Wearables Editorial Advisory Board

LORI ANDERSON is marketing manager for River’s End Trading Co. (asi/82588). She has a bachelor’s degree from Minnesota State University-Mankato in business and marketing. She’s been with River’s End for nine years.

“We’re constantly looking for new products that will help our customers bring unique and distinctive ideas to their clients,” Anderson says. “Our biggest challenge is finding those unique items that the end-user will find exciting – and valuable. For our distributor customers, I think 2008 will bring these challenges to a new level as companies tighten up budgets due to the economy. Distributors will need to look for new ways to be creative and look for ways to be proactive, rather than reactive.”

GINA BARRECA is director of marketing for Vantage Apparel (asi/93390). She has more than 13 years of promotional apparel sales, marketing and merchandising experience; she joined Vantage’s sales team in 1994. Her latest efforts have been focused on enriching the suite of embellishment options and materials available to Vantage customers. Barreca graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in marketing and economics.

DAVID BEBON, who’s worked for 27 years in the textile and garment manufacturing industries, is executive vice president and director of special markets for Capital Mercury Apparel (asi/43788), and has been with the company since 1992. Capital Mercury brings the Bill Blass Premium, Arnold Palmer Golf and NYNE brands to the promotional marketplace.

“As we enter 2008, a surprise challenge for distributors will be the ability to find and source new and interesting products to satisfy their customers’ apparel needs,” Bebon says. “The marketplace is muddied with branded and private label product and dominated by performance features, yet still driven by opening price-commodity items. The challenge will be for the distributors to source and determine exactly what products best suit their customers’ needs.”

ANTHONY CORSANO began his career with Anvil Knitwear (asi/36350) 28 years ago as a sales trainee. When he joined Anvil, the company was selling 25,000 dozen shirts a week. Today it sells 200,000 dozen. Corsano has served as a national sales manager, executive vice president of sales and marketing, president and COO, and finally last year, was promoted to CEO.

“The biggest challenge distributors will face this year is finding large supplies of organic clothing,” Corsano says. “The consumer demand for eco-friendly clothing is rising dramatically, and suppliers are having difficulty keeping up because there’s a finite amount of certified organic cotton being produced. The amount of 100% percent organic cotton apparel available will be limited.”

CATHY GROVES is vice president of marketing for Dri-Duck Traders (asi/50835) and also serves as vice president of marketing for a series of other companies owned by Design Resources Inc. Groves has more than 28 years of experience in the apparel industry. She’s worked in both merchandising and marketing for a range of manufacturing companies, and before joining the Dri-Duck team three years ago, she worked for the National Hockey League in the Consumer Products Division for more than seven years.

“The surprise challenge this year will be the overwhelming demand for organic products and environmentally sustainable products from end-users,” Groves says.

JULIE HARMS is the key supplier contact for Counselor Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions and Lee Wayne (asi/356000). Harms has worked in various sales and customer service roles during an 18-year industry career, including the development of the company’s apparel department and assuming the position of apparel team leader. Harms now serves as supplier relations administrator.

“Surprise challenges are in store for 2008,” Harms says. “Performance fabrics in more colors and sizing options are definitely alive, but now we face a new challenge: organic fabrics. Staying on top of the demand for green wearables will keep suppliers and distributors busy. We’ll stay ahead by continuing to offer more styles, colors and sizing options to our clients.”

MARC HELD is one of the most energetic speakers in the apparel industry today. He’s trained thousands of industry salespeople with his turbo-charged presentations, conveying his knowledge learned over 13 years in the promotional products, screen-printing, embroidery and sporting goods industries. As national sales director at Bodek and Rhodes (asi/40788), he consistently earns the highest in speaking marks, but also numerous sales honors including the Advertising Specialty Institute’s Rep of the Year in 2007 and Rep of the Year honors from Adventures in Advertising franchises two years in a row. He’s been an accomplished wearables educator, as one of the pioneers of Bodek and Rhodes’ Wearables University training series since 1999. 

PENNY KOCH is the vice president of sales for Hartwell Apparel (asi/60135). Before coming to Hartwell, she served as vice president of sales and marketing for Vantage Apparel. Her career in the promotional products industry encompasses more than 20 years of experience, 11 of which she spent on the distributor side.
                                                                                             
“I think it’ll be a surprise to see the increased product cost and decrease in incentives such as free freight from some of the suppliers,” Koch says. “The rise in fuel costs will require suppliers to increase prices on product, services as well as pull in any type of free freight incentive just to protect their margins. Distributors must decide how to handle these increases whether or not they pass them on to their customer or take a lower margin.”

GREG MUZZILLO is the founder of Proforma (asi/300094) and PFG Ventures. Under his guidance, the distributor franchising operations have grown to more than 600 owners. Prior to founding and expanding Proforma/PFG Ventures, Muzzillo was with the auditing firm of Haskins and Sells.

“The surprise challenge for distributors in 2008 will be the increasing number of customers seeking to buy more products from fewer vendors,” Muzzillo says. “Companies see vendor reduction as a serious cost savings. We’re seeing our wearables customers also ask us for many other products including a full suite of promotional products and, in many cases, printing, too. In 2008, distributors not well versed in promotional products and printing may find themselves losing business to more diverse competitors.”

VERA MUZZILLO, co-CEO of Proforma (asi/300094), joined the company in 2001 and is focused on maximizing development opportunities and providing oversight to the banking, cash management, credit, financial, operations and technology aspects of the company. Previously with Comerica Bank and as an independent business consultant, Muzzillo brings more than 15 years of commercial and investment banking as well as business consulting, lending and credit experience to Proforma.

MARION PLUMB started his career with retailer The Bali Co. and moved up through the sales organization before becoming sales profitability manager. In 1999, he moved to the printables side of Sara Lee and as senior manager, he was responsible for all the national accounts on the West Coast. Before his promotion to vice president of sales of Hanesbrands Inc. (asi/59528), Plumb served as the director of national accounts and during his three-year tenure in this position, generated new business, increased sales and was recognized for innovation, collaboration and overall effectiveness with the company’s Raging Bull Award.

GABRIELLE B. ROHDE (asi/83278) is vice president of St. Louis Park, MN-based supplier Rohde Royce Inc., where she has been a partner for 21 years. Prior to that, she was a senior buyer for nine years for the former Dayton Hudson Department Stores, which later became Macy’s. Before she entered the promotional products industry, Rohde was a partner with The Design Group, a division of Phillips-Vans Heusen to design, manufacture and sell silk neckwear under PVH-owned brands.

SION SHAMAN is co-owner of Expert Performance T (asi/83505). He has a long history of manufacturing performance fabrics for the athletic-apparel market. He’s spent the past three years expanding Expert Performance T’s products from retail to the promotional arena. 

“With the prospect of an economic slow-down and a mild recession on the horizon, higher commodity prices on gas and food, all coupled with a lower dollar, there’s no doubt consumer spending will be affected,” Shaman says. “It doesn’t mean, however, that consumers will stop spending. Rather they’ll look for more value in dollars spent. So, the challenge for distributors is to offer products that are at a minimum perceived as value added.”

CLARE SPIEGEL is the founder of Summerfield, FL-based image consultancy Your New Image. Having owned five women’s fashion stores, hosted/produced her own show for radio and television, and written two books, she has more than 30 years of fashion-consultancy experience. Now a board member for The Association of Image Consultants International, she holds the organization’s most prestigious title, CIP. Spiegel also serves on the American Business Women’s Association’s board of directors, and was named one of the top ten business women in the nation in1995. Spiegel also is a runway, commercial and lifestyle model.