WWD Jan 11 - Wwrsd.org

DAILY EDITION 11 JANUARY 2016 1
Vera Wang Taps
Beauty Sector for
New Exec.
Former Estée Lauder
global executive
Veronique Gabai-Pinsky
named president, page 8.
Fashion. Beauty. Business.
London Men’s
Jonathan Anderson,
Alexander McQueen and
Agi & Sam were among the
standouts as the fall 2016
men’s season got under
way in London, page 4.
A Golden Night
Stars shine and go all out
at the 73rd annual Golden
Globes awards, page 13.
André Courrèges with a model wearing
an all-white bubble dress, 1972.
André Courrèges
The Space Age Couturier
Photograph by Christian Simonpietri/Sygma/Corbis
● The fashion world
remembers one of France’s
“Three Musketeers,” who has
died at age 92.
BY WWD STAFF
PARIS — Fashion designers and politicians
united to pay tribute to the vision of André
Courrèges, the father of Space Age fashion,
who died Jan. 7 at the age of 92 after a 30-year
battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Courrèges created a style that has at times
been referenced by everyone from Marc Jacobs
to Karl Lagerfeld and, at its height, made him
one of the key couturiers for the jet set. A 1965
WWD article was headlined in bold capital letters: “To wear Courrèges you must give yourself
to him completely. Surrender.”
Rose and Jacqueline Kennedy, Gloria Guinness, Paulette Goddard, Françoise Hardy, the
Duchess of Windsor, Lee Radziwill and Liliane
Bettencourt were among those who wore
his designs.
With a desire to create clothing that was
functional and liberating, Courrèges was one of
the first designers to recognize the importance
of ready-to-wear. “You don’t walk through life
anymore. You run. You dance. You drive a car.
You take a plane, not a train. Clothes must be
able to move too,” the designer once told WWD.
This freedom of movement fueled his
inspiration. “I feel there is a very strong mood in
the air,” he said. “Women want to wear casual,
sporty clothes by day.”
His fellow futuristic visionaries included Paco
Rabanne, Pierre Cardin and in California, Rudi
Gernreich. Rabanne was among the designers
lamenting the loss of one of the industry’s
greats.
“Alas, we are all mortal. For me, he was a very
important figure in fashion because we started
at the same time. Courrèges, Cardin and I were
called the three musketeers. It’s the end of an
era in fashion, but it’s inevitable,” Rabanne said.
Ralph Toledano, president of the Fédération
CONTINUED ON PG.11
CONTINUED ON PG.7
3
11 JANUARY 2016 BUSINESS
Wall Street’s Wild
Ride Continues
● And for fashion apparel
A shipping port in China.
retailers, a cautious
consumer-spending
environment may be the
biggest headwind faced.
BY ARTHUR ZACZKIEWICZ
Time to batten down the hatches.
For equity investors, last week’s stock
market declines have set the stage for a volatile year that will likely be marked by major
corrections and concerns of slower-than-expected global economic growth — including in
the U.S., which had its gross domestic product outlook downwardly revised last week by
economists and federal policymakers.
And for fashion apparel retailers, a cautious consumer-spending environment might
be the biggest headwind faced.
This past week, China’s weak yuan, cheap
crude oil, sagging growth in emerging economies and a slackening in the U.S. industrial
sector created a perfect storm on Wall Street
not seen since last August when Chinese
stocks crashed and Greek fiscal woes sent
investors scurrying.
In August, some market sectors were
spared. This time around the losses were
global in scope with the S&P 500 losing about
$1 trillion in market capitalization this past
week. And a positive jobs report did little to
quell fears on Wall Street, which punished
the retail sector by sending stocks deep into
the red.
For the week, the Dow lost 1,079 points,
or 6.2 percent while the S&P 500 retreated 6
percent. The Nasdaq closed the week with a
7.3 percent decline. The S&P Retailing Industry Group ended the week down 6.7 percent.
On Friday, the WWD Global Stock Tracker
fell 1.8 percent to 104.15, which is a threemonth low and close to the 52-week low set
last August. There are now more decliners
than gainers in the tracker. For the one-year
period, 34 stocks have gained while 66 have
declined. The top gainers include Kose
Corp., which is up 123 percent to $88.12, and
Yoox Net-a-porter Group with a 80 percent
increase to $34.10. Pandora A/S is up 68
percent to $128.79.
The one-year decliners include the
much-scrutinized Iconix Brand Group with
an 84 percent drop to $5.37 and Vince Holding Corp. with an 82 percent decline to $4.48.
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. is down 75 percent
to $1.75.
The dizzy week on Wall Street is likely to
repeat itself in the weeks ahead as market
bears will continue to key into China’s fiscal
concerns, the declining yuan and cheap gas
and its spreading impact on global markets.
That means more volatility. There’s also murmurings that the credit market is tightening
up, which will further impact stock prices.
In the Securities Industry Financial and
Financial Markets Association outlooks
survey, respondents noted that “the main
area of concern was the negative impact of a
downshift in global economic growth and the
stronger U.S. dollar.”
The survey researchers said those polled
“also cited the Fed raising rates too much
and/or too quickly as a risk to the downside. Other potential downside risks noted
included further weakening in the manufacturing sector, oil price volatility and geopolitical risks/shocks.” As a result, credit markets
are expected to tighten, which precedes
declines in equity prices.
Regarding China’s financial issues and its
influence on equities, one analyst said there
are concerns brewing. Michael G. Thompson,
managing director of global markets intelligence at S&P Capital IQ, said “the U.S. stock
market appeared to be taking its directional
cues from the Chinese stock market. This
observation overlooks the fact that investors
are starting to take notice of prevailing mixed
signals emanating from the U.S. economy.”
Thompson noted record-setting automobile sales, but this occurred as U.S. industrial
production continues to fall. “Although the
pace of job creation and light vehicle sales
continues to be quite strong, industrial production and retail sales simultaneously don’t
match up,” Thompson explained. “The stark
divergence between industrial production
and automobile sales in particular, which at
face value would normally be closely related,
is striking.”’
Thompson said U.S. retail sales “have also
displayed divergent economic data.”
“The year-over-year rate of change for
total headline U.S. retail sales have slipped
below a 2 percent growth rate for the past
two months, which traditionally might
be interpreted as foreshadowing growing
risks of recession for the U.S. economy as it
approaches a potential stalling rate,” Thompson said. “But if we exclude the negative influence of highly volatile and declining gasoline
service station sales, as well as the positive
influence from historically strong auto sales,
the resulting growth rate of what we consider
to be a more core reading of retail sales is
much healthier at 3.4 percent and 3.6 percent
in October and November, respectively.”
Thompson said under normal conditions,
the analysis would conclude with a “healthier
picture portrayed by retail sales excluding
gasoline sales, but such optimism does ignore
the fact that the U.S. consumer continues to
save, rather than spend, most of the windfall
from steep declines in household energy-related expenditures.”
For fashion apparel retailers, getting consumers to spend those savings will be a challenge moving forward. This past week, retail
analysts were hoping gift card redemptions
would help boost sales. Meanwhile, specialty
apparel retailers can blame warm weather in
November and December for lousy sales.
Planalytics Inc. said in their market report
Friday that the “latest analytics show the total
weather impact on apparel specialty stores
was a negative $572 million” from Nov. 1
through the end of the year compared to the
same period last year. The results exclude
sales at department stores, discounters
and online.
TOP 5
TRENDING
ON WWD.COM
Street Style:
London Fall 2016
Men’s Wear
Collections
● WWD went off the runways
and onto the streets and
sidewalks for the best looks
from London Collections: Men.
●J.W. Anderson Men’s
Fall 2016
● Spring 2016 Accessories
New York
●Alexander McQueen: A
Look Back at the Best
Catwalk Moments
● Alexander McQueen
Men’s Fall 2016
RETAIL
Port photograph by Lee Yiu Tung/Getty Images; Orlando by Shutterstock / Songquan Deng; Street Style by Kuba Dabrowski/WWD
ICR Conference Gets Under Way
● Apparel and retail brands will
be presenting at the event
in Orlando, beginning on
Monday.
BY DEBRA BORCHARDT
The three-day ICR Conference in Orlando,
Fla., begins Monday with presentations
from more than 150 private and public
companies specifically in apparel, retail and
food businesses. Leading Wall Street investment bankers will attend as companies look
for bankers and bankers look for places to
put their money. Analysts are also expecting to hear more pre-announcements from
the companies that will be appearing.
The first day of presentations will be
by private companies with a heavy dose
of online retailers like Justfab.com, RuMe.
com and Lyst.com. Rebecca Minkoff, Steven
Alan and Ashley Stewart will also make
presentations Monday.
Wedbush analyst Morry Brown wrote
last Tuesday that he expected Francesca’s
to raise its guidance at the conference, but
the company did that on Thursday. Brown
also has expectations from Express when it
presents on Tuesday, where he “sees room
for a margin-driven raise with same-store
sales likely tracking at the high end of pluslow, single-digit guidance.”
When it comes to Lululemon, which
is presenting on Tuesday, Brown wrote
that he “believes comps are tracking at or
above the high end of plus midsingle-digit
guidance, with margin rates likely tracking
in line with expectations.” Lululemon is
slowly coming back into favor with analysts
as upgrades begin to trickle in and the stock
is already up 19 percent in the past month.
L Brands, which said holiday sales rose
9 percent over last year, will be at the conference on Wednesday. Brown expects that
the lingerie company will raise guidance,
but noted that L Brands tends to give conservative guidance.
Sharon Zackfia, analyst at William Blair,
said she goes to the conference with an
open mind, but ready to zero in on the topics the companies end up addressing. She
believes investors will be focused on brand
differentiation, pricing power and company
stability. “Apparel’s been deflationary. How
do you drive pricing power? If you’re not
luxury or athletic, investors want to know
how you’ll get prices up,” said Zackfia. She
Global Stock Tracker
As of close January 8, 2016
ADVANCERS
Prada SpA
+4.67%
I.T Ltd.
+4.39%
Lotte Shopping Co. Ltd.
+3.08%
Esprit Holdings Ltd.
+2.73%
Chow Tai Fook
Jewellery Group
+2.39%
DECLINERS
The view in Orlando.
also wants to hear how apparel firms and
retailers plan to motivate shoppers to add
to their closets.
Another William Blair analyst, Amy
Noblin, said she wants to get a real sense of
what is weighing on her companies including Francesca’s, Urban Outfitters and Tumi.
She said she’ll be focused on inventory
management, rationalizing square footage
and where companies stand with their
channel migration.
American Eagle
Outfitters Inc.
-16.62%
The Gap Inc.
-14.32%
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.
-10.26%
Iconix Brand Group Inc.
-8.98%
The Men’s Wearhouse Inc.
-8.20%
4
11 JANUARY 2016
London Men’s
● Boxy tailoring, sweeping coats and supersized sportswear swept the runways at London Collections:
Men, which winds up today in the British capital.
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
Instagram popularity offers a security blanket
for many major designers today. For Alexander
McQueen’s Sarah Burton, it’s scissors, pins and the
other tools of a serious couturier and tailor. Heavily
pregnant and painfully shy, she clutched a ball-headed pin during backstage interviews, occasionally
stowing it in the navy sweater stretched taut across
her belly.
Trompe-l’œil safety pins pierced the hollow cheeks
of her pale young models, giving them the macabre
mien of vampires as they paraded in some of the
most elegant and refined tailoring seen so far in the
English capital.
“It’s classics of a man’s wardrobe, really,” Burton
shrugged, describing the “neat, sharp shoulders” of
her military and Victorian-inspired silhouettes.
Long coats, popular over an uneven London weekend, were theatrical and a touch costume-y here,
scattered with embroidered butterflies and moths, a
key motif of the collection that also alighted on camel
sweaters, the lapels of officer coats and in rows on
skinny suits, engineered into an oddly eerie jacquard.
Antique gold sequins in paisley patters spilled from
the shoulders on the finale topcoat, but disappeared
past the hips, as if moth-eaten.
Drawings of fossils on oversize silk reflected
the collection’s Charles Darwin theme, while dark,
oversize floral prints on velvet coats and suits —
along with live piano music — accentuated the show’s
romantic heart. — MILES SOCHA
COACH
The American male — in his rugged, blue-collar
splendor — was one of Stuart Vevers’ big inspirations
for his fun, unfussy fall collection.
The designer was channeling the grizzly charm
of Bruce Springsteen in the years between “Born to
Run” and “Born in the U.S.A.” He was thinking about
Alexander McQueen
crooner’s red bandana, plaid shirts and battered
leather jackets — and also about the aesthetics
around New York hip-hop, with its outsized proportions, bucket hats and high tops.
“They both had a certain optimism about them —
Bruce with his blue-collar poetry and hip-hop, with its
rebellion against the status quo,” Vevers explained.
There was shearling galore — on fuzzy white
bombers, battered-looking leather coats and more
polished ones, too. Tailored outerwear had military
airs — agleam with fat buttons echoing the rest of the
collection’s pumped-up proportions.
Knits and checks had a folksy feel, worked onto
jackets with leather elbow patches, and sparking
shirts layered under leather jackets. Roomy knits had
extra long sleeves and images of a single rocket ship
or a dinosaur plastered on the front.
Vevers said his aim is to lavish color, wit and playfulness — not to mention an easy American charm
— on his collections for Coach, using the brand’s
leather heritage as a filter. He wanted this collection
Coach
in particular to be a celebration of everyday heroes,
“less precious, more raw — and imperfect.”
— SAMANTHA CONTI
J.W. ANDERSON
Ordinary garden snail becomes the fastest in the
world: That was the premise of the 2013 computer-animated film “Turbo” and, on Sunday, designer
Jonathan Anderson propelled the snail onto one of
the most closely watched men’s catwalks in Europe.
After his fall show, Anderson talked about “the idea
of speed,” that lowly creature an ironic
symbol that he plastered on slinky satin
ensembles and fur blousons, or lined up like
athletic stripes on a dressy warm-up suit.
“Symbols don’t need to make sense,” he
demurred.
Likewise, there is no need to deeply analyze
the extent of Anderson’s impact on fashion: It’s
everywhere, on other London runways and on the
attention-seekers coagulating outside show venues.
Indeed, he’s been plying androgyny for so long that
his hobo handbags and Lucite chokers for fall barely
registered as out of the ordinary.
Yet this was a daring, experimental collection from
all angles, full of the “kinetic energy” and Disney-esque fantasy that Anderson described backstage.
Consider the extreme shapes — cocooning cardigans
that stretched to the knees — the offbeat fabrics —
rabbit fur spotted blue and red to resemble ermine,
and cut into long vests — and the multiple alternatives
to the suit — mostly pajamalike combos printed with
a cartoon pooch from a Twenties cigarette pack, or
patched with cloud-shaped zippered pouches.
In a ho-hum London season full of safe
collections, Anderson has once again raced to the
head of the pack.
— M.S.
J.W. Anderson
Photographs by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
MEN’S
5
11 JANUARY 2016 Agi & Sam
Margaret Howell
Moschino
Pringle of Scotland
AGI & SAM
Agi Mdumulla and Sam Cotton let loose – literally – with
a collection built on roomy silhouettes, elongated proportions, and rich Italian fabrics.
Trousers were broad and swooshed as models passed,
while coats were rounded at the shoulder and roomy with
utility pockets – some in wool, some in nylon – patch-worked
onto them.
Knits came with chunky, color-block stripes and long
sleeves that grazed models’ fingertips while two-button
suit jackets were loose, and worn with no shirt underneath
and beanie caps.
The palette was earthy — mud brown, army green and
navy – with minimal pattern, except for small checks that
popped on a long coat with a shearling collar, and on a suit
with long layers that recalled a traditional salwar kameez.
“We wanted this collection to be the very opposite of
the restriction, the tension that everyone has been feeling,
and a reaction to all the gloom and doom in the world right
now,” said Mdumulla, adding that he and Cotton referenced
Eastern and Western dress codes, and bought the best
fabrics their budgets would allow. “We want our clothes to
have longevity.” — SAMANTHA CONTI
MOSCHINO
Photographs by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
Jeremy Scott lit up the Moschino catwalk with a fluorescent-drenched collection of combatwear and punky
clothing based on the artworks of Gilbert & George. Models
— the designer showed men’s wear and women’s pre-fall
together — walked the runway looking like they’d stepped
right out of one of the artists’ surreal, cartoonish images,
complete with dabs of glowing makeup on their ears, hair
and faces.
Scott said he took tea with Gilbert Proesch and George
Passmore, and told them about his idea to base the
collections around their work. “They told me — ‘Go, take it
and have fun with it,’” he said, adding that every inch of the
searing garments — down to the yellow combat boots —
had a specific pattern printed onto them.
Scott wanted the collection to be “oversaturated with
color,” much like the duo’s artwork, and that’s just what he
delivered: Bright pink, electric green or blue jackets and
trousers shaded with black or covered with white scribbles
to resemble wrinkles; a trompe l’oeil quilting pattern on
bright denim pieces, and one resembling black checks on
a red scarf.
Unlike the duo’s artworks, these clothes were totally off
the wall. — S.C.
CRAIG GREEN
Padding and streamers: They are both Craig Green
obsessions. Padding can signify comfort, like the strange
leather pouches models hugged on the designer’s fall
runway. It can also be used as a shield from blows. Likewise,
streamers can be tossed during a celebration — Happy
New Year! — or strips of fabric can be used as an instrument of bondage or restraint.
These contrasting ideas collided on Green’s runway to
the feverish pounding of Berlin pianist Nils Frahm, yielding
another collection richer in emotion and experimentation
than actual things to wear.
Craig Green
But that’s what makes London London, and why Green
has become a highlight of the week. Here were swaddling,
layered ensembles of beige and Army green cotton, or
puzzle pieces of leather and satin crudely laced together
to approximate biker jackets and judo pants.
While “uncompromising and almost alien,” as the show
notes acknowledged, these monochromatic, utilitarian ensembles — mainly boxy tops paired with loose, pajamalike
trousers — telegraphed a simpler, more masculine allure
than in past season.
This dreamy show reached a zenith with the finale looks
in washed and padded silk, the models dragging small
quilted blankets as an extra measure of protection. Finally,
Peanuts character Linus van Pelt got his fashion moment.
— MILES SOCHA
MARGARET HOWELL
Margaret Howell’s men’s wear moves at a glacial pace:
slowly, quietly. “It’s about the progression of a style,” the
designer allowed. “The volumes, textures and the colors are
what shift.”
For fall, she let rust and mustard knitwear zhoosh up a
somber palette of black, gray and navy. “Somehow I can’t
take bright blue woollen trousers,” she said. “I like two or
three colors working together and right now love a rich
nutty brown with black and gray.”
Monochromatic jacket-and-pant combos often came in
mismatched textures, such as wools paired with corduroy
or felt. Pants came in both slim and wider shapes that were
fuller at the top with a cinched back, evoking workwear
styles.
There were small doses of drama in outerwear, including roomy duffel coats in cream and navy, and a trench in
rubberized cotton with gently overblown proportions.
— STEPHANIE HIRSCHMILLER
PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND
Massimo Nicosia went back to the drawing board for
a collection based on grids, elongated lines and elastic
proportions for one of Pringle’s strongest men’s outings in
recent seasons. It was packed with layering, fabric mixes
and distorted or embellished takes on Pringle’s signature
argyle and Fair Isle motifs.
“We were playing with repetitive patterns and scale,
looking at expanded patterns and pixelation,” said Pringle’s
head designer, adding that he also had a young art student
in mind this season, “poetic, cerebral, cool — but also tough.”
Looks were layered and sleeves were extralong — an
emerging trend in London — with cuffs bunched or turned
up at the wrist. The collection was heavy on hybrid outerwear, including a part-leather, part-gray flannel coat with
a shearling collar and a parka with a plaid panel at the
bottom — and quilted black leather sleeves.
Knitwear was nubby and tactile, including one thick,
flecked sweater in black and white, and others with a
chunky orange pixelated pattern or a magnified black-andwhite tartan.
Some of the quieter knits on show were from a new
collaboration with Nick Wooster, who has reworked Pringle
classics into a core collection debuting for fall. It will also be
on show at Pitti Uomo next week. — S.C.
6
11 JANUARY 2016
Lou Dalton
Richard James
E. Tautz
Charles Jeffrey
CHRISTOPHER RAEBURN
The military trend has yet to go off duty, with bomber
jackets all over London runways.
Quilted versions in black and olive headlined an array
of solid outerwear options in Christopher Raeburn’s
fall show. Although Mongolia was the stated theme, a
zippered sleeve pocket with pen holders added pilot airs
to peacoats and parkas in a patchwork of earth-toned
wools that recalled the Asian country’s stepped landscape.
While familiar, Raeburn’s urban-explorer look — with
each exit grounded in dark stovepipe jeans and variations on hiking boots — branched out further with prints.
He splashed raindrop camouflage and a graphic print
resembling Kinesio tape on anoraks and field jackets,
many styled with matching backpacks.
Add Raeburn to the list of designers proposing oversize cardigans — his in a loose hand-knit — and, like most
things he designs, resolutely masculine.
— MILES SOCHA
LOU DALTON
The Shetland Bus was a clandestine organization
formed by the British Secret Intelligence Service, the
Special Operations Executive and the military intelligence service of Norway’s government-in-exile. British
soldiers would dress as fishermen and ferry agents
and equipment into Nazi-occupied Norway, and whisk
Norwegians who feared arrest by the Germans out of the
country during World War II.
That sea-faring heroism translated into a sophisticated outing for Lou Dalton that elegantly riffed on nautical
style. Life jackets worn on the North Sea inspired subtly
padded vests in checks, coated cottons and unbleached
denim, while navy teddy fleece was used for zip-up
bombers with black cotton panels. Blousons came in wetlook lacquered jersey, while drop shoulders on outerwear
also looked especially good on Neoprene sweatshirts.
Flashes of cornflower blue brightened the palette of
black, navy, camel and gray, and looked gorgeous in a
cable-knit sweater that was belted and set off with a pair
of cream wide-leg trousers.
— JULIA NEEL
Sibling
Wales Bonner
E. TAUTZ
An Eighties-themed birthday party got Patrick Grant
nostalgic for the big, pleated herringbone trousers he
used to wear as a teenager for roller disco nights. “I
learned to figure skate when I was young, so when it
came to roller disco, I was ahead of the curve,” he boasted backstage after the show.
And so the curve he threw into his fall collection was
to supersize his chic tailoring and gentlemanly sportswear. “It feels refreshing to wear something that has a
bit of movement,” Grant said, his tall frame enveloped
in a billowing shirt and roomy, single-pleat trousers,
silhouettes that recurred on the runway to a churning
soundtrack of S’Express, Sylvester and Eurythmics. “It’s
simple stuff: It’s just got a bit more ease.”
Enveloping coats — an emerging trend on London
runways — included slouchy wool and cashmere
trenches with the epaulettes leaking down the deltoids,
and handsome, gently boxy double-breasted coats with
demonstrative lapels.
Bubble-shaped popovers in lustrous wools were
a dressy take on the shell suits of the breakdancing
era, exemplifying Grant’s knack for transposing retro
silhouettes into quiet, luxurious clothes with a dash of
swagger. — M.S.
RICHARD JAMES
London’s docks in the Thirties — exotic cargo piled
against a backdrop of corroded, rusty metal and fraying
rope — inspired the colors for this luscious collection of
tailored clothing and knitwear by Toby Lamb, the Savile
Row tailor’s design and brand director.
There were check suits in shades of cinnamon or
watery teal, and corduroy ones in pale gray — the color
of a winter London sky — or dark aqua. Trousers were
slim, with a narrow cuff — increasingly rare in a city that’s
falling in love with an almost comically wide leg.
Outerwear came in the form of a short, plaid double-breasted jacket, or a navy blue one with a shawl
collar. Longer coats with wide lapels had a military feel.
Chunky ribbed and cable sweaters and scarves
came in searing shades of burnt orange or teal, while
one fine-gauge knit was covered with blocks of orange,
navy and white, the colors melting delicately into one
another at the edges. — SAMANTHA CONTI
JAMES LONG
James Long turned to his own creative community,
including the artist George Longly, as the inspiration for his
latest collection.
“It was all about my local heroes,” the designer said.
“I think when there’s so much fashion around me at the
moment, I wanted to rely on my people that I love. They are
the ones that I genuinely hang out with and work with —
the real creatives of London.”
While still youthful and fun, Long’s opulent sportswear
was proof his label is evolving.
Shearling coats and zip-front padded jackets were layered over sweatshirts bearing bright, cartoonish images
or brushed sequins. He paired them with sweatpants or
jeans. He spray-painted denim in green and blue hues and
created a camouflage pattern from the paints, too.
Riding boots, some with bold stripes that echoed some
of the clothing, were custom-made by Christian Louboutin.
— LORELEI MARFIL
MAN
Androgyny was the common thread — or should we say,
swipe of eyeliner — across the three emerging talents
selected for this seasonal showcase, established in 2005
by Topman and Fashion East.
The buzziest, Wales Bonner, also smudged rouge
across the faces of her models, who paraded in fey takes
on Seventies leisurewear — silky suits with flare-legged
pants, knit tracksuits spangled with crystals and shells,
and pinch-waist coats with the lobe-like lapels that J.W.
Anderson has championed. The audience, which included
singer FKA Twigs, roared with approval.
Rory Parnell Mooney, returning for a third season,
inserted a communion wafer in his show notes and
splashed the words “Repent” and “Nancy Boy” on his
usual monastic layers — not enough to freshen a look fast
going stale.
Charles Jeffrey went whole hog with his androgynous
club kids, sending out one model with long dreadlocks in a
James Long
Topman Design
silk slipdress and drag makeup. “Nina Hagen,” one guest
wryly observed. Someone will knock off his Aran knits
with insertions of printed carrier-bag plastic faster than
you can say “Loverboy,” the name of his monthly London
party. — M.S.
SIBLING
Cozette McCreery and Sid Bryan had boxers on the
brain — not only the fighters in the ring, but also the
namesake underwear, and a 1985 poster of Jean-Michel
Basquiat and Andy Warhol preparing for a punch-up.
Basquiat — and his wardrobe of roomy clothing — was
a big influence on this fun, upbeat collection that was filled
with intarsia knits and blanket wraps with arty doodle
patterns, and oversize wooly hoodies that overwhelmed
models’ muscular frames.
McCreery said backstage that Bryan himself had
hand-knitted the finale’s dramatic floor-skimming robes,
which were made from a type of unspun wool that was
later graffiti-punched with designs like gold crowns and
colorful lightning bolts.
The collection had its moments of delicacy, too, in the
form of diaphanous knitted lace robes and sweaters in
shades of red and blue, while a leopard print made its way
around the collection as a micro pattern on cotton shorts
with thick boxer-inspired waistbands, or picked out in blue
sequins across black sweaters. — S.C.
TOPMAN DESIGN
Go big or go home. Kicking off London Collections: Men
on a slouchy, oversize note, Topman Design rolled out a
collection that was part peacock, part lounge lizard, part
grunge guru and part Eighties club kid.
Strange and often unbecoming bedfellows, these:
especially when you consider the searing spice shades,
gleaming velvets, bold Chinoiserie prints and flashy
metallics.
Pick apart these showy pileups and there were some
plausible items: long, enveloping coats in nubby fabrics;
cropped aviator jackets with retro shearling collars; all
manner of floppy, pajamalike pants, and enough faded,
shredded and boxy denim for a Salt-N-Pepa reunion. — M.S.
Photographs by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/ REX/Shutterstock
Christopher
Raeburn
7
11 JANUARY 2016 TIGER OF SWEDEN
What does it mean to be Swedish? Tiger
of Sweden designers Ronnie Junior McDonald and Andreas Gran explored this
question with their fall collection, which
referenced the Dalarna region, renowned
for its forest and lakes.
It was a nostalgic and romantic
offering that drew on Swedish folk art,
seen in a motif by Swedish artist Jakob
Krajcik that appeared as a pressed-flower jacquard in some sophisticated, sharp
tailoring in black, and as floral heraldic
motifs patched on a field coat that was
worn over a trim gray suit — suits being
the mainstay of the brand.
The romantic vibe was especially
poignant in the dusty rose closing looks,
the last of which was a velvet, double-breasted peak-collared blazer, worn
with high-waist pants, a lilac shirt and a
teeny ribbon bow tie.
— JULIA NEEL
MATTHEW MILLER
Tiger of Sweden
Matthew Miller
Matthew Miller tried to animate his fall
runway show with earsplitting rock music
and arty touches, transposing Caravaggio canvases as raw-edged coats,
tunics and armbands. Was it because
such plain, minimal clothes can be such a
snooze on the runway?
Yet Miller’s trim tailoring was fine,
seen in long and tubular topcoats, or
cozy single-breasted suits in felted or
textured fabrics.
Industrial elbow zips added some
teeth to biker and bomber leathers.
Shirts and raw denim jackets were
layered up under coats, while luscious
scarves caught under belts hinted at
the “nouveau riche” theme stated in the
show notes.
Let’s just call it safe.
— MILES SOCHA
YMC
YMC
Oliver Spencer
Astrid Andersen
There were no big surprises for You
Must Create’s 20th-anniversary collection — only plenty of the trend-free
staples that have garnered YMC its
loyal following. This season’s came with
a folksy feel inspired by the British folk
music movement of the Sixties, Middle
Eastern psychedelic bands and the boho
outfitting of groups like The Incredible
String Band.
Cue fringed ponchos inspired by the
psych band Spirit, Damo Suzuki-style
wide-brimmed hats and a Japanese
wood-grain print that came on crisp
shirts and oversize knitwear.
The predominantly dark palette was
enlivened via flashes of rust, camel and
violet. Consider a rust shearling jacket
worn with a rough sweater and rippedand-patched jeans.
— J.N.
OLIVER SPENCER
Casely-Hayford
Photographs by Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
Nasir Mazhar
1205
Drummer Ginger Baker’s collaboration
with the Nigerian musician Fela Kuti was
the inspiration behind Oliver Spencer’s
fall collection that saw young — and
not-so-young — models march down the
runway to Afrobeat tunes.
“It was a collection for him and his
travels, particularly when he went to Africa. He was very Savile Row, a bit hippy
and he liked the African textiles. It was
about the way he put it all together,” said
Spencer, who layered up relaxed tailoring
and loungewear in idiosyncratic ways.
The collection certainly did have personality. He worked with potato stamp
prints, a checkered patchwork design for
jackets and houndstooth fabrics. There
were also monochrome stripes and
colorblocking for cardigan sweaters and
other knits.
Among the standouts was a cerulean
blue-check coat layered over a white
ribbed roll neck, three-button vest and
ankle-length trousers. Models carried
luxe leather holdalls and wore knit hats
and fedoras, giving them a dose of the
dandy.
— LORELEI MARFIL
CASELY-HAYFORD
Despite their stated military theme,
and all the discipline and neatness its
uniforms imply, this was a disjointed
and at times cacophonous effort from
father-son duo Joe and Charlie Casely-Hayford, who charted how Army looks
infiltrated the music scene from The
Beatles era through to Nineties rave
culture.
The former was little more than
Sgt. Pepper jackets reduced to showy
tabards; the latter dramatic parkas in
billowing parachute fabrics or pants in
blaring psychedelic prints. In between
were such disparate, yet more plausible
items as jacquard dinner jackets, trimly
cut sweatshirts and pants and oversize
field jackets and bombers, the latter a
popular item on London runways.
A new collaboration with Sperry
Top-Sider yielded boat shoes with
creeper soles, colliding an American
classic with a standard bearer of British
subculture.
—M.S.
ASTRID ANDERSEN
Astrid Andersen moved away from a
central theme this season and made
fabrics and textures the focal point of
her fall collection.
The Danish designer worked materials
including quilted nylons and technical
fine-gauge polyamide to luxury wools
and denims for her streetwear label. The
collection was often playful and inventive, but occasionally had a hodgepodge
feel.
Statement-making outerwear included glossy puffer jackets, quilted overcoats, some with a fur trim or patched
with Linton Tweed. Coats came in a range
of colors including sea foam green, olive,
red, gray and black.
Overalls, sweats and tracksuit
bottoms dominated the runway, some
treated with Andersen’s fetish lace
details. The lineup was rounded out with
her signature logo shirts, sweatshirts
and knits.
She plans to present her bespoke
line during Paris Fashion week to press
and buyers. “That’s my fur collection so
we’ll be doing, like, eight fur coats,” said
Andersen. “We did 16 last time in New
York but this time we are scaling it down
a little bit.”
— L.M.
NASIR MAZHAR
Nasir Mazhar rendered his tough,
street-inspired shapes all in black as a
palate cleanser.
“There was too much color, too many
logos in the past. I wanted to go back to
nothing, and to the ideas that are going
to come in 2016,” said the designer after
the show.
The looks were hard-edged and best
suited to the stage (Mazhar has worked
for the theatrical designer Mark Wheeler) with lots of texture and flourish that
the designer would do well to develop as
the seasons roll on.
Bomber jackets and tracksuit bottoms
were covered with waves of sculpted
pleats or origami folds while jeans came
with whip-stitching down the sides of
the legs.
Men and women alike wore a combination of short shorts and padded
leg pieces that started mid-thigh and
stopped at the ankle, exposing an expanse of flesh.
Sexy? Yes. Varied? Not really. Mazhar
needs to offer up a bigger variety next
time around.
— SAMANTHA CONTI
1205
Although Paula Gerbase launched
her 1205 line with men’s wear, she took
a break from showing for the past few
seasons in order to focus on her women’s wear collections.
Her comeback featured outerwear as
the highlight, with shearlings that looked
to the duffle coat in silhouette in gorgeous muted shades of navy and olive,
or with the luxurious wool outside.
Some coats featured subtle detailing,
with little embroideries of numbers on
collars and cuffs marking the times the
clothing patterns were finished, “celebrating those little moments that we
have that nobody gets to see,” Gerbase
said.
Layering was also much in evidence,
with quilted vests put under abbreviated
shirt jackets or cropped versions atop
more elongated tailoring. Fabrics included tweeds, wool felts, technical nylons
and a waterproof waffle weave cotton.
— STEPHANIE HIRSCHMILLER
8
11 JANUARY 2016
THE MARKETS
Vera Wang Taps Veronique
Gabai-Pinsky as President
● Gabai-Pinsky hails from the
Vera Wang and
Veronique Gabai-Pinsky
Estée Lauder Cos., where she
was previously global brand
president of Aramis and
Designer Fragrances.
BY LISA LOCKWOOD
“Given how we interact together and our history on many levels, it was just
something that could be just great, so I went seriously after [Gabai-Pinsky],
and it’s been a long courtship….We have very deep licensing partnerships.
We not only have them with retailers but also with wholesalers. It’s a quite
complex model.” — Vera Wang
lot of supervision, needless to say. Any of
the other initiatives we are thinking of, or
planning, I certainly need a partner for
that,” said Wang.
Two of the big initiatives right now are
cultivating its major jewelry license with
Signet and exploring an e-commerce site.
Wang has a Web site, but has yet to enter
e-commerce. She has sold her ready-towear on other companies’ sites, including
Net-a-porter, Farfetch and Neiman Marcus.
Gabai-Pinsky said what influenced her
to leave the beauty industry to work for a
fashion designer was the Vera Wang brand
itself. Through Wang’s experience as a
bridal designer, the designer has created a
strong emotional bond with the consumer,
explained Gabai-Pinsky. “You do not go
after your wedding gown like you do with
another T-shirt. The connection with the
consumer is very special and is very deep
and it has allowed Vera to build a very solid
connection with consumers,” she said.
Further, she said, “The reason I decided
to shift after 25 years in the beauty
business is I thought it was necessary to
take the next step in this brand-building
exercise. I call myself a brand-builder. This
is the most important thing in my career so
far. In today’s world, with the advent of the
digital space we’re living in and the immediacy of communication and transaction,
if you own your equity and if you own the
connection with the consumer, you have a
greater chance to build success and grow a
business.”
Gabai-Pinsky equated bridal to
“couture” at Wang. “When you look at
the factories that Vera owns, the quality
of the skill, know-how and craftsmanship
is actually stunning. I’m French, so I can
speak a little bit about this, but I’ve never
seen anything like this in the U.S.” she said,
referring to Wang’s factories in Ohio and
Florida.
Wang admitted that her ready-to-wear
collection “is small” and is sold only at
Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, as
well as her freestanding boutiques. “It’s
really been a way for me to express who
I really am,” said the designer. “I do in
bridal, certainly, but there’s always a mix
of protocol in bridal, and it’s very much
reflective of the bride. Even though I like to
shake it up all the time, I do keep the bride
in mind. And that bride is ever-changing.
It’s an incredible phenomenon. When I
began, it [the wedding] was extremely
traditional and conservative. There were
certain ways of getting married. And
that has so changed over the last quarter
century. It’s a lot about experience, it isn’t
only based on a formal dinner dance. It’s
not in a church any longer or a religious
ceremony. It’s just a very new paradigm.
“Ready-to-wear is totally different.
Ready-to-wear is about me. It’s about what
I want to wear and how I want to dress,”
continued Wang. “As is Kohl’s, in a strange
way. Neither of which have anything to do
with bridal. At Kohl’s we have a fairly good
business, it reflects my leggings mentality,
my T-shirt mentality, my love of a great
top and how I layer things together. Even
the dresses I have there are easy and
lifestyle-driven.”
Areas of growth for Wang are “across
categories, geographies and through the
digital space,” said Gabai-Pinsky. She is
interested in expanding Wang’s wedding
business in other countries where the
business models are different. In many
countries in Asia, for example, the bridal
gown is part of a bridal package.
“These are very different customs than
what exists in America. These are areas we
do foresee getting very involved in Asia.
The business in Asia is not enormous, but
the awareness of the brand is quite amazing,” said Gabai-Pinsky.
Globally, Wang has 21 freestanding
stores. The ones in the U.S. are directly
owned by the company, and the others are
with partners. At present, there are four
freestanding stores in the U.S. — in San
Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. “The next market for us is Miami,”
said Wang.
What Wang found especially appealing
about Gabai-Pinsky was her experience
working with brands at Lauder. “You’ve got
Donna and you have Michael and you have
Tory. I think she understands designers
and she understands branding. That appreciation was key for me. And the respect for
the designer, the house and the message,”
said Wang.
“I can bring an element of strategy and
structure and organization and with Vera
lead the brand to the next level of expansion,” said Gabai-Pinsky.
Photograph by Patrick McLeod
NEW YORK — Vera Wang reached into the
beauty world to find her new president.
Veronique Gabai-Pinsky, former global
brand president of the Estee Lauder Cos.’
Aramis and Designer Fragrances, BeautyBank and IdeaBank, has been named president of Vera Wang Group. That position
has been vacant since Mario Grauso left
Wang in 2013.
Gabai-Pinsky, who resigned from
Lauder in October 2014, oversaw several
fragrances, including DKNY Be Delicious,
Tory Burch and Michael Kors. She also
helped shift the ADF portfolio to focus
on luxury and high-potential brands,
launched Asian skin-care brand Osiao as
part of IdeaBank and helped grow several
brands in BeautyBank. After stepping
down from Lauder, she became a senior
adviser to the company, as well as a consultant to Wang.
Prior to joining Lauder in 2003, Gabai-Pinsky was executive vice president and
general manager for fine fragrance, North
America, for Symrise, and before that, its
predecessor, Dragoco. She also has been
vice president of global marketing for
Guerlain and worldwide director of strategic planning for Select Advertising, where
she helped to develop Giorgio Armani
fragrances at L’Oréal.
In an exclusive interview at Wang’s
offices Friday, Gabai-Pinsky and Wang
discussed their long-standing friendship
and how they met through Gabai-Pinsky’s
husband, Joel Pinsky, who had an accessories company, Omega Fashions Ltd. Wang
and Gabai-Pinsky would see each other
at industry events and began socializing.
While at Lauder, Gabai-Pinsky developed
Wang’s skin-care and beauty line for
Kohl’s, which no longer exists. (Coty has
Wang’s fragrance license.)
Wang said she had been searching for an
executive for a long time when she heard
Gabai-Pinsky was available. “Given how we
interact together and our history on many
levels, it was just something that could be
just great, so I went seriously after her,
and it’s been a long courtship,” said Wang.
She said she sought a partner who could
not only help her manage the 25-year-old
privately-held firm’s day-to-day operation
but also spearhead the licensing business,
which is the company’s bread and butter.
Gabai-Pinsky’s international experience at
Lauder helped clinch the deal.
Gabai-Pinsky initially started as a
strategist for Wang, helping the designer
figure out where the company was going
and where Wang wanted to take it. Since
Grauso left, Wang has been handling the
business side of the company as well as the
design operations.
“I’ve been running it, and it’s been very
intense,” said Wang. “We have very deep
licensing partnerships. We not only have
them with retailers but also with wholesalers. It’s a quite complex model.”
Among the firm’s major licensees are
Kohl’s, Signet, Men’s Wearhouse, Coty,
FTD Group, Revman, Wedgwood, Kenmark, Crane and Levy Group. “It takes a
9
11 JANUARY 2016 The Row
SPORTMAX
A cool sense of geometry reverberated through
Sportmax’s chic pre-fall collection of minimalist dresses,
coats, intarsia knits and relaxed suits. A simple palette of
black, cream and camel dominated with pops of blue of
color-blocked stripes working as accents. Press notes
cited references to futurism and nature, the former
evident in circle motifs that recurred in cutouts and
oversize button, while the latter was reflected in alpine
floral prints.
— KRISTI GARCED
THE ROW
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen were among the designers experimenting with their press strategy for The
Row’s pre-fall. During a presentation of the full collection
in the showroom, Ashley echoed the chorus of industry
issues concerning lag time between press and delivery.
Also, “We get knocked off a lot,” she said. A single image
was released for reviews, with the rest being held until
closer to May’s delivery.
The collection was poetically minimal. Plain but
luxurious pieces were distinguished by impeccable tailoring, fabrics and long, generous proportions. Traces of
Renaissance paintings, which Ashley referenced, could
be seen in shades of crimson, loden and smoky gray, as
well the subtle drama of blanketlike draping and bunchy
volume around the shoulders. There were cloque robe
jackets, pristine white cotton shirts and slipdresses, and
chicly sloppy, extra-long ribbed knit pants.
After 10 years of development, the shoe collection
is off and running, and almost completely dedicated to
fantastic flats: Satin slide sandals; mary janes in velvet
Sportmax
and alligator; soft suede booties, and vaguely Mod-ish
boots with moderate heels. — JESSICA IREDALE
GIAMBA
Giambattista Valli’s pre-fall vision for Giamba, the
(younger) sister collection to his main line, was sweet
and slightly rebellious. Envisioning his eternally youthful
downtown girl at Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel or a Parisian nightclub in the Eighties, Valli anchored the lineup
in familiar flirty skirts and minidresses in silk chiffon with
high, ruffled necks, embellished collars and pleating.
Leopard, star, butterfly and floral prints and embroideries evoked girlish naïveté, but Valli’s Mod, oversize
outerwear, in black faux leather and colorful, shaggy
faux fur, said: I’m not that innocent. — K.G.
BARBARA BUI
Barbara Bui’s main pre-fall motif was the check.
It appeared in different scales, in bright red-andblue or graphic black-and white combinations, on
voluminous, wool knit capes over houndstooth
sweaters and matching wool jacquard miniskirts.
Tartan, too, was used to project Bui’s urban sexy
rock sensibility on a tailored coat with biker-jacket leather sleeves, and a zipped coat with fur
shoulders paired with cropped, flared pants. As a
counterpoint to the checks, she worked a couple
of monochrome blue silhouettes and a segment
of evening tuxedo styles in black or white, all done
with her beloved glam-rock touch of fringed tops
and rhinestone trim details to spice things up.
— LAURENT FOLCHER
Barbara Bui
Barbara Bui photograph by Dominique Maître
Giamba
10 11 JANUARY 2016
FASHION
Louis Vuitton and UNICEF
Team Up to Aid Children
● The luxury brand is mobilizing
its 20,000 employees and
famous friends to support
a fund designated for
emergencies.
BY MILES SOCHA
PARIS — Embarking on a charitable project
to match its global scale — and the speed
and reach of today’s social networks —
Louis Vuitton is partnering with the United
Nation’s Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, to help
children in urgent need.
The luxury brand is mobilizing its
10,000 sales associates as advocates of a
new designated fund that is to dispatch aid
immediately following conflicts, humanitarian crises, natural disasters or diseases that
threaten youngsters.
An inaugural fund-raising effort — the sixth
biennial UNICEF Ball in Los Angeles on Jan.
12 — is to launch the effort, with Vuitton as
the presenting sponsor. The event will be
held in tandem with a digital campaign entitled #makeapromise involving the French
brand’s ambassadors and other celebrities
and influencers.
In addition, a special jewelry item, the
Silver Lockit, is to go on sale Jan. 13 at all of
Vuitton’s 460 stores and online, with $200
from each sale of the $500 item donated to
UNICEF.
According to UNICEF, $200 is enough
money to provide 45 mosquito nets to protect children from malaria; 25 fleece blankets
to keep children warm in an emergency situation, or six first-aid kits sufficient to treat
cuts, minor burns and offer immunizations
against infection.
Disclosing the initiative exclusively to
WWD, Vuitton chairman and chief executive
officer Michael Burke said the fund leverages
Vuitton’s global recognition and credibility,
while giving its 20,000 employees a cause
they can rally behind.
“It’s much more than corporate feel-good;
it’s much more than writing a check or
wiring some money. It’s a grassroots effort,”
he said. “That’s the real force of the program: Getting 10,000 sales associates behind
it, supporting it and pitching it.”
Burke said the brand’s design teams came
up with the lock — used to secure the belongings in Vuitton clients’ trunks since 1890 – to
symbolize protection.
The initial three-year partnership is
expected to raise a minimum target of 2 million euros a year, or $2.2 million at current
exchange rates.
According to Gérard Bocquenet, director
of private fund-raising and partnerships at
UNICEF, the partnership at Vuitton will help
“shed light on silent emergencies that might
not be in the public eye but affect children in
a devastating and long-lasting way.”
Burke said crises require an immediate
release of funds, and tend to spark an urgent
wish to help, as was the case after the Nov.
13 terrorist attacks in Paris, during which
several children lost parents and became
orphans overnight, or last September when
the image of a drowned Syrian boy washed
ashore off the coast of Turkey called global
attention to the mounting refugee crisis in
Europe.
The UNICEF fund comes with an infrastructure allowing Vuitton to seize on surges
in the propensity to donate, thereby maximizing the amount of aid that can be offered
and dispersing it quickly, Burke said.
At the UNICEF ball, celebrities in attendance are to wear the Silver Lockit and introduce the “pinky promise” as a symbol of the
new fund. Photographer Patrick Demarchelier is to capture the gesture on the red
carpet. Among celebrities expected to attend
are Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Connelly, Adèle
Exarchopoulos, Xavier Dolan, Tao Okamoto,
Carina Lau, Miranda Kerr and Vuitton’s newest celebrity ambassador, Léa Seydoux.
Vuitton staff can invite clients to make
direct donations online throughout the year,
with the impact multiplied on social media.
Meanwhile, a viral campaign is to corral
local celebrities, digital influencers, cultural
figures and sport heroes to spread the word
on social media.
Louis Vuitton’s silver Lockit
Padlock to benefit UNICEF.
“It’s much more than corporate feel-good; it’s
much more than writing a check or wiring
some money. It’s a grassroots effort. That’s the
real force of the program: Getting 10,000 sales
associates behind it, supporting it and pitching
it.” — Michael Burke, Louis Vuitton
FASHION
FGI Unveils 2016 Rising
Star Award Nominees
● The 19th annual event will be
held at Cipriani 42nd Street in
New York on Jan. 28.
BY ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
NEW YORK — The Fashion Group International is gearing up for its 19th annual
Rising Star Awards at Cipriani 42nd Street
on Jan. 28.
This year’s contenders for women’s
ready-to-wear are Brandon Maxwell;
Houghton’s Katharine Polk; Ji Oh; Kempner’s Meggie Kempner; MM.LaFleur’s
Sarah LaFleur; Nha Khanh’s Khanh
Nguyen; Novis’ Jordana Warmflash, and
Orley’s Alex, Matthew and Samantha Orley.
Men’s wear nominees are EFM’s Donrad
Duncan; Greg Lauren; Malan Breton
Homme’s Malan Breton; Peyman Umay,
and Rochambeau’s Laurence Chandler and
Joshua Cooper.
Sponsored by Hearst Magazine and Saks
Fifth Avenue, the luncheon’s women’s
wear award will be presented by Nina Garcia and the men’s wear one will be given by
David Curcurito. The luncheon is expected
to attract a crowd of 400 including Tommy
Hilfiger. As a warm-up for the event, Saks
Fifth Avenue will host a private cocktail
party Jan. 12 for the nominees.
Cornelia Guest will present the prize for
accessories, which has seven nominees —
Dee Ocleppo’s Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger; Edie
Parker’s Brett Heyman; Freida Rothman;
Yliana Yepez; MR.’s Heather Hubbard;
Shoes of Prey’s Jodie Fox, Michael Fox,
Mike Knapp, and Soak’s Elena Corsano and
Michelle Vale.
Presenter Carol Brodie will do the honors for fine jewelry, where the nominees
are By/Natalie Frigo’s Natalie Frigo; Cadar’s
Michael Kadar; Meredith Marks, and Katie
Scott Jewelry’s Katie Scott.
Birchbox’s Katia Beauchamp will hand
over the Beauty/Fragrance Entrepreneur
award to one of the following — Amazon
Beauty Inc./Rahua’s Fabian Lliguin; Drunk
Elephant Skin Care’s Tiffany Masterson;
Mèreadesso’s Linda Stephenson; Scenterprises’ Sue Phillips, or Vbeauté’s Julie
Macklowe.
Bergdorf Goodman’s senior vice president of women’s fashion and store presentation Linda Fargo will deliver the keynote
address at this month’s luncheon. For the
Retail Rising Star, this year’s competitors
include Plan de Ville’s Catherine Smith;
The Sweet Shop NYC’s Kelly Jaime; Trunk’s
Aimee Grubel; Radka Osickova; Natasha
Samoylenko and Zady’s Maxine Bèdat.
Saks Fifth Avenue’s fashion director Roopal
Patel will reveal that winner.
Margaret Russell, editor in chief of
Architectural Digest, will reveal this year’s
winner for Home/Interior Design. Aerin’s
Aerin Lauder, Dipali Patwa of Mela Artisan
and Savage Interior Design’s Jonathan Savage are in the race for that honor.
For the Beauty/Fragrance Corporate
award, Estée Lauder’s Lab Series Skincare
for Men’s Stefano Ruggieri; Clio Ermenidis
of Firmenich, Givaudon’s Linda Song; and
Tania Paredes of the LVMH Fragrance
Brands-owned Givenchy will find out from
Elle’s Emily Dougherty who will go home
with that honor.
11
11 JANUARY 2016 André Courrèges with a model wearing a
belted minidress with turtleneck and ribbed
stockings from his collection, 1968.
André Courrèges standing beside one of his
creations in the Courrèges boutique, 1984.
André Courrèges
The Space Age Couturier
Photographs by George Chinsee and Mary Russell
Française de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des
Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, French
fashion’s governing body, said Courrèges was
one of the rare designers to invent a style and
also the first to harness the power of manufacturing to develop ready-to-wear.
“When he built his factory in Pau, he wanted
to reflect in its architecture the same artistic
approach he brought to his clothes, so his
creative vision was totally consistent. Perhaps
the first artistic director was not Tom Ford, but
rather André Courrèges,” he said.
“He was both a revolutionary and a visionary,” Toledano added. “He strived obsessively
for freedom, functionality, modernity and
relevance. His influence is keenly felt nowadays,
and there are many highly influential designers today that have assumed the heritage of
Courrèges.”
Lagerfeld said: “In the Sixties he was the
biggest influencer of fashion. But personally I
never met him.”
Christian Lacroix said he was in his early
teens when the Courrèges look exploded.
“It’s the only style in the 20th century that
eschews any historic or folkloric reference. It
is the expression of the last optimistic decade
in memory. The future still held promise, and
fashion and design could reflect that spirit —
so strong, healthy and fluid that it gave rise to
an expression that did not require nostalgia
nor exoticism to feed itself or gain momentum,” he said.
Hubert de Givenchy recalled that as a
young man he would join Courrèges and his
then-employer Cristóbal Balenciaga for evenings at the opera or ballet. “It makes me sad.
He battled a long illness,” he said, recalling the
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
reaction when Courrèges launched his house
in 1961.
“It had a resounding response. It was a
young and different fashion — it was revolutionary,” de Givenchy said.
“He was an enormous talent. I don’t think
he was appreciated enough at all,” Lee Radziwill recalled. “I thought it was extraordinary
that The Met never had a show on his work.
That was inexplicable. It was so fresh and so
young — the very short skirts, the very high
boots — and he was such a lovely gentleman.
“It was such a long time ago. When he first
started, I lived in London then. I would see a
picture or two of his, and I just loved what he
did. I had many, many things of his and it was
such a pleasure to be with him and work with
him. It was something I really looked forward
to. He was so understanding and so low-key,
and he was a gentleman. I was devoted to him
and his wife.”
Jacques Bungert and Frédéric Torloting,
the former Young & Rubicam ad executives
who bought the label from Courrèges and his
wife Coqueline in 2011, paid homage to his
drive to innovate.
“All his life, André Courrèges, with Coqueline, had never stopped moving forward,
always inventing, always one step ahead: A
visionary designer, who could already see
what the 21st century would be like, and who
believed in progress. This is what makes Courrèges so modern, even today,” they said in a
joint statement.
French President François Hollande also
sent a condolence message. “André Courrèges
made his mark on French haute couture. A
revolutionary designer who used geometric
shapes and new materials, Courrèges represented a style and an era,” he said.
“Courrèges made the women he dressed
happy,” added culture minister Fleur Pellerin
in a separate statement. “He invented a
universe full of shapes and colors in which
elegance could not be conceived without
imagination, humor and a great freedom of
expression and movement.”
Simon Porte Jacquemus revealed he collects Courrèges dresses from the Sixties.
“He’s one of the fashion figures who
have inspired me the most, alongside Rei
Kawakubo and Pierre Cardin,” said the
25-year-old designer, lauding “his silhouettes,
his obsession with circles, but most importantly his playful way of looking at things —
fashion with a smile.”
Born March 9, 1923 in Pau, located in the
Basque region of France, Courrèges originally trained as a civil engineer. He spent
a short time working at the fashion house
Jeanne Lafaurie, then became an assistant to
Balenciaga.
He worked for 10 years in the older designer’s atelier before founding his own house in
1961, a background that was reflected in his
ingenious cuts and shapes that, like those of
his mentor, were inspired by geometry, in
Courrèges’ case, by squares, triangles and
trapezoids.
Courrèges was also very interested in modern architecture and technology, particularly
that involving fabrics, and was one of the
first designers to use plastic and PVC in his
collections.
His spring collection of 1964 radically redefined fashion with looks that were futuristic
at the time, including dresses with cutouts;
short, A-line skirts; poor-boy sweaters; slim
pants, and goggles and helmets inspired by
astronauts. Modified cowboy hats detailed
with piping were another signature item.
Their color scheme was also futuristic:
Clinical white laced with silver, primary colors
and fluorescent tones. His sweaters and flat
white boots, called “go-go boots,” were particularly influential among the general public.
The look was driven by Courrèges’ passion
for the female body and the way in which it
moved. “Look at how we [the couture] have
failed,” he said in 1966.
“A woman to drive her car must pull up
her skirt. We have failed her in designing her
clothes. There are occasions where pants
are the thing to wear. They are more elegant
on those occasions than any dress. Look at a
man’s suit. How much more logical, realistic
and contemporary than women’s clothes,” he
added.
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac recalled working with Courrèges, one of his early design
idols, on two collections in 1993. It was at the
start of Courrèges’ Parkinson’s disease, and
they designed in tandem.
“It was quite a visionary concept because
nobody did that officially before,” said Castelbajac, reminiscing about the “amazing fittings,
where I can even remember André coloring
my sketches. We were like accomplices; we
thought in the same way. He was an example
for me.”
Castelbajac believes the full impact of Courrèges on fashion has yet to be felt.
“It’s on the way to be realized. It is the
constant of modernity — modernity as something that is not depending on fashion. It’s
depending on style, on a vision. Courrèges is
not about trends. Courrèges is not about the
next print. Courregès is strangely a ‘cosmic
classic,’” he explained.
Valerie Steele, director and chief curator
of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of
Technology, said, “In the 1960s, the French
had no youth culture the way the English
CONTINUED ON PG.12
12 11 JANUARY 2016
André Courrèges
The Space Age Couturier
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
and Americans did — no Beatles, no Rolling
Stones. Confronted with London Youthquake
fashions, the French couture was frozen.
Then Courrèges used the idea of futurism as a
metaphor for youth — all his moon girl outfits,
silver trousers, etc. That was really pivotal.
“His influence on world fashion was huge
even when I was in grade school, those little
moon girl boots were knocked off everywhere,” she said. “Periodically, anytime
anybody does a futuristic thing, they do some
kind of a riff on what he was doing. Some of
the interesting ways he combined futurism
with a Lolita-esque look was also sort of
charming and indelible, so it wasn’t just the
white and silver but white and pink.”
Lisa Perry said, “People ask me all the time,
‘Why the major focus on the Sixties and how
did you get started?’ I answer, ‘It was on a trip
to Paris about 20 years ago that I walked into
a Courrèges store and just felt like I was home.
It was white and bright and glossy with pops
of bright colors and it felt so cool. Very alive.
“Some years later when I decided to
create my own collection based on the great
design of the Sixties, it was the joyfulness
of Courrèges designs that spoke to me. The
world of Monsieur Courrèges made me smile
and I thank him for his beautiful optimistic
inspiration.”
Didier Grumbach, the former head of the
French fashion federation, noted that Courrèges remained intensely loyal to Balenciaga.
When the Begum Aga Khan paid him a visit
after he opened his house, Courrèges told her
that he wouldn’t dress Balenciaga’s clients,
Grumbach reported.
Upon her insistence, he gave in but asked
her to get permission first from Mademoiselle Renée, who ran Balenciaga’s salon. The
Begum returned to Courrèges speedily with
a note from Mademoiselle Renée that read:
“Permission to Dress.”
Courrèges did not move with the times,
but instead staked his highly specific claim to
the futuristic and continued to sound what
was once an ultramodern note — albeit one
associated strongly with the Sixties — throughout his career.
His greatest muse was undoubtedly his
wife, Coqueline. “I could not have perceived
femininity without her,” he said. With her
waiflike figure and precocious spirit, she
modeled his designs to perfection and took a
great deal of control over the house’s creative
direction in the Eighties.
Courrèges himself was rarely seen without
the same pink or white cropped pants,
cropped hair, cropped jacket and a pair of
Pop glasses. He also retained the slenderness
that had been a trademark throughout his life,
which he attributed to an exercise regime that
included working out, skiing and horseback
riding.
Despite their growing fame, the couple
preferred not to live an extravagant life. They
took family vacations by trailer across the
western United States and lived in an all-white
apartment in the wealthy but quiet Parisian
suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine.
The designer often said he felt more
American than French. “I love America, I
love the American spirit. The spirit of going
to the moon. The American way of life. The
grandeur of American space. America is a
formidable, formidable country,” he said.
After retiring as his illness took hold,
Courrèges devoted his time to painting and
sculpture. His wife said in 2001: “He’s like a
peasant farmer. He wakes up with the rooster,
at the crack of dawn, and goes to sleep with
the rooster, as soon as the sun sets.”
When the fashion tide turned against
him, Courrèges channeled his energies into
architectural and environmental design. He
undertook projects such as the design of a
Hitachi pavilion for a 1985 world exhibition
and re-envisioned the company’s robots to
give them a more human, poetic image. He
teamed up with Minolta to design cameras so
visually compelling women bought them for
the packaging alone.
His innovations weren’t limited to the
visual world. The couturier was also one of
the first designers to enter into licensing. In
the Sixties, he sold 50 percent of his business
to L’Oréal, his fragrance licensee, and that
arrangement lasted until 1983, when the
Japanese company Itokin acquired the L’Oréal
stake.
At the same time, Courrèges was expanding further into the American market with the
help of Descente, a second Japanese licensee,
and the Courrèges sportswear line Courrèges
Sport Futur.
After buying the company in 2011, Bungert
and Torloting set about relaunching the
brand through collaborations with companies
including The Estée Lauder Cos., Eastpak,
Evian, Alain Mikli and La Redoute.
In September 2015, Courrèges staged its
first catwalk show in 13 years, marking the
critically acclaimed debut of Sébastien Meyer
and Arnaud Vaillant as artistic directors of
women’s wear.
Artémis SA, French billionaire François
Pinault’s family holding company, is said to
have taken a minority stake in the label as it
prepares to expand its retail network, though
officials at Artémis and Courrèges have
declined to comment.
The designer is survived by Coqueline and
his daughter, Marie.
A spring couture
1973 look from
André Courrèges.
The designer and his wife Coqueline in 1968.
Photographs by Mary Russell
Transparent minidress, 1967.
13
11 JANUARY 2016 On the Red Carpet at the Golden Globes
Stars went all out at the 73rd annual awards show on Sunday.
It’s a gratifying night for fashion-watchers when Hollywood’s
leading ladies pull out all the
stops. This year’s Golden Globes
Best Actress nominees didn’t
disappoint. It could have been
a given, but “Carol” star Cate
Blanchett turned heads in an
intricate bias-cut pink net and
fringe Givenchy gown. “Tell me
about it, isn’t it extraordinary? It’s
a creature,” she said.
Saoirse Ronan said Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent dreamed
up her goddesslike flowing white
gown. “I’m a fan of pale colors,”
she said, having donned white on
Thursday and Saturday as well.
Brie Larson, relishing her
role as this year’s breakout star,
chose to go the literal route in a
form-fitting gold beaded Calvin
Klein Collection dress with side
cutouts. “They made me a sketch
with my face on it, which was a little surreal, and sent me a sample
of the beading,” she said, laughing
as she looked down at her hands.
“Look at my manicure, it’s all
messed up from carrying the train
around. I knew by the end of the
night it would be torn apart.”
Many of the night’s most
fashionable nominees opted for
elegant black, including Emilia
Clarke, Kirsten Dunst and “Outlander” star Caitriona Balfe. “In
another lifetime, I was in fashion
and I worked for McQueen. I knew
him, so this really is an ode to him,”
she said.
Another breakout star, Sarah
Hay, chose her pale seafoam
Marchesa dress as an ode to
her dancing. “I wanted to honor
my ballet roots and wear tulle,”
she said, adding, “and I wanted to
show off my body since I don’t get
to do that on ‘Flesh and Bone.’”
While most ladies had their
gowns custom-made — Julianne
Moore also got take fellow
presenter Tom Ford as her date
— Jamie Lee Curtis and Bryce
Dallas Howard, both daughters of
Hollywood Royalty — and Curtis a
nominee for “Scream Queens” —
bought their blue dresses off the
rack. “I went into Neiman Marcus
and picked the one I liked best,”
said Howard. “I like to go shopping.
And I don’t want to squeeze into
a size two sample.” Curtis did her
CONTINUED ON PG.14
Channing Tatum
Photographs by Buckner and David Fisher/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
Jennifer Lawrence in Dior and Chopard.
Brie Larson in Calvin Klein Collection and Tiffany.
Rooney Mara in
Alexander McQueen
and Fred Leighton.
Olivia Wilde in Michael
Kors and Bulgari.
Michael Fassbender in Tom Ford.
Lady Gaga in
Atelier Versace
and Neil Lane.
14 11 JANUARY 2016
On the Red Carpet
At the Golden Globes
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
Saoirse Ronan in Saint Laurent and Chopard.
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Marc Jacobs and Neil Lane.
one better. “I went into the Oscar de la Renta store,
found this, and said, ‘Do you have it in a size eight?’
And it was on sale!”
As for the men, navy once again seemed to be the
color of choice, for Paul Dano (Prada), Sam Heughan
(Dunhill) and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Paul Feig
amped things up in a cobalt and purple marble-patterned tux by Tom Ford. Jeffrey Tambor, amused by
the “Who are you wearing” line of questioning, asked,
“Don’t you want to know who makes my underwear?”
It was Calvin Kein, natch. A winner last year, Tambor
Alicia Vikander in Louis Vuitton and Bulgari.
Leonardo DiCaprio in Giorgio Armani.
came clutching a good luck charm in the palm of
his hand. “It’s a Golden Globe,” he said of the shiny
marble. “Jennifer Jason Leigh gave it to me.”
Rob Lowe said his favorite part of walking the
red carpet was “seeing people you are fans of and
getting to tell them. Michael Fassbender is who I
want to talk to.”
Sylvester Stallone, who scored a nomination for
reprising his Rocky Balboa role in “Creed,” summed it
up, “It’s all a very weird dream. It really is.”
— MARCY MEDINA
Eddie Redmayne in Gucci with
his wife Hannah Bagshawe.
Taraji P. Henson in
Stella McCartney and
Kimberly McDonald.
Corinne Foxx in Paolo Sebastian.
Photographs by Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
Emmy Rossum in Armani Privé.
16 11 JANUARY 2016
Andy Butler
A$AP Rocky
From left: Nick Wooster,
Tim Little and Nick Sullivan.
Labrinth
the Belgians — Raf Simons — even before Dior, when he
was at Jil Sander — Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van
Noten, Martin Margiela. I love their aesthetics. I also like
Rick Owens.”
As for the Guess collaboration, he’s working on
bringing back archive styles from the Eighties and
Nineties, and is particularly interested in their links to
hip-hop. He also revealed he’s working on video content
for Dior.
GOLD STANDARD
Rapper and polymath A$AP Rocky — he also models,
produces, founded the creative collective AWGE and is
working on a capsule collection for Guess — goes by as
many names as he has feathers in his cap.
“You can call me Rakim, or A$AP, or Flacko, or Flackito, which means skinny — whatever,” he said backstage
after the J.W. Anderson show, flashing a shiny grin from
the set of gold grills covering his teeth.
“They come out, yeah, and they’re really comfortable,” he said. “But these are permanent,” he added,
pulling back a lip to show off the pavé diamonds that
sparkled on the top row of his back teeth.
“I’m just here for a couple of days and I’m not doing
any more shows, just chilling. I’m just going to go record
at the studio. My new album is more hip-hop. A lot of
my stuff is subversive. It’s like almost alternative, a
sub-genre.
“Hip-hop has never been experimented with on
those grounds before. This, I will say, is more traditionally hip-hop and commercial-friendly for people who
understand.”
Rocky also talked about his love of fashion. “I love
— SAMANTHA CONTI, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM
JULIA NEEL
MY GIRL
“I feel like one of The Temptations in this suit,” said
Labrinth, the British singer and songwriter as he clicked
his fingers and swayed his hips in a pale mint Richard
James suit before the show at Sartoria restaurant on
Savile Row.
The singer, whose real name is Timothy McKenzie, is
releasing an album early in the summer, which he will be
promoting at this year’s music festivals, including V Festival, where he proposed to his girlfriend, Muz, last year.
“I’ve got to release this album, and it’s going to be
intense, so we’re going to get married next year,” he told
WWD. “She actually advised me, she was, like, ‘Don’t let
this album get in the way of our wedding.’
“The wedding is likely to take place in the South of
France, and it’s the future Mrs. Labrinth who will have
the final say. She has really great taste, and as long as
she loves it then I’m happy.”
Clever man.
Labrinth was joined on the Richard James front row
by Darren Kennedy, Robert Konjic, Andrew Weitz and
Johannes Huebl, who admitted he’s taking a reserved
approach to Instagram.
“I do one a day, just one, and I’m not too addicted to
it,” he said. “I see a lot of people keep checking, checking, checking their Instagram photos of themselves, and
the comments. I load up my photo, and then I call it a
day because otherwise it’s too time-consuming. I might
read through if someone has some nasty comments
that I don’t appreciate.”
Negative comments are unfortunately something
he’s had to deal with, particularly now that he’s married
to Olivia Palermo, the model, actress and blogger.
“It used to happen back in the day — and it doesn’t
happen so often anymore — but I had a beautiful
photo of Olivia on vacation in St. Barth. People say, ‘Oh,
she didn’t eat that croissant’ or ‘She looks so skinny.’
Everyone has an opinion, and that’s the only danger of
social media. I think if you don’t control it in a way, then it
becomes tricky at some point.” — J.N.
CROONER’S CONFESSIONS
The James Long sweater that Hercules and Love
Affair’s Andy Butler was wearing at the designer’s show
came into his possession in a fairly roundabout fashion.
“I bought a beautiful jacket from James once and
I was wearing it at a show I was playing in Ibiza when
[one of the band members] was wearing this sweater
and I was like, ‘I love that!’ and he was like, ‘I love that!’
The sweater comes with matching trousers, so I said, ‘I’ll
trade you the whole outfit for the jacket!’ The jacket was
a bit tight on my arms anyway.”
Butler put together the playlist for Long’s show and
was set to play at the KTZ after party later on Sunday
evening. “I’ll probably play songs from the disco era that
sound like they’re made by Abba but they’re not made
by Abba,” he mused. — J.N.
CROSS-DRESSING
The British shoe label Grenson marked the launch of
its collaboration with New Balance in London, unveiling
a tan brogue-sneaker hybrid that’s part of the British
label’s 150th-anniversary celebrations. Made in a
limited-edition run of 800, the initial online drop sold out
in seven minutes on Friday.
“I love sneakers, I think they’re wonderful,” said
Grenson owner and creative director Tim Little, “but
the thing that’s changing is that people who once just
wore traditional shoes like ours now feel they can do a
bit of both.”
The factories that worked on the project were on
opposite sides of England — Grenson in Northamptonshire, and New Balance in Cumbria — and the shoes
made multiple trips back and forth before they were
finished.
The Italian calf’s leather was polished by Grenson
and cut by New Balance to its 576 sneaker pattern.
Grenson later punched in the brogue details before
sending everything back to Cumbria to be put together.
The shoes, which retail for 300 pounds, or $435, are
available online, in Grenson’s U.K. stores and at Kith in
New York. They will also be stocked at Grenson’s new
New York store on Elizabeth Street when it opens on
Thursday. — STEPHANIE HIRSCHMILLER
Allure editor in chief
Michelle Lee.
Allure’s makeover is afoot under its new editor in
chief Michelle Lee.
According to sources, the Condé Nast-owned
glossy has suffered about 15 layoffs, many of
which are at the top of the masthead and included
creative director Paul Cavaco, who was honored
by the Council of Fashion Designers of America
in 2014.
A company spokesman did not comment on
specifics of the cuts but said: “Michelle has a clear
vision and strategy to grow and expand Allure in
print, digital and video. We will be announcing new
additions to the creative team shortly.”
Sources told WWD that the cuts were in the
fashion and design departments, and included
senior editors and directors such as design director Deanna Filippo. Other people cut included the
features director, deputy editor, beauty director,
managing editor and articles editor.
Lee is expected to reveal the new team shortly.
The changes backstop Lee’s appointment in
December, following the dismissal of founding
editor in chief Linda Wells.
Shortly after Lee took the helm, Allure did away
with its slate of well-known contributors, who include Jeffrey Slonim; David DeNicolo; contributing
editor-at-large Joan Kron, and Brooke Hauser.
The measure permitted Allure to shore up
costs after what many indicate was a difficult
year. According to data procured by WWD, the
Publishers Information Bureau said Allure’s print
pages fell 13.5 percent to 763 advertising pages
from January to September of last year.
The Alliance for Audited Media said total paid
and verified circulation for the year hovered just
above one million, as total single-copy sales cratered to 57,125 in November, which is 33 percent
off of the first-half average of 85,249 copies sold.
Still, newsstand declines are pretty standard
today, and according to Magazine Media 360
measure, Allure was gaining ground on the digital
front, with a total 360 figure of 9.4 million editions
in the first half of 2015, up from 8.4 million a year
earlier. The increase was driven by mobile and
video, two areas that will be a focus for Lee as she
puts together her team.
— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD
LAYOFFS LOOMING?
Employees at Time Inc. are bracing for layoffs,
WWD has learned.
Although the company noted that organizational changes are part of its larger transition
to a more digital-savvy company, insiders told
WWD that the timing of the cuts coincide with
salary reviews which arise
in March. Insiders pointed to
a handful of cuts at Entertainment Weekly and People,
and the departure of Time
Inc. video guru J.R. McCabe,
in particular.
A spokeswoman did not
address company-wide layJoseph Ripp
offs, but instead addressed
People and EW.
“Time Inc. is investing
heavily in the brands,” the representative said. “We
have exciting plans to build up these brands into
new platforms. As [chairman and chief executive
officer] Joe [Ripp] has said many times, we are
committed to stabilizing our top-line revenues and
investing for our future.”
The news comes after Time Inc.’s Ripp circulated a memo this week, which laid out organizational changes, including the hiring of ex-Pop Sugar
exec Jen Wong as president of Time Inc. Digital
and the surprising exit of senior vice president of
video J.R. McCabe.
According to Ripp, McCabe “has decided to
pursue his entrepreneurial spirit and is leaving the
company to work for a start-up operation.”
Some at Time Inc. questioned if his departure
was as amicable. Either way, Time Inc. said the
search is on for the video exec’s replacement.
Ripp also said Steve Marcopoto had been
appointed to the new position of president of Time
Inc. International, and he told staffers that executive vice president Evelyn Webster would hand
over some of her responsibilities to executive vice
president Rich Battista in order to “balance” her
workload.
Staffers have buzzed for some time that Webster’s plate had been too full since Time Inc. piled
on Todd Larsen’s portfolio of Fortune, Golf, Money,
Time and Sports Illustrated to Webster’s already
full plate. Larsen had been let go in December
2014, and at the time, Webster had already been
in charge of InStyle, Fortune, Real Simple, Southern Living, Departures, Food & Wine and Travel +
Leisure, among other titles.
Battista, who joined the company president of
People and Entertainment Weekly last March, has
now grabbed the Sports Illustrated Group from
Webster.
“I have asked Evelyn to continue to move all of
her businesses toward growth in 2016,” explained
Ripp. “Last year more of our brands found the
path to revenue crossover, and we need to focus
on making sure that all of our properties deliver
the growth that I know they can achieve. We have
made several investments in Evelyn’s operations
with launches aimed at the fashion and beauty
space. This year I have asked Evelyn to ramp up
development efforts by working directly with Erik
Moreno on sourcing several significant acquisitions.”
The ceo said he hopes all the changes will
help the company “continue on the path for the
comeback of Time Inc.”
Time Inc.’s stock has struggled over the last
12 months. A year ago, the publisher’s stock was
trading on average at $25 a share. Shares plummeted last month to just over $15, and closed at
$14.50 on Thursday.
In November, Ripp cut the company’s annual
guidance, citing a worse-than-expected print
advertising environment. Time Inc. swung to a
net loss of $913 million, or $8.30 a diluted share in
the third quarter versus a year-ago profit of $48
million, or 44 cents a share. Revenues dipped 5.8
percent to $773 million.
The company is expected to report
fourth-quarter earnings next month. — A.S.
Labrinth photograph by Antonio Salgado; Butler by Stéphane Feugère
CAVACO OUT