Lew Frankfort, the chairman and CEO of Coach (NYSE: COH), recently noted shoppers are purchasing more accessories and less clothing. Pushing the mental image of a Las Vegas pool party aside, that simply means accessories are now receiving a higher percentage of total dollars spent in the apparel industry than they had in the past. One study confirms Mr. Frankfort's comments and shows that accessories sales have been growing 9% a year for the past five years.

Below are a few companies in the apparel and accessories industry and how their revenues have recently been affected.

Company

Market Cap (in billions)

Revenue for Past 6 Months (in millions)

Revenue Increase Over Same Time Frame 2010

Coach $21.5 $2,499 15%
Michael Kors (NYSE: KORS) $5.97 $520,207 61%
Tiffany (NYSE: TIF) $8.12 $1,694,479 25%
lululemon athletica (Nasdaq: LULU) $9.15 $442,539 34%
Under Armour (NYSE: UA) $4.05 $756,859 41%

Source: Yahoo! Finance.

Best of both worlds
While Coach has positioned itself at the lower price point of the accessories market, and Tiffany is more on the higher end, Michael Kors has conveniently situated itself in both. Kors has branded a high-end collection, with items ranging from $500 to $6,000, and a lower-end collection with merchandise is priced from $45 to $800.

Even though Coach and Tiffany are growing nicely, both are limited to specific demographics based on price and quality. Kors, on the other hand, will continue growing faster than the competition because of its wider target market.

Athletic gear
Although Nike still holds the gold medal for athletic apparel, Lululemon and Under Armour are quickly becoming realistic contenders. While Lulu doesn't break out the apparel vs. accessories sales number, the company's growth over the past few years has been great and fueled by company owned and operated stores. Out of the 137 Lulu stores, it controls 133 of them, which allows it to realize better margins than competitors.

Perhaps seeing the success of Lululemon's in-house model spurred Under Armour to bring hats and bags under the company's control in January, 2011. Though UA saw a decrease in licensee revenue of $7.8 million, it realized a $66.5 million increase in the accessories department. In the last quarter alone, UA's accessories division had revenue increase by 211% over the same time frame in 2010. If the year over year numbers continue to be strong in 2012, investors should hold on tight for a steep ride up.

Foolish take
Based off the revenue growth shown above, I don't feel that you could go wrong with any of these five companies in your portfolio, but I am more bullish on Mickael Kors and Under Armour than the other three. For another great retailer, take a look at this report about one company that is changing the face of the industry! It's totally free -- click here.