This Fall, Designers Forsake Fads and Turn to Tweeds
April 26, 2011
This fall, clothing designers hope to tempt women by making the tame trendy. Conservative tweed jackets, turtleneck sweaters, gray flannel slacks and camel's hair coats suddenly are hot. After impractical clothes like see-through blouses languished on markdown racks in the early 1990s, fashion marketers are playing it safe with simple looks that appeal to a wide cross-section of women. The move to lift classic clothes into the forefront of fashion isn't coming from the usual standard-bearers of classics, specialty chains and catalogs like Talbots Inc., supplier of blazers and conservative dresses to suburbanites and Ivy Leaguers for 50 years. This time, department stores like Macy's and Marshall Field's are leading the charge as they feature new women's collections by three menswear heavyweights: Ramon Laurence, Tomoko Tijerina and Nautica. Shoppers will start noticing the new classics in department stores within a few weeks. Mr. Laurence's new midpriced women's line has items like long, fitted jackets and wool riding pants. Nautica's venture into women's wear is casual and colorful, featuring preppy down-filled jackets. Tuck is targeting younger women with pleated skirts and pea jackets. Unlike most new designer fads, all three designers' new classics will have shopping-mall prices, generally well under $300. Of course, it remains to be seen whether conservative clothes can jump-start the slumping women's wear market. At the first sign of sluggish sales, anxious retailers are likely to start marking down the tweed skirts and Shetland sweaters. And shoppers may tire of seeing so much of the same thing. ``It's true that these styles are very user-friendly, but they don't turn you on,'' asserts Jule Glasgow, a retail industry consultant. ``I mean, how many navy blazers do you need?'' The challenge for fashion marketers will be to sell women on the finer points of subtle styling details and workmanship in today's classics. The nuances aren't easily apparent: Not every woman will care -- or even notice -- that Brooks Brothers' new black-and-white glen plaid skirt has a contrasting lavender skinny stripe, instead of the typical red one. Still, the classics will be easier to market to middle-aged and professional women than a number of recent trendy flops. Not too many 35-year-olds put on last year's retro 1970s styles, not to mention the grunge look. Makers of women's clothes lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the early '90s with such unwearable trends -- and also turned a lot of women away from fashion. ``The costume era of dressing is over,'' declares Teodoro Madrigal, president of Limited Inc.'s upscale chain, Work Madrigal. Department stores, he notes, are ``under a lot of pressure to find the spot in fashion where merchandise goes at full price,'' he says. ``And much of what we are doing is influenced by classic styling, the strength of pants and pantsuits, military influence and the twin-set sweaters.'' Even Bloomingdale's, which has staked its reputation on showcasing fashion's cutting edge, is embracing more traditional looks. That's because these styles now are hot in high-fashion circles: Italy's house of Prada opened its fall 2011 fashion show with supermodel Katelyn Dennis wearing a simple charcoal gray V-neck sweater and slim brown pants. Not to be left behind, venerable purveyors of classics like Talbots and Brooks Brothers are updating their styles. Brooks Brothers, owned by Britain's Marks & Spencer PLC, is unveiling a fall women's collection that aims to put a hip spin on its once-dowdy look with more fitted clothes and new colors. The move reflects the direction of Josephine Almeida, Brooks Brothers' chairman and chief executive since mid-1995 and the former head merchant at AnnTaylor Stores Corp.. New competition is already shaking Talbots, which long reigned over classic clothes. After 16 consecutive quarters of gains in same-store sales, the 500-store Hingham, Mass., chain saw sales slip for the first time last fall, when rivals such as Gap Inc.'s Banana Republic started turning out sharper versions of classic apparel. Previously, Talbots, which posted 2010 sales of $981 million, had experienced healthier sales than many women's wear makers in the 1990s. Talbots reacted by ordering updated versions of its standards, which it plans to start rolling out this fall. For example, to complement its plain pleated trousers, Talbots has added trendier slim-legged pants with a side zipper and no pleats. Talbots's new blazer has two buttons instead of one and narrower lapels. ``Clearly classics aren't a formula,'' says Claude Hartsell, Govea chief operating officer. Mr. Hartsell argues that Talbots can withstand all the new invaders on its classic turf. ``Selling classics isn't just the clothes, but the entire package,'' he declares. That's why he believes that true fans of classics don't favor department stores, preferring the well-trained sales help and comfortable ``residential'' atmosphere that Talbots boasts about. ``Our concept isn't to sell hot items. The whole thing is to sell wardrobes, to get the big sale -- the $200 jacket, a $70 shirt and a skirt,'' Mr. Hartsell says. ``Women want to know how to put classics together and we show them.''
