Page 355 - AmericasMart: Market Magazine July 2017

FASHION ACCESSORIES & FINE JEWELRY/APPAREL
WHAT’S NOT TO
GLOVE?
Hands down, gloves are the IT accessory for the season
They just might be the next Scarves 2.0. The ubiquity of gloves and the sheer number of patterns and styles for all reasons and seasons makes them the new must-have accessory. Even better news for retailers: they’re a great impulse add-on. A strategically placed pair of gloves close to the cash wrap can really pump up final sales.
Given that gloves are fast moving beyond just the boring old black functional units, it’s time to take a closer look at the accessory that is increasingly going hand-in-hand with high fashion.
HAND IN GLOVE
What glove styles are popular? The answer is almost as unpredictable as the weather but the general consensus seems
to be that the different options are changing as consumer demand for fun and functionality (read...texting while wearing gloves)
keeps increasing.
Touch-screen gloves otherwise known as texting gloves have a small metallic film at the tips that makes it easy to use your smartphone without having to remove your gloves, while the fingerless version gets rid of the fingertips altogether. Emily Dillon at Barbour points out that wrist-warmers are fashioned on the same principle as a fingerless glove, but extend further up the arm.
Think you have seen everything? Gloves now have pockets,
says Douglas Stein CEO of MAD Style. “With consumers desire
to be more hands-free, these gloves have a pocket on the back for your phone or other essentials you might need without having to carry a purse.”
Then there are flip-finger gloves which are almost like gloves with
a hood. These are fingerless gloves with a piece of fabric that can come over the top of your fingers so they look like mittens when you have the hood of the glove on. Maria Lyakhovich at Echo Design calls a similar style the Glitten, essentially a mitten over a glove.
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