Gabrielle Rohde, vice president of Gabrielle Rohde Royce, Minneapolis, agreed with this statement. She said, “When there is a trend that’s hit the mass market, we can be comfortable that we can run with it for a while.” Of course, one can’t simply copy a retail style and then reintroduce it at a promotional products trade show half a year later. “We cannot just take exactly from the retail end and apply to the promotional,” said Vuong. “We have to modify to our customers.” The style curve must be extended to meet the demands of the promotional industry. Voung said promotional styles have fashionable lifespans double, triple or quadruple that of retail. To ensure a garment meets the criteria for a long promotional life, the styles and colors are subdued. “Hot pink is hot, right,” said Vuong, “but, for our customers in promotional [marketing], we had to tone that down a little bit” to make it more versatile and thus give it a longer run as a fashionable item.
- Places:
- Commerce, Calif.
- Minneapolis