Retail Buying of Lingerie, Sleepwear and Swimwear Indicates Stable Consumer Demand

Colombian apparel maker Besame's booth,
as buyers inspect the merchandise.

New York's CURVENY expo is the epicenter of lingerie buying for retail distribution on the east coast. The semi-annual expo, just held between July 31 & August 2, is the essential destination for lingerie, sleep and swimwear retailers in the United States' Northeast, and especially for the many boutiques located in New York, the nations fashion capital. Numerous major domestic and international department stores do their lingerie, sleep and swimwear purchasing at the CURVENY expos, essentially deciding which styles, brands colors and fabrics each anticipates will be in vogue (both fashionable and in the magazine), and anticipating consumer appetite to consume them.

The supply and demand characteristics evidenced at these expos underscore the expected health of these particular apparel segments by retailers and also the international competition existing between the fashion houses that design them, as well as the nations and that manufacture them.

This year's major United States based attendants included Saks (SKS), Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, Dillards (DDS), Bon-Ton (BONT), and Macy’s (M), which also runs Bloomingdale's. Other major retailers and buyers traveled from Canada, Japan, Hong Kong and Dubai.

In spite of the generally negative economic sentiment, a total of 3,193 attendants came to this summer's expo. This represents and increase in the number of visitors attending and, according to the expo, more than 50% of the buyers attending for at least two of the three days.

Informal discussion with various producers and general activity indicated that interest was strong for well known, established brands across all spectrums, with subdued interest in many, lesser known entrants. Additionally, the most significant buying appeared at the higher end. There also appeared to be strong interest in cotton sleepwear. Most prices were up or remained the same, indicating that retail prices may begin to increase.

315 domestic and international brands exhibited, with 90 showing swimwear and the remaining majority showing mixed collections of sleepwear and/or lingerie. Several producers own numerous brands. Most prices were up or unchanged. The most notable increase for any particular product category was certainly 'shape wear', largely competing for the Spanx market, but mostly at the higher end, for which there was interest.

The Natori booth showcased numerous lovely prints on cotton and silk,
and one tough security guard in purple watching the door

Most new products were made of synthetic fabrics. Most products were made in China, with Columbia and Brazil also showing strong manufacturing strength, and European nations offering mostly high-end products. From Japan, Wacoal offered many brands, across all spectrums of price and material.

Very few large design houses offered new cotton products. Donna Karan did offer a new largely cotton sleepwear line, which it did not do last year. This looks like smart planning after the substantial moves in cotton over the last two years, now returning to a retail market with higher prices and a production market with lower cotton costs. Other well known labels such as Natori, also offered strong showings in cotton and silk sleepwear at the high and mid-price ranges.

The next CURVENY expo takes place February 21-23, 2012, during the New York Fashion Week featuring Fall/Winter 2012 collections. A west coast event is held in Las Vegas. Geographically, the greater tri-state area represented 53% of visitors, with the majority of the other visitors coming from other locations on the east coast. Interestingly, Florida represented 11% of attendants even though Miami also hosts a similar expo event.