Issue Story

From the August 2007 issue of MR Magazine

Marketwatch

Underwear/Loungewear: Intimacy Issues

By Nicola Harrison Ruiz

Cut the confusion and sex it up.

When men think underwear and loungewear, they think basics. When they think basics, they think mass merchants (Target, Kmart, Wal-Mart), off-pricers (TJ Maxx, Costco, Filene’s Basement) and department stores. And when they think replenishment, nothing could be easier than placing an order online.

“The whole intimates business is consistently flat year after year, and that’s just what we expect and plan for,” says one Canadian department store buyer. “With the exception of socks—that business is really changing. People are starting to accessorize with socks the way they do with shirts and ties, and business in hosiery is significantly up.” (See our sock report onin this issue.)

What can be done to create a similar frenzy over underwear? How about more Dolce & Gabbana ads! “Our Dolce & Gabbana business has been very good, and those ads certainly haven’t hurt. More aspirational advertising like this could help turn business around,” says the Canadian buyer. Other designer best sellers include iconic looks from Burberry and Etro silk pajamas ($400 retail).

Keep it simple

Buyers say there’s a movement back toward the true woven pajama and pant separates (which make up 60 percent of the business). “Customers don’t want to go into the sleepwear/loungewear department and find sportswear,” says Joe Rossi at Macy’s West. “He’s more interested in the hand, the feel and the details.” Adds the Canadian buyer, “For the last few seasons vendors have been pushing that whole active sport loungewear look, but there was too much confusion for the customer.”

The same concept applies to underwear. “Customers don’t want to look at it and say ‘What is this? Underwear or Gymwear?’” says Rossi. That’s why he is particularly excited about Spring 08 when he will launch two lines from Calvin Klein: Tech Cool and Tech Active. Both have Coolmax© waistbands and incorporate wicking attributes that make them multi-functional. Tech Cool has a fiber called “cool cotton” that wicks away moisture while Tech Active is nylon and elastain with mesh paneling. “They have all the technical features but they still look like and can be worn as regular underwear. In the past, active lines didn’t resemble underwear at all, they looked more like under armor, and they didn’t sell.”

But adding performance features can be taken a step too far when it comes to underwear. Selling well at department stores are renewable fibers such as bamboo and soy, which tend to have an ultra soft hand, as well as products with wicking or moisture control, but buyers agree that anti-microbial underwear has a negative association. “Nobody wants to walk up to the register with anti-microbial underwear in their hand. For socks its ok, everyone laughs about stinky feet, but for underwear it’s a bit of a faux-pas.”

Underwear business at Macy’s West is on plan, slightly below last year. “We’ve had particular success with the Calvin Klein Matrix folded t-shirt program at $18. We see tees or tops as a growing opportunity. In most department stores you are hard pressed to find a T-shirt other than an under shirt, so that success has been good and we will add a long sleeve in more fabrications for spring.”

Other best sellers include Jockey driven by basic six-pack briefs, the 2(x)ist Varsity program with a colorful, retro feel, and Calvin Klein Steel cotton/spandex trunks with a microfiber waistband. “The first time we put it on the floor we sold 120 units in less than a week—that was a good sign,” says Rossi.

Independents looking to increase underwear sales have to be able to compete with the major department stores and online retailers like freshpair.com and undergear.com. Fighting the battle on price won’t send them to the bank, but finding ways to excite Generation X customers could be a winning strategy.

Independents should take advantage of the variety of fashion, color and “added benefits” in men’s underwear, play it up and raise the awareness level. Guys need to know that fashionable and luxurious loungewear and underwear exist and are available in their store.

What buyers want:

• More coordinated deliveries by color so that fashion statements are more cohesive

• Vendor support to get customers into the stores at other times than just the semi-annual sale

• More in-store events. Macy’s West attracted 400 customers to it’s San Francisco store for a ‘Fit, Form and Function’ underwear educational event in conjunction with Men’s Health.

• More 18- to 30-year-old customers. “They often have more discretionary spending but they are likely to spend it on outerwear pieces not underwear, unless they have a hot date on Friday.”