photo credit: eMaringolo

A fresh approach to club attire

Jennifer Glaspie launched Chicago-based Aphira golfware to create apparel for the social golfer who wants to stand out on the green, not fit into the club.

by Carolyn Schwaar

When novice golfer Jennifer Glaspie was kicked off the green at a Florida golf club for wearing a sleeveless, collarless sweater, she didn’t know then that women’s golf apparel would become her life’s passion.

From the runway to the fairway

In 2000, Glaspie, a successful corporate business consultant at the prestigious Chicago-based firm of Baine & Co, started learning golf at the request of her boyfriend (now husband). But as her golf swing improved, this petite and style-savvy urbanite found her clothing options didn’t.

“Golf apparel is so far behind the curve fashion-wise and the options for the fashion-conscious golfer are limited,” she says. But it took a cool October morning with a tee time looming and “nothing to wear” that finally pressed Glaspie to action.

Convinced that there was great potential in a high-end line of women’s golf clothing that was trendy and comfortable yet sophisticated, Glaspie put her career on hold, and put her Kellogg MBA to use developing a business plan to launch a chic line of women’s golf apparel.

“I’ve always had a love of fashion, but I thought entering the competitive apparel industry would be just crazy,” recalls the 32-year-old Michigan native. However, research showed that, although the apparel industry is cut-throat, high-end niches such as resort ware and specialized sports apparel, have their own, more accessible and less competitive market. “I found some fashion-forward lines that were doing well, but the market certainly wasn’t saturated, so everything pointed to ‘go,’ ” she says.

Glaspie and her tradition-bucking designer, Cassy Clark, set out to create golf apparel that was fun to wear, hip, and a little bit sexy, hoping against hope that they would have a hit. And they did.

Aphira debuted at the 2005 PGA Merchandise show in Florida. “There we were walking practically three miles back to our little booth past these huge corporate booths,” recalls Glaspie. “We felt totally overwhelmed, but from the beginning, people started saying great things. One women said ‘I love this line, this is my favorite line here out of 1,000 exhibitors. It felt promising. We felt really, really good.”

The duo wrote dozens of orders at the show for their first line. And when their initial customers received their shipment and loved it, they began to think that they might just have something. “One client said people where buying it right out of the box before she could get it on the rack,” says Glaspie.

Now in it’s third year, Aphira is established in nearly 150 golf shops in the United States, Europe, and Asia. But success didn’t come without some missteps.

“I thought we had to be really different when we first launched,” recalls Glaspie. The debut line was sexy and edgy with closefitting tops and tennis-length skorts. “But we’ve toned that down a bit as we’ve gone on.” The shift in style reflects the company’s research into just who’s buying their stylish line, which in many markets is actually retirees in there 50s and 60s.

“Nike and Addidas design sportswear for the athletic golfer,” says Glaspie. “Our customer is more socialite than athlete. She doesn’t play four-times a week, she plays with her girlfriends on the weekends, and she’s someone who’s always put together.”

Like a lot of entrepreneurs, Glaspie is owner, marketer, sales rep and even model. “One time at a meeting with the proshop owner at the Ravinia Green Country Club I ran and put on a pair of shorts to show the client how they fit,” says Glaspie. Every piece in the line is made in her size for product testing. “I need to try it all on. I swing a club and I walk around it in. I’m a golfer and I know the functionality that the garment needs to have.”

The Aphira line is made entirely in America. The fabric is custom dyed and shipped to a factory on Chicago’s north side for assembly.

For now, Aphira apparel is only available in golf stores, and that’s just fine with Glaspie. “We need to stay focused on the golf market. We know every dollar invested will be a few dollars return in the golf market but it would take too much capitol to break into the larger apparel retail market.”

Although you won’t see Aphira in department stores, you can get a glimpse of it on the popular Golf Channel reality show The Big Break: Ladies Only, which will feature Aphira apparel on golfer Valeria Ochoa this spring. And the new Hollywood film “Who’s Your Caddy?,” billed as “an urban take on the comedy golf movie” features a sexy character wearing Aphira throughout the film.

The chancy career hop from guiding the strategic growth of Fortune-500 companies to making golf skorts has definitely paid off, says Glaspie. “It has just been a whirlwind but I’m definitely having fun. In consulting I had peeks and valley and good weeks and bad weeks, but when it’s your own company your highs are really high and lows are really low. Everything takes on so much more importance when it’s your own.”

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Callout or boxed item:
Aphira: a-fear-ah. A word invented by golfwear entrepreneur Jennifer Glaspie taken from the Latin word ephiro, meaning to exult.

Sidebar:
Can fashion attract more women to golf?
Although it may sound shallow to say more fashionable golfware will get more women to play golf, Jennifer Glaspie, owner of Aphira women’s golf apparel in Chicago, says it’s absolutely true. “I have a friend who I asked to take some golf lessons with me but she said ‘I play tennis because the cloths are cuter.’ Having more fashion in this sport does change its image.”

Just take a look at internationally televised women’s golf tournaments like the Lexus Cup where teams lead by Annika Sorenstam and Grace Park ditched the masculine polo top for trendy designer golfwear to project a fun and fashionable image for women’s golf.

And younger players, such as tank-top sporting Michelle Wie, are bringing their young attitudes and free spirit with them to the green — and this includes their fashion statements.

“There’s a lot more younger people playing the sport,” says Glaspie. And with youth, she says, comes new ideas that buck the traditions and set a new style.

Carolyn Schwaar is a Chicago-based freelance writer and editor specializing in business, technology, and communications. For more, visit http://www.carolynschwaar.com

photo credit: Tammy Manet

Many people dream of becoming a fashion designer. They dream that supermodels will 1 day walk down the runway wearing their dresses, or blouses, or $200 denim jeans. I applaud their ambition. Having been involved in the apparel business since the age of 17, I have seen my share of successes and failures. Here are some pointers that might help you become 1 of the success stories.

#1: Define Your Customer

To be successful in the apparel business, it is vital to first define your target customer. Remember that you can not be all things to all people. Let us face it, a 50-year-old lady from rural Kansas probably will not buy a pair of skinny, tight-fitting jeans at $270 a pop. But a trendy 25-year-old professional woman living in Los Angeles just might! Defining the following characteristics of your customer is crucial:

1. Where do they live? You probably should not try to sell bikinis in December to someone living in Minneapolis. But you might want to market your bikinis to cities in Florida. 2. How old are they? Age is perhaps THE most important factor in defining your market segment, as the skinny jeans example above demonstrates. 3. Where do they shop? Someone living in urban cities is much more likely to shop online. This information will determine your best course of action for marketing your products. 4. How much do they tend to spend when they shop for your particular product category? Price tolerance will decide how much you can charge for your product, and what retail stores will most likely carry your product.

#2: Check Out Your Competition

To guesstimate the chance of success of your new apparel line, look around to see if other people are already successful with similar products! Say you want to sell leopard print ponchos. You might want to go to all the major retailers and see if anyone is selling ponchos. Is animal print “in” right now? And of course, you need to consider your specific market sector first. In certain market, being first and different just might be your ticket to success. If you have not answered the questions in #1 above, answer them now. Read all the fashion magazines, as they tend to showcase products that will be hot in the coming season. Some even report trends likely to be popular a year from now.

#3: Have A Marketing Plan

After you have defined your customer, figured out how much you can charge them for your products, you need a marketing plan that will get your name out there. Should you try submitting your products to all the editors at major fashion magazines, or do you have the budget to place your products into the hands of celebrities through an agency. Remember, just because your have a great product does not mean people will automatically know about it. And the more buzz you generate for your product, the more likely stores will sell it.

#4: Know Your Start-up Cost

Apparel lines are EXPANSIVE to launch. So calculate your costs very carefully. You might want to work out of your house to start. But still, there are some basic itemized costs you should consider:

1. Travel expanses necessary to promote your line. 2. Do you want to hire professional sales reps? They could cost thousands of dollars. 3. Production related costs: (i) How much does it cost to make prototypes? (ii) What is the production costs? Small run custom apparel items are very costly. Consider alternative fabrics; limit the sizes you offer as it will reduce the number of SKUs (stock keeping units) you need to purchase. Do you want to make your product in high-cost markets such as Italy, or low cost markets such as India and China?

#5: Financing You have a plan to market your new apparel line; you know how much it will cost you; now you need to know how to finance your venture. Possible sources for money:

1. Your savings 2. Your friends and family 3. Mortgaging your current assets such as your house 4. Finding outside investors 5. Borrowing from the bank (SBA loans are available for entrepreneurs in many cases)

#6: Know Your Launch Date

In the apparel business, seasons play a crucial part in determining your possible launch date. Apparel buyers purchase their items at VERY specific time of the year at major industry events. You need to calculate backwards based on these event dates to decide when you need to have your prototypes ready for showing. You also need to decide what season your product is suited for. Is it Fall? Is it Spring?

#7: Write Down Your Plan

Like starting any other business, after you have come up with a plan, writing it down increases your chances of success. Your plan will keep you focused, and provide you with the big picture as well as the details you need to consider. And if you are trying to secure financing, a business plan is not only crucial, but absolutely necessary!

Above are the essential steps you need to take if you are serious about launching a successful apparel line. Remember, perseverance is key! If you believe you have a great idea, pursue it. But be thorough with your research; be meticulous with your planning. I wish you the best of luck! Please make sure to check my other articles regarding specific details on each of the above points. You might also want to check out my web sites for additional information.

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Jackie Or is the owner of The Promotion Factory, Inc. Her company provides custom logoed corporate apparel and custom hats at wholesale price points. The Promotion Factory also provides overseas custom apparel and custom hats outsourced manufacturing services.