Good things to come from an end�� - retirement of Norman Karr as president of International Assn of Clothing Designers and Executives

Longtime IACDE head Norman Karr passes the reins

It's hail but definitely not farewell to Norman Karr, who retired from the International Association of Clothing Designers and Executives (IACDE) at the end of June and turned over the reins to Bill D'Arienzo, an industry veteran and consultant who is already taking action.

Established in 1911, the IACDE is said to be the oldest trade association in the clothing industry. And D'Arienzo has plans to take it to the next level, saying, "Norman Karr did a great job. I'm very grateful for what he has done. ... I will preserve all of those accomplishments and move on."

Those accomplishments are many and deserve mention. And they will serve as a strong foundation for D'Arienzo's new initiatives, which will focus on globalizing IACDE's member services and programs, and enhancing the group's Internet presence.

A Tough Act to Follow

Karr, who had served as the IACDE's executive director since 1986, is an undaunted 70-year-old veteran and survivor of political infighting and rivalries among trade association egos and personalities. He has steered three organizations for more than 40 years (four, if you count the American Formalwear Association), and for the past 20 years, he has concurrently managed what is now known as The Fashion Association (TFA), the IACDE and Jeanswear Communications.

The well-known, well-respected and outspoken Karr resigned from TFA in 1995, and although he also has turned over the key to the IACDE, he has every intention of staying in the harness - and the Jeanswear Communications assignment is just big enough for his plate now. The group, which is supported by the denim industry and those who sell to it, started out as a public relations/promotion project affiliated with TFA in 1978, when Karr started a "denim desk" for the association. As a consequence, TFA increased its membership rolls. In 1997, to give the jean's wear unit greater visibility, Karr convinced the participating companies to spin off Jeanswear Communications into a separate entity.

In relation to his denim days, one feather in Karr's cap is the development - with the membership's support - of the March of Dimes Blue Jeans For Babies public relations campaign that was kicked off about five years ago. That effort went from being a local, pilot program in Buffalo, NY, in 1993, to a national campaign that has raised more than $6 million.

Karr also has weathered the changing face of the denim industry: "[Denim isn't] a tonnage [product] anymore. The companies have become marketers, rather than just mills," he states. "They appreciate the fact that you can come up with a marketing plan that doesn't involve just how much you can put out there. They have all kinds of finishes and colors, and they're more alert than ever to fashion."

Focusing on denim's expanded reach, Karr will look to increase the jeans wear group's membership as more foreign denim companies look to establish production in the United States. And Jeanswear Communications is building an associate member category for firms that offer services to the denim industry, such as The NPD Group and Universal Garment Finishers.

Anyone will tell you that Karr does yeoman's work, regardless of the industry segment he's representing. But his accomplishments with TFA are among his proudest. During his tenure, Karr helped to set an agenda that caught the attention of the apparel fashion and trade press.

He reflects, "We provided a platform for many of the new designers: Joe Boxer, Jhane Barnes, Tommy Hilfiger and Barry Bricken, to name just a few. And we built up a program of two press shows a year. We produced seasonal press kits and supplementary press releases throughout the year, and we developed the Lulu Award for fashion journalism."

In 1997, the Lulu (named after Lou Pfeifle, a former head of the American Institute of Men's and Boys' Wear, and Lou Rothschild, former head of the now defunct Men's Wear Retailers of America) was renamed the Aldo after the late jewelry designer Aldo Cipullo. Additionally, the group's American Image awards, which cite the generosity and leadership of people in the apparel business, also were created on Karr's watch.

As for his contributions to the more than 200-member IACDE, Karr says, "We streamlined the operation and got rid of an awful lot of extraneous expense. We began to give the participants more of a presence in the market, more of a sense of who they are and how essential they are to the continuance of the tailored clothing industry."

Karr stresses: "You can bring in all the machines you want to, but you still need people who know what a suit looks like when it comes out the other end. And they are the key to this, and they have adapted very well to the technology in the industry. So we put the IACDE into a different frame of mind, and [the members] began to recognize their own importance."

Just as importantly, as a result of Karr's efforts, the membership was expanded to include alterations executives. As he puts it, "What we have done is complete the circle so that we have the designers, the suppliers, the manufacturing executives and the retail alterations executives. That's all geared to make sure that the products represent the best quality and value that there is. The IACDE is in reasonably good shape. Now what we have to do is take it up to the next level, and it's up to Bill D'Arienzo to carry it that way - and he has some very significant ideas about how to broaden the impact."

Expanding Horizons

Not to be overshadowed by Karr, the IACDE's new executive director brings years of marketing experience to the job. During his career, he has held executive posts in the children's wear (Basic Elements) and women's sportswear and activewear (Head Sportswear) businesses. His background in tailored clothing includes positions with Palm Beach, Evan-Picone and Botany 500. D'Arienzo, 51, also holds a doctorate in political science, and has taught marketing research and advertising communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology for the past 10 years.

While directing the IACDE, he will continue to operate his own 15-year-old consulting firm, New Jersey-based William D'Arienzo Associates. which counts formal wear and hosiery companies among its clients.

From his multifaceted industry perspective, D'Arienzo says he sees the association as being something more than just a service provider. As he puts it: "I envision it as an organization that leads in the broadest sense by offering information services to its constituencies."

To that end, D'Arienzo reports that the IACDE is considering the establishment of a recruitment service, and that it will be "taking a more global stance." For example, although the group has a preliminary Web site, he intends to broaden its scope, and put it up in Japanese, German, French, Italian and Spanish, noting that more than 10 percent of the group's membership is based outside the United States. In that regard, he adds, "If we make any thrust to China, which we probably will, we will translate into Chinese as well."

The association also is looking at the Eastern European clothing makers in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary as potential members. (International chapter countries currently include Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy, Korea, Mexico and Indonesia.)

Moreover, in a strategy to increase the group's visibility, D'Arienzo is looking at producing a condensed Internet trend letter to highlight upcoming events at the group's conventions. Additionally, he is talking with other major sewn products trade associations about partnering, "to see if there is a mutuality of interests, and [to] do things in tandem," he says.

He also is exploring the possibility of ratcheting up the IACDE's presence with governmental agencies in order to be more recognized on relevant issues.

Though the IACDE is poised eagerly at the starting line of all of these new initiatives, D'Arienzo emphasizes: "What isn't broken we won't fix. This is an organization that has a great foundation and has been around for a very long time. So one doesn't rush in and make changes without taking a very careful look at things."

Jules Abend is a Bobbin contributing editor and editor of Clarion Inc., a Howell, NJ-based international news gathering organization.

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