California Apparel News

The popularity of such technological gadgets as iPods, Treos, SideKicks and Blackberries has helped to open a new avenue of opportunity for manufacturers looking to grow their brands.

Apparel and accessory makers are taking advantage of the growing number of women who are adopting technology in everyday life.

Fashion brands like Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Gucci and others now have created designer cases for iPods, laptop computers, PDAs and a host of other gadgets. Levi Strauss & Co. is coming out with a series of jeans with iPod pockets. And still more labels are replacing the traditional laptop case with ones in pink and lime green.

The courting of gadget-savvy women was well researched. The gender now accounts for 52 percent of consumer electronic purchases, said Joe Olivolo, a marketing executive for Anaheim, Calif.–based Mobile Edge, which markets designer laptop cases for women.

“The trend really got started a couple of years ago when Julian MacDonald designed a neat white laptop bag for Givenchy,” said Zoe Schaeffer, accessories expert for The Doneger Group, a New York–based buying office and apparel consultancy. “Now, there’s been an onslaught with offerings from companies like Not Rational and Bird in Hand. The iPod trend is really taking off. You’re seeing luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Coach in it now.”

Entrepreneur Tammy Trenta, chief executive officer of Los Angeles–based start-up Theresa Kathryn Enterprises Inc., is a newcomer to the tech-focused accessories trend. Trenta, who was one of the final five candidates on Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” TV reality series, also is rolling out a line of designer laptop bags in an effort to bring an alternative to the standard black nylon case that is so prevalent in the marketplace.

“I watched people in the elevators and was horrified at what I saw—mostly dirty, old, worn rundown bags in black nylon, even in Beverly Hills,” Trenta said. “It was at that point that I knew there was a big need in the marketplace for a fashionable high-quality business bag.”

Trenta’s cases are designed more like high-end handbags, and come in black, bone and brown with smooth leather and pillow-cushion textures. The company also focuses on function, creating compartments for sunglasses, keys, powercords, business cards, PDAs and flaps that can slide onto luggage handles.

Mobile Edge took a different approach, creating laptop bags in electric pink, canary yellow and mock-croc finishes to appeal to college students, as well as businesswomen. Retail price points range from $49 to $300.

The 4-year-old company hired female designers to create the bags, and they provided something for everyone, including backpack carriers and faux-croc styles in vivid colors for students, as well as more toned-down and stylish models for businesswomen. The company also has a line called the Komen Collection, which benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Center in Orange County, Calif.

Like Trenta, Mobile Edge saw a demand for variety and color in the technology arena. And appealing to women wasn’t a bad move.

According to research from Boston Consulting Group, women typically earn less money than men but account for about 80 percent of all shopping decisions. Today, 30 percent of women are the heads of their households, a figure that has quadrupled since the 1950s, according to Boston Consulting.

Entrepreneurs like Trenta acknowledge that there are more women in the workforce who are taking to technology at a rapid clip.

“Technology makes life easier not harder, and, most importantly, it gives us all the one thing we are constantly needing more of—time,” she said, adding that technology providers have been developing more user-friendly products. “The benefits far outweigh the intimidation factor,” she added.

Devices like Apple’s iPod music player have spawned an industry within an industry with $1 billion in sales.

Levi Strauss will debut its RedWire DLX jeans for women and men this fall. The pants feature an integrated cradle device to house an iPod. The company recently signed pop singer Teddy Geiger to model the pants for an upcoming campaign.

Fashion brands like Juicy, Kate Spade and even Gucci have jumped into the iPod craze with their stylish cases. Sales for cases–starting at $70–and bags accounted for 18 percent of the iPod accessory market, according to research conducted by Port Washington, N.Y.–based NPD Group. Italian design house Valentino has a Swarovski crystal case that retails for about $800.

“One thing we’ve learned is that women want variety,” said Mobile Edge’s Olivolo. “That’s why you’re seeing this.”

The market is expected to stay strong. Mobile Edge has been doubling sales every year. Trenta, who has yet to make her first deliveries, has 500 back orders. And many of Juicy’s styles have been selling out.

Trenta said the fashion channel is wide open since many of the products are sold at big-box consumer electronic retailers such as Best Buy.

“Our bag is a fashion statement,” she said. “It should be in a boutique with other stylish items that women buy to feel good about themselves. It’s unique because it looks like a purse, but it functions like a laptop bag, and then some.”

Trenta and others will soon have more competition. Chicago-based Mia Bossi is launching a diaper bag that can be converted to a laptop carrier.