1. style and fashion

COLLECTIVE STANCE
TARGET IS UNVEILING A NEW PROGRAM,
COLLECTIVE, FEATURING SIX MADE IN
AMERICA MEN’S BRANDS. PAGE MW10
TJX ON
THE HUNT
THE OFF-PRICER AND
BLUESTAR ARE SAID
TO BE EYEING THE JONES
NEW YORK BRAND. PAGE 2
WWD
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY
Try
Polar
Designers went wild (and
wooly) for fur this season
and Nicolas Ghesquière was
no exception. He offered
the Louis Vuitton girl a
cozy coat in ultrathick
Argentine shearling,
and paired it with a
high-tech, trunk-style
bag and chic and easy
ankle boots — ideal
for extreme urban
exploration. For
more from Paris,
see pages 4 to 6.
PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI
OWN
HOME
BOTTEGA VENETA OPENS
ITS FIRST STORE IN
MILAN FOR ITS HOME
COLLECTION. PAGE 8
From the Editors
THE READER COMES FIRST.
That’s the bedrock on which the best
journalism is built and a core value of WWD for
the past 105 years.
To better serve the global fashion, beauty and
retail industries, WWD is about to embark on a
transformation that’s a long way from the first
edition of “Women’s Wear” on July 13, 1910, that
told of “Mass Meetings of Manufacturers Today,”
and “Talk of a Craze for Black in Paris.”
On April 29, the print edition of WWD will
launch in a new weekly format — with global
fashion and retail news, striking photography,
analysis, features, profiles, opinions and
spirited coverage of the rich social and cultural
scene that revolves around this creative and
essential sector. The final daily print edition will
be delivered on April 24.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean we’re discarding
daily journalism. On the contrary, we’re doubling
down with an enhanced and invigorated WWD.
COM where you’ll see deeper editorial content,
more breaking news and more stories around the
clock. As part of this evolution, we’ll continue
to expand our growing domestic editorial team
as well as our international staff. WWD will
open new bureaus this year in China and Brazil
that add to our existing offices in Paris, Milan,
London and Tokyo — as well as correspondents
throughout the world.
Along with an enriched WWD.COM, we’ll
produce a curated Digital Daily edition of WWD
that will reflect our judgment of the top stories
of the day.
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mission remain. Get the story first.
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For WWD.COM subscribers, the PDF (portable
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WHY CHANGE?
The fashion and beauty industries today
produce hundreds of billions of dollars globally,
employing millions. And across sophisticated
marketing, branding and distribution machinery,
fashion and retail generate more individual
wealth than any other industrial sector in the
world. To embrace the far-reaching demand
for actionable intelligence and breaking news,
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Geographic bias is a thing of the past, at least in
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In a media age where algorithms, aggregation
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Be fair. And if an eccentric personality or two
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In some ways, this change may seem like
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more efficiently and more comprehensively.
How you consume the information is up to you.
Know that every day, we’ll continue to honor
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pursuit to evolve it.
2 WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
WWD.COM
By VICKI M. YOUNG
TJX COS. INC. and brand management firm
Bluestar Alliance are each interested in acquiring
the Jones New York brand.
The two made overtures to private equity firm
Sycamore Partners last month following the announcement that operations for the brand were
being shuttered. On Jan. 29, Sycamore said that it
would “pursue strategic alternatives” for the business. Discussions so far are preliminary and in the
explorative stage, financial and market sources said.
The JNY brand was acquired by Sycamore when
it bought parent company The Jones Group, formerly Jones Apparel Group, last year for $2.2 billion.
The business is in wind-down mode. The brand is
still being sold at retail, with the wind-down expected to conclude before the end of this year.
Market sources said that Sycamore, when it bought
Jones Group, placed an estimated valuation on the
brand that was north of the $400 million range. The
current asking price is $400 million, according to financial sources. While JNY was a sizable business
occupying substantial real estate on the department
store sales floor, financial sources said the shutdown
of operations drops the valuation to less than $100
million, and likely substantially less than that. That’s
because any buyer would be purchasing just the intellectual property assets of the brand.
Sycamore declined comment on the sale of the
JNY brand or a timeline for the completion of the
winding down process.
Financial sources said TJX has been on the hunt
to buy brands since the back half of last year, and
an acquisition of a label could be a game changer
for the retailer. The acquisitions the company has
done — such as its December 2012 purchase of offprice Internet retailer Sierra Trading Post for $200
million — have been retail focused.
Finding exclusives or new brand additions,
whether in the form of a license or partnership,
has always been an option for retailers as they try
to figure out how to differentiate themselves from
the competition. This month, Kohl’s department
stores is expanding its portfolio of beauty offerings
through the inclusion of Bliss, the prestige spa-oriented skin-care and well-being brand.
Buying brands that can become retail exclusives
is another way to do that. One investment banker
said retailers such as TJX and Kohl’s are “always
looking for brands. They would love to own the
brand versus licensing it from a third party, but
they want to do so only at the right price.”
TJX sells brands that have a department store
presence, but at off-price. Following the wind-down
process, JNY would no longer have that channel
presence and would represent an anomaly for the offpricer compared with the other brands it sells. That’s
not necessarily insurmountable, and TJX could turn
it into a recognizable private label brand since many
consumers are already familiar with it. For example,
Jones New York Sport is one of the lines carried at
the TJ Maxx nameplate. Another is Jones New York
Signature, as well as Jones New York Collection.
A spokeswoman for TJX declined comment on
the company’s acquisition plans.
Walter Loeb, a retail consultant and president of
Loeb Associates and former retail analyst, said: “An
acquisition of JNY by TJX would make sense. TJX
wants to be more like a department store. It’s doing
about $29 billion in annual volume, so it’s not so small
a company anymore. They want recognizable brands
that the customer knows, and JNY is still a brand that
is recognized.”
Bluestar was cofounded by Ralph Gindi and Joey
Gabbay in 2006. Brands under its umbrella include
Nanette Lepore, Catherine Malandrino, Kensie, English
Laundry, Kooba, Mac + Jac and Joan Vass. It once
owned a stake in Liz Lange Maternity, which was sold in
2012 to Cherokee Inc. It has had success with brands in
the moderate distribution channel, but lately has been
eyeing firms higher up on the fashion food chain.
An acquisition of JNY by Bluestar would require the
firm to find an operating partner. That might not be as
difficult as it sounds. While Li & Fung Ltd. was once a
name bandied about as a possible acquirer of brands
through LF USA, it seems to have moved away from that
focus in the U.S. But Li & Fung’s brand operator division
in the U.S., Global Brands Group, could take on the role
of operating partner under a licensing arrangement.
Executives at Bluestar could not be reached
for comment.
Financial sources said that other retailers and
brand management firms could also take a look
at the asset.
Brand management firms for the most part have
been able to take older labels and breathe new life
into them. Authentic Brands Group is doing that with
Juicy Couture and Sequential Brands Group with
Ellen Tracy. Other newcomers, such as Saban Brands
Lifestyle Group and Marquee Brands are hoping to
work similar magic with their latest acquisitions,
Mambo for Saban and Bruno Magli for Marquee.
According to Michael DeVirgilio, president of
Marquee, “We will always pursue brands that we
can manage with authentic messaging and those to
which we believe the consumer connects with emotionally.” He noted that the profile of an acquisition
target must have “strong global opportunity, [not] a
quick niche play to a domestic consumer while ignoring the international markets from the get-go.”
That global opportunity seems to sum up what a
good number of brand management firms are analyzing when they eye a possible acquisition. If JNY
isn’t found to be capable of being taken overseas,
that would narrow the pool of potential buyers.
But Sycamore might have an even bigger hurdle to
overcome in its quest to find a buyer for the JNY brand.
One of its problems is that JNY has been forever
positioned as a brand in the career wear category.
What were once staples of the working women’s
wardrobe — tailored suits and suit separates, blazers and dressy blouses — have been replaced by relaxed styling in the sportswear category that can go
from day to dinner and everywhere else in between.
An investment banker said, “If you take this and
make it private label, there are things one can take
from the archives and use that [as a guide] for some
of the product offerings.” But a high-ranking executive at an apparel firm said that even with that option, the JNY brand would have been an easier sell
had operations been merely slowed down, instead
of completely shuttered.
Children’s Place Urged to Make Changes
ACTIVIST HEDGE FUNDS Barington Capital
Group and Macellum Advisors GP have begun agitating for change at The Children’s Place Inc.
The two hedge funds together beneficially own
over 2 percent of the outstanding common stock of
the company, which was acquired over the course
of the past year. Barington has had particular experience in the retail and apparel sectors via past
stakes in Collective Brands, Dillard’s, Nautica,
Payless ShoeSource, Steve Madden, The Jones
Group and Warnaco.
Barington and Macellum sent a letter to
Norman S. Matthews, chairman of The Children’s
Place, on Wednesday. In the letter, the two urge the
company to make changes, including, but not necessarily limited to, the possibility of a sale. They
also noted their lack of confidence in the current
management team.
While the children’s retail chain represents an
“attractive investment opportunity at its current
trading valuation,” the hedge funds noted that the
retailer trades at a “model valuation of 6.0x enterprise value to EBITDA.” The discounted valuation,
they suggest, is due to deteriorating operating performance since 2010 under the leadership of the
current chief executive officer, Jane Elfers. They
said in their letter that EBITDA has declined 26
percent to $156.1 million for the 12 months ended
Nov. 1, from $210.7 million for the fiscal year
ended January 2011, the time period under which
Elfers was ceo.
The funds also contend there has been ineffective board oversight in addressing the deteriorating operating and financial performance. And while
company executives have received generous compensation, given the poor results, the pay hasn’t
exactly aligned with performance, they charged in
their letter to Matthews.
Specifically, the hedge funds are pushing for new
independent directors to provide a fresh perspective
in evaluating performance, noting that there have
been mistakes made in merchandising, inventory
management and poor capital allocation on store
expansion, to name a few issues they raised.
The two are also pushing Children’s Place to
explore opportunities in connection with a sale of
the company, and requested an opportunity to meet
with Matthews to discuss their views on how to improve operations.
Robert Vill, group vice president for finance at
Secaucus, N.J.-based Children’s Place, could not be
immediately reached for comment.
— V.M.Y.
THE BRIEFING BOX
IN TODAY’S WWD
PHOTO BY KATIE JONES
TJX, Bluestar Eye Jones New York
Viet Cong from the SXSW band preview. For more, see WWD.com.
The Simon Property Group is getting competitive on the playing
field for innovation, holding a contest for outstanding tech startups called “Future of Retail: Meet the Disruptors.” PAGE 7
Elie Tahari has set up shop across the pond, opening a leased
shop-in-shop at Harrods in London, marking an expanded
presence in the United Kingdom. PAGE 7
The Juicy Couture brand is growing globally, and through its
licensing partners, expects to open 133 stores over the next
five years. PAGE 7
Bottega Veneta has opened its first directly operated Home
store in Milan, an indication of the company’s commitment to
the line. PAGE 8
Aeffe SpA swung to profit in 2014, lifted by strategic changes
in design and organizational efficiency. The Italian fashion group
recorded a net profit of $3.6 million. PAGE 8
The Guess Foundation is coming to Italy this year to
capitalize on the brand power of Guess fashion to push for
greater sensitivity to violence against women. PAGE 9
Photographer Jan-Dirk van der Burg has turned his strange
obsession of collecting knockoff Calvin Klein underwear into a
sort of art. PAGE 9
Target Collective is the name of a new program launching
on the discounter’s Web site on Sunday featuring six men’s
brands that are made in America. PAGE MW10
Silver Jeans is partnering with Toronto Blue Jays outfielder
Jose Bautista on the Joey Series, a new limited-edition denim
collection for fall. PAGE MW11
Hansel — with his legendary “Zoolander” walk and I-don’tget-out-of-bed-for-less-than-$10,000 attitude — is our Man of
the Week. PAGE MW12
ON WWD.COM
SXSW PREVIEW: With a packed schedule — more than
2,100 bands are playing at SXSW — we’ve narrowed down
the top 10 to check out at this year’s festival. For more,
see WWD.com.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
@ WWD.com/social
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4 WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
Louis Vuitton
Fall 2015
Paris Collections
Louis Vuitton: “The Louis Vuitton woman is not on a
pedestal,” Nicolas Ghesquière said backstage before
his show. “She’s very down to a certain reality.”
When did the fashion pedestal become a negative?
Oh, for its return! Ghesquière spoke in response to a
question about his shoes, mostly manageably low heels,
as he wants his customer “to be moving, to walk easily.”
But his comment reads as well as a statement on where
fashion is today, the relentless reality that has some of
us who remember a more inspirational time in fashion
feeling old and uncomfortably nostalgic. On a pedestal.
Sounds like code for elevated fashion. Isn’t that
supposed to be the runway’s purpose, at least in part?
This collection, Ghesquière’s third runway effort
for Vuitton, pulsed with the tempered urges of a great
designer negotiating that intense territory between
natural instinct and perceived mandate. Despite the
girl-next-door styling, one could extract a futuristic
subtext that, if pushed a soupçon more, would have
reflected more obviously the amazing setting, a trio
of huge geodesic domes installed on the grounds of
the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Ghesquière opened with
outerwear, big puffs of white Argentinian shearling,
their edgy polar-bear coziness enhanced with
fabulous hard, trunklike handbags in silver leather
and diamond-cut Plexiglas, fitted internally for every
electronic device imaginable.
Ghesquière got inventive with materials and cuts.
Interesting ribbed-knit constructions had an aura of
aggressive flirtation, curvy with a horizontal slash
above the bust and skirt ending in a structured ripple.
Modernist studded embroideries transported similar
shapes from day to evening and looked great. As for
the cuts, stretch jersey dresses sprung from a lingerie
inspiration were spliced, inset and zipped with
ergonomic bravado that referenced clearly without
mimicking Ghesquière’s brilliant work of yore.
So many possibilities to push, powerful possibilities!
Instead, Ghesquière wove in basics, a lot of them —
plain-as-could-be pantsuits, sweater over miniskirt, red
sheer T-shirt and pants. Once upon a time (five years
ago? Ten?) such looks would have remained in the
showroom, quieter cousins to the exaggerated runway
point-makers. They even had a name: the commercial
collection. Today, runway to reality is often a short trip.
— BRIDGET FOLEY
Louis Vuitton
WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 5
WWD.COM
Miu Miu
photos BY
by GIOVANNI
giovanni GIANNONI
giannoni
PHOTOS
Miu Miu
FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE
WWD.com/
runway.
Miu Miu: In the interest of not dragging out the endless
show season for one extra minute, Miuccia Prada said
backstage after Miu Miu that she had “few words” to
share on the collection, for her sake and the sake of
others. “It’s the last show and you need some rest,” she
told an enclave of reporters. Her succinct statement: “I
wanted to do something very alive and fun.”
The sound bite was music to tired ears, and the show, a
parting gift to bleary eyes. Prada delivered a collection for
appreciators of real fashion. Fun house and funky fabrics
electrocuted silhouettes that seemed to emanate from the
Sixties. Much of it was chic, a lot was deliberately tacky.
So wrong, it’s right is the tension Prada loves.
A-line swing coats with big collars came in blownup herringbone plaids trimmed with clashing python
pockets and borders — for example, an orange, split pea
green and black coat with a pink python strip down the
front, worn over a candy apple red stamped-croc mini
shift. Prada explored the obsession with animalia —
real and fake — showing some coats and skirts in candy-
colored python and others in the fabulous patent croc
that definitely never had a pulse.
Apron dresses with big plastic buttons and shirts with
a wide award ruffle around the shoulders expressed the
oddball naïveté that came through in the styling. Amply
accessorized with costume floral earrings, necklaces
and granny shoes, each look was put together with the
giddy vigor of a young, fashion-hungry girl who just blew
her allowance at a vintage store, the kind of spree that
makes you feel alive.
— JESSICA IREDALE
6 WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
Moncler Gamme Rouge: Do you
speak English? Moncler
Gamme Rouge did for
fall, loud and clear with a
parade of riding clothes that
climaxed with a rapid-fire
march of Queen’s Guards.
Thank you, Giambattista
Valli, for such an obvious
theme at the tail end of
fashion month.
This outerwear-driven
collection bore all the
expected hallmarks: country
tweeds, Prince of Wales
checks and diamond-shaped
quilting. What caught your
attention was the intense
focus on nipped waists
and peplums — except for
trim capes in PVC or tartan
mohair — and the way
Valli patchworked with a
variety of textures. Check
coats sprouted Neoprene
sleeves, sheepskin or fox-fur
peplums, borders of gold
bullion, or panels of 3-D floral
embroideries on sleeves or
shoulders. Other nifty effects
included a camouflage of
encrusted technical mesh on
technical mesh, and a little
red riding coat embossed
with heraldic motifs.
Entering the show
space, some guests likened
the forest floor set to the
textured carpet Dries Van
Noten rolled out for his show
last season. But this one
was way more obvious: You
could smell that it was real
moss, and the dried leaves
crunched underfoot as the
crowd raced out. Thanks
again, Giambattista.
Moncler
Gamme
Rouge
graphic patterns, without
ever going overboard.
The utterly simple,
straight-cut silhouettes were
often styled with little fur
jackets designed by Yde in
collaboration with Manakas
Frankfurt, though the
lineup was most interesting
when the designer turned
his attention to knits and
tweeds. One jumpsuit with
cropped wide legs looked
most forward.
Rahul
Mishra
— PAULINA SZMYDKE
Leonard: It takes a daring
soul to open a show for a
famed print house with an
all-white ensemble. Yiqing
Yin did just that with her
fall collection for Leonard,
which saw her powering
ahead with her drive to
modernize the label.
The focus was on
construction rather than
pattern, as Yin found
innovative ways to breathe
three-dimensional existence
into motifs inspired by
the Leonard archives. The
white outfits incorporated
different textures, from a
quilted fabric reminiscent of
elephant skin to silk-screen
prints done with puff paint.
Her unfettered approach
to the brand’s heritage was
evidenced by a cape in pale
gray tapestry-patterned
jacquard, which unraveled
halfway into loose threads.
Yin contrasted boxy
tailored silhouettes
with flowing dresses in
asymmetric cuts that
incorporated her signature
draping. Some featured
double prints that moved
with the folds in the fabric.
“I am more focused on
architecture and finding
meaning, because this is
also a learning experience
for me, to design for my
own label and at the same
time for Leonard,” she
said. “When you see a lot of
things and you have to do
a lot of things, you end up
focusing on the essentials
much more easily.”
With just 34 looks, Yin’s
fall statement was admirably
concise and on target,
suggesting that multitasking
suits her well.
— J.D.
— MILES SOCHA
Mishra’s fall collection
did not mark a major
evolution from last
season, but given
that it was inspired by
ancestral tradition, that
was not such a bad thing.
The designer, winner of
the 2014 International
Woolmark Prize, specializes
in delicately handembroidered outfits that
play with translucent
effects. This time, he
worked a palette ranging
from white, light beige and
blush pink to midnight blue
and black.
Dresses, jackets and
tops were spliced with
sheer panels at the midriff
that featured an appliquéd
bird motif. Naïve patterns
appeared on white sweaters,
including one embroidered
with a drawing of a village.
“This collection is my
soul-searching endeavor
and creates a graphical
sketchbook of images of a
village I grew up in,” Mishra
said on his show invitation,
adding that the village’s
ecosystem “offers an
equilibrium between man
and nature.”
Perhaps the absence of a
strong seasonal statement was
Mishra’s way of contributing
to a sustainable fashion cycle.
These creations will easily
slot into the wardrobes of his
existing customers.
— JOELLE DIDERICH
Yde: Ole Yde played it
safe for fall, sending out
a commercially viable
collection based on girly
skirts and dresses. He
spiced them up with
iridescent fabrics and
COLLECTIONS
PARIS
FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE
FALL 2015
WWD.com/
runway.
Yde
Leonard
Esteban
Cortázar
LEONARD, YDE PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE MAÎTRE; ALL OTHERS BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI
Rahul Mishra: Rahul
Esteban Cortázar: The leather
fringe laced tightly up
the back of a tunic like a
spine, then fell free at the
tailbone, cascading into a
curtain of fringe that lapped
at the models’ heels. That
finale look captured the raw
and spontaneous quality of
Esteban Cortázar’s clothes,
which drew a buzzy crowd
ranging from Kelly Rowland
and Jason Wu to top retail
executives from Bergdorf
Goodman and Net-a-Porter,
which helped relaunch the
Colombian wunderkind in
2012 after a failed stint at
Emanuel Ungaro.
“Latin sensuality and
Parisian temperance,” said
the show notes, the former
shorthand for tops and capes
with daring cutouts or open
backs, the latter for bland
tuxedo dresses and jumpsuits.
Cortázar seems more at home
in the sexy sphere. His sheer
gowns outlined with looped
leather fringe, or sprouting
undulating, asymmetric
ruffles, were striking and
original.
— M.S.
WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 7
WWD.COM
’’
Retail Start-ups Vie for Simon Group Prize
By DAVID MOIN
THE SIMON PROPERTY Group
is getting competitive on the
playing field for innovation.
A year ago, Simon formed the
Simon Venture Group, which has
compiled an investment portfolio
of 12 companies and is holding
a contest for outstanding retail
and retail-related tech start-ups,
called “Future of Retail: Meet the
Disruptors.” It’s down to 10 finalists, and the winner will be determined at the South by Southwest
festival in Austin, Tex., at the
Decoded Fashion Mentorship
Hub at the JW Marriott on Friday
and Saturday.
“This competition is a great
event for Simon and the retail industry to showcase the
future of retail, both in-store
and online, as well as the convergence of digital with the
physical world,” said J. Skyler
Fernandes, managing director
of Simon Venture Group.
Decoded Fashion, an event series connecting fashion and retail
brands with new technologies, is
collaborating with Simon on the
contest. “This competition was
meant to gain visibility for the
retail start-ups that could impact
the future shopping experience,”
said Liz Bacelar, founder and
president of Decoded Fashion.
The 10 finalists were selected
from a field of 120 applicants.
A panel of judges comprised of
representatives from Simon,
TechCrunch and Norwest
Venture Partners will determine
the winner, who will receive a
$5,000 cash prize. Another $1,000
will be awarded to a winner
voted on by the audience.
In the age of the Internet,
where e-commerce is rising and
mall traffic is declining, shopping-center owners and operators must come up with ways to
embrace the Web and technology
to support their brick-and-mortar
tenants and “omnify” the shopping experience. While seeking
growth through new technology
and retail formats, Simon, the nation’s largest mall developer and
operator, has long been aggressively acquiring properties and
this week disclosed a $22.4 billion
hostile bid to buy Macerich Co.,
the nation’s third-largest shopping center owner and operator.
Simon Venture will invest anywhere from $250,000 to $5 million, coming in at the seed stage
or later-stage growth stage. With
each investment, “We’re looking
of physical and online retail.”
Three more companies, selected from a separate contest staged
by Simon held last year, will be
added to the portfolio soon.
Regarding the Future of
Retail finalists, Fernandes said,
“We’re not currently planning on
investing in any of the companies in the top 10, and none are
portfolio companies. But I can’t
say if we will or won’t invest in
any of them in the future.”
The 10 finalists are:
■ MACK, which enables shoppers to shop for home furnishings directly from products pictured in professionally designed
room settings, helping customers to shop fast and understand
how products work together in
the greater context of a space.
■ Two Tap, which enables
third-party apps to streamline
the checkout process.
■ Trendalytics, which distills
social media to provide retailers and brands with insights on
trends and products.
■ Pixlee, a content marketing
platform that helps brands “collect, curate, display and measure
’’
This competition...
[will] showcase the
future of retail, both
in-store and online.
— J. SKYLER FERNANDES,
SIMON VENTURE GROUP
at how big the market opportunity
is, the quality of the team and at
the strength of the product and
strategy,” Fernandes said. “Really,
the focus of Simon Venture Group
is to invest in the future innovation of retail, in-store and online.
We’re focused on the convergence
the impact of customer photos
from social media to improve
marketing and e-commerce.”
■ MemoMi, a “digital mirror” that,
with a wave of the hand or tap on
a smartphone, allows shoppers
to control and see back and side
views of themselves, look at outfits
from different angles and change
outfit styles, sizes and color.
■ Tulip, which provides store associates with customer, product
and store information through a
native app on a tablet or smartphone, for better service.
■ Xyze, a technology that helps
customers select the right sizes
when shopping online by utilizing
body measurement information.
■ Trustev, a technology geared
to help stop e-commerce fraud
with software that “can tell real
buyers from fraudsters.”
■ Alive Shoes, which enables
anyone to design and sell shoes
online, by facilitating production shipping.
■ Bluefox, a technology that detects mobile phones so retailers
can know who is visiting and
have a better handle on traffic
in the store.
Minkoff and Intel Push for Women in Tech Juicy to Open 133
By LISA LOCKWOOD
NEW YORK — Rebecca
Minkoff has teamed up
with Intel, which recently
unfurled a $300 million
Diversity and Inclusion initiative, with the goal of full
representation for women
and under-represented minorities in its U.S. workforce
by 2020.
Intel’s Chief Diversity
Officer Rosalind Hudnell
joined Rebecca Minkoff,
chief designer of the
brand, onstage Tuesday
night at the U.N. Women’s
Planet 50-50 by 2030, a
celebratory event at the
Hammerstein Ballroom
here commemorating the
20th anniversary of the historic Beijing Fourth World
Conference on Women, to
discuss the partnership.
Speakers included Hillary
Rosalind Hudnell, Rebecca
Minkoff and Coco Rocha at
Tuesday night’s event.
Clinton, Mayor Bill de
Blasio, Melinda Gates and
Patricia Arquette.
Minkoff and Intel will
work together to expand
the pipeline of diverse and
female engineers, support
more positive representations of opportunities for
women in technology, and
connect women to opportu-
nities to learn and lead in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics
education and careers.
“Intel and I have banded
together to take the $300
million funds for diversity
and economic empowerment and really focus on
programming, whether that
be college tours geared toward women and getting
them interested in technology, hackathons, and educating people in fashion
that technology isn’t scary.
Our company is the product
of the use of technology,”
Minkoff told WWD. She said
that when she heard Intel
had this money to invest in
the initiative, she thought,
“We think we can speak to
this girl, get her excited
about technology, get her
excited about the benefits of
it, and we’d like to help figure out the way to do this.”
Minkoff ’s company is
known for its use of emerging technologies in its products, such as wearable tech
accessories, communication
with its customers, and its
SoHo retail store.
“I wouldn’t be here without the hard fought progress
toward equality and economic opportunity made by
the women who came before
me,” Minkoff said. “We still
have work to do. As we celebrate the progress we’ve
made in the past 20 years,
we are also recommitting
ourselves to realizing full
equality and participation
for the next generation.”
In partnership with U.N.
Women, Intel and Minkoff
will execute a four-pronged
strategy that consists of
awareness, interest, engagement and leadership.
Specific plans will be unveiled this summer.
Harrods Gets Elie Tahari Shop-In-Shop
By LISA LOCKWOOD
ELIE TAHARI HAS set up
shop across the pond, opening a leased shop-in-shop at
Harrods in London.
The opening marks an
expanded presence for Elie
Tahari in the United Kingdom,
as the brand continues its
march throughout Europe.
Tahari has established
a leased department at
Harrods on the fourth-floor
Fashion Lab, representing the brand’s first concession. The design of the
shop encompasses similar
elements of the company’s
signature design aesthetic,
including midcentury furniture by Thomas Noguchi
and Hans Wegner.
“It’s a real shop and a real
commitment. It’s a leased ar-
rangement. We’re running the
sales and the buying,” said Elie
Tahari, chairman. He said they
shipped the new Tahari Sport
line to Harrods “and that’s
doing extremely well. That’s
taking off in a big way, both domestically and internationally.”
Featured in the Harrods
shop is imagery from the
spring campaign photographed by Steven Klein
with model Hilary Rhoda
along a wall displaying the
campaign video. The Fashion
Lab launched in November
2013, designed by architect
Richard Found to create
the 30,000-square-foot urban
fourth-floor space.
There are plans to open
more shops and points of sale
this year. “A lot of good things
are happening. There’s more
international appeal,” the
chairman added.
The leased Elie
Tahari shop-inshop at Harrods.
Stateside, Tahari said
his collection was selling
briskly at Saks Fifth Avenue
and Bergdorf Goodman, and
Neiman Marcus gave them
reorders for spring already.
“Goods are selling,” he said.
“The weather’s changing. I
think people are going to shop
heavily in those two weeks before the holiday [Passover and
Easter]. The weather is perfect. It’s been very cold, and
now spring came. People are
waking up, and there is spring
and there is summer actually.”
Stores by 2020
By VICKI M. YOUNG
THE JUICY COUTURE brand is growing
globally, and through its licensing partners, expects to open 133 stores over the
next five years.
At that rate of openings, Juicy stores
would total at least 335 globally by the end
of 2020. So far, 31 new international sites are
planned for this year.
Eight countries will see new stores,
with three — India, South Africa and
Azerbaijan — having a Juicy presence for
the first time. Among the licensing partners opening stores are: Folli Follie Group,
Europe, 5; Handsome Corp., South Korea,
4; Walton Brown, Greater China, 15; Majid
Al Futtaim, Middle East, 2; Reliance Brands
Ltd., India, 1; Surtee Group, South Africa, 1;
Novco Group, Azerbaijan, 2, and El Palacio,
Mexico, 1.
There are 199 freestanding stores overseas. That’s in addition to outlet stores and
shops-in-shop in select department stores
across 60 countries, including the U.S.
The freestanding stores carry what is
now referred to as Juicy Couture Black
Label. New to all the international stores
this spring, including shops-in-shop and online, will be the footwear category through
a partnership with Steven Madden Ltd.
Separately from the core Juicy brand,
the first freestanding Juicy Couture Girl’s
store will open in Azerbaijan this spring.
“We are kicking our Juicy Couture retail
strategy into high gear with both new and
long-term partnerships,” said Jamie Salter,
chairman and chief executive officer of
Authentic Brands Group, the brand management firm that acquired Juicy in 2013
for $195 million.
The company declined to discuss plans
for U.S. stores, although those are in progress. All freestanding stores that had been
part of the operation under its prior owner,
the former Fifth & Pacific Cos. Inc. now
named Kate Spade & Co., were shuttered
last year.
There are three retail shops in New
York at John F. Kennedy International
Airport — located in terminals 1 and 7, operated by Hudson Group, and Terminal 4,
operated by Saveria JFK — that target international travelers. These were in existence at the time ABG acquired the brand
and remain in operation.
8 WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
Bottega Veneta’s Milan Home
By LUISA ZARGANI
MILAN — Bottega Veneta has
opened its first directly operated Home store, an indication
of the company’s commitment to
the line.
Located in Via Borgospesso,
off Via Montenapoleone here,
the store is designed by creative
director Tomas Maier and exclusively dedicated to the brand’s
furniture, lighting, tabletop and
home decoration.
Covering 2,214 square feet, the
unit juxtaposes Bottega Veneta’s
sleek and contemporary designs
with the building’s stunning
coffered ceilings and frescoes
by 18th-century masters Carlo
Innocenzo Carlone and Giovanni
Battista Tiepolo in the historical
Palazzo Gallarati Scotti.
“In the heart of Milan, I
wanted to create an intimate,
discreet destination for clients
to be able to immerse themselves in the Italian art de vivre
of Bottega Veneta,” Maier said.
Presented as in a home,
items are displayed in dining, living, bedroom and studio areas, including the Meta
Brisée, a contemporary interpretation of the 18th-century
duchesse brisée made in collaboration with Poltrona Frau;
a table with a circular base,
topped in black marble with
yellow streaks from Tunisia set
with glassware from Murano
artisans or porcelain made
Here and below:
The unit in Via
Borgospesso.
with Koenigliche PorzellanManufaktur Berlin, or a bed in
four finishes of oak wood.
Bottega chief executive officer Carlo Alberto Beretta said
the store “ultimately reflects the
next step of the retail experience, while concurrently giving
this beautiful collection the distinctive setting it deserves.”
There are seven franchised
points of sale dedicated to
the home line in Asia, Europe
and the U.S., including Padua,
Italy; Harrods, London; a corner within the mass multibrand
showroom in Los Angeles,
and units in Beijing, Qingdao,
Shanghai and Taipei.
One home boutique is expected to open in Taichung, China.
The collection was launched
in Milan in 2006, with a bench
made by the brand’s artisans in
Vicenza, in the Veneto region
of northeastern Italy where
Bottega Veneta is based, and
has since developed into a lifestyle line, which continues to
be made by a dedicated atelier
in Vicenza.
Express Q4 Net Drops, but Beats Expectations
By VICKI M. YOUNG
EXPRESS INC. posted lower
fourth-quarter profits from a year
ago, but results were still better
than Wall Street had expected.
For the quarter ended Jan.
31, net income fell 12.7 percent
to $41.8 million, or 49 cents a
diluted share, from $47.9 million, or 57 cents, a year ago. Net
sales were up 1.4 percent to
$725.8 million from $715.9 million. Comparable-store sales
fell 2 percent on the heels of a 1
percent increase a year ago. The
company said e-commerce sales
rose 4 percent to $144.3 million.
Wall Street analysts were expecting on average 46 cents on net
sales of $712.9 million.
For the year, net income
dropped 41.4 percent to $68.3 million, or 81 cents a diluted share,
from $116.5 million, or $1.37 a
share, in 2013. Net sales slipped
2.3 percent to $2.17 billion from
$2.22 billion.
David Kornberg, president
and chief executive officer, said
in a conference call to analysts
that “business strengthened as
customers came back and forth,
and responded well to our early
spring deliveries. This has continued into the first quarter of
the new year and is reflected in
our guidance.”
He also said that the company this year did not anniversary two promotional events
— the five-day, all-store, 40
percent-off promotion and the
four-day e-mail event. Those
decisions helped “preserve
and protect the value of our
newest and best-selling items,
and the overall inventory level
of our spring goods,” the ceo
said. He also said that while
promotions have been a part
of Express’ DNA, and will continue to be, the promotions
will be “used more sparingly
going forward.”
For 2015, some key efforts
will be increasing profitability,
elevating the customer experience and investing in systems
to better support its customercentric focus. Kornberg said
the company intends to protect
its “leading position in wear-towork and dressy, and to elevate
our position as a destination for
denim and casual wear.”
The company has introduced
Express One Eleven in select
stores, a collection of casual
women’s knit tops, and Swim online this week.
For the first quarter of 2015,
the company said it expects
comps in the low- to midsingle
digits, compared with a comp
decline of 11 percent in the
year-ago first quarter. The company guided first-quarter diluted earnings per share to between 4 cents and 7 cents, with
net income forecasted in the $3
million to $6 million range.
The chain operates 640 stores.
Shares of Express Inc. rose
3.48 percent to $15.47 in Big
Board trading.
Aeffe Posts $3.6M Profit
For Year, Sales Inch Ahead
MILAN — Aeffe SpA swung to
profit in 2014, lifted by strategic changes in design and organizational efficiency.
In the 12 months ended
Dec. 31, the Italian fashion
group recorded a net profit of
2.7 million euros, or $3.6 million, compared with a loss of
3.2 million euros, or $4.2 million, in 2013.
As reported last month, revenues last year inched up 0.2
percent to 251.5 million euros,
or $334.5 million, compared
with 251.1 million euros, or
$331.4 million, in 2013, since
Aeffe was affected by the end
of the Jean Paul Gaultier and
Cacharel licenses and a reorganization of the company’s
Japanese distribution network,
now managed exclusively
through the wholesale channel.
Net of these effects, sales would
have increased 7.6 percent at
constant exchange rates.
In 2014, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and
amortization were up 24.7 percent to 25.7 million euros, or
$34.2 million, compared with
20.6 million euros, or $27.2
million, in 2013, driven by the
group’s rationalization and
lower operating costs.
Operating profit doubled to
12 million euros, or $16 million, from 6 million euros, or
$8 million, in 2013.
Massimo Ferretti, executive chairman, said 2014 “was
a crucial year for the group,
24.7%
RISE IN EBITDA FOR
AEFFE SPA IN 2014.
which has pursued a strategy
conceived to enhance the portfolio’s brands. Choices implemented in the renewal of the
stylistic offering, in organization and management efficiency have already given good
results, which will be fully operational in the coming years.”
Aeffe controls the Alberta
Ferretti, Moschino and Pollini
brands, and produces and distributes collections for labels
including Emanuel Ungaro,
designed by Fausto Puglisi,
and Cédric Charlier.
Tapping Jeremy Scott as
creative director of Moschino
and Alberta Ferretti’s focus
on her namesake line are paying off, managing director and
chief financial officer Marcello
Tassinari told WWD. “Choices
made at the end of 2013 positively impacted 2014, a year
that cemented those decisions.”
The executive said Moschino
accounts for almost 60 percent
of sales, and that the Alberta
Ferretti brand is also growing.
He noted that the company
is seeing “good prospects”
from the arrival of Lorenzo
Serafini at Philosophy, whose
first collection for the brand
launched last month.
Ferretti said “the return to
profit of the group is definitely
a confirmation and a further
motivation to look to the future with optimism.”
Tassinari said there is “unexpressed potential” for the
group’s brands to develop in
both mature and emerging markets and through the growth of
its accessories division.
In 2014, Aeffe’s ready-towear sales were down 2.4 percent to 192.1 million euros, or
$255.5 million. Net of the effects caused by the changes in
licenses and the reorganization
in Japan, apparel revenues
would have increased 7.3 percent at constant exchange rate.
Revenues of the footwear
and leather goods division were
up 19.5 percent to 86 million
euros, or $114.4 million, before
interdivisional eliminations.
Dollar amounts were converted at average exchange for
the periods to which they refer.
In the year, sales in Italy
rose 8.7 percent to 113.6 million
euros, or $151 million, accounting for 45.1 percent of total revenues. Europe (Italy and Russia
excluded) was up 11.6 percent
to 55.8 million euros, or $74.2
million, representing 22.2 percent of sales, showing a recovery across all main markets.
Dented by its “difficult economic situation,” revenues in
Russia decreased 14.1 percent
to 16.6 million euros, or $22
million. “Russia is weak. The
market is not so important for
us, accounting for 6.6 percent
of sales, yet not insignificant,”
Tassinari said. “The region
has slowed down and we’ve
had to support clients with
commercial operations, seeing slimmer margins. We are
concerned also because there
are less Russian tourists and
this impacts retail sales, too.”
The U.S. was down 5.6 percent to 16.1 million euros, or
$21.4 million, accounting for
6.4 percent of sales, a change
mostly explained by the decrease in revenues related
to the end of the licensing
agreements mentioned above.
Tassinari said the exchange
rate will help business in the
U.S. and was upbeat about
sell-throughs in the region and
an increase in doors and sales.
Japan was down 67.9 percent to 7 million euros, or $9.3
million, accounting for 2.8 percent of sales, as a consequence
of the reorganization of the
local distribution network, effective from the beginning of
2014. Under an exclusive distribution and franchise agreement with Woollen Co. Ltd.
and Mitsubishi Corporation
Fashion Co. Ltd., since the
beginning of 2014, sales of the
Alberta Ferretti, Philosophy
and Moschino collections are
exclusively wholesale. Likefor-like sales were up 6.7 percent in Japan, Tassinari said.
In the Rest of the World,
revenues rose 10.9 percent
to 42.3 million euros, or $56.2
million, representing 16.9
percent of total sales, boosted by a 25.8 percent jump in
Greater China. “We are still
small in China, which is performing very well, and this is
an advantage at this moment,
when many of our competitors
are seeing a slowdown in the
area,” Tassinari said.
There are plans to open
15 franchised stores this year
between the Moschino and
Alberta Ferretti labels in the
Far East, he added.
— L.Z.
WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 9
WWD.COM
Sadove Talks Top Retail Disruptors FASHION SCOOPS
PHOTO BY STEVE EICHNER
NEW YORK — “We’re going through a change,
the biggest change, more change than any of us
think will happen.”
Those were words of wisdom from Stephen I.
Sadove, cofounder and head of Traub Accelerator,
Wednesday night at a presentation sponsored by
CIT at the Sofitel Hotel. Sadove discussed “Ten
Disruptors of Retail.” He should know: In addition
to his work at Traub Accelerator
focusing on technology and in- Stephen
novation, Sadove was the former I. Sadove
chairman and chief executive officer of Saks Inc. and saw some of
the early trends first-hand.
His top two disruptors are
omnichannel and talent.
According to Sadove, omnichannel, a term that didn’t exist
four years ago, is being “driven by
the consumer. Whether that’s buying online and shipping to a store
for pick-up or buying at the store
and having it shipped home.”
The disruption for retailers concerns the
difficulty in moving inventory from one store to
another location. That’s because retailers have
traditionally kept separate inventories for online
and in-store operations. Investments are needed
to have systems that can share inventory information. While many of the larger chains have adapted to the new reality, the shift now has smaller
MEMO PAD
THE DAILY FRONT ROW’S PAY FOR PLAY: Fashion
tabloid The Daily Front Row has begun
employing a pay-for-play strategy, WWD has
learned. Business-side representatives from
The DFR have approached publishers with a
deal: Namely, the DFR’s reporters will write
stories if they purchase advertisements in
the paper. The tabloid has ramped up this
aggressive approach since 2014, according to
sources with knowledge of such transactions.
The DFR did not return calls or e-mails
seeking comment.
Although at many glossy fashion magazines
the exchange between publishers over buying
ads sometimes includes a nudge for editorial
coverage, it has become more blatant at the
DFR, insiders said. Those sources pointed to
the tabloid’s media coverage, which is amped
up during fashion week and during the summer.
For example, Condé Nast Traveler publisher Bill
Wackermann gave the paper a “Hampton’s Howto,” puff interview. Similar stories are pitched to
publishers to feature their Hamptons parties or
homes with the not-so-tacit understanding that
they will buy an ad in exchange.
Insiders also pointed to the DFR’s Feb. 14-15
issue, which features several lighter Q&As with
editors from titles at Hearst and Condé Nast. In
that issue, Elle’s creative director Alex Gonzalez
got a three-page spread, while Hearst president
of digital Troy Young nabbed his own one-page
Q&A. Condé Nast Traveler editor in chief Pilar
Guzman and husband Chris Mitchell, who serves
as Vanity Fair’s publisher, were featured in
a story entitled: “It Takes Two,” while Style.
com’s editor Dirk Standen talked about “being the
arbiter of style.”
Usually ads from those publishers appear
in later issues, creating “more bang for your
buck,” a source noted. And about that buck
— ads usually cost between $5,000 and $8,000
— but they are negotiable in terms of cost and
when the ad will be placed.
— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD
KALVI’S KLAN: Photographer Jan-Dirk van der
Burg has turned his strange obsession of
collecting knockoff Calvin Klein underwear
into a sort of art.
Van der Burg unveiled his book, which he
calls more of a “pastiche and a brochure,” of
photographs of male models wearing fauxCalvins on Vice.com Wednesday. Compiled
by Vice photo editor Matthew Leifheit, the story
gives readers a glimpse of the book, “Calvin
Klein — The Dyslexic Collection,” which
nods to CK Underwear’s black-and-white
advertising campaigns.
business operations capable of making that same
investment to their systems, he explained.
Talent is just as important as omnichannel,
Sadove emphasized. “The ceo of 2020 will be
different from the ceo of 2000. It used to be the
merchant king [that ruled], but now [the skillset requirements include] analytics and supply
chain management, and you still need to get the
product right.”
He also noted that one out of every four jobs
is in retail, and while one used to think of the
sector as offering low-paying jobs,
“now there are more engineers
and technology workers driving
retail.”
Also high on the disruptor list
are mobile, since the smartphone
is getting ubiquitous and provides
access to “instantaneous information”; big data analytics, with the
ability to drill down by segmentation of customer base, such as crossshopping patterns and knowledge
of what your best customer buys at
your store and at your competitor,
and vertical integration, as retailers include more private label brands to increase
their differentiation from competitors.
Rounding out the top 10 are more obvious
themes, such as price transparency, cyber security,
cross-border e-commerce, changing demographics
even within a classification — older Millennials
are different from the younger Millennials — and
wearable technology.
The images show male models donning
what Leifheit calls the “typo-ridden undies,”
which were procured throughout Eastern
Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Common
misspellings include: “Calven Kliem,”
“Calvani Klain,” “Colvin Kloin,” “Calven Klei,”
“Galvin Klain” and “Kalvi Klan” — van der
Burg’s personal favorite.
“It’s the furthest from [an infringement] of a
copyright claim,” van der Burg said via phone
from Amsterdam. “While the quality varies a
lot, the Kalvi Klan briefs, I do wear often with
joy. For me, it was kind of fashionable. There
are just some small changes [in spelling].”
The photographer said he has about 30
different pairs of knock-off Calvins, 11 of
which have different misspellings.
Van der Burg contacted Leifheit after he
learned of his shared interest in knockoffs.
“A few years ago, I bought a bootleg ‘Louiz
Vuttom’ watch at a market in Ramallah, and
Images from Jan-Dirk van der Burg’s book: “Calvin
Klein — The Dyslexic Collection.”
thought it would be interesting to do something
about brand adaptation or appropriation
by counterfeiters, but it was only a passing
thought,” the Vice editor said. “When Jan-Dirk
e-mailed me about the project, I was really
impressed to see the dedication he had put into
finding all of these variations of undies, and the
detailed notes he kept on where to locate them.”
Calvin Klein did not reply to requests for
comment on van der Burg’s collection, or
Vice’s coverage of it.
But there may be more from van der Burg,
who admitted to collecting other knockoff
paraphernalia adorned with Facebook and Apple
logos. His latest acquisitions include underwear
with a picture of an iPhone and Apple logo, as
well as a bottle of Facebook-branded perfume.
“Every product you can think of, in China, they
put a Facebook or Apple logo on it,” he said. “The
Facebook perfume that I bought for my girlfriend
— it’s not even that bad.”
— A.S.
remember that you’re working
ITALIAN CAUSE: The Guess
with and not watching, because
Foundation, which launched in
he’s so great,” she said.
Los Angeles in 1994, is coming to
Connelly will begin shooting
Italy this year. The organization
later this year on “American
aims to capitalize on the brand
Pastoral,” Ewan McGregor’s longpower of Guess fashion to push
for greater sensitivity to violence
gestating directorial debut
against women, which Paul
based on the Philip Roth
novel. Gomez is heading back
Marciano — Guess chief executive
to Atlanta, where she recently
and creative director and Guess
completed “The Revised
Foundation president — called “a
Fundamentals of Caregiving,”
social plague that unfortunately
to work on James Franco’s “In
remains widespread.”
“We feel a specific duty
Dubious Battle,” in between
to call the media’s attention
recording new tracks. “I haven’t
to this problem in
Italy, as well,” he
added. According to
2014 statistics from
the European Union
Agency for Fundamental
Rights, 27 percent of
Italian women have
experienced physical
or sexual violence, of
which 19 percent is at
the hands of a partner.
The Guess Foundation is
Dianna Agron, Chloë Moretz
planning to mark Denim
and Selena Gomez.
Day in Italy this spring,
and to organize a series
of special fundraisers in
local Guess stores, with the first
released any music in two
events tentatively slated for
years, so it’s really going to be
May or June. Popularized in the
me kind of showing my journey
U.S., the Denim Day movement
in the past two years, and
originated in Italy as a protest
there’s a little darkness in it,”
against a 1998 Italian Supreme
she said.
Court ruling (since overturned)
Moretz also explored complex
that an 18-year-old girl could
emotions for the appropriately
not have been raped because
titled “Dark Places,” based on a
she was wearing tight jeans,
novel by Gillian Flynn and starring
which were deemed too difficult Charlize Theron, while Vikander
for an assailant to remove
is on the cusp of a banner year,
without her assistance.
with no fewer than six movies
If its Italian initiatives go
in the pipeline. “I’ve been
well, the Guess Foundation
fortunate in a way to only focus
would like to extend its
on my work so intensely and
programs to other European
not do any of the publicity. And
countries, a spokeswoman for the now they’re all going to come
organization said.
out and, of course, I’m really
— CYNTHIA MARTENS excited, because you make the
films because you want to have a
big audience,” she said.
GIVENCHY HEATS UP MIAMI:
The Swedish actress is
Givenchy is the latest LVMH
filming “The Danish Girl”
Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
opposite Oscar winner Eddie
brand to open in Miami’s
Design District. The newest
Redmayne, who plays transgender
store in the brand’s retail roll
artist Lili Elbe. “He’s the most
out opens today with a design
humble and sweet person to
consistent with Givenchy’s Paris work with,” she said. “He is
flagship, which reinterprets the
doing an amazing job taking on
boxes Hubert de Givenchy used
this part.”
to deliver his couture dresses
— JOELLE DIDERICH
as half-closed black lacquer
boxes that display the collection SILK STORY: Alexander McQueen
within the store. A gold logo
has created a capsule collection
flanks the store’s black facade.
of silk scarves to mark the
Earlier this month, the brand
launch of the designer’s
opened its men’s flagship in
“Savage Beauty” retrospective
Paris and the New York City
at the Victoria and Albert
flagship is planned for July,
Museum, opening on Saturday.
with a Milan store to follow.
Each scarf features one of five
— JESSICA IREDALE designs drawn from signature
house creations such as the
Armadillo shoes from spring
STELLAR ALIGNMENT: The Louis
2010, and the Spray Painted
Vuitton show in Paris on
Wednesday boasted almost as many Dress from spring 1999. “Our
silks remain the most popular
stars as an awards ceremony.
and accessible product from
Jennifer Connelly, Catherine
the house, and we wanted
Deneuve, Michelle Williams, Chloë
Moretz, Selena Gomez, Alicia Vikander, everyone to be able to own a
memento celebrating ‘Savage
Dianna Agron, Fan Bingbing and Brit
Beauty,’ featuring imagery
Marling were among the guests
from Lee’s most memorable
at the display, held in a trio of
collections,” said McQueen’s
geodesic domes outside the
chief executive officer Jonathan
Louis Vuitton Foundation in the
Bois de Boulogne.
Akeroyd. The capsule collection
Williams was fresh off the
will be available in limited
French premiere of World
runs of only 100 for each
War II romantic drama “Suite
design, and the scarves will
Française” and had only
retail for $595 at the Alexander
good words for her costar,
McQueen flagship on Bond
rising Belgian actor Matthias
Street in London and at
alexandermcqueen.com.
Schoenaerts. “He’s one of
those actors that you have to
— SAMANTHA CONTI
PHOTO BY STÉPHANE FEUGÈRE
By VICKI M. YOUNG
MW10
Men’s Week
WWD Thursday, March 12, 2015
Target Culls a Special Offering for Men
by SHArON EDELSON
TArGET COLLECTIVE is the name of a new
program launching on the discounter’s Web
site on Sunday featuring six men’s brands that
are made in America and represent style, authenticity, quality and craftsmanship.
The nearly 90 items in the collective from
brands such as Billykirk, Owen & Fred, Taylor
Stitch, Duluth Pack, Locally Grown and
Terrapin Stationers range in price from $10
to $270, with most items under $100, although
this is still relatively high for Target.
The Target Collective handle is flexible
by design, sounding neither masculine nor
feminine, and applicable to any number
of categories. “What excites me about this
program is that we’ve curated a collective
of brands we think our guests will love, and
we had the chance to work with them to
cocreate products that will be exclusive to
Target,” said Kathee Tesija, the retailer’s
executive vice president and chief merchandising and supply chain officer. “As an
umbrella program, Target Collective has
endless possibilities and could go in any
number of directions. However, to launch,
we’re focused specifically on men’s brands
and making these high-quality products easily accessible on target.com.
“Our focus, to begin, is on target.com,”
Tesija said. “We think the guests who will
be attracted to this assortment are already
shopping heavily online and like to research
products before they buy. Additionally, this is
a new program, and target.com, by its nature,
allows us more flexibility to test and learn.”
In addition to being sold online,
Billykirk in May will be available at 160
Target stores that, according to the company’s research, have a preponderance of
A selection of products
from Target Collective.
customers who tend to buy a lot of apparel
and style products.
“This is a new area for us,” a spokeswoman said. “We haven’t done anything like this
for men. Based on research, men seem to be
more of the early adapters of the Made in the
U.S. movement. We’re testing and learning at
this point. If it seems as if it’s something our
guests want more of, we’d be open to looking
into home or women’s. We continue to evolve
our style assortment.”
Target Collective may be the retailer’s
first umbrella concept geared to men, but
it’s been doling out style to women under
different conceptual guises for years. Go
International featured up-and-coming talent;
 
--
Designer Collaborations focused on established types such as Alexander McQueen
and Anna Sui, and The Shops at Target
sold exclusive merchandise created by a
handful of small shops and boutiques from
around the country. After discontinuing Go
International in 2012, Target started oneoff collaborations with designers such as
Jason Wu, Proenza Schouler and Joseph
Altuzarra. The next one-off will be a collection in partnership with Lilly Pulitzer,
debuting on April 19.
Chris Bray, cofounder of Billykirk,
which makes leather and canvas goods,
said, “We have this opportunity to show
our design aesthetic and what we’re all
about. We’re hopeful this will bring more
exposure to our brand.” His brother, Kirk,
praised Target for “getting behind the
maker movement. It’s a billion dollar business now. It’s viable, relevant and makes
sense. People appreciate craft and something that’s going to last.”
Each of the brands was chosen to complement one another while avoiding duplication. Brooklyn-based Owen & Fred makes
leather luggage tags, You Dirty Dog soap,
concrete and cedar soap dishes, notebooks,
pens and leather coasters; Tailor & Stitch
designs men’s shirts in limited numbers and
manufactures them in California; Duluth
Pack since 1882 has been making duffles,
scout packs and luggage at its factory in
Duluth, Minn., while Des Moines, Iowa-based
Locally Grown sells T-shirts at local farmer’s
markets, food co-ops and like-minded boutiques. Terrapin Stationers is a 100-year-old
hand-embossed New York stationer.
All of the brands with the exception of
Duluth Pack worked with Target’s product
development and design team to give the
merchandise “that Target nod and twist,”
the spokeswoman said. “Our design team
is able to do that. We’d look at the offering,
and say ‘We’d love to do something like this
in another color.’”
“Once we got on the same page of the vision of what we wanted to do and loosened
their purse straps a little bit,” the process
was painless, Chris Bray said. “Not much
was changed from anything we proposed.
They liked what we came up with.”
Mass giants such as Wal-Mart and
Target have learned the value of engaging
with small manufacturers. The former has
discovered innovative products at its vendor open call days such as taco plates and
trash bag converters, while Target has uncovered unique designers.
“These are really small manufacturers,”
the spokeswoman said. “They manufacture
in smaller runs than we would typically do.
It’s sort of one of those things that you have
to do — work in a new and different way with
these brands and learn to be more nimble.”
Part of the Target Collective experiment involves gauging consumers’ interest.
“We’re starting with enough product to take
us to early July,” the spokeswoman said. “If
it does really well there’s potential for it to
go into the fall or indefinitely. It’s semi-limited edition. There’s certainly the potential
for it to live on. It depends on how people
engage with the products.”
Tesija said Target Collective will answer
several questions, including how much consumers are willing to pay for well-made
products. “We’re constantly testing different
initiatives in our stores and online,” she said.
“With this program, there are a number of elements that make it a good fit for target.com
— we’re introducing new brands, extending to categories we haven’t offered in the
past with our men’s assortment and pushing
into a higher price point. We’re eager to see
what our guests think and will be monitoring
both sales, as well as buzz and social activity. These brands, and the fact that our team
cocreated original product with them, bring
a cool factor to our existing assortment, and
I’m excited to see how our guests respond.”
Jos. A. Bank Comps Decline Goes On in Q4
by ArNOLD J. KArr
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JOS. A. BANK’S net and comparable sales
continued to slide in the fourth quarter, but
parent firm The Men’s Wearhouse Inc. said
both the sales associated with the acquired
brand and the synergies derived from it
were running ahead of schedule.
The company exceeded analysts’ expectations for top- and bottom-line results
in the quarter, with mid- to high-singledigit comps at its three legacy operations
— Men’s Wearhouse, Moores and K&G.
While Jos. A. Bank continued to backtrack
on sales, with a 6.6 percent decline in comps
and a 5.4 percent drop in net sales in the
quarter, Doug Ewert, chief executive officer
of the company, classified the performance
as “above our expectations.”
The process of integrating the operation has also yielded “significant progress,”
said Ewert, estimating the run-rate synergies through the end of 2014 at $35 million,
more than twice the target of $15 million.
“In the nine months since the acquisition,” Ewert commented, “Jos. A. Bank has
transitioned many of the back-office functions, began store train programs, began
the work to instill its employees with the
Men’s Wearhouse culture and launched
tuxedo rental in all its Jos. A. Bank stores.”
The company expects Jos. A. Bank comps
to remain in negative territory through the
first half of the year with “improvement” in
the second half. Gross margin is expected to
parallel the comp performance.
In the three months ended Jan. 31, the
company recorded a net loss of $35.9 million, or 75 cents a diluted share, versus a
loss of $30.4 million, or 64 cents, in the yearago quarter. Excluding a series of nonrecurring items, the loss was reduced to 3 cents a
share, better than the 7-cent loss expected,
on average, by analysts. Among the special
items were a $42.6 million arbitration settlement paid to former licensee The Siskind
Group and acquisition and integration costs
related to the $1.8 billion Bank purchase.
Overall revenues also beat Wall Street
estimates, rising 65.6 percent to $928.4 million, above the $919.1 million expected, on
average, by analysts. Without Bank’s $337
million sales contribution in the quarter,
sales would have been ahead 5.5 percent.
In the quarter, the Men’s Wearhouse
brand’s comps rose 6.8 percent while net
sales moved up 8.4 percent to $379.4 million; Moores comps rose 8.6 percent while
net sales expanded 0.8 percent to $59 million, and K&G’s comps grew 6.8 percent
while net sales moved ahead 1.6 percent to
$82.6 million.
For the full year, including special
items, the net loss was $387,000, or 1 cent
a diluted share, compared to net income of
$83.8 million, or $1.70.
Men’s Week
WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
and then they’re gone. In New
York, it’s usually a week’s worth
of travel, and we hope that instead of staying after, they’ll come
earlier this time.”
he stressed in the future, the
dates will be closer and choosing
between the two events won’t be an
issue. “We’re trying to condense it
and make it tighter,” he said. BenAvraham said he and the other
trade show operators “believe the
men’s fashion week is a good idea.
It could really spark something big
for men’s wear in the states.” he
said he and his colleagues have
been working with CFDA for a long
time to make a New York men’s
fashion week a reality. Although
he had hoped the dates for the first
event would overlap, a few trade
shows were contractually obligated
to keep their original dates, so they
“
MW11
she said she has been a “longtime champion of the men’s market,” and believes New York
Fashion Week: Men will “be a
nice addition to what exists in the
landscape.
But expecting retailers to spend
over a week in New York might be
a stretch for some.
Mario Bisio of Mario’s in
Portland, Ore., and seattle, said
he would opt for trade shows over
runway shows. “Most men’s runway shows are too advanced, so
there’s not really an advantage
to our customers for me being
there.” he said most of the participants in New York Fashion Week:
Men will be smaller contemporary
brands and it is of more value for
him to see the new collections
from the “pillars” of the industry
as well as the Italians at the trade
we’re working with Steven [kolb,
Skylight Clarkson Sq in SoHo will host the
inaugural New York Fashion Week: Men’s.
A Date Dilemma
At NYFW: Men’s
by JEAN E. PALMIERI
ThERE’s A wrinkle in the planning for New York Fashion Week:
Men’s this summer — the trade
shows. Retailers and editors who
were hoping to see runway shows
and walk the trade shows at the
same time in July will now need to
lengthen their trip.
After two years of negotiation and discussion, the Council
of Fashion Designers of America
this summer will launch a standalone showcase for American
men’s fashion. New York Fashion
Week: Men’s will hold its inaugural
shows from July 13 to 16 at skylight
Clarkson sq in soho. This is the
week before the array of men’s
trade shows — Agenda, Capsule,
Liberty Fairs, MRket and Project
— is slated to start.
Originally, Project came forward and said it would change its
dates to line up with the runway
shows. But Project has now reverted to its original dates of July
19 to 21 to align with the other
trade shows.
Tommy Fazio, president of
Project, explained that it was
his quest to “continue to support
the retailers and the brands,”
that prompted the switch back.
“showing in New York City July 19
to 21 will ensure the retailers have
a cohesive shopping experience.
We have all come together with the
CFDA to work on 2016 so we can
make a strong statement.”
sam Ben-Avraham, founder of
Liberty Fairs, doesn’t believe the
dates will be an issue since buyers
who come to New York tend to do
more than just attend trade shows.
“They go shopping and they
stay after the shows to go to showroom appointments,” he said. “It’s
different in Las Vegas where they
usually allocate two or three days
CFDA’S ChieF exeCutive oFFiCer] AnD
the CFDA to get our DAteS AligneD
going ForwArD.”
— DEIRDRE MALONEY, CApsuLE
couldn’t move. And the Modern
Assembly group — a consortium
that includes all the shows but
Project — decided to stick with the
July 20 to 22 dates.
“Runway shows should not
overlap with trade shows,” he
said, pointing to the hefty schedule and varied locations that
generally mark most fashion
weeks. But they should be closer together. “Next season we’re
hoping CFDA will do Thursday,
Friday and saturday and we can
do sunday, Monday and Tuesday,
or Monday and Tuesday,” he said.
“That will be the new pattern.
And those are the conversations
we’re having now. We’re working
very closely together.”
Deirdre Maloney, co-owner of
Capsule, acknowledged that it will
be hard to expect retailers and editors to spend 10 days in New York
this summer. “But that’s an easy
fix and we’re working with steven
[Kolb, CFDA’s chief executive officer] and the CFDA to get our dates
aligned going forward.”
shows or their showrooms during
men’s market week.
Designers who have committed to participate — although not
all with runway shows — include
Calvin Klein Collection, Michael
Kors, Rag & Bone, Public school,
Billy Reid, Todd snyder, Michael
Bastian, Ovadia & sons, Robert
Geller, Duckie Brown, Patrik
Ervell, Timo Weiland and Kent &
Curwen. Tommy hilfiger, an early
champion of the initiative, will
take part in some form.
Bisio said that while he attends
runway shows in Europe, he hasn’t
attended those in New York in the
past. he believes that generally
runway shows are more useful for
the press and he expects editors
and “the majors,” most of whom
are based in New York, to embrace
the shows. “But if the dates aligned
and it was an important brand to
me, I’d definitely go,” he said. “And
it would be great if we saw something at a show or event that we
could take home as a key takeaway
for the season.”
Silver Jeans Teams With Jose Bautista
by ARIA hUGhEs
styles: the Eddie, a relaxed-fit jean with
a tapered leg, and the Gordie, a loose-fit,
sILVER JEANs Is partnering with Toronto straight-leg jean. The Dominican player
Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista on the
worked with the design team on subtle deJoey series, a new limited-edition denim
tails that range from baseball-like stitchcollection for fall.
ing on back pockets and
Although the familylead stitching on watch
owned Canada-based
pockets to screen prints
brand has worked with
of old baseball cards on
celebrities on licensing
pocket linings and cross
deals in the past, this is
bat embroidery on waistits first time collaboratbands. The jeans will be
ing with an athlete on a
numbered and will remen’s capsule collection.
tail for about $5 above
Owner Michael silver
silver’s regular collecsaid the relationship
tion, which starts at $80
with Bautista started orand goes up to $100.
ganically after a business
In-store displays will
friend who represents
highlight Bautista, who
athletes suggested they
will also participate in
work together.
fan engagement events,
“They invited me to a
and silver’s “Work hard.
baseball game and he was
Be Great” digital and soabsolutely not what I excial media campaign.
pected. he has a keen eye
“stepping outside of
for fashion and wanted to
my normal routine and
get in on the fashion ingetting to see some of
dustry, but he didn’t want
my personal creativity
to put his name on just
come to life like this was
anything,” said silver.
fantastic,” Bautista said.
Named after Bautista’s
“I’m looking forward to
moniker, Joey Bats, the
more collaborative projJoey series includes two
ects to come.”
Jose Bautista in the Silver ad campaign.
For more career opportunities log on to WWDCareers.com.
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PRODUCTIONS
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MW12
Men’s Week
WWD THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
Online Men’s Sales Seen Continuing Surge
by ARNOLD J. KARR
E-COMMERCE IS LOOKING more
and more like the tool men needed
to improve upon their fashion game.
The ability to both keep up
with fashion online and buy it
without having to scour through
stores and malls — or even wander far from home or work to return it — has helped propel men’s
wear to one of the fastest-growing
categories in online shopping. For
fashionistas and couch potatoes
alike, it’s addressed male consumers’ needs and wants.
In a study by research firm
IBISWorld of 15 product categories — including men’s and footwear but not women’s or children’s wear — no sector showed
greater growth in online sales
over the last five years, or was expected to show faster expansion
in the next five, than men’s.
Coming off a 17.4 percent compound annual growth rate between
2009 and 2014, raising online men’s
wear sales to $9.6 billion last year,
e-commerce men’s wear is expected to grow at a 14.2 percent clip in
the next five years. Those figures
compare with a 2.8 percent expansion of in-store men’s sales leading
up to 2014 and projected growth
of 3.3 percent a year in brick-andmortar men’s wear sales for the
rest of the decade.
Groceries, a category with less
penetration than apparel, had
both the second-highest CAGR
(16.7 percent) and second-highest
projected CAGR (12.2 percent),
followed by shoes, a category that
grew online at an annual rate of
13.6 percent and is projected to
Share of Online Men’s Wear Sales, 2014
■ Shirts
■ Casual slacks,
jeans and shorts
■ Activewear
14.4%
7.3%
14.6%
6%
■ Accessories
and other
■ Outerwear
and blazers
5%
24.3%
■ Sweaters and
related items
28.4%
■ Suits and
formalwear
SOURCE: IBISWORLD
expand at an 8.3 percent clip in
the five years ahead. While a more
sensitive fit proposition than apparel, footwear has benefited from
many of the same policies that
have helped apparel in general
and men’s wear in particular.
Will McKitterick, retail industry analyst at IBISWorld, noted
that the penetration of grocery
sales online remains lower than ecommerce’s overall penetration of
about 7 percent of total U.S. retail
sales, while apparel’s is comfortably above that level, close to 16
percent, according to estimates.
“Apparel really has moved
to the head of the pack online,”
McKitterick said. “Customers
have warmed up to it, in part because, just as with shoes, retailers
have removed a lot of the obstacles to it by doing things like offer-
ing free delivery and returns without either a fee or any questions.”
In men’s, the appeal in some
ways is even greater than for apparel in general.
“In men’s, much of the sizing
is small-medium-large, which
leaves less room for fit or sizing
problems,” he said. “It might not
be like sunglasses or handbags,
but it’s easier to handle than with
women’s jeans, dresses or skirts.”
Fittingly, so to speak, men’s
shirts have the greatest share of
online men’s wear sales, generating
28.4 percent of men’s wear’s take,
with just about one-fifth of that
amount coming from dress shirts,
which entail neck and sleeve sizing.
Casual slacks, jeans and shorts
are next with 24.3 percent of sales,
followed closely by activewear
at 14.6 percent and accessories
Kiton Opening San Francisco Store
and other items at 14.4 percent.
Blazers and outerwear account for
7.3 percent, sweaters and related
items such as hoodies 6 percent
and the items posing the biggest
fit challenges and requiring the
greatest amount of tailoring attention, suits and formalwear, the
remaining 6 percent.
Rapid growth online has helped
to lift men’s wear’s growth rates
above those of women’s in recent
years, although women’s continues
to outsell men’s in dollars terms by
nearly a two-to-one margin. The
NPD Group in Port Washington,
N.Y., reported that in 2013, the last
calendar year for which figures are
available, retail sales of men’s wear
grew 5.2 percent to $60.8 billion
while women’s wear advanced at a
2.4 percent. (Revised figures for
last year are due out in May.)
But Christian Lunoe, payment
practices leader at ComScore,
which now monitors e-commerce
activity on both computers and mobile devices, noted that apparel and
accessories grew far more rapidly
than online sales overall last year
and were the third fastest-growing
category in the retailing world.
“Growth was about 20 percent
versus 14 percent for retailing
overall,” he said. “Those categories overindex in general and are
among the highest total spend categories in digital, too. And we expect
them to continue to overindex.
“Apparel came out of the gate
strongly and quickly became one
of the top categories in over-
“
APPAREL REALLY HAS MOVED TO THE
HEAD OF THE PACK ONLINE. CUSTOMERS
HAVE WARMED UP TO IT.”
— WILL MCKITTERICK, IBISWORLD
slower 3.7 percent pace to $116.4 billion in retail sales. NPD’s research
showed a 19 percent growth rate
for online men’s wear purchases in
2013, to about $8.5 billion or 14 percent of total sales in the category.
The Department of Commerce
estimated that overall e-commerce sales last year increased
15.4 percent, plus or minus 2.3
percent, to $304.9 billion, accounting for 6.5 percent of total sales,
up from 5.8 percent in 2013. Ten
years ago, that figure was about
Man of
THE WEEK
all spend,” Lunoe continued.
“Retailers have helped — companies like Amazon have provided
return policies that you don’t necessarily see in other categories.”
IBISWorld’s McKitterick sees
men’s wear and online buying as sharing something of a common heritage.
“If you think about it, men’s
wear really started making its
move around the same time e-commerce did, in the years just before
the recession,” he said. “It’s sort of
like they grew up together.”
HANSEL MCDONALD: B+
by JEAN E. PALMIERI
Long, textured hair is the latest trend
for men on the runway. And if you add
a subtle highlight with a good base, it
elevates the retro Seventies vibe.
Imperfections make
you beautiful. His
crooked nose has
made him a legend.
He’s obviously been hitting the
gym to perfectly stage his return.
He might consider adding some
cardio to his strength routine.
If models don’t fit into
samples, they’re nothing.
In fashion, there are two
different types of boys: those
who wear coats in the traditional
way (arms through it) or the
alternative, opting for the
dramatic over-the-shoulder
style. We’re not surprised that
Hansel chose the cape style.
Hansel’s legendary Zoolander walk
and I-don’t-get-out-of-bed-for-lessthan-$10,000 attitude confirms his
status as the number-one male model
in the world. And after a seven-year
hiatus, he brought that swagger to
the Valentino runway in Paris with a
triumphant return earlier this week
beside Zoolander himself, Ben Stiller.
Not every
model can pull
off patterned silk
pajamas. But his
signature stoic gaze
and glowing aura
channel the rich
bohemian eccentric
look necessary to
make it work.
The white Valentino
sneakers are all the
rage and we hope he
gets to keep them.
PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI
Kiton’s men’s and women’s clothing, sportswear, accessories and shoes.
“We decided to open in San Francisco
because it’s our largest market outside New
York City,” said Antonio Paone, president of
Kiton USA.
The store will also offer a limited number of custom surfboards made with Kiton
fabric inlays. The surfboards will be handshaped and glassed by Casey McCrystal, a
California-based surfboard maker who has
produced products for
professional and underground surfers since
1975. The Kiton surfboards will be available
by special order only.
Paone said the company decided to add
this unusual product to
the offering because of
the number of people
on the West Coast who
enjoy the sport. “I’m a
surfer as well,” he said,
acknowledging with a
laugh that, “Of course,”
the first Kiton board
will be his.
Kiton products are
sold at Wilkes Bashford
The 2,500-square-foot unit
and Neiman Marcus
will open later this month.
in San Francisco, but
Paone doesn’t expect
The San Francisco store opening is part the store to impact the company’s wholeof Kiton’s plan to significantly expand its sale business. “We’re anticipating that will
retail presence worldwide over the next help grow our wholesale accounts because
five years, adding some 20 units to the 52 it it will increase brand awareness and show
currently operates. About six will be in key a broader and deeper assortment,” he said.
markets in the U.S. The most recent one
Paone said the store will be Kiton’s
opened last May at the Four Seasons Hotel fourth in the U.S. Later this year, it will
New York, a 500-square-foot location that
add units in Houston in a new part of the
sells only men’s accessories and sportswear. Galleria mall currently under construction,
The San Francisco store will house as well as in Miami.
KITON’S RETAIL rollout is continuing.
The upscale Italian brand will open a
2,500-square-foot store in San Francisco by
the end of the month. The store, at Post Street
and Grant Avenue, is located one block away
from Union Square and will be housed in the
Shreve Building, which was built in 1905 and
survived the 1906 earthquake because of its
then-state-of-the-art engineering.