Based in California, Dreamgirl is one of the fastest-growing costume and lingerie manufacturers in the world, with 12 US sales representatives and over 20 international distributors. President Barry Revzen and national sales manager Gihan Gabor spoke to Ed Avis, executive director of the NCA (National Costume Association), about plans for this year’s Halloween.
Ed: Dreamgirl does more than just costumes, so how important is Halloween to you?
Barry: “Halloween is our most important time of the year. It’s especially important for our independent customers. We’ve been in this business for 12 or 13 years, and Halloween represents quite a bit of our overall volume.”
Ed: What’s your best-selling costume this year?
Gihan: “Our best-selling men’s costume is our King of Egypt costume, and in women’s our Little Red costume continues to do very well. I think the King of Egypt sells well because it gives our male costumer options. For example, if he has spent time working out, he will go with the sleeveless version to show off his arms!
We’re starting to see an increase in our accessory business, which serves our DIY costumer who wants to take a basic costume and give it their own flair. We’re also seeing an increase in our plus-size business. We fit on a plus model and make modifications, so a costumer buying that costume will walk out and feels good about herself.”
Ed: How do you decide what costumes to add to your line?
Gihan: “At the beginning of the year we look at what’s trending. Often a new movie will come out and we’ll design something around that theme. We also look at clothing design and see what’s hot – is there a dress that flying out of stores or a skirt that’s doing well? Our costumes are designed to be kept for many years, so we often base them on a garment rather than a trend.”
Ed: Barry, I understand you recently became the owner of Dreamgirl. Tell us about that.
Barry: “I’ve been running the business for nearly three years now, but I bought it from my ex-business partner just a week and a half ago (in mid-August). My heart and soul are in the business, my blood, sweat and tears. We are financially very stable, better than ever. I want people to know that we are in good shape because it gives them confidence to buy from us!”
Ed: Returning to this upcoming Halloween, how do you feel it will be?
Barry: “There are all sorts of things we can do to make this a great Halloween! We need to let get the word out that Halloween is not dead. Let’s have some fun, even if it’s virtual. We need to tell customers online how they can do Halloween safety – like drive-by events and smaller family events in the garage or backyard. We need to get people out there and get them motivated – go have some fun! If Halloween can’t be everybody together, just do it another way.”
Dreamgirl is one of eight NCA vendor members who have supported the association’s Help Halloween Happen campaign.
To see this interview in full, please click here.
