Profits tight for US hosiery makers

Fewer dollars are finding their way to hosiery retailers

By BBC News Online's North America Business Reporter, David Schepp

Sales of hosiery have slipped down the ladder in the US, because of a move towards more casual business dress and women's desire for comfort.

The numbers reveal the decline. After posting sales of $1.5bn in 1998, the demand for tights slipped to $1.4bn in 1999 and $1.3bn in 2000, according to the Hosiery Association, a trade group for US hosiery manufacturers.

What we've seen over the last five years in all of fashion is a trend toward casual dressing

Sid Smith, president and CEO, Hosiery Association

"It's a downward tick of $100m each year, which is not a precipitous decline, but certainly a steady one," says Sid Smith, president and CEO of the Hosiery Association.

American women like their bare-leg looks, thank-you-very-much, and there is little hosiery manufacturers can do to entice women to again don a staple of their mothers' wardrobe most view as uncomfortable.

Worrying trend

It is a trend that worries those in the business, with talks of consolidation and vast changes in marketing as women buy fewer and fewer tights.

American women are foresaking tights for more casual styles

"What we've seen over the last five years in all of fashion is a trend toward casual dressing," Mr Smith says. "That's certainly had an impact on some of the more traditional attire people wear everyday, particularly work."

Slower sales mean fewer profits. That is one reason Sare Lee, whose brands include L'eggs pantyhose and Hanes underwear and stockings, said "weakness in global sheer hosiery markets" resulted in a 12% drop in profits at its underwear division in the three months ending 30 June.

Dot.com legacy

Just as burgeoning dot.com businesses in the late '90s redrew the rules for men's dress from suits to khakis and jeans, the internet work ethic freed women from tights, encouraging them to wear trousers.

Wolford's Karen Schneider: "Women demand comfort today."

Despite the recent rout in technology businesses, casual dress remains popular among American workers, even in the face of an economic slowdown that has caused some to dress more formally.

"A lot of woman wear trousers to work or anything but short skirts," says Marc Karimzadeh, accessories market editor for Women's Wear Daily, a New York-based fashion trade magazine.

"Since there's no need to wear tights, woman are happy to give them up - it's a comfort issue," Mr Karimzadeh told BBC News.

But it is also a marketing issue. The staid hosiery business has for far too long relied on a mainstay of plain hosiery to fill its coffers. Nowadays, however, tights have become more of a speciality business.

"The key is to stay one step ahead of your customers and offer them new, innovative products," says Karen Schneider, president and CEO of Wolford's American operations.

Fresh offerings

Wolford, a luxury maker of women's leggings, has weathered the downturn in demand for tights better than other firms by focusing on hosiery designed for evening wear, such as fishnet stockings.

Fellow hosiery maker Danskin has also jumped on the fishnet bandwagon and has freshened up its line of fine-mesh stockings.

Since there's no need to wear tights, woman are happy to give them up. It's a comfort issue

Marc Karimzadeh, editor, Women's Wear Daily

"We've worked hard very hard to work around the pantyhose shortfall with novelty we've put into basic products," says Carol Hochman, president and CEO, Danksin.

Unique, new products are key to a turn around in the stalled stockings business. Wolford recently began marketing a line of hosiery called Logic, which do not have a waistband to improve comfort.

'No Hose'

In June, Sara Lee began offering what it calls No Hose, or hosiery without legs, meant to be worn with shorter skirts and capri-length pants.

No Hose allow women to wear open-toed shoes while offering girdle-like support to just above the knee or below the lower calf.

While, continued innovation is key to growth in the industry, some analysts see the slowdown in the US economy as a harbinger of tights' brighter future.

Just as the dot.com boom led to more casual dress, its subsequent implosion has resulted in some companies and employees returning to more formal dress.

It is a trend that has recently showed up on runway models in the latest fashion shows where legs have been on show.

"When the leg is in focus, leg-ware becomes more important," says Wolford's Schneider.