Best Enhancement to an Existing Product or
Line
Fechheimer Bros. Company
Cincinnati , OH
 If you’re a women, the following scenario will
read all too familiar: you‘ve tried on a pair of
pants in what you believe to be your size, only to find
that the fit isn‘t quite right. Delusional? Gained
weight? Grown an inch or two?
Hardly. As any woman knows, fit varies greatly from manufacturer
to manufacturer. If you’re a woman who happens to
don a uniform, the problem is worse, for historically,
uniforms have been made for, and by, men.
But times have changed. As more and more women enter
the ranks of what have traditionally been considered male-oriented
jobs, their apparel needs are finally being noticed. While
there are many worthy industry products which were developed
to fill the void, our favorite for 2005 comes from Fechheimer,
manufacturer and distributor of uniforms for law enforcement,
corrections and military professionals. Their self-described
Fashion Fit, “the Uniform Fit for Women,” is
their latest uniform pant pattern. “Basically what
we've done is completely change the fitting patterns of
most of our women's trouser styles,” said Steve Brown,
creative director, in an email. “In the past, if
a woman officer was a size 10, she would need to order
a size 12 or even a size 14 in our trousers. Now, with
the changes in a rise and hip patterns, this same person
can fit in a true-to-size 10 or possibly even a size 8.”
After three years of development and market testing,
the pattern was rolled out in 2005. It can be considered
somewhat revolutionary since most public safety trousers
for women are not true to size and are typically too long
in the rise as manufacturers copied military patterns of
past generations. Fashion Fit is closer in sizing to civilian
garments while maintaining the proper dimensions needed
for on-duty performance.
The change has received an enthusiastic reception from
endusers, according to Fechheimer, and has helped bolster
their sales in the blue-goods industry. Women customers,
who had long given up on female slacks in favor of altered
men’s
trousers, are now wearing Fashion Fit. “It's now like
going to a fashion store instead of a uniform store,” one
such enduser recently boasted.
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