"Touch"ing the Bases: An Interview with Alyssa Milano.

Byline: Maury Brown

Where clothing merchandise for the major leagues was once focused almost entirely toward males, it has taken Alyssa Milano, with her appeal as an actress and sports fan, to reshape what was once simply called "fan gear" and turn it into quality casual and fashion wear for women looking to support their favorite teams. Through her Touch by Alyssa Milano line, Milano now offers women something other than baggy tee-shirts, jerseys, and the occasional "pink" hat that has taken all MLB team logos, and ignored their designed color scheme and offered something exceptionally fashionable from a believable celebrity that has a sincere love of sports.

Three years ago, Milano approached MLB Properties about marketing a clothing line that would look as good in a boutique as it would at the merchandise stand at the ballpark. The results has spawned not only a revolution in clothing for women to wear to the ballpark, but the business model has been so successful that it is now available for the NFL, NBA, NHL, and NCAA. As Greg Sim, MLB Properties' director of licensing, apparel and headwear said at the time Touch by Alyssa Milano was launched, it taps "a part of the market we haven't touched yet, putting a high-end product on the casual and younger fans who are more fashion conscious."

But, it isn't the clothing itself that makes the fashion line so popular, it is Milano herself that moves the products from something on a rack to a fashionable sports lifestyle. A crossover celebrity, who has gone from child star as the character Samantha Micelli on Who's The Boss? in the mid-'80s to early '90s to adult actress breaking the "nice girl" type on the big screen such as Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story and Embrace of the Vampire to her roles on television as Jennifer Mancini on Melrose Place, Meg Winston in Spin City, and most notably as Phoebe Halliwell where she played role in the series Charmed from 1998-2006, Milano has become a staple of popular culture, and fashion sense for those that follow her work as an actress. If it's chic for Alyssa to be a sports fan, and still dress attractively, it makes it likewise for the 20 and early 30-something demo that relates to her. If any other celebrity tried the approach, they would most likely come across as just a "face"; Milano defines the fashion line. Put it all together and it has made cash registers ring, not only for Milano, but the sports leagues that back the product lines.

As her beloved Los Angeles Dodger were facing elimination in Game 5 of the NLCS, we caught up with Milano to talk about Touch, when she came up with the idea for the fashion line; whether it was intimidating to approach the "old world" of Major League Baseball, with something fresh, and new; how involved is she in the design process; how she might expand the Touch product line, when she already has tapped nearly every major sports league in the U.S.; how a product for MLB might differ from one for the NBA; other women celebrity that are big fans of Major League Baseball; whether she might consider investing in a pro baseball team, and much more. -- Maury Brown

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