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A Sydney-based business that has built its reputation producing garments for older Australians and people with disabilities or health challenges has started to manufacture compression sportswear in recent years. Dawn Adams reports.
ROSEMARIE LAKISS-SMITH came upon a fabric suitable for producing compression wear several years ago while she was developing another garment to address prostate issues for men. The Stretchtex fabric gave Lakiss-Smith an opportunity to innovate. She established Cocomo Sport five years ago, adding its product offering to an extensive business stable that include Night’N’Day incontinence products and one-off garments for people with special needs.
Lakiss-Smith is pleased that her career has spanned a variety of areas during its 40-year history, and she is particularly satisfied that her new focus on compression wear allows her to help others. “When I was involved in the ‘regular’ ragtrade and did everything including fashion shows and had our product mentioned on TV, no one every said thank you,” she says. “Now, I get a thank you at least once a day from a father or a mother.” These warm responses often come after Lakiss-Smith produces one-off pieces for people with a distinct need, such as paraplegics and quadriplegics who might have a significant waist but legs that are smaller due to muscle wastage. “There is no compression underwear on the market to fit them,” she says.
Lakiss-Smith is currently working on producing a special compression garment for a burns victim who is allowed back into the water to swim but who must be very careful about what she wears for swimming. In another instance, Lakiss-Smith produced a garment to help a child with cerebral palsy maintain her posture. The resulting compression outfit with a breast plate stops her from falling forward. And a creation for a multiple sclerosis sufferer helps to maintain a steady temperature in a bid to reduce the number of spasms suffered.
The turning point that took Lakiss-Smith’s interest away from fashion occurred when she had her first child. She produced a washable nappy that was a towel on the outside with a stud front and flannelette in the middle. The shift to nappies fed a new interest in producing incontinence wear for people with disabilities and the elderly; her Night’N’Day business, set up around 20 years ago, continues to attract a steady trade. Her marketing strategy for these products also challenges the assumption that the internet is for the young. Lakiss-Smith reports that men and women aged well into their 80s have started to buy from the firm’s online store at www.incontinenceproducts.com.au
“Cocomo Sport grew from the incontinence side of the business,” Lakiss-Smith says. She is convinced that her experience in the early 1980s has assisted her design ideas. She was heavily involved in the fashion side of the TCF sector, at one stage producing a menswear label while, at other times, she worked with women swear brands and even enjoyed a stint to further her career in the UK. The 1980s, she says, was a time when garments were super tight, a characteristic of compression wear.
While Lakiss-Smith does not have a medical background, she has sought advice from experts such as physiotherapists to develop the garments to enhance body movement and recovery. She describes socks designed specifically for travel as good examples of compression undergarments. “Compression works from underneath the arch of the foot and comes up the leg; that’s true compression,” she says. “Items that start from the ankle work to a point but true compression begins from under the foot.”
Noting a trend for compression garments for children, she recommends use for children aged over eight, particularly to protect the groin area. But she suggests that the garments are not suitable for children aged under eight years.
While compression garments in the company’s range are coloured to match sports outerwear, making them suitable for competition use, Lakiss-Smith also recognises a need for a more fashionable look for girls aged 18 to 25. To cater to their needs, she has developed prints in, for example, zebra or cheetah looks.
Lakiss-Smith expects the Cocomo brand to be more in demand within the next five years as customers begin to recognize that the garments are of a high quality and will last around two years. Coaches are also becoming more aware of the firm’s offering, and increasing recommendations from physiotherapists, doctors and nurses are adding to the labels credibility.
A new venture for the company is men’s swimwear including short leg, longer leg and board short as well as more competitive styles in the collection. The first swimwear Lakiss-Smith produced for Cocomo was for her son Michael, who was about to holiday at a beach destination. When his friends commented positively on the style, the pair knew they were onto a good idea. “Cocomo is such a sunny name so I came up with ideas for swimwear; these garments can also be used for running,” she says.
She is determined to continue to produce the firm’s collection in Australia, convinced that this is an additional selling point particularly for swimwear. “If you’ve got ‘Made in Australia’ on swimwear, it will sell anywhere,” she says.