sleepwear had a spectacular spring season for us, beating our plan with double-digit increases in the low teens. We anticipate more of those double-digit increases for fall."

Lipton said designer shapewear continues to be weak.

"Of course, Wacoal and Donna Karan Intimates shapewear look good, but I feel there is a void in the designer area," she said.

Susan Masterson, merchandise product director for daywear, sleepwear and robes at Federated Merchandising, said, "Status brands continue to be very important for us, as they are throughout Federated's companies, whether it's ready-to-wear, men's wear or intimate apparel. All status brands continue to grow on each other, and we see it as a big opportunity."

Masterson oversees Federated's designer intimates businesses, including Calvin Klein Underwear by Warnaco, the licensed Ralph Lauren Intimates by Sara Lee and Donna Karan Intimates and DKNY Under Wear at Wacoal.

Wendy Purvis, divisional merchandise manager of intimate apparel at McCraes, said she was "very pleased" with two foundations lines: Wonderbra by Sara Lee Intimates and Bodyslimmers by Nancy Ganz at The Warnaco Group.

"Both lines looked absolutely terrific," Purvis said, noting that sell-throughs at retail this spring have been "very strong."

"Status brands are very important at our company, " said Nan Engert, intimate apparel buyer at The Bon Ton. "We are just getting started in expanding our better business."

Generally, Engert noted, "There is a lot of color in the market, and color is what we are looking for."

Michelle Vlahoyiannis, sleepwear buyer at Macy's West, said, "Status brands now represent an important part of our business. We want to be a leader."

Asked if the space crunch is affecting spring buys, Vlahoyiannis said, "Space still is an issue. As of now, we haven't received additional space. So where do we go? We haven't done any editing -- yet."

Teressa Gear, intimate apparel buyer at McClure's, an upscale department store in Nashville, noted, "I'm looking for special merchandise at designer and bridge price points. I always find the Intimate Apparel Salon to be a wonderful place to shop and look for resources."

Gear said she ordered a new line of daywear at the salon show called Body Wrap by Christine. At Susan Dunn, she said she was ordering a group called Spa Wear, which includes cotton terry robes, bath accessories and Spa Tabs, an oversized bath tablet that fizzes and turns the bath water azure blue, Nile green or lavender.

"It's an emerging trend. People do take time at their homes to have a relaxing bath; a time away from phones and the children. You can create your own spa at home with these items. That's important," said Gear.

Mary Gushee, owner of Mildred Hoit, a specialty operation from Palm Beach, Fla., agreed: "You have the Old Guard here, but there are a lot of young people who have moved to Palm Beach. The idea of spa wear is something our customers can relate to -- young and old."

Adelaide Tingley, a "lifestyle" buyer for DM Management, a Hingham, Mass., mail-order operation with catalogs such as Nicole Summers, said, "Fabric is very important, because our customer wants something that's simple, easy to wear, comfortable and washable. We've had great success with cotton gauze in bright colors, especially crinkle. Our customer loves crinkle."

Tingley described the consumer who buys apparel from the Nicole Summer catalog as a baby boomer or older, who typically lives in an affluent community.

Mary Montross, a dress and suit buyer from DM Management, noted, "I always try to pick up on trends happening in the sportswear market and adapt those trends to what we call resortwear. We feel the term loungewear is outdated. We are trying to capture a younger consumer."

Montross opened a Nicole Summer catalog, which featured sportswear and dresses merchandised on the same pages with resortwear, saying, "I don't know if the customer really knows the difference between the sportswear and the resortwear."

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

IAC-CREATE-DATE: August 17, 1998

LOAD-DATE: August 18, 1998