About e-MANcipate.org and hosierymarketing.com

Hi G, Thank you for pointing out the Hungarian tights enthusiast site and the campaign that Harisnya is running to get more men’s tights on the market.

I fear, though, his campaign is misdirected. He asks us (male wearers) not to buy tights from manufacturers that don’t manufacture male tights. His main thrust of this campaign is getting manufactures to produce men’s tights.

It is my view that his time would be better spent getting those producers who do not make ‘men’s tights’ to change the marketing strategy and direct it at both sexes rather than just women. I like wearing woman’s tights – and always buy my own – I like having a rummage in big department stores looking for tights. More men would do that – and find it acceptable to purchase tights if producers would recognise their own statistics that 40% of buyers are male wearers.

They could increase that figure by changing their packaging, for example, and having a pair of both ladies and men’s legs on that package. Why don’t Wolfords, say, have a man in shorts wearing tights walking down the catwalk when they launch new collections in the spring? Why don’t they have a man and woman wearing on the packages? This applies for all manufacturers.

It would be far cheaper for none male tights producers to do that rather than take financial risks and set up ‘male only’ production lines.

I wonder what your other readers think about this. Indeed, I wonder what manufacturers would have against that mode of marketing. It can only increase sales – which is what their shareholders want!

Regards Mike

(Mike is one of my oldest on-line hosiery friends, and the author of the very funny Mike and Olga column on tights-excite.com. Here he shows that has a serious side too … )

Hi Mike

Thanks for commenting!

As you no doubt know, what you suggest has already been done by Levee with their WoMan range of tights. This range is featured on the main page of e-mancipate.org, so I guess that you and Harisnya can at least agree on something.

I have to confess I do not know what the answer is. At least hosiery companies could start by abandoning their double standard, where they are quite happy to take the male pound (or dollar) but otherwise ignore the men who make up a significant proportion of their customers. They are of course afraid that by acknowledging the existence of male wearers, they open the can of worms that is labelled 'fetish', and this will put off even more women from wearing tights.

We men are not yet in a position to take up the slack from this feared downturn in sales to women: there are not enough of us yet who are prepared to be open about wearing. However, if people became aware of the hidden extent of male wearing, our numbers would grow quickly.

The fetishists will always buy women's tights because they are women's. For the rest of us, men's tights may fit better, they are often more durable, but as long as they cost more and feel less nice to wear than the women's products, men will continue to buy tights in packets that show only female legs.

Having said that I have just put in an order for the new Activskin lines from legwear4men, because I am told that the 577 medium support and the 2019 full support are the best Activskins yet for fit and feel!

Geraden

Why manufacturers do not produce men's tights? I guess they don't see the profit. As soon they sure the project is profitable as men's tights will put on the shelves in all the world. Mike said that 40% of buyers are male wearers. On e-mancipate was indicated 3% Who can count correctly? I think Mike's percent is correct for on-line shops. Start from 3% I can guess that at least 3% of men are wearers. (But some of us have a huge number of tights, many more then any woman. Isn't it,Geraden?) Who can count potential wearers? There are a lots of men who would do it but for stigmas and stereotipes. What you think about a collective letter to manufacturers? We can ask all this questions them. Another Idea. What about a mass bicycle-tights run. It may be a great public action. For example somewhere in Barcelona or Nice :-) I'll be there in August. Is there anybody join?

Regards from S-Petersburg

Hi Niko – thanks for commenting.

A lot of different figures have been quoted for male wearers. I am never sure whether percentages refer to the number of male customers, or the volume or value of hosiery purchased by or for men.

I do not know where Harisnya got his 3% from. The 40% figure came from a survey by Kayser Roth. Shapings.com used to quote 80% of male customers, but more recently have quoted 90%. Silkies.com apparently sell 40% of tights to men.

Yes we men who wear probably each have more tights than the average woman who wears. Many men wear secretly. More men would wear, and more would wear openly, if they were not afraid of being labelled with the fetish label.

By all means write to manufacturers – that is the kind of approach Harisnya is taking. Just as important is to be seen out in tights – see Bozeman's article about the barbeque, which is quite encouraging.

Regards

Geraden

Hi Mike, G, and Niko - thanks for your replies!

Yes there are two different approaches, the unisex and the male-only versions.

I am doing my activism to strenghten the manufacturers, as I see them as key players in our little world. If they manufacture, they will need to sell in order to return their investment, so they will do the necessary marketing and sales job, too.

I am treating male pantyhose just like maternity hose - a niche market. This is an existing term in business and we can rely on it. A niche market is usually something small but profitable, and if you know how to reach it, you can focus on it. This is what a manufacturer needs - I think at least - to start experimenting with. They can invest a little amount, produce a few thousand pairs, sell them at high price (because men will pay more for their own pantyhose), and see if the market grows. Nobody can afford immediately changing the main course of their business, without proven market feedback, sales numbers and other relevant data. Simply changing the package of some women's hosiery to unisex might frighten away a significant portion of buyers - e.g. conservative ladies who might, on the other hand, be one of the most important consumer group for basic types of pantyhose.

And they might be right! Imagine one day going to buy some underwear for yourself, and discover that your favourite underpants became unisex... and you see that some ladies are taking the same underpants from the same shelve as you... it might be disturbing, and may destroy that specific brand in weeks. Again, no manufacturer can allow such a possibility.

Geraden is right, too, when saying that male anatomy is different from female. Yes it's different, and that's why we love Comfilons so much - it's developed by a man for men. It's so comfortable that even the wives of us are taking them sometimes (reported many times on LAUF and other forums).

So based on all the above, I decided to go to the male-only direction.

About the numbers. I pulled the 3% out of my finger - it's a conservative estimate used in an example to show manufacturers how can they turn that 3% into extra profit (it's used on hosierymarketing.com). But as I have studied sociology at the university, with a strong statistical education, it's more than just an empty number - there are many other statistical figures behind that I met and analysed during the recent years. My other estimate is - which I made for a magazine recently - that about one in 1500 men has the 'nylon gene' in the developed world. This is a very conservative estimate, again, and should be balanced carefully from country to country (e.g. it's less if you go to south).

So these numbers are giving an extra dimension to the niche market - that it's so polarised that to effectively reach it you need the internet. No real time shop will make a profit from selling only male pantyhose nowadays.

But I have good news, too. I estimate that one in five men wore some kind of pantyhose in his life (e.g. skiing) and would try it again under right circumstances. And those who are OK with tight clothes (estimate: one in three men) would love the pantyhose Steve (or Gerbe) makes. So the question is - by terms of market development - to make men try pantyhose.

Because this magazine forced me to give out some figures, I had to think seriously a lot about the numbers and what would be/is good for a manufacturer. So I will able to update hosierymarketing soon.

ps. the 3% if for combined real time/real life and online purhases - I mean it's for all purchases.