ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605210056
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CARTHAGE, MO.
SOURCE: KAREN TESTA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Big Smith Brands Inc., which started out as a purveyor of rugged, blue-collar work wear, has found a new life and fortune - on the runways of Paris as the world's youth embraces industrially inspired fashions.
The company's catalog models now range from double-chinned men in hard hats to waiflike teen girls in cutoff overalls. Its clothing can accommodate a child of 6 months as well as a man with a 124-inch waist.
The industrial look has bulldozed its way into so many closets that Big Smith has used it as a foundation for taking the company public last year.
``We've set out on a goal to be a megabrand company in the global market,'' Chief Executive Officer Peter Lebowitz said.
Founded in 1916 as Smith Bros. Manufacturing, the company made a name for itself with Big Smith brand overalls sewn in a small factory above a livery barn. It was operated by the Smith family until 1971, when Lebowitz and the Paul Revere Insurance Co. bought it.
Within eight years, the company was doing $47 million in sales and had broken into the European market. But it had expanded too fast, and rough changes were in store.
Lebowitz and his investors sold the company to a small conglomerate in New York in 1979, and Big Smith struggled. In 1982, it filed for bankruptcy protection. Two more filings followed, in 1984 and 1985, and Big Smith shut down.
A bank that had taken over the company approached Lebowitz.
``After looking into it again, I felt the brand still had merit, even though the company was closed and they had no customers left and had no employees left,'' Lebowitz said.
So after receiving a pledge of support from his friend Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Lebowitz bought back what was left of his old company - one factory, the Carthage warehouse and the name.
Today, Big Smith, with the help of its other two labels - CAT and Wolverine - has $40 million in sales. It employs more than 500 factory workers in the United States and at least 1,000 overseas.
Upscale retailers abroad are joining mainstream stores such as Sears, Kmart, Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney in stocking a variety of Big Smith products.
Caterpillar Inc., the heavy-equipment manufacturer based in Peoria, Ill., selected Big Smith to make its popular clothing line over larger companies such as Levi's. Now, CAT caps alone sell at a rate of 25,000 to 30,000 a month, Lebowitz said.
In its six U.S. factories, all in the Midwest, Big Smith produces 750,000 pairs each of jeans and overalls a year.
Much of the company's recent success can be attributed to rap singers and other artists who brought the look of oversized work wear to the mainstream in music videos and live performances. It also coincided with the emergence of casual business dress.
``Definitely men today are looking to function as part of the fashion picture,'' said Eric Hertz, executive director of the Fashion Association, a nonprofit trade group based in New York. ``This is certainly part of the success story of the Big Smith operation.''
One of Big Smith's competitors is Carhartt Inc. of Dearborn, Mich., which has been making work wear since 1889. It has not taken the route of Big Smith, which expanded its line and softened its look for mass market appeal. Still, Carhartt has taken advantage of the trend.
``We've definitely seen an increase in sales because of it,'' said Jason Russell, Carhartt's director of marketing. ``What made it first noticeable is the types of retailers that want to carry the product now. You're getting more into the mainstream suburbia-type stores.''
But Mark Rosen, who has owned Busy Bees department store in Springfield, Mo., for 25 years, said he stocks some overalls but hasn't seen the industrial look catch on in the Midwest.
``If your dad wears it to work, you tend not to think this is something really cool that you want to wear to school,'' Rosen said.
Because the work wear look is Americana, it has done exceptionally well abroad. Big Smith did 25 percent of its business outside the United States in 1995, and that's projected to grow to 33 percent this year.
Lebowitz is not concerned the work wear look will suddenly go away. Denim jackets and overalls were all the rage in the early '70s, and now they're back. And jeans are a wardrobe staple.
``It never goes away completely,'' Lebowitz said. ``America never forgets its heritage.
``There is a part of this America that is a cowboy. When Company grows from
overalls to fashion runways
|By KAREN TESTA| |ASSOCIATED PRESS|
CARTHAGE, Mo. - Big Smith Brands Inc., which started out as a purveyor of rugged, blue-collar work wear, has found a new life and fortune - on the runways of Paris as the world's youth embraces industrially inspired fashions.
The company's catalog models now range from double-chinned men in hard hats to waiflike teen girls in cutoff overalls. Its clothing can accommodate a child of 6 months as well as a man with a 124-inch waist.
The industrial look has bulldozed its way into so many closets that Big Smith has used it as a foundation for taking the company public last year.
``We've set out on a goal to be a megabrand company in the global market,'' Chief Executive Officer Peter Lebowitz said.
Founded in 1916 as Smith Bros. Manufacturing, the company made a name for itself with Big Smith brand overalls sewn in a small factory above a livery barn. It was operated by the Smith family until 1971, when Lebowitz and the Paul Revere Insurance Co. bought it.
Within eight years, the company was doing $47 million in sales and had broken into the European market. But it had expanded too fast, and rough changes were in store.
Lebowitz and his investors sold the company to a small conglomerate in New York in 1979, and Big Smith struggled. In 1982, it filed for bankruptcy protection. Two more filings followed, in 1984 and 1985, and Big Smith shut down.
A bank that had taken over the company approached Lebowitz.
``After looking into it again, I felt the brand still had merit, even though the company was closed and they had no customers left and had no employees left,'' Lebowitz said.
So after receiving a pledge of support from his friend Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Lebowitz bought back what was left of his old company - one factory, the Carthage warehouse and the name.
Today, Big Smith, with the help of its other two labels - CAT and Wolverine - has $40 million in sales. It employs more than 500 factory workers in the United States and at least 1,000 overseas.
Upscale retailers abroad are joining mainstream stores such as Sears, Kmart, Wal-Mart and J.C. Penney in stocking a variety of Big Smith products.
Caterpillar Inc., the heavy-equipment manufacturer based in Peoria, Ill., selected Big Smith to make its popular clothing line over larger companies such as Levi's. Now, CAT caps alone sell at a rate of 25,000 to 30,000 a month, Lebowitz said.
In its six U.S. factories, all in the Midwest, Big Smith produces 750,000 pairs each of jeans and overalls a year.
Much of the company's recent success can be attributed to rap singers and other artists who brought the look of oversized work wear to the mainstream in music videos and live performances. It also coincided with the emergence of casual business dress.
``Definitely men today are looking to function as part of the fashion picture,'' said Eric Hertz, executive director of the Fashion Association, a nonprofit trade group based in New York. ``This is certainly part of the success story of the Big Smith operation.''
One of Big Smith's competitors is Carhartt Inc. of Dearborn, Mich., which has been making work wear since 1889. It has not taken the route of Big Smith, which expanded its line and softened its look for mass market appeal. Still, Carhartt has taken advantage of the trend.
``We've definitely seen an increase in sales because of it,'' said Jason Russell, Carhartt's director of marketing. ``What made it first noticeable is the types of retailers that want to carry the product now. You're getting more into the mainstream suburbia-type stores.''
But Mark Rosen, who has owned Busy Bees department store in Springfield, Mo., for 25 years, said he stocks some overalls but hasn't seen the industrial look catch on in the Midwest.
``If your dad wears it to work, you tend not to think this is something really cool that you want to wear to school,'' Rosen said.
Because the work wear look is Americana, it has done exceptionally well abroad. Big Smith did 25 percent of its business outside the United States in 1995, and that's projected to grow to 33 percent this year.
Lebowitz is not concerned the work wear look will suddenly go away. Denim jackets and overalls were all the rage in the early '70s, and now they're back. And jeans are a wardrobe staple.
``It never goes away completely,'' Lebowitz said. ``America never forgets its heritage.
``There is a part of this America that is a cowboy. When cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles pick it up, and they do it every generation, it explodes.''
LENGTH: Long : 164 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Peter Lebowitz, head of Big Smith Brands Inc., showsby CNBoff a size 66 pair of overalls made at his plant in Carthage, Mo.
color.