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HEADLINE: Special clothing suits 2 firms to a T

BYLINE: Jane Applegate

Two small companies are flourishing by providing niche clothing to a specialized market. One makes trendy maternity jeans; the other makes easy-to-fasten clothes for disabled customers.

In the final months of her first pregnancy two years ago, Lynn Moles Kenny was no longer able to wear the Levi jeans she and her partner, Jeannie Krmpotic, sold in their Hoboken, N.J., clothing and accessory shop, Jaggar Black 'n' Blue.

After a frustrating search for fashionable jeans, Kenny lopped off the top of her Levi's and stitched in a black Lycra/Spandex panel. Pregnant customers loved the maternity jeans. Kenny and Krmpotic upgraded their sewing machine and began filling orders. Within a month, Jaggar had to contract with a production company to meet the demand, and the $ 49 Maternity Vintage Jean was born.

"We had been looking for a concept that had never been done before," said Kenny. "This just came to us."

Krmpotic and Kenny are now trading in their retail vision for a warehouse and a maternity mail-order business. As a retail operation, Jaggar has done a steady business since its opening in April, 1997, with revenue to date of $ 195,000. But, said Kenny, $ 75,000 has been earned since the introduction of the maternity jeans, which increased sales 60 percent.

With Krmpotic handling production and Kenny in charge of advertising and marketing, Jaggar is launching a Web site, has hired a sales rep, is creating a catalog and is designing a line of maternity wear. Krmpotic said she is not worried about being in a category considered among the softest in the fashion retail industry.

"Pregnant women are eventually going to have to buy something," she said. "The problem is that many (maternity) stores are too pricey. We want to keep our stuff affordable." The company sells about 20 pairs of jeans a day, but Kenny is projecting 50 per day and sales of $ 500,000 within six months.

Across the country, Burbank, Calif.-based Professional Fit Clothing designs, manufactures and sells clothing for people with physical and developmental disabilities. They've found a niche that has enabled partners Kurt Rieback and Tom Pirruccello to increase annual sales from $ 40,000 to $ 1 million.

Their secret of success?

"We never say no," said Rieback. "If we don't have it, we'll make it." The company takes its products directly into hospitals and group homes, custom-making clothes for clients. It now serves 500 facilities in California, which gives it the buying power to order its custom clothing directly from manufacturers.

"We still go out and visit facilities every day," said Rieback. He and Pirruccello combined their respective backgrounds in clothing and health care to bring more fashionable options to the clothing market for the disabled. They started by buying designer close-outs and doing the alterations themselves.

Eleven years of working closely with its customers has also enabled the company to fine-tune its products to meet all kinds of special needs.

The company's best-selling product is a fleece-lined wheelchair cape with a hood and a water-resistant outer shell that fits around the person and the wheelchair.

"We found that many of our customers wait outside to be transported on buses and were getting wet in the rain," Rieback said.

As the company moves into its second decade, it is looking for investors to help it grow beyond California to better serve a national market. There are millions of disabled people who want to look good in stylish, easy-to-wear clothing, Rieback said. Professional Fit Clothing can be reached by calling (800) 422-2348 or visiting its Web site, www.professionalfit.com. Jaggar can be reached by calling (888) 875-2442.

Jane Applegate's column appears Tuesdays. She can be reached at P.O. Box 768, Pelham, N.Y. 10803.

LANGUAGE: English

LOAD-DATE: August 19, 1998 Bottom of Form 1