NASCAR is getting in touch with its feminine side thanks to FedEx, Britney Spears and a couple of enterprising Memphians with a sense of fashion.
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NASCAR has officially licensed TrackCouture,
started by Lisa Heros (left) and Kathleen Smith. |
TrackCouture, a women’s clothing line started by Lisa Heros and Kathleen Smith, has caught the attention of NASCAR and a few of its most successful drivers, including Joe Gibbs Racing, the team for which Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart drives. The line was so appealing that it was officially licensed by NASCAR before the duo had office space.
Heros and Smith started the line because they didn’t want to wear the “awful” race gear given to them to wear to their first NASCAR race in Las Vegas last year.
“We were going to a race with a friend whose father was with Caterpillar,” Heros said. “He bribed us with Britney Spears tickets and the trip to Vegas, so we just made our own shirts to wear.”
Those shirts made such a splash that some fans at the race offered the ladies up to $100 for the clothes on their backs. Heros and Smith had talked in the past about starting a design company, but they needed something to make them stand out in the crowded clothing industry. After the race, they had it.
“We started researching and found out that not only did NASCAR have a female fan base, but over 40 percent of their fans are women,” Heros said. “They weren’t getting what they wanted because most of the women’s clothes they do have are men’s clothes in smaller sizes.”
Heros and Smith designed some samples, and TrackCouture was born. They created a line of shirts, skirts, hoodies and other merchandise, but the next step was actually sharing the idea. And if they were going to have the company, they wanted their merchandise to be official. The only way to do that was to meet with the image-conscious NASCAR.
“A lot of people come to them with ideas, but nothing feasible,” Heros said. “We had an idea and a product to show, but we needed to get a meeting with them. If we just called them, we probably wouldn’t have gotten a meeting until 2008.”
Fortunately for them, FedEx Corp. had just signed a sponsorship agreement with NASCAR, and they had a link to the company. Smith’s father is Fred Smith, owner of the company.
“He told us to make a presentation to him, and if he liked it, he’d try and get us a meeting,” Smith said. “He liked the idea and also connected us with Joe Gibbs Racing.”
In addition to Gibbs’ team, for which FedEx is a primary sponsor of driver Denny Hamlin’s car, TrackCouture now has deals with MB2/MB Sutton Motorsports, the team of drivers Sterling Marlin, Joe Nemechek and Boris Said; Penske Racing (Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman); and Roush Racing (Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin and Jamie McMurray).
NASCAR sells the merchandise on its Web site, NASCAR.com, as well as in the shops for the different teams. Heros and Smith said there have been discussions with stores such as Target, but nothing has been finalized. TrackCouture also sells the line on its own Web site, trackcouture.com.
Brooks Busby, director of licensing for Joe Gibbs Racing, said she likes the line’s “fresh and feminine” approach to fan apparel.
“‘Leenie’ and Lisa have been working on filling a much-needed void for the female fan ever since they started,” Busby said. “Because their styles are created by women, they are the perfect blend of style and comfort. In meeting with the girls, it’s evident they are very driven — no pun intended — to make their business work.”
Michael Sheffield writes for the Memphis Business Journal, an affiliated publication.
