Press Release Summary = Business update Corporate social responsibility Financial results Joint ventures, cooperation and distribution agreements Markets Mergers, acquisitions and divestments Name change Sports participation
Press Release Body = Performance Apparel Markets - Issue 17
Business update Corporate social responsibility Financial results Joint ventures, cooperation and distribution agreements Markets Mergers, acquisitions and divestments Name change Sports participation
Clothing at work: providing a better image
The market for clothing at work is huge. It covers basic workwear, technical wear and protective wear-which is required by law in some cases-and the more image focused careerwear. As many as half of all working Americans wear clothing provided by their employers at work, although penetration rates are not yet as high in Europe or elsewhere. In recent years there has been a blurring of the differences which once existed between the various categories of clothing at work. Such blurring stems partly from innovations in technical fabrics and partly from the influences of fashion and image. Technical fabrics are now used in a wide range of garments and are not limited to the protective categories. Similarly, the focus on image and fashion in careerwear has infiltrated the basic workwear market.
In terms of suppliers, the market is highly fragmented. It is served by many specialist national companies and there are few regional or global players. To some extent, this has suited the nature of the business in the past because local suppliers tend to be especially responsive to the needs of local buyers. Some of the larger suppliers are garment rental and laundry companies which provide garments and cleaning services. The largest buyers, however, are companies which do not manufacture garments themselves. Other large customers include public authorities.
Within the mature markets of Western Europe and the USA, growth sectors include protective wear-which is being driven predominantly by legislation-and careerwear, which is being fuelled by a desire to present a good corporate image. In contrast, the workwear market is stagnant or in decline, in line with the demise of heavy industry in these regions. The biggest opportunities for clothing at work, however, lie in the developing world. Most of the future growth in this market will come from the take up of workwear, and eventually careerwear, in Asia.
Fast track: tracking the market for personal protective equipment
Some 2.2 mn people worldwide die of work-related accidents and diseases each year, according to the International Labour Office (ILO). However, the ILO points out that this figure may be vastly underestimated due to poor reporting in some countries. In an attempt to reduce the number of deaths, most countries have legislation covering health and safety at work. In many cases, such legislation specifies the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Personal protective equipment (PPE) covers all equipment, including apparel, which is intended to protect the wearer against one or more health or safety risks. Items which come under the PPE remit include many types of protective garment such as body suits and armour, as well as eye protection, footwear, gloves, harnesses, helmets and highvisibility apparel.
The main users of PPE are organisations operating in the following sectors: construction; emergency services; manufacturing and engineering; petrochemicals; and utilities. All such organisations require their workers to be exposed to potentially harmful situations or hazards.
Product developments and innovations
Disposable apparel Environmentally-friendly apparel Health promoting apparel Performance fibres Smart fabrics Sports apparel Wearable technology Profile of Kwintet: a leading supplier of workwear
Denmark-based Kwintet is Europe's largest supplier of workwear and imagewear clothing. The current business was born out of a series of mergers and acquisitions of leading European workwear companies between 1995 and 2000. The company was formerly known as Kansas Wenaas, after its two largest component companies. However, it was renamed Kwintet in 2003.
Kwintet covers the world of professional wear and workwear-from boiler suits to smart two-piece suits. But most of its business comes in the form of traditional workwear such as boiler suits or overalls.
Its products include a range of leading workwear brands, including A-Code, Adolphe Lafont, Fristads, Hejco, Kansas, KLM Kleding and Wenaas.
Kwintet is the largest provider of workwear in Europe, with sales in 2005 reaching Euro395 mn (US$491 mn). However, it also has some business interests elsewhere, notably in the USA and China.
For the future, the company's challenge lies in the need to integrate the various component parts which it has acquired, and to find synergies for greater profitability
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2025
