Marketing clothing online is no different from any other product, says Rodger Roeser, spokesman for American Joe’s, a pure-play e-commerce clothing company.

“Retailers think they can take a picture with their digital cameras, pop it up online and get it out over the Internet and all of a sudden millions of people are going to be flocking to their site to buy,” he says. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Just like your marketing in a store, your site has to be extraordinarily easy to navigate.”

Foy says the same rules apply for luxury customers, who are reached through search-engine optimization and marketing, promotional e-mails, affiliated network marketing and web advertising.

Online marketing also has an incredible return on investment for designers, Ullman says. While he won’t divulge his ROI, he says, “It’s incredible for every dollar you spend [online] the type of return you get in increased volume when you do targeted online marketing.”

Phat Farm and Baby Phat also benefit from celebrity marketing from Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons, who own the labels. Russell Simmons is a music impresario; Kimora Lee Simmons is a former model. “We frequently have Russell and Kimora’s picks and recommendations, which always spike sales,” Ullman says.

Online trend forum
Some designers are making their sites interactive. Belisi Fashions, a luxury designer offering Italian silk ties, pocket squares and scarves at Belisi.com, recently launched an online forum that allows discriminating consumers to obtain “valuable fashion advice and keep up with the trends.”

“There are plenty of websites where you can buy accessories, but few where you feel like you’re a part of a fashion community,” founder Peter Belisi says.

Much like video killed the radio star, some traditional retailers are seeing profits siphoned off by e-commerce competitors. Forrester predicts that 10 percent of all clothing sales will be transacted online this year; for some designers, the ratio of online sales already is much higher (Phat Farm, for instance, generates 40 percent of its sales online).

And those ratios should continue to trend upward as Generations X and Y begin to make more money, Starnes says.

But Ullman doesn’t see online clothing sales replacing traditional department and specialty apparel stores. “There will always be a consumer who is going to want to have that in-store experience,” he says.

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