The Apparel Strategist newsletter was first published in 1986 by Arthur Warshaw, a former apparel company executive who realized that industry decision-makers needed timely information and analysis to help them guide their businesses and remain profitable. Arthur and his son Stuart began the newsletter as an offshoot of their apparel consulting business, but soon the publication grew to become their primary focus.
Warshaw enlisted the late Geoffrey Moore, renowned economist at Columbia University’s Center for International Business Cycle Research, to develop the growth rate formula still used by the Apparel Strategist today. Called the “12-month Smoothed Annualized Growth Rate.” it is designed to show the trend in a series of data, giving a much clearer picture of the dta and what it means. It has a predictive quality to it, and is the most effective way to decipher and view the actual trends in the industry, their significance, and their relationships to each other.
Warshow retired from the Strategist in 1993, and sold the business to Philip Black, a former colleague of Stuart’s at Trueway Limited, the huge apparel contractor and importer supplier to The Limited, Express, and other private label retailers. Phil remained at the helm of the Strategist for the next 10 years, during which he put the publication on the Internet, automated many of the data collection and analytical processes, and evolved the editorial content to appeal more to apparel retailers, who were quickly gaining share through forward integrations. Joining Phil as Editor in 1998 was Judith Russell, a fiber and apparel industry veteran who saw global opportunity for the Strategist. Eventually, Russell assumed the position of Executive Editor in 2001 when Phil’s business interests took him in a different direction. The Apparel Strategist moved to the New York area, where it is based today.
Although much has changed in the apparel and textile industry over the past 25 years, one thing remains the same. Executives from Shanghai to Seventh Avenue need insightful, predictive information to guide their business decision-making.
