Handbag Brands Brace for More Market Challenges

DAILY EDITION 1 FEBRUARY 2016 1
New Mentor
Pepsi Generation
Jeremy Scott designs a
sunglass collection for the
soft drink brand. PAGE 10
Getting Smart
Isaac Mizrahi unveils a
smartwatch. PAGE 5
Chloé signs on as a
sponsor of the
ANDAM prize, and its
chairman and chief
executive officer
Geoffroy de la
Bourdonnaye will
mentor this year’s
winner. PAGE 8
Fashion. Beauty. Business.
FASHION
Handbag Brands
Brace for More
Market Challenges
● Retailers are noting a swelling
inventory of sameness that
lacks a “call-to-action” for the
consumer.
BY MISTY WHITE SIDELL
AND DEBRA BORCHARDT
The handbag market’s been, well, a
mixed bag.
Retailers are seeing a swelling inventory of sameness that lacks a “call-to-action” for the consumer to buy, yet investors have turned bullish on a few key
players, such as Coach and Kate Spade,
viewing these brands as relative bright
spots. Stalling the market is the more
cautious consumer-spending environment — and shoppers’ seeming unwillingness to buy fashion products — which
could trigger even more promotions this
spring and further pinch the bottom line
of major brands.
Handbag stocks got a much-welcomed lift last week when Coach’s fiscal
second-quarter earnings beat analysts’
expectations and gave investors hope
that the other accessories brands would
have similarly good results. In the two
days following Coach’s earnings last
Tuesday, Michael Kors Holdings’ stock
leaped 6 percent while Kate Spade added
FASHION
EYE
Tickled
Pink
Photograph by Katie Jones/Rex/Shutterstock
Saoirse Ronan continued to prove her sartorial
prowess at Saturday night’s Screen Actors
Guild Awards in a subdued Michael Kors look.
For more red carpet, see pages 12 to 13.
Manolo Blahnik:
A Life on Film
● “Manolo (The Boy Who
Made Shoes for Lizards),”
a documentary about the
shoemaker and aesthete, is
in production with Michael
Roberts as director.
BY SAMANTHA CONTI
LONDON — Step aside, Iris Apfel —
there’s a new peacock set to strut onto
the big screen in all his sartorial and
creative splendor: Manolo Blahnik.
“Manolo (The Boy Who Made Shoes
for Lizards),” a documentary about the
work, life and inspirations of the master
shoemaker and aesthete, is currently in
production and set to debut at the Venice
Film Festival in September.
Directed by Michael Roberts, the
British illustrator, photographer, fashion
writer and longtime friend of Blahnik’s,
the film is being produced by Nevision
Studios One Limited.
Buzz around the project has already
begun, with Content Media, which
acquired the worldwide sales rights,
planning to introduce the documentary
3.5 percent in value and Vera Bradley
jumped more than 4 percent.
While Coach’s earnings per share of 68
cents were 2 cents better than consensus
estimates, North American comparable-store sales dropped 4 percent, the
eleventh quarter of decline, although the
best performance in 24 months. So in
traditional Wall Street fashion, not terribly bad results was cause for celebration.
Most analysts were pleased that Coach’s
turnaround efforts seemed to be taking
hold and that the company was moving
in the right direction under chief executive officer Victor Luis and executive
creative director Stuart Vevers.
This week will provide a further temperature reading of the accessories market when Kors weighs in with its results
on Tuesday. Kate Spade’s numbers will
be out next month.
Regardless of whether those companies show stronger performances,
the overall sense of the market is that
accessories aren’t the surefire revenue
generator they used to be. Gone are the
days when shoppers would rush to stores
to buy the latest “It” bag or shoe and
accessories, like apparel, have suffered
from the overall consumer ennui toward
fashion.
At least one industry observer says the
CONTINUED ON PG.11
to distributors in Berlin during the European Film Market next month.
For Blahnik, however, appearing on
screen was not a long-held dream.
“Oh no, no, no! I love movies desperately, but I have no pretentions or
illusions of me being an object of the
camera. I am a mess in front of the camera. I said to Michael the only condition
is that I don’t want to be filmed too much
because some days I’m run down or
sick — like I am today,” said the designer,
who’s been suffering from a cold.
“I preferred all the people talking
about me — if they want to. This is what
the movie is about, it’s like a documentary seen through the eyes of other
people, although I’m there, yes,” he told
WWD.
It’s an intimate portrait, said the
designer: “It’s about my work, yes, and
about who I am. It’s about personal
things, although I don’t even know what
you call personal anymore. It’s not a
vanity project because it was not my idea
and I’m a very private person. But you
arrive at a certain age and then, well,
everything is OK.”
Those curious about how Blahnik
works will get to see him drawing and
talking about his designs in his studio in
Bath, England. “Like a tap of water I just
keep going, going and going,” said the
designer, adding that he’s filmed dressed
in all his famously colorful regalia — natty
suits, colored bow ties and slimline
CONTINUED ON PG.4
3
1 FEBRUARY 2016
BUSINESS
Dow’s Rally Boosts Stocks,
But Retail Remains Down
● The price of crude oil
has become one of the
most critical variables in
investment algorithms, and is
now firmly correlated to the
market.
BY ARTHUR ZACZKIEWICZ
Last Friday’s stock rally that pushed the
Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly
400 points gave markets a much-needed
boost, which helped certain sectors such as
technology.
But the jump in trading values wasn’t
enough to erase all of the losses seen in the
U.S. retail segment, which is experiencing a
more cautious consumer even as wages rise
and the employment situation improves.
Globally, economists are now expecting
slowed growth to continue, which is dragging down emerging markets — particularly
China and Russia.
The blame is clearly on crude oil, which
is now at record-setting supply levels thanks
to overzealous production in the U.S. and
no slowing of production in Middle Eastern
oil states. But that could change over the
next year. In the meantime, the price of
crude oil has become one of the most critical variables in investment algorithms, and
is now firmly correlated to the market.
Last Friday, slowed growth in U.S. Gross
Domestic Product wasn’t enough to hold
back global equities as traders keyed into
rising crude oil prices as well as a Bank
of Japan stimulus move that was seen as
reason for the Federal Reserve to perhaps
reconsider its planned interest rate hike in
the first quarter.
As a result, stocks rallied, with the Dow
gaining 397 points, or 2.3 percent, to
16,464, while the S&P 500 rose 2.5 percent
to 1,940. The Nasdaq rose 2.4 percent to
finish at 4,614. However, the S&P Retailing
Industry Group Index, dragged down by
Amazon’s retreat of 7.6 percent to $587,
closed down 0.3 percent to 1,190.
For the year-to-date period, the Dow is
down 6 percent — an improvement over
the 10 percent drop it had a week ago. The
S&P 500 is off 4 percent so far this year
while the Nasdaq is down just 0.9 percent.
The S&P Retailing Industry Group Index is
down 5.6 percent year to date.
On Friday, all the major indices in Europe
and Asia closed higher. The FTSE 100 in
London closed up 2.6 percent to 6,084
while the German DAX rose 1.6 percent to
9,798 and the CAC 40 in France increased
2.2 percent to 4,417. The Asia Dow closed
up 1.9 percent to 2,513, while the Nikkei 225
gained 2.8 percent to 17,518 and the Hang
Seng index jumped 2.5 percent to 19,683.
The Shanghai Index in China finished up 3.1
percent to 2,738.
The boost to Asian and European issues
strengthened the WWD Global Stock
Tracker, which rose 2.6 percent to 109.32
on Friday and helped push up the tracker
1.5 percent for the year-to-date period. But
the tracker, composed of 100 global retail,
fashion apparel, beauty and luxury stocks,
has more decliners than gainers. Year to
date, there are 69 issues in the tracker that
have declined while 31 have advanced.
Friday’s rally also helped boost several
notable stocks in the WWD tracker that had
been previously distressed. The top gainers
for the year-to-date period are Lululemon
Athletica Inc. with a 20 percent increase to
$62.08 and Macy’s Inc. with a 14.2 percent
gain to $40.41. Coach Inc. was the third
top gainer with a 13.4 percent increase to
$37.05.
The top decliners for the year-to-date
period are Younger Group Co. with a 32
percent drop to $1.74 and Ascena Retail
Group Inc. with a 28 percent decline to
$7.38, as well as Matsuya Co. with a 24
percent decrease to $7.82.
The global rally on Friday was triggered when the Bank of Japan moved to
a negative interest rate policy, which sent
the value of the yen plunging and stock
markets in Asia higher. Gains in crude oil
also buoyed results with the commodity
closing the day with a 1.3 percent gain to
$33.64 a barrel.
Regarding U.S. GDP for the fourth quarter, it increased 0.7 percent, which is lower
than the third quarter’s 2 percent gain.
Meanwhile, prices continued to drop with
the fourth-quarter price index increasing
only 0.2 percent, which compares to the
third quarter’s 1.3 percent gain. The report
also showed that personal income fell while
personal taxes gained and personal spending declined. Household savings showed a
gain.
This week, personal expenditure data is
due as well as construction spending. Later
in the week, the monthly employment
report will be released. Wall Street will also
be eyeing the trade balance report due on
Friday for any signs of weakness. If these
reports show a slowing of the economic
engine, stocks could rally again as it gives
the Fed further reason not to implement
additional rate hikes.
For retailers, the consumer remains a
puzzle. Wages are up, but so are household savings. But spending has been soft
— except on dining out and bigger-ticket
items. And going to see blockbuster films
such as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,”
which continued to set records. Last month
consumers were in a good mood. But on
Friday, the Michigan Consumer Sentiment
fell 0.6 points for January. Survey respondents’ take on current economic conditions
also dropped.
Chris Christopher, director of consumer economics at IHS Global Insight,
said sentiment fell “due to stock market
volatility, despite falling gasoline prices
and a well-received employment report.
The fall in consumer optimism in January
was somewhat uneven, with respondent’s
evaluation of current economic conditions
taking a hit, while consumer expectations
remained unchanged.”
Christopher noted that higher-income
households’ consumer sentiment “has not
been holding up very well since they feel
the sting from the ups and downs of equity
markets.”
“Many lower-income households that
live paycheck-to-paycheck are feeling more
comfortable due to a little extra spending
money from the pump price dividend and
lower household utility bills,” he said, adding that “unseasonably warmer weather in
December and lower energy prices are a big
double positive for lower- and middle-income households.”
TOP 5
TRENDING
ON WWD.COM
2016 SAG
Awards Red
Carpet
● The 22nd annual Screen
Actors Guild Awards included
presenters Jon Hamm, Julia
Louis-Dreyfus, Kristen Wiig
and Jason Bateman.
●They Are Wearing: Paris
Couture Spring 2016
● They Are Wearing: Berlin
Fashion Week
●They Are Wearing:
Sundance Film Festival
● They Are Wearing: Paris
Collections: Men’s Fall
2016
Global Stock Tracker
As of close January 29, 2016
Stocks photograph by Mario Tama/Getty Images; Di Marco by Thomas Iannaccone; SAG by Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock
ADVANCERS
BUSINESS
Patrizio di Marco
Heading to D&G?
● Sources say the former
executive is joining the
Italian fashion group, which
separately on Friday sparked
a social media backlash after
Stefano Gabbana posted
images of products showing
same-sex couples with babies.
BY LUISA ZARGANI
Could Patrizio di Marco have landed a
job at Dolce & Gabbana?
Market sources say the former chairman and chief executive officer of Gucci
is set to join the Italian fashion group,
after honoring his one-year noncompete
agreement.
Neither di Marco nor representatives
of Dolce & Gabbana returned calls and
messages for comment.
Di Marco left Gucci on Jan. 1 2015,
followed shortly after by creative
director Frida Giannini. The executive
had joined the Florence-based firm in
2009, succeeding Mark
Lee, at the peak of the
economic crisis. The
executive and Giannini,
who later became his
wife, focused on Gucci’s
origins, highlighting
Italian artisanal craftsPatrizio di Marco
manship and reworking
several of the brand’s
staple and archival
designs. Prior to that, di Marco played
an instrumental role in turning around
Bottega Veneta as president and ceo for
eight years.
Separately, on Friday, Stefano Gabbana
sparked a slew of heated responses to the
images of T-shirts and bags he posted on
Instagram under #dgfamily and showing
same-sex couples holding babies. The
issue is especially controversial at the
moment in Italy as the country is divided
over efforts to legalize civil unions and
stepchild adoption. Also, this comes
on the heels of Domenico Dolce and
Gabbana’s comments made on “traditional families” in March, which also
generated a social media backlash as well
as headlines in Italy and internationally.
Dolce’s views on “traditional families,”
comprising a father and a mother, and
comments he made on children he called
“synthetic,” offended Sir Elton John, who
called for a boycott of the Dolce & Gabbana brand, quickly spreading and drawing a slew of followers including Sharon
Stone, Courtney Love, Ricky Martin and
Martina Navratilova.
On Friday, Gabbana’s followers on
Instagram responded to the images of the
new products with comments ranging
from “hypocrite” to “you like money,
don’t you?”
The designer responded: “I regret that
many misinterpret this message, I just
want to say that Family is love!! And that
love is not sexuality!!!” followed by red
heart emojis.
Avon Products Inc.
+15.70%
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.
+9.68%
Vince Holding Corp.
+6.82%
J.C. Penney Company Inc.
+6.45%
PVH Corp.
+5.89%
DECLINERS
Luen Thai Holdings Ltd.
-3.00%
Sears Holdings Corp.
-2.59%
Global Brands Group
-2.46%
I.T Ltd.
-1.05%
Samsonite International SA
-0.99%
4
1 FEBRUARY 2016
Manolo Blahnik
Manolo Blahnik:
A Life on Film
footwear. “I am who I am, and that’s how I
appear on the camera.”
Blahnik said Roberts came to him about
two years ago with the idea. “One day he
came along and said, ‘Let’s make a film.’
I said ‘What?!’ I didn’t have time to get
interested. You know how I am, I just say
‘Well, let’s do it. If you want to film do it.
And like everything I do, nothing has been
prepared.”
Roberts, who’s spent his life in the
media, clearly knew what he was doing:
“Having known Manolo for over 30 years,
I can say he is a multifaceted intellectual
and romantic whose engaging mind and
ingenious work is made for entertaining
cinema,” he said.
The timing was ideal on a variety of
levels: Blahnik is slowly and steadily
expanding the business together with his
niece Kristina Blahnik, the company’s chief
executive officer, and the past year has
been a big one — with more to come.
He published a book with Rizzoli in
September, and the same month was honored in New York by the Couture Council
Artistry of Fashion for his long-standing
dedication to craftsmanship and design.
Last fall, the brand launched a capsule
collection of bejeweled clutch bags, with
an eye to expanding further in the category
and doing practical day bags as well.
Next week, Blahnik will open his second
London store in Mayfair’s Burlington
Arcade. The 1,000-square-foot, double
fronted unit will stock women’s and men’s
shoes from the seasonal collections as well
as the brand’s classic pieces. The recently
launched collection of bags will also be
sold. The new store comes some 44 years
RETAIL
Snapchat, Tumblr
Get In on Men’s
● The CFDA has tapped the
social media platforms
to bolster engagement
surrounding NYFW: Men’s,
which starts today.
BY RACHEL STRUGATZ
Men’s Fashion Week kicks off today,
and the Council of Fashion Designers
of America, is looking to generate some
social excitement around the four-day
event.
“The CFDA takes a Switzerland role in
communicating what our members are
up to,” said Emilie Fife, senior manager
of digital communications at the group.
“It’s important to let the mass majority
of fashion fans who aren’t at the shows
feel like they’re part of it — and not with
the typical, blurry runway photos.”
And for the second season of Men’s
Fashion Week — where about 60
designers are showing — Fife said the
CFDA is working with social platforms
Snapchat and Tumblr directly. Snapchat
will have a Live Story for the event and
Tumblr will give five creative types free
rein to create content.
Technology is quickly changing the
way the industry and consumers digest
fashion.
“More of our members ask for a
contact at Instagram than they do at
magazines,” Fife said.
Event sponsors will also do their part
to drum up social engagement from
showgoers, including Cadillac, which
is building a studio runway at Men’s
Fashion Week hub Skylight Clarkson
North. Nathan Tan, Cadillac’s associate
director of brand partnerships, likened
the runway to a pop-up video studio
that will allow participants to share
their walks down the runway across
social media channels using a dedicated
hashtag. The company will also tell
fashion influencer stories to followers on
the company’s owned social channels.
“We want to be additive to the
experience — particularly in places like
“More of our members ask for a
contact at Instagram than they do at
magazines.” — Emilie Fife, Council of
Fashion Designers of America
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
after the designer opened his first store on
Old Church Street in Chelsea.
Much of the filming was done in Palermo
and Taormina, Sicily, two places beloved of
Blahnik. None of it, however, took place in
his native Canary Islands, because filming
there was too expensive.
“In Palermo there are palm trees and
banana trees, and it looks like home — so
it was OK,” he said. There are shots of
Taormina’s Greek temples — “one of my
mad obsessions,” an interview with Mary
Beard, the Cambridge Classical scholar,
and another one that takes place at Palazzo
Tomasi di Lampedusa, the late writer’s
home, in Palermo.
Blahnik said the film also recalls his
book, “Fleeting Gestures and Obsessions,”
which was published last year. It covers
more than 40 years of his history from
the moment he was discovered by Diana
Vreeland in 1971, when she was editor of
American Vogue.
The film will also feature interviews with
young people who admire Blahnik’s work,
and others who’ve known him for decades
including Jamie Prieto, his longtime London shop manager; Naomi Campbell; Kate
Moss, and Penelope Tree.
Others set to appear include Paloma
Picasso; Candace Bushnell; Charlotte Olympia Dellal; Iman; Rihanna; David Bailey;
Isaac Mizrahi; Joan Burstein — one of his
first employers; Beard, and Rupert Everett.
Asked about the impression he’d like the
film to leave on audiences, Blahnik said:
“Frankly, I couldn’t care less what people
see in me at all. I would like to be seen like
a human being who does something that
he adores — that’s all.”
the fashion industry,” said Tan. “We
don’t just want to associate with things
and put our brand next to it. We want to
engage with a community in a way that
adds value.”
Snapchat’s Live Story will debut
on Snapchat on Feb. 3, and designers
showing that day — Michael Kors, Perry
Ellis, Calvin Klein, Gypsy Sport and
Cadet — will all contribute. Snapchat’s
Live Story feature allows Snapchatters to
access events — from Fashion Week to the
Republican Debates — in real-time.
To personalize the experience,
Snapchat will create a series of Men’s
Fashion Week filters that users who
upload to the live story can tag their
snaps with. These will range from
general Men’s Fashion Week filters
containing the event’s official logo to
more specific ones that are dedicated to
individual shows.
A spokeswoman from Snapchat
confirmed that this is the third time that
the social platform will partner with
the CFDA. The first time was in May for
the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and the
second was at the CDFA Awards a month
later.
“This took place in early summer and
it’s been a continuum that only picked
up during Fashion Week in September,”
she said, adding that with each Fashion
Week season, Snapchat sees more and
more influencers join the platform from
bloggers to designers and models. “There
is something to be said that the womens’
Fashion Weeks around the world get so
much buzz. This is our chance to expose
our community to men’s fashion week,
which our community may not be as
familiar with.”
5
1 FEBRUARY 2016
BUSINESS
Macy’s Lowers Its
Guidance After Deal
● The retailer wrapped up a pact
with Tishman Speyer for $270
million, with nearly one-third
going to renovating the Fulton
Street site.
BY ARTHUR ZACZKIEWICZ
Macy’s Inc. said it has wrapped up its
real estate deal with Tishman Speyer,
which enables “the re-creation of its
Brooklyn store on Fulton Street.”
But the financials of the deal are
forcing the retailer to lower its earnings
guidance.
Macy’s receives $270 million in the
deal from Tishman Speyer. Of that, $100
million is earmarked for renovating
the site. Macy’s said as a result of the
transaction, it is expected to post a gain
of $250 million. “Approximately $86 million of the gain will be recognized in the
fourth quarter of 2015 and the remaining
$164 million expected to be booked in
fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2017 with specific
amounts dependent on the construction
schedule,” the retailer said, adding that
it received $68 million in cash during the
fourth quarter of 2015. The remaining
$202 million in cash is expected to be
realized in fiscal 2016 and 2017.
As a result, Macy’s revised its earnings
guidance for the fourth quarter as well
as the full-year 2015, “which previously
has assumed the entire gain would be
booked in the fourth quarter of 2015.”
Subsequently, the retailer lowered its
earnings-per-share guidance for the
full-year period to between $3.54 and
$3.59, which excludes expenses “related
to cost efficiencies announced earlier in
January and asset impairment charges
associated primarily with spring 2016
store closings.” The downward revision
compares to a prior range of $3.85 to
ACCESSORIES
Isaac Mizrahi, HP
Partner on Watch
● The designer is entering
the wearables market with
a smartwatch that will be
available this spring.
Mizrahi photograph by George Chinsee
BY VICKI M. YOUNG
Isaac Mizrahi is entering the wearables
market with a smartwatch.
Xcel Brands Inc., owner of the Isaac
Mizrahi brand, said the designer is
teaming up with HP Inc. to create the
Isaac Mizrahi Smartwatch. Designed by
Mizrahi, the watch – through the Engineered by HP program – would use HP’s
technology to build the watch.
On the fashion front, the smartwatch
will have a round shape, large roman
numerals and interchangeable leather
bands. Available in two Swarovski Crystal-outlined faces in silver and gold-tone
stainless steel, the bands will include five
interchangeable colorways. The watch
will offer features such as message notifications, social media connection and
a pedometer. The styling and concept
are based on allowing women to stay
connected through just a glance at their
wrists. Through the Isaac Mizrahi smartphone app, users will be able to customize how they want to be notified about
social media platforms, incoming calls,
texts, e-mails and meeting alerts.
On the technological front, the analogue movement with the digital display
will have a translucent color-matched
dial that hides the digital display when
inactive, the company said. The dial
will have luminous hands. The power
will come from a watch battery that is
expected to last several years, while the
so-called “smart capabilities” have a
five-day battery life, depending on actual
individual usage.
Mizrahi said, “It’s hard to integrate
something so modern and mechanical looking into a feminine look, and
I wanted the design to be a hidden
treasure.”
Sridhar Solur, general manager for
wearables and smart platforms at HP,
said, “As we continue to expand the
Engineered by HP program portfolio, it
is important for us to consider personal
style, just as much as we expand the
technology infused in these designs.”
He added that the Mizrahi smartphone
allows users to be fashionable, “without
sacrificing the connectivity that is so necessary with the way we live today.”
According to Robert W. D’Loren, Xcel’s
chairman and chief executive officer, the
smartwatch, which will be the first one
designed specifically for women, will be
available this spring for $249.99. It will
retail initially on QVC, and then become
available at the better department stores
that carry the Isaac Mizrahi line.
The smartwatch
will be the first one
designed specifically
for women.
$3.90 a share.
For the fourth quarter, earnings
per share are now expected to range
between $1.85 and $1.90, which compares to a prior estimate of $2.18 to
$2.23. Shares of Macy’s Inc. on Friday
closed at $40.41.
As previously reported, Macy’s will
continue to own and run the first four
floors as well as the lower level of its
existing nine-story Fulton Street retail
store, “which will be reconfigured and
remodeled in a $100 million project
that is beginning this spring and will
continue over the next three years,” the
retailer said this morning.
Tishman Speyer said that, following the closing of the deal, the rest of
the building will now “redevelop into
approximately 10 floors of distinct, firstclass office space.” The real estate firm
also bought Macy’s Hoyt Street parking
facility, which the company said will be
reconfigured for a “future mixed-use
development.”
“The collaboration
with Tishman
Speyer is a great
example of how
our company can
create significant
additional value.”
— Terry J. Lundgren,
Macy’s Inc.
Terry J. Lundgren, chairman and chief
executive officer of Macy’s, said the
“collaboration with Tishman Speyer is a
great example of how our company can
create significant additional value by
strategically exploring the potential of
our real estate assets while maintaining
a robust store presence that is being
upgraded to drive future growth.”
Fourth-quarter results are due to be
released on Feb. 23.
Isaac Mizrahi
7
1 FEBRUARY 2016
BEAUTY
Birchbox.com, a
content-slash-commerce-slash-sampling
site for beauty junkies.
Marc Jacobs Beauty
Enters Harrods Doors
● The collection will launch at
the Knightsbridge store today.
BY LORELEI MARFIL
BEAUTY
Birchbox
Cuts 15%
Of Staff
● The company has laid off
50 employees, following the
launch of a second in-house
line.
BY ALLISON COLLINS
On Friday, beauty box business
Birchbox laid off 50 employees — 15
percent of its total staff.
“We have learned a tremendous
amount about what we need to do to
win in the beauty category,” Birchbox
chief executive officer Katia Beauchamp
said in a statement. “The cuts made
today will allow us to reinvest in our
biggest opportunities and grow even
more quickly in the future. We have
a clear understanding of how we can
streamline our efforts and operate more
efficiently.”
The business is hitting its growth
goals and expects to double shop sales,
as well as continue subscription growth,
according to the statement. “For all
those impacted in this reduction there
is no thank you that can properly
convey the depth of my gratitude,”
Beauchamp said. “We will work harder
than ever to honor everything you
have accomplished here at Birchbox.”
A representative for Beauchamp said
she declined to comment beyond the
statement.
The New York-based company
launched its subscription business
in 2010. Members receive monthly
boxes of custom products based on
their beauty preferences. The layoffs
follow the launch of Birchbox’s second
in-house brand, Arrow, earlier in
January. The business also started
a color cosmetics line called LOC in
2015, and opened a bricks-and-mortar
location in New York. The company
has about $72 million in venture capital
backing. It raised its latest round — $60
million — in 2014.
LONDON — Marc Jacobs Beauty is making
its way to the U.K., and is set to launch
exclusively at Harrods this month.
The collection landed on the retailer’s
Web site Sunday and will launch at the
Knightbridge store today.
Created by Jacobs and beauty brand
developer Kendo, the lineup includes color
cosmetics and makeup brushes. Three
products will be exclusive to Harrods,
including the Le Marc Lip Crème in
Charlotte; the Style Eye Con eye shadow
palette No. 7 in La Parisienne, and the Kiss
Pop lacquer box collection.
“The U.K. for us has always been an
important part of the brand’s whole
strategy,” said Catherine Gore, Marc Jacobs
Beauty vice president and general manager.
“From what we see, the U.K. market
has an incredible appetite for beauty,
newness and playing with color. But even
more so, we found a really great partner
in Harrods, which makes this a significant
global milestone for the brand. We receive
comments and correspondents via social
media from brand supporters in the U.K.
every day and so we are excited to finally
be able to offer them the opportunity to
experience Marc Jacobs beauty in person at
Harrods. We’re planning to stay focused on
our U.K. business at Harrods and continue
to nurture our brand in Europe, which is
offered exclusively through Sephora.”
The line launched in 2013, and Gore said
it’s witnessed growth in Europe and the
Middle East, “which will be a nice link-up to
Harrods as well.”
She said bestsellers include the Blacquer
collection, of dark and shiny eyeliners and
mascaras. Coconut face primer, which
launched last July, has also become a big
product for the brand.
“There is an incredible story behind it as
well. It was inspired by a trip that Marc took
to Brazil two years ago. He was drinking a
lot of coconut water during that trip and
it inspired us to take all of the attributes of
a coconut and deconstruct them into this
incredible hydrating primer.”
BEAUTY
Shiseido Sees Lift in
Full-Year Guidance
● The Japanese beauty giant
Birchbox photograph by Thomas Iannaccone
cited lower tax expenses,
enhanced cost efficiency
and greater-than-expected
progress in implementing
cost structure reforms.
BY KELLY WETHERILLE
TOKYO — Shiseido has raised its full-year
profit and sales forecasts, citing lower
tax expenses, enhanced cost efficiency
and greater-than-expected progress in
implementing cost structure reforms.
The Japanese beauty giant recently
shifted its fiscal year-end from Mar. 31 to
Dec. 31. The company will be reporting
numbers for the nine months ended Dec.
31 on Feb. 9, a transitional period.
Shiseido said Friday it now expects net
income for the nine months to reach 23
billion yen, or $188.6 million. This is up
76.9 percent from a previous forecast of
13 billion yen, or $106.6 million, but still
falls short of the results achieved in the
same period a year earlier.
Japan’s largest cosmetics manufacturer
now expects operating profit to total
37.5 billion yen, or $307.5 million, up 25
percent from a previous forecast of 30
billion yen, or $246 million.
The company is predicting net sales of
763 billion yen, or $6.26 billion. This is an
increase of 0.4 percent over its previous
sales guidance of 760 billion yen, or $6.23
billion.
The Marc Jacobs
Beauty Collection.
The Marc Jacobs Beauty line will be
showcased in three of the Brompton Road
windows at Harrods on Feb. 5. The launch
will be supported by a series of in-store
events for consumers.
“Our clients are always on the lookout for
the most exciting new beauty brands,” said
Mia Collins, Harrods’ head of beauty. “This
launch will have huge appeal to both beauty
addicts as well as fashion mavens who want
to discover the latest makeup trends from
a brand that’s synonymous with creativity
and quality. Personally, I am very excited to
see our clients respond to the exquisite new
mascara launch: Velvet Noir.”
The company is optimistic in its outlook
for the U.K. market. “On a business
level our projection is that Harrods
Knightsbridge will become one of the
highest-ranking vendors for Marc Jacobs
Beauty in the world. So we really hope that
the global success of the brand continues in
the U.K.”
The brand has tapped actress Winona
Ryder to front the beauty campaign shot by
David Sims in a New York studio.
“Winona is not only a timeless film
icon, but a true beauty icon and we were
very honored to have her represent the
collection in such a gorgeous way,” Gore
said. “When Marc released the campaign
image via his Instagram in December he
cited her brilliant mind, talent and physical
beauty like no other and we fully agree. “
The spring ads will run in the February
issues of publications including Vogue and
Love.
Last year, actress Jessica Lange fronted
the campaign, which was shot by David
Sims and styled by Katie Grand.
“I see beauty in many things, and I am
attracted to all sorts of imperfection, to
style, to confidence or experimentation,”
Jacobs said. “It’s unexpected and surprises
you. I think the idea of transforming into
this person you want to be is a lot of fun.
It’s this idea of a young woman enjoying
creating her look, getting ready for her
night out, or her night after her night out.”
Marc Jacobs Beauty was originally
launched as a Sephora-exclusive brand.
The company unveiled its plans earlier this
month to roll out at Bergdorf Goodman and
12 Neiman Marcus stores.
8
1 FEBRUARY 2016
MEN’S
Men’s Wearhouse Gets
A New Name: TLRD
● The change is effective Jan. 31.
BY JEAN E. PALMIERI
The Men’s Wearhouse will soon have a
new corporate identity.
Effective Sunday, the retailer will
institute a new holding company organization and change its name to Tailored
Brands, Inc., headquartered in Texas.
Its ticker symbol on the New York Stock
Exchange will also change, from MW to
TLRD, beginning on Monday.
As a result of the change, Men’s Wearhouse shareholders will become shareholders of TLRD on a one-for-one basis,
automatically holding the same number
of shares and ownership percentage
in the holding company as they did in
Men’s Wearhouse.
The directors and executive officers of
the company will not change.
Doug Ewert, chief executive officer,
said, “We believe the holding company
structure will allow us to support, nurture and augment our family of brands
as we further leverage our shared services platform.”
At the same time, the company said
it will provide a fourth-quarter 2015
update on Feb. 16.
The Men’s Wearhouse operates 1,748
stores in the U.S. and Canada as well as
tuxedo shops within Macy’s stores. Its
stores operate under the Men’s Wearhouse, Jos. A. Bank, K&G and Moores
nameplates.
FASHION
● Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye
and his leadership team are to
provide guidance over a twoyear period.
BY MILES SOCHA
PARIS — The late Gaby Aghion, who
founded Chloé in 1952 and recruited an
array of Left Bank designers including
Maxime de la Falaise, Gérard Pipart and
Karl Lagerfeld, is remembered as a mentor extraordinaire.
The legacy continues: Now in its 27th
edition, ANDAM will today name Chloé a
new sponsor of the 2016 fashion competition and Geoffroy de la Bourdonnaye,
its chairman and chief executive officer,
as the winner’s designated mentor.
“Always finding new talents is the
essence of the Chloé maison,” said de
la Bourdonnaye, who plans to put his
entire leadership team at the disposal of
the victor, who pockets a cash award of
250,000 euros, or $270,750 at current
exchange rates.
The mentorship spans two years of
guidance on matters including financial,
legal, marketing, communications and
production. De la Bourdonnaye lauded
ANDAM for giving young talents the tools
to propel businesses that are already
showing traction — and for shining a
spotlight on a flourishing creative industry amid economic gloom and lingering
fallout from the November terror attacks
in Paris.
In addition to the main award is
the First Collections Prize, valued at
100,000 euros, or $108,300, and the
Accessories Award, which comes with a
grant of 40,000 euros, or $43,300.
Nathalie Dufour, ANDAM founder and
director, said the winner of the First
Collections prize would also receive
mentoring from Galeries Lafayette “to
help him or her master the construction
of the collection in terms of products
and merchandising.”
She noted that designers — no matter
how creative or committed to quality
— “sometimes lack the notion of the rigorous merchandising codes of a department store.”
In addition, the Institut Français de la
Mode, or IFM, is offering finalists of the
First Collections and Accessorize prizes
access to an 18-month training program covering such topics as identity,
supply chain, production, image and
communication.
MAC Cosmetics, Swarovski, Tomorrow London and the Maison du SavoirFaire et de la Création are also offering
assistance, monitoring, mentorship
and workshop access to winners and
finalists.
Moncler has joined a consortium of
sponsors that include Chanel, Pierre
Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, Kering, Longchamp, LVMH Moët
Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint
Laurent.
Remo Ruffini, chairman and ceo of
Moncler, said it is “essential” to support
creativity, which should be “recognized
and rewarded, especially among emerging designers, who will be the protagonists of the future.”
“Over the past four years, the mentorship has become as important as
the prize money,” Dufour said. “They
benefit from a one-on-one relationship
with the highest level of expertise, and
very often, it turns into a real long-term
friendship.”
She noted that Kering chief executive
officer François-Henri Pinault, who
mentored 2014 winner Iris Van Herpen,
“is still helping to run her business and
her production. They have introduced
her to the best of the French traditional
industries like Montex and Lesage, and
they are now opening for her the doors
of French high-tech companies.”
Likewise, Bruno Pavlovsky, president
of Chanel fashion, who is mentoring
Geoffroy de la
Bourdonnaye
Stephane Ashpool from Pigalle, connected him to three Chanel-owned specialty ateliers, allowing him to include
pieces made by pleating specialist
Lognon, feather house Lemarié and the
embroider Lesage in his fall men’s wear
show.
The French acronym for the National
Association for the Development of
the Fashion Arts, ANDAM is welcoming applications from today until April
15, with the jury members revealed in
March and the finalists in May. Winners
are to be unveiled on July 1.
Founded in 1989 by Dufour with the
support of the French government and
with former YSL couture boss Bergé as
president, ANDAM has been a springboard for an array of designers who
would go on to achieve international
recognition, including Martin Margiela,
Viktor & Rolf, Christophe Lemaire and
Jeremy Scott. De la Bourdonnaye noted
that 2002 laureate Tom Van Lingen
works alongside creative director Clare
Waight-Keller in the Chloé design studio.
Awards, funds and initiatives aiding
young designers have recently become
an intense focus for Europe’s big luxury
players and trade bodies, with LVMH in
2014 introducing an international prize
involving business coaching.
Men’s Wearhouse photograph by John Aquino; De la Bourdonnaye by Shannon Fagan
Chloé CEO to Mentor
ANDAM 2016 Winner
9
1 FEBRUARY 2016
MEN’S
Robert Stock Launches
Upscale Line for Label
● R by Robert Graham will offer
Looks from the R by Robert
Graham collection.
less embellished options than
Robert Graham.
BY JEAN E. PALMIERI
Robert Stock was ready for a new
challenge. So the Coty Award-winning
designer and founder of the successful
Robert Graham label has launched a
new, upscale men’s collection for fall.
Called simply R, the line offers a full
assortment of sport shirts, knitwear,
pants, sport coats, outerwear and accessories in less embellished options than
the Robert Graham assortment.
“I love Robert Graham, but I’ve been
doing it for 15 years,” Stock said. “So I
wanted to challenge myself.”
Sean Hieter, vice president of men’s
sales for Robert Graham, said he
“pushed Robert to do this to expose our
company to a new demographic and
luxe customer who hasn’t stepped into
the brand yet, to get back a customer
we may have lost due to a closet full of
Robert Graham, and to [appeal to] our
existing following who have loved everything we have ever done.”
He said R by Robert Graham offers
“emotional items for emotional sales.”
Stock sees R by Robert Graham stacking up against such high-end brands as
Brunello Cucinelli and Luciano Barbera.
The line uses nearly all Italian fabrics
and is manufactured in Italy. “We had
been buying fabrics there, but not manufacturing there,” he said. “It’s amazing
to work with factories that are over 100
years old and are simply interested in
making beautiful clothes.”
Among the key items are five-ply
cashmere sweaters; a charcoal-gray and
houndstooth reversible vest; a vest with
a traditional blue pinstripe front; and a
patterned knit-back and woven-leather
bow ties.
Many of the shirts, one of Stock’s
signatures, have subtle design elements
such as owl eyes or peace signs that look
like polka dots, or skulls woven into jacquard shirts. A plain white button-down
looks traditional from the front, but its
back has a large print of Muhammad Ali.
The lining of the garments is a map of
“It’s amazing to work with factories that are over 100 years old
and are simply interested in making beautiful clothes.”
—Robert Stock, Robert Graham
the world.
Stock said many of these patterns are
not recognizable until one gets up close,
and that sense of discovery is part of the
fun.
But there are also some pretty serious
pieces, notably a cashmere blazer with a
zip-out lining and suede sleeves that will
retail for $2,495.
The only piece not made in Italy is a
waterproof cotton Ventile cloth trench
from England.
Overall, prices for shirts start at $395,
sweaters at $595 to $2,500, jackets and
outerwear from $795 to $3,000 and
accessories at $295 to $500. A Robert
Graham shirt, in comparison, retails for
around $228 on average.
Stock said unlike Robert Graham,
whose distribution is “very wide,” the R
line will be targeted to only a handful of
specialty stores. The line won’t even be
sold at the Robert Graham stores, except
possibly the Venice, Calif., unit. And it
won’t be available online.
“This is a special capsule collection,”
he said.
Stock, who started his fashion career
in the Sixties and had a line under his
own name in the Seventies, said he
could easily kick back and play golf, but
he’s not ready to call it a career yet.
Connecticut-based Tengram Capital
Partners, a private-equity firm, bought
a majority stake in Robert Graham in
June 2011 and, since then, has doubled
its volume by licensing the name into
a number of different categories and
opening several stores.
ACCESSORIES
Adil Khan Out at Luxottica
● Founder Leonardo Del
Vecchio will assume ceo
responsibilities.
BY LUISA ZARGANI
After only one year, Adil Khan is leaving
his role as chief executive officer for
markets at Luxottica Group SpA and
founder and chairman Leonardo Del
Vecchio will assume executive responsibilities for the area.
The board of the Italian eyewear giant
approved on Friday a simplified organizational structure with a ceo and an
executive chairman. Massimo Vian will
continue in his role as ceo for product
and operations. The two ceo positions
had been created on the heels of former
ceo Andrea Guerra’s departure in September 2014.
“I’m really grateful to Adil who, with
great passion, empathy and professionalism, joined the group in this phase of
profound transformation and extraordinary growth,” Del Vecchio said. “His
international experience and knowledge
of markets and customers have strongly
benefited the company and his contributions will have an impact in the years
to come. The entrepreneurial spirit
and speed of action that have always
distinguished Luxottica, bring us today
to simplify our organizational structure.
My decision to take on executive responsibilities and more actively contribute
to Luxottica’s management comes from
the awareness that a renewed entrepreneurial spirit is critical today to properly
face this new market scenario and to
fast-track the evolution in the markets
area. This is to guarantee that growth,
efficiency and investments remain our
long-term priorities. We closed another
year of record results and start the new
one with great enthusiasm. We are wellequipped to manage a
global agenda that is
becoming more complex but also full of
opportunities.”
The revelation came
Adil
at the end of trading
Mehboob-Khan
on Friday, as the group
reported adjusted sales
in 2015 were up 17 percent, growing
to nine billion euros, or $9.99 billion
at average exchange rate. At constant
exchange, revenues grew 5.5 percent.
10 1 FEBRUARY 2016
“I don’t know how
Madison Square
Garden will work —
I guess very large,
it’s a lot to take on.”
— Jeremy Scott
Jeremy Scott for
Pepsi eyewear.
do something with emojis — something
I have had dalliances with in past — felt
like the perfect opportunity.”
Scott said translating Pepsi — a liquid
beverage — into wearable form was not a
difficult task. “I didn’t really think about
it as [ just a drink]. I guess, to me, it has
such a rich history from the ads and
logo, and bottle shape and bottle cap.
It relates to pop culture….I didn’t have
to think about it too much, it felt really
natural,” he said.
Scott, often referred to as “the people’s designer,” will embark on the fall
2016 fashion season amid an industry
hotly divided on the topic of its own
democratization. In a fashion system
deemed as “broken” by many — with
online oversaturation, delivery cycles
and markdown culture creating contention — Scott has forged forward by dressing celebrities in zany attire and sending
his Moschino collections straight from
the runway to retailers.
As more blue-chip fashion shows continue to open their gates to the public
— as was the case with Givenchy’s spring
2016 New York spectacle and the forthcoming Yeezy Season 3 presentation
from Kanye West (to be staged at Madison Square Garden) — it would seem
that Scott would be next to follow suit.
But the designer said he has no plans in
the pipeline for a public show.
“I think all my shows are pretty much
live-streamed now, so in a way you kind
of are getting that aspect already. I don’t
think of [my shows] as being exclusive —
we always try to let in diehard fans that
are outside, if there is room.
“[A public show] is nothing that I’m
against, there has never been a space
where I’m like, ‘Wow I want to show in
that space.’ The space in particular is
the thing that makes the setting for the
show. I don’t know how Madison Square
Garden will work — I guess very large,
it’s a lot to take on.
“So it’s not about audience coming in,
but the fact is, if you have too large of a
space it might change the impression of
your work, is my opinion about it. I’m
not opposed to people: The more the
merrier.
“I don’t know that seeing [a show] in
person is better than seeing it online. I
think with all these [runway] sites you
can look at [a collection] very close…
move the picture around and zoom in…
you can really get in there, it’s crazy
more detailed than ever before.
“I know from seeing shows myself,
when I have gone — you just get more a
whiff, you don’t get that kind of detail.
It’s not possible sitting front row even
because things are moving by you.”
a “storefront,” with images that act as
a “cover” to each individual post. Posts
can include words, slideshows, videos, gifs and individual photos. Users
can “repost” others’ content, but the
content is still linked back to the original
creator, who can change or delete it.
Mam likens it to a Spotify for the visual
arts.
So, for example, a fashion designer
doesn’t have to select just one look to
share on Instagram from a collection,
and a photographer doesn’t have to limit
his portfolio selections to one image
from each shoot. Instead, users can
select one image as the lead image to a
post, and share the entire collection in
that separate post.
The service also lets users collaborate
on projects in teams, and share photos
privately without requiring the heavy
lifting and long wait times of attachments or laborious downloads. Content
can be added privately, or be made
public. And rather than offering “likes,”
Take It To reveals total views to indicate
popular posts.
A number of creatives and organizations got to test the service before its
public launch today, including designer
and Moschino creative director Jeremy
Scott, Penguin Books illustrator Justin
Teodoro and artist Julio Le Parc.
“I’m so thrilled to have a place to
share my work with my fans in a way
that I want my work to be seen but at
the same time can be personal to them,”
Scott said. “It reminds me of hanging
posters on my wall in my teenage bedroom. They don’t get randomly covered
up as the days go by, but shift and evolve
naturally as your interests change.”
Going forward, Mam intends to continue to improve the discovery process
with the incorporation of hashtags,
to develop iOS and Android apps and
to explore possible manifestations for
e-commerce. In the meantime, he is
enjoying seeing how various fields, from
architects to bakers, are using what he
calls a reengineered blogging and collaboration platform.
ACCESSORIES
Jeremy Scott
Links With Pepsi
● The designer talks about the
eyewear collaboration and his
views on mass-scale fashion
shows.
BY MISTY WHITE SIDELL
Jeremy Scott is gearing up for the fashion week season, meaning that — true to
form — a new wave of collaborations is
en route. The first is a tie-up with Pepsi
Co.
Scott has taken his creative hand
to Pepsi’s new run of branded emojis
called PepsiMoji, transposing them into
a limited-edition range of six sunglass
styles.
The glasses will hit retailers in June.
Pricing is yet to be determined. The
collection’s “hero” design is a cheeky
pair of yellow ovular frames with earring-type attachments that dangle from
the tips of their temples. The collection
will be manufactured by Lapo Elkann’s
proprietary Italia Independent.
Scott said a link with Pepsi felt natural
because “you know how much I love
pop icons and to be able to play with
such an American pop icon as Pepsi
that was telling me that they wanted to
MEDIA
Take It To Designed
By and for Creatives
● The new platform aims to fill a
void in the ability to preserve
content that got lost in feeds.
BY MAGHAN MCDOWELL
It’s a widely embraced reality that the
fashion and media worlds are often the
first to jump on and popularize Silicon
Valley’s favorite new tools for sharing
and discovering content. ( Just ask Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr or Twitter).
But a new platform, created by New
York fashion photographer Marcus Mam,
aims to fill a void that he noticed in the
ability to preserve valuable content that
got lost in chronological feeds.
Take It To, which goes live today, is
part blogging platform and part discovery tool, and it’s made specifically with
creatives, who are conscious of copyright, in mind. It moves away from the
concept of the exhaustive newsfeed that
plagues other platforms and lets users
share, shuffle and collect content in any
order they prefer, while keeping ownership in the purview of the creator.
The blogging platform lets users
create a visual library, which they call
11
1 FEBRUARY 2016
Handbag Brands Brace for
More Market Challenges
Kors photograph by George Chinsee
Internet has thwarted the shelf life of the
segment.
For the high-end sector, there seems to
be a somewhat confused and “oversaturated” market of designs that evoke the
minimalism of Céline and the more-ismore aesthetic now signature to designs by
Gucci under creative director Alessandro
Michele and Fendi — giving the consumer
no clear trend-driven incentive to buy.
“Handbags have been a hot, call-to-action-type purchase, but now customers
are looking for versatility and it’s resulted
in very subtle trend and branding, which
makes it less urgent to update your bag,”
said Robert Burke, chief executive officer
of fashion industry consulting firm Robert
Burke Associates. “What happens when
retail is shaky is that customers go back
and shop their closet and see what they
have.”
“There is definitely a glut of merchandise without a point of view,” agreed Sarah
Blair, Barneys New York’s senior vice president, divisional merchandise manager for
shoes and bags. “Consumers are looking
for newness and something with a good
price value. This is not the days when they
would buy the same bag in a new color. It
used to be that brands were driven by an
iconic bag in a plethora of colors, but that
trend has plateaued.”
Neiman Marcus’ fashion director for
women’s accessories, Ana Maria Pimentel,
said: “I think sometimes when the economy fluctuates, designers think it’s easier
to be safe, but it’s always best to step it
up.”
Pimentel said there is still a “hunger”
for accessories, though. “I think where we
have seen success is when there is newness; she is not holding back if the product
is new and emotional — I don’t think she is
even being price-conscious if we are giving
her a reason to buy.
“We have seen her slow in things that
are stagnant and haven’t changed,” Pimentel added.
In an effort to stir emotion and design
persona, labels like Fendi have stepped
away from more classic, pared-down styles
in favor of novelty bags fabricated in bright
colors, with interchangeable straps and
charms. “It’s so emotional and cute — people are really responding to that cheerfulness,” said Blair.
She also pointed to Altuzarra’s new
collection of saddle bags, Loewe’s small
elephant-shaped pouches, and Chloé as
strong performers. Heritage labels including Delvaux and Mark Cross continue to
entice consumers, she said.
But Burke said the novelty, accessory-for-your-accessory model that Fendi and
others is promoting has done the larger
market a disservice.
“What worries me about these novelty
styles and the ability to accessorize your
bag with a strap or ornament, is it means
that customers are using an existing purchase…so it may be a reality from a retail
perspective that these accessories mean
that they don’t have to buy another bag,”
he said.
Burke, like many others in the industry,
said designs’ overexposure on social media
often smothers a design’s success before it
hits retail shelves. “Customers are looking
at bags prior to delivery and are tired of
it [by the time it gets to the store]. It tarnishes in some ways the impulse of a bag
purchase,” he said.
“Bags had a lot more longevity before
the Internet,” Burke continued. “If you
think of the Fendi Baguette bag, it had a
very long run. The shelf life for bags today
is extremely short because of their exposure online.” He said a cocktail of “design,
trendiness and exclusivity” is what now
Investors turned their focus toward a few key handbag brands,
including Coach, Kate Spade, Altuzarra and Michael Kors.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
drives a bag’s success.
According to Blair: “It’s a volume
business with high margins. I think a lot
of people and designers are trying to get
involved in this type of business.”
Just a few years ago, the launch of an
accessories collection seemed like the
surest way to bolster a designer’s bottom
line — resulting in an explosion of merchandise. Now analysts are taking more
of a wait-and-see approach — even for
blockbuster brands like Kors.
Oliver Chen at Cowan & Co. wrote, “We
note a cautious read-through for [Michael
Kors] and Kate Spade, given Coach’s estimates that the North American premium
women’s handbag and accessories market
was essentially flat in the December quarter, with unit growth remaining positive,
offset by lower [average unit retail]s due to
heightened discounting activity.”
Chen said he has “concerns that
[Michael Kors] could be under promotional risk, given management’s commentary on competition intensifying and
driving higher levels of promotions than
anticipated, notably in the outlet and
wholesale channels.”
The consensus from FactSet for Kors’
“I think sometimes when the economy fluctuates, designers think it’s
easier to be safe, but it’s always best to step it up.”
— Ana Maria Pimentel, Neiman Marcus
third-quarter results is for $1.46 in earnings
and sales of $1.35 billion. That would
be lower than the earnings for the third
quarter of 2015 of $1.48, but sales would be
higher than last year’s third quarter, which
came in at $1.31 billion. The average price
target amongst analysts is $49.26. Unlike
Coach, Kors is very promotional on its Web
site, with many handbags marked down 50
percent.
David Schick of Stifel expects a challenging quarter from Kors, and is below
Street estimates for earnings. “Our comp
estimate reflects our concern that [Michael
Kors] is reaching a saturation point in
North America handbags,” wrote Schick.
His survey told him that more shoppers
intended to purchase from Coach than at
Kors. It could be because Kors’ handbag
line is mostly on the large size, whereas
women’s preference is trending to smaller
sizes.
Kate Spade is set to report its
fourth-quarter results on March 1 before
the market opens and analysts are expecting earnings of 32 cents a share on sales of
$441 million. Both of those estimates are
higher than the numbers delivered for the
fourth quarter of 2014. The average price
target on the stock is $28.06. Chen wrote,
“We continue to view [Coach] as our favorite handbag name, but we still like Kate
Spade, as we feel the brand is best prepared to weather a tough sector backdrop
on elastic category expansion, prudent
promos and controlled distribution.”
Wedbush Securities was also bullish
on Kate Spade. At the end of December,
the analysts wrote, “Our checks have
consistently noted [Kate Spade] as the
least promotional and best merchandised
handbag brand compared to peers.”
Kate Spade’s shareholders need for the
company’s fortunes to change — the stock
has fallen 46 percent over the past year,
although in the last five days it has gained
6 percent. Most of that increase has come
after Coach’s earnings.
Vera Bradley doesn’t report earnings
until March 9, but that isn’t keeping
investors from hoping for the best. The
company has had very good success with
its leather bags and the company guided
the Street higher with its fiscal-year estimates. Gross margins were guided higher
as well. Chen wrote, “We’re encouraged
by solid third-quarter performance given
better-than-planned revenues on reduced
promo activity and disciplined expense
management.”
12 1 FEBRUARY 2016
Stars on Style Evolution at SAG
The 22nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards included presenters
Jon Hamm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kristen Wiig and Jason Bateman.
While “It” Girls Alicia Vikander, Brie Larson and Saoirse
Ronan were among the SAG
Awards newbies, others have
practically grown up on the
show’s red carpet. “Another
day, another gown,” quipped
16-year-old Kiernan Shipka,
whose seven years on “Mad
Men” have rendered her quite
the pro. She already knew
the drill on her purple gown.
“It’s by Erdem. I liked the color.
I liked the sparkliness and I
also liked the shape. I thought
it was pretty and flowy,” she
said.
The actress then reminisced about attending her
first awards show at age six.
“Working with Janie Bryant on
the show was super influential,” she said. “Wearing those
kind of clothes taught me
that style could tell a story
and that it could express
something.” Asked how her
look has since evolved, Shipka
said, “My style has become
present. I was six when I started. I wore whatever I wore
then. But I really developed
any sense of style while I was
on the show. I was certainly
influenced by it.”
Sarah Hyland of “Modern
Family” said she experienced
a similar red carpet journey.
“Oh, Jesus! My style has
evolved tenfold,” she said. “I
don’t like to regret fashion
moments because it’s what
I liked at the time, but sometimes you’re like, ‘What the
hell was I thinking?’ I was 19
at my first SAG Awards, so
of course my style is going
to go through some type of
evolutionary journey. I feel
like I’ve become more of a
woman.” As for her J.Mendel,
she selected it because it was
“super simple and casual and
laid back, but has the slit, so
it’s a bit sexy.”
Meanwhile, “Scandal” star
Katie Lowes said it was her
first time at SAG and her first
custom gown by Christian
Siriano. “We just put our
heads together. We wanted to
do something classic Hollywood, but have a little modern twist with the bar going
across the top. And I love
Queen Latifah in
Michael Costello.
CONTINUED ON PG.13
Emilia Clarke in Dior.
Alicia Vikander in
a Louis Vuitton gown.
Rooney Mara in
Valentino.
Leonardo DiCaprio
in Giorgio Armani.
Photographs by Katie Jones /WWD/Rex/Shutterstock; Chelsea Lauren/Variety/REX/Shutterstock; Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock
Christina
Ricci in
Christopher
Kane.
13
1 FEBRUARY 2016
Stars on Style
Evolution at SAG
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12
red. It’s my grandmother and
mother’s favorite color.” Lowes
was doing duty as SAG’s “Social
Media Ambassador” tasked
with taking behind-the-scenes
pictures. “I’m hoping to take a
picture with Leonardo DiCaprio,”
she said. “That would be huge,
but I don’t think he would.”
“Transparent” actress Hari
Nef may have also been a SAG
Awards virgin, but the model-actress worked the carpet like a
pro. “This is Maison Margiela by
John Galliano. What a dream,”
she said. “I’m super lucky to work
both in Hollywood and in fashion,
so I have an extra push for these
fashion moments, and I got this
beautiful dress from spring
2016.” Meanwhile, “Orange Is the
New Black” actress Lori Petty
wore a custom creation from
Los Angeles designer Ashton
Michael. “I wanted to wear some-
one young and new and fresh,”
she noted.
Petty’s “OITNB” costar Laura
Prepon was just looking to mix
things up. “Last night [at a party],
I rocked this three-piece suit that
I loved, so tonight I wanted to
be really feminine and girly and
wear white.” As for what she’s
learned since walking her first
red carpet, Prepon said, “You can
be stressed about it, but some
pictures are going to be good,
some aren’t, and that’s OK.” She
continued, “When you leave the
house, you’re in the car and your
dress is getting wrinkled and
your hair is blowing around and
you’re sweating. It’s a lot, but
now I feel like, ‘Eh. What are you
going to do?’ This is a part of it
and it’s fantastic, but it’s about
the work and when I remind
myself of that, it takes the stress
out of it.”
Elsewhere, sisters Rooney
and Kate Mara — both in Valentino — hit the carpet. They walked
separately, but trailed one
another down the line. Yet fans
in the bleachers went wildest for
O’Shea Jackson, Aldis Hodges,
Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell
and the cast of “Straight Outta
Compton.” They hammed it up
for photogs — while Susan Sarandon photobombed the crew.
“Who’s that?” Julia Louis-Dreyfus
whispered to her publicist before
getting a glimpse of the group.
Once backstage, Queen Latifah spotted Vikander. “Her dress
is bomb,” she said of the Louis
Vuitton gown. Clutching her Best
Supporting Actress award, the
“The Danish Girl” actress cooed,
“I don’t know how many hours it
must have taken them to put all
these sequins on my gown.”
— LINDZI SCHARF
Photographs by Katie Jones /WWD/Rex/Shutterstock; Chelsea Lauren/Variety/REX/Shutterstock; Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock
Brie Larson in
Atelier Versace. Viola Davis in
Zac Posen. Karsen Liotta in
Chanel; Ray Liotta in
Giorgio Armani.
Claire Danes in
Stella McCartney.
Nicole Kidman
wearing Gucci.
Sarah Paulson
in Armani Privé.
Idris Elba in
Ermenegildo Zegna.
Naomi Watts in
Burberry.
15
1 FEBRUARY 2016
BABY BRO
Victoria Duffy, 4, has a new brother. Robert Duffy
and Connor Dodd are in the process of adopting
Caldwell Marc Duffy, born on Thursday in Pittsburgh.
Caldwell is a family name of Dodd’s and his middle
name. Marc is named after a friend of Duffy’s.
— BRIDGET FOLEY
MERCI, PARIS
He’s already a British knight and now Sir Paul Smith
has another bright badge to display. On Thursday
the designer received the Légion d’honneur, France’s
highest distinction, during a ceremony at the French
residence in Kensington, London.
Sylvie Bermann, the French ambassador to the
U.K., bestowed upon Smith the rank of Officier in the
Order of the Légion d’honneur, in recognition of his
career-long ties with France.
His first shop, which opened in Nottingham in 1970,
was called Paul Smith Vêtements Pour Homme — not
that he spoke much French at the time — and six
years later, he showed his first men’s wear collection
in Paris.
Since then, he’s been showing in the French capital and has five boutiques there, as well as a French
headquarters.
Bermann called Smith “a revolutionary figure in
British design whose flair and audacity have left an
indelible mark on French fashion.” She added that
he is “an inspiration to a whole generation of young
designers on both sides of the Channel.”
Smith said he’s had a strong relationship with
France, and Paris in particular, for 40 years. “I’ve had
80 fashion shows in Paris, and five shops. Outside of
Paris I’ve got strong relationships all over the country.
It’s a wonderful honor to receive this accolade. It’s
really lovely and very special.”
Smith added that it was a privilege to receive
the honor at the French ambassador’s residence
in London. “It’s such a beautiful building, and it was
brilliant to celebrate with many of my closest friends,
many of whom go back as long as forty years, to
when I first started showing my men’s collection on
the catwalk in Paris.”
The Légion d’honneur was established in 1802 by
Napoléon Bonaparte. It is France’s highest distinction
and is awarded in recognition of both military and
civilian merit.
On average, 10 British nationals each year receive
it. There are five ranks in the Order of the Légion
d’honneur: Chevalier, Officier, Commandeur, Grand
Officier and Grand Croix.
— SAMANTHA CONTI
RENDEZ-VOUS AT THE RITZ
The Ritz is now scheduled to reopen in June,
changed from March 14 as initially planned following
a fire that broke out on the top floor of the hotel on
Jan. 19.
“The restoration works continue and promise to
deliver the Ritz Paris we all hoped for. We are excited
to welcoming you back to Place Vendôme at the very
beginning of June,” the hotel posted on its Facebook
page.
June 1 is the first date when guests can make reservations on the hotel’s Web site. Prices for a room
start at $1,312. (Reservations for July 3, 4 and 5 — the
MeLo-x photograph by Hannah Sider
GRANGER TO EXIT, FIELDEN IN
Another longtime magazine editor is being pushed
out — and this time it’s at Esquire. After nearly two
decades as editor in chief, David Granger, will exit the
Hearst-owned men’s magazine on March 31.
Jay Fielden, editor in chief of sibling publication Town
& Country, will succeed Granger. An incoming editor in
chief at T&C will be named by early March. Fielden, who
took the helm at T&C in 2011, will oversee the title as its
editorial director.
“David is the longest-serving editor at Esquire.
Nineteen years is one of the truly great runs we’ve
seen in this business,” David Carey, president of Hearst
Magazines told WWD. “He leaves the business in very
strong shape.”
Like all print magazines, Esquire has seen declines in
both circulation and ad pages. The Alliance for Audited
Media said for the first half of 2015, Esquire’s total
paid and verified circulation fell 1.9 percent to 732,210
over the year-ago period. Total single-copy sales slid
13.6 percent to 75,373. According to data from the
Publishers Information Bureau obtained by WWD, from
January to September last year, Esquire’s pages fell
14.6 to 429.94 over the prior-year period.
Carey characterized Granger’s time at Esquire as
“epic” and “innovative,” citing the creation of the magazine’s online archive, its first-ever digital magazine, the
first three days of Paris Couture Week — are unavailable on the hotel’s booking Web page. Prices for a
room on July 6 start at $3,171.)
A spokeswoman for the Ritz Paris had no further
details. It’s understood that guests who had booked
for March, April or May have been offered the chance
to reschedule their reservations.
The spokeswoman said the fire’s cause is still
unknown.
The fire dealt a blow to the hotel’s plans to reopen
on March 14 after four years of renovations that
included a major revamp of its top floor rooms,
including suites with terraces offering views of Paris.
There is a lot of anticipation for the reopening
of the mythic, five-star hotel, owned by Egyptian
business magnate Mohamed Al-Fayed.
The Ritz Paris has been shuttered since July 2012
for what is billed as the biggest refurbishment in
its history, headed by architect Didier Beautemps
of Paris-based Atelier COS and interior designer
Thierry Despont.
Founded by Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz in 1898,
the hotel has hosted celebrities ranging from Coco
Chanel to Ernest Hemingway, after whom the Bar
Hemingway is named.
As first reported by WWD, Chanel plans to open
its first spa named Chanel au Ritz Paris, dedicated to
the brand’s skin care, in the Ritz Club.
In addition to the spa, the project involves refreshing rooms, suites, restaurants, bars, the leisure areas,
the Ritz Escoffier cooking school and the hotel’s
gardens.
Michelin-starred chef Nicolas Sale, who was
overseeing the kitchen at the Table du Kilimandjaro
and Kintessence restaurants in Courchevel in the
French Alps, is to take the reins of the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant L’Espadon, with Estelle Touzet — who
ascended the ranks at the crème de la crème of
Parisian hotels, including Le Bristol, Hôtel Le Crillon
and Le Meurice — as the hotel’s chief sommelier.
Paul Smith
— LAURE GUILBAULT
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
The Ritz Paris.
Multimedia artist, sonic creator, musician — however you describe MeLo-x, he excels at the unpredictable.
Given his artistic tendencies, not to mention
work with Beyoncé, the Guggenheim has lined him
up to DJ at its Young Collectors party on March 31.
Museum officials weren’t giving away much about
what he has in store, other than some of his own
work will be in the mix and he is sure to put a creative
spin on his sets.
The David Yurman-sponsored event, which
will benefit the Young Collectors Council, is being
chaired by Sarah Arison, Laura de Gunzburg and Nell
Diamond. Revelers in the rotunda will also find artists
whose work is in the permanent collection including
Lucas Blalock, Alice Channer, LaToya Ruby Frazier,
Jennie C. Jones, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Amie Siegel,
Naama Tsabar and Jonas Woo.
Host committee members include Claire Distenfeld, Fabiola Beracasa-Beckman, Maria Giulia
Prezioso Maramotti and Dalia Oberlander. They will
join YCC co-chairs Noreen K. Ahmad, Astrid Hill Dattilo, Alexandra Economou and Anne Huntington for a
dinner in the Wright restaurant before folding into the
rest of the party.
MeLo-x
— ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
brand’s 75th and 80th anniversaries and its 1,000th
issue, and its partnership with NBC for the Esquire network. He also touted the 16 National Magazine Awards
that the editor in chief won for the magazine.
The executive said Fielden “embodies the spirit of
Esquire” from a journalistic and style standpoint. Fielden has worked at a trio of Condé Nast publications,
including The New Yorker, Vogue and was the editor in
chief of Men’s Vogue from its launch until it closed in
2008.
Crediting his past as a training ground for Esquire,
Fielden said: “I started reading Esquire when I was 14.
The magazine set my imagination on fire and put me on
course to want to be an editor. For that to come about,
I’m in awe and a little surprised.”
The 46-year-old editor said he was “humbled” and
“honored” to step into Granger’s shoes, and while he
noted that it was a bit early to talk about plans, he would
work with Carey on brand expansions.
At T&C, Fielden helped launch the Philanthropy Summit and he secured a cover story with former president
Bill Clinton last spring. He also expanded the magazine’s pool of writers to include Martin Amis, Dwight
Garner, Mary Karr, Jay McInerney and Vicky Ward.
Hearst said since Fielden joined in 2011, T&C’s revenue
grew 46 percent, and single-copy sales and circulation
expanded 12 percent and six percent, respectively.
For the first half of 2015, T&C’s total, paid and verified
circulation grew 1.8 percent to 483,060, as total single
copy sales grew 10.1 percent to 41,624, according to
AMA.
Fielden has emerged as one of Hearst’s power players, and is one of handful of editors overseeing multiple
Jay Fielden
titles; Cosmopolitan editor in chief Joanna Coles,
who also serves as editorial director at Seventeen, is
perhaps the best-known.
Still, filling Granger’s shoes, as Fielden noted, will be
no easy feat.
A revered editor with a keen feel for cultural shifts
and the changing appetite of the male reader, Granger,
59, peppered Esquire with insightful profiles and features that dipped into politics, fashion, entertainment
and sports, while counterbalancing those stories with
lighter bits on cocktails, gadgets, grooming and style.
He featured the works of longtime Esquire writers like
Gay Talese and Tom Wolfe, as well as Nora Ephron and
David Foster Wallace, and explored a host of topics,
from war and technology to Hollywood and politics.
A recent win for the Esquire team was February’s
provocative cover of presidential candidate Donald
Trump with the coverline: “Hater In Chief.” Granger
recently developed a podcast for the magazine and
worked with Equinox and The Mayo Clinic to launch a
fitness challenge.
“We’re constantly finding new ways to add to our
mission,” Granger told WWD recently, referring to brand
extensions and buzzy covers. “It’s key to what we’re
doing here.”
On his departure from Hearst, Granger offered:
“The last 19 years have been the best time ever to be
a creative professional. The explosion of new forms
of expression has been breathtaking. Turns out that a
print magazine has been the perfect hub from which to
experiment with just about all of them. I’m in awe of my
staff and writers for their genius and their commitment
to Esquire and I can’t wait to see what new opportunities await me.”
Granger’s exit at Esquire is the latest shakeup at
leading magazine titles. Late last year, Linda Wells,
editor in chief of Allure, was shown the door by Condé
Nast and succeeded by Michelle Lee. Paul Cavaco,
Allure’s creative director, was let go earlier this month.
Also late last year, Condé Nast shuttered Details, letting
go of most of its staff, including editor in chief
Dan Peres.
— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD