Hollywood loves them.
Actress America Ferrera wore a red and pink butterfly flannel set on her TV show “Ugly Betty.”
Jack Osbourne’s been spotted with retro cars on his.
Felicity Huffman sported striped ones on “Desperate Housewives.”
Star power has kept Irvine-based pajama maker P.J. Salvage in the limelight and helped fuel its growth since the company got its start nearly 10 years ago.
Peter Burke, P.J. Salvage president, said the company “constantly” feeds its designs to fashion magazines, TV shows and celebrities.
The designer pajamas, lounge pants and tanks are regularly featured on shows, including “The O.C.,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “ER,” and “Law and Order,” to name a few.
But it takes more than some tube time to fuel the company’s some $30 million in yearly sales, up from $5.5 million in 2000.
Guess it doesn’t hurt either that it’s cool to wear jammy bottoms to school, on a latte run to Starbucks, or, if you’re singer Gwen Stefani, on a stroll with rocker husband Gavin Rossdale and their son.
“The clothing business is all about good product,” Burke said. “We have to reinvent ourselves each season. We bring out new designs and prints every month to keep a fresh look in stores.”
Company designers routinely dot the globe to pick up trends and “keep us ahead of our competition,” Burke said.
There are plenty of players in the “cutesy pattern” pajama market, including Nick & Nora, designer Renee Claire’s BedHead and Life is Good.
Not to mention big chains such as The Gap, Old Navy and J. Crew all sell their own pajamas.
Burke isn’t fretting.
“There’s a place for each,” he said.
P.J. Salvage keeps an edge by focusing on “fashion items”,think thermal pajamas with vintage floral prints selling for around $70.
The company can “react to trends a lot quicker” than its competitors, Burke said.
“We will carry a far broader fashion collection than they do,” he said.
Prints range from kisses, to cowboys, cats, pigs, sheeps and dragons, said Robyn Bairstow, owner of Rebel boutique in Newport Beach.
“During the holidays, we stack them up and they fly out the door,” Bairstow said. “They last forever. We all have a pair from five years ago.”
$65 to $100
P.J. Salvage’s pajamas range from $65 to $100. The company also offers slippers and boxers.
The line appeals to “people young and old,” said Vicky Chambers, owner of Generations Home & Garden in Laguna Niguel. “There’s something for everybody.”
Chambers started carrying P.J. Salvage some eight years ago and has increased her offering because customers dig it, she said.
“The fabric is soft and they wash great,” Chambers said.
P.J. Salvage garb is sold in more than 2,000 boutiques and upscale department stores, including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.
Other local stores that sell the line include Scandia Down in South Coast Plaza, Holly Sharp in Corona del Mar and Chris Allyn in Fashion Island.
P.J. Salvage, which has showrooms in Los Angeles and New York, also sells to stores outside the U.S., including in Europe, Australia, South Africa and Japan.
Expansion
The company is eyeing global expansion, where it sees “opportunity for substantial growth,” Burke said.
P.J. Salvage also is getting ready to branch off into different “niche” products by 2008, including bedding and home accessories. It may also look to add more men’s garb.
Licensees
The company is hunting around for licensees to make the clothing, Burke said.
P.J. Salvage produces its own pajamas and slippers, which are designed at a 33,000-square-foot office in Irvine and made in China, Hong Kong and elsewhere, Burke said.
The company, which has 35 Orange County workers and nine sales reps throughout the country, plans to hire five more people soon to help with the expansion in administration, merchandising, design and sales departments, Burke said.
History
P.J. Salvage has come a long way since Burke bought it in 1997 from its founders, who started it a year earlier and ran into money woes.
The company then had a “very narrow assortment of whimsical thermals, he said.”
Burke expanded the line to include tanks, boxers, lingerie, lounge pants and cami tops.
“There seemed to be an opportunity to make sleepwear and loungewear,” Burke said. “Something that people would actually wear as a fashion item, either at home or out on the street. Most of the sleepwear out there seemed rather boring and plain.”
Burke already knew the retail ropes.
He had worked with men’s clothing for some 20 years in South Africa and owned a company called BRM Group for 12 years.
The company mostly made casual surf and sports clothes under brands that include Bear International, Lemon and Soda Sportswear and Instinct Surfwear.
Burke said he has also been hunting to buy other clothing companies in Southern California.
He declined to give more specifics.
Ideal candidates: “Companies that are strong in creative talent but lacking in management and finance,” he said.
