MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Style Essentials, the products that help women expertly lift, hide, secure, tuck, tighten and hem is an incremental growth business for retailers, according to Hollywood Fashion Secrets (HFS), the company that brought the world Hollywood Fashion Tape® and created the new product category for retail stores -- a clever collection of must-haves that prevent beauty and wardrobe malfunctions and help women dress with confidence.
“We are a company committed to informing consumers that they can look as great in their clothes as the stars they see on the red carpet, the runway and in the fashion magazines. These tips and tricks once only known to the fashion and styling trade are now available to all,” said style icon Stacy London, who serves as the Brand Ambassadress for Hollywood Fashion Secrets. A pioneer of fashion reality TV as co-host of What Not to Wear for 10 seasons, London just launched her new fashion reality show Love, Lust or Run.
According to Jane Dailey, co-founder, president and Fashion Fairy Godmother at HFS, “It continually surprises us that so many women don’t yet know that these genius products exist – many use outdated solutions like a safety pin to close a gaping blouse, band-aids to deperkify nipples or a twist tie to pull back peek-a-boo bra straps. Instead they could be using Hollywood Fashion Tape, Silicone CoverUps® (nipple concealers) and a Bra Converting Clip. For decades these items and many like them were well-kept secrets among celebrity stylists and fashion industry insiders, and we are pleased that these smart tools are now accessible for all to enjoy.”
In early Jan., London joined Jane Dailey, co-founder and president of HFS, at the NRF Foundation’s inaugural Gala in New York City, where Dailey was recognized for being named to The List of People Shaping Retail’s Future, specifically for creating the new Style Essentials product category. The NRF Foundation is the non-profit arm of the National Retail Federation.
“Our collaboration with Stacy is focal to our business strategy, which is aimed at mass awareness and convenient, easy access points for our products,” said Matt Goldberg, CEO of HFS. “We’ve seen tremendous growth in our business over the past few years with 36% growth in 2014 alone – one of our best years yet -- and we are just getting started. According to our research, nearly 96 million women say they have experienced a wardrobe malfunction and would purchase solutions to fix the problem, making Style Essentials a huge untapped market opportunity.”
According to Goldberg, much of HFS’ success is due to expanding its retail footprint in the mass retail and mass drug channels. Today HFS products are available in 30,000 stores and growing, which is really exciting for shoppers.
“They see the collection, they see Stacy London and they have their aha moment – these tools really help women in their daily routines of getting dressed and looking put-together and staying that way throughout the day,” he said.
Goldberg noted that the brand’s early adopters were boutiques and specialty stores, where store associates leveraged the products as add-ons to help win an apparel sale and could personally demonstrate how to use the items. For example, a pair of jeans where a shopper might experience the common back-of-jeans gap, was expertly solved with the Hip Hugger® back-belt, or a top requiring no bra could be perfected with Silicone CoverUps (nipple concealers).
“These Style Essentials can help sell other products and are incremental to the business,” said Goldberg. “That’s what’s really exciting about this new category – women get it, they need it and it’s additive business, not taking away from any other products already available in the store.”
According to Goldberg, boutiques continue as HFS retail partners, along with a growing list of national retailers such as Target (select store availability); ULTA Beauty; Old Navy; JoAnn Fabric and Crafts; Bed, Bath and Beyond; and CVS, among others.
In fact, Goldberg said that in Feb. Duane Reade stores began the roll-out of a new merchandise display at nearly all of its store in the New York City area that features Stacy London and a set of 14 popular Style Essential items including Hollywood Fashion Tape, Silicon CoverUps, Deodorant Removing Sponge, Garment Shields and Bra Converting Clips, among other products.
“Duane Reade is a strong example of our recent success with mass drug retailers,” said Goldberg. “The buyers got it right away and our products fit perfectly in their stores in the beauty aisle, but what is really exciting about this new category is that we have learned these products can be successful in a lot of different stores and locations inside the stores -- from boutiques to national chains with in-store locations like the check-lane, beauty aisle or right next to a pair of jeans or other apparel items that may need a bit of assistance.”
About Stacy London
Since 2002, Stacy London has been best
known as the straight talking co-host on TLC's hit show, What
Not To Wear. Part psychologist, part style maven, Stacy utilizes her
sassy sense of humor to help improve one's appearance not only on the
outside, but also by helping to boost self-confidence from the inside.
In Jan. 2014, she launched her new show on TLC, Love, Lust or Run, which
is focused on “makeunders.” She started her career in 1991 as an
assistant at Vogue Magazine and in 1996 was appointed as Senior Fashion
Editor at Mademoiselle where she worked until 2000. She has styled
runway shows for such designers as Rebecca Taylor and Vivienne Tam and
has worked with renowned celebrities like Kate Winslet and Katie Holmes.
She is the author of the New York Times Best-Seller, The Truth
About Style, published by Viking. She has guest-hosted on The Today
Show, The View and Anderson Live, and has appeared on Access Hollywood,
The Wendy Williams Show, Dr. Oz and various other national news and
entertainment programs. In a multi-year arrangement announced in May
2014, London and HFS are close collaborators with London serving as the
voice and face of the brand featured on in-store merchandising, digital
ads, web materials, social media and PR efforts, as well as assisting
with new product development. She lives in Brooklyn with her cat Baby
Al, too many shoes and not enough closet space.
About Hollywood Fashion Secrets
Hollywood Fashion Secrets,
based in Minneapolis, Minn., is the originator of Fashion Tape® and the
creator of the Style Essentials category, a new product category in the
fashion and beauty industry aimed at delivering useful, everyday items,
tips, tricks and secrets that help women solve daily fashion and beauty
challenges and side-step wardrobe malfunctions. Founded in 2001 with its
first product, Hollywood Fashion Tape® -- the original
Fashion Tape -- the team arrived on the fashion scene intent on helping
women keep garments perfectly in place. Since its launch, the company
has sold more Fashion Tape than any other brand – over 40 million feet
of tape – enough to stretch from New York City to Milan and back again!
Today, the company’s product collection covers a range of 30-plus Style
Essential items that can be found at national retailers such as ULTA
Beauty, Old Navy, Bed, Bath and Beyond, JoAnn Fabric and Crafts, CVS and
others, as well as www.hollywoodfashionsecrets.com.