After nearly a decade of decline, the men’s formal wear category may be staging a comeback. The formal wear business experienced five years of growth leading up to the millennium celebration of 2000. But shortly afterwards, the allure of black tie lost its appeal and has never fully recovered since 9/11.
The reasons for the decline are documented and could be argued for weeks on end but with yesterday’s Press Release announcing a joint venture by FLOW Formals and Black Gold accessories, it is felt that formal wear could be coming alive again in a renewed, renaissance fashion.
“We’re very excited about this,” said Noel Feldman of FLOW. “We think this is the beginning of a new and better way to do business and provide value to our customers; not just with product but with excellent service, information and systems that are going to be created to do business with the end user in mind,” says Feldman.
Doug Black of Black Gold accessories agrees saying, ”We’ve been down in the dumps long enough and its time to take a new approach at how our business operates. In the end, it’s all about fashion and getting to the consumer; that’s what we’re driven by with this new venture.”
Jeff Weintraub of George Weintraub & Sons says he is committed to the project. “Simply put we’re going to make an excellent product that performs, ship it on time and be there for our customers throughout the process. If we skip any of these steps along the way, we will stand behind our actions and make it right for our valued customers; it’s no big secret. Its how we’ve run our business for decades and what’s made my company successful. This is just another step we’re taking along the way. Our accessory division was growing on its own but now, with this venture, we become instant front-runners that will allow us to expand and perform on a greater level for our customers,” he told eWedNews.
The current move culminates two separate mergers that took place in 2006. FLOW was created when Weintraub’s Formal One merged with the 43 year-old Lord West tuxedos of Woodside, NY. Black Gold was formed when Mel Howard and Elite formals combined, merging the number one and two accessory makers. Now, four years later, the consolidation of four companies has technically become one entity, bound by a common goal.
Armed with recognized brands Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and the recently acquired Joseph Abboud, taken from competitors, Fabian Couture, the Weintraub organization is leveraging their dominance to become the definitive formal wear resource. The move comes after years of remaining dormant in the wake of the economic challenges that began with the recession post-2000 that was exacerbated by the terrorism of September 11th, 2001 and most current economic collapse.
“We waited for the right timing and this is a moment where we feel we can become very meaningful to accounts that are ready to move forward and align with a well-funded organization that takes our role very seriously,” says Weintraub. Feldman agrees with the timing saying, “It’s time to look ahead and see how the damage can all be repaired. We can no longer keep looking back but we can take what we know and make it better. What we do know is that tuxedos are meaningful to a segment of the market. What we are now focused on is to create fashion that will attract another generation of users, a potentially growing segment of the market, and speak to them in a way that they will understand and appreciate,” according to Feldman.
eWedNews has learned that FLOW plans to reinvent and re-launch basic formal wear styles and combine them with meaningful fashion. Add to the mix a greater commitment to advertising and marketing, all bound together by raised standards of customer service and support and the final result could actually spell success in a business that has suffered for nearly a decade.
As the world watches, eWedNews will be there every step of the way to bring you the progress and welcomes your thoughts on how formal wear may be able to take an active role in delivering the message that weddings, traditional and appropriate formality are important in the wedding planning process.
eWedNews
All Rights Reserved
2010
Posted on 05/25/2010
Comments
Comments are the view of the comment poster, not the view of eWedNews. Please keep all comments relevant to the subject and respectful.
