Dana-co’s Zvi Ertel Shares an Intimate Look at Today’s Lingerie Market
With today’s innerwear market consisting of a heavy blend of heritage brands and new disrupters, the intimates business looks quite a bit different than it did in 2001 when Dana-co first introduced itself. What’s clear is that consumers are thinking about how they shop within the category in a new way, and as such messaging has changed that puts body positivity over sexualized imagery.
With more than 40 years working within the industry, Zvi Ertel, president and chief executive officer of Dana-co, a designer, importer and marketer of luxury women’s intimate apparel and lingerie, with brands including Natori, Oh La La Cheri and Skarlett Blue, has watched many brands face the challenges of the intimates apparel market from a decline in spending during the recession to a wave of shifted consumer behavior and generational preferences. Ertel said the only constant he has seen is the need to pivot, pointing both to the recession in 2008 and the pandemic as key times.
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Considering where the intimates market has been just in the last few years, Ertel said he would consider the time pre-pandemic to have been stagnant, seeing reports increase or decrease by just 1 percent every year for the last decade.
“We were growing but our growth came from others shrinking and the industry as a whole remained the same,” Ertel said. “When the only way to grow is off of someone else’s failures, we knew we had to look for other possibilities, to do something different, but nothing is without limitation.”
When the pandemic hit, Ertel said there was a notable shift within the industry where consumers were looking specifically to specialty items like sports bras, bralettes and sexy lingerie. Then as consumers returned to work and travel, another shift presented itself as consumers needed to buy everyday basics like T-shirt bras. Just after the pandemic, Ertel said, the industry saw growth for the first time which has lasted about three years.
With the growth, the industry also saw an influx of new disrupter brands entering the market. However, while these brands are getting a lot of notice on social media, Ertel said, they have not thrived amid the current economic crisis. Importantly, Ertel told WWD that during the growth that stemmed from consumers purchasing basics, they often bought multiples and reduced the need to buy more now. At the same time, he said, much of what was being offered by these disruptor brands in marketing, like the inclusion of sizes and colors, was already being done by existing brands who continue to do so.
With the challenging market in mind, Ertel said Dana-co is always looking to do something new to interest the consumer while staying agile. The opportunity for growth is there. Often, this has meant exploring adjacencies, like swim and sleepwear. In June 2021, this idea came to life for Natori in the form of a medical scrubs collection. And in April 2021, Dana-co unveiled plans to launch Natori Intimates and Skarlett Blue internationally.
Notably, the company is also looking to acquire new brands to bring into its portfolio. As he looks at brands for acquisition, Ertel said he is looking for those that “represent something that has meaning, not just because it sells. It would be a brand that I believe has the potential to grow if managed properly and has consumers that are interested. I have to understand the potential of the brand if I look five years out. I’m only interested in the long term.”
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