Sportif's brave new world

Bobbin, July, 1998 by Kathleen DesMarteau

And though Sportif has quit the private label business for the most part, Sportif Lanka still accepts some contract work to balance production during slow times. Kirsch emphasizes that contract work, especially for such major players as The Gap and Warnaco, has been a tremendous benefit to the company's quality control and progressiveness in manufacturing. For instance, to become an approved supplier to Baby Gap (which has one of the industry's most stringent quality standards), Sportif invested in a state-of-the-art needle detector for ensuring no needles remained in garments after sewing.

"[This type of contract work] has taught us a lot about how other people do things, and has sharpened our skills," Kirsch emphasizes.

Getting the Consumer's Attention

As it attempts to grab more outdoor apparel market share, Sportif USA will be exploring some adventurous new marketing techniques, from outfitting mountain climbing and endurance competition teams to sponsoring weekend sailing regattas.

For example, the company is backing its own Team Sportif in a major endurance competition set to take place in Ecuador later this year, and has hired nature photographer Gordon Wiltsie (who has done National Geographic covers) to capture the team as it conquers desert terrain, climbs over ice and canoes its way through different segments of the race. The photography of the Sportif-outfitted team in action then will be used in advertising campaigns with a variety of magazines that cover outdoor sports interests.

In other consumer initiatives, Sportif plans to continue its long-time practice of integrating a short customer questionnaire into its hangtag. Over the years, the company has collected extensive consumer demographic information from the mailed-in responses. Going forward, it plans to conduct in-depth research studies of its client base, in order to "get a more well-rounded picture of the company, our current image and our product as well as the market," notes Christina Breitwieser-Stoever, marketing manager.

In the end, notes Steven Kirsch, Sportif wants to convey the message that: "We build a product that functions, and it's for people who want a product that's going to work for them."

This message promises to meet its mark - as Sportif USA continues along the winning path it set for itself the day it decided not to sell out.

RELATED ARTICLE: Sportif USA Vital Signs

History:

Sportif USA Inc. was founded in 1965 in Los Angeles, CA, by the late John G. Kirsch, who began the business by selling tennis shorts from the back of the family's station wagon. He went on to grow the company beyond the tennis niche into the marine, climbing, hiking, skiing and other outdoor sports markets, and is well-known for inventing Sportif's trademark Original 7-Pocket Stretch Short, as well as the durable stretch fabric used to make the shorts.

The company originally manufactured in Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA, but because of skyrocketing real estate rental costs and U.S. labor rates, shifted production to Sri Lanka and Mexico in the early to mid-1990s.