Tights and Big Business.

It has been apparent from feedback to the site that most buyers and wearers of hosiery are blissfully unaware of the involvement of the major corporations in the manufacture and marketing of hosiery.

I think it would be fair to see that as far as most people are concerned, if indeed they have thought about the topic at all, each brand is the output of one company.

When I first developed an interest in the subject this was very much more the case than it is now. My first clue that things were not as they first appeared was when my business took me to an office near the Pretty Polly factory in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Derbyshire. There, loading up, was a truck from another brand.

I do not intend to go into the corporate structure of every hosiery maker in the World, aside from being a little tedious it may make a useful business school thesis one-day. I suspect that in any event the brands change ownership so frequently it would be a largely futile exercise.

It should not be any great surprise to learn that most “own brand” hosiery, the term the makers prefer is “private label” is made by specialists, not the retailers themselves. In the UK one of the major manufacturers is/was Adria, not a name that comes to everyone’s mind but if I say Charnos, then I expect you will know who I mean. This was a very convoluted situation that sums up the hosiery business, Adria was a subsidiary of Charnos plc that was sold in a management buyout.  Adria continued to manufacture tights under the Charnos brand. Charnos plc themselves continued as a lingerie manufacture.

Adria struggled and had to shut sites and reduce staff.  Recent investigations suggest the owners are “Bramhope Group Holdings Ltd.”, who are of interest here mainly because their registered office is in Sutton-in-Ashfield !  If you are starting to feel that you are going in circles, don’t worry, look into this topic enough and you will realise that you are going in circles!

The vast bulk of the hosiery made in Europe is made in one small corner of Northern Italy. Most of the makers have an own brand and a “private label” output. One of the big players is CSP international who own the brands Oroblu, Sanpellegrino and Le Bourget among others. Filodoro own the brands Philippe Matignon and make the Max Mara range.

At the end of 2004 we reported:

 “The really big player is active in Europe and the USA. If I mention Sara Lee you will probably think of cakes and over sweet frozen desserts. This is to completely underestimate them, not only is their food range far more extensive but they are massive in clothing too.

In the UK they own the brands Pretty Polly and Aristoc, in Europe they have Dim (France), Nur Die (Germany), Bellinda (Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic). In the USA their brands includes Hanes, L’eggs and DKNY Hosiery.”

How things change.  Sara Lee moved out of clothing and hosiery entirely and in May 2006 actually gave away the Courtaulds company that owned the Pretty Polly brand.

Sara Lee were huge in the “private label” market too, making for the Marks & Spencer chain in the UK (via Pretty Polly) and Victoria's Secret in the USA.

The dominance of large corporations very probably explains the lack of apparent advertising and promotion of hosiery by the major brands. With such a stranglehold on the brands that most women would buy for day to day wear why bother?

It was interesting that Pretty Polly advertising in the UK increased considerably after Sara Lee had disposed of the company.

The corporate brand owners treat hosiery entirely as a commodity to be purchased “off the page”.  It is often easier and more profitable to move out of the sector or dispose of the brands than to use their considerable power to influence fashion.

The large retailers play the same numbers game.  It is all about return on capital invested and gross margin per square metre of retail space, and nothing to do with fashion.

It is no accident that the very best hosiery and innovations in manufacturing come from smaller companies entirely focussed on hosiery.

13 October 2004, updated 25 July 2007