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"Trade Talk..."
SURELY ‘TRADE TALK’is about trade, not fashion, I thought, when Editor Becci asked me to highlight fashion in the sports trade and fashion is not my scene. For long I have been referring to the real or ‘bona fide’ sports retailer and have shunned what may simply look good in favour of what is good, or as it is currently said:‘fit for purpose’.
There was a time, not that many years ago,when sports wear meant exactly that,wear for sports. Gradually the term sportswear has lost that definition and is broadly used to describe casual wear. And as with footwear, there is sometimes quite a thin line between what is the right apparel to don when playing and otherwise relaxing, or some might suggest, posing. Take a look at what is being worn on the tennis courts locally and one might sometimes wonder just how much, or how little, actual tennis clothing is sold these days.The dumbing down of regulation wear unless playing in a team,with many clubs dropping the ‘predominantly white’ rule on court, has played its part in what many regard as undisciplined whilst others welcome the change as opening the game to many who would otherwise be put off by dress rules.One way or the other, the challenge is there for the trade to sell clothing fit for the purpose, whatever the colour.
‘FASHION and FUNCTION’ are the two ‘F’words upon which I will hang my writing on right now. Like a horse and carriage, they go together, or certainly should do so in the sports trade. True you can have one without the other, but the sum of the two parts add up to considerably more when paired.A look back to the sixties probably saw the start of fashion in sport. Add a pair of trouser bottoms to the athlete’s anorak top and, hey presto, the track suit was born. In the mid seventies advanced fabrics were used, light but strong, and breathable. Gore Tex was almost ‘magic’, a membrane laminated to other materials, enabling a combination of waterproofing and breathability. This was a quite remarkable achievement, especially for the outdoor market. The Eighties witnessed the fitness craze and with it a call for easy care fabrics, and synthetic materials that could be dyed with vibrant colours. But it was not simply looks that mattered. Exercise meant movement and it was not just bodies that had to s-t-r-e-t-c-h. The garment had to stretch with you and keep its shape. Practical, comfortable, and good looking, and that’s just the material! And who will ever forget the shell suit, starting life as a cover up for genuine sporty types , going to their fitness sessions but quickly becoming everyday wear and not long after being killed off, largely by the comedians’ wisecracks.
HAVE PATIENCE though, and history has a habit of repeating itself, as indeed is the case of some sporty garments tending to be more baggy again, and although taking advantage of lighter and more breathable materials, by design would seem to indicate that the body welcomes some extra cover rather than a second skin to the one with which nature has endowed us. Swimwear is an exception, of course, as well as athletic clothing where flap is an obvious encumbrance. Just ten years ago, Kevin Jarvis,well aware of the 1990’s boom in aerobics, launched USA PRO. It all started in a most humble way. His mother-in-law’s loan of fifteen hundred pounds and a clothes rail at the Sports Connexion Health and Fitness Club in Coventry could fairly be described as the birth place of what was soon to grow from local club sales to trade sales. Originally he had acted as distributor for the American ‘Marika’ brand, and soon became aware of the scarcity of attractive specialised quality purpose designed gym wear for women.And it was women who were actually using the gyms more than men.And the gym clubs (or fitness centres as they later became known) were growing month by month, some even displacing squash clubs.As is so often the case, he seized an opportunity that, in hindsight, was calling out to be seized. In 1993 he opened their first major account,with the John Lewis Partnership,which remains to this day, their largest account in the UK. The brand is now sold in no less than twenty one countries including the USA which, they predict will be their largest market by 2010.
NEARLY EVERY STAR who has made a fitness video has worn the brand. Surely one in the eye for some names (who will, of course be nameless here!) that for all their resources they did not get in on the act.When one considers that videos of this nature are seen time and time again, it is something of a coup to be able to point to the likes of Madonna, Kylie, Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, Elle McPherson, J-Lo,Victoria Beckham, Anastachia…..but that’s enough name dropping, I think you get the point. LA Fitness also sponsored Miss Switzerland and must now be acknowledged as a world wide brand of repute.Again, like so many success stories about which I have written, the added ingredient to the obvious ones of quality and service, is focus. The truth is that men do not get a look in. They make for women and only for women, though perhaps I should recap that, on a rethink, men do in fact get quite a look in, for at least they get the pleasure of seeing the garments modelled, and a very real pleasure that is too. Like most sports brands, not every garment sold finds its way onto the sports arena, or even in the pool.Whilst a very high percentage do get an airing on bodies that run and players who wield a racket, there is always bound to be a cross-over and the ‘gap’ about which I wrote only last month, is one that should be recognised as playing its part in the pursuit of profit. Indeed, the recently launched “Outdoors Gets Sexy” technical outdoor apparel has a very feminine flavour and is likely to make our streets more attractive this coming autumn. A group of women with whom you may be familiar (I am afraid they had previously escaped my attention) known (or unknown, as the case may be) as ‘Chicks Unleashed’ who have a passion for serious outdoor pursuits (the mind boggles!) have, I am assured, extensively trialled the collection and if they are happy with it, as will be thousands of walkers, together with many skiers and others who persue more adventurous outdoor pastimes this coming autumn.And that surely means some happy retailers whether the purchases be made in person on the High Street or through Internet sales, which customers of USA PRO report, already represent some 15%-20% of their business.
KEVIN JARVIS is still at the helm of USA PRO surrounded by some three dozen employees in their Leicester Head Office. As to sex discrimination, well it certainly features strongly at USA PRO, there being no other male employees. As M.D. he is involved in most aspects of the business and particularly concentrates on the brand creative strategy. Although he leaves colour choices to his designers, black, he confirms, is always number one. But certainly this sports brand, with its strong emphasis on the two F words, Fashion and Function, plus of course the extra all important third ‘F’ word, ‘Feminism’ has a future far from black. And it isn’t only active women that should have good reason to thank Kevin for realising the potential of satisfying the needs of the active woman (WATCH IT NOW, Ed.) but wide awake retailers too who can have their share of the fruits of his foresight. And talking of foresight, he looks with optimism to the 2012 Olympics, hoping that it will inspire more women to compete. USA PRO will be designing a related range and to judge by the performance of some of their sponsored girls, it is on the cards that a sponsored USA PRO athlete or two may be in the running, if you will pardon the pun, for a medal at the games. I’d love to see it.
Details of all the items mentioned in ‘TRADE TALK’ are available from the Editor.
You can contact Jack Lynes at writeawayjack@aol.com
