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Home  November 3, 2009
November 3, 2009
 | November 3, 2009 |
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Awards
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Written by Jackie Rosselli
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Monday, 02 November 2009 09:17 |
 Over the past several weeks, we've received numerous emails seeking advice on entering this year's UNIVATOR Awards. Readers want a better understanding of the categories, with an explanation of which fits their company best.
To clear up any ambiguity, we've listed the categories below, describing each and offering suggestions based on whether a company manufactures or distributes uniforms for end use. Some categories, it seems, are better suited for manufacturers while others are perfect for store owners. Still others work for everyone.
But please note: these are recommendations; you are free to enter the category of your choosing. No matter the category, with so many possibilities, there's a good chance you'll walk away a winner:
Manufacturers:Product Innovation – While some bunkered down to ride out the recession, many instead took a proactive stance, introducing products and increasing visibility in preparation for economic recovery. Have you come out with a new pant, developed a never-before-seen product or line that is all the rage in your market space? Toot your own horn by entering UNIVATOR.
Fabric Innovation – Poly-rayon, organic cotton, fabrics with stretch – the possibilities are endless in today's uniform market. What fabrics have you successfully incorporated into garments for end use? Do the fabrics achieve the desired result?
Innovations in Product Safety – From Anti-microbial apparel to FR to body armor, it's been a year filled with product improvements that safeguard the end user from harm. We've reported on many in UMNM, now grab further acclaim by winning a UNIVATOR.
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Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 10:30 |
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Medical
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Written by Jackie Rosselli
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Monday, 02 November 2009 09:59 |
 Celebrity endorsements are old hat – the famous have pitched everything throughout the years, from cookware to perfume and even apparel.
But a celebrity-inspired brand of uniforms is somewhat of a newsmaker, even in this day and age, and that is what the two-year old Katherine Heigl collection of medical apparel continues to be. Due to hit stores November 15, each piece in the spring line of solids and prints is infused with modern styling and patterns, making the Katherine Heigl collection one of the most talked about this season.
While receiving a blessing from a celebrity may be groundbreaking, the fact that such a fashion-forward collection is designed by Peaches Uniforms isn't. Best known for its ability to blend fashion with function, Peaches has been on the forefront of stylish, hip apparel options since its inception in 1987. "We've always been about expressing a lifestyle rather than just selling uniforms," says Peaches President Barry Rothschild.
Peaches was the first to introduce fashion colors and 100% cotton fabrics into what was then called the white goods industry. "We came out with a fashion scrub over 20 years ago," notes Rothschild. "That was unheard of back then."
The timing was ripe, as seismic shifts were occurring throughout the uniform industry, brought about in part by changing end user tastes. Casual Friday influences and retail-inspired designs began to take hold across the country, and slowly trickled in to the corporate apparel market, eventually reaching the security industry with a new "soft" approach to uniform programs. The white goods industry, too, eventually shed its moniker, forever rechristened as medical apparel.
"We don't like to think of medicine as a business, but the fact is that doctors are in competition with one another," notes Rothschild "A staff that looks good, has a fresh style about them says to the patient that this office cares more about them than anywhere else they can go."
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Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 10:31 |
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Uniforms
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Written by Debra Hindlemann Webster
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Monday, 02 November 2009 09:00 |
 Recently, I saw the 2009 Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—a yearly event that is presented to the public. In just two days, over 120,000 performers filled the streets for this fabulous presentation. There were huge varieties of apparel, but with hundreds of individuals at a time wearing the exact same thing—legions of people moving to the rhythm of the music. They adorned floats, the streets, and the city, in an unprecedented salute to the samba. Yet, aside from the bright colors and the incredibly varied fabrications, it was no different than a military parade. I thought to myself, are these uniforms or costumes? What's the difference between the two? Is it the material, the quantity, the purpose, the design? Is it that one is worn by choice and another by assignment? Perhaps it is the length of time that an outfit is worn. What makes one a costume and the other a uniform?
At Disneyland—the closest the Americans could come to the Brazilian pageant—there are both costumes and uniforms. The special characters such as the Goofies or the Snow Whites (yes, there are many of each, as it's a big park and different people wear the ensembles on various days at rotating times and in different sizes) are made in the Costume Shop—marvelous creations with or without giant feathers (Big Birds) or shapes (the Seven Dwarfs) and masks (Captain Hooks). The colorful and uniquely designed shirts and pants for the waiters and waitresses of Tomorrow Land, or Epcot, or the dresses worn by the Dance Hall girls in the saloon at Frontier Land, are kept in the Costume Warehouse—decorative items by the bushel, especially designed with fabrics solely woven and dyed for Disney. But these are referred to as uniforms, not costumes. Is it the quantity? Is it that costumes are saved for the proper nouns, such as the Prince Charmings or Belles, but uniforms are reserved for this usher or that waitress, worn by the hundreds?
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Last Updated on Monday, 02 November 2009 10:29 |
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