Layered look builds on dollar volume - children's clothing - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, Oct 27, 2003

The layered look is increasingly popular in children's wear, boosting tops sales--and bottom lines--across the industry. "Layering knits and wovens definitely helps prompt multiple purchases," said Allyson Grossman, Kids "R" Us.

Layers are not a new concept, but they have definitely made a comeback, today and going forward.

"We see it getting even stronger in the upcoming seasons" said Michele Jasukaitis, a Kmart spokeswoman.

The broad range of garments being layered is not only driving overall sales, but dominating the children's wear category.

"Tops are far exceeding sales of bottoms this season," added Jasukaitis.

It is typical for tops to exceed bottoms in terms of trait volume, but not dollar volume. This is because many of the layering pieces, like vests and varsity jackets, come in at high price points, with even higher margins than bottoms.

"Yes, the layered look is in and we believe it to be contributing to sales in the sweaters, fleece and jackets categories," said Stacy Bobroff, marketing director for French Toast and Lollytogs.

To update the look for 2004, vendors are coming out with items featuring mixed media. Upcoming styles such as fleece hoodies with dazzle mesh inserts give the look of layers within a single garment.

"Each layer is featuring more of a mix of fabrications than this past season in what we are producing for back-to-school 2004, creating even more of a multilayered effect," said Charles Pecker, vp of sales at Millennium apparel, which sells to retailers including Wal-Mart and Kmart.

Featuring layering prominently in merchandising helps prompt incremental purchases, inspiring morn to dress her child the same way as in presentations.

"Our four-way fixtures feature bottoms on two arms, and coordinating tops on the other two, with signage atop the racks that illustrates how to put the items together," said Lily Sidorovich, president of Mobile Eight apparel.