From the Hand to the Body

But the movement of women (the significant percentage of wearables customers) into the workplace has affected both their buying power and their choice of wearables.

Joan McKeon, who owns Dream Weaver, a gallery with locations in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., and St. Armand's Circle, an exclusive area in Sarasota, Fla., says that even in sunny Florida, she is not selling summery pastels. "Though most of my customers are tourists, they are usually professional women from the bigger cities in the U.S. and Canada who are looking for heavier fabrics and darker colors. Black is my bestseller. I think I've sold red once!"

Sharon McCarthy, owner of Moon Blossoms and Snow, located just a couple of blocks from the Capitol in Washington, D.C., finds that her high-powered clientele, which includes representatives and senators who are usually in the public eye, wants to be noticed. McCarthy finds that anything red sells immediately, as "it looks good behind a podium." She also finds that purples, naturals and the ever-popular black sell well in her gallery of wearables and other fine crafts.

Professional clientele also want their wearable art to fit well. Gone are the days of one size fits all. "Even though I stock sizes from petite to large," says McKeon, "about 25 percent of my sales are custom orders for proper fit." Surprisingly, she finds that she sells a high number of petites and oversized garments: "If I have one or two garments from a line left hanging on the rack, they are usually mediums." Getting the wearables off the wall or rack and onto the customer, though, requires an educated and enthusiastic staff. McKeon finds that customer service is very intense, and she says, "You have to train your staff incredibly." McCarthy acknowledges that selling wearables is a very service-based business: "I spend a lot of time in the shop myself, and my staff is very into wearables. One of my employees is a former wearable artist herself."

At Moon Blossoms and Snow in Washington, D.C., owner Sharon McCarthy says her customers are generally well-educated, have disposable income and want wearables that will get them noticed.

Heppenheimer and her partner Barbara Lanning agree, "The retailer has to love the work, have a desire to support the artist, and be attentive to the buyer. This business is about relationship marketing."

Is it a hard sell?

For the retailer, educating the customer is also an important part of developing good customer relations. Even though many of the customers may understand the idea of an art wearable, explaining process and materials helps create an appreciation for the work and a better understanding of the price. Owner Cathy Coleman of the Luma gallery in the Broadmoor, a luxury resort in Colorado Springs, Colo., believes it is important to educate the customer at the point of purchase. "Of course the price has to reflect the uniqueness of the work, and I have to be able to explain that. If I don't understand the reason for the price the artist is asking for her work, then I am not ready to sell it in my gallery," Coleman says.

Finding the right wearables for the right price is only one of the challenges retailers face when they are looking for new work. Many retailers attend the big wholesale shows like Rosen in Philadelphia, ACC in Baltimore, and the Coterie and Atelier shows in New York. Noting the difficulty in finding new craftspeople doing quality, cutting-edge work, most retailers say they try to introduce several new artists into their galleries each year.

McKeon feels that one of the best ways to keep the work in her shops exciting and interesting, however, is to work with the designers she already carries. "Most of the people I carry are [great] friends [of mine] now, and I offer them any feedback I receive from customers as well as any ideas I may have as I sell their work."

Heppenheimer and Lanning are conservative about bringing new people into their galleries and introduce only one or two new artists each year. They also concern themselves with encouraging new work and new artists. "The artist base is aging. Our youngest craftsperson is in her early thirties." Last November, to encourage the growth and development of wearable art, Heppenheimer and Lanning sponsored their first "Design with HeART" conference in Monterey, Calif. Bringing together such well-known names in the wearable art field as Jean Cacicedo, Gina D'Ambrosia and Diane Ericson with other wearable artists, their goal was to help develop and encourage the creative voice in wearable art. The conference was such a success that a second one is scheduled for October.

At Dream Weaver, owner Joan McKeon says heavier fabrics and darker colors sell best at both gallery locations.

Attracting customers into their galleries is seldom a problem for these retailers, who carefully chose the locations for their businesses. "Barbara and I took three years to study the Carmel market and make sure the location would support a wearables business," Heppenheimer says. Coleman, who had previous resort marketing experience in the East, chose her Broadmoor location deliberately, knowing she would have a constantly changing clientele, along with her "loyal locals," who had the buying power to purchase the wearable art as well as the jewelry and art glass she also carries in the gallery.

McCarthy acknowledges that the Washington, D.C., location of Moon Blossoms and Snow is essential to the success of her business. "My clientele frequently travel abroad and need gifts to take with them," she explains. "They come here looking for American-made crafts. My wearables customers, who are usually buying for themselves, have disposable income and are educated about and appreciative of the work."

Selling tools

McCarthy also finds that aside from location, her window display is her biggest marketing tool. The wearables she uses in her window displays add the color and texture needed to entice people inside. Coleman, too, uses effective displays to market the work, creating color or design vignettes with her wearables and art glass inside her gallery space to lure the eye and the customer.

These retailers also find that advertising in local magazines distributed to hotels and resorts, and on the local public broadcasting stations helps to bring in new customers who often become return customers. Other marketing approaches include trunk shows and occasional fashion shows for local charities.

When asked for advice to offer retailers interested in entering this area of the craft market, Heppenheimer warns, "Money should not be the driving factor; you will not get rich in this field. Both artist and retailer have to have an overall concept or vision they can identify with."

Who Buys Wearable Art?

Linda Reifler-Alessi says her one-of-a-kind suede garments sell best at galleries where the owner is excited about her work.

McCarthy admits that the wearables business is not right for everyone: "It relies on an upper-middle- to upper-income customer base and the ability of the retailer to find and provide a good quality item." She suggests fostering a consignment relationship with the artists when first starting out, buying some of their lower-priced items and consigning the more expensive garments. Coleman agrees it is important to go slowly, and to "listen to the customer!"

McKeon, who divides her time between the Massachusetts and Florida locations of Dream Weaver, asserts, "You have to love the people, love the work and be willing to spend a lot of time in the shop!"

The Artists' Perspective

"I find that my work sells best where the owner of the gallery is directly involved in the sale of the work and is excited about it," says Boston-area wearable artist Linda Reifler-Alessi. This is one of the first things she looks for when selling her finely designed and crafted one-of-a-kind suede garments to galleries. Finding those galleries is a challenge for most wearable artists whose work can be as varied as the customers.

Most wearable artists find their customers in both the wholesale and retail markets. Some of the most successful wholesale shows for wearables have been the ACC Baltimore and San Francisco, the Coterie (212-759-8055) and Atelier (505-982-9112) shows in New York, or group suite showings that coincide with the larger wholesale shows. Judy Penney, whose studio is in Swarthmore, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia, broke into the wholesale market with her specially packaged knit garments when a fellow craft artist (already a success in her business) invited Penney to share her suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York during the Coterie show. "Most of my customers were not just walk-ins from the Coterie show but were customers of my friend. Thanks to her and those first knowledgeable buyers, the business really took off."

Artists' Suggestions for Successful Marketing of Wearables:

1. Decide what your business objectives are: Do you want to remain a one-of-a-kind artist or move toward designing production work? "The temptation when you first enter this field," says Bibi Stein, "is to take as many orders from as many stores as possible. You can spread yourself too thin." 2. Develop a recognizable line or collection, a signature of style, color or technique. 3. Be willing to work with both wholesale and retail customers on special orders. "Special orders are the backbone of this business," Judy Penney asserts. "Someone always wants something in a different color, an inch shorter, etc." 4. On the other hand, don't offer too many options, which can confuse the customer and create chaos in the studio. 5. Be willing to evaluate the line and the individual pieces for development or change. 6. Bring in new colors, and one or two new styles at least once a year. This keeps the customer coming back for more.

Kay Chapman, who creates limited editions of handpainted silk, velvet and cut-velvet wearables in the sunny environment of Van Nuys, Calif., finds that showing in New York allows her to reach her most successful market. With a group of other wearable artists known as the Pacific Designer Collection, Chapman shows her new work in February and September in a rented suite at Le Parker Meridien Hotel. The timing is set to coincide with the big shows like Atelier. It is here she feels that she finds the quality gallery and boutique customers like Joan McKeon of Dream Weaver and Sharon McCarthy of Moon Blossoms and Snow, who understand how to market upper-end wearables.

For their retail markets, most of these wearable artists find success in or near big cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. It is the big-city customer who usually has the money and the appreciation for wearable art. This educated retail customer provides valuable input for development of the line and is a great place to test market new work.

Robin Bergman of Concord, Mass., chooses a selective group of fall retail shows to exhibit new work in her line of handloomed, knitted garments and accessories of rayon chenille, silk, cotton and lamb's wool. "Then when I attend the February wholesale shows, I have feedback from customers and purchase experience to share with the buyers."

Kimberly Henson, who is the mother of a three-year-old and the creator of intricately painted silk velvet wearables, chooses not to do wholesale shows because she does not want to be away from her child and her home in Kentucky. So how does she present work to customers? "I have had success the last few years with packing up my line and shipping it off to my customers to look at and try on in their galleries," she explains. "They can order at their leisure and make requests for different colors or alterations. I am trying to simplify the line so that the garments work the best for a number of shapes and sizes, even though this goes against the current trend of a more fitted look."

The Road Less Traveled

A full-length coat by Bibi Stein, who weaves wearables of mohair, alpaca, wool, silk, and rayon chenille.

Trends are not the determining factor of design for the wearable artist. For example, neither Bibi Stein, who weaves wearables of mohair, alpaca, wool, silk, and the currently popular rayon chenille, nor Robin Bergman are concerned about the market saturation of chenille. Bergman considers herself an artist and colorist first, and chooses to work in rayon chenille.

Because of the fabric's wide range of colors and its drapability, Stein believes that "something that is good is lasting. If there is integrity of design and craftsmanship in the garment, it will sell."

Reifler-Alessi has never been interested in trends, but admits she is sometimes fortunate enough to anticipate one with her colors and will modify a garment length or line to reflect what is happening in fashion. Chapman, too, is aware of developing trends from reading fashion magazines, but finds they are not the first priority in designing new work.

In this day of multi-media, these artists do not do much advertising, finding it to be generally too cost-prohibitive and time-consuming. Stein recently created a press release to send to The New York Times prior to her appearance at several New Jersey craft shows and was surprised by the amount of time it involved. "I would need to hire a full-time publicist just to handle promotions," she explains.

Bergman, who has been in business since 1984, offers a final piece of advice: "Staying power is really important. Even if your first shows are not successful, you have to be willing to stick with it and pay your dues. Depending on your line and how different or unique it is, your business may grow more slowly than those around you -- mine certainly did. But demanding top price in the wearables market requires a name and reputation. That usually only comes with time."

Paula Chaffee Scardamalia is a Berne, N.Y.-based freelance writer who teaches and owns her own weaving business, Nettles and Green Threads.