SPRING LOOKS LOOSEN UP
Byline: Anne D’Innocenzio
NEW YORK — “I have enough suits to last a lifetime. How many suits do you need?”
That question, posed by Jennifer Black Groves, an analyst with Black & Co., sums up the problem faced by many major stores today: how to deal with a working woman whose on-the-job wardrobe needs have moved from career to casual.
Groves, whose area of expertise includes the fashion industry, believes women no longer have a reason to buy more structured suits and pants, because those silhouettes haven’t changed much in the past few seasons. She said she represents the typical professional career customer and added that she has been buying long skirts, camisoles and twinsets to wear to work.
Her attitude reflects what has been happening around the country, as big stores struggle with a flat better career business this spring, while the casual sector churns out double-digit increases.
The structured business has been hurt by the movement to feminine dressing, which has continued to gain momentum at the workplace. The long floral skirt, camisole and twinset make up the new work outfit this spring and summer. Twinsets have replaced the jacket. Some retailers attribute the soft career business to a warmer spring than last year’s, prompting shoppers to wear more relaxed clothing.
The career business has been problematic ever since dress codes in the workplace began loosening about four years ago. In that time, the popularity of structured looks has been up and down. These days, it is down.
Last spring and summer, career business was strong and casual was tepid. Many retailers thought the trend would continue. They were wrong.
Liz Claiborne has been struggling with its Collection business for several seasons. A makeover, spearheaded by Elissa Bromer, the division’s president, is due for fall. Brooks Bros. has been trying to figure out the right formula for its career customers. Two years ago, it took the wrong path by going contemporary; for this fall, it is offering a classic, relaxed version of its trademark pinstriped look.
Even powerhouse Jones Apparel has taken hits this spring in its Jones New York, which retail sources said has been soft. And at Lauren by Ralph Lauren, licensed to Jones, the casual pieces of the lifestyle collection have been faring much better than structured looks.
“Career sportswear sales are flat because there is too much tailored stuff with fashion twists,” said R. Fulton MacDonald, an apparel industry consultant. “They [manufacturers and stores] are still not getting it right, and consumers are confused.”
“Casual is definitely stronger than career,” said Frank Doroff, executive vice president of merchandising at Bloomingdale’s. According to sources, better casual at Bloomingdale’s is up 15 percent, while the career sector is flat over the year-ago period.
Doroff noted the casual pieces in Lauren by Ralph Lauren have fared better than the career portion of the line. He added that both Claiborne’s Collection and Jones New York have been difficult.
Starting for fall, Bloomingdale’s reportedly plans to update its mix in better with such lines as Baldanza and an exclusive line called Tahari & Bloomingdale’s. Doroff and Eli Tahari, Tahari’s owner and designer, declined to comment.
The career business for spring at Macy’s East has been flat, said Kathy Bufano, executive vice president of merchandising. She said casual has shown double-digit increases.
The career business could be soft, she said, partly because of the warm weather. She also pointed out that because women didn’t buy shorts and T-shirts last year, they were interested in replacing their casual wardrobes for spring and summer.
Bufano noted Claiborne’s Collection group is making a big comeback, but said Jones Collection has been soft.
“Career has been tough; casual has been strong,” said Sheila Kamensky, fashion director at Rich’s, based in Atlanta. “Last summer, career was very strong.”
She said the casual pieces in Lauren by Ralph Lauren are doing well, while some of the casual items of both Claiborne Collection and Jones New York are also scoring. The structured portions of those lines, however, are soft.
“No one anticipated that this summer would be more casual,” she admitted. As an indication of how widespread relaxed dress codes have become, she said an increasing number of law offices in the Atlanta area instituted five-day dress-down policies. Virtually every day, for those workers, is dress-down Friday.
Kamensky pointed out that sport dresses from Liz Claiborne and Jones Sport, twinsets and linen pieces across the board have done well this past season.
“Merchandising career has become more challenging,” said Beth Silverstein, merchandise manager for better sportswear at The Doneger Group, whose clients are small-to-midsize specialty retailers.
“A lot of manufacturers are designing lifestyle lines,” she said. “Casual collections are dressing up, while career collections are dressing down.”
She noted that soft suitings are doing well at her specialty store clients, including those in microfibers and polyester blends.
Overall, she said, her stores’ career business is flat, and casual is churning out single-to-double-digit increases.
Managing the career business has been a knotty issue for many sportswear makers.
“We are not in touch with [the consumer’s] needs,” said Liz Claiborne Collection’s Bromer.
“We send out a lot of mixed messages,” she said. “Work as we know it is changing. The career customer is far more in touch with herself than we are.”
She added that a big problem is the lack of customer service at department stores for time-starved career women, a factor that can make shopping a low priority on a “things to do” list.
Bromer said Claiborne’s Collection business is turning around, showing an 11 percent increase at retail this spring from the year-ago period after struggling for several seasons. She explained that it was because the company shipped a tight merchandising package.
She added that some of the items that did well at retail were linen pants, tunics and silk shirtings.
Kenneth Zimmerman, president of Kenar Enterprises, said he saw a slowdown in career starting last fall and decided to cut back on structured looks by 30 percent for spring. That strategy has worked, he said, citing a strong career business for spring.
“Women have enough suits and jackets, and they are buying twinsets,” Zimmerman said.
Becky Blair, vice president of sales at Karen Kane, said she saw career slowing last fall and got prepared.
The company removed its structured fashions from its Lifestyle line starting last fall and created a Collection line with a limited distribution of 65 doors. Lifestyle is marketed to 500 doors.
Some of the career looks that did well at retail this spring were longer jackets, slim pants and lace blouses. For fall, some of the items that have booked well are herringbone jackets and novelty layering pieces with lace details, she said.
“Our career business was strong for spring because we had it in limited distribution,” Blair said. “People don’t feel compelled to wear a suit anymore. I was always a major suit person, and I’m no longer comfortable wearing a structured jacket and pants. The trend toward femininity, with camisoles and sleeveless dresses with cardigans, has affected the career business.”
Sandy Baldanza, former partner of Due Per Due and now president of Baldanza, a better line that he said would debut for fall selling in such stores as Bloomingdale’s, added that he wants to add spark to what he describes as a “boring better sector.”
“Better doesn’t have to translate into boring,” he said.
He describes Baldanza as a hybrid, which hits somewhere among better, bridge and contemporary. Fall’s collection includes stretch velvet belted jackets and lace-inset tunics.
Elliot Lauren, a better sportswear resource, started to relax its fashions in the past three years, a strategy that has resulted in strong sales at its specialty store accounts.
“The key to the career business is soft structure,” said owner Elliot Lauren. “Women want clothes that have a multipurpose, that they can wear to the office and out at night.” Some of the looks for fall that have booked well are matte jersey pants and fleece jackets, merchandised with twill pants.
“The career business has been tough,” said Lauren. “It is very difficult to identify. It doesn’t mean sloppy, It doesn’t mean ultracasual. It is a comfort level.”