1. style and fashion

GETTING EVA
EVA MENDES REVEALS PLANS TO EXPAND HER
COLLECTION FOR NEW YORK & CO. PAGE 9
MARC’S
BIG MOVE
MARC JACOBS SAID
FOLDING MARC BY MARC
INTO MAIN COLLECTION.
PAGE 2
DIGITAL BEAUTY: THE WWD DIGITAL BEAUTY FORUM HAD SPEAKERS RANGING
FROM BIRCHBOX TO CLARINS, NET-A-PORTER TO UNILEVER. PAGES 4 TO 6
WWD
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY
Diddy’s New Path
“We’re a true fashion label and this is something we take very seriously. So to make
people miss it, that was my plan,” said Sean “Diddy” Combs about his six-year hiatus from
the fragrance business. Well, now he’s back with a new one geared to Millennials — called
3AM — and a new partner, Parlux. In an exclusive interview on the set of 3AM’s ad shoot,
Diddy talks scents, marketing, partnerships and staying relevant. For more, see page 7.
NEW CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Emilio Pucci Goes Italian:
Taps MSGM’s Giorgetti
By MILES SOCHA
PARIS — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has
netted one of Italy’s contemporary fashion stars and
print wizards — MSGM designer Massimo Giorgetti —
and named him creative director of Emilio Pucci.
Confirming the appointment exclusively to WWD,
LVMH Fashion Group chairman and chief executive
officer Pierre-Yves Roussel said Giorgetti is to join
the Florentine house in April and show his first collection in September during Milan Fashion Week.
“He has that fresh approach to fashion: He loves
color, he’s passionate about Pucci,” Roussel said, hinting that Giorgetti would steer the brand in a younger
Roberto Cavalli SpA Confirms Peter Dundas
As Creative Director. Page 3
direction, dialing down its recent red-carpet orientation. “I think the brand is fundamentally a daywear
brand, with a sporty attitude — fresh and feminine.”
WWD first reported that LVMH had its eye on
Giorgetti in September, when senior managers from
the French luxury giant were spotted at MSGM’s
spring show.
The boyish, ebullient designer is to continue designing his independent, Milan-based MSGM brand,
which posted revenues of $45 million last year, and
shuttle between the two Italian cities.
Beyond his creative prowess, Roussel lauded
Giorgetti’s entrepreneurial and hands-on approach to
the fashion business: “Because he has his own brand,
he knows what it takes.”
As if preparing for his new Pucci assignment,
Giorgetti stripped his fall MSGM collection of the
SEE PAGE 3
The Smartwatch Rush:
Tag Heuer, Gucci Dive In
By SHARON EDELSON and JOELLE DIDERICH
PHOTO BY STEFANIE KEENAN
THE APPLE WATCH IS GOING to have plenty
of competition.
With the Baselworld fair in full swing, smart devices are the talk of the industry — and became even
more so on Thursday thanks to Tag Heuer and Gucci.
Tag Heuer linked with Google and Intel to unveil a partnership to launch one of the first Swiss
smartwatches in the luxury market by year’s end.
Meanwhile, Gucci teamed up with Will.i.am to disclose they are collaborating on a smartband.
Tag Heuer and its partners claim that, together,
they will create a luxury product that seamlessly connects to its wearer’s daily life, with Tag providing the
watchmaking credibility and Google and Intel the
technological prowess.
“Our collaboration provides a rich host of synergies, forming a win-win partnership,” said Jean-Claude
Biver, president of the watch division of LVMH Group
and chief executive officer of Tag Heuer. “The potential for our three companies is enormous.”
“The quality of Swiss watches is renowned worldwide,” said Guy Sémon, general manager of Tag
Heuer. “When this is allied with the creative technology and global power of two companies like Intel and
Google, using the Android Wear platform and based
on Intel technology, we can see the launch of a technological revolution in our industry.”
Earlier in the day, Will.i.am and Gucci president
and ceo Marco Bizzarri revealed they are working together on a smartband, which would be disconnected
from any smartphone.
SEE PAGE 9
2
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015
Sources: Marc by Marc Discontinued
By BRIDGET FOLEY
RUMORS HAVE swirled since
before the New York collections
about possible changes at Marc
Jacobs. Now, those changes are
coming into focus. One big move:
the Marc by Marc Jacobs label
will be discontinued, and that
collection will be absorbed into
the primary Marc Jacobs line.
Sources said the newly expanded, single-label Marc Jacobs
brand will encompass a range of
merchandise and price points
currently divided between the two
lines, from luxury to contemporary. The point, sources indicated,
is not to lessen the product range,
but to unify all products with a
clarity of voice and aesthetic, and
ultimately, to expand the product
offerings, an initiative in development at least since October 2013,
when Jacobs left Louis Vuitton to
focus fully on his own brand, including a possible IPO.
At that time, LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault told WWD,
“The first step is to put in place
the organization, and to complete the business plan, which
requires retail organization, retail investment and more products. These steps have already
started. This will take time,
maybe two or three years, to be
completely in place.”
Staffing ramifications remain
unclear. Marc by Marc Jacobs
is designed by creative director
Katie Hillier and women’s design director Luella Bartley, both
appointed in May 2013. Hillier’s
history with the brand and with
LVMH predates that appointment; she worked with Marc by
Marc Jacobs in various freelance
capacities and elsewhere within
the group for the previous 10 years
and remains highly thought of
within the company.
Also unclear is how the brand’s
current stores, particularly those
in clusters on Bleecker Street in
New York’s West Village and on
Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles,
will be impacted. In 2013, Arnault
cited the need to bolster the
brand’s overall retail presence.
“It’s why we have to invest in the
product, because retail means
some investment,” he said.
“Whether we buy some buildings
or rent some buildings, it’s a substantial investment.…To fill the
stores, especially if the stores are
larger, we need more products. It’s
very simple.…” Arnault added.
Jacobs and Sebastian Suhl,
who took over as chief executive officer of Marc Jacobs in
September, could not be reached
for comment at press time.
Sears Sees REIT Completed by June
By VICKI M. YOUNG
SHARES OF Sears Holdings Corp.
rose 3.2 percent Thursday after
the retailer’s chief financial officer said the company’s plan for a
real estate investment trust is expected to be completed by June 1.
Robert Schriesheim, Sears’
cfo, has taken to blogging on the
corporate Web site in response to
what executives perceive as misconceptions about the retailer’s
business operations.
Shares of Sears closed Thursday
at $41.37 in Nasdaq trading.
The REIT plan, unveiled in
November, calls for the purchase
of 200 to 300 store locations to be
managed as a real estate company
and “would provide cash proceeds
to Sears Holdings in excess of $2
billion, providing us with substantially more financial flexibility to
improve our operations, address
any vendor concerns and meet our
obligations,” Schriesheim said.
While $2 billion would give
Sears some additional financial muscle, how long that lasts
will depend on future cash burn
rates. Further, while the REIT
plan buys Sears more time, it
fails to address the key questions
swirling about the company and
chairman Edward Lampert’s
strategy, including the place of
Sears and Kmart in the modern
retail landscape.
The cfo also said that in the
last three years on a comparable
basis, the company has reduced
fourth-quarter inventory levels for
the quarter ended Jan. 31 by $1.4
billion and its payables by $712
million, noting that the decreases
$41.37
CLOSING SEARS SHARE PRICE
ON THURSDAY.
lower the level of vendor support
and supplier credit needed to run
the business. To be sure, store closures — more than 100 last year
— do reduce inventory needs, and
more closures are likely.
All of the financial maneuvering by Lampert in the past year
has been closely watched by factors, credit analysts and other
executives. One thing is clear: A
completed REIT will buy Sears
probably another year in busi-
ness, but what happens after that
is unclear. Further, some credit
professionals noted that if that
REIT doesn’t happen by June,
the retailer’s third quarter could
become the “tipping point” as to
whether it can survive through
another holiday season.
Factors and other credit professionals over the past few weeks
who are still approving orders
said they are doing so only quarter to quarter since they have
concerns over the uncertainty
surrounding the health of Sears’
balance sheet. Orders for deliveries into the next quarter are put
on hold, or not approved at all,
they said. A few believe that $2
billion doesn’t provide the liquidity that is truly needed, with one
credit specialist stating that Sears
probably needs $3 billion or more
in liquidity. That said, most agree
that the REIT is needed because
“credit with factors is drying up.”
Sears in the past has said only
a fraction of its inventory from
vendors is factored.
The cfo on Thursday reiterated that people who are not looking at the company closely may
have a hard time understanding
what the retailer has been focused on.
DIGITAL BRIEFING BOX
FOR MORE COVERAGE, FIND US ON WWD.COM, SOCIAL AND MOBILE.
On the
runway
at Tenbo.
Michelle
Obama
arriving
in Tokyo
wearing
Kenzo.
WHAT’S POPULAR ON FACEBOOK
This Week on Facebook: Follow us on
Facebook to get the latest from Tokyo
Fashion Week, Michelle Obama’s Asian tour,
and more. For more, see WWD.com.
On the
runway at
A Degree
Fahrenheit.
Model
Maria Borges.
Victoria
Beckham
at amfAR’s
gala in
Hong Kong.
On the streets
at Tokyo Fashion Week.
Vince Shares Drop on Guidance for Year
ALTHOUGH VINCE Holding Corp.
posted a fourth-quarter profit increase, investors weren’t thrilled
with fiscal-year 2015 guidance.
Investors sent shares of
Vince down 16.4 percent to
close at $17.89 in Big Board
trading on Thursday.
For the three months ended
Jan. 31, net income was $10.5 million, or 28 cents a diluted share,
from $582,000, or 2 cents, a year
ago. Net sales rose 7.9 percent to
$94.7 million from $87.8 million.
Comparable-store sales were up
8.7 percent. Wall Street analysts
were expecting 26 cents on sales of
$99 million. The company said the
wholesale segment slipped 0.6 percent to $68.9 million, while the direct-to-consumer operation jumped
39.7 percent to $25.8 million.
The company completed
its initial public offering in
November 2013. Results on a
nonadjusted basis for the same
2013 quarter include items such
as public company transition
costs and the inclusion of the nonVince businesses that were separated upon completion of the IPO.
For the full year, the company
posted net income of $35.7 million, or 93 cents a diluted share,
against a net loss of $27.4 million,
or 98 cents, in 2013. Net sales
gained 18.1 percent to $340.4 million from $288.2 million.
For 2015, the company guided
diluted earnings per share in the
$1.00 to $1.05 range on total net
sales of between $360 million to
$370 million. Wall Street was projecting EPS of $1.14 on sales of
$398.7 million.
Part of that difference is likely due to the wholesale strategy
shifts because of changing order
patterns and omnichannel at retail that executives noted on the
conference call to Wall Street
analysts. Company executives
referred to fiscal year 2015 as a
“transition year.” While Matthew
R. Boss at J.P. Morgan noted that
about 75 percent of revenues are
from the wholesale segment, category extensions in handbags
and footwear do provide some
upside opportunities.
Jill Granoff, chairman and
chief executive officer, said in
a telephone interview the company will continue to “increase
full-price selling in all points of
distribution through the right inventory in the right amount and
at the right place.” She explained
the company will have less promotions in its own stores, adding
that with price-matching available through advances in digital
technology, the company also
plans to “keep our buys tight.”
The company also will have
a new technology platform this
fall that will allow it to provide
a more integrated approach in
marketing to its customer, such
as access to past purchasing patterns and the ability to add or
suggest options to update an existing wardrobe from prior seasons, Granoff said.
— V.M.Y.
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@ WWD.com/social
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WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 3
WWD.COM
’’
New Direction Seen for Pucci Under Giorgetti
designer Julio Espada. The Pucci family has also collaborated with Antonio
Berardi and Stephan Janson in the past.
Today, Pucci counts about 50 boutiques
in the world, plus select department store
doors. Roussel declined to discuss business
targets, saying the immediate focus would be
to modernize and expand the product offer.
Massimo Giorgetti calls this photo of models on the
roof of Palazzo Pucci a “declaration of intention.”
’’
[Massimo Giorgetti]
has that fresh
approach to fashion:
he loves color,
he’s passionate
about Pucci.
— PIERRE-YVES ROUSSEL,
LVMH FASHION GROUP
Massimo
Giorgetti
PHOTO BY DANILO SCARPATI
{Continued from page one}
digital prints that initially caught the
fashion world’s attention, instead employing bold colorblocking in acid shades, 3-D
embroideries and textured fabrics ranging from tinsel to shaggy Mongolian lamb.
The 38-year-old Giorgetti succeeds
Peter Dundas, who spent seven years at
the design helm and is to join Roberto
Cavalli as creative director.
While Giorgetti is part of a new generation of designers positioning their
brands in the contemporary zone, Pucci
is to retain its positioning in the luxury
space, albeit with a younger, more modern attitude, Roussel said.
“He’s very creative, he moves fast and
he has a lot of ideas,” the executive said,
noting the hire was made in tandem with
LVMH’s Delphine Arnault, a key fashion
scout at the luxury group her family controls, and Laudomia Pucci, interim ceo
and daughter of the founding designer.
“Through the appointment of
Massimo Giorgetti, we wish to express
a vision of today’s ever-evolving world
while honoring our Italian roots and luxury lifestyle,” said Laudomia Pucci.
Established in 1947, Emilio Pucci is
one of Italy’s storied jet-set brands of the
Sixties, synonymous with dazzling prints
on silk jersey, which the founder even
applied to skiwear early in his career, pioneering a lifestyle approach to fashion.
Roussel argued that the “sky is the
limit” for the brand given its “joyful”
spirit, legacy of innovation and “protected” nature, with no second line, only one
license — eyewear with Marcolin — and
controlled distribution.
“The codes are so strong, you can do
anything with Pucci,” he asserted, mentioning a 2012 collaboration on makeup
with Guerlain, also controlled by LVMH.
“The brand has kept its integrity.”
LVMH acquired the brand in 2002 for
38 million euros, or $35.9 million at average exchange rates that year, and has
experimented with a variety of designers, including Matthew Williamson and
Christian Lacroix, both predecessors to
Dundas, whom Roussel thanked for “a
successful chapter of the brand.”
Before Lacroix joined Pucci in 2002,
the creative director was American
Giorgetti was not immediately available for comment, but furnished WWD
with a photo by Danilo Scarpati he described as a “declaration of intention.” It
depicts a young man and a young woman
on the roof of the Palazzo Pucci, colorful
scarves knotted over white T-shirts that
Giorgetti likened to “blank paper, a new
story to tell.”
“It really shows that the roots of the
brand are in Florence,” Roussel said of
the photo. “It’s about a real woman and
not a model with three other girls.”
The presence of a man in the photo
does not telegraph an imminent intention to launch men’s wear, Roussel noted,
although the brand has marketed shirts
and accessories for men in the past and
could reenter the category in the future.
Pucci’s decision to tap Giorgetti is
somewhat unusual since this is the
Italian designer’s first experience at the
helm of a luxury label.
Born in Italy’s Emilia Romagna region
in 1977, Giorgetti launched his contemporary MSGM brand in 2008 in collaboration with Italian manufacturing company
Paoloni. He introduced a playful, upbeat
take on women’s and men’s wear hinged
on simple, easy-to-wear silhouettes enlivened by captivating prints and sold at
competitive prices via some 700 wholesale doors worldwide.
Under Dundas, Pucci focused on sexy,
hyper-glamorous eveningwear, earning a
model and “It” girl following including
Poppy Delevingne, Gaia Repossi, Bianca
Brandolini D’Adda and Natasha Poly.
Giorgetti’s point of view is strongly influenced by indie bands like The Strokes
and MGMT and contemporary art, one
of the designer’s biggest passions — notwithstanding Pane, his cute Jack Russell
terrier forever underfoot in his office.
Cavalli Confirms Peter Dundas Appointment
By LUISA ZARGANI
MILAN — Florence continues to
beckon Peter Dundas.
On Thursday, Roberto Cavalli
SpA appointed Dundas as the
Florence-based company’s new
creative director, confirming speculation reported by WWD as far
back as October. The Norwegian
designer had been the artistic director of Emilio Pucci, also based
in Florence, since 2008.
Dundas’ first collection for
Cavalli will bow in Milan in
September.
“This is a homecoming for
me. It is an honor for me to continue to evolve the wonderful
world of Roberto Cavalli, and I
am very excited by the possibilities and potential of this unique
brand. I cannot wait to get started,” said Dundas, who worked
with Cavalli and his wife, Eva as
head designer from 2002 to 2005.
The Cavallis said choosing
Dundas stemmed from “the desire to evolve a style that combines glamour, tradition and innovation, recognized worldwide
as the signature of Cavalli since
the birth of the house.”
Asked about the future of the
designing couple, a spokeswom-
an said the Cavallis “will continue to supervise the respect of
the brand’s style and support the
relaunch of the company guaranteeing continuity with the past.”
The announcement comes as
Roberto Cavalli, owner of the
brand, is negotiating the sale
of a majority stake in his company to Italian private equity
firm Clessidra SGR SpA. The
deal should be completed at the
end of this month or early April,
chief executive officer Daniele
Corvasce said in February before the Just Cavalli show.
Dundas cut his teeth working behind the scenes at Jean
Paul Gaultier and Christian
Lacroix. His first major solo appointment came in 2005 when
he was named artistic director
at Ungaro. After Ungaro, the
designer consulted for Dolce &
Gabbana before being appointed creative director of French
furrier Revillon in January
2008. Known for his luxury
Boho, Seventies, rock-sexy designs and knack with prints,
Dundas’ sensibility is perceived
to be in sync with Cavalli’s own
feminine and head-turning
looks, animal prints and bodyhugging silhouettes that have
long been red-carpet mainstays.
Ken Downing, senior vice
president and fashion director of Neiman Marcus, said
“Dundas’ understanding of supersexy, exotic, rock-’n’-roll-infused fashion makes his return
to Roberto Cavalli the perfect
pairing of designer and brand.”
Tiziana Cardini, fashion director at La Rinascente, agreed,
viewing Dundas’ return to Cavalli
as a “great fit,” since the designer’s “very sensual style is perfect for the brand.” She also said
Dundas has a “certain star power
himself, a personal glamour that
can add strength to the brand and
make it more appealing.”
Dundas is no stranger to
the party circuit, and is frequently spotted on the arms of
“It” girls and models including
Natasha Poly, Poppy Delevingne
or Bianca Brandolini D’Adda,
echoing Cavalli’s own flamboyant lifestyle and star-studded events on his yacht at the
Cannes Film Festival.
Dundas will be responsible
for the creative direction of
the women’s and men’s readyto-wear and accessories collections, as well as all licenses. He
will also be directly involved in
the marketing and communication strategies of the brand.
Sources say once the Clessidra
deal is completed, Cavalli will retain a 10 percent stake in the firm
he founded in 1970. Clessidra is
paying around 400 million euros,
or $423.5 million at current exchange, for the 90 percent interest.
As reported, the Cavalli company ended 2014 with a decline
in profits but gains in revenues,
blaming socioeconomic gyrations,
declines in the wholesale channel and financial troubles hitting
190
NUMBER OF CAVALLI GROUP’S
MONOBRAND STORES.
a licensee. The firm reported unaudited earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and amortization of 14.8 million euros, or $19.6
million, down 33.9 percent compared with the previous year.
Without taking into consideration extraordinary items
connected to the devaluation of
credits from licensees and nonrecurring costs, EBITDA would
have risen 8.9 percent to 24.4
million euros, or $32.4 million.
— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM ALESSANDRA TURRA
In the 12 months ended Dec.
31, sales rose 4.2 percent to 209.4
million euros, or $278.5 million.
Dollar figures were converted from the euro at average exchange rates for the periods to
which they refer.
While in 2014, negotiations
with Permira and later VTB
Capital, part of Russian investment bank VTB Group, never resulted in a sale, market sources
expect the deal with Clessidra
will finally take place. Upon
completion, Clessidra executive vice chairman Francesco
Trapani, former chairman of
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis
Vuitton’s watches and jewelry
division, will become president
of the Cavalli company. Clessidra
first looked at the Cavalli books
in 2009, but talks broke down
over the value of the company.
At the time, sources said Cavalli
was looking to sell for an amount
that would value his firm at 1 billion euros, or $1.25 billion.
The Cavalli group counts
190 monobrand stores, of which
91 are Roberto Cavalli and 54
are Just Cavalli. The remaining units are 28 Cavalli Class
and 17 Roberto Cavalli Junior.
A directly operated store will
open in Houston in September
and a unit in Hong Kong will
open in June. There are also 12
Cavalli Clubs and Cavalli Caffès
around the world.
4
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015
BEAUTY SUMMITS
beauty
Digitizing Beauty
In a world where online space increasingly plays a critical role in most companies’
businesses, experts came together at WWD’s Digital Beauty Forum to talk strategies.
KATHY O’BRIEN, UNILEVER
The growth of digital has transformed
the power of marketing from brands
to the consumer. “What happens in
the boardroom no longer stays in the
boardroom,” said Kathy O’Brien, vice
president of marketing services and
skin at Unilever.
“It is no longer about campaigns, it
is about continuous engagement and
building one-on-one relationships,” she
said, noting that consumers spend more
than an hour a day on Facebook and
Instagram.
Unilever realized there was a massive opportunity on YouTube, a channel
she said is underutilized in beauty, for
its portfolio of hair brands. Unilever’s
All Things Hair YouTube channel,
which, to date has generated 6.5 million
views, uses Google data to get real-time
DAVID OLSEN,
NET-A-PORTER
Fifteen years ago, people told Natalie
Massenet that no one would ever buy fashion online because it needs to be tried on.
It’s a good thing she didn’t listen.
“This issue is still relevant to beauty,” said David Olsen, global vice president of beauty at Net-a-porter. He added
that 6 to 10 percent of all beauty purchases are online, and a good portion of
that is replenishment.
But according to Olsen, beauty at
Net-a-porter has been a huge success.
The company beat its first-year forecast
by 40 percent and tripled its business in
its second year.
Olsen touched on five key points that
have helped the company flourish including: Having a clear vision, merging content with commerce, creating a digital
beauty counter, offering superior customer service and being current and relevant.
When launching beauty, the company
decided to not discount, which is con-
David Olsen
insights on what people were searching
about hair (there are more than 11 billion hair searches per year), Unilever
was able to pass that information on
to vloggers to produce videos featuring
Toni & Guy, VO5 and Dove.
People aren’t just visiting Facebook
or Twitter anymore, either, she said,
noting there’s 300 million people using
Instagram globally on a monthly basis
and one million using Snapchat every
month around the world. Unilever has
already tapped the power of apps, responding in real time to girls’ posts on
Snapchat as part of its self-esteem campaign. These applications remove the
friction out of buying, such as “buy it”
buttons. “The widespread adoption of
buy-it-now links will transform marketing as we know it,” she predicted.
Thinking mobile first is an initiative
at Unilever. “People are on a mobile
device 194 minutes a day,” she said.
“Seventy-five percent of beauty sites are
mobile-optimized and account for onethird of paid research clicks.”
A major adjustment retailers will
have to make is how to counter the
growth of online, which she said could
hit 20 percent of business by 2020.
where users uploaded photos of
themselves wearing their favorite lipstick shades and tagged the
posts. Lancôme used the photos
in e-mail marketing campaigns,
livestreamed them to a landing
page on the Web site and more.
“The opportunity is in the
willingness of the consumer
to cocreate your brand,” said
Alessio Rossi, vice president
of interactive marketing and ecommerce for Lancôme Paris.
In a few months, Lancôme
will launch a new product in the
U.S. that is already available in
some European countries. “[The
product] is the second-most
searched term on the U.S. Web
site,” said Rossi, “without us
telling anything about it.”
KATIA BEAUCHAMP,
BIRCHBOX
stantly found online. “It ruins your margins, commoditizes your product, and
attracts the discount seeker who isn’t
loyal to your site,” Olsen said.
In terms of content and commerce,
Olsen has built credibility by featuring products they don’t sell on the site.
“In a digital world, your product pages
are your beauty counter,” Olsen said.
Net-a-porter shoots all of its products
and how-to videos in house, includes a
full list of ingredients and displays the
product in multiple. “We have three
million views per month on videos
and 80 percent of them are watched
from the beginning to end,” he added.
This year, Net-a-porter launched
Beauty Chat, which became a huge revenue center for the site.
The last element he touched on was
underutilization of visual merchandisers. “[Our merchandisers] integrate
beauty and fashion on product pages,”
he said. “Because, for us, it’s about
completing the look.”
For Katia Beauchamp, cofounder and cochief executive officer of Birchbox, digital
is a key driver behind her business’ success.
“We think of ourselves as a platform
that sits between companies and consumers,” said Beauchamp of her business, cofounded with her Harvard business school classmate Hayley Barna.
Birchbox’s more than 800,000 subscribers receive a box monthly containing
samples of beauty products.
Within two months of its founding, Birchbox was in all 50 states, said
Beauchamp, and in 2012, the brand expanded to France, Spain and the U.K.,
as well as in to men’s products. In 2014,
Birchbox added Canada and Belgium to
that list. In July, the retailer opened its
first brick-and-mortar location in New
York City’s SoHo neighborhood.
Beauchamp noted that Internet shopping is inherently challenging for beauty
companies. “Beauty is a category that consumers want to touch and try and feel,”
she noted. “But the Internet still lacks the
ability to really experience the product.”
That observation spurred Beauchamp
and Barna to recognize a problem — and
a market opportunity. “You get a box
monthly of four to five products geared to
you, and we create content to teach you
about those products, then make the path
to purchase seamless by going to birchbox.com. We are the retailer you buy
the product from.” In fact, 30 percent of
Birchbox’s revenues come from full-size
product sales, Beauchamp said.
The data Birchbox collects also helps
make marketing efforts by companies more
transparent, she said. “You can really make
a splash without spending a lot of money
and be able to measure the outcome [of
it],” she said. “We measure everything, and
share it with our brands — we can tell you
what this asset generated in ROI [return
on investment].” The Birchbox consumer’s
median age is about 30, said Beauchamp,
with a high household income and living in
an urban area. That customer is also highly
engaged in social media, which contributes
to the 500 million monthly impressions on
birchbox.com and social media.
— JAYME CYK
— JULIE NAUGHTON
— FAYE BROOKMAN
ALESSIO ROSSI, LANCÔME, AND NICOLE TIBERIA, OLAPIC
In four years, the number of
Instagram users skyrocketed to
300 million. Each day, 70 million
photos are uploaded to the platform. In a year, that totals 26 billion images.
“We can’t turn a blind eye to
[the intense velocity of consumer
content] and, certainly, consumers
are demanding more,” said Nicole
Tiberia, director of brand strategy,
beauty and luxury at Olapic.
Brands now understand the
power of user-generated content
and how it can be utilized in visual marketing. According to an
Olapic study, 63 percent of people prefer and trust consumer
photos over brand photos.
Lancôme started a social campaign called #LancômeLovesLips,
Katia
Beauchamp
It doesn’t stop with social.
“One area that we anticipate
really picking up speed is syndication,” she said. “A brand like
Lancôme is taking their content
and sharing it with retailers.
“The more you take the content that is generated and display it across the touch-points,
then you increase the chances
of keeping consumers engaged,”
Rossi said.
Moving forward, Tiberia also
expects brands to feature usergenerated content more prominently on their Web sites. She
added, “Having user-generated
content front and center says,
‘We believe in our user, we love
to celebrate them.’”
— ANNA DYSINGER
Nicole Tiberia and Alessio Rossi
ALL PHOTOS BY PATRICK MACLEOD
Kathy O’Brien
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 5
WWD.COM
Aurélie
Brisac
AURÉLIE BRISAC,
CLARINS
When Clarins rapidly built out its
global Web presence beginning in
2010 — the brand launched 18 sites
in just as many months — Aurélie
Brisac, Clarins global digital marketing director, learned some valuable
lessons about one of the world’s biggest consumer markets, China.
“The first was just the simple fact
that the e-commerce beauty category
exists and could be applied to Clarins
brands,” said Brisac during her
on-stage conversation at the WWD
Digital Beauty Forum with Molly
Prior, financial beauty editor at WWD.
There was a caveat, though. Clarins’
global investment — its sites — had
local limits, especially in China.
One key to success in that country
is “guanxi” or relationships — in this
case, with its retail partners. That
meant setting up a shop on TaoBao
Tmall, a digital retail marketplace
that, according to Brisac, represents
85 percent of the online transactions
in China. “If you go on the site, you
would be scared because it’s shiny,
there’s information all over the place
all the time,” she said. “But Tmall 100
percent respects the brand’s image
and its DNA. There is no risk of damaging the online image because you
manage your own boutique.”
FRANCISCO GIMENEZ,
ESALON
Seventy-five percent of women color
their hair, but many relying on boxed
colors aren’t pleased with the results,
noted Francisco Gimenez, chief executive officer and cofounder of eSalon.
Francisco
Gimenez
Gimenez, who helped launch
Pricegrabber.com, set out to create
a technology that enhances the athome experience. “I stumbled upon
the world of hair color, where there is
a huge gap between people who use
a box because it is convenient — but
they are not happy — and those who
PARHAM AARABI,
MODIFACE
According to Parham Aarabi, founder and chief executive officer of
ModiFace, virtual makeovers lead
to selfies, which boost
e-commerce sales.
Aarabi, who shared
myriad advancements
in virtual makeover
tools at WWD’s Digital
Beauty Forum, noted
that going beyond the
traditional sample
shade swatches spurs
multiple sales. “There
isn’t strong motivation to use a new
product and sharing
doesn’t happen that
often [with swatches]. Sharing is important because
it gauges how excited people are
about products.”
To that end, when a model is more
relatable to the customer, conversion rises. But when a user sees her
own face, sales really start clicking.
MARITA BURKE AND
DOROTHY “DOT” GROUIOS,
MECCA BRANDS
Meanwhile, the company has in
effect created two businesses in
China — clarins.com and its Tmall
boutique — with their customers divided between the two. “We have difficulties converting Tmall consumers
into clarins.com consumers.”
Also playing a major role in the
Clarins China strategy is the social
media platform WeChat. The company aims to use it as an “omnichannel”
to reach Chinese customers in China,
but equally as important, Chinese
customers outside of China. “The
Chinese are traveling, and that population [traveling and using WeChat] is
interesting because we know they’re
young, and Clarins needs to recruit a
younger customer.”
— CRYSTAL MARTIN
are pleased with the salon experience
but don’t like the time it takes and the
expense,” explained Gimenez.
On eSalon, which launched in 2010,
customers complete online profiles answering questions such as eye and hair
color. The input is used to develop a
formula personalized for them right
down to their name on the package. One
of eSalon’s 90,000 combinations is then
shipped to their home, complete with
everything needed to mimic the salon
environment such as directions, professional-grade gloves, an applicator brush
and the proper shampoos — all for $20.
Despite all the right moves, eSalon’s early growth was at a slow pace.
A bit of detective work helped eSalon
find blogs and content that helped
women learn how to color better at
home that they could tie to their site.
“That helped engage the consumer
and get them to buy a brand they had
never heard of before,” he said.
There are now more than 130,000
clients with average repurchase
every six weeks. The company expects to produce more than 1.3 million applications in 2015.
At-home dissatisfaction with
boxes isn’t endemic to the U.S.,
Gimenez noted, adding eSalon just
expanded to the U.K.
— F.B.
“If people upload a photo, they will
try new products and complete the
look,” he said, referring to a higher
incidence of multiple purchases.
Research shows that adding just the
model’s face boosts conversion rates
by 16 percent. “But when
you add the model images and the ability for
a user to upload a photo,
the sharing rate becomes
substantially higher. It’s
over 10 percent and conversions become over 15
percent,” Aarabi said.
So how does ModiFace
take it further?
“If you watch people
near a kiosk, 95 percent
Parham
will look, but the numAarabi
ber who uses the kiosk
is 20 percent,” Aarabi
said. ModiFace is proposing a camera
that scans a consumers’ face as soon
as they glance at it. Within seconds
their complexion, hair and eye color
are analyzed to suggest looks. Aarabi
declared, “I believe this will be gamechanging for retailers.”
— F.B.
at prices and how they had to be on parity
as much as possible with global prices, as
well as refining its Web sites. Mecca is now
within 15 percent of U.S. prices on global
While the retailer isn’t a pure-play e-com- brands even though the market is 50 permerce or digital retailer, the vastness of the cent more expensive than the U.S. market,
Australian landscape and consumers’ increas- Burke said. New customer acquisition has
ing desire to shop online is making Mecca more than doubled, averaging 34 percent
even more laser-focused on its online strategy. over the last three years, she said.
The retailer also had what Burke calls “a
“Australia is a very funny market,” said
Marita Burke, head of marketing, brands and call to arms” regarding customer capture,
buying for Mecca Brands, which operates on going on a massive data effort to be able to
three cylinders — Mecca Cosmetica, Mecca market as directly as possible. It worked:
Maxima and Kit Cosmetics. “Our reputation Customer capture went from 73 percent to 95
far outweighs our size. With a geographical percent, said Burke, bringing an additional
land space equivalent to the United States, 400,000 customers into the Mecca fold. Next,
our population tips in at about the size of the retailer formed a focus group from its daFlorida, and this population is largely populat- tabase, dubbing them the Circle of Expertise.
ed across five or six key cities. Shipping is very “And 200,000 beauty consumers became the
architects of our strategic response to this
difficult and timely shipping is even harder.”
digital coup d’etat,”
Digital has comBurke said. Key depletely revolutionsires emerged: Fair
ized the Australian
and transparent pricbeauty landscape
ing, an omnichannel
over the past sevloyalty program that
eral years, Burke
bridged all Mecca
said. And Burke
formats and one uniand Dorothy “Dot”
fied beauty Web site
Grouios, head of digirather than the three
tal for Mecca Brands,
Marita Burke and Dorothy “Dot” Grouios
that already existed.
were refreshingly
The three sites
frank in admitting
that there have been speed bumps along the were merged and became mecca.com.au in
way. “In 2010, Australia and Mecca hit the late 2014. Grouios and her team focused on
perfect storm,” Burke said. “The Australian streamlining and improving search funcdollar, almost overnight, hit parity with the tionality, offering the ability to zoom in on
U.S. dollar. Overnight, Australia became one products, creating searchable and shareof the most expensive markets on the globe able wish lists, as well as making the site
to purchase beauty. Buying internationally more editorial in feel. Behind-the-scenes
suddenly became 50 percent cheaper than videos, trend reports and articles became
buying beauty locally, and suddenly, 20 per- part of the Web site’s landscape, as did putcent of the beauty business had gone off- ting the ability to live chat with a beauty
adviser on every page. Grouios noted that
shore to international sites.”
Adapting involved leveraging Mecca’s customers are now spending an average of
considerable strengths — a database of six-and-a-half minutes per session on the
more than a million customers stretch- site, up about 25 percent over last year. As
ing back to the company’s 1997 founding, a result of these changes, said Grouios, onproduct exclusives in Australia, a national line traffic is up 105 percent, conversion is
footprint, three Web sites and local market up 7 percent and sales are up 110 percent.
knowledge. It also required a sharp look
— J.N.
ALICIA YOON,
PEACH AND LILY
In order to sell Korean beauty
products, it’s imperative to understand the culture. “An industry is
only going to be as competitive as
your consumers are demanding,”
declared Alicia Yoon, cofounder
and chief executive officer of
Peach and Lily, a Web site that
exclusively sells beauty products
from Korea and Japan.
Yoon explained that her company curates Korean and Japanese beauty products,
while distributing these brands to retailers
like Urban Outfitters and Space NK. She
noted Peach and Lily will soon launch its
brands at Sephora, Target and QVC.
“We look at the formulations and ingredients and interview the brands and R&D [research and development] teams to make sure
John Sheldon and Linda Wells
LINDA WELLS, ALLURE,
AND JOHN SHELDON,
MASTERCARD LABS
In Allure’s view, there is a point where
editorial content meets commerce, and the
digital universe makes that intersection all
the more seamless.
That’s the thinking behind Allure magazine’s collaboration with MasterCard Labs,
which aims to streamline the process of
flipping through the pages of a magazine for
inspiration and making a purchase.
“We want people to act on their impulse,”
said editor in chief Linda Wells during a
these products are very highquality when we bring them
Stateside,” Yoon said. “Also, any
product that we curate needs
to be visible in Korea’s digital
ecosystem and have to have at
least three psychographics conducting intense conversations
around these products.”
She added, “In Korea, especially the smaller companies,
Alicia Yoon
they tend to develop a product
with a rich enough story to target different psychographics.”
She gave the example of Snail Cream,
which is targeted to teens. “We also saw
women in their 30s and 40s who are heavy
information-seekers start to talk about it,”
Yoon said. “It was two very different communities talking about this on very different platforms across different social media
channels.”
— J.C.
presentation with MasterCard Labs called
“Beauty Meets Tech: How to Shortcut,
Streamline and Spark the Path to Purchase.”
In Wells’ view, “Connecting that content to
commerce is where the magic happens.”
She noted Allure has found the average
woman searches more than seven sources
of beauty information before she buys.
“That moment of impulse actually vanishes,” she said.
John Sheldon, senior vice president and
group head of innovation management of
MasterCard Labs, demonstrated the Shop
This button on the digital version of Allure
and its Web site. It allows the product to “be
there right at the moment of impulse.” All
shoppable items, despite what vendor is
selling them, are then placed in the same
shopping cart and purchased with one
checkout. Wells and Sheldon said the “shop
this” functionality could one day extend to
the ads found in Allure. “We know consumers look at ads for inspiration,” Wells said.
Readers-turned-shoppers can research the
products through Allure’s editorial features.
— MOLLY PRIOR
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015
WWD.COM
beauty
Tommy Bahama Launches Island Life
By JULIE NAUGHTON
BEAUTY SUMMITS
TOMMY BAHAMA is about
to add a new island to its
holdings — Island Life, a
fragrance masterbrand
beginning to roll out now.
“Tommy Bahama
Island Life invites a
young, active constituency of consumers to
leave everything else
behind, imagining what
it would be like to never
leave the beach, play all
day and walk all night
under the stars,” said
Rob Goldberg, senior vice
president of marketing at The Island Life masterbrand.
Tommy Bahama.
Perfumers Frank Voelkl and
The brand’s focus on younger
consumers, an effort that began Ilias Ermenidis of Firmenich conwith 2013’s Tommy Bahama for cocted both eaux de parfum. The
Men and 2014’s Compass, has women’s scent includes top notes
helped contribute to steady of juicy pear, sparkling mandarin
growth. According to Parlux, and star anise; a heart of white
the brand’s fragrance licensee, rose, peony and peach blossom
sales of Tommy Bahama have blooms, and a drydown of vanilla
grown at an average of 30 per- bean, sandalwood and musk. The
cent a year, with the brand men’s juice has top notes of crisp
growing 37 percent year to date. bergamot, artemisia and tarra-
Courtney Jerden
COURTNEY JERDEN, PRIV
Priv isn’t just another on-demand
beauty company hoping to attract
an array of consumers strapped
for time. The beauty booking app
combines instant gratification
with personalization.
“Priv is trying to create a
lifestyle,” said Courtney Jerden,
executive vice president of Priv.
Unlike other booking apps,
Priv allows consumers to select their stylist. Also, they can
read reviews and view images
of the professional. Jerden
noted one of Priv’s professionals is up 40 percent in repeat
appointments because of the
relationships that have been
created with the clients.
But how does an app evolve?
According to Jerden, Priv
is exploring adding product
to purchase on the app. “We
hope to put product within
our recipes whether it’s a direct click through to purchase
the product or a direct click
to order the product via Priv,”
she noted. “Or the next time
you Priv a service, the stylist
will bring a product straight to
their doorstep.”
Blowouts, manicures and
massages are top categories
for Priv, but that could change
at any minute since they just
added men’s grooming and
spray tanning.
“Is on demand just a shortlived trend?” Jerden asked the
audience. “It’s a long-lasting
trend that’s shaping our lifestyle consumer. If you can get
the service and product now,
why would you ever wait for it
in the future?”
— J.C.
Inter Parfums SA Acquires Rochas
By JENNIFER WEIL
JERDEN AND CHOI PHOTOS BY PATRICK MACLEOD
Grace
Choi
GRACE CHOI, MINK
Come summer, consumers will
be able to print makeup from
the comfort of their homes
with Mink, a desktop printer
that produces cosmetics.
“It can take any image and instantly transform it into a wearable color cosmetic, turning any
phone, camera or laptop into an
endless beauty aisle,” said Grace
Choi, founder of Mink. “Instead
of dyeing paper, it dyes powder.”
Using a $79 HP 6100 ink-jet
printer, food-grade edible ink
and the technology she built,
Choi can print eye shadow,
blush, brow powder and more
just by selecting a color on a
computer. By adding different
mixing mediums, the printer
can also create categories like
lipsticks and nail polish.
“We’re also working very
hard on a consumer version
and hope to start taking preorders this summer for our beta
kit,” she said. “The kit will in-
clude a printer, ink cartridges
and substances, which are cosmetic grade.” The cost? $200.
Choi envisions a young girl
watching her favorite beauty
vlogger talk about a new eye
shadow shade. Wanting to try it
herself, the girl pauses the video,
selects the color and then clicks
print. In a matter of seconds, the
eye shadow is ready to use.
“I believe new and interesting digital applications specifically for makeup printing will
materialize, such as a virtual
makeup try-on app that allows
you to print out the entire desired look with the press of a
button,” she said. “The ‘buyit-now’ button turns into the
‘print-it-now’ button.”
While she originally came
up with the product to target
younger women, Choi has seen
a diverse audience take interest.
Choi added, “It turns out,
young women and more mature
women are all digitally savvy.”
— ANNA DYSINGER
gon; a heart of geranium and
nutmeg, and a drydown of patchouli, cedarwood, vetiver
and ambrox. The women’s
bottles feature a gold hammered cap intended to
evoke a piece of jewelry,
while the glass men’s
bottle evokes the texture
of rattan, intended to pay
homage to the rustic, natural state of island living,
noted Don Loftus, president of Parlux.
The women’s scents
will retail for $60 for 1.7
oz. and $78 for 3.4 oz.
The men’s fragrances
are priced at $54 for 1.7
oz. and $70 for 3.4 oz.
The scents are rolling
out to about 1,000 department and
specialty store doors in the U.S.,
including Macy’s, Belk, Dillard’s,
Tommy Bahama stores nationwide and tommybahama.com.
While Goldberg and Loftus
declined comment on projected
sales, industry sources estimated that the new masterbrand
could do $8 million at retail in
its first year on counter.
PARIS — Inter Parfums SA is
the latest beauty company to
take a gamble on fashion.
The firm said Thursday that
it is acquiring the Rochas fashion and fragrance business from
Procter & Gamble Co., as the
consumer products giant rethinks its place in beauty overall.
Philippe Benacin, chairman
and chief executive officer of
Inter Parfums SA, confirmed the
transaction and purchase price
of $108 million.
The deal marks a first step
into fashion for the Paris-based
subsidiary of Inter Parfums Inc.
of New York, whose stable of
licensed fragrance brands includes Montblanc, Jimmy Choo
and Van Cleef & Arpels.
Benacin said the Rochas
acquisition would “open up
new opportunities in terms of
creativity as well as aesthetic
design and marketing choices.
It will also allow us to apply a
point stopped manufounded his house in
facturing the Thierry
the Thirties. Following
Mugler fashion brand
his death in 1955, the
(that has since been
company dismantled its
revived) to focus on its
fashion operation, opthit fragrances.
ing to concentrate on
Benacin said the
fragrance. It launched
Rochas fashion comscents such as Madame
ponent is “very imporRochas,
Monsieur
tant” and will remain.
Rochas, Eau de Rochas
He also explained Eau
and Audace.
de Rochas and Rochas
German cosmetics
Men will be kept the
giant Wella purchased
same, while the rest of
Rochas in the late
the fragrance portfolio
Eighties and resuris to be reconsidered,
rected the fashion as
with scents like Femme,
an image machine. But
Madame and Tocade
Irish designer Peter
possibly being updated.
O’Brien, on whom the
Rochas in 2014 reghouse called in 1989,
istered net sales of $46
failed to generate buzz.
million, bolstered priOlivier Theyskens sucmarily by the Eau de
ceeded O’Brien in 2003. Les Cascades
Rochas fragrance line.
Despite critical acclaim, de Rochas
That includes $2 milP&G, which inherited
Rochas that year as part of its lion of royalties generated by
purchase of Wella, recognized licensee agreements for Rochas
fashion wasn’t a core competency fashion and accessories.
Benacin said: “Under Inter
and closed the then money-losing
Parfums’ scope, we could genRochas fashion business in 2006.
erate approximately 25 million
euros [or $26.8 million at current exchange] of sales in 2016.”
The Rochas acquisition, expected to close in the first half
of this year, will be payable in
cash and financed through a
medium-term loan.
Boutique investment firm
Ohana & Co. advised P&G on
the sale of the Rochas fashion
At the time, a P&G spokes- and beauty activities.
Inter Parfums SA has been
woman said: “Running a fashion business in terms of the particularly open to acquisidistribution chain requires tions since the March 2013 terspecific skills. We had to make mination of the Burberry beauty
license agreement.
tough choices.”
The Rochas sale comes as P&G
Rochas subsequently reintroduced fashion again and today, is slimming down to focus on more
Alessandro Dell’Acqua is the profitable brands. Thirty-five of
those have already been sold,
house’s creative director.
Other beauty companies that and sources said the company is
have struggled with fashion weighing a potential initial pubinclude L’Oréal, which bought lic offering of its beauty business,
Lanvin in 1994 and sold it in which also includes brands such
2001 after attempting to engi- as Olay and SK-II. The Wella busineer a makeover miracle and ness is reportedly being shopped
with the stated aim to continue around, and Frédéric Fekkai is
“refocusing on its core beauty said to be looking to buy back his
business.” Groupe Clarins at one luxury hair-care brand.
Historically, it’s been difficult for
companies with a beauty focus to
successfully run fashion labels.
global approach to managing a
fragrance brand boasting a very
high name recognition and without time constraints.”
He told WWD: “Rochas was a
major brand of the French fragrance industry. I think [it has]
ingredients to do well.”
That, Benacin explained, includes its fashion component. Yet
historically, it’s been difficult for
companies with a beauty focus to
successfully run fashion labels.
The Rochas fashion brand
has been shuttered numerous
times in the past. Marcel Rochas,
a couturier known for his feminine silhouettes and for inventing a bustier, called the guêpière,
PHOTO BY JOHN AQUINO
6
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 7
WWD.COM
Diddy’s New Day: Combs Reenters Fragrance
By MARCY MEDINA
The 3AM scent.
every few months to stay relevant or
flush — but it can’t hurt.
“I think his track record is going to
drive this new fragrance,” said Gerry
Philpott, chief executive officer of E-Poll
Market Research, whose clients include
fashion and beauty firms looking to assess the marketability of various celebrities. “He’s like Oprah in a way, with businesses in different areas. He has market
stability and can get people to spend
money, and in a market that’s so up and
down, that’s invaluable. [3AM] may not
set the world on fire, but people will
try it. If they like it, it’ll underscore his
image as a multifaceted mogul, not just a
single entity.”
Combs — never one to doubt his talents — naturally insists his timing is right.
’’
’’
For me, it was important to take a break
from celebrity persona fragrances, because
we were kind of jumbled up with them.
— SEAN “DIDDY” COMBS
founder of trend forecasting and brand
consultant firm Trendera. “It used to be
we had so few access points to [celebrities] that you bought anything you could,
which is why so many of those fragrances
were so successful. These days, you have
more access to celebrities than you probably want, and if you are buying their
fragrance, it’s not because you want to
smell like them, it’s because you believe
there’s more to them. With Sean, you believe he’s a smart businessman, and if
he’s coming out with a new fragrance it’s
because he knows something about the
business. Young people might think he’s
rich and enduring and has a lot going on,
so they’re going to suss it. Are they going
to put down $70 for it? Maybe not, but
their older brother might.”
Combs still helms his record label
Bad Boy Records, now a division of
Universal Music Group, and Sean John
has licensed products in 17 categories
with exclusive distribution in Macy’s that
tallies annual retail sales of more than
$500 million. He ranked No. 31 on 2014’s
Forbes Most Powerful Celebrities list and
had earnings of $60 million. Certainly he
doesn’t need to pump out a new perfume
fragrances that don’t take you out of the
mood.” With notes of bergamot (one of
Combs’ favorites, also in his last two fragrances), mandarin [orange], orange blossom, cardamom, geranium and fig leaf,
3AM has a unisex appeal that Combs says
will be part of the marketing plan.
When asked about some of his peers
whose fragrances have floundered, Combs
notes, “It depends on who the artist is and
if that’s their passion. This is my passion,
but sometimes you need to not go there
because you don’t want to get associated
with it, and I’m not just talking about celebrities, I’m talking about a gimmick. So
if the gimmick is say, black, I wouldn’t
want to do anything black.”
Indeed, the rectangular bottle and
its contents are crystal clear with nary
a logo in sight. The number three is subtly indicated in the sculptural, blocklike
patterns in the glass. “These to me are
different chambers of your emotions,”
he said of the design. “Everything I tried
with ‘3AM’ on it took away from the bottle.” The fragrance comes in two sizes, 50
ml/1.7 oz. eau de toilette for $55 and a 100
ml/3.4 oz. for $70. The collection also includes aftershave pour, shower gel, aftershave balm and a deodorant stick.
Jacavi Beauty Group holds the fragrance’s license for and is the manufacturer. Estée Lauder Cos., which dropped
the license after the first two scents, declined to comment, but sources said the
beauty giant was no longer confident in
its ability to ring in sales. But Combs
stuck with Lauder executive Diana
Espino, who has been global vice president of marketing and brand development at Parlux since 2012.
In typical Combs-ian fashion, he is upbeat about starting fresh. The man who
at one time seemed to change his name
every time he had a new record — or
girlfriend — has always been focused
on looking forward, not pondering what
might have caused him to fail in the past.
He also has always been able to spin a
tale exalting his accomplishments.
“I think we have a new contemporary
take, a Millennial take, on what a fragrance is supposed to smell and look like.
I think a lot of people are stuck in the
old age right now,” he said. “This will be
the first fragrance launched correctly in
the social media age. This will be social
by design. This will not be linear TV and
print and outdoor ads. We will start socially and push everything up.” The marketing plan includes interactive displays
“Everything I do is about whether I feel it,
you know? Right now, this is the type of energy that I’m feeling and that I want men
and women to experience,” he said. “3 a.m.
is like, not a regular person’s time. It is for
me, so I just want to share with people another level of freedom and truth that you
have at 3 a.m. Anything can happen.”
That name might be a hard sell for
another personality, but retailers liked
it, according to Donald Loftus, president of Parlux Ltd. “Frankly, I was concerned about how to present the name
and what it means,” Loftus said. “But the
Macy’s team said, ‘God, I love that.’ Even
22-year-olds loved it. So any fear that
the customer won’t understand what it
means is unfounded.”
For the commercial, Combs wanted to
convey “a little bit more fantasy and a little
bit more sensuality. Without giving anything
away, it’s very sensual, it’s very bad, it’s very
provocative.” A glimpse at the storyboards
on sets reveals a plotline in which walls are
literally broken and a beautiful woman is
swept off her feet, natch.
As for the scent itself, Combs said,
“One thing all my palettes have in common is they are extremely clean. I love
DIDDY PHOTO BY STEFANIE KEENAN; BOTTLE BY JOHN AQUINO
SEAN “DIDDY” COMBS wants to hit the
“reset” button.
After a six-year hiatus from the fragrance business once Estée Lauder Cos.
Inc. didn’t renew his license, Combs
is back on May 6 with a new fragrance,
3AM, under a new partner, Parlux. He
is hoping he can regain relevancy in the
category, even as the celebrity fragrance
sector appears to be dissolving faster
than a test spray in the air.
Which is perhaps why Combs doesn’t
want it to be called a celebrity fragrance.
He views himself as equal parts fashion player, music mogul and pop culture
pulse-reader. That may not render him
immune to market forces, but he’s aiming to get ahead of the tide by leveraging his established status and playing to
Millennials via social media.
“I take my hat off to all celebrities
who have a fragrance to give people a
part of their lifestyle. But for me, it was
important to take a break from celebrity
persona fragrances, because we were
kind of jumbled up with them,” said
Combs, whose last launch was in 2009
with I Am King, a follow-up to 2006’s
Unforgivable. “We’re a true fashion label
and this is something we take very seriously. So to make people miss it, that was
my plan.” Speaking to WWD from the
downtown Los Angeles set of 3AM’s first
commercial shoot, in the penthouse of a
pricey residential loft building, Combs
has changed out of his custom suit into
a black Versace tracksuit to enjoy some
fresh air and a coffee outside his trailer,
drawing more than a few curious glances
from pedestrians.
Combs may have launched his first
fragrance at the height of the celebrity
fragrance craze, but he’s decided to step
back into the ring at a time when retailers are beginning to lose faith in the
long-term payoff of personality-driven
scents. Can he prove them wrong and
stand apart from the pack?
“Gone are the days when someone
just buys your product because you’re
a celebrity,” said Jane Buckingham,
Sean “Diddy” Combs on the
set of the fragrance ad shoot.
and engaging customers using social currency, such as rewarding shared photos
and posts with prizes and product.
“It is really smart,” Buckingham said.
“The beautiful thing about Millennials is
they are so open, so when you start talking to them, at least they’re willing to
listen. Even if he’s not selling tons, he is
getting in front of them and trying. If you
don’t talk to them, it’s like you don’t exist.
You lose all relevancy.”
Combs still looks up to old-school icons.
“Every time I smell Chanel I want to know
what Coco Chanel was like. I want to hang
out with her. I feel a scent could last forever, just like a record. I say to producers all
the time, ‘Me and you are here right now,
but only the song survives.’ It’s the same
type of thing with a fragrance.”
As for the perceived lack of steam
for celebrity fragrances targeting young
customers, Loftus said, “If I were a department store, I would worry about who
they are walking away from. There are
young kids already lost to them shopping
at Forever 21, and the one place where
they could still ring them in was fragrance. But in their minds, it’s not worth
it because it doesn’t anniversary. Young
customers are fickle. You need to come
up with something new, not walk away
because it’s too hard.”
Espino notes there’s already a plan
to add newness for 3AM’s anniversary. “Something in the fashion realm.
Probably 4AM,” she laughs.
For better or worse, Philpott doesn’t
see celebrity fragrances going away soon.
“It will continue because it’s so hard to
launch anything new these days unless
you are a known name or you have a celebrity attached. Why do you think every
designer has a Jenner or Kardashian at
their show? It’s a guarantee they’ll get
seen by the general public.”
Combs, who has also dabbled in film
and has marketing partnerships with
Ciroc vodka and DeLeon tequila, says
his focus is on fragrance and Sean John
for now. And he harkens back to another classic. “The plan was and still
is to have the world. Our hero is Ralph
Lauren. We just wanted to follow in the
footsteps of greatness,” he said. “When
we actually beat out Ralph Lauren
for the CFDA award [in 2004], I think
that’s what made it clear that we did
chart our own path, but I have to give
credit where credit is due. You gotta
start someplace and you gotta look up
to somebody.”
8
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015
By EVAN CLARK
ACTIVIST INVESTOR James
Mitarotonda — who helped
shake up The Jones Group Inc.
and Dillard’s Inc. as head of
Barington Capital Group — is
ready for his next venture and is
bringing fashion veterans Frank
Mori and Robert Mettler along
for the ride.
Barington has teamed up with
financial services company Hilco
Global and raised $43 million
for Barington/Hilco Acquisition
Corp. — a publicly held blank
check company that has up to
two years to spend the money to
acquire a consumer goods firm.
That means Mitarotonda
and gang are on the hunt for a
company with a valuation of
$100 million to $500 million that
would benefit from being a public company, but doesn’t want to
bear the expense of an initial
public offering.
“The economy is in pretty
good shape,” Mitarotonda said.
“[Lower] gas prices will help a
lot of industries.” Although the
stronger job market hasn’t boosted spending as some had hoped,
he said, “Eventually I do think
the retail industry will benefit
from increased employment.”
An e-commerce company
or a digitally savvy brick-andmortar player could be of particular interest.
“Retail will continue to go
through something of a transformation,” Mitarotonda said, speaking of the changes new technologies have brought to the industry.
“If a retailer handles it well, they
will certainly benefit from it.”
Ultimately, he said both
channels are needed and noted
that “it’s a combination of the
two that will create the successful retailers of the future.”
As Barington/Hilco looks into
that future it will have plenty of
fashion experience to lean on.
Among the company’s directors are Mori, who served as
Donna Karan International’s
first chief executive officer and
PHOTO BY J. LAWRENCE LANDAW
Barington, Hilco Raise $43M for Acquisition Firm
James
Mitarotonda
was also ceo at Anne Klein &
Co., and Mettler, who held a
series of high-powered jobs at
Sears, Roebuck and Co. and
then Macy’s Inc. According
to regulatory filings, former
Warnaco ceo Joseph Gromek is
also an investor, although not on
the company’s board.
Mori said it’s a good time to
be on the hunt in fashion. “There
are a fair number of opportunities and situations out there that
we’re looking at,” he said.
The companies on the market generally fall into two
groups, he said.
■ Firms that have been successful and are growing, but aren’t
terribly sophisticated and don’t
have the experience or capital
to get to the next level.
■ Brands that have been around
for a long time and are attempting to revitalize themselves.
Mori said brands in the second group require a lot of care.
“It’s a business where you’ve
got to have a lot of top-of-mind
awareness and you’ve got to be
thought of as an aspirational
product category or brand name, a
Michael Kors or whatever it might
be,” Mori said. “Once you’ve lost it
and once you’re on the downside
of the curve — and a lot of people
stay at it — I think it’s harder.
“There are very few apparel
brands — 10 or 15 or under —
Fisher Unveils Spring Vision Campaign
By LISA LOCKWOOD
Fisher intends to reach out to other
fashion labels to create demand for
responsible dyes in an effort to establish a new industry norm.
To reverse the global resource
consumption trend, Fisher pledges
to use less water, emitting less carbon and producing less fabric waste,
as well as investing in alternative energy. By 2020, Fisher pledges that its
U.S. operations won’t just be carbon
neutral, but will be carbon positive.
Another aspect of the campaign
is investing in alternative supply
chains that pay fair wages and creating investment programs like The
Handloom Project, a six-year effort designed to empower weavers
in rural communities. The brand
NEW YORK — No excuses.
That’s the tag line for Eileen
Fisher’s Vision2020 campaign
this spring, which details steps to
reach a goal of 100 percent sustainability over the next five years.
The brand has launched a $1.7
million national ad campaign, supported by social media, public relations, online and its retail stores.
The 30-year-old company has outlined eight key categories: materials,
chemistry, water, carbon, conscious
business practices, fair wages and
benefits, worker voice, and worker
and community happiness.
“To create a truly responsible supply chain, we need to
scrutinize everything we do,
from the field to the factory to
the landfill,” said Candice Reffe,
cocreative officer. “We need to
take a hard look at what’s often
swept under the rug — toxins,
carbon emissions and low worker pay, to name a few. It won’t
be easy. We’ll need the help of
our customers, our manufacturing partners, and like-minded
brands. And we’ll do it with two
simple words: no excuses.”
Fisher will continue on
its path toward fiber sustainability by using only organic
cotton and linen in its clothing by 2020. For its spring 2015
collection, 87 percent of its
cottons are organic, up from
70 percent a year ago. Sixtyeight percent of the linens are
organic this spring, up from 59
percent a year ago, according
An image from the Eileen Fisher campaign.
to Amy Hall, director of social
will also continue its work to reuse
consciousness.
In addition, the brand intends to clothing and reduce waste with
use only wool from sheep that are its clothing recycling program. By
humanely raised on sustainable 2020, the program is on target to
farms and will substitute Tencel for hit 1 million recycled items, which
rayon. To improve its use of color, the brand will resell. Those items
Fisher will continue its partner- that can’t be resold will be turned
ship with Bluesign technologies into raw material for new textiles
working toward responsible chem- or made into new clothes.
“We’ve been on a path for a
ical, water and energy usage. By
2020, about 30 percent of all Fisher while and our commitment has
items will be bluesign certified, deepened and broadened across
signifying that the China-imported the company,” said Eileen Fisher,
silks and linens are dyed and fin- the company’s founder, Thursday.
ished with fewer chemicals, less “We’d like to transform the fashion
water and less energy. In addition, industry around sustainability, and
we hope to be a part of modeling
that. We’ve come to realize with our
2020 vision we can’t do it alone.”
She noted only 1 percent of all
cotton is organic so “that’s a lot
of pesticide.” She also pointed
out that the fashion industry is
the second largest polluter in the
world, second only to the oil industry “which is scary.”
Twenty percent of Fisher’s
clothing is made in the U.S., up
from 13 to 15 percent five years ago,
she said. Hall added that less than
3 percent of all clothes actually
purchased in America are made
here. “Our hope is to continue to
inch it upwards,” Hall said.
Fisher’s clothing is sold at more
than 60 Eileen Fisher retail
stores in the U.S., Canada and
the U.K., as well as at major
department stores and eileenfisher.com. Last year, the company generated $429 million
in volume, up 5 percent from
a year ago, Fisher said. The
company’s on track to generate $450 million in sales this
year, she said.
In other news, the White
House said Thursday that
President Obama will issue
an executive order that will
cut the federal government’s
greenhouse gas emissions 40
percent over the next decade
from 2008 levels, saving taxpayers up to $18 billion in avoided
energy costs, and increase the
share of electricity the government consumes from renewable sources to 30 percent.
Complementing this effort, several major federal suppliers
are announcing commitments to
cut their GHG emissions.
Together, the combined results
of the federal actions and new supplier commitments will reduce GHG
emissions by 26 million metric tons
by 2025 from 2008 levels, the equivalent of taking nearly 5.5 million cars
off the road for a year. The new commitments support the U.S.’ international commitment to cut net GHG
emissions 26 to 28 percent below
2005 levels by 2025, which Obama announced in November 2014 as part
of an historic agreement with China.
— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM ARTHUR FRIEDMAN
that have consumer loyalty,” he
said. “The retailer or the consumer or both are always looking for
the next big thing. It’s very rare in
that business — if it exists at all
— to have anything new. I have
yet to see a three-sleeve jacket.”
Mettler added that, “The
gap between outstanding performance and just so-so performance has gotten wider and
wider over the last few years…
Having a great customer relationship, whether that be online
or in store, is the best formula
for real growth.
“And the problem with real
growth today is that real growth
comes from, unfortunately, taking share from others, not necessarily an actual growth in the
industry,” he said. “And we’re
going through changes in customer behavior. Women’s apparel is certainly not the best performing at retail at the moment
for lots of different reasons. For
me, it’s an opportunity for people who understand how to do
business in multiple categories.”
Nike Beats Expectations
Despite Currency Effect
By ARNOLD J. KARR
ONGOING CURRENCY pressures didn’t prevent Nike
Inc. from posting a 16 percent increase in third-quarter
profits that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, but
they did keep the athletic products giant from meeting
anticipated revenue levels.
In the three months ended Feb. 28, Nike’s net income
expanded to $791 million, or 89 cents a diluted share,
from $682 million, or 75 cents, in the year-ago quarter.
That was 5 cents above the analysts’ consensus estimate
for EPS of 84 cents.
But the continuing strengthening of the dollar had a
palpable effect on top-line results, producing a number
of large discrepancies between reported and currencyneutral results. Even with the currency pressure, revenues rose 7 percent, to $7.46 billion from $6.97 billion,
but would have risen 13 percent at constant currencies
to nearly $7.9 billion. The consensus was for revenues of
$7.62 billion, above the reported figure.
Citing currency pressures, uncertain input costs and
a turbulent geopolitical landscape, Mark Parker, president and chief executive officer of Nike, commented on
an afternoon conference call, “This is the environment
in which all companies now operate, and Nike is not immune to it. The difference for Nike is that we see this as
an opportunity to create further separation in the marketplace. Our globally diverse portfolio of geographies,
categories, brands, product types and distribution channels gives us a distinct competitive advantage.”
Nike brand apparel revenues in the quarter rose 3.5 percent to $1.96 billion but were ahead 9 percent at constant
currency. The brand’s footwear business grew 8.4 percent,
to $4.57 billion, but were up 14 percent at constant currency.
Converse continued to gain momentum, with sales up
28.1 percent to $538 million and ahead 33 percent without the effects of currency fluctuation.
The company’s future orders, reflecting merchandise
expected to be delivered between this month and July,
were up 11 percent without the currency impact but
ahead 2 percent with it. The strongest future orders number came from Greater China — ahead 22 percent overall
and 23 percent at constant currency — followed by North
America, up 15 percent on both bases.
Gross margin expanded to 45.9 percent of revenues
from 44.5 percent a year ago, reflecting the company’s
shift into higher-margin products and, in the case of its
retail network, businesses. Direct-to-consumer sales of
the Nike brand were up 40 percent in the quarter, according to Trevor Edwards, president of the Nike brand.
After rising 0.8 percent to $98.32 during a difficult day
on Wall Street, Nike’s shares continued to climb after the
markets closed and it disclosed its quarterly results. In afterhours trading, the stock added another 4.3 percent, moving
to $102.51. Their 52-week high, reached on Nov. 28, is $99.76.
In the first nine months of the fiscal year, the company’s net income expanded 20.7 percent to $2.41 billion, or
$2.72 a diluted share, while revenues were up 12 percent
to $22.82 billion.
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 9
WWD.COM
Smartwatches Take Over at Baselworld
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE IMAGE GATE
Will.i.am and
Marco Bizzarri
connected watches at the fair
this year. However, Ben Arnold,
senior analyst at The NPD
Group, said, “news out of Basel
suggests they’re [watchmakers]
not as focused on the space.
They’re not seeing this as a big
shift in their business.”
Arnold said the Apple Watch
has motivated some luxury
watch manufacturers to consider smartwatches as an opportunity and take the category
more seriously. “What the Apple
Watch announcement has done
is get a larger pool of consumers
interested in watches,” he said.
“Apple is growing the addressable market for watches.
“We’re still talking about
smartwatches as separate from
traditional watches,” Arnold
said. “For the early adapters,
smartwatches were geeky-looking. Now, people are saying, ‘If
it’s something I’m going to wear
on my wrist, it has to fit in with
my personal style.’”
Even companies directly competing in Apple’s main price seg-
ment, such as Citizen and Seiko, come in a range of styles with
said they are not interested in gentler prices — about $199 to
$299 — than those expected for
venturing into smartwatches.
Stéphane Linder, president the new collaboration. “The
and ceo of Gucci Timepieces, dis- price will be in line with the
missed the notion that smartwatch- Tag Heuer price segment,” an
es would sound the death knell of Intel spokeswoman said. Tag
traditional Swiss watchmaking, Heuer watches for women range
predicting instead that the two in price from $1,300 to $22,000.
Intel has been pushing into
types of watches would coexist.
“I’m not a guru, but I think, the wearables category, teaming
of course, it will have an im- up with Opening Ceremony and
pact. However, I think that a Barneys New York to develop
luxury watch, you buy it be- My Intelligent Communications
cause you want to adopt a life- Accessory, a wearable-tech
style. A watch can be anything bracelet wrapped in snakeskin,
from 10 euros to 20,000, 30,000 pearls and lapis. The company
euros, and you sell a lifestyle, launched BioSport earbuds
an added value, an emotional last year and signed a deal with
value, a brand, so I think this Luxottica for the development
type of product will always of high-tech glasses.
Intel is playing the field
exist,” he said.
with partners at both ends
While Tag Heuer,
of the price spectrum.
Google and Intel deIts previously unveiled
clined to divulge specifwatch partnership
ics about their project,
with Fossil Group is
the collaboration is
“still very much movexpected to proing forward,” the
duce watches with
spokeswoman said.
Android Wear feaShe added that
tures such as traffic
Intel’s big tent phialerts, weather and
losophy will pay off.
voice command, and
“We don’t believe there
apps such as Google
will be one product, dePlay Music and Google
sign, form factor or soluFit, which tracks health
tion that is the killer app in
and fitness, including
wearables, given that wearsteps, distance, calories
An Hublot
able devices span a wide
burned and heart rate.
timepiece.
range of use cases and
David Singleton, diprice points. As consumer
rector of engineering of
Android Wear, said he hopes views of wearable devices conthe effort will bring “a unique tinue to change and more solublend of emotion and innova- tions come to market that push
tion to the luxury market. Using the envelope in design, functionthe Android Wear platform, we ality and value, we will continue
can imagine a better, beautiful, to see wearable devices become
more commonly accepted.”
smarter watch.”
Android Wear watches con— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS
nect to Android phones and
FROM LUISA ZARGANI
’’
{Continued from page one}
The Black Eyed Peas frontman dubbed the collaboration
“fashion-ology” — connoting a
mix of style and technology —
and said the device, an upgraded
version of the Puls bracelet he
launched through his technology company I.am+ last year —
would allow users to take selfies
and conduct video chats.
“We’re proud to have figured
out an awesome way to have an
operating system from the wrist
up, but designed so you want to
hold your wrist up and express
yourself through the things that
you’re wearing — that’s what
we call fashion-ology,” he said.
“I’ve been a Gucci customer and
a Gucci fan for years. To match
technology with real fashion is an
incredibly powerful combination.”
Bizzarri said Will.i.am was
chosen not for his celebrity, but
for his technological vision. “It’s
not the usual collaboration between a celebrity and a fashion
brand. It happens that the person managing this technological
company is a celebrity as well,
but it’s not the reason why we
did it,” he explained.
Functionalities will include
the ability to make and receive
phone calls, send and receive
text messages and e-mails,
music, maps, calendar, fitness
and a sophisticated personal assistant activated by voice command. Details about the timing
of the launch or the price range
were not yet available.
The launches were expected
to be only two of a slew of new
smartwatches unveiled at the
fair. Baselworld managing director Sylvie Ritter estimated that
more than 10 traditional Swiss
watch brands are to present
Eva Mendes Expands New York & Co. Brand
York & Co. stores and online, is
being showcased in six side-byside boutiques ranging in size
EVA MENDES is carving out a from 800 square feet to 1,000
square feet. The shops, dubbed
fiefdom at New York & Co.
The actress, whose namesake the World of Eva, opened on
Eva Mendes by New York & Co. Wednesday with separate enline launched at the specialty trances and dressing rooms. “Eva
retailer in 2013, is for spring has a different unique collection
adding bridal, shoes, handbags and aesthetic that we wanted to
and an expanded range of jew- see,” Scott said of the boutiques,
elry to her existing collection of which have clean lines, are merchandised by color and occasion,
dresses and separates.
Mendes in May will intro- and feature life-sized photos of
duce Eva Mini, a capsule col- Mendes wearing the collection.
“She’s so powerful as a brand,
lection for girls ages
we thought it was the right
six months to four A dress from
years. The actress the collection. time to look at it. Who knows
about freestanding stores,”
may have had babies
Scott said, while not ruling
on the brain — she
them out.
and longtime partWhile Eva Mendes
ner Ryan Gosling
by New York & Co. is
welcomed a daughstill a small percentter in September.
age of New York &
New York & Co. is
Co.’s total business —
investing in the brand.
it’s in the single digits
A television commerin most stores and doucial featuring Mendes
ble digits in the chain’s
will begin airing this
top 20 units — “it really
month in Washington,
overpenetrates online,
D.C., and Maryland.
where it does double“Our hope is to bring
digits,” Scott said.
it to our best markets,”
Mendes, who’ll apsaid Greg Scott, chief
pear next month in
executive officer of
“Lost River,” a film
New York & Co. “We
directed by Gosling,
have a jewel, Eva
doesn’t consider herMendes, so let’s marself a designer, but
ket that.”
has distinct style and
Mendes’ collecknows what makes
tion, which is availwomen look good.
able in all New
PHOTO BY ALEX CAESAR
By SHARON EDELSON
“I wear everything and use everything in the line,” she said.
“I’d never design something I
wouldn’t wear myself.”
To make the point, she
picked up the new faux leather
crossbody handbag. “This is
has a point of view that’s very
retail oriented. When we go to a
meeting with her she has a ton of
ideas and inspiration.”
Mendes said she’s inspired
by old photos of her mother
taken in Fifties Cuba. “Her
’’
We live in a really fun time,
with the H&Ms taking over.
Now, it’s cool to find a bargain.
— EVA MENDES
not a design flaw, but I noticed
that the bag stays open and everybody can see your business,”
Mendes said, making a mental
note to tweak the bag next time.
“The more people I can get
product to, the better,” Mendes
said. “We live in a really fun
time, with the H&Ms taking over.
Now, it’s cool to find a bargain.
Growing up I was embarrassed
that my family could only afford inexpensive clothing.” Most
of the apparel is priced under
$100: T-strap shoes are $59.95 and
wedges, $69.95. The crossbody
handbag is $69.95, the Venezia
handbag with chain detail, $59.95.
“She’s so involved; it’s so
much her style and aesthetic,”
Scott said. “She was on the turban before it even started and she
was on the full skirt. We couldn’t
sell a full skirt before Eva. She
waist was always cinched and
her hair was always done. I find
that romantic. I look for photos
of women who aren’t the usual
suspects. I love Sophia Loren
and Claudia Cardinale, but also
Daliah Lavi, who was a beautiful Israeli actress. I find patterns in my own closet. If I see
a Goodwill or Salvation Army, I
try to get the goods.”
Scott said that Mendes is
“the jumping-off point for our
whole subbrand strategy. We
believe we have an opportunity for unique subbrands — the
Seventh Avenue suiting collection, SoHo jeans and Love NYC,
an ath-leisure brand.”
Scott said there’s also an opportunity to grow the sportswear
component of Eva Mendes by
New York & Co., which is driven
by sweaters and tops.
VF CEO Sees
51.3% Pay
Spike for ’13
By ARNOLD J. KARR
VF CORP. chief executive officer Eric Wiseman saw his
2014 compensation increase
by more than half as the cash
component of his pay grew by
nearly a third.
Wiseman’s total compensation last year was $17.8
million, 51.3 percent above
the $11.8 million reported
for 2013, according to the
definitive proxy filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission Thursday.
The cash segment of his
pay package grew more modestly, rising 32.4 percent, to
$4.7 million from $3.6 million, as his base salary was
up 9.1 percent, to $1.3 million from $1.25 million, and
his cash bonus — or nonequity incentive plan compensation, in the language of the
proxy — grew 47.7 percent
to $3.4 million from $2.3 million in the prior year.
The combination of stock
and option awards was $8.2
million, 6.1 percent above
the $7.8 million the chairman, president and ceo of
VF was granted in 2013.
Awards are reported at fair
market value on their grant
date although, because of
vesting schedules and fluctuations in stock prices, they
aren’t necessarily realized
by the recipient.
The bulk of the more
than $6 million gain in
Wiseman’s compensation
came from the principally
actuarial calculation of
“change in pension value
and nonqualified compensation earnings,” which
leaped to $4.8 million from
about $372,000 in 2013.
These reflect swings in interest rates and estimate
life expectancy.
Robert Shearer, who retires this month after 17
years as VF’s chief financial
offi cer, saw his compensation nearly double in his
fi nal full year in the post,
growing 88.8 percent to $5.4
million from $2.9 million
in 2013. But that amount
included $2.1 million in
the pension and deferred
compensation column, versus zero in 2013. Including
stock and option awards but
not the “change in value”
amount, his compensation rose 16.8 percent to
$3.3 million.
VF, aiming for revenues
of $17.3 billion and earnings
of $4.50 a share by 2017, last
year saw revenues rise 7.6
percent to $12.28 billion, making it the largest U.S.-based
manufacturer of apparel and
accessories. Net income, depressed by a $396 million impairment charge for brands
in its contemporary coalition, fell 13.4 percent to $1.05
billion, while adjusted EPS
climbed to $3.08.
VF’s portfolio of brands
includes five that generate
more than $1 billion in sales a
year — The North Face, Vans,
Timberland, Wrangler and Lee.
10 WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015
She Wolf
eye
’’
’’
I just thought it sounded cool.
Someone told me once
I looked like a wolf.
— ELLIE ROWSELL ON THE BAND’S NAME
Today alone, they’re playing two shows — 1:30
p.m. at Red Eyed Fly, then 4 p.m. at The Mohawk — a
preview of how hectic things will become in the next
year, when they headline their first U.K. tour.
Joff Oddie, Ellie Rowsell,
Theo Ellis and Joel Amey.
Ellie Rowsell
“I don’t know what a big break is, but
the moment I was like, oh, this has moved
on from trying your luck and going to a
venue and you [have a] crowd of people
who are already in the pub [to] actually
realizing that people are leaving the
house to come to see you,” Rowsell says.
The band began as a duo, and like
many modern-day couplings, would not
exist without the Internet. “I wanted to
start playing live just on my own, but
I didn’t really want to play the guitar,
and I was a bit too shy to ask people I
knew to play with me, so I went on a
guitar forum kind of thing,” she says.
Enter Joff Oddie. “He had just moved
to London to go to university,” she says of their fateful
meeting six years ago. Their band’s name was inspired by
a short story in “The Bloody Chamber” by Angela Carter.
“They’re all kind of twisted fairy tales. Most of her work
has feminist undertones, and they’re all quite rude and
dirty. I just thought it sounded cool,” Rowsell says. Plus,
“Someone told me once I looked like a wolf.”
Later, with the additions of drummer Joel Amey and
bassist Theo Ellis — the four-piece band honed in on
an alt-rock sound and released a few EPs, including
last year’s “Creature Songs,” which landed on some
important best-of-year lists, like the BBC’s Sound of
2015 and Billboard’s Artists to Watch in 2015.
Rowsell, whose fantasy is to one day tour with Kings
of Leon, describes the new album as “an amalgamation
of lots of old stuff and lots of new stuff. I can’t
pigeonhole it.” Though she’s the only girl in the band,
she doesn’t dwell too much on her gender.
“I don’t really think about it, until I’m hanging out
with a girl on tour and then I’m like, ‘Oh, I forgot I love
painting my nails,’” she says, laughing. “I kind of adapt
to my situation. Not that I become a boy. Of course not.
It’s kind of sad. I’ve stopped being girly.” Thankfully,
her bandmates can relate, she says.
“All the guys in the band are in touch with their
feminine side.”
— JENNY SUNDEL
Extra Smalls
Anais Mali
PHOTOS BY STEVE EICHNER
Jacquelyn
Jablonski
Lily Donaldson
and Joan Smalls
Peter Brant Jr.
and Harry Brant
ROWSELL PHOTO BY LEXIE MORELAND; BAND BY JORDAN CURTIS HUGHES
ELLIE ROWSELL sits in the lobby of the Omni hotel in
Austin, Tex., on a recent afternoon. She wears a coquettish
American Apparel minidress and Doc Martens.
“I’m really more of a jeans-and-T-shirt girl. I don’t
think I own a piece of designer wear,” she says. “Not
that I’m opposed to it. But, well, I can’t afford it.” That
could all change soon. Rowsell, 22, is the lead singer
of the London-based quartet Wolf Alice and she was
making time at the hotel a few hours before one of
the five back-to-back gigs they’ve booked at South by
Southwest ahead of the June 23 release of their debut
album, “My Love Is Cool.”
MODELS, MODELS, models. Everywhere
one looked Wednesday night at the
Gramercy Park Hotel in New York there
were models. Jacquelyn Jablonski, Lily
Donaldson, Anais Mali and ersatz model Peter
Brant Jr. were on hand to toast one of their
own, Joan Smalls, as she became the latest
catwalk beauty to hook up with a denim
brand — True Religion in her case.
“Models are in and out of clothes so
much, we know what fits and we know what
feels good. So I think it’s just a natural
progression for models to start designing
denim,” she said of a trend that also
includes Karlie Kloss and Behati Prinsloo. “I’m
telling you, they’re good on the butt and
they fit like a glove,” Jablonski said of the
white pair she’d been poured into.
Though some in the crowd bragged about
owning pairs of the pricey label in their
teens, brothers
Harry and Peter
FOR MORE PHOTOS, SEE
Brant were not
among them,
WWD.com/eye. though price,
they boasted,
was naturally
not an object for them. “I was into a nice
seersucker pant at age six,” Harry said.
He’s changed his mind now that Smalls has
gotten into the denim game.
“Anything Joan touches turns to gold,
so yeah,” he continued. “She definitely
knows sexy.”
— ALLY BETKER
WWD FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 11
WWD.COM
FASHION SCOOPS
WHITE KNIGHT: The Hugo Boss plant in
PHOTO BY FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES
H&M — entering its sixth year as a
Coachella sponsor — will sell pieces from
Brooklyn, Ohio, is getting a new lease
its H&M Loves Coachella Collection,
on life. U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown will
some of which will only be available
hold a press conference this morning
at the festival in its pop-up shop. The
to reveal that Keystone Tailored
collection went on sale at about 350 stores
Manufacturing LLC, a new company
created by former HMX Group chief Doug in North America on Thursday and is
priced from $4.95 to $49.95.
Williams, has reached a deal to purchase
The rest of the retailer’s tent —
all assets of the plant and extend
dubbed “Transformation”— contains
employment offers to its 169 employees.
heavy technology, including a
Brown arranged the first meeting
360-degree selfie station and a scanner
between Keystone with Hugo Boss.
that produces photos claiming to
Under the terms of the deal, W
capture a person’s aura. Festivalgoers
Diamond Group — the company also
can also use their bodies to create
operated by Williams that manufactures
Hart Schaffner Marx suits — will partner music via an installation from digital
artist Aaron Sherwood and participate
with Keystone on a long-term supply
agreement to produce HSM men’s suits,
in a virtual reality experience using
sport coats and trousers. It will join
technology from Nanotronics and
W Diamond’s Des Plaines, Ill., facility,
Oculus Rift, the Irvine, Calif.-based
which employs 450 full-time employees.
firm bought by Facebook last year for
“Our business is so good, we ran out
$2 billion. Coachella runs April 10 to 12
of capacity in [Des Plaines],” Williams
and 17 to 19.
— KARI HAMANAKA
said. “So we will move our overcapacity
to Brooklyn.” Keystone
JUICY’S NEW ANGEL:
manufactures 70,000
Elizabeth Arden has
units a year, Williams
signed model Behati
said, while Des Plaines
Prinsloo as the face
is churning out 260,000
of a new fragrance
units a year. Williams
masterbrand coming
said W Diamond
from Juicy Couture
has been trying to
in July. Elizabeth
add employees to its
Arden, which holds
Chicago-area plant for
the brand’s fragrance
some time, but many
license, declined to
potential employees
give the name or any
don’t make the cut. “So
further information
getting 170 new sewers
on the upcoming
who are excellent is a
project. “The new
real coup,” he said.
Juicy Couture
Both the Des
fragrance makes a
Plaines and Brooklyn
statement, and in
workers will be
Behati we found
represented by
the perfect girl to
Workers United.
capture the spirit
Behati Prinsloo
The plant, which
of the brand,” said
was saved from closure
Robin Mason, senior
in 2010, was scheduled to be shuttered
vice president of global marketing at
in April.
Elizabeth Arden. “Behati is a dynamic
— JEAN E. PALMIERI woman with global appeal.”
No word on whether the model —
who has also been a Victoria’s Secret
UNDER THE TENT: Retail and technology
Angel — consulted her husband,
will converge under the H&M tent at the
Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, about
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
next month. The retailer released new
the project. Levine launched his first
details on its festival presence and
fragrances — also a masterbrand
revealed exclusive renderings to WWD
with options for men and women — in
of its on-site build-out.
spring 2013.
— JULIE NAUGHTON
MEMO PAD
CALLING ALL INTERNS…: Former Condé
Nast interns have until June 16 to file
legal forms if they want to collect their
settlement in the class-action lawsuit
against their ex-employer. The $5.9
million settlement was reached last
April, after 7,500 interns claimed that
Condé Nast failed to pay them at least
minimum wage and overtime when
working for the publisher’s titles,
which include Vogue, Details, Glamour
and GQ. The well-publicized lawsuit
caused Condé Nast to suspend its intern
program as a result — sending editors
into a panic over how they were going to
get many of the more menial jobs done
at their magazines.
Those who nabbed one of the
coveted internship spots from between
June 13, 2007, and Dec. 29, 2014,
received electronic forms via e-mail
on Wednesday from Condé Nast with a
detailed breakdown of the settlement,
should they consent to collect the sum.
Each intern could collect between
$700 and $1,900, depending on the type
of internship they had. The salary for
a summer internship in the fashion
closet of a magazine garners between
$1,400 and $1,900 — the higher sum if no
stipend was received.
Non-closet summer interns will pull
$1,000 if they got a stipend, and $1,400
without a stipend. An intern working
during the school year would earn $700
or $1,250 without a stipend. All of this is
before taxes.
As part of the settlement, the
plaintiffs’ attorneys, from the New
York-based firm Outten & Golden LLP,
would receive about $650,000 and costs
of about $10,000, service payments of
$10,000 each for the two interns who
initially brought the lawsuit and the
administrator’s fees of about $98,500 —
for a total of $768,500.
But the former interns shouldn’t rush
out and charge a pair of Louboutins or
Manolos before they get their hands on
the money: For those looking to collect
quickly, there may be a hiccup, as the
settlement sums “may be reduced
on a pro-rata basis depending on the
number of class and collective members
who return claim forms,” according
to the papers sent by Condé Nast. In
nonlawyer speak, it means the more
people who send in the forms, the
smaller the payment might be.
Then there might be the privileged few
for whom money is no object: They could
fill out a form to opt out of the settlement
altogether. Why would they? Because it
would allow them to sue Condé Nast for
labor violations all over again.
Choices, choices.
— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD
who worked closely with its Special
ODE TO THE ROAD: The multitasking
Vehicle Operations design team. “I
Sir Paul Smith has yet another creative
thought it would be lovely to do a special
project in the works, and it’s set to
one-off as a way of saying ‘Byeeeee!’”
be unveiled today at the designer’s
said Smith.
shop on Albemarle Street in London’s
Mayfair. Smith, a longtime Land
— SAMANTHA CONTI
Rover Defender owner, has created
a one-off edition of the car, jazzing
BARNEYS GETS KANYE: Barneys New
up the utilitarian vehicle with a rich
York has bought into Kanye West’s latest
patchwork of 27 colors mixed specially
fashion collection — literally.
for the vehicle — and with some
The retailer has confirmed that
signature Smith-ian quirks.
it will carry Kanye West x Adidas
Smith, who regularly uses his
Originals Yeezy Season 1, the rapper’s
Defender to navigate the rugged terrain
collaboration with Adidas that debuted
of Sardinia — where he has a holiday
to strong reviews during New York
home — has colored each panel of the
Fashion Week. “The product is right
car’s exterior with a different paint
for the moment,” said Tom Kalenderian,
— including blue, burgundy
executive vice president and
and gray — and done the
general merchandise manager
FOR MORE
seats in black leather with
of men’s for Barneys. He said
SCOOPS, SEE
blue stitching, and Maharam
the line will be “launched as
home textile fabric of his
WWD.com. a collection,” and will include
own design. The central
footwear and bags in addition
glove compartment has a
to apparel. It will be housed on
set of keys printed on the
the eighth floor of the Madison
base, and there are pops of fluorescent
Avenue flagship and also be carried in
color throughout, a reference to the
all branches and on the Web site.
Defender’s role as an emergency
Since the order was just written,
vehicle. A hand-painted bumblebee on
Barneys has yet to work out whether
the roof of the car is Smith’s homage to
West will be involved in marketing the
the countryside, while door handles,
line when it hits stores later this year.
wing mirrors and wheels all have a
“We’re trying to flesh the details out
satin finish.
now,” Kalenderian said.
“It’s delightful to be able to
Liad Krispin, senior director of Adidas
participate in things that are made of
trend and influencer marketing, said,
metal instead of cloth,” said Smith. The “Kanye West is involved in every
model that Smith customized is the
facet of the collection from its initial
last of its kind, as Land Rover plans
concept through to design to the way
to bring out a new iteration of the car
it is marketed. At this stage, it is too
next year. Smith will have the car for
early to share how the collection will
the next year, and his design will not go be fully presented at retail, but our
into production.
discussions with him are ongoing
and well under way.” He declined to
Gerry McGovern, design director and
provide details on what other retailers
chief creative officer of Land Rover,
will carry the collection.
said it was Smith who approached the
company about creating the design, and
— J.E.P.
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