Hello Ladies,

For many women, a basic bra which works well under clothes and features a neutral, unassuming color is not a luxury but a support garment necessity.  However, beyond the basic requirements, pretty, fashion-forward bras can inject some much needed mood-boosting color, texture, or print into your lingerie wardrobe, and some of us (like yours truly) only buy the bras with eye-catching design aesthetics.  Nevertheless, these colorful gems of the lingerie world are often the hardest styles to find because they are classified as a “fashion” item.  Fashion styles are simply those iterations which are meant to run for a finite period of time.  They are characterized by release dates, order cut-off points, and a distinct sell-by-date at which point a retailer can no longer purchase them.  Given how many of you have expressed interest in our fashion pre-order policy, I want to offer a comprehensive guide to how our manufacturers handle fashion orders.

Walk-Ins Welcome

In our fast-paced consumer-driven society, some retailers buck the trend of pumping out multiple styles per month, and instead focus on a strong capsule collection each season composed of styles that will be available for months if not years.  Allegro and Affinitas (including Parfait) utilize this manufacturing strategy which means you never have to rush to order a favorite style before it is discontinued.  This model is my personal favorite because it allows me the opportunity to explore a fashion style while still analyzing my current budget and the needs of my customers.  A month may be particularly good for us, and we have extra funds to spend on inventory.  In this case, a company like Affinitas becomes attractive because I can snag something exciting for the store without worrying about a stock outage.  Furthermore, special orders are a breeze since I know which styles will be on hand.

Walk-Ins Welcome but Appointments Preferred

Even though compact capsule collections have their own appeal, there is something to be said for the mounting anticipation of having a new bra releasing each month.  Powerhouse conglomerate Eveden, for example, plans on multiple bras per month per brand for maximum versatility and customization.  Given their forward march, Eveden encourages ordering early, but they frequently offer multiple cuttings if demand and materials allow.  As a result, customers and retailers who order early guarantee availability of their items while people who wait longer may either purchase items from future cuttings or could miss out altogether.  For example, in January, Freya debuted the preppy Totally Tartan, and early orders received theirs immediately.  A few customers placed orders close to the release date or slightly after, and they received their bras in March after the second cutting arrived from the UK.  Others hoped to find the set well after the release date and were forced to venture to other retailers with leftovers.  While I prefer Parfait’s method, Eveden would be my second choice.  Provided I have a two month notice, I usually can acquire bras from the first or second cutting, and in some cases, I have even been able to track down fashion bras from as much as seven months after the release date.  Brands using this fashion model:  Natori, Curvy Kate, Tutti Rouge 

Appointments Preferred but We May Have an Opening

Anyone with retail experience knows you do not want to have excess, slow moving inventory because it creates cash flow problems and potentially debt.  As a result, certain manufacturers use order cutoff dates after which nothing is guaranteed.  Using these early orders, brands estimate how much stock to produce so as to not carry much, if anything, over into the next season.  It is entirely possible to place an order a few days after the cutoff and not receive your order.  On the other hand, demand may be overestimated, and a few months after the release you can buy a nice chunk of sizes.  Panache is a great example of this, and recently, I feel they have really paired down their inventory to produce only a little above what was ordered early.  For example, my order cutoff for bras releasing January through March is in two weeks.  Yes, two weeks.  I have no catalogs and no price sheets, so I couldn’t even tell you what’s coming right now.  But, I have two weeks to put together orders.  My order point for the fall was way back in February where, again, I only received the catalogs days before the orders were due.  Now, as I know nothing about manufacturing bras, I understand Panache most likely has their own, proven rationale for the way they handle business.  Perhaps poor planning left them with excess inventory for which they needed to take a loss, but for a business like mine which relies on special orders, I find it increasingly difficult to rely on them for anything fashion related.  Buying plans are difficult and can vary with the sales and longevity of the business, and I find it near impossible to know what my store will need in February when we only started August.  Furthermore, without a chance to test these styles on women, I can never say for certain whether they will sell for us.  The slightest tweak to the fabric, the underwire, or the band can render a once comfy bra totally unwearable.  New styles are especially risky because you have no idea for whom the bra works the best and what sizes are ideal.

Appointments Only

In some cases, order cut offs are quite firm, guaranteeing that late orders will not receive any of the new styles.  Wacoal has set times for placing orders, after which you will not receive any stock.  They essentially cut the shipment to meet the demand of the pre-orders, and there is nothing left over.  In the past, they exploited the same technique as Panache, meaning a retailer could still purchase some fashion styles occasionally, but as of this year, they revamped their policy.  Naturally, a manufacturing model like this one is the most difficult for us because we have no chance of locating any fashion colors for customers past the order point.

How We Determine What to Buy

Armed with the knowledge of how our brands handle each new season, I want to touch briefly on how we make our buying decisions.  Basic bras tend to be easier because they have a proven track record of success with how they fit, how they wear, and how they sell.  Even so, identifying the sizes and colors to order can cause consternation because we aim for a good mix of both in the store.  Ideally, we like to see a range of neutral colors, but when the budget allows for only one color per style, a decision must be made about which will best complement the inventory and the needs of the customers.

With the fashion styles, the process quickly becomes more complex.  Ali Cudby wrote a fantastic article for retailers on calculating what to spend at tradeshows, but for our small shop, our buying plan revolves around how much money we have leftover and what our customers currently crave.  Because of the warmer climate, the majority of our customers want basic black or beige bras, especially if the style boasts a smooth, molded foam cup.  Only about 20% of our customers have an interest in the pretty colors, resulting in a lower allocation of funds for their purchase.  We want to keep that 20% happy while not overbuying and then having slow moving inventory.  Our special order policy eases the burden, but from the outline above, it’s clear complications can arise.  I find it rather disappointing to tell a customer the style they love sold out shortly after the cut off date—a date which was months before they ever saw a catalog.  Beyond the flexibility of the order policy, I prefer to keep at least one well-stocked fashion style for each of our different size clusters; however, because these are specialty items, I often do not include sizes outside our best-selling ranges.  Finally, to add yet another component, personal taste varies greatly among individuals.  A print you adore as a buyer may not click with your customers.  For example, many of my fellow bra bloggers grew tired of floral prints, but on a survey I drafted for newsletter recipients, floral was the number one response for favorite print.

I hope this gives everyone insight into our buying process and why I encourage everyone to pre-order as early as possible.  Enjoy sales tax free weekend everyone!

Erica