For Oregon State University, the perfect uniform was two years in the making. Although the colors – including a polished black and white combo, with orange accents and piping – played a big part in the look, a major part of the overhaul was the high-performance material. Matt Arend, associate assistant director for revenue/athletics with the university, echoes Jespen’s points about the material’s reduced weight and grab points. Unlike the old days, where most of the uniform was constructed from only mesh, the new material offers improved moisture management and increased ventilation. And, Arend says, the uniform’s high-tech fabrics target specific comfort areas on the athlete, such as under the arms and the back of the neck.

The University of California at Berkeley wasn’t left out of the football fashion frenzy, as the team unveiled its new 2008 look, spending just over $100,000 on the project. Just as with Iowa State and Oregon, Berkeley also worked with Nike to create a comfortable and durable uniform. Says Ed Garland, head equipment manager for Cal, “We liked the Cordura because it is a water wicking material so it won’t hold in sweat. Our pants are all Cordura, no mesh, which makes for a tight-fitting stretch material.”

Other benefits of the new uniforms include resin on the inside of the legs, for less abrasion, as well as cuts in the back of the jerseys, rather than on the sides, to ensure a better fit. As other teams across the country tweak and look toward trends to update their uniforms, one thing will surely be a constant: high performance material. Says Steve Malchow, senior associate athletics director with Iowa State: “I would expect that coaches and players want materials that benefit performance, so lighter and tighter fitting gear is desired.”

Looking at the Current State of Uniform Rentals
Aramark remains a heavyweight in the uniforms rental market, outfitting more than 2 million workers at over 200,000 businesses. Uniforms turned to Jeb Blount, the company’s Uniform & Career Apparel National Account Manager, to check in on the current state of the uniform rental market. Check out the upcoming issue of Uniforms for the complete Q-and-A.

Uniforms: What’s your pitch for why companies should be renting uniforms instead of buying?
Blount: A different way of looking at that is companies should choose the program that is going to best fit their environment. In a lot of cases, companies should be renting and buying uniforms. For example, let’s say that you are working at an automobile dealership. The guys in the back of the house, the people that are working on the car, the technicians – those guys are in dirt and oil that you don’t necessarily want taken to a home wash environment. In contrast, the folks that are in the front of the house, the salespeople, the service writers, those kinds of folks standing in front of the public, they want to have a custom embroidered logo garment that isn’t necessarily in a rental line.

What’s the financial difference for renting as opposed to buying?
It’s a lot cheaper to rent the garment where it’s a high-soil environment, where you have wear and tear on the garment so that they have to be regularly updated and managed. And where the cost of managing a program on your own – a lot of the companies get into the situation where they do purchase programs, and they end up with these massive closets full of all this inventory that’s just sitting there, because they don’t have a mechanism to reissue those garments back out to their employees. So they’re buying a brand-new garment for every single employee. That’s when purchasing could actually cost more.

The rental market as a whole, how is it faring now?
If you take a look at uniforms, uniforms go on people who work. And when unemployment goes up, the number of people who wear uniforms naturally goes down. So that’s one of the things we run into. One of the things that has kept us ahead of the game in a down economy, we’re focused on markets like health care that aren’t focused on recessionary issues. And safety, like the towing industry which doesn’t necessarily get hit by an economy that’s down because towing has to happen every day no matter what. Those emerging trends and emerging markets are allowing us to stay way ahead of the current economic trends.

Government Report: TSA Fails at Tracking Airport Security Uniforms
An internal government report condemning questionable practices of tracking airport uniforms has raised a frightening weakness in the fight against terrorism. The study, conducted by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general, revealed major lapses by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in tracking security uniforms and badges, particularly with those belonging to former employees. The implication is that airports are increasingly vulnerable to terrorists who could pose as authorized officials.

The report, which evaluated five airports from October 2006 through June 2007, found dozens of instances of badges that remained active for screeners who had been either fired or no longer needing access to secure areas. Uniforms were also rarely collected after employees left or were transferred. The inspector general found a multitude of incidents where the TSA did not report the firing of a baggage screener or ask for the deactivation of a badge.

According to USA Today, TSA chief Kip Hawley says the agency began implementing the recommendations of the inspector general before the report was released. Changes include civil penalties for employees who do not relinquish their badge upon exiting secure parts of the airport. "While we believe the … report overstates deficiencies as well as any potential associated security risk, we share the interest in improving our processes," Hawley wrote in response to the report.

Uniforms Readers Feeling the Cost of Change
The ripple effect of this summer’s heightened fuel costs were definitely felt in the uniforms market. Almost two-thirds of Uniforms readers responding to a recent QuickPoll said that their biggest challenge is that the cost of goods sold (COGS) is rising faster than the prices they charge their customers.

But a significant number of readers also said that finding new customers (35%) and retaining existing accounts (31%) were their biggest challenges. Sourcing from reliable manufacturers was also mentioned by a significant number of respondents (30%).

When asked to elaborate on their responses, here is what some readers had to say:

• “Passing on surcharges to customers is hard to do, but at least that will weed out the bad ones.”
• “With the rising cost of goods, it’s hard to keep customers coming back. They are struggling with rising costs also. Some get upset because we have had to raise our prices since the last time they ordered.”
• “All of these challenges apply. COGS is going higher but the price charged the customer is coming down even faster. We haven’t seen a huge environmental impact on us yet, except lots of customers say, ‘Yes, save the planet just don’t charge me more.’ Sourcing is only a challenge in that, in the highest demand areas for uniforms, the choices are all the same. Each manufacturer makes the same product in the same colors. Finding and keeping customers is always a challenge. In the end, uniforms are a perceived expense to the business owner, and in my market it always comes down to price.”
•  “We are filling orders but they are not as large as they once were. Companies have had to cut back and that means the orders are smaller. We have to compete with Wal-Mart and that is hurting my business. They scope out the area and duplicate school uniforms in the store without permission and then sell them for less than my cost.”

Optimer and 180s Settle Trademark Infringement Suit
Optimer Performance Fibers announced it has settled with 180s, a performance apparel and accessories company, for patent and trademark infringement upon its Dri-release with FreshGuard product. Optimer, based in Wilmington, DE, filed suit, claiming that 180s sold work wear shirts and kids ear warmers beginning in 2005 that carried the Dri-release label and patent number but did not use the actual material. According to Optimer, Baltimore-based 180s denied liability and claimed inadvertent use of old packaging and labeling errors as cause for the mix-up. Susan Shafton, CEO of 180s, confirmed the litigation was settled but could not comment further due to confidentiality obligations.

“Dri-release is well known in many markets as a highly effective moisture management technology brand.  This action is critical to protect our patent as well as the integrity of Dri-release products sold to trusting consumers,” says Beth More, Optimer director of operations.

Optimer also announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Turkey-based Karsu Tekstil. The largest plant-based fiber spinner in the world (which specializes in cotton, cotton blends as well as fire-resistant blends) will work with the Dri-release yarn. Optimer says Karsu will help develop a Dri-release wool and nylon blend.

Dunbrooke (asi/50930) has named Dee Bennett of Bennett Sales as outside sales rep for Southern TX; Andy Bennett of Bennett Sales as outside sales rep in Northern TX and OK; Joe Privitera as the inside sale rep for CO; and hired Shaun Wilson as outside sales rep for VA, WV, MN, ND, SD, WY, MO, ID and OR. The company has also promoted Tammy Flippo to inside sales manager for Dunbrooke Buying Groups and sales rep for AR and NM.

Penn Emblem Company (asi/62485) has announced that David Braun, western regional accounts manager, has acquired additional territory to cover its Southern California and Arizona customer base. Also, Mike Costello, central division accounts manager, has acquired additional territory and will now control the entire Central/Midwest region of the country.

World Emblem (asi/98264) has hired Andrew Azadi as its new sales manager for Canada.