Cotton Incorporated, New York City, reports that third-quarter 2000 unit sales of denim bottomswear
increased 6.3 percent, a 3.2-percent gain compared with the same period last year. According to the
consumer data from the NPD group, this was the strongest third-quarter gain since 1995.Both adult
denim markets were strong, with advances of 9.6 percent in the mens market and 5.6 percent in the
womens market for the quarter. Increases in the childrens markets ranged from 1.5 percent for boys
to 6.9 percent for girls.For the first nine months of the year, unit sales of denim bottomswear
grew by 5.1 percent over 1999. By age and gender, year-over-year gains in denim bottomswear ranged
from 6.3 percent in the girls market to 6.5 percent each in the mens and womens markets. Unit sales
of total bottomswear (denim and nondenim) expanded at a rate of 6.6 percent over the previous year
for the first nine months of 2000. Sales were strong in the adult market, with gains of 7.0 percent
and 7.9 percent posted by the womens and mens markets, respectively.Mass merchants, the major
retail distribution channel for denim jeans, accounted for 41.3 percent of all denim jeans sales
for the first nine months of 2000, an increase of 1.2 points compared with the same year-ago
period. National brands accounted for nearly 57 percent of all unit sales of denim jeans for the
period. By gender, national brands represented a large share; in the mens market at 65 percent and
in the womens at 50 percent.The Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor confirms that the United
States really is a denim nation owning, on average, a total of seven pairs of jeans each. American
men and women wear jeans, on average, three to four times per week.
January 2001
