Zovo: Inside the Comfort Zone
In the age of technologically advanced nylon, Modal, viscose and rayon stretch fabrics, some customers want plain 100 percent cotton.
Victoria Roberts, owner of Seattle-based lingerie boutique Zovo, heard this sentiment repeated so many times that she decided to start her own line of underwear, underpinnings and sleepwear in straightforward cotton, silk and cashmere fabrications.
“My customers don’t walk in and say, ’Do you have Modal lounge pants?’ They want cotton,” said Roberts, whose store carries Samantha Chang, Princesse Tam Tam and Kerry Cassill. “What our customer was looking for was really back-to-basics. They know what they want, and they don’t want to be talked into something else.”
When Roberts shopped at the Lingerie Americas trade show and Boutique Lingerie show in New York and the ready-to-wear markets in Los Angeles, she found plenty of new and fresh loungewear for the contemporary 25-year-old boutique customer. But for the 35- to 60-year-old sophisticated professional women whom Zovo served, age-appropriate sleepwear was limited to boxy pajama sets and “department store” brands.
Roberts launched her Zovo line at Boutique Lingerie in February. Her comprehensive collection of sleepwear, loungewear and underwear has been a hit with stores that serve the older customer.
Laura Fitzpatrick, owner of Oh Baby stores in Portland, Ore., carries fancy boudoir lines such as Huit, Aubade and Jonquil by Diane Samandi. She previously did not carry any basic innerwear until she wrote Zovo. “I didn’t want to do a lot of different pieces from a lot of different companies,” said Fitzpatrick, whose customers are professional women over the age of 30. “I’ve been waiting for one line that did a full [basics] offering that was well-made, packaged well.”
Zovo’s design features are geared toward the mature woman with styles that have wider shoulder straps on a mercerized cotton tank and an empire waist for support on a hearty, cotton interlock top.
Wholesale price points on basics range from $11 for mercerized cotton underwear to $74 for a long, cotton daywear robe with ruffled edges. Breathable cotton/silk voile sleepwear items in a sophisticated rosebud print range from $22 for a bralette to $80 for a caftan. The more luxurious sleepwear and ready-to-wear pieces start at $48 for a silk jersey turtleneck and go up to $150 for a cashmere hoodie.
For more information, call (206) 938-9686. —Rhea Cortado
