MORE FUNCTION IN THE FASHION

Byline: BRENDA LLOYD

SALT LAKE CITY — Outdoor apparel brands have placed a premium on the ability to move from the slopes to the street and from the trails to the theater for fall.

Attendees at the recent Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, held at the Salt Palace Convention Center here Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, could immediately sense that the ski slopes and hiking trails will be more colorful this fall. A color palette dominated by orange, red, yellow, royal blue, green and olive reflected the overall men’s sportswear trend toward brighter shades, but Ron Page, president of Vaude USA, pointed out that there’s also additional safety in the greater use of color.

With color blocking, various quilting effects and a variety of silhouettes in greater evidence, it was also apparent that outdoor apparel makers have been working on their styling so that men can walk off the trail or slope and go to a restaurant or other locale. Another reason for more fashion styling is that the young consumer is shifting away from snowboarding to skiing and needs more fashion to go with his functionality, for both pragmatic and budgetary reasons.

“That’s our biggest trend,” said Kim Schamp, spokeswoman for Columbia Sportswear. “It’s affecting what we make. They [young men] want something like our Center Stage pant because it’s brighter and faster.”

Although technical innovation remains key in outdoor apparel, so too do natural fibers, with wool a growing category as it’s engineered for washability and greater comfort. John Fernsell, president of Ibex, which specializes in wool, said even catalogs had good sell-throughs on wool garments this past fall as consumers came to accept wool without having to touch it. “Orvis had good sell-throughs with our line and they’ll be expanding it for fall ‘04,” Fernsell said.

Fall 2003 sales varied at stores, said David Matz, president of Retailers of the Outdoors Industry (ROI), a buying group, but he called it “definitely a recovery year. Sales were up a point to 7 to 8 points, and not many had sales in the double digits.” The cold winter helped drive sales.

Mary Royer, buyer for Outdoors Inc., Memphis, Tenn., said outerwear sales have been strong but men’s casual sales have been difficult, which she attributed to more competition in the category from other retailers, including Target and Banana Republic. Royer said she bought the same amount for fall ‘04 as fall ‘03 but put more dollars into some brands, particularly Mountain Hardwear and Arc’teryx, but she also liked Patagonia and The North Face (TNF). She found sportswear less exciting than outerwear but liked the offerings from Patagonia, TNF, Prana and Royal Robbins.

Ed Whitehead, senior vice president of marketing, Galyan’s, said buyers from the Indiana-based retailer were particularly impressed with men’s apparel offerings from TNF and Arc’teryx. “We were looking for new and innovative looks, and not placing orders with all the same vendors. The response from our buyers was that there was a lot of newness out there.” He said Galyan’s is putting more emphasis on authentic brands — or those that sponsor or go on expeditions, use authentic (or technical) fabrics, and test products.

He added that outdoors brands are putting more color in apparel and also more shape and details, including pockets for MP3 and CD players. “We look at our customer info and find that that’s what the customer is gravitating to, and we will feed that demand,” he said. “Anything that was new and technical performed extremely well [last fall].”

Columbia Sportswear’s Schamp said soft shell continues to be dominant in her company’s line and in the industry. “It’s our biggest trend, but the consumer is still having a hard time understanding what it is,” she said. Although soft shell is still a small part of sales, it’s growing fast as more consumers understand it. Columbia Sportswear had one soft-shell style in its Titanium line last year but has five this year. Another trend at Columbia Sportswear is the movement of snowboarding fashion looks, including motocross, into mainstream outdoors apparel.

Moonstone, Pacific Trail’s high-end performance brand, expanded its soft-shell category, adding the Norwand jacket and bib, and the more value-oriented Gendarme jacket and pant for fall ‘04. Also new was the Cirrus ultra-light jacket. Gary Hansen, president of Pacific Trail, said he was pleased with fall ‘03, adding that the product shipped on time and sold through.

“More specialty retailers gave us a chance,” he added. “We had several reorders.” Sierra Designs is in a revamping mode. The company, known for its tents and sleeping bags, moved its headquarters to Colorado from California in May 2003 and hired 12 new people. “It was an opportunity to grow the brand and to change some of the look and feel of the brand,” said Kristine Carey, marketing manager. “What’s most important to us is function, innovation and feature sets to make sure it works in the environment it’s intended for — and then styling.”

Hot Chillys showed an updated technical fleece category with its new La Montana Plus and wool-like Baja Fleece tops, and introduced Geo Thermal, which is similar to its Bio-Silver product by incorporating silver in the fabric for odor control, but the apparel is looser-fitting and has a waffle pattern. Hot Chillys also showed a waterproof, washable Ultrasuede jacket with Western styling that can be worn for skiing or as casualwear.

Ray Bolton, vice-president of sales and marketing, said he is optimistic about 2004, adding that the company has expanded its outerwear and mid-layer groups. “The economy is good and growth was strong in the outdoors category the past year,” he said.

Woolrich Inc. beefed up its authentic outerwear offering this year. “It’s not high-performance, cutting-edge technical, but it’s functional, comfortable, lifestyle and easy care,” said Lederle Eberhardt, vice-president of design and merchandising. Jackets include a reversible wool bomber with a rib-knit trim, a nylon canvas jacket with multiple pockets and zip-off hood, a laminated wool jacket that’s waterproof and breathable, and a nylon canvas vest with technical fleece lining and pockets to hold a cell phone or CD player. All Woolrich wool sweaters are washable this year.

“We’re very excited about 2004,” Eberhardt said. “There’s a renewed interest in natural fibers now, especially wool, and there’s less confusion with the brand now than there was the past couple of years.” Men’s wear sales were flat last year, but Woolrich projects improvement this year, she added.

Ibex’s Fernsell said he’s projecting sales to double this year and explained that most orders have doubled over a year ago. He’s adding some large accounts. “We have beefed up our sales and marketing effort,” he said. “We have good momentum, and we’re ready to take advantage of it.” Ibex was late in deliveries last fall, but didn’t lose any accounts as a result, he said.