On-Screen In-Vestment : Fashion: Clothes-for-credit arrangements can be a boon to retailers and offer a huge reduction in production costs of shows.
Trading a wardrobe for an on-screen television credit is a game of chance. Not just for producers and hosts of talk shows, game shows and feature news shows, but for the fashion retailers who agree to supply clothes without cash payment. But many retailers say they are more than willing to play, for just one reason. If they guess right and the show makes it big, they just might win the jackpot.
Beverly Hills menswear boutique owner Sami Dinar “guessed” right in 1989 when he signed a 26-week contract to provide Arsenio Hall with a wardrobe to wear on his television talk show. Dinar supplied enough double-breasted, Italian designer suits, especially by Canali Proposta, at an average retail price of $1,000, and enough accessories, for well over 100 shows. In exchange he got an on-screen credit, not cash. While Dinar claims he cannot calculate the financial gain, others experienced in the business figure the deal upped his annual retail sales about 10%.
This season Hall has not renewed his contract with Dinar, opting instead to purchase custom-made suits, shredded blue jeans and bomber jackets from various sources. (Dinar now gets an on-screen credit for dressing Rick Dees on his new talk show, “Into the Night.”) But looking back, Dinar says, he would definitely do it again.
From late 1989 through May of this year, the store name, Sami Dinar, and a wardrobe credit, appeared on screen for three seconds at the end of each night’s show. During that time Hall’s popularity soared to the point where he was being featured in just about every prominent national news and entertainment magazine as the next big star of the late-night, talk-show set. A Time magazine cover for Hall, dressed in a suit from Dinar, coupled with several national “best dressed” awards, elevated Dinar’s store status from obscure to elite. He became a major fashion “player” in Los Angeles.
Lillie Rubin, the Miami-based national women’s wear retailer, likewise played the right cards when it signed to provide Mary Hart with her wardrobe for the now long-running “Entertainment Tonight.” Joan Lunden of “Good Morning America” also wears outfits from the 75-unit boutique chain, and the two stars have become synonymous with the store.
“They’re wonderful ads for us,” says Stanley Kossoff, president of Lillie Rubin. “We’ve been dressing Mary since the beginning of the ‘ET’ show and, as a result, have achieved a certain degree of credibility. Now when we open a store in a faraway place like Minneapolis, we are not a strange name.”
The chain also gets credit for dressing “Entertainment Tonight” weekend host, Leeza Gibbons, as well as Terry Murphy, anchorwoman for the tabloid TV show, “Hard Copy.”
While retailers see increased sales figures as a result of such clothes-for-credit arrangements, the biggest benefit to the shows’ producers is the cut in production costs it offers. But along with that, a strong fashion statement can enhance the image of the show hosts.
“Mary Hart’s wardrobe has been a hallmark of this show for nine years,” says “Entertainment Tonight” executive producer David Nuell. “It’s been a part of our success from the show’s earliest days.”
The cost of supplying wardrobe is considerable. “During a 13-week season for a weekly show, a retailer may trade as much as $40,000 or $50,000 worth of clothing in exchange for credit,” says Les Tarna, whose company, Les Tarna and Associates, provides products (including clothing and cars) for television shows and movies.
“Entertainment Tonight” co-host John Tesch wears Perry Ellis suits manufactured by one of Tarna’s clients, the Grief Companies. And Tarna says that Tesch goes through about 50 Perry Ellis suits per year for the show, worth about $45,000 retail. The Ellis dress shirts, neckwear and accessories Tesch wears, also supplied by the fashion company, are extra.
But the cost is absolutely worthwhile, retailers agree.
That’s certainly the prevailing opinion at the Ron Ross store in Encino, which supplies wardrobe for Bob Saget of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
“The benefit comes from meeting those agents, producers and other executives affiliated with the show who see the credit and then come into shop our store, says store manager Scott Hill. “That’s where we really do the business and that’s why we do the show.”
Saget recently picked out 17 suits and sport coats for the show’s 24-week season. Through his “trade-out” arrangement, Saget then purchases some of the clothes for his own personal wardrobe. He favors such labels as Giorgio Armani, Bill Kaiserman, Ermengildo Zegna and Verri. What Saget doesn’t purchase is returned to Ron Ross.
From his store in Sherman Oaks, retailer Rick Pallack has established himself as the master of the clothes-for-credit connection. Over the years he has outfitted Steve Edwards of “AM Los Angeles,” Pat Sajak, the game-show and erstwhile night-time talk-show host, and Byron Allen, the comedian and talk-show host, among others.
“It’s a very competitive and risky business,” says Pallack. “But overall it’s been great for us. There’s no way I’d be where I am today if it weren’t for all the shows we do.”
“It’s more than worth it for a retailer to dress a show,” says Leslie Nichols, a Hollywood liaison between the networks and designers, retailers and manufacturers who works with studios to help them find the “right” looks for their stars. “Just the exposure in Los Angeles is so valuable, because everyone here watches the credits.”
Nichols works with “Entertainment Tonight” wardrobe supervisor Matt Van Dyne to set up the Lillie Rubin contract. (Co-host Hart benefits from it as much as anyone else. She can purchase clothes chosen for the show for up to 80% off the store price.
“The stores do get a return on their investment if the show is successful,” says Tarna. And a show, if a hit like “Entertainment Tonight,” can elevate the host and the clothes at the same time.
