le top — The Family That Works Together

Happy 31st Anniversary to le top!

The people behind le top are highly respected, admired, and looked up to in the children’s industry as an example of so much that is great about the children’s business. Co-owner Chris Lun shares the birth, growing pains, challenges and triumphs of le top’s history. Chris always talks about the le top employees, and their retail customers, as “family.” Here’s a behind-the-brand look at this family’s success.

When was your brand born, and what was the initial inspiration?

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Our brand was born 31 years ago! I guess you could say it was not a planned birth . . . Paul’s family was in the apparel business in Asia for over 50 years and he fell into it. They owned several vertical factories and were known for their wonderful cotton knits. They made men’s undershirts, and had a brand recognized throughout Asia.

Paul really did not want to go into the family business, so he pursued an education in hotel and restaurant management, with an MBA in finance. Paul is entrepreneurial, and would have loved to have his own restaurant. While he was working on this concept, his brothers in Asia suggested he try to sell some children’s T-shirts here in the U.S. – as a sort of interim project. Well, “The rest is history!”

We started making solid turtlenecks, short-sleeve shirts and some simple diaper sets with cute sayings. Paul found that there was a void in the market – since during the ‘polyester infused’ seventies many companies stopped making cotton clothing. The cotton knits from our family’s factories were in demand – and we listened to customers who suggested making printed turtlenecks, then overalls to pair up with the shirts, then some simple dresses. Before we knew what had happened we had a large collection of clothing for children – mostly a reflection of what our customers wanted from us. The concept of listening to customers is deeply ingrained in how we do business to this day.

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What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting?

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The biggest challenge was learning about an industry that was going through many changes. Paul is a great businessman – and realized that as the market changed, we needed to change. During the mid-nineties we realized that people wanted the quality clothing we produced – but were also very focused on designs that were unique. At this point in our history we made the decision to bring in designers that would make our quality clothing ‘stand out in a crowd.’ Fortunately we were able to work with some of the most talented designers in the children’s industry – who moved us towards excellence in design, as well as excellent quality.

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What are the keys to your success?

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There are many ways to look at and to measure success. Paul and I have a ‘successful’ business – as defined by our standard of being able to raise and educate 3 children! More importantly, we have had over 30 years of working with a ‘family’ of people who have made our company something special. We are not a big business – I have always said that we are corporate with a small ‘c.’ We are big in the sense that we have created so many great children’s clothing styles over the years, made people excited and happy with our creations, and worked with so many customers that we count as friends. We have accomplished this success with plain old hard work – and keeping our direction focused on what our customers want.

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Describe a typical new product development cycle for your business?

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We start so far ahead of the season! Our designers start visualizing collections – color, theme, fabric – then we meet to discuss direction. Once the designers jump into doing a grouping, everything is developed on computers – including fabric prints or special textures. We do worksheets with all the technical specifications needed, along with all the original artwork, and Paul starts working with our factories in Hong Kong to develop our original fabrics, appliqués, embroideries, and styling.

Many styles take almost 5 months before we see an actual sample. We then have the very exciting job of showing buyers our creations! In the meantime we are already producing fabrics, and starting initial cuts on everything in our collections for the season. We do not wait to get orders, but rather start doing production based on our experience of 30 years! We always deliver a very high percentage of orders, since we do not cancel styles once buyers start to see the line.

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Do “green” or eco-friendly concerns influence your business decisions?

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Everyone is more focused on ‘green’ practices these days. We recycle everything possible here, and are working on minimizing our ‘footprint’ wherever possible. We recently shared in our blog about recycling extra boxes – a local community garden uses the product as mulch, so we contribute to the environment and the community with one act.

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What is one new trend you’re seeing in the marketplace?

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I am not sure there is “one” new trend in the market right now. The economy has made everyone look at their business and their everyday lives differently. It is definitely a challenging business environment right now. By necessity we took a fresh look at everything – including our collections – and tried to adapt ourselves to a rapidly changing retail landscape.

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How does your business make use of the Internet?

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We have had our Web site for quite a long time now, as an informational resource for our customers. We are currently working on launching a new and improved site that reflects the fun and colorful designs that le top creates. I am very excited for the launch of our new look – coming in just a few weeks! The most amazing thing we are doing right now is our blog! http://blog.letop-usa.com We started the blog last December and are having a great time building a bigger circle of le top ‘family’ – sharing stories and smiles.

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What is the biggest challenge your business faces today?

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The challenge we have is similar to everyone in our industry right now . . . creating clothing that is unique, high quality and special – but is within the customer’s price point. We are known for all the special design features on our garments – so we cannot skip all the fun things that make le top unique. We are trying to work with our retailers to make it easier for them to buy le top during this challenging economy.

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What is one change/addition that’s had a positive impact for your business in the last year?

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Strangely enough, the poor economy was a positive for our business in some ways – it made us really stop and examine how we were doing things. We put ourselves under a microscope – and found new inspiration. Sometimes re-inventing yourself becomes the greatest reward!.

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What is your one piece of advice for someone entering the children’s market?

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Do your research, and find out if there is really a niche that needs to be filled before producing something that is already out in the market. Once you do that, prepare to dedicate your life to continually learning and moving forward!

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About le top

2009 Fall Collections from le top and rabbitmoon
We are busy shipping out our fall 2009 collections. It is always amazing to see the new styles out in the market, especially when they are being worn by kids! We had fun with the fall line. Some of the fall styles are shown below. Our designers love details. The le top collection has great novelty trims and fabrics. The rabbitmoon collection for fall is all about warm colors and unexpected detailing – the styles are full of little surprises.

2010 Spring Collection!
We are excited about the new Spring Collection! The Collection launches at the ENK Children’s Club on August 2-4. See some of the styles below.

We have wonderful prints for girls this season. I am in love with our Tulip group – the dress has such a cute novelty back treatment! We also are doing a striking black and white print with splashes of color and a gorgeous pink print that will be perfect for Valentine’s Day. I think our buyers will love the Wild About Monokinis! group – very fun!

We love boys as well – with strong graphics and colors with our signature look – Funny Frogs and a very Hip Hop Grasshopper! Of course…Ducks! Hard to believe but I get excited every Spring to show off our new collection of widdle-waddle ducks! This season the ducks show off on blue and navy stripes – while the girls look crisp and cool with white daisies and dots.

The letop baby collection is perfect for gifting – from our classic micro stripe nauticals to the girly pink ruffles and hand knotted rosebuds. Our designers have managed to create looks that are perfect for that special home from the hospital day.

Rabbitmoon Collection
Our contemporary rabbitmoon collection is a reflection of current colors and details – ranging from warm yellow and cocoa brown in ‘cupcake’ to cool aqua and violet in ‘fleur-de-lys’ for girls. I love the soft linen blend shorts and Southwestern inspired colors of the ‘gecko’ grouping – but will probably insist that my blue-eyed grandson wear something from the ‘passage’ collection in sky blue and brown.

The other “boss” in the le top family is Karen Decool. Karen has been with the company almost the entire time. She started working at le top before she even enrolled in college. Le top is her one and only “work home.”

L top operates a corporate showroom in New York, recently moving to 34 West 33rd, Room 318. New York’s corporate salesperson is Lisa Lombardi. Le top works with reps throughout the U.S., some of whom have been with them for over 25 years!

For more about le top, visit www.letop-usa.com.