Initial Wear: Gimme a C!

Spring's fun fashion trend is all about being a cheerleader for yourself: everything from bags to bikinis comes with your initial on it. The specialty shop Eye of the Needle, with stores in Palm Beach, Fla., Boston and Nantucket, Mass., is stocked with initialed sweaters, swimsuits, thongs, handbags, belts and wallets. After Eye's owner, Karen Golov, saw Barney's custom-label cashmere letter sweaters two years ago, she says she "focused on everything I could find that had initials." Mass-producing customized goods isn't easy. Stephanie Hirsch, owner and designer of Inca, which makes initialed caps, visors and swimwear, says her best sellers are A, B, C, D and S. But she will whip up the occasional Q or Z to order. "Wouldn't you know," she says, "that the one thing that blows out of the store is the most difficult to produce?"