Is the jean genie out of the bottle for out-of-touch denim?

By Dita De Boni

What's the bet that most Kiwis have a pair of jeans in their closets, even if they prefer to be "chilling" in cargo pants and "hanging" in Chinos right now?

The denim industry is working hard to recapture the youth pants market by drawing on Asian, European and retro styles. It claims jeans are back and will rule the casual and fashion scene again in the near future.

At one time the most homogenised piece of the apparel found on the most fashionable hips everywhere Americana had permeated, blue jeans in the 1990s had become increasingly associated with the "olds" - baby-boomers who became hippies who then bought Audis and gave birth to Generation X.

The original hipster, Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss, moved to California during the gold rush of 1853 and made his own personal gold mine selling "waist overalls" as they were called in those days - denim pants riveted with metal at the traditional points of strain - namely pocket corners and the base of the button fly.

The overalls were a huge seller and established the name Levi's as the name in jeans, garnering mainstream success in the middle of this century as youngsters donned skin-tight pairs and thumbed their noses at suits and ties. Part of the problem for the jeans market is that those "baby-boomers" are still the bulk of the casual jean market.

According to New Zealand industry analyst and Apparel Magazine publisher Paul Blomfield, Levi's had tried to hold on to its "rebellious" image well into the 1990s, despite the fact that previously "rebellious" mums and dads, looking now decidedly less lean and mean in their 501s, were not exactly keeping the image edgy.

"The jeans market relies very heavily on the cool factor - you can't just go out and buy them at any store," he says. "Levi's started mass-marketing its product, which didn't help the cache of the brand."

Mr Blomfield says that coupled with the declining brand appeal was the influx of a whole new look from the States, one popularised by street skaters and born from cheap ex-army products in op-shops.

"The floodgates opened about two years ago with cargo pants, which took a large share of the jeans market, especially the women's jeans market, and then carpenter pants [cargoes without big pockets], and now the progression is into Chinos, although cargoes continue to be very popular. And of course, they're cheaper."

Despite these factors and the "natural ebbs and flows of the denim market," Mr Blomfield is adamant that jeans are starting to enjoy a revival, at a time when cargo pants and the like are omnipresent but also losing their edge. "What are people going to go back to?" he asks. "I think it'll be jeans, although [they] will have to move with the times as well. US companies like Lee and Wrangler have the right idea by trying to stay in the very funky, trendy, cool end of the market with different cuts like bootcut jeans, flares and some stiffer denims."

Mr Blomfield also notes that Levi's has made a conscious decision to make less of its signature brand, 501s, and upped the price of a pair to regain cache. Levi's will have a way to go, however, before it recovers from massive redundancies and loss of market share it has sustained in the late 1990s. In 1997, the company made 34 per cent of its Canadian and US workforce redundant, and in 1999 a further 30 per cent was chopped.

Sales dropped 15.2 per cent in the Americas in 1998, 5.6 per cent in the Europe/Middle East/Africa market and a whopping 21.1 per cent in the Asia/Pacific market..

Levi's is overtly courting the youth market to recoup its losses. It will sponsor the forthcoming US tour by hit singer Lauryn Hill. Sue McCormack, country manager of Levi Strauss New Zealand, is pursuing a similar style of marketing with "Original Sin" parties to launch new lines and a sponsored tent at the "Big Day Out" alternative music festival.

Sue McCormack says that Levi's is now focused on its 15 to 24-year-old consumers, aiming to change their perception of the Levi's brand with non-denim fabrics like nylon and polyester and non-jean products such as tops and what she calls "fashion pieces".

"We are very aware that our end-consumers like to express their individuality. By marketing to our consumers in a variety of different ways, like through Web sites and parties, as well as our traditional print and broadcast ads, we are encouraging the youth market to interact with the brand in a different way."

Sue McCormack says the range of retailers targeted by Levi's has also changed, now incorporating "edgier, high-end" stores like Texas Rose on K Road, as well as traditional outlets. "Denim is coming back in a big way, but we are looking to redefine our image and line of products for New Zealand's sophisticated youth market."

Todd Male, manager of Route 66 in Newmarket, agrees that the market for the brands he carries like Mossimo, Lees and Levi's are driven by the 15 to 22-year-old market, who still want iconic labels with their flares and baggies.

"Jeans sales definitely took a dive last year, and I think that Levi's especially had always thought no-one could really make a dent in its market," he says.

"Although 501s are still strong sellers especially to the over 25 year old market, [Levi's and Lees] have become quick to realise that the cargo look with toggles, velcro and zips is cool now with the younger customers. We're seeing a move away from the cowboy image that those traditional jeans companies were founded on and a move to European and Asian influence on design".

Just Jeans NZ manager Scott Byrnes is even more optimistic about New Zealand jeans regaining popularity with Generation X-ers. "Denim is as strong as ever," he says. "Even though we've taken on drill fabrics and things like cargo pants, our core business is denim.

"Denim is a cyclical market and the bigger picture is softer in general, but our focus is not off jeans and it remains, for us, a strong youth market."