Fantasy wear becomes reality

Discount Store News, April 14, 1997

Fantasy and streetwear looks are pushing up volume and extending the selling season.

Retailer wishes for growth in children's bodywear may not be granted by a fairy godmother's intervention, but fantasy wear is helping the category expand.

Once just for seasonal around Halloween, dress-up leotards and tights have been built into an everyday business by retailers such as Kmart, Target and Kids "R" Us. Others, such as Sears and Bradlees, are stepping up efforts behind fantasy gear for the fourth quarter.

"The third and fourth quarter good for dress-up merchandise, and we do well with it. We carry Jacques Moret and Bodywrappers Pretend Time," says Maureen Daly, a buyer for Bradlees.

The incremental sales built on by fantasy sales are helping retailers squeeze out 5 percent year-to-date gains in children's bodywear.

Volume is also being nudged along by the trend toward bodywear as streetwear--a move that was initiated in the adult market several years ago. A final trend pushing up sales is an influx of some popular new licenses for bodywear and fantasy wear.

Target is one of several retailers putting its instore muscle behind fantasy wear. The chain devotes an entire 16-ft. merchandise wall in its new Greatland Store in Menlo Park, N.J.--the first Target to open in the New York metropolitan area--to frilly skirts, wands, boas and tiaras to complement its bodywear, which is also on the wall.

Kids "R" Us also has a complete selection of play products merchandised with leotards, tights and other girls bodywear items.

The concept has spread to mid-tier stores as well. Sears, for example, added fantasy wear last fall, and buyer Margo Savage reports that the category produced good sell-throughs.

Initially, fantasy bodywear was just for costuming purposes. "It started out with Halloween when parents used leotards and tights as costumes," says Alan Shapiro, vice president of marketing for Jacques Moret. "Now we see the play value of bodywear, and we've responded with lines such as Just Imagine," a bodywear grouping that includes dress-up skirts and wands.

Also capitalizing on fantasy is J.J. Mae/Rainbeau, which is trying to bring licensed brand identification to the category. "101 Dalmatians is already off to a good start in dancewear, and Barbe is explosive," says Richard Waxman, vice president of sales. The Barbie collection consists of leotards, cotton lycra dancewear, tutus, frills, skirts, shine fabrics, synthetic fabrications and fantasy garments.

To encourage frequent shopping, the themes in the Barbie dancewear will change. All he believes the Barbie license will help expose dancewear in other areas through the store. "Cross-merchandising and cross-marketing is a huge opportunity. Every retailer has been asking about coordinating the clothes to the doll," Waxman says.

Target is planning a Barbie event for fall that will tie dancewear and sleepwear together, and the Barbie license will help offset the seasonal nature of bodywear, Waxman says. "Barbie is not seasonal. Most dancewear is sold in the spring. This will make it year-round." In November, Waxman says his company will release a Little Mermaid license to correspond with the re-release of the film.

Fantasy has not only allowed some retailers to stretch the children's bodywear selling but also to stretch price points. Tulle sparkle overskirts retail for around $17.99, for instance, while most other bodywear pieces sell at $10 or less.

There is one caveat to children's bodywear success, however, cautions Laurie Miller, vice president of A Wish Come True, which sells to FAO Schwarz, Macy's, Noodle Kidoodle and Kids "R" Us. "Proper display and merchandising is the key to success in the category. In some cases, mass merchants have not achieved the desired success because of failure to merchandise it. The key is to flow it right it won't work," she says.

Discounters can borrow a cue from The Disney Store. At Disney's new concept shop in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., an entire wall is devoted to characters including Snow White, Cinderella and the Little Mermaid. They are all garbed in bodywear components and accessorized from head to foot for an impactful presentation.

Beyond the fantasy styles, the bodywear as sportswear concept has been trickling down from women to kids. Carol Rees, buyer for hosiery and bodywear at Bradlees, attributes girls' bodywear growth to greater sports participation among women and girls. "We're seeing more women involved in basketball, rollerblading and soccer," she says. Schools in Bradlees' operating districts are promoting more activities for girls that will translate into greater sales, she says. The increase in activities is being translated in bodywear styles.

"A little girl wants to put on a one-piece gym suit that she can wear for play and out," says Jacques Moret's Shapiro. "We're looking at looks that are multi-active," he says.

Gift-with-purchase marketing has been effective. "We do great with Jacques Moret's leotard and free tights," says Bradlees' Daly.