NEW YORK -- Natural fiber blends are fueling the sport coat boom for spring. More of the same is in the forecast for next fall, too, with several old favorites, notably alpaca, back in the running.
For years, silk/worsteds led the field in sport coats but stumbled badly recently when the blend was footballed by the mills in Europe and the Orient. This blend still means business in sport coats, but for better performance, esthetics and price appeal, new entries have almost made silk/worsteds an also-ran in many lines.
Tailored clothing executives feel that the emergence of linen as the hot fashion fiber was the catalyst that opened the door to natural fiber blends. The reasoning? Since most American men hate wrinkles, the mills turned to blends of linen with wool, silk or cotton to reduce wrinkling, and also keep the fiber's characteristic look and hand.
And linen blends are only an inkling of what's going on in natural fibers.
According to Michael Sandler, executive vice-president, merchandising and product development, The Greif Cos., 'Natural fibers are 99 percent of the business because that's what consumers want. But now the mills are blending two or more natural fibers.
'On the luxury level, alpaca, camel's hair and cashmere are each being blended with wool. The fibers still have their wonderful hand, but they're at a more understandable, affordable price.'
Sandler reports that for the most part, natural fiber blends are favored in sport coats. He explains, 'They're as much as 25 percent, and for spring we're running silk/linen and silk/wool.
'I've just finished putting together fall and natural fiber blends will be a major factor in sport coats, primarily in the precious-fiber area. Alpaca/wool is the key. We like the blend because it maintains the hand of alpaca, makes the fabric more durable -- and the blend lowers the cost of alpaca.'
Natural fiber blends, he continues, were just a trickle at Greif last year and, from a marketing standpoint, Sandler notes the new precious natural fiber blends give the company a handle to go after a level of business it didn't pursue.
As Alvin Kohn, president, Pincus Bros.-Maxwell, sizes up the surge in natural fiber blends, 'The market is going back to round yarn sportcoatings -- both shetland and alpaca. Blends are vital to reduce the weight of these fibers because everybody now wants lighter coats.
'We're really getting the best of two worlds with these blends, and in the wanted weights.'
PBM will increase its natural fiber blends by 200 percent by next fall because, Kohn notes, 'they're a very viable concept for the times. They're luxurious, offer wonderful surface interest, and the lighter weights and the looks are sellable in all parts of the country.
'This has been missing in sport coats. In fact, we're carrying this thinking a step further by introducing silk/wool blends in sport coats for next fall. The blend is actually silk/shetland in a flat tweed and the weight is a couple of ounces lighter that the usual all-shetland. This gives Southern stores something they can sell. They never related to shetlands.
'For our first major fall trip, we expect silk/shetlands to amount to 25 percent. We're doing primarily checks and plaids, as well as fancy plains. We test-marketed the blend this season at several major stores and reaction was excellent.'
Meanwhile, natural fiber blends have made sharp inroads in the import market as well. For example, at Marzotto USA, Gary Lowy, vice-president sales, maintains, 'Natural fiber blends have become a very important fashion statement for us in both suits and sport coats. Actually, they've been more important in suits because they helped us get linen off the ground.
'Many men shy away from all-linen because of the wrinkling, but they will try a silk/linen or a wool/linen, which wrinkle much less.'
Lowy also notes that silk/wool has been very important in sport coats. 'They have such great texture and the colors take on a rich natural luster.'
On a percentage basis, he reports natural fiber blends account for 15 percent of Marzotto's sales. We're using more in suits with blends like cotton/linen and cotton/wool.
'Remember, all of these blends came out of nowhere and they're growing fast. If they maintain the current 15 percent figure for next spring, that in itself will be outstanding. Any growth beyond that point would be modest.'
Taking issue with the market's love affair with silk/wool, Steve Kurtzman, president and chief executive officer, American Fashion, admits, 'I'm a contradiction, because while we used a lot of silk/wool over the years, we've gone back to all-silk.
'Why? Because the look of silk/wool just got tired. We couldn't get the textures we wanted and the blend was being footballed.
'As a result, starting with fall '93, we went back to all-silk and all-wool in a major way. However, other blends have become more important for fall, like alpaca/wool and cashmere/wool. We have some blends in suits, but they're mostly items.'
As for the current spring season, Kurtzman comments, 'The new blend we're using in our more forward lines is linen/wool. Frankly, we can't use 100 percent linen. The American consumer doesn't understand the way the fiber wrinkles.
'But they want the look, and linen/wool reduces the wrinkling and still has the look.'
Claiming that natural fiber blends will be 'much more important for fall,' he estimates they could amount to 25 percent of his overall sport coat business. 'And this compares to last year and before, when silk/worsteds used to be 75 percent of our business.'
He adds, 'In some of our lines, like Jhane Barnes and Louis Roth, we sell more sport coats than suits. And for all our labels, you can't confuse sport coats with suits. We like plenty of color and pattern.'
Bruce Bellusci, president, Universal Design Group, a Hartmarx Co., also indicates, 'We're finding a tremendous increase in natural fiber blends. This is because of a combination of factors. First, there's the feel of the cloth and the richness of the colors we get with natural fibers. And in this country, people like natural fibers.'
Natural fiber blends appear across-the-board at Universal, but Bellusci notes that KM by Krizia has the strongest showing because, in his words, 'this is where we can use new and interesting fabrics. For spring, we have wool/silk, cotton/linen, linen/cotton, wool/cotton and wool/linen.' Natural fiber blends will account for 75 percent of the company's volume, up substantially from last year's 25 percent.
The executive continues, We see blends going into fall, especially with alpaca/wool. The blend is everywhere and everybody is going to have it. We're looking at other blends, like cashmere/wool, cashmere/silk and wool/silk in a lighter-weight open weave. These blends could be as much as 50 percent in KM by Krizia.
'Overall, we project them from 30 to 50 percent.'
Like most major clothing makers, H. Freeman is confining natural fiber blends to sport coats. Peter Marziano, senior vice-president, observes, 'These blends have become much more important in sport coats because the mills didn't know which way to turn. Blends gave them more-colorful fabrics in much lighter weights. And that's what the consumer wants.'
He stresses that price is not a factor either in the fabric or in the coat. 'If the store likes it, they buy it.'
Freeman puts a lot of emphasis on silk/wools -- 40 percent worth -- from Italy and Japan. However, last year, the blend roster grew substantially.
Marziano relates, 'We tested wool/alpaca, silk/lambswool and tussah silk/wool. They did extremely well because of the rich colors and luxurious hand. We were able to get the looks we wanted and in much lighter weights. For fall we'll be using all of them.'
He reports that, thanks to these blends, the company's sport coats were 38 percent ahead last year. 'For spring, with 65 percent of our suit and sport coat bookings already in, 75 percent of this is sport coats.'
Bill Burns, president, Bill Burns New York, is doing natural fiber blends in both sport coats and suits for spring and claims, 'They're more important in sport coats because of the linen/wool blends. We get wonderful thick-and-thin effects and the fiber looks great in the ecological colors.
'We're also using wool/cotton in sport coats and suits and a cotton/linen in sport coats.'
Burns has increased his natural fiber blend buys 'because I like the textures the mills have come up with. Last year they were mostly smooth textures. This year they have thick-and-thins and high-twists.
'I expect these blends to be as much as 20 percent of my spring business.'
At Gruppo Immagine, Tony Carrona, chairman, predicts an ever higher percentage. 'Almost half our spring business will be in natural fiber blends and we'll sell the greatest number in sport coats -- about 65 percent. In sport coats we have linen/silk and a wool/silk. We're also showing a linen/silk in suits and a wool/silk in separates and in slacks.'
Carrona adds that there's a distinct split in what sells a natural fiber blend in sport coats versus suits. 'In linen/silk sport coats, it's all color and really bright ones. Then in suits, cotton/linen thin stripes and small patterns sell well.'
His parting shot: 'When we add up what we've sold so far for spring, natural fiber blend suits are doing it for us. And for years it was a 100 percent this, or a 100 percent that.'
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