Body Wrappers Continues to Grow
Imagine sitting down in your apartment living room in Queens, New York with $1000 and some fashion training to come up with an idea for a dancewear manufacturing business. Twenty-five years later you are one of the country's leading designers and owners of a cutting edge company whose sole customers are dancers, aspiring and professional, ages three to adult. The visions and designs of Marie West of Body Wrappers in NY are today some of the most sought after products by dancers of all types.
In the beginning West was a young fashion design student working in the garment industry who wanted her own company but didn't know exactly what she wanted to sell. After a trip to Macy's department store to see what was not on sale there, she discovered the Jane Fonda line of workout wear. From there, West created a one-piece, one-size-fits-all wrap type garment. She had used the $1000 inheritance to incorporate Body Wrappers, Attitudes in Dressing, Inc. January 17, 1981, and with the introduction of "Le Wrap" was officially on the fashion design map. From there West continued to be drawn to the world of dance until her product line was made up entirely of clothing and accessories for dancers.
She later met Nicholas Karant who, after seeing her products, called them "nice curtains," invested in her company. Today they are husband and wife, and Karant is vice-president and a sales representative for the company. Together with another partner, Michael Rubin who runs the production factory in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the trio has engineered a major name recognition factor in the dance world making Body Wrappers an industry leader.
Almost entirely made in America, Body Wrappers dance apparel showroom is still located on Broadway in New York (with the factory in New Jersey) for some important reasons. "One of our goals is to keep American small businesses open," says Marketing and Public Relations Director, Trudy Christ. And because they are located "...where all the action is," according to West, "...we know first hand what the career dancers like to wear. We then take those ideas and adjust them for our young hopefuls, who are between the ages of three and twenty." Body Wrappers hires professional dancers like Maria Kowroski, principle dancer of the New York City Ballet, to test products and give the company ideas for modifications. Kowroski is also the company's advertising image appearing in all of Body Wrapper's major print ads.
Details and listening closely to customers helps separate West's company from the rest. For instance when she heard a dancer complain about the color of the straps on a full body tight saying that she had to cut them off and replace them with nude colored ones to hide the garment under her costume, West took the idea to partner Rubin. In 2001 they introduced a full body, convertible foot tight with nude colored straps that could be worn without disturbing the vision of the dancer or the costume.
Because they are a customer conscious company with an ear to the needs of their retailers as well, brands and products are constantly being improved. "Fashion changes, time moves, nothing in our industry ever stands still-we need to keep progressing and keep perfecting," claims West. For these reasons Body Wrappers has no two days alike for West. She spends one day in the factory and the next in the showroom and is known as "a hands on owner who stays involved in every aspect of her company and who listens to her customers' needs." Something as minor as changing the location and size of the information on the front of packaging for tights makes Body Wrappers products sought after by retailers and dancers.
Body Wrappers has many new products slated for release in 2007. Among them is a new fishnet crop tight. There are several ad campaigns lined up that will highlight the new products worn by Kowroski, Wendy Whelan, and Rachael Rutherford all from NYCB.
From the Body Wrappers perspective, dance has changed significantly since the inception of the company. "It has become more diversified in that there are more styles of dance like liturgical, hip-hop, ballroom, crumping, and stomping," says Christ. "Also, because of the various television programs as well as films about dance, more people are interested in taking dance even if it is for just one class."
Just being aware of the sub-cultures of the dance world like crumping is evidence the Body Wrappers brand will continue to supply any kind of dancer with the apparel that will help them reach their potential artistically, economically, and with pride--the same way BW runs itself.
Body Wrappers, 1350 Broadway,
New York, NY 10018, 1-212-279-3492
www.bodywrappers.com