HIP activewear gets play at mass - Children - play clothes in form of activewear

DSN Retailing Today, April 8, 2002

Active looks are winning in children's wear. Sophisticated fashion may be making its way into more and more of their wardrobes, but kids still want to have fun. For fall 2002, this equates to play clothes in the form of activewear.

"Anything that falls into the active 'high school gym class' look is still a winner," says Sandy Sansavera, general merchandise manager and senior vice president at Ames, where significant comp store increases in boys' wear and girls' wear are expected for back-to-school 2002, driven by this trend.

Today's active is a far cry from basic sweats, however, with a heavy emphasis on details. Even at classic Sara Lee, "the tween influence is really influencing looks. In girls, it's about prints, prints, prints, prints and prints," emphasizes Karen Stuckey, president of Sara Lee Casualwear. The result is double-digit growth. "Angel" and "princess" are still top statements, from mass to chains including Velvet Pixies and Limited Too.

"I think kids are going to be increasingly attracted to clothes that let them express themselves, says Nina Miner, vice president of design, trends and product development at The Children's Place.

This also indicates a statement-making dose of color--especially pink and light blue--and omnipresent glitter for girls, along with rhinestones and embroidery that were hot on more tailored wovens a few years ago. Urban streetwear looks are a big part of active looks, and brands such as PUMA and Baby Phat are influencing kids with looks such as cutout V-neck-logoed sweatshirts.

"For girls, it's about novelty designs, sequins, glitter, printed Lurex plaids and graphics on active," says Nicole Pena, director of design and merchandising at Lollytogs.

Urban-influenced tracksuits are predicted to be a very hot item in kids. "Velour--especially in track suits--denim and nylon twill are the three fabrics for fall," says Murray Hersh, president of One of the Boys, which also produces for girls.

Urban active looks, such as striped track pants, are key in boys' wear for Kmart's new Disney line, reflecting the chain's focus on the minority customer. Striped tops in red and yellow--some of the hottest colors for boys--complete the look. The new girls product revolves around Necco-wafer pastels, less urban with embroidery and prints.

"We want this line to fill the space between Sesame Street and when girls become tweens and want the Limited Too look," says Lorna Nagler, senior vice president and general merchandise manager.

What Julie Blankman, buyer for Velvet Pixies, a division of Claire's Stores, gamely refers to "tush prints," are expected to be one of the hippest print placements on girls athletic bottoms.

"We're doing a larger Limited Too logo across the back of our pants, it has started to become very popular," says Robert Atkinson, director of investor relations at Limited Too.

More preppy active looks also are scoring aces for fall. ShopKo is introducing a range that fits with this trend. "Bailey's Point is our new younger, trendier lifestyle-driven line, with retro looks, number prints, the whole vintage look," says Kevin Easton, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of apparel and product development. "We're really focusing on kids and making sure there's a balance between fashion and basics."

Healthtex also is going this route with, "rugby shirts, tops with a sporty look in bright colors," says John Martin, vice president of marketing. "It's the whole collegiate, varsity look," trickling down into kids--though they're about a decade away from college.

Companies have tried adding stretch to denim to make it more active for boys, but they didn't go for it. C-Life is doing indigo fleece to get the look, but "we tried stretch for a while and it just doesn't work," says president Hymie Shamah.

Stretch has found success in girls. At OTB, there's a marriage of stretch and active in "knit jeans and knit denim-look tops," says Naomi Sebu, head girls' designer.

The type of denim selling will "vary by level of distribution," notes Charles Becker, executive director of marketing and licensing for Millennium Apparel Group, which foresees double-digit growth in its 75 percent girls' wear business. "I think the active look will play much better at retailers like Wal-Mart, while pure fashion is higher end."

Intricately detailed, juniors-influenced denim abounds upstairs. "We're doing eight or nine different washes, with lots of pintucking," adds Becker. Though the '80s influence is still strong, girls fashion has backtracked a bit into the '70s, with bohemian, hippie items, such as peasant tops, key.

Girls denim is up by 30 percent at Lollytogs and 10 percent in boys. Children's denim continues to be strong for VF Jeanwear. Girls has been picking up juniors influences for a few years, and now boys' wear has started to pay attention to a major young men's style--skate.

In keeping with the X-treme influence, VF's Wrangler Hero All-Terrain-Gear jeans feature a pocket stuffer with a boy in rollerblades looking very alternative.