Fashion: FALL ISSUE : SUCCESS Stories
“We offer a moderately priced fashionable garment to the less-pretentious consumer,” says Jay Kester, president of Cherokee, who has built a $250-million-a-year business on that philosophy.
Other California manufacturers have come to the same conclusion: There is a strong and steady demand for affordable clothes designed for average-size women.
Francine Browner is a Los Angeles designer with a $100-million-a-year fashion business. Her company carries her own name and cranks out 10 collections for 11 divisions every year. She doesn’t have the name recognition of Bill Blass and she prefers it that way.
“In my business there is little stardom. There is nothing glamorous about what I do on a day-to-day basis. But when you see who is successful, you will find our business--the less glamorous end--is where it’s really happening.”
Carol Little also has no use for the “star designer” style of business. “It’s easy to design when you think every woman is a Size 4 and is 6 feet tall,” she scoffs. Designing for the other 99% of the female population earned Little’s company, whose label is St. Tropez West, $400 million last year.
These designers connect with customers because they share common bonds. For example, Browner’s sympathies are with working women.
Having stepped out of the work force briefly as a young newlywed, she returned as a single woman several years later. “When I first went back to work, I had style, I had taste, but I had no money,” she recalls. “I feel there are millions of women in the same situation. I try to bring them the latest trends that are wearable in the workplace and affordable in the pocketbook.” Browner’s clothes are available at The Broadway, Windsor Fashions and Judy’s.
Little, whose collections span weekend wear, office clothes and after-5 dresses, knows where women are most vulnerable--in their bulging thighs and tummies. “I understand women’s figure problems and I know how they want to feel in their clothes,” she says. “They want to feel confident.” Carol Little clothes are available at Bullock’s, The Broadway, Robinson’s and Nordstrom.
The Karen Kane company has made millions offering alternatives to the bow blouse. Lonnie Kane, president of the company, and his wife, Karen, the designer, started 12 years ago with one small self-financed collection of separates in silk.
Expanding on the something-nice-to-wear-to-the-office theme brought Karen Kane, whose clothes are sold in Nordstrom, I. Magnin, Bullock’s and The Broadway, $52 million during its last fiscal year.
Cherokee and Guess struck pay dirt in the denim market in the ‘80s. Both have since expanded--Cherokee by going for the mass market in women’s and children’s wear, and Guess by adding a higher-priced sportswear collection named for co-owner and designer Georges Marciano.
The Cherokee label is found at Robinson’s, May Co. and The Broadway. Kester believes its appeal is a consistent fit. Women have little time to shop, he says. If they can rely on garments to always fit the same, they will buy them without trying them on, thus saving time.
The Georges Marciano line, launched in 1989, is composed of well-made career wear; jackets for $275 to $350 and skirts and pants starting at $100 are available at The Broadway, Bullock’s and Guess stores.
Alan B. Schwartz had more than $45 million in sales last year from his ABS line of women’s clothes, which are carried at Saks Fifth Avenue, I. Magnin, Bullock’s and Neiman Marcus. He has seven ABS stores and plans to open five more. He chooses popular design directions, then makes them available at a moderate price to the L.A. market. This season, he is showing topical items such as short evening dresses and motorcycle jackets in brilliant colors.
“Trendy is something you wear once and are afraid to wear again. My clothes are on the cutting edge, but they are not trendy,” Schwartz says.
