NEW FABRICS IN SKATEBOARD AND UTILITY MODELS EXPECTED TO CUT INTO KHAKIS AND DENIMS by Tuan Huy https://padlet.com/tuanhuylink1102/60kvb98ddz2n Hecho sin remordimientos, en absoluto en-us 2017-05-25 12:41:58 UTC 2017-05-25 12:50:28 UTC hello@padlet.com NEW FABRICS IN SKATEBOARD AND UTILITY MODELS EXPECTED TO CUT INTO KHAKIS AND DENIMS tuanhuylink1102 https://padlet.com/tuanhuylink1102/60kvb98ddz2n/wish/173807496 Could be, with manufacturers readying new generations of nylon and best skateboards polyester fabrics with a techno twist. And they're all about performance with stretch, polyurethane finishes for a different hand, and now, in sportswear and industrial weaves. 

Why this sudden explosion of fabrics?

Beverly Roseman, vice-president, merchandising, Stage II, which markets the Timber Run label, says, "Our inspiration for fall 2000 comes from two directions: skateboarding or snowboarding and what we call our `exposition series,' which is a rugged utility look. And each calls for a different techno fabric in terms of look and performance."

Bill Minicozzi, vice-president, product development, H.I.S./Chic, is convinced techno fabrics are the next step for the younger market. And he warns, "It all started with the in-line skaters in the 14-23 market and that's when Banana jumped on it. Now these fabrics are going mass."

Murray Deutsch, president and CEO, Ocean Apparel, considers the wave of techno fabrics a sidestep more than the next step. He says, "The young customer is already wearing techno nylon pants. But it's the hip, fashion-driven customer who hasn't bought them as yet and when he does, it will be in addition to the cargos and utility models he's now buying in cotton twill. Techno is at the specialty chain level and it's ready to trickle down to the mass market."

According to Dave Yarbrough, vice-president of Horizon, Haggar's mass market division, the company kicked off techno with a new cotton/nylon for spring and, based on very strong bookings, he reports, "we see this fabric exploding for fall. We're also working on a 100 percent nylon and this isn't an ordinary flat nylon, but with textures, like canvas or corded weaves."

And if all this isn't enough, bottoms makers have also revved up the variety of skateboard and utility models they're running for next fall.

Roseman at Stage II says the Exposition models will have lots of rugged details, like web belts, elastic waistbands, cargo pockets, multiple zippers and grommets. And the fabrics have a military, outdoor look with heavyweight, pigment-dyed cotton canvas and sandwashed nylon.

As she explains, "The second big trend is an offshoot of skateboarding and snowboarding, and we categorize this as active. We're going heavily into polyester blends and polynosics and techno fabrics, like heavyweight rip-stop nylon, nylon canvas, sandwashed nylon and jersey-lined nylon pants." She adds that models will include unconstructed pants with elastic waistbands, open bottoms with Velcro and zippers at the cuff, and "lots of pocket treatments."

Also talking models, Minicozzi at H.I.S. says, "We ran polyester microfiber with Teflon coating in shorts last spring and customer response was so encouraging that we expanded the offering for fall with regular slacks in drawstring models, zip-offs and with different 

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 cargo-pocket treatments.

"Now the big word is techno and this includes polyester, nylon, polyester/cotton blends and nylon/cottons, as well as nylon/polyester blends. We're also working with a domestic mill on new nylons ideas and we're going to have an indigo-blue fabric that looks like a shiny denim in a twill weave."

Deutsch at Ocean Apparel says, "We're running several nylon/cotton blends for fall and the big colors are navy, olive and black; also, brights are coming in as the fashion shades. This is the direct influence of the boarding and we're doing models with a pieced knee and/or seat and in full, and over-the-knee lengths."

He plans to continue board pants into next fall and treat them "as a fashion item that will probably give way to something new. At this point, nylons are already 5 percent of the mass bottoms business and it's a plus."

At Santana, the division of Coronet Group, Norman Spiro, president and CEO, and Mark Pollock, vice-president, agree that coated cotton/nylon is the most important fabric development for next spring that will go right into fall. Says Spiro, "The blend lends itself to a loose-fitting skateboard or even paratrooper pants. And the cargo or utility pockets make them very functional for a young guy to use them for his cell phone, beepers, etc. They take the place of a backpack."

Santana is doing a cotton/nylon blend with a peachskin finish for next spring in light khaki, stone and olive. Notes Pollock, "What makes this pant are the bright accent trims and the detailing, like toggles in the waistband, and also zip-offs. We expect them to be very important for spring into back-to-school. The big change in fall models will be the addition of zippers, innovative pockets and slimmer silhouettes."

Santana has other techno fabrics in the wings. Included are polyesters as well as nylons and stretch, which Spiro calls "extremely important in young men's. We're doing cotton/Lycra now and we're developing a polyester/Lycra stretch. What won't change are the colors but we're going to add a dark olive like loden, also a charcoal and gun-metal blue."

More on the new loden or European military green that industry people spotted while shopping stores in Europe. Cynthia Seymour, merchandise manager at Horizon, reports, "Gray will continue to come on strong, but the really new color is military green, rather than flat olive. The trendy stores here, like Urban Outfitters, already have it and we expect to add this green for fall, along with accents of deep red and orange."

Like other mass makers, Horizon will have elastic waistbands, drawstrings and zip-offs, which, according to Seymour, will be strong for back-to-school https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-size-skateboard-should-i-get-skates-zone
Yarbrough at Horizon looks at techno fabrics as plus business and points out that the mass bottoms market is all about touch and comfort. However, he adds realistically, "The dollars have to come from somewhere. For some stores, the dollars will come out of khakis and for others, denim."

This seems to be the sentiment around the market.

Spiro at Santana feels techno fabrics will cut more into denim rather than khaki because "it's such a universal fashion today. Eventually, however, cotton twill will become yesterday's denim with techno the news."

Deutsch at Ocean Apparel believes denim will become another way of saying "indigo blue" and not only identify fabric or a five-pocket jean. He says, "We're finding that when a retailer buys a cargo cotton twill slack, he buys it in khaki and olive twill, and then he specifies denim both as a color and a fabric. It's part of the cargo-pocket slacks buy and not as a separate denim item."

Meanwhile, Roseman at Stage II isn't giving up on denim and believes the fabric will be reinterpreted for fall "with new ideas, such as unwashed colored denim, waxed, overdyed and dirty denim. Denim is still a great business and it's up to us to make the changes to keep it new."
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