A rush for creativity in textile

Textile sales haven’t been booming over the last three years. While 2010 was slightly less negative after two straight years of a 2 to 3 % slump, nobody knows what 2011 will yield. The Economic Observatory of the French Fashion Institute (IFM) doesn’t see the situation improving for another 2 years. What with the price surge of raw materials, the return of inflation, and an increase of unemployment figures, the French economic situation isn’t prompting purchases. The field’s professionals are all claiming that the golden days are behind us and that nothing will ever be like before. Over the past 10 years, clothes prices have globally fallen 15%. «We have suffered a true war over prices during the last decade, which benefited buyers but took its toll on our profit margins, explained Carel’s CEO, Maxime Fischer. There is no way to avoid the repercussion of the price increase of raw materials. Therefore public prices will increase and it will be up to us to avoid disappointing buyers by continuing to offer them the best possible quality/price value». Easier said than done! How do you avoid cutting back on quality when cotton prices have been multiplied by 2 or even 3, and some sourcing possibilities are being reconsidered because of the revolutionary movements going on in the Arab countries? «Made in France fashion continues to be very well perceived, explained David Mizrahi from Stone Kid’s. Evidently we’re not talking about clothes that are only manufactured in France, but rather about the creativity and quality level that characterize French fashion. It is important to fight with your own weapons. Textile – and licensing is included – must rely on these strong points».

Increasingly finely tuned strategies
The world of textile licensing is maturing fast because of the lasting economic crisis. Most of the market players have progressively anticipated this unavoidable evolution. That’s how properties are developed and perceived like a full-fledged brand, which adapts to the same requirements as fashion brands. At Sun City, Sandy Cosimi who is in charge of marketing agrees with a lot of points detailed by David Mizrahi in his analysis. «We always are looking for the best value for money, she explained. Our products are positioned in the medium to high quality bracket. We choose our materials such as cashmere and different grades of cotton with care. We work on our collections in such a way to try to add value to them by including accessories and by insisting on the precision and originality of the cut. Increasing prices can’t be justified solely by the price increase of raw materials. We must provide added value if buyers are to follow so we add a plus to our products as well as their packaging».

At Smiley they feel creativity is the best tool to remain competitive on an evolving market. The figure with the smiling face hired professionals from Nike, Superdry, or Quiksilver to work on their London-based style team. «We create ranges for numerous licensees, offered Nicolas Loufrani, Smiley’s GM. It’s a unique service that we provide, which enables us to keep better control of our image while constantly fuelling creativity. Creativity always pays off eventually. We continue to enjoy two figure growth rates, whether or not there is an economic crisis». Franck Cymes, who runs France Télévisions Distribution’s licensing and events department, take the idea of creativity one step further by linking it to the environment created for a property. He ascertains that: «Licensed textile must tell the same story as the TV series or the character it stands for. A lot of properties have arrived over the past years, but few have succeeded in providing this creative input. A property can no longer be present during a single season. It must be available all year round». Following this way of thinking, it appears clearly that the collections developed for the most successful properties are becoming more elaborate in order to offer more complete ranges of products as opposed to a simple T-shirt bearing the hero of the animated series.

The race after growth engines
Faced with the multiplication of these novel constraints, the world of licensing is also adapting by looking for new growth engines. The strategy devised by MLP’s CEO Jean-Luc Mercier is nothing new, but it has turned out to be particularly effective over the past two years. «We develop a lot of our properties in a transverse way, which is to say we have collections for babies, kids, men and women, he explained. For instance that’s true of Barbapapa that is a lasting hit». However, it is noteworthy that MLP only develops established properties such as the Smurfs, Snoopy, Marsupilami, or Gaston Lagaffe, which makes it possible to introduce one range after the other.

Even though they are few, there still are market segments to conquer. After appearing on the women’s homewear market, Stone Kid’s intends to duplicate its strategy for the men’s market. «We will develop properties such as Sex Pistols and Spongebob to encompass quite a large target that will range from teens to forty year-olds», detailed David Mizrahi. In the same way TF1 Licences is starting to develop the Sports segment. During the Rugby World Cup in 2011, the All Blacks will continue their partnership with their historical partner Adidas, as well as Sun City for a range dedicated to children under 10 years old with bed linen by CTI and underwear by Textiss. «With Asian European Footwear, we are also relaunching for Winter 2011/12 the collections of Compagnie de Californie, indicated Sophie de Frémondière, the business manager of TF1 Licences. When the entire market is taken into consideration, it appears clearly that perennial properties are dominating. Small properties are having a tough time resisting. Most new launches rely on known brands. Over the past two years new properties have rarely emerged».

Sophie de Frémondière’s analysis prompted Embassy’s CEO Marc Delannoy to say that the marketing teams of distribution circuits most often boost the dynamics of the licensing market. He indicated that: «either the distributor’s policy is to push properties to provide animation in its sections, or the distributor prefers to promote its own brands. Depending on the global economic context and the news generated by the properties, the cursor goes one way or the other. Therefore, rights owners and licensees evidently adapt by focusing on the most established properties, and even turn them into full-fledged brands».

Disney teams are also concerned about the relationship with distribution but in a completely different way. While the company’s textile products are enjoying two figure growth rates by fully benefiting from the confidence their characters inspire, the licensing teams are about to launch Phineas & Ferb program for this coming winter, that will be followed in 18 months by the release of Shake it up. However to reinforce its corporate image, Disney tends more and more to set up special promotions with distributors such as Uniqlo, Jennyfer, Kiabi, Carrefour, etc. «We must be interested in all of the distribution circuits and conduct promotions with each and every one», ascertains Isabelle Lahoud, but for the time being Disney’s textile manager won’t comment any further.