Clothing hangers are beginning to evolve from the standard triangle with a hook, and one London-based startup has introduced a dramatic rethink of the hanger that costs less, ships smaller and visually upgrades in-store displays.
Guy Taylor, owner of The Janger company has developed a hanger for jeans and bottoms, known as the janger, that offers an effective solution to storing, displaying and hanging jeans.
The janger is essentially a plastic hook with a three-fold clasp that snaps into place after passing through a belt loop, and the reusable, recyclable solution takes up less space than the traditional clip hanger. The three-fold design, which Janger has patented, allows bottoms to hang without pinching the belt loop, and the janger is strong enough to hold up to three or four jeans at once. Jeans can be hung front-facing, folded inward or outward, or side hanging from a single loop.
As a jeans manufacturer, Taylor said he originally designed the janger to make his own product look better in stores. “The retailer would put it on this horrible clip hanger and it would make them look all big and hippy,” he said. And on a janger, it just looks much sleeker, he added.
Jangers get added to the jeans or shorts at the factory, so there’s no need for the product to be handled again until it reaches the store. Once shipped, the janger and jean are ready for hanging, and store staff can hang a full carton from box to rack in no more than two minutes, according to Janger.
On average, jangers can be as much as 30 percent cheaper than clip hangers. Because janger essentially takes up no more space than the bottoms themselves, carton weights and quantities can be reduced, thus minimizing shipping costs.
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“When you attach the janger on the garment at the factory, you can use the same box as if you were just sending folded jeans,” Taylor said. “The time and manpower you are saving is actually huge.”
With its streamlined design, janger solves the problem of over-full shelf and rack displays and allows merchandisers to maximize retail space. And because the janger doesn’t need to be removed when a customer tries on a garment, the product can go back on display immediately should the consumer opt not to purchase, and restocking is easier. “Retailers are loving the fact that the janger never comes off,” Taylor said.
The janger comes with an oval indentation that can be used for size stickers or style/fit descriptions like “Ultra Skinny, or “Skinny,” and can be color-coded so that customers can quickly identify their size or fit. Size clips are also available for the janger so that shoppers can easily see sizes along the racks. “We’re trying to help as much as possible to get the customer buying the garment,” Taylor said. “And retailers love it because of how quickly the customers can get what they want.”
Aside from the original version of the janger, the company has also developed a slimline janger for a lighter look, which could be used in womenswear. There is also a dog tag janger made with the same plastic, but using a different texture to give it a “tough” look. With the dropjanger, jeans can be folded to a third of the usual length so more stock can be displayed in stores.
Taylor said the company is steadily innovating to meet client demand and designing hangers to best merchandise with the product. “We can have a new product in 8—10 weeks. That’s what all the customers are liking us for,” Taylor said.
“Clip hangers are boring and we walk in there and show people all the ways you can use a janger,” Taylor said. “Janger is just there at the right time.”
So far, Primark is Janger’s biggest customer and the Irish clothier has been using the product for men’s jeans, chinos, jogging pants and shorts, and is now extending usage to boy’s, girl’s and womenswear. Tesco, Asda and the UK-based Matalan may also soon be trialing the janger.
“It’s just starting to ring everybody’s bell,” Taylor said.