Bloomingdales Saks Seek New Things as Fashion Slows
New York Fashion Week starts today,
and retailers want designers such as Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang
to create more “must-haves like biker jackets to rev up sales
amid recession fears.
“The first thing we want to see is excitement in product,
said Saks Inc. President Ron Frasch. “The problem has been lack
of newness in trend.
Womens apparel sales in the U.S. grew 2 percent in 2007,
compared with 5 percent the year before, and will decline this
spring for the first time in seven years, retail analyst Marshal
Cohen predicted. While a slower economy is crimping consumer
spending, designers also are to blame, Cohen said. In failing to
produce winning merchandise, apparel has lost out to handbags
and small consumer electronics, he said.
“I dont know where you get fashion if its not from the
fashion designers, said portfolio manager Patricia Edwards.
“Consumers are frankly a bit bored by what they see out there,
and designers need to do something that excites and encourages
the consumer to part with those dollars from their pocketbook.
Edwards, who is based in Seattle, helps manage $13.4 billion
in assets, including retailers shares, at Wentworth, Hauser %26amp;
Violich.
Designs unveiled at the more than 80 presentations during
Fashion Week, which runs through Feb. 8, are crucial to
generating consumer interest, especially after the Hollywood
writers strike reduced red-carpet fashion preening, said Cohen,
of NPD Group Inc., a marketing firm in Port Washington, New
York.
Push for `Newness
“Youre always looking to the fashion shows to see what the
direction is, said Michael Gould, chairman of Macys Inc.s
Bloomingdales chain. “We continue to push our suppliers to
make sure we have that newness. Hopefully well see some, and
hopefully well be able to execute it. No question, that is the
key to growing the business.
If the designers add “swing to coats and full skirts or
make sleeves more interesting, provide a fresh take on cardigan
jackets and blazers and pair leather biker jackets with soft
feminine looks, they might generate sales, said Susan Rolontz,
executive vice president of Tobe, a New York-based retail
consulting firm.
Clothes bought for cold weather will be shown in Manhattan
and then in London, Milan and Paris. They represent more than
half of annual U.S. womens apparel sales, Cohen said.
`Fall Was Horrible
“Fall was horrible, said C.B. Whyte, a senior vice
president with Manhattan real estate broker Stribling %26amp;
Associates. The jackets were too boxy, the skirts too full, and
the colors and fabrics — including pinks, florals and chiffons
– inappropriate, she said.
Whyte said she slashed her fall season apparel buying by
about a third to $15,000 last year. This years spending again
will depend on whether the economy is “a fiasco, she said,
“and, of course, on what they are going to be showing and how
wearable the clothes are.
Womens apparel sales will decline as much as 3 percent in
the first six months for the first drop since 2001, Cohen
predicted. Sales reached a record $104 billion in 2007.
“Its more a reflection of the economy than of American
fashion at large, said Bonnie Morrison, a spokeswoman for the
Council of Fashion Designers of America in New York.
Retailers Struggling
The slowdown has left retailers struggling. Average monthly
sales growth at department stores open at least a year shrank to
0.7 percent in the 11 months through December from 4.5 percent
in the year ended January 2007, according to the International
Council of Shopping Centers. Those sales at apparel chains for
the same period declined 1.8 percent, compared with a 1.1
percent gain, the New York-based trade group said.
That has forced stores to slash prices to generate revenue,
which erodes profit and in turn hurts shares. The Standard %26amp;
Poors 500 retail index of 31 retailers dropped 19 percent in
the past 12 months. So far this year, Saks declined 12 percent.
Saks, Nordstrom and Macys executives said in their third-
quarter conference calls in November that womens apparel was a
problem category.
Nordstrom Executive Vice President Peter Nordstrom said that
while the Seattle-based retailer took markdowns because it
overbought womens merchandise, it also lacked “compelling
products.
Solving the Fit
The department-store chains have been reaching out to
designers for extra help, getting them to create exclusive
merchandise. Macys turned to Tommy Hilfiger and Oscar de la
Renta; Kohls Corp. teamed up with Vera Wang; and J.C. Penney
Co. lined up Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. Last month, Liz Claiborne
poached Isaac Mizrahi from Target Corp. to revive its namesake
brand.
This weeks collections must have “balanced offerings,
which could include lower-priced items for greater appeal or
more casual knitwear, Frasch said.
Cohen calls for more clothes that can be worn at the office
and then to an evening out, and better-fitting garments.
In an NPD survey of 32,000 women in October, 81 percent said
they had trouble finding clothes that fit.
“What is in the mind of fashion designers? said Arlyn
Imberman, an executive coach in Manhattan, and disappointed
shopper. “Are they really thinking about the woman or are they
thinking of the reviews the shows are going to get?
