DUCT TAPE Functional to fashionable uses come to the forefront

Sales got a boost from the new Department of Homeland Security.
BALTIMORE SUN
Duct tape accessories are the new black.
Well, maybe that's going too far. But duct tape handbags and wallets are definitely the new silver.
In the hands of David Pippenger and friends, the do-it-all tape has crashed the fashion world like LeRoy Neiman at the musee du Louvre.
The accessories -- two wallets, a purse and a palm-sized cash-and-ID holder called the "Barhopper" -- made their debut last August at the Fashion Avenue Merchandise Expo in New York and the MAGIC fashion show in Las Vegas.
Since then, 700 retail outlets have put on their shelves the products by DUCTI Inc.
"It's a minor rage, a small fad," says April Marshall, who has sold more than two dozen wallets at her shop, Twigs and Teacups, on Maryland's Eastern Shore. "There's a gigantic duct-tape thing going on."
It didn't hurt that the Department of Homeland Security made silver tape and plastic sheeting the must-have items for every American family.
Defense
"Duct tape is people's first line of defense for everything," says Pippenger, a rock climber and backpacker who is a screenwriter and owns a video production house.
The idea came from Pippenger's niece, who in January 2002 gave a homemade duct-tape wallet to Pippenger's 18-year-old son. Jonathan Pippenger took it to college in New York, where his roommate loved it.
"My wife and I are incurable entrepreneurs. We figured if a 15-year-old kid from Phoenix, an 18-year-old from Colorado and a 20-year-old from New York thought it was cool, it was cool," says Pippenger, who also has a 22-year-old daughter.
The problem, David and Joy Pippenger discovered, was that duct tape is tacky, and not in an aesthetic sense. It seems hardware-store duct tape has a quality that doesn't bother handymen, but is a definite problem for the fashion-conscious.
"It gets gooey, it falls apart in the heat and it stinks," says Pippenger, covering all the bases.
Product search
The 47-year-old tried several duct-tape manufacturers before taking his problem last June to Tyco Adhesives, the industry giant.
Intrigued by the request, Tyco put its research and development team to work.
"(Pippenger) sent us some samples of the wallets and purses, which anyone who works for a duct-tape company would find pretty cool," Brian McBride, head of industrial marketing, told Adhesives Age magazine. "Researchers were pretty excited to work on something so interesting."
Four prototypes later, they had a solution: ooze-less, odorless "Super Duct Tape."
From that point on, it was a scramble to get ready for the fashion shows in New York and Las Vegas.
"We were making samples by hand in the hotel room the night before," Pippenger says.
The wallets and bags were a hit, and Christmas orders began flooding the tiny company based in Monument, Colo., population 1,971.
"We have skate shops in Texas and surf shops in Florida, but people in Chestertown, Md., think it's pretty cool, too," says Pippenger, laughing.
That's true, says Marshall, who was the first shop owner in the country to reorder.
"I love entertaining men who come in the shop. I like to keep them amused," she says. "To them, the wallets make a definite statement and they're inexpensive."
The wallets cost $18 and $20. The purse costs $25 and the "Barhopper" costs $15. Each one comes with a "Super Duct Tape Repair Strip" to cover wear and tear or damage.
The Pippengers, who invested $100,000 in their venture, last month sold more than $100,000 worth of accessories.
"The interesting thing is staying in front of the demand," Pippenger says. "Stores are waiting four weeks to get a shipment. Pinocchio is turning into a real boy."
What's next, checkbook covers, date books, PDA holders? Whatever it is -- and Pippenger is keeping it under wraps until July -- it has to have staying power, he says.
"The difference between a Barbie doll and a Cabbage Patch doll is 30 years," Pippenger says. "One has come and gone while the other is still here. So now it's put-up-or-shut-up time."