Travel hack: Check out this different way to pack your jeans before heading out of town

Travel hack: Check out this different way to pack your jeans before heading out of town - KGO-TV

Travel hack: Check out this different way to pack your jeans before heading out of town - KGO-TV
Kontoor begins independent life with focus on jeans innovation, attracting new customers - Winston-Salem Journal
5 Ways Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle Wear Skinny Jeans in 2019 - Yahoo Lifestyle

Travel hack: Check out this different way to pack your jeans before heading out of town - KGO-TV

Posted: 25 May 2019 01:32 PM PDT

If you're heading out of town for the Memorial Day holiday, check out this space-saving, wrinkle-reducing travel hack making the rounds on social media.

LaJoy Lampkin tweeted two videos of her stepfather folding clothes on Wednesday, May 22: one showing how to pack jeans and another showing how to pack a long-sleeve T-shirt.

It looks at first like Lampkin's stepfather is simply rolling the garments, a packing hack that's been popular for several years. But he took it a step further, rolling the jeans with one leg left exposed and the T-shirt with one armhole left out. After the trunk of the garment was rolled, he tucked it into the exposed leg/arm opening, much like how many people tuck a pair of socks together.

Commenters on Twitter were quick to point out that the folding style Lampkin's stepfather demonstrated was widely used by service members, and she followed up to say that her stepfather served in the U.S. Navy for 26 years. Others have called the rolling method and similar variations the Army roll, ranger roll, military fold and skivvy roll.

Though the style of folding might be nothing new for service members, it clearly resonated with a broader audience, amassing more than 4 million views in a matter of days. Lampkin herself pointed out that, despite her stepfather's decades of service, she had never seen clothes packed in such a manner until this week.

Kontoor begins independent life with focus on jeans innovation, attracting new customers - Winston-Salem Journal

Posted: 25 May 2019 05:00 PM PDT

The Triad's newest publicly traded company — Kontoor Brands Inc. — is counting on an uptick in consumer interest in its iconic Lee and Wrangler brands to give it time to gain its independent footing.

Kontoor spun out of VF Corp. Thursday with the stock symbol "KTB." Kontoor shareholders received one share for every seven shares of VF they owned.

The apparel marketer operates the Lee, Rock & Republic and Wrangler brands, along with the VF Outlet business. It debuted with 800 employees in Greensboro, 360 in a major distribution center in Mocksville and 17,000 globally.

Analysts say Kontoor will be challenged to attract long-term value independent investors at the outset.

Scott Baxter, Kontoor's president and chief executive, said he believes that "we have a historic opportunity ahead of us."

"We are confident that Kontoor and its brands are positioned for value-creating performance, and we will successfully bring new and younger consumers into our brands," Baxter said.

Kontoor has five primary priorities:

"Scaling its advantage in the core denim business.
"Accelerating its positions in high-value segments,
channels
and geographies;
"Building advantaged positions to reach new consumers.
"Driving an unwavering focus on margin expansion and improving capital efficiency. ...
"Creating a highly engaged and performance-driven team."

The company's initial initiatives are known as Horizon 1 and Horizon 2.

Horizon 1 involves establishing a 60% dividend payout from its profit, paying down $1.05 billion in debt and spending significantly more on its brands. Baxter said that will take 18 to 24 months to achieve.

"We will have pretty significant cash flow after our dividend payout that we will put into reducing debt," he said.

Horizon 2 involves diversifying the company's portfolio, whether through innovation or acquisitions of denim companies and complementary apparel products that makes sense from a value and consumer-appeal standpoint, Baxter said.

"All five priorities are important, but we list them in chronological order. We have to make sure our core is healthy," he said.

"We have to develop innovations for consumers that they didn't know they wanted or needed, and be willing and feel good about spending more for denim products."

Innovation examples

Baxter cited as an innovation example the Lee Body Optix body-shaping jeans that have proven popular in China. The jeans are marketed as where "denim meets science."

Lee's description of the jeans reads, "Inspired by the relaxed fit of '90s jeans, our high-rise mom jeans come with a rounded shape that maximizes curves and looks great cuffed at the ankle."

Baxter said Kontoor is ramping up sales of those jeans in U.S. and European markets.

Another innovative product is a Wrangler "dry Indigo" technology where foam is used, rather than water, as part of a dye-production sustainability process that is expected to save tens of millions of gallons of water annually. Those jeans are expected to arrive at U.S. retail stores by year's end.

"We have hired global designers for Lee and Wrangler, the first in the history of the brands," Baxter said.

The initial Kontoor share price of $38 a share was projected to reflect the value of jeanswear sales within VF before the spinoff.

VF said Wednesday that its final quarterly report for jeanswear had $597.2 million in category sales, down 4%.

The decline reflected societal changes in women's wear toward yoga pants and other non-jean products — the biggest short-term challenge facing Kontoor and the jeanswear industry, analysts said.

Baxter stressed that athleisure clothing "was the best thing that happen to us because it woke us up in terms of how we needed to progress on innovation and the global casualization of apparel."

The jeans brands have added athletic waistbands to some men's denim and casual pants styles as an alternative to athleisure wear "that you can wear in any social setting," Baxter said.

Investor demand

Wrangler generated $1.6 billion in annual revenue in fiscal 2016, 2017 and 2018, while Lee generated $1.1 billion in fiscal 2016 and $1 billion each in fiscal 2017 and 2018.

Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough said Kontoor's initial share price will face pressure from VF shareholders accustomed to returns associated with a growth company.

"While growth strategy investors will continue to hold Kontoor stock, it will be more attractive to value- and yield-type investors who are willing to give the company time to stabilize sales at retail and through online channels," Yarbrough said.

He said the 60% dividend payout is "realistic" for Kontoor, given that jeanswear "is a pretty stable apparel sector even with current trends."

Jon Ogg, an analyst with 24/7 Wall Street, projects a $5 billion market capitalization for Kontoor based on the jeanswear revenue levels, noting that VF had a $37 billion market capitalization before the spinoff.

"Wall Street has been in the mood of asking larger companies to focus on their core businesses," Ogg said.

"It is asking larger companies to unlock value, or to allow the investor pool to be able to invest in individual units rather than large jumbled conglomerated or amalgamated structures."

Another example of such Wall Street investor demand is the planned May 2020 spinoffs by United Technologies Corp. of its Carrier and Otis divisions. UTC would keep its Collins Aerospace Systems (which has about 1,500 employees in Winston-Salem) and Pratt & Whitney divisions.

Otis is the world's leading manufacturer of elevators, escalators and moving walkways. Carrier is a global provider of HVAC, refrigeration, building automation, fire safety and security products.

Baxter said the spinoff meets those expectations, while allowing Kontoor to make decisions faster on brands that had been overshadowed at times within the VF portfolio.

Effect on workforce

Terry Bralley, the president of the Davie County Economic Development Corp., expressed a business-as-usual confidence with the VF-to-Kontoor ownership change.

"They have been a major employer in the county for decades and we expected that to remain the case," Bralley said.

Yarbrough, the analyst, said that because most of the jeanswear production is offshore, the likelihood of domestic job cuts is slim in the short term.

Yarbrough said that if Kontoor is able to make significant inroads with online sales channels, the company could look to add U.S. fulfillment centers.

"Kontoor should have the ability to be more patient with its workforce than with the typical spinoff," he said.

"Still, there are pressures you take on as a publicly traded company to reduce costs to boost shareholder value."

Hanesbrands comparison

Comparisons between Kontoor and Hanesbrands Inc. are relevant beyond both being appeal manufacturers based in the Triad and spun out of larger corporations.

Hanesbrands went independent in September 2006, emerging from a parent company, Sara Lee Corp., that wanted to focus on its food business.

In preparation for the spinoff from VF, Kontoor moved Lee's operations and 90 jobs from Kansas City, Mo., and added 70 jobs related to the requirement of being a publicly traded company.

Hanesbrands had 4,900 employees in Forsyth County at its spinoff. Today, its local workforce is at 2,300 after a series of painful headquarters, production and warehouse job cuts, the bulk of which occurred between 2006 and 2011 as the company established its Central America, Caribbean and Asian supply chain.

Hanesbrands emphasizes innovations — such as tagless T-shirts, ComfortFlex Bras, ComfortBlend fabrics, temperature-control products and odor protection — that can be made at a lower cost primarily through in-house global production, and then sold at a higher price.

Kontoor's Baxter said, "We own about 40% of our production in Mexico and Nicaragua. That gives us a real advantage for speed, for quality and also the flow of new innovation into our product."

Only 2% of Kontoor's production is in China, which helps to minimize its vulnerability to the U.S-China trade war.

Hanesbrands has spent nearly $2.6 billion on eight major purchases, adding such global brands as Maidenform, Gear for Sports, DIM, Bonds and Berlei, Lovable, Abanderado, Shock Absorber and Zorba. It nearly doubled its global operational reach from 23 to 40 countries.

Yarbrough said the scenario of Kontoor entering mergers and acquisition negotiations may be possible in four to five years,

"They have to put investment behind innovations and its online presence," the Edward Jones analyst said. Kontoor plans capital expenditures between $105 million and $110 million in its first year as an independent company.

"As important as the retail channel is for consumer apparel, establishing an attractive online platform means higher profit margins per sale once the supply chain is established," Yarbrough said.

"There's no reason it can't eventually match the jeanswear overall industry growth rates of 4% to 5%."

Handling debt

Kontoor's debut share price of $38 was more than twice the $17 initial public offering price of Levi Strauss & Co. in April.

By comparison, Hanesbrands' initial public offering was priced at $19.80, or a split-adjusted price of $4.95 as of January 2015.

Kontoor begins operation with $1.05 billion in debt.

Hanesbrands spun out carrying $2.6 billion in long-term debt and $2.3 billion in net debt, which had some analysts and investors at that time skeptical of whether, not when, it could stand on its own.

Hanesbrands got the debt close to the $1 billion mark by mid-2013. The debt-reduction focus was so intense that Hanesbrands didn't offer its first quarterly dividend until April 2013.

Andrew Burns, an analyst with D.A. Davidson & Co., said in September 2016 that it was prudent for Hanesbrands to reduce debt pressures "to allow its share price the ability to grow as it grew."

As of March 31, Hanesbrands' net debt was at $3.8 billion, mainly because of how it chose to finance major purchases, such as Maidenform, Pacific Brands Ltd. and DBApparel.

"The relative size of that debt is different; we're a much bigger and more profitable company today generating significantly more sales and net income," Hanesbrands spokesman Matt Hall said. "In the first year after the spinoff, we had sales of $4.5 billion and net income of $126 million. Guidance for this year at the midpoint of our range is sales of $7 billion and net income of $596 million.

" We didn't want to pigeon-hole ourselves," Hall said.

Kontoor has the luxury of marketing the equity and heritage of Lee and Wrangler "that have withstood the test of time," said Roger Beahm, the executive director of the Center for Retail Innovation at the Wake Forest University School of Business.

"The strength of these brands is also a curse because it can create a myopia of focusing only on jeanswear," Beahm said.

"If all Kontoor focuses on long term is jeanswear, then it too will fail to meet the needs of its management, the expectations of Wall Streetand the evolving demands of a consuming public," he said.

"Thoughtful, strategic acquisitions may emerge as an important way for Kontoor to diversify while reducing the risk of new product failures, at least in the initial years. Category extending beyond jeanswear can help mitigate the revenue and profit fluctuations of changing fashion trends in jeanswear," Beahm said.

"Acquisitions can save the new company time and can reduce risk if made thoughtfully."

Baxter said the company "deliberately chose Kontoor" for its name "because we didn't want to pigeon-hole ourselves as just jeans even though that's what we do best."

"We can make an acquisition in the apparel marketplace, and it doesn't have to be denim," he said.

"When the time's right, we will take a 360-degree look at the marketplace to see what's out there and what makes sense to add."

5 Ways Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle Wear Skinny Jeans in 2019 - Yahoo Lifestyle

Posted: 25 May 2019 09:07 PM PDT

Just as we were preparing to ditch all our skinny jeans in favor of wide-leg trousers, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle reminded us that the slim denim style is still relevant. Recently, Markle was spotted sporting skinny jeans while touring Morocco, wearing them not once, not twice, but three times, and Middleton stepped out in the wardrobe staple earlier this year while playing soccer with kids on a surprise trip to Northern Ireland.

Ahead, we're breaking down all the ways the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex have been wearing skinny jeans in 2019, from casual outings to formal appearances. Their tried-and-true outfit formulas make a compelling case for keeping the lean-leg denim style in your rotation this year (even despite our most recent trend forecast). Keep scrolling to find out how to steal their style, and while you're at it, shop their looks too.

Utility Jacket + Striped Sweater + Slouchy Ankle Boots

Now that spring is here, ditch the puffer jacket and layer a sweater under a lighter utility jacket instead. Complete the look with a pair of slouchy ankle boots.

On Meghan Markle: J.Crew jacket; Equipment striped sweater; Stuart Weitzman boots

Madewell Surplus Jacket ($118)

Vince Mixed Stripe Pullover ($345)

Stuart Weitzman The Margot 75 Bootie ($345)

Turtleneck Sweater + Printed Silk Scarf + Combat Boots

Layer a sweater and a light jacket with skinny jeans and combat boots until warmer weather arrives. A striped scarf adds a charming pop of color to the ensemble.

On Kate Middleton: Barbour jacket; J.Crew sweater; See by Chloé boots

Everlane The Texture Cotton Crew ($88)

Burberry Society Archive-Print Silk-Faille Scarf ($240)

Frye Veronica Combat Boots ($201)

Oversize Blazer + Textured Scarf + Casual Flats

Wear an oversize blazer with a simple black sweater, a textured scarf, and a pair of slipper flats to make your overall look a bit more casual.

On Meghan Markle: Alice+Olivia blazer; Aritzia scarf; Birdies slippers

H&M Jacket With Gathered Sleeves ($50)

Wilfred Diamond Mosaic Scarf ($68)

Birdies The Starling ($120)

Sporty Cable-Knit Sweater + Running Shoes

For a laid-back look, opt for a sporty cable-knit sweater and a pair of running shoes. Simple accessories—a classic watch and minimalist earrings—help keep it look put-together.