Anna Bizon
By Ed Avis
I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with a lot of NCA’s vendor members over the past couple of weeks, and I’d like to share some of these conversations with you. I had reached out to them for three reasons: To see how they’re doing during this crisis, to tell them what the NCA was doing to help members, and to ask if there’s was anything else we could be doing for them.
My conversations did address all of those things, but something more important quickly emerged: Every vendor I spoke with is confident that our industry will rebound, that the love of costuming is not going away. And everyone is happy that Halloween will be on a Saturday!
“Halloween will be interesting,” Janine Wardale, owner of Graftobian, told me. “People are going to want to have a party!”
Wardale thinks happy, glittery, glitzy costumes will be in demand at Halloween. We’ve seen enough real death and misery lately, she asserts, so people will want something cheery come October.
Sean Morris of Morris Costumes echoed Wardale’s thought: “Halloween will be as strong as ever. Everybody has been cooped up and will be wanting to get out.”
Being Innovative
Buttons from Kalan
A lot of vendors are being innovative as they wait for better times. For example, Kalan has been selling buttons that say, “Back off, I’m social distancing” and other Covid-19-related things for their retail customers who need things to sell by the cash register.
“Stylus pens are also flying out the door, because people don’t want to touch anything,” said Dan Shoemaker, the president of Kalan.
Kryolan has tapped its skills in makeup manufacturing to produce hand sanitizer. Click here to check out this timely product.
And Morris Costumes has been sewing medical masks to help keep frontline workers safe - bravo to them!
Video Engagement
A number of vendors have been posting videos to keep customers engaged. Mehron, for example, has been live-streaming makeup lessons and has videos that stores can post on their sites. And during the first two weeks of May, Kryolan is hosting a series of Instagram Live sessions on topics ranging from Dermacolor Camouflage to Latin Bridal Makeup.
A couple of vendors have been using video to emulate tradeshows, since so many shows have been canceled. For example, click here for a great video from Graftobian, which shows off their makeup products for Halloween. And Zagone has been making a lot of great videos of their products; click here to see a their virtual haunt show.
Intact Supply Chain
Another positive note that emerged during my conversations is that the supply chain for costumes seems mostly intact.
“We want to let the costumers know that we’re producing our entire line, so when they’re ready we’ll have it available,” said Gihan Gabor of Dreamgirl. “We’ll have the stock by the beginning of June or July.”
David Coggin of Disguise confirmed the same thing: “We’ll have plenty of inventory.” Coggin says costumes they expect to sell well for Halloween this year include characters from the movies Trolls and Frozen and video game costumes such as Halo.
Of course, not everything is rosy with the vendors. They have witnessed lots of cancelled or reduced orders, and that has resulted in many layoffs across the industry. It will take a long time – and some amazing holidays – to make up for this crisis.
But in the end, the industry is sticking together, and that’s what will help everyone survive. Here’s a message about that from Leslie Wandell of Ellie Shoes:
“We are hopeful that all of our beloved NCA members are staying healthy and safe and that we can all survive this uncertain time together. Ellen [Renger] and I spoke today and she did want me to mention that she was so touched and heart warmed to see NCA members making masks and stepping up to help out. This is why we love our industry so much. She said keep up the good work, and we can't wait to do business again soon!”
How will the NCA help with the recovery from the Covid crisis? Stay tuned for a guide to getting your business rolling again in the next issue of Costumer, and watch out for a special digital catalog featuring the top products from NCA vendor members, along with special offers and discounts. Both of these will appear soon!