Corporate gift mercedes promotional

Byline: Eric Peterson

Nowadays, innovation is rampant and consumers quickly get spoiled. Once you've tried DSL Internet access, it's really hard to go back to slow old dial-up. Once you've started snapping digital photos, it's really hard to wait in line at Walgreens for prints.

This trend also holds true in the wearables market. Innovative technical fabrics have gone mainstream, and you'll be hard pressed to find a promotional outerwear catalog that doesn't include performance fabrics. Jackie Whitfield, the head designer of Ash City's North End Outerwear line, sounds a familiar refrain: "Once you've worn a garment that performs, it's really hard to go back to something that doesn't.

"Performance in all aspects of production is becoming more and more expected from the customer," Whitfield elaborates. "They expect your garment to be waterproof or breathable, or to wick moisture. So when they buy corporate, they want the same thing. It's not so much the manufacturer pushing it; I think it's now the consumer pulling it."

Whitfield says bonded fabrications are the rage at Toronto-based Ash City for 2005. "Soft-shell is a big buzzword," she notes. "It started off with only certain types of fabric. Now they're bonding just about everything that can be bonded. For example, we're bonding a microfleece to a mesh underneath and, in the middle, there's a lamination. It stops the wind from penetrating and keeps you dry."

New North End jackets include a 3-in-1 piece released last fall and a high-count polyester jacket with a water-resistant finish and a stowable hood (about $65 wholesale); there is also an expanded palette of colors. Ash City's upcoming spring 2005 flyer includes a rain suit that is both waterproof that can be sold with pants or as a jacket alone.

Whitfield says that the one-use jacket is on its way out; today it's all about specialization. "There was a while when everyone was buying one casual jacket and you could wear it anywhere," she notes. "Now I'm finding it's going back to where it's either very sporty... or more classic."

Going upscale

"We have seen the pendulum swing back from extremely casual to a more upscale, yet still casual, style of outerwear," echoes Christine Bordonaro, assistant marketing manager at Charles River Apparel in Medford, Mass. "Customers want jackets that are more form-fitting and tailored."

For 2005, the Charles River approach focuses on "new, easy-to-care-for fabrics" such as soft fleece, Softex polyester, and polyester-cotton blends, says Bordonaro. A standout new product is an upscale women's microsuede.

Microsuede is one of the hottest fabrications on the corporate jacket market for 2005. Beyond Charles River, many leading outerwear suppliers - such as Weatherproof, WinnerMate, and ID Wear, among others, have done well with microsuede.

ID Wear Director of Marketing John Graham says the company was quick to see the emergence of microsuede at retail because of its private-label manufacturing business. Customers like The Gap, Nordstrom, and Levi's give ID Wear parent company Pimlico a bird's-eye view of the latest and greatest jacket styles to bring over to ID Wear.

"We have an interesting paradigm, because we have all of these private-label manufacturers who come to us," explains Graham. "We see the fashion trends a year in advance of even the average retailer."

Graham says there are two main corporate uses for jackets: as "Carhartt-style" workwear or as an executive gift. Jackets are ideal gifts, says Graham, because of their high perceived value. "A $200 jacket we're selling for $40 net is a pretty good deal," he explains.

New for 2005, ID Wear is offering garment-dyed twill jacket, which Graham describes as having "denim jacket style and is available in virtually unlimited colors." He also highlights a new "extreme stretch" yoga wear jacket.

Bay Shore, N.Y.-based Weatherproof is another top retail brand that supplies a good deal of outerwear to the corporate market. "Our jacket strategy is based upon our successes in the upscale department store market, says John Meis, the company's national sales manager. "We pull from the successes in that market and know they will translate into the corporate market with a high probability of success."

Based on this strategy, Meis says Weatherproof has brought a pair of bonded polyester jackets he labels "outdoor tech" into the corporate catalog this year, along with a quilted ladies' style with a slimming silhouette and faux leather trim.

"Fabric trends continue to be very interesting," Meis adds. "Besides the bonded poly, the microsuede in men's continues to be the growth fabric in department stores. Our basic (microsuede) style continues to grow... as a high-class venue for any corporate logo.

"Men are starting to wear jackets that don't look like jackets," says Meis, pointing to a Weatherproof microsuede overshirt that "dresses up the outerwear look."

Weatherproof has also recently expanded its selection of hues in microfiber (including Mango, Sun Wash, and Serene Green) and microsuede (including Seafoam, Shale, and Maize).

Outdoor brand makes inroads

Another retail stalwart, Modesto, Calif.-based Royal Robbins, has been making product for the outdoor specialty market since 1965 - where it's now a leading brand - and its entry into the corporate market came in 2001 after BMW contacted the company about supplying one of the carmaker's programs.

"We didn't realize (the promotional market) existed," says Dayna Panales of Royal Robbins' sales and marketing department. The first three years have been "a little bit slow-going. We understand that in this market you need a reputation to back the brand. We're trying to educate this market as to who we are and where we come from. It's gone well. We honestly have a lot of faith in this year, because the word is out there.

"Generally speaking, we've gotten a lot of requests for things that are extremely versatile," Panales adds. "Buyers are getting much smarter - they want things that are multipurpose."

Resultantly, Royal Robbins offers the corporate market a pair of its most versatile (and popular) jackets: the Travelite Waterproof Breathable Jacket and the Windjammer Anorak. The Travelite is high-end, says Panales. "It's kind of like the Mercedes, the Cadillac, the Hummer. It's Mini ripstop fabric, 100 percent microfiber nylon. It's waterproof. It's got pockets everywhere, inside and out. It can handle all sorts of weather, rain and snow."

Panales says the target end user of the Travelite is the frequent business traveler who could visit several different climates in the course of one work week. "It kind of goes everywhere," she notes. "It's extremely packable - it packs into a travel pillow." The right-hand pocket accommodates the entire jacket for this use. The Anorak is lighter-weight and less expensive, and it also packs into a travel pillow. Like the Travelite, it has been available to the corporate market since 2003.

Less unisex

Ladies' styles are booming, says Wayne Hsieh, manager of WinnerMate in Irwindale, Calif. "Over the past year, we have been expanding our lines to include more ladies' items," he says. "In the past, the promotional apparel market has more or less ignored the ladies, so they've had to wear men's apparel in smaller sizes. This is no longer the case."

Aureus, WinnerMate's golf brand, has a new ladies' jacket for 2005. "We made sure to cut it just right so it fits comfortably, with a slight taper on the sides. The shell is a lightweight, water-resistant microfiber, while the lining is cool nylon taffeta. The heavy-duty front zipper is color coordinated, as are the side-pocket zippers. It's simply a great jacket for the golf course or any casual setting."

While growth has been sluggish in recent years, Hsieh anticipates the market to pick up speed this year. "Reduced corporate budgets for promotional apparel and increased competition have made things difficult," he says, "but expect sales to pick up in 2005."

Designers high on tech features

Page & Tuttle's catalog includes 25 different outerwear pieces, including a trio of windshirts that are new for 2005, says Doree Wendling, director of marketing for the brand's corporate home, PremiumWear in Minnetonka, Minn.

"With every jacket we make, performance is kept in mind," says Wendling. "Durable construction, technical fabrics, and performance fabrics are seen throughout the line. Our new Micro Fleece Varsity Jacket is made from micro poly fleece, made to resist water without a water-resistant coating, and maintain its warmth."