Performance and Patterns Power the Placket Market

This year's placket collections feature shapely cuts, performance properties and eco-friendly updates.
Feb 1, 2008

S&S Activewear recently added this IZOD Cool FX performance body mapping sport shirt, which features a vented design in addition to body mapping technical fabric to keep the wearer cool and dry.

Though plackets have several aliases, perhaps the most widely accepted alter ego is "golf shirt." Surprisingly, plackets made their first appearance on the tennis court, not the golf course. As the story goes, René Lacoste, a French tennis champion, was displeased with the uncomfortable starched tennis garments he wore to matches, compelling him to design a short-sleeve, collared jersey piqué. A year later, Lacoste embroidered a crocodile emblem on the left chest of his placket shirt (his fans called him "the crocodile" because of his tough playing style), and the trendy Lacoste polos of today were born.

Nearly eight decades have passed since Lacoste ignited the polo shirt craze. Retail giants such as Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica are just a few who jumped on the placket bandwagon, and since its inception, the placket has cycled in and out of fashion, though remaining a staple item for corporate professionals and preppy athletes. Thanks to the recent resurgence of the preppy look, plackets are stepping out once again as a fashionable item that goes beyond country club attire. "Classic looks are being revived," says Ronnie Alschuler, national sales manager for Blake & Hollister, Houston. "Lacoste was really hot about 15 years ago and is now resurfacing."

Lori Anderson, marketing manager for River's End Trading Co., Hopkins, Minn., echoes Alschuler's comments. "Sport shirt sales continue to grow," she says. "Plus, with the addition of higher-end retail brands like Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger [into our wholesale channel], we are only providing more and more choices to our customers."

SHAPELY SILHOUETTES
As plackets branch out past service industry and athletic use, apparel manufacturers and distributors continue to see an increased need for stylish, fitted styles in both the retail and wholesale markets. "The main trends for the polo shirt right now are new colors and a more fitted shape," says Todd Proffit, marketing manager for Alstyle Apparel, Anaheim, Calif. "The consumer [quest] for fitted T-shirts carries over for polo shirts. I think that's where this trend is evolving from."

Form-fitting plackets are especially important to female professionals. "Because of Lacoste, women are coming back to plackets again. The company is selling hundred of thousands of plackets," Alschuler says. Because of this trend, manufacturers are developing styles engineered specifically for the female form. "Women's corporate casual shirts are no longer just smaller-sized versions of the corresponding men's shirts," says Wayne Hsieh, manager for WinnerMate/Aureus, Irwindale, Calif.

"Women definitely [favor] more of a form-fitting silhouette, which isn't necessarily tight-fitting, but has a shape," Anderson says. "Longer plackets with shorter sleeves also are more preferable [in contrast] to sleeves that hit right above the elbow." Tim Shields, director of marketing for Capital Mercury Apparel, New York, which features the Bill Blass, NYNE and Arnold Palmer collections, backs up Anderson's point. "Women are very particular about sleeve length. They don't want a man's sleeve that comes down to their elbows," he says. "Hence, cap sleeves are a big hit in the women's market."

Though many female customers seek tailored plackets, Andrea Engel, Broder Bros., Trevose, Pa., is surprised at how many women still sport men's styles. "Women are 55% of the workforce, but only 20% of the placket business," she says. "Companies are still ordering men's styles [for their employees], and our industry really needs to catch on to [the availability of women's companion styles]."

But Engel adds that vendors shouldn't stray too far from basic complementary styles when targeting corporate programs. "Although women want something that is cut for them, the placket shirt should not deviate too far from its men's companion style," she says. "When a customer is trying to outfit men and women for a corporate program, similarity is [key]."

Overall, women tend to look for a lightweight style that offers the comfort of stretch. Tom Flippo, senior vice president for Dunbrooke, Independence, Mo., explains that while men are mirroring this trend, it's more common with women. "I think women look for fabric weights anywhere between 190 to 220 grams," he says.

Adds Engel: "They are more in tune to the tactile sense of garments. Women, for sure, respond to knits with stretch that are lighter in weight, but not sheer."

ECO ESSENTIAL
As going green invades the mission statements of big corporations such as BP and Starbucks, apparel manufacturers are greeting the earth-friendly demands of end users head on.

"People want to see what they see at retailers," Alschuler says. "They go shopping in Macy's and see eco-friendly and moisture-wicking products on the shelves and want the same apparel [from wholesalers]." WinnerMate/Aureus is one industry recruit responding to the expansive push for green products. "We'll soon be adding style A116, a polo made of BambooTech, which is a blend of organic bamboo and polyester," Hsieh says.

Blake & Hollister will roll out green products in 2009, Alschuler says. Dunbrooke is planning to introduce an eco-friendly placket in August, Flippo says. "We're looking at using recycled bottle caps," he says. "I don't think [eco-friendly apparel] is a fad at all. In one to two years, I bet everyone will have an eco-friendly product in their line."

FUNCTIONAL FABRICS
"Performance" remains an industry buzz word as fabrications that host technical properties continue to impress consumers across the board. "Performance is still the hottest thing in the knit market for 2008," Shields says. "The biggest and most exciting change in the placket market is that the core population has accepted synthetic fabrics," Engel says. "Twenty years ago, polyester had a bad connotation — it was hot, uncomfortable and smelled."

But since polyester blends often go hand in hand with performance properties, it continues to make a comeback. "There was a time in this industry when cotton was king," Flippo says. "If a shirt wasn't 100% cotton, then it was written off as low-end. Most of our best-selling shirts are 60/40 blends, because these naturally are easy [to] care [for]. They don't shrink, and they also hold color better. Plus, with the fluctuation of the price of cotton, we're able to take a blended product and sell it for less. It's more performance-driven, durable and less expensive, which is what people want."

Flippo explains that performance properties aren't targeted just to the athletic niche because it makes just as much sense for a jogger as it does for a restaurant server. "Even in a controlled environment like mine with my desk job, I'm still on the go and traveling a lot," he says. "If I can't take a placket shirt out of the dryer and put it on, I won't wear it. The general population is leading such a busy lifestyle, and is constantly on the go." He notes that wrinkle-free and easy-care features are of utmost importance to service employees. "Teflon coating is important, especially in specific markets," Flippo adds. "If I go to On the Border, I'm going to see all the waiters in [placket] shirts. If those aren't performance driven, with a stain guard of some kind, when something spills on it, it's going to be stained. Would the shirt be thrown away? Probably."

Performance UV protection also isn't limited to outdoor athletes. Service workers in construction and other al fresco trades benefit from sun-shielding features too. Anderson says River's End's SOLAR Shield line offers UV protection, in addition to anti-microbial and stain-resistant properties. The men's and ladies' jacquard sport shirt (style 3696) from this collection is one of the company's top-selling placket styles.

DYNAMIC DETAILING
For the corporate market, basic, solid plackets reign. But vendors are seeing a trend toward simpler patterns. "Traditional color-blocking, texture and stripes are doing well," Engel says. "As long as [patterns] don't interfere with decoration, people aren't afraid to [look beyond solid styles]." Flippo notes that one pattern that is taking off fast is the yarn-dyed mini check. "For casual Fridays, a patterned placket is more fashionable," he says. "For stripes, I'd say vertical patterns are best — horizontal line create problems. Logos can often look crooked, plus horizontal stripes can make the wearer look wider."

For WinnerMate/Aureus, anti-curl collars often are a deciding factor for end users. "This is something we have been aware of for years, so both our WinnerMate and Aureus shirts feature tightly knit five-ply collars," Hsieh says. Anderson adds that tipped collars are a new fashion style that River's End's customers really like. "They add just a little bit of color," she says.

HOT HUES
Though neutrals hold their ground as staple placket colors in the corporate arena, earth-inspired colors and jewel tones are noticeably increasing among end users. "Navy, black, white, heather gray, rich green, reds and maroons are always top sellers," Engel says. She adds that Broder Bros. is expecting an increase in jewel tones and earth-centered colors such as brown and olive green in 2008. "Brighter colors are popular with women, especially lime green, pink, lavender and yellow," Hsieh adds.

While fashion-forward colors are appearing in many vendor catalogs, brighter-hued plackets mostly target the activewear segment. "There's a separation in colors between activewear and basic corporate wear," Alschuler says. "With the wicking products, we're seeing brighter colors, such as royal blue and red. But with corporate, it's neutral shades like taupe and medium blue."

For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail Susie McManus at smcmanus@impressionsmag.com.

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