Chapter 34: The Wall Street Journal

Startup Succeeds in Five Specialty Retail Markets, Finds Time to Horse Around

BY SANDRA FELLING

Staff Reporter

NEW YORK— The new wave in fashion isn't really there. Virtual clothing in many forms has made it difficult to tell whether Americans are dressed to the nines, or just kidding. Virtual clothing, jewelry, stockings and now, lingerie, is gaining surprising acceptance throughout America, a society once known for its body taboos.

Behind the trend is a group of university students who have taken the retail world by storm this year, managing a start-up business in a half-dozen markets and calling it fun. Not yet out of college, they forecast leading their class academically while grappling with new products and new markets.

Following the introduction of virtual clothing by Still Waters Fashions last fall, women have begun wearing virtual fashions widely in public, and if sales are any indicator, extensively in private. Men have not taken up the trend as widely because body hair makes use of the technology troublesome.

A recent fashion show staged by Still Waters on the popular "After Oprah' TV program presented women's daytime wear that appears to be normal clothing, but is simply coloring on bare skin. Still Waters' executives, Anne Stilwell, company president, Heather Huxley, originator of the concept, and Iris Schmidt, designer of the current line, all dressed fashionably, if virtually, in the company's products. The show presented a summer line that includes Breastworks, a product that adorns the wearer's breasts with artistic ornaments.

The hit of the show, however, was the introduction of virtual lingerie, which looks like it is there, but is not. The line is now available in many retail outlets as well as through several catalog offerings.

At Christmas, Still Waters warned of a possible slump in sales of virtual stockings, the company's biggest success, due to winter weather. The forecast turned out to be wrong, although sales of the L'Eggs virtual stocking product, sold from racks shared with Still Waters' VeeSes, did dip substantially.

"Virtual L'Eggs hit a slump, ' said a recent article in Supermarket News, "because in cold weather, women want the relative warmth of panty hose. Still Waters' fancy stockings sell from the same racks, but when it comes to sexy leg-ware, it looks like weather is not a factor. And, what L'Eggs lost in virtual stockings, they made up in the traditional market.'

The result has been a precedent-breaking agreement. L'Eggs markets almost exclusively in supermarkets and discount stores; Virtual L'Eggs are often bought as an add-on to Still Water's fancy designs. Now, L'Eggs has agreed to offer their Virtual L'Eggs alongside Still Waters' products on Still Waters' racks in department stores, boutiques and in mall shops like Victoria's Secret.

"We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't so much fun, ' Stilwell, 22, told WSJ. Still Waters Art, the parent company, has already been approached by would-be purchasers. "We're not interested, ' Stilwell says, "We'd have to get serious.'

Still Waters Art markets a variety of products at retail and by mail order, most of them sexy and humorous. Only their business sense and aggressive marketing are serious. Their first products were low-cost prints of nude drawings of Stilwell and her fellow family member Mary Travis. Sold by the Still Waters Graphics division through a local storefront, the artwork line was combined with personalized stationery featuring digital sketches that appear to be nude outlines of the customer. The Graphics products are franchised on 30 campuses.

Still Waters Erotic Art, another division, markets erotic art by mail order to collectors and dealers around the world. The material consists of Nudes by family members Will Spector and Heather Huxley, both art students at the university. An 'Erotics' line consists of anonymous, highly erotic drawings. 'Explicits', are hard-core erotic art.