WWD Mar 18 - Westwood Regional School District

DAILY EDITION 18 MARCH 2016 1
Fashion. Beauty. Business.
Star Over
Miami
RETAIL
Serene on the surface, Dior’s new flagship, opening today
in Miami’s Design District, pulsates inside with floorto-ceiling video screens, mirrors and iridescent art — a
stimulating stage set for its women’s wear and accessories.
For more on the store,
see pages 4 and 5.
RETAIL
Drexler Cites Strides As J. Crew
Group Narrows Q4 Loss
Photograph by BRETT HUFZIGER
●
The J. Crew brand faces
challenges while Madewell
shines.
BY DAVID MOIN
J. Crew Group has a way to go before it’s
out of the woods, but executives on Thursday cited product improvements at the troubled J. Crew brand, strength at the rapidly
growing Madewell division and a narrower
fourth-quarter loss.
The company is working hard to turn
around the J. Crew brand through a “revitalization of iconic, classic-with-a-twist items.”
Executives told WWD that they are seeing
consumers respond better to an updating of
J. Crew’s classic blazers, dresses, shirts and
pants, among other products.
Madewell continues to get a strong
response “across the board,” with denim
and dresses leading the way, and seems to
be offsetting results at J. Crew, which had
been experiencing tepid response to its
collections amid the intensely promotional
CONTINUED ON PG. 10
RETAIL
Tory Sport Opens
First Location in
Flatiron District
●
The 5,000-square-foot store
features the full activewear
collection.
BY LISA LOCKWOOD
NEW YORK — Tory Burch is developing
a serious athletic side.
Tory Sport, her activewear brand, will
open its first permanent home today at
129 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District
here. Joining activewear neighbors such
as Bandier, Nike, Athleta, Lululemon and
New Balance, Tory Sport has moved into
a 5,000-square-foot space that features
the full activewear collection, including
high-performance clothing, bags, shoes
and accessories for running, studio, tennis, swim, golf and “Coming & Going.”
The collection, which will also begin
wholesaling next month at Barneys New
York, is geared to a woman who actively
participates in sports (or wants to look
that way), but wants a strong fashion
edge.
In the last few years, the Flatiron
District has become home to numerous
exercise studios, ranging from SoulCycle
and Flywheel to CityRow, Pure Barre,
Shadowbox, Tone House, SLT, and Y7
CONTINUED ON PG. 8
Introducing a new advertising opportunity
Business
Insights
Align your brand with WWD’s New Series.
Where the Industry Comes for the Inside Scoop.
The
Next Wave:
Executive
Search
Where Millennials
Want to Work.
Issue: 04.06
Close: 03.23
Materials: 03.28
Evolution
of the In-Store
Experience
Issue: 06.08
Close: 05.25
Materials: 05.30
Issue: 04.06
Close: 03.23
Materials: 03.28
The Future
of Payment
Issue: 06.08
Close: 05.25
Materials: 05.30
Security,
Fraud & Loss
Prevention
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT PAMELA FIRESTONE, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
AT 212 256 8103 OR [email protected]
Issue: 08.10
Close: 07.27
Materials: 08.01
3
18 MARCH 2016 FASHION
CFDA Awards to Go Live on TV With Harvey Weinstein
●
Hollywood producer Harvey
Weinstein has signed up
with the CFDA to handle the
first live telecast of the CFDA
Fashion Awards.
BY ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
AND LISA LOCKWOOD
NEW YORK — The camera-shy might think
twice about plunking down the $10,000 needed
for a ticket to the CFDA Awards this year —
they are about to become a Harvey Weinstein
production.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America
on Thursday said it has formed a partnership
with The Weinstein Co. for a television broadcast of the red-carpet arrivals and the annual
awards show, which will take place June 6 at the
Hammerstein Ballroom.
Other details — like which national television
(or cable) outlet will broadcast the show and who
will be the emcee — will be revealed at a later
date. The Weinstein Co. will be in charge of all
aspects of the production, including who will
have the distribution rights.
The Weinstein Co.’s Harvey Weinstein and Patrick Reardon, along with the CFDA’s chief executive officer Steven Kolb will serve as executive
producers. Eclipse Television’s Sergio Alfaro has
signed up as producer of the broadcast. KCD will
handle producing the event and Laird + Partners
will once again oversee the annual journal, as
well as art direction for the nominee packages.
While the decision to show the awards live was
approved by the CFDA’s board, it immediately
stirred numerous questions. Not exactly known
for their brevity, the show presumably will have
to operate to an even tighter timetable this year.
ACCESSORIES
fashion-focused consumer. Users can swipe to
change watch faces, which range from a digital
chronograph to an animated pave. The watch
also comes with interchangeable leather and
silicon wristbands.
“I’m in the business of making people’s lives
easier through fashion,” Kors said. “I thought,
‘Why can’t tech accessories be chic and glamorous?’ Technology is impacting life more and
more. It should reflect your personal taste as
much as anything else.”
The watches have a touchscreen display that
provides social media, text and e-mail alerts; app
notifications; fitness tracking; and, from Google,
“smart help” and voice-activated Google.
Also from Android Wear at Baselworld this
year, Fossil introduced two slimmer devices – the
watch face is less bulky and thick on the wrist
— called the Q Wander and the Q Marshall, and
Nixon yesterday brought The Mission, a rugged
smartwatch designed for action sports that
provides live surf and snow condition alerts.
Android Wear has partnered with 12 brands so
far. David Singleton, vice president of engineering, said since starting with devices from LG,
Samsung and Motorola 360, he’s seeing interest
“maturing in the ecosystem,” meaning a number
of brands have developed Android Wear smartwatches and are more differentiated in design,
including the first round offering.
“I really feel like this year, wearables are coming into their own as a category,” Singleton said.
“There is huge interest from consumers in smart
accessories.”
He said, thus far, the partnerships have been
mutual — “in many cases, we are seeking each
other out at same time. It’s important to feel like
together we can produce an experience that will
resonate, and that we work together to design a
concept.”
Going forward, he said he expects even more
watches designed with women in mind, mainly
due to the ability to create them in smaller sizes.
And, he said, “we will continue to see these get
better over time.”
The improving U.S. economy was boosting
consumer confidence, Norsa said, but he pointed
out that the strength of the dollar compared
to the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso “has
probably diverted some tourism to different destinations. We’ve seen strong increases in tourism in
countries bordering the U.S.”
For Ferragamo, Norsa said Mexico, Australia
and Canada have been fast-growing markets.
The ceo said travel retail has continued growing with January sales in the channel accelerating by 7.1 percent, compared to 5.4 percent in
December, and with some markets — like Dubai
— putting in double-digit growth. Travel retail
growth has given a boost to wholesale revenues,
he said.
Travel flows have changed, Norsa pointed out
later in the call, with more Chinese traveling to
Canada, for example, because it is easier to get
visas. Consequently, Vancouver and Toronto have
seen large inflows of Asians. Mexico is enjoying
a resurgence of U.S. tourism as many Americans
have been turned off by the high cost and perceived security risks of traveling to Europe.
For the year, net profit increased 6.7 percent
on the back of strong sales of leather goods and
a solid performance in Europe even as operating
costs increased on the year before.
In a statement after the close of trading in
Milan, where Ferragamo is listed, the company
said its bottom line reached 174.5 million euros,
or $190.6 million, while revenues rose 7.4 percent
to 1.43 billion euros, or $1.58 billion. This included
a negative hedging effect of 51 million euros, or
$56.6 million. At constant exchange rates, sales
grew 1.4 percent, the Florence-based company
said.
Net financial debt was slashed in the year to
10 million euros, or $11 million, from 49 million
euros, or $65 million, helped by an almost 40
percent jump in net operating cash flow, the
company said.
The top line was helped by a 7.3 percent
increase in sales in Europe, which rose 6 percent
at constant exchange. This is the group’s second-largest market, representing 27 percent of
revenues. European sales rose 6 percent. Sales in
the Asia-Pacific region — Ferragamo’s largest single market at 36 percent of turnover — increased
by 4 percent, although at constant currencies
they were down 3.2 percent. North America,
accounting for 23 percent of group revenues,
grew 9.5 percent, but declined 1.6 percent, while
Japan — which accounts for about 9 percent of
group sales — increased turnover 14.2 percent
and rose 15 percent. All were reported at constant
exchange.
Footwear sales, which make up nearly half of
group turnover, increased 5.7 percent at current
exchange, but dropped 1 percent at constant currencies, while leather goods, which make up just
over one-third of group turnover, grew 12 percent
and rose 6.4 percent at constant currencies.
Responding to an analyst who pointed out
that shoe sales were weak last year, Norsa said
the group had been focusing on leather goods
and small leather goods, which produce good
margins. While men’s and women’s shoes had
been performing well over the past five years,
Norsa said, the problem is that Ferragamo
“probably lost some volume in men’s shoes in the
U.S.,” where a large part of the shoe business is
wholesale and “department stores have not been
performing very well.” He said the group has
already taken action on shoes, including launching kids’ collections — mostly aimed at young girls
— and sneakers, “where we have extremely good
turnover now and have sold out in most stores.”
Asked about Ferragamo’s retail development
plans, Norsa said the focus would be on travel
retail, with about five or six locations (but not
directly operated) planned for airports. “In terms
of DOS, we opened more than 15 last year,” Norsa
said. “I would expect the number this year to be
smaller,” he said, pointing out that some projects
would reach into 2017.
Michael Kors Taps Into Wearables Market
●
A smartwatch is the first
product in the label’s
accessories line.
BY MAGHAN MCDOWELL
Michael Kors is hoping that “wearables” start
living up to their hype. The designer today introduced his first in a line of wearable technology
accessories with the Michael Kors Access display
smartwatch.
The watch was made using Google’s Android
Wear smartwatch platform, and was shared at
Baselworld 2016, among other smartwatches
from Fossil, which has this year introduced a
number of styles, and Nixon (another first-timer).
The men’s and women’s watches, at $395, will
be available this fall and work with both Android
and iPhone smartphones. Its “smart” functionality is geared toward the social media-savvy,
ACCESSORIES
Ferragamo Still
Cautious on 2016 as
Headwinds Remain
●
The beginning of the year
was “not particularly good,”
according to ceo Michele
Norsa.
They Are Wearing photograph by Onnie A. Koski
BY GORDON SORLINI
MILAN — Salvatore Ferragamo SpA is cautious
about the year ahead even as it comes off another
strong year of profits and sales growth in 2015.
On a conference call with analysts, chief executive officer Michele Norsa commented that the
beginning of the year was “not particularly good,”
in part because of continued volatility in financial
markets, the different timing of the Chinese new
year and tourist flows that were not captured as
tourists traveled to “unusual locations.”
He confirmed that Ferragamo — like many
other luxury brands — is facing a complex
situation in China, but remained optimistic,
pointing out that the government has reaffirmed
its commitment to grow domestic consumption.
“We are seeing better performance and I would
say the general mood on the domestic market is
improving.”
Hong Kong — which Norsa termed “consistently negative” — and Macau are still suffering,
also due to a drop in travel from Mainland
tourists, while Japan and Korea are attracting more Mainland shoppers. With regard to
Europe, he said France had been penalized after
the November terrorist attacks but that Italy —
especially Milan and Florence — “have been over
performing.”
The show this year also will be a sit-down dinner
rather than simply a cocktail — so viewers and
attendees perhaps should think more Golden
Globes-type event than Academy Awards. Then
there’s the issue of what the attendees will be
doing during all those commercial breaks — apart
from eating, drinking, schmoozing and going to
the restroom.
Recruiting Weinstein isn’t exactly a surprise,
though, given his long connection to fashion. In
addition to being married to Marchesa designer
Georgina Chapman, he has served as executive
producer of “Project Runway” since 2004. But
some of his other designer ventures have been
received with more mixed reviews. Weinstein
and Sarah Jessica Parker couldn’t muster
momentum for Halston Heritage and he pulled
up stakes in 2011. And his much-talked-about
plans to revive the Charles James fashion label
haven’t been realized.
TOP 5
TRENDING
ON WWD.COM
They Are Wearing:
Tokyo Fashion
Week, Fall 2016
● The fashion-week frenzy
continues, with the latest stop
in Tokyo. WWD captured the
best street style of the evercreative city.
●IMG Models Introduces
Men’s Plus-Size Division
● They Are Wearing: Paris
Fashion Week, Fall 2016
●The Color Disconnect:
Why Runway Hues Are
Not in Consumers’ Closets
●Writtenafterawards
RTW Fall 2016
Global Stock Tracker
As of close March 17, 2016
ADVANCERS
Myer Holdings Ltd.
+12.73%
Elizabeth Arden Inc.
+10.44%
Avon Products Inc.
+6.80%
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.
+4.20%
Revlon Inc.
+4.01
DECLINERS
Guess Inc.
-14.35%
Vince Holding Corp.
-13.82%
Pandora A/S
-4.54%
Brunello Cucinelli SpA
-2.90%
Adidas
-2.29%
4
18 MARCH 2016
A seating area in the ready-to-wear
department on the second floor.
RETAIL
Dior Christens
Flagship in Miami
●
The store in South Florida
is part of a North American
expansion that includes a San
Francisco flagship opening in
April.
BY REBECCA KLEINMAN
MIAMI — Dior’s flagship for women’s
wear and accessories, which opens
today at 162 Northeast 39th Street, is
the latest square in the Miami Design
District’s patchwork quilt of white sculptural facades. Though it could easily
reference the nearby ocean waves or
sails, the French firm Barbarito Bancel
Architectes came up with the idea from
the house’s custom of starting with its
fashion archives — a Japanese-inspired
dress from the spring 2007 couture
collection in this instance.
“We always show the architects
dresses when we do the facade,” said
Sidney Toledano, president and chief
executive officer of Dior Couture.
He said the specially treated concrete
for the exterior was developed in Italy.
Huge samples were delivered to the
street in front of Dior’s Avenue Montaigne building in Paris and Toledano
himself checked the slabs for their
quality and look. “It took several models
to get the white color we wanted and to
test it,” he recalled.
Following Tokyo and Seoul, this is
only the third location crowned with
a five-pointed star (whose northwest
position captures the orange and hot
pink glow of Miami’s signature sunset).
The good-luck symbol guided Christian
Dior himself in making a major business
decision: Upon finding a brass star on
the ground in front of a building on
Avenue Montaigne, he saw it as a sign
and opened his house there. The Dior
museum in Granville, France, displays
the original, and being superstitious, the
late designer always carried a smaller
replica in his pocket. Coming full-circle,
the house has secured another superb
location, according to Toledano.
“Our neighbors are Vuitton, Cartier
and Hermès. You see the cross, and
you have those four brands,” he said,
regarding Dior’s first street address
here for women’s wear and accessories
— Dior Homme opened a block away
in 2012. The brand has a presence in
local malls, from in-store shops at Saks
Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s to its
former boutique in Bal Harbour Shops.
“We were doing well, except we needed
more room for different classifications,”
the ceo said.
Indeed, they brought the goods in
every way. Whereas the exterior soothes
like a reflection pond, which becomes
more pronounced at night through
strategically placed lighting, the interior
explodes with stimulation. A floor-toceiling, 42-screen video wall projects
artist Oyoram’s mash-up of couture,
campaign and jewelry images to hypnotic effect, especially as they ricochet
off the mirrored ceiling and staircase’s
glass-panel railing. Other Dior stores
incorporate his video walls but few to
this magnitude. Terence Main’s five-seat
aluminum bench, among 13 commissioned works by 12 artists and designers,
circles a glorious spray of delphiniums,
a link to the spring runway show. The
founding designer adored gardens, a
consistent expression in the house’s
stores, so nature is celebrated in real
and faux forms as the subject of backlit photo walls and a rooftop terrace
landscaped with lush tropical plants. Its
white sofas and umbrellas borrow from
South Beach’s boutique hotel phenomenon. It adjoins a VIP salon, a gray gossamer cocoon of velvet sofas and a cushy,
silver metallic-threaded carpet, with a
room divider to accommodate various
fittings and groups.
Five works of art, including Larry
Bell’s iridescent Mylar hanging sculpture
and Roland Mellan’s cocktail table in a
trippy pattern — more examples of the
idea of movement — further demarcate
the interior of the VIP salon.
“Having good days in Florida, the
terrace is for serving drinks and to enjoy
and entertain,” said Toledano, describing clients’ habit of spending time to see
and experience products. “This is why
we’ve developed those VIP rooms where
we get some privacy, and the terrace
adds to that.”
The second floor’s homey, open-loft
layout for ready-to-wear and shoes takes
after Peter Marino’s concept for the
SoHo store in New York. A huge seating
area with organically shaped love seats
flanking Sebastian Brajkovic’s vortex-topped cocktail table occupies the
center. Once the eyes adjust to
multitextured surfaces of mirror,
mottled paint treatments and pale
paillettes grounded by white oak floors,
natural light seeps through narrow, ribbonlike windows tucked behind curved
walls. It filters through a candy-striped
organza gown, an elegant version of a
caftan, the cut of choice in this resort
city. White dresses — mini, shirt and
pleated drop-waist — with traditional
and reversed scalloped edges and paired
with cropped knits also work for the
climate.
Rather than isolate categories, Dior is
testing a full lifestyle wall for
wardrobing. Clients can be led seamlessly from rtw to the shoe salon, where
a mannequin poses among the shelves
to advertise the season’s pointy pump
with an ankle bow strap.
The same flow occurs on the first
floor between bags and small accessories and the fine-jewelry salon, where
CONTINUED ON PG. 5
5
18 MARCH 2016 The floor-to-ceiling video wall by
Oyoram is one of Dior’s largest. The first floor’s fine-jewelry salon with a miniature
version of Christian Dior’s apartment.
Dior Christens
Flagship in Miami
Photographs by Anthony Humphreys
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
a grand piano in a miniature vignette
of Christian Dior’s apartment cradles
a one-off Archi Dior Bar en Corolle
cuff of emeralds and pink and purple
sapphires.
Handbags favor Miami-friendly
exotic skins, metallics and shocking
colors. Diorever bags in sunny gold
and “fuchsia fluo” — a fluorescent pink
— pop in the gray textured setting,
while Lady Dior styles come in pink
python, micro-cannage and embellishments such as silver palladium waves.
Displays focus on looks for the locale.
One vignette suggests several combinations for Diorama bags, So Real sunglasses and Fusion sequined sneakers
for “get in and get out” ease without
ever leaving the ground floor.
Intensely focused on North American expansion, Dior will open its San
Francisco flagship at 185 Post Street in
Union Square in April — its fifth in the
U.S. It had operated a Dior Homme
boutique in the city since 2011, but
closed it in January to highlight
women’s wear exclusively and build
on wholesale businesses at Saks Fifth
Avenue and Bloomingdale’s.
“Having a freestanding store, a big
space, is the best way to express the
brand. It’s a commitment to the U.S.
market,” said Toledano, adding that
both new stores follow the same basic
inventory plan, though merchandisers
adapt to different customer bases.
“Miami has a lot of South Americans.
In San Francisco, there are more people visiting from Asia.”
Oyoram’s video wall and India
Mahdavi’s Bishop stools will cross over
to San Francisco’s two selling floors
with about half the amount of art as in
Miami. The shoe salon will house Rob
Wynne’s mirrored glass installation
titled “Dots.” Toledano said a third
level will serve as more exhibition
space.
An internal design team met the
challenge of layering marble touches
to an existing masonry structure that
had already been preserved with a
glass overlay for a sustainable modern
makeover. Interiors are inspired by
Marino’s Avenue Montaigne concept
and its evolution for the 57th Street
store in New York.
Toledano noted, “We had to respect
San Francisco’s regulations.”
Mannequins at the
base of the staircase
on the first level.
The rooftop terrace
connects to a VIP salon.
6
ACCESSORIES
Nike’s Personal Challenge
●
Nike revealed new products,
designer collaborations and
technology at its Innovation
for Everybody conference in
New York in anticipation of
the Rio de Janeiro Summer
Olympics.
BY JESSICA IREDALE WITH CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM JEAN E. PALMIERI
Is it possible to get personal with “Everybody?” Nike plans to do so on its own terms
— literally. The brand has a language and
“Everybody” is just one of its new words.
Over the course of two days and four
events held in New York on Wednesday and
Thursday, Nike unveiled a slew of new products, collaborations and technology during
its Nike Innovation for Everybody event, an
Olympic-sized marketing “experience” timed
to an Olympic year — Rio 2016.
The last time the company held a symposium of this sort was October 2014 and the
subject was women, specifically the brand’s
renewed devotion to its female consumer
on the backs of whom it planned to increase
its business by 40 percent at the time. This
week’s event focused on innovation and
technology used to deliver personalization.
“We’re at the dawn of a new era in sport,”
said Nike Inc. president and chief executive
officer Mark Parker, addressing the audience
of global media at the event Wednesday
afternoon at Moynihan Station. “It’s the era of
personalized performance.”
It’s also the era of $50 billion in revenues
by 2020.
Down the Nike rabbit hole we went. In a
grand-scale production by Bureau Betak,
Moynihan Station was set up with 11 product
station/installations, some featuring the new
— Nike Air VaporMax and Nike HyperAdapt
1.0 — others the improved — Nike Flyknit,
which Parker noted has grown into a $1 billion
franchise since it launched in 2012. The presentation was slick, impressive with the atmosphere of a concert venue, but one where
they were serving Portland, Oregon’s top shelf
Kool-Aid. The headliners were Parker and
Kevin Hart, who introduced the event and is a
spokesman for Nike’s cross-training program
and recently got his own sneaker, the Hustle
Hart.
It was a lot to digest for those with less
than Nike acolyte status, but the biggest
impressions were left by the HyperAdapt 1.0,
a sneaker with an “adaptive lacing” system
— meaning it laces by itself — technology
that is sure to send techy sneaker-heads into
delirium. When you step into it, your heel
hits a sensor and the sneaker tightens on its
own. There are two buttons to make it looser
or tighter. For now, the buttons are manual,
but going forward, Nike sees the technology
becoming completely automated, so it senses
when the shoe needs to be tightened or loosened; for example, as a runner’s feet swell
over the course of a long run.
Then there was the Nike Air VaporMax,
an evolution of the Nike Air Max, which
launched in 1987. The newest iteration has
a Flyknit upper attached to a new, pillow-y
sole. The advanced technology has eliminated
the need for a traditional foam midsole,
resulting in what John R. Hoke 3rd, Nike’s vice
president of global design, called “the purest
expression of air we’ve ever met.”
There was plenty for gear aficionados to
geek out over. Nike Anti-Clog Traction was
introduced on football cleats. It features a
special polymer that prevents mud from
adhering to the soles. There were new iterations galore of the Flyknit, including the Free
RN Motion Flyknit, with an auxetic sole; the
Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit; the Hyperdunk 2016
Nike Inc. president and ceo Mark Parker at the
Nike Innovation for Everybody event.
Athletes from the USA and various other countries pose wearing new
jersey and footwear made by Nike for the 2016 Olympic Games.
with a Flyknit upper, and Kevin Durant’s Air
Zoom KD, which also features Flyknit. There
were also a series of new kits for football and
track and field with Aeroswift technology,
which is basically a coordinating system of
apparel that works together to create a faster,
more aerodynamic performance outfit. The
shoes and apparel on display indicated that
new performance silhouettes are even more
streamlined with less excess material, a focus
on texture and Flyknit techniques, which
have transferred to apparel and play a huge
part in the overall aesthetics of where Nike is
going, as well as a color scheme dominated by
black with blue, purple and orange accents.
The look was coolly industrial.
Nike does not stage events on this scale
annually. In addition to capitalizing on the
momentum of an Olympic year (Nike is
outfitting TK), an event of this size and type
is timed to the number and scale of products
ready to launch as well as a new message.
“We try to look at the innovation pipeline —
is there enough that we feel comfortable to
make a fundamental shift,” said Hoke. “This
time around a fundamental shift is brought
by the idea of personalized performance. We
believe that this is the future of athletics and
sports. We think we have enough ammunition and enough ambitious agenda to come
to New York and announce via products and
platforms where we’re taking the world of
sports.”
Perhaps the biggest example of Nike innovation in the name of personal experience
for its athletes is the new Nike+ app, which
launches in June, at which time its existing
apps, including Nike+ Training Club, Nike+
Running and Nike+ Snkrs will get substantial
updates. Nike+ is a data-driven app that asks
Kevin Hart at the Nike
Innovation for Everybody event.
the user to upload information about his or
her sport interests, shoe and apparel sizes,
which is used to generate a personalized
feed of training content, a store of products
the app thinks the user will be most inclined
to buy, invitations to local Nike+ events and
“Golden Tickets,” which include special offers
on merchandise. For example, Nike+ users
will be able to reserve merchandise in his or
her size and purchase it before it’s available
to the public. Nike+ users can also make
reservations for Training Club sessions via the
app and access his or her Training Club and
Running apps. Previously Training Club was
only available for women; with the launch of
the Nike+ app, it will also be offered to men.
“This app is brand new; it didn’t exist
before. It’s your all access pass and manages
your entire relationship with Nike,” said Nikki
Neuburger, vice president, global brand Nike+
and Nike. “Athletes are looking for more than
data and a dashboard. They’re looking for
coaching and guidance and a relationship.”
Nike declined to break out numbers on their
app user, but Neuburger said it’s “a community of millions with over a billion touch
points worldwide.”
To illustrate what exactly the Nike+ offers
beyond the iPhone screen, after the Moynihan Station presentation, everyone was
bussed down to Skylight Clarkson Sq. where
they could either participate in a Running or
Training Club workout session led by Hart,
Victor Cruz and Sanya Richards-Ross or do a
NikeiD design session. The setup was undeniably impressive. Anyone who was exercising
was directed to a personal locker/mini dressing room where head-to-toe workout gear in
his or her size awaited, as well as toiletries so
one could leave the event presentably (alas,
even Nike has its limitations: There were no
showers on site). Those who signed up for
the NikeiD session had a desk installed with
a computer screen and a bunch of tools that
looked like the adult equivalent of a deluxe,
creative kindergarten art class led by Nike
designer Tinker Hatfield, the man responsible
for several Air Jordans, among other Nike
icons.
If consumer behavior is increasingly driven
by experiences over possessions, Nike made
a great case for its ability to fuse the two. The
amount of information, product, Nike silos
and corporate language was dizzying, and it
went on.
On Thursday morning at 9, the fashion
press was invited to Nike’s media space at
45 Grand Street, where the next installment
of Riccardo Tisci’s collaboration with the
brand was disclosed as the start to what
the company is billing as “The Summer of
Sport.” What that will entail is mostly still
under wraps, but NikeLab senior design
director Jarrett Reynolds indicated that more
fashion-driven designer collaborations would
be launched in the lead-up to the Olympic
Summer Games.
Tisci previously collaborated with NikeLab,
which houses the brand’s designer projects,
on two sneakers, a Nike Dunk and an Air
Force 1. Beginning in July, his first men’s and
women’s apparel collections — completely
performance-based — for Nike will launch.
NikeLab x RT: Training Redefined features
two capsule collections, the first done in
black-and-white, the second in floral kaleidoscopic prints that incorporate floral motifs
from Nike’s home in Oregon, Tisci’s home in
Taranto, Italy, and Brazil, where the Olympics
will take place. It’s a fashion-forward look for
performance gear that utilizes Nike’s Dri-Fit
and Flyknit technologies and has been weartested by athletes. Two of the key silhouettes
include a one-piece short and tights garment
for men and a skirt for women. Reynolds
swore these complied with Nike’s “training”
standards, which are defined corporately
by six movements — lunges, squats, dips,
etc. Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh
Matadin shot the collection on decathlete
Ashton Eaton and track and field athlete
Richards-Ross.
To wrap up on Thursday, the company
made the big reveal of its Olympic uniforms for Team USA and a number of other
countries. Ken Black, creative director for
the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, said
the kits for the athletes it will outfit in more
than 30 sports at the Games offer technical
superiority in materials and construction. He
pointed in particular to the Nike Vapor track
and field uniforms that feature AeroBlades,
a bladelike accent that is designed to reduce
drag and create lift.
Black said all the athletes Nike outfits will
have access to the technology, not just the
Americans. “We haven’t saved anything,” he
said.
The games are just beginning.
Photographs by George Chinsee
18 MARCH 2016
7
18 MARCH 2016 EYE
Solange Reintroduces
E-Shop on Saint Heron
●
The singer and artist visits
South by Southwest to
introduce the relaunch of her
ecommerce shop through
Saint Heron.
Solange Knowles worked with BigCommerce on the new
Saint Heron e-commerce store design.
products. Featured brands and designers include James Phlemuns, Bloom and
Plume, Tactile Matter, Yvonne Koné,
Morgan Parish, Cameo and Folie.
“Saint Heron is a community that
we have been able to connect with
globally,” she said. “We have readers in
South Africa, readers in Japan — these
are people coming together and are
really excited about the next generation
focusing on diversifying.”
Color is a major source of inspiration for Knowles and she specifically
requested pieces that fit within certain
colorways. “Color is an incredible tool
to emote moods and self-expression,”
she said.
“Solange is very creative and thinks
about how to create connections
with whoever is online,” said Andrea
Sophia Amoruso Talks Success
And Branding at Story
The Nasty Gal founder
opened up about her book,
upcoming TV show and
brands she admires.
Sophia Amoruso and
Rachel Shechtman
Solange photograph courtesy of BigCommerce
BY RACHEL STRUGATZ
“A freak is a compliment and an insult and
an endearing term,” said Sophia Amoruso
when asked what her favorite word was
that begins with “F” by Story founder
Rachel Shechtman. “We all aspire to be
freaks at some level.”
The Nasty Gal founder stopped by for a
conversation with Shechtman at her New
York concept store, which takes the “viewpoint of a magazine” and changes themes
every four to eight weeks. March’s “Story”
is feminism and explores the way culture
approaches the term. Mindy Grossman,
Ashley Graham and Kim Barker will partake
in similar events at the space this month.
During the one-hour Q&A, Shechtman
asked Amoruso about what’s coming
down the pipeline (a second book and a
Netflix series), what she misses about the
early days about starting a business and
which brands she admires. Below, some
highlights:
No timetable has been set for
the strategic review.
BY VICKI M. YOUNG
MEDIA
●
Aéropostale
To Explore
Strategic
Options
●
BY MAGHAN MCDOWELL
Singer, stylist and artist Solange
Knowles is bringing all of her passions
to the relaunch of her e-commerce
shop.
The Texas native visited South by
Southwest to reintroduce the e-commerce shop on Saint Heron, a Web site
and community she created that supports culture and innovation through a
range of artists.
“It was actually a birth out of a
frustration for me creatively and artistically and culturally as a young black
creative,” Knowles said before leaving
for Austin. “I felt like a lot of time, our
voices were left out of the conversation
of art, culture, music and fashion.”
The Saint Heron project began a few
years ago with a compilation album
created with 12 artists who Knowles felt
were redefining R&B. After an “overwhelming” response, she expanded
Saint Heron to include a multimedia
Web site to “continue the conversation.”
The revamped e-commerce shop at
store.saintheron.com was created with
BigCommerce. Knowles considers it a
natural evolution for the site, which
features exclusive pieces from emerging
designers in fashion and other areas
who align with her mission of diversification. The items on offer include
ceramics, accessories and beauty
RETAIL
On her first book:
“I didn’t want to write a book that was
the Nasty Gal history book and call it ‘Nasty
Gal.’ #GirlBoss in many ways is a much
broader idea. The ethos of #GirlBoss is the
ethos of Nasty Gal. Writing a finite piece
of work and publishing it is different from
sustaining the never-ending stream of
content a brand produces on social media
Wagner, BigCommerce’s head of design.
“She’s really thinking about how to get
that connection with people.”
That Knowles is combining the
relaunch with a performance and
party at SxSW is fitting, as the festival
has evolved to encompass a breadth
of industries and performances. The
party is organized by BigCommerce, of
which Knowles has become an ambassador, and will include pieces from Saint
Heron’s online collection and live music
from Sun Ra Arkestra.
“We thought that South by Southwest
was an incredible place to launch based
on what I’ve noticed as a performer —
you are actually up close and personal
with your supporters and music-lovers,”
said Knowles. “And that’s important,
because it’s all about the conversation.”
and online. There is a lot of opportunity
for Nasty Gal to connect what #GirlBoss
has created back to the brand — but it also
exists as its own thing.”
On failure:
“Success and failure are such binary
terms. There is so much room in between
those things, and it’s the ones who understand that who can look at their success
and figure out what they did wrong.
“On the flip side, if you don’t set out
to do what you wanted to achieve, you
can find yourself failing at one thing and
succeeding on a path you didn’t even plan
on.…Seeking advice is an endless pursuit
of mine.”
On brands she admires:
“Redbull, GoPro and Nike. There’s no
women-specific brands that have ever broken through to be more than just fashion.
In a perfect world, that would be someday
what Nasty Gal represents. It’s a marathon,
not a sprint.”
On leaving Nasty Gal as chief executive officer:
“While I’m not ceo, I still own most of
the company. I’m the executive chairman.
I’m involved at the brand level. I’m in the
office four to five days a week, but I might
step out to write a book here or there.
Being able to do that is so amazing.”
On opening a store in New York:
“From what I’ve been told, to open a
store in New York you really need to have
your s–t together. I don’t know if it would
be the third store, but it would be in the
next few.”
Aéropostale Inc. will explore its strategic
and financial options, which could include
a sale of the company or a restructuring.
The teen retailer made the disclosure
as it posted fourth-quarter results. Shares
plummeted 41.7 percent to 28 cents following the report and the board’s decision to
authorize management to consider strategic options.
Chief executive officer Julian Geiger said
while the business trend has improved,
short-term visibility is limited by its current
vendor dispute. That dispute is with MGF
Sourcing US LLC, an affiliate of private
equity firm Sycamore Partners. Aéropostale said it believes MGF is in violation of a
sourcing agreement, and that the violation
is “causing disruption in the supply of
some merchandise, which, if unresolved,
could cause a liquidity constraint.”
A spokesman for MGF Sourcing said,
“MGF Sourcing is not in violation of its
sourcing agreement with Aéropostale. In
fact, MGF has taken action to protect itself
by reducing payment terms as permitted
under the agreement.”
Sycamore in 2014 provided Aéropostale
with a $150 million credit facility, and in
exchange the private equity firm received
convertible preferred stock in the retailer.
Sycamore’s managing director Stefan
Kaluzny joined the teen chain’s board, but
he elected not to stand for reelection to the
board last year.
For the three months ended Jan. 30,
the net loss widened to $21.7 million, or
27 cents a diluted share, from a loss of
$13.5 million, or 17 cents, a year ago. On
an adjusted basis, the net loss was $10.8
million, or 14 cents a diluted share, against
adjusted net income of $400,000, or 1
cent, a year ago. Net sales dropped 16.1 percent to $498 million from $593.8 million.
Comparable-store sales, including e-commerce, declined 6.7 percent.
The company provided first-quarter
guidance, which estimated a net loss in the
range of 35 to 42 cents a diluted share.
Aéropostale said there has not been any
timetable set for the strategic review process, and that there can be no assurance
that the process will result in any specific
action. The company has hired Stifel and
other advisers to help with the review
process.
An Aeropostale store front.
8
18 MARCH 2016
Tory Sport Opens
First Location in
Flatiron District
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Studio.
Giving a tour of the new store on
Thursday, Tory Burch, chairman, co-chief
executive officer and designer, cited Tory
Sport’s potential. “For me, I feel it’s not
a trend, but a shift in the way women are
dressing.” An avid tennis player, runner
and exerciser, Burch was dressed in Tory
Sport’s blue Neoprene skirt and tech knit
ribbed polo from the “Coming & Going”
category.
Roger Farah, co-ceo, believes Burch
brings a feminine side to her active line,
which is different from what’s already out
there.
“Many of the major athletic brands have
origins in men’s performance wear and
later did women’s. They don’t start out
with a women’s point of view, a feminine
point of view, a fashion and design point
of view, and I think Tory does,” Farah
said. He said the brand has always been
colorful, which lends itself to activewear.
“It’s a natural extension. She’s also personally active. She’s living the lifestyle and
she speaks to that woman,” Farah said.
He sees enormous potential in Tory
Sport, which was launched last September. “We think it could be huge. We think
it can be a billion dollar business. I think
it can go in more places than Tory Burch
can go. There are communities, there are
neighborhoods and markets with the way
this lifestyle is expanding. I was in Asia
recently and so many of the big department stores there are incredibly productive and are staples of the community, but
have no active or sports base, and they’re
all scrambling to figure out how to create
whole floors of it and dedicated space.”
He said over the long term, they will
have freestanding Tory Sport stores and
shops-in-shop in Asia.
New York is just the starting point in
the U.S. “We are aggressively looking and
talking to real estate developers right
now. We’re not dabbling,” Farah said. “It’s
interesting, on the Web site, 60 percent
of the customers that we’re getting are
new, 40 percent are crossing over from
the Tory Burch Web site. For us, that’s all
additive. We can say that this is another
part of the Tory Burch lifestyle and her
wardrobe, but to be getting 60 percent
new customers is great.”
In addition to the new Flatiron shop,
Tory Sport is available online at torysport.
com and in a pop-up shop at 257 Elizabeth Street that will continue for the
time being. The Tory Burch store in East
Hampton will convert to a permanent
Tory Sport store in May. In addition, Barneys New York will become the exclusive
retailer of Tory Sport beginning next
month, carrying the collection online and
in its Beverly Hills, Seattle, San Francisco,
Chicago, Las Vegas and two New York —
Madison Avenue and Chelsea — locations.
Burch said they’re contemplating what
future distribution will look like but want
to keep it “tight and lean.” Expanded
wholesale distribution will likely begin in
2017, Farah said.
The Fifth Avenue boutique, with 3,900
square feet of selling space, gives a nod
to sports throughout the decor, such as
striped floors that resemble pool lap lines;
a diamond pattern etched into nickel wall
panels referencing a net; blue awnings and
large screens with videos and images that
highlight athletes, and leather handrails
that evoke the grips of old-school tennis
rackets. Vintage Sports Illustrated magazines and paintings of women wearing the
Tory Burch
collection, commissioned from artist Kelly
Beeman, adorn the walls.
The store features white-washed oak
pegboards on modular walls and adjustable display units to maximize flexibility.
Right now, the store’s entrance features
“Coming & Going,” clothing that can be
worn to and from workouts and then to
lunch or errands, and swimwear. At the
center of the store is tennis apparel and
at the rear is golf and studio (yoga apparel
fabric’s features are quick dry, wicking,
waterproof and SPF. In many of the items,
high performance yarns are blended with
CoolMax. The collection is manufactured
in Asia.
Asked whether she would sign an
athlete to wear Tory Sport, Burch replied,
“We would, but it’s more complex than it
used to be. We have brand ambassadors
who are young girls who wear it and give
us feedback.”
The store will have fresh deliveries
every six weeks, and about 30 percent of
the merchandise will be bestsellers that
carry over season to season. All of the
salespeople will have iPads and mobile
point-of-sale.
Burch said she hopes that the space
can be used for yoga classes, lectures,
Tory Burch Foundation activities and
other events. Tory Sport trunk shows are
planned at Southern Methodist University’s Theta House in Dallas — Burch was a
Theta at University of Pennsylvania — on
April 11, and Burch will make an appearance at a store called Market at Highland
Park Village in Dallas on April 13. A trunk
show is also planned at the Greenwich
Country Club on May 12.
Brigitte Kleine, president of Tory Burch,
said the next step will be working on international distribution plans. Burch said
she would eventually like to open Tory
Sport stores in Dallas and Los Angeles and
would consider Japan. Other categories
they’re looking at adding would be outerwear, and possibly ski. “That would be
fun,” the designer said.
Inside the Tory Sport boutique
in the Flatiron District.
A rendering of Tory Sport’s window
display for the opening.
Photographs by Thomas Iannaccone
and exercise wear). “It’s Seventies surf
lodge meets Scandinavia and a ski lodge,”
Burch said. The store was designed by the
company’s in-house store design team
led by Renée Viola, vice president, global
store design, planning and construction,
with O’Neil Langan Architects, led by
Steve O’Neil.
In the rear of the store is a seating
area anchored by a minimalist fireplace,
four Jean Royère chairs with indigo linen
cushions and a concrete and nickel table,
that is flanked by two Royère sconces. An
interactive tennis game with a light-up
scoreboard that once the game is done
becomes a look book is featured in the
middle of the tennis area. While there
is no apparel geared to children, Burch
predicts this will be a popular amusement
for the younger set.
Tory Sport, which became a reality after
three years in development, “is starting to
pick up traction,” Burch said. She pointed
out items such as a performance cashmere
crew neck sweater ($285); reflective running jacket ($325); chevron leggings ($125);
splash leggings ($150), tech ponte cropped
flare pants ($185); block-striped rash guard
($195); printed hipster bikini bottom ($85),
and a tennis warm-up jacket ($225). Tory
Sport also has a tennis bag ($395) that has
sold out twice online.
“The challenge is to have natural
fibers and mix them with performance
features,” said Kerstin Dorst, senior
director of design development, who
was previously at Adidas. “We had to
do a lot of testing,” she said. Among the
9
18 MARCH 2016 BUSINESS
Trade, Fakes and Made in USA
Key Topics at AAFA Summit
●
Apparel and footwear
executives highlight the
importance of TPP and global
sourcing, while discussing
Made in the USA on the
sidelines of the annual AAFA
summit.
BY KRISTI ELLIS
WASHINGTON — The American Apparel
& Footwear Association is doubling
down on building support for the
Trans-Pacific Partnership in the heat
of a contentious presidential election
campaign steeped in antitrade rhetoric, while helping executives navigate
through other challenges such as counterfeiting and cyber security.
“If you are a politician, it is fashionable to say trade takes jobs away,”
said Rick Helfenbein, president and
chief executive officer at the AAFA at
the group’s executive summit, themed
“Disruption, Innovation, Transformation,” that wrapped up here on Thursday. “What we need to do…is we need
to explain that trade creates jobs. It’s
just that the jobs [trade does create] are
different and they are often higher-paying jobs.”
A priority for AAFA will be boosting efforts to support the TPP, which
involves the U.S., Australia, Japan,
Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Peru, Singapore, Chile, Brunei and New
Zealand. The industry has a big stake
in the TPP, but a drawn-out presidential primary campaign that has seen
Rick Helfenbein
Democratic and Republican candidates
rail against the negative impact of trade
deals on U.S. jobs, along with a rising
unease in the American public about
trade, has cast a shadow over TPP this
year.
“No trade deal is perfect. They’re just
not. But what is going on now is politicians exploiting the potential of shortterm loss without selling the longer-term
gains,” Helfenbein added. “This is just
wrong. It is not good for America and
somebody needs to stand up to it.”
If TPP is delayed by even a year,
AAFA’s members could collectively lose
more than $1 billion in duty savings that
would not be realized, he noted.
On a positive note, Helfenbein said
there has been a “noticeable uptick in
the urgency” of getting TPP cued up for
Congressional consideration this year,
adding, “Some of that reflects the political uncertainty of the moment, suggesting of course that it would be easier to
do it now than next year.”
Rob DeMartini, president and ceo
of New Balance Athletics Inc. and the
AAFA’s new chairman, outlined the association’s three-year strategic plan that
will be focused on providing expertise
in three areas: brand protection, supply
chain management and trade.
Industry veteran Paul Charron said
the prospects for TPP are “very good”
and that the Obama administration is
pushing it hard.
“I think the majority of Republicans
will see that it is the right thing to
do,” he said. “All of the tension in the
country, or anger and frustration [about
trade] will raise a lot of questions,
but when all is said and done, I think
it will be approved. It’s a great trade
program.”
Tom Glaser, vice president and president of global supply chain at VF Corp.,
said Vietnam represents a “robust” business for VF and the entire industry.
Glaser said there is also still momentum behind Made in America and Western Hemisphere production.
“We have significant printing
operations here. We make uniforms
here and we make some jeans in the
U.S.,” he said. “I think there is a real
opportunity to do more in this hemisphere and we are constantly doing
that.”
VF also has a large footprint in Mexico, which uses a lot of U.S. yarns and
fabrics. He said the Mexican peso has
“changed substantially over the last
24 months and that has made it a little
more competitive than it was in the
past.”
Levi Strauss & Co., which has a small
percentage of premium denim production in the U.S., is also considering ways
to expand here, said Chip Bergh, president and ceo of Levi Strauss.
“When it comes to Made in America,
I read the consumer letters that come to
the company and there are a lot of [people] that want to see us bring production back to the U.S.,” Bergh said.
The company does have some premium denim products that are made in
the U.S., Bergh noted.
“So at the price points that can support it, we want to do more of it [in the
U.S.],” Bergh said. “In fact, the meeting
I just had here was talking to a supplier
that makes product here in the U.S. So
we’re trying to do the right thing. We
are looking at if we can expand beyond
what we are doing today, but it’s not
going to be a big part of our business
because the majority of our business in
the U.S. is selling at $40 a pair roughly
and you can’t make money-making
product in the U.S. [at] that kind of
selling price.”
THE MARKETS
Perkins Elevated to President of Cradle to Cradle
●
The leadership transition
occurs alongside significant
growth for the Institute,
including a record number of
product certifications.
Helfenbein photograph by Jonah Koch
BY ARTHUR FRIEDMAN
Lewis Perkins, who has been instrumental in raising the profile of the Cradle
to Cradle Products Innovation Institute,
including in the fashion world, has been
named president of the organization
after serving as interim president since
October.
Perkins’ appointment comes at a time
of strong momentum for Cradle to Cradle,
which recently surpassed 3,300 certifications from more than 200 manufacturers.
This includes a 35 percent growth in
certifications in 2015 and 9 percent in the
first two months of 2016.
The Institute is embarking on several
key initiatives in 2016 aimed at continuing
to increase demand for Cradle to Cradle
certified products and aimed at ensuring
their ability to have meaningful and positive impact on the planet.
“As we continue rethinking the way we
make and consume products, Cradle to
Cradle design and certification is more
relevant than ever before,” said Perkins.
“I am committed to carrying forward the
momentum established by the Institute
over the past six years. I also look forward
to working closely with the Institute’s
board of directors and staff, along with
all our organizational stakeholders, to
further elevate the profile of Cradle to
Cradle and build the value of the circular
economy.”
Perkins joined Cradle to Cradle as
senior vice president in 2012. During his
first four years with the organization, he
developed the C2C Product Symposium,
a well-attended annual gathering representing the group’s breadth of coverage,
and launched Fashion Positive in 2014,
creating a dedicated program within the
organization to address and recognize the
particular intricacies of the industry.
Perkins has also worked with former
president Bridgett Luther and the board
on fund-raising, institutional strategy and
organizational growth. Prior to joining the
Institute, Perkins was director of sustainable strategies for The Mohawk Group, a
leading carpet manufacturer and the commercial division of Mohawk Industries.
“The board and I are enthusiastic about
Lewis’ keen vision, energy and collaborative spirit,” said Warner Philips, chairman
of Cradle to Cradle. “He is positioning
Lewis Perkins
the organization to take the philosophy
and practice of Cradle to Cradle, and the
circular economy, to a whole new level.”
Perkins holds a master of business
administration in marketing and strategy
with a focus on social responsibility from
Emory University’s Goizueta Business
School and a bachelor of arts from Washington & Lee University.
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is a nonprofit organization
based in San Francisco and focused on
transforming the making and consumption of things into a regenerative force
for the planet. The Institute’s mission is
to use design, based on laws of nature, to
help commerce create products that are
safe for people and the environment.
Lewis Perkins
10 18 MARCH 2016
RETAIL
Vanessa Williams
Partners With Evine Live
The singer and actress will
release V. by Vanessa Williams
on Saturday.
BY VICKI M. YOUNG
Multiplatinum recording artist and
actress Vanessa Williams’ new fashion collection, V. by Vanessa Williams, will be available starting Saturday on digital commerce
firm Evine Live.
Evine has been expanding its exclusive
fashion offerings for the last two years. The
first collection includes 18 styles comprised
of jackets, dresses, tops and bottoms that
are inspired by Williams’ personal wardrobe
and style. Fifteen new styles will become
available in April, followed by 14 more in
May. Retail price points range from $39 to
$100.
The collection is the first apparel line for
Williams, who years ago had dabbled with
the idea of a handbag line. “I had a bunch
of inquiries while playing Wilhelmina Slater
in ‘Ugly Betty,’ but if it’s not the right fit
or partnership, it’s not worth pursuing,”
Williams said. She added this time around,
“the time was right, with a great team.”
Evine first reached out to Williams about
two years ago.
In putting together the first selection of
product, Williams said she has been meeting
regularly with the manufacturing firm in
New York, “dragging in a bunch of my stuff
that I love.”
That typically sets the stage for discussions about color, styling and drape. “They
also get a chance to see what I live in, and
what I wear every time I come in. I have a
signature color palette that I tend to wear
a lot,” she said. Williams has a preference
for greens, grays and blues, while black
and white, with a touch of red, are the easy
choice for when she’s traveling. She also
favors loose-fitting, flowing fabrics and silhouettes that combine a touch of elegance,
such as a gray chiffon tunic with a small
amount of smokey black beading at the
neckline for a bit of shimmer.
“I love animal prints, but python more
than leopard, boho chic and jeans leggings
with a strappy sandal. A jacket with a really
great shoulder is a great staple to have.
I would love to add more shoulder pads
within my collection — it’s a clean way to
look sharp and give a great shape on top,”
she said.
“Everything I build I want to be able to
wear a bra with. I am 52 years old. I want to
be sure that when wearing [a top or dress
with] spaghetti straps, that there’s enough
material [for support]. A lot of women my
age, plus a little younger, want to wear a
bra,” the singer-actress said.
She said someone once described her
look as very Westchester-ish, as in Northern
Westchester and Bedford, which is one-part
“horsey-set with jodhpurs and riding boots
for going to lunch” and another part “arty
and bohemianlike,” because many residents
are creative professionals who live in the
city and commute in on the weekends.
Williams lives in the county, which is outside
of New York City.
Williams has been experimenting with
fashion since she was a young girl. Her
mom taught her to sew, so while she got
the “generic version of what was sold at
higher-end stores, I would embroider my
name or put patches on the clothes to make
it my own.” Her experiences from working
in television and theater have also made her
more aware of color, and how draping can
change through use of different fabrications,
she said.
David Miller, vice president of fashion
for Evine, said of the growth of proprietary brands at the firm: “We’re giving
the customer what she wants….She’s very
current and we want to provide a relevant
assortment of product. She’s not trend-first,
but is very trend aware.”
Miller said the customer profile at Evine
is a woman who is in “her 40s and up, who
wants to dress and act ten years younger
than she is, which is what everyone is
doing.” And she’s looking for wardrobe
staples for a polished lifestyle from work to
the weekend, he said.
While Williams would like to eventually
add handbags and accessories such as
scarves, Miller said the “cues will come from
the customer.”
Adding celebrity lines is what Miller
described as the “white space” in fashion.
Other lines Evine recently added were
Nancy O’Dell and Karen Fairchild.
percent of revenues, compared to $846
million, or 32.8 percent of revenues the year
before.
The operating loss was $1.32 billion compared to $585 million the year before. This
year includes pre-tax, non-cash impairment
charges of $1.38 billion and a charge of $4.8
million for severance and related costs. Last
year includes pre-tax, non-cash impairment
charges of $710 million. Adjusted EBITDA
was $203.4 million compared to $255.2
million the year before.
In a conference call, Drexler cited sequential improvement in comp sales last year
“largely due to our strengthened women’s
assortment which reflected more of who
we are….Our women’s business has been
a key area of focus for us and we remain
committed to getting the product where
it needs to be. In Q4, we saw strength in
women’s jackets, pants and shirts and the
improvement in the sales trend for sweaters
and knits. Additionally, our men’s business
was also highlighted by strength in pants and
jackets and an improved trend in sweaters
and knits.”
Drexler said Madewell “continued its
strong performance, with double-digit sales
growth in the fourth quarter. We ended the
year with a total of 103 locations and plan to
open approximately 10 additional stores in
2016.”
He also said J. Crew Mercantile has 19
locations and the group plans to open about
20 more this year “making our value goods
more accessible to a broader universe of
customers and offering the classic J. Crew
level of style.”
“While the retail apparel environment
remains challenging, we believe we are better positioned in 2016 having made important changes in our product and marketing,
along with the careful management of our
expenses and inventory while investing in
our key initiatives,” Drexler said.
He also cited several key management
changes in recent months, including naming
Mike Nicholson its president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and
Somsack Sikhounmuong as head of women’s
design at J. Crew. Also recently hired were a
new head of sourcing and a chief information officer.
For Nicholson, formerly of Ann Inc., it was
his first conference call for J. Crew Group.
“We ended the year in a healthy position
from an expense, inventory and liquidity
standpoint,” he said.
Outlining this year’s priorities, Nicholson
cited:
• Achieving increased sales productivity
and margin improvement at the J. Crew
brand, with fewer stockkeeping units and
styles and sharper pricing.
• Challenging the supply chain on speed
to market and costs, with “no sacrifice to
quality” to benefit gross margins and better
align buys with customer demand.
• Continuing to invest in Madewell with
new stores and initiatives such as mobile, a
loyalty program and expanded wholesale.
Madewell is sold at Nordstrom.
• Opening 20 additional J. Crew Mercantile
value stores, to end the year with 40.
“Overall, across all of our brands and
geographies, we will maintain a conservative
posture with respect to new unit growth,
with plans to increase net square footage
by 5 percent in 2016, driven primarily by
Madewell and J. Crew Mercantile,” Nicholson said.
Drexler Cites Strides
As J. Crew Group
Narrows Q4 Loss
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
retail landscape.
J. Crew Group narrowed its net loss for the
fourth quarter ended Jan. 30 to $7 million,
from the year-ago’s $30.6 million, which
largely reflected a non-cash impairment
charge.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization increased 4
percent to $44 million, from $42.1 million in
the fourth quarter of 2014.
Total revenues increased 1 percent to
$711 million. Comparable company sales
decreased 4 percent following a decrease of
3 percent in the fourth quarter a year ago.
“The fourth quarter represented a positive ending to a difficult year,” said Millard
“Mickey” Drexler, chairman and chief executive officer, on Thursday when the company
reported its fourth quarter and 2015 results.
“We believe we are better positioned having
made important changes in our product and
marketing and through the careful management of expenses and inventory. Looking
ahead, our team is focused on delivering
further improvements in the business by
executing on our strategic initiatives to
deliver long-term, sustained growth for our
brands.”
By brand, J. Crew sales decreased 3 percent to $604.5 million, and 5 percent on a
comparable basis, following a decrease of 5
percent in the year-ago quarter.
Madewell, continuing its upward trajectory, posted a 26 percent sales increase to
$92.5 million. Comparable sales increased 12
percent following an increase of 14 percent
in the fourth quarter last year.
Gross margin was 33.3 percent, compared
to 34.5 percent in the fourth quarter last
year. Selling, general and administrative
expenses were $228.8 million, or 32.2
Inside the men’s section at
J. Crew on Madison Avenue.
percent of revenues, compared to $236.2
million, or 33.5 percent of revenues in the
fourth quarter last year.
Operating income was $6.3 million compared with an operating loss of $18.7 million
in the fourth quarter last year. Last year
reflects the impact of a pre-tax, non-cash
impairment charge of $260 million.
For all of 2015, the net loss swelled to $1.24
billion from the $657.8 million in 2014, which
reflected the impact of non-cash impairment
charges and a charge for severance and
related costs. Last year reflects the impact of
the loss on refinancing and non-cash impairment charges.
Total revenues decreased 3 percent to
$2.5 billion. Comparable sales decreased 8
percent following a decrease of 1 percent the
year before.
By brand, J. Crew sales decreased 7
percent to $2.15 billion and comparable sales
decreased 10 percent following a decrease of
2 percent the year before.
Madewell sales increased 23 percent to
$301 million. Comparable sales increased 8
percent following an increase of 14 percent
the year before.
Gross margin was 35.7 percent compared
to 37.6 percent the year before.
Selling, general and administrative
expenses were $834.1 million, or 33.3
Vanessa Williams, with a look
from her fashion line.
J. Crew photograph by Thomas Iannaccone
●
11
18 MARCH 2016 Nadia Hilker, the Breakout
Star of ‘Divergent’
Nadia Hilker
The series’ newest cast member on her long, unintentional road to acting success.
Nadia Hilker as Nita in
“Divergent: Allegiance.”
Theo James as Four with Hilker.
When Nadia Hilker was 17
years old, she and her mother flew from Munich to Berlin
to meet with a potential acting agent, despite the fact
that Hilker had never acted
a day in her life. “I walked
into the office and the agent
just looked at me and said,
‘you’re an actor, I want you,’”
Hilker says. “I thought she
was cuckoo!”
Ten years later, Hilker, now
27, can fully wear the title of
“actress,” as she sits in the
lobby of the Ritz Carlton in
New York the day of her very
first film premiere. And it’s no
small premiere at that; she
joins Shailene Woodley, Theo
James, Naomi Watts, Miles
Teller, Zoë Kravitz, Ansel Elgort in the latest installment
of young adult mega-franchise “Divergent,” which
releases its third installment,
“Allegiant,” on March 18.
Prior to the pseudo-audition in Berlin, Hilker spent
her childhood “playing in the
woods with my dog and my
brother,” in the countryside
of Munich, she says. “It was
perfect.”
Things were more
complicated when she went
to school. “I got bullied quite
a lot when I was younger,
because I was different, I
guess,” she says. “I dressed
in a very weird way — there
was one year where I
thought I was Erykah Badu,
and I was wearing things on
my head.”
Though it would become
her greatest outlet, acting
was never even a thought
early on. “My mom works for
Lufthansa and my dad and
my brother work in IT,” she
says. “No one is into acting.
Watching movies was never
even something we did as a
family.” She found her way
to that casting agent’s door
through ballet, after a scout
visited her dance school
and she was referred to the
acting agent.
After meeting with the
agent, Hilker still wasn’t convinced and returned home to
study economics. But after
a year of that — topped with
a breakup — she felt ready
for a change. “I was telling
my parents that I wanted to
quit school, and my dad was
like, ‘well, how about you quit
school and call this woman
and tell her you want to be
an actor’,” she says. “She had
been calling me every two
months for like two years. So
I called her and I was like, ‘OK,
let’s do this’.”
She booked her first role,
a lead in a German TV movie,
on her first audition. After a
couple of years, though, she
couldn’t quite find her place
in film anymore. “I played a lot
of rebellious young girls, and
then I got older and we don’t
really have a lot of ‘not a girl,
not yet a woman’ parts in
Germany, especially not for
me as I’m very exotic-looking
for Germans,” she says. “I
kind of stopped working, and it
was really bad. I was broke, my
parents had to support me, and
I spent years in my apartment
just staring at the ceiling.”
Her father was once again
the one to pull her to acting. “I
was thinking about becoming
a stewardess,” she says, “and
my dad, who is very German in
terms of being pragmatic and realistic, just said ‘no, you’re going
to give it one more year. And if
nothing happens you can quit.’”
In that year, she was cast as
the lead in an independent film
called “Spring.” “I stood in front
of a camera again and realized
how much I love it and need it
and want it.”
It’s safe to say she feels
scoring a role in the remaining
two “Divergent” movies is just as
“cuckoo” as she found that first
agent meeting. “It was horrifying,” she says of joining the
cast, most of whom had already
filmed the first two movies together. “You’re like the new kid at
school.” Her character, Nita, is on
the other side of the wall in the
dystopian society, and is “a very
fierce, strong, confident, badass
woman,” Hilker says.
She’s going at the whole acting thing full-force. In addition to
the final “Divergent” movie, out in
2017, she’s set to join the cast of
The CW’s “The Hundred,” playing
“a character they’ve been talking
about so much in the previous
seasons.” Her ambitions don’t
stop there. “I want to play a bird,
and a crocodile, and a man,” she
says. “I want to play whatever I
can do.”
— LEIGH NORDSTROM
Gucci Sponsors Art Production Fund Gala
Hilker photograph by Dan Doperalski; “Divergent” stills by Murray Close; Gucci by Justice Apple
The annual event honored Ryan McGinley and Jane Kaplowitz Rosenblum.
“I’m having trouble breathing,” Ryan McGinley said as
he accepted his honor from
the Art Production Fund at
the organization’s seventh
annual gala on Wednesday night, this year held
at the Paramount Hotel’s
basement club, Diamond
Horseshoe. McGinley then
clarified what he meant.
“But not because I’m nervous. Because I’m uptown.”
The venue may not be
uptown — it’s on West 46th
Street — but he was speaking to a very below-14thStreet type of crowd: Chloë
Sevigny and boyfriend
Ricky Saiz; Rachel Feinstein
and John Currin; Marilyn
Minter; Cindy Sherman;
Nate Lowman; Aaron Young;
Zani Gugelmann; Fabiola
Beracasa; Allison Sarofim;
Hope Atherton; Stacey
Bendet; Cynthia Rowley;
Mia Moretti; Arden Wohl;
Jane Holzer, and the night’s
emcee, Fab 5 Freddy.
McGinley went on to
thank his mother — who
sat in the audience and
who McGinley admitted
is sometimes shocked by
the graphic nature of his
work — as well as New York
City, where he’s lived longer
than his hometown of
Ramsey, N.J. “As a gay guy,
it’s a city where I can hold
my boyfriend’s hand and
nobody gives me s--t, so
that’s why I love it,” he said
of Manhattan. “Whenever
people ask me where I live, I
always say I live downtown
because that’s where my
heart is and that’s where
my people are.”
Sponsored by Gucci and
themed “Concrete Jungle,”
the event also honored
Jane Kaplowitz Rosenblum,
whose son Theo created
the sculptural centerpieces
on each table to be raffled
off for $100 each. For the
guests not wearing Alessandro Michele’s latest
frothy designs for Gucci, Art
Production Fund cofounders Yvonne Force Villareal
and Doreen Remen, and
executive director Casey
Fremont called for a rather
nebulous dress code:
“Tooth & Nail.” Fremont did
her best to explain: “We sort
of intentionally give dress
codes that are open to interpretation,” she said. “We
like a theme but we don’t
want it to be costume-y. And
‘Concrete Jungle’ [lends
itself] to animal prints and
jungle influences, but people can do what they want
with it.” Amy Sacco decided
on a simple black dress and
diamond skull face earrings.
“I’m just a concrete blonde,”
she said.
Aside from the people-watching, the evening
offered its fair share of
entertainment, from temporary tattoos created by
Joyce Pensato to portrait
sessions with Steven Klein
in a darkly lit room filled
with masks and props. (The
catch: Each photograph
cost $1,000, with proceeds
going to the fund.)
Near the club’s entrance,
guests were greeted
with a performance art
piece called “Not Your Art
Baby” by Petra Collins and
Madelyne Beckles, who sat
behind a glass wall sucking
pacifiers and clutching
teddy bears. “We wanted to
make a critique on how the
art world sees us as young
female artists,” Collins
explained. “So we turned
ourselves into exactly what
we feel like the art world
perceives us as: art babies.”
Last month, the 23-year-old
artist was cast as a model
for Gucci’s fall runway show
in Milan. “I love to perform,
so I wasn’t nervous [to walk
the runway], but I have
really bad knees — my kneecaps always dislocate. So I
was scared that my knees
would f--k up,” she said,
lifting up her Gucci gown
to reveal her bandaged
kneecap.
A live auction led by
Gabriela Palmieri garnered
about $100,000 for the
fund, with a custom furniture piece by Kenny Scharf
selling for $11,000 and a
Peter Halley painting going
for $40,000, before Jillian
Hervey, better known as
Lion Babe, serenaded the
room with a sultry performance. On his way out,
McGinley, known for his
epic cross-country road
trips, admitted he was a
little tired: “I’ve been doing
this project at nighttime,
shooting at 10 p.m. until 6
a.m. four nights a week. I
slept till noon today,” he
said. “Expect an exhibition
of New York photographs
soon.” In their goodie bags,
each guest received a
beach towel decorated with
one of the artist’s cheeky
prints.
— KRISTI GARCED
Sarah Sophie Flicker, Eva Amurri, Stacey Bendet,
Cleo Wade, Amirah Kassem, and Margot.
Hope Atherton
and Elise Overl
Ryan McGinley in Gucci.
Women’s
Collections
THE RUNWAYS · THE ROUNDUPS
· THE REVIEWS ·
Issue: April 13 / Close: March 30 / Materials: April 4
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT PAMELA FIRESTONE, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
AT 212 256 8103 OR [email protected]
13
18 MARCH 2016 Michelle Phan
The Shirley Temple blue
diamond: A 9.54-carat fancy
deep blue, potentially
internally flawless, VVS2
clarity diamond ring.
On the Fast Track
Fashion Scoops
A ‘Blue Bird’ Beauty
Sotheby’s will auction a 9.54-carat
fancy deep blue diamond ring that once
belonged to Shirley Temple.
The “Little Princess” star’s father
purchased the bauble to mark her 12th
birthday in 1940, the same year that she
starred in the film “The Blue Bird.” At the
time, George Francis Temple paid just
$7,210, approximately $122,000 with
current inflation, for the stone. When the
ring is auctioned on April 19 at Sotheby’s
spring Magnificent Jewels sale in New
York, it is expected to command between
$25 million and $35 million.
“She acquired it at the age of 12 and
had it her whole life. This was a treasured
piece of jewelry, she wore time and time
again — we have pictures of her wearing it
when sworn in as ambassador, when she
was presenting an Oscar,” Sotheby’s New
York jewelry sales director Frank Everett
told WWD of the lot, which will lead Sotheby’s spring jewelry roster here.
The ring’s blue stone is “potentially
internally flawless,” according to Sotheby’s analysis. It boasts VVS2 clarity
and is being auctioned in its original
Art Deco-style setting. In 1972, Temple
commissioned Tiffany & Co. to create a
yellow-gold setting for the stone, which
will also be included in the lot.
“It was a bargain, even if you translate
dollars at the time because colored
diamonds in general were just not as
Memo Pad
Anne
Sachs
Phan photograph by Promise Phan; Vogue cover by Matteo Montanari
Moving Up
Glamour executive digital director
Anne Sachs is moving to a new role
at parent company Condé Nast,
WWD has learned.
Sachs’ role at Glamour will be
absorbed: Digital editorial director
Laurel Pinson, as well as new hire,
senior executive digital director
Annie Fox will steer the ship. A
former head of publishing product
for Chartbeat and director of programming at Hearst Digital, Fox will
join Glamour on Monday and will
likely bring in her own recruits. Fox
will report to both Glamour editor in
chief Cindi Leive and Santarpia.
Although Sachs’ title is still
being determined, as well as the
finer points of her new job, it is said
that she will work across the digital
operations of all of Condé’s titles,
liaising with their site directors. A
handful of site directors report to
both Santarpia and their title’s editor in chief. They include Self, Allure
and now Glamour, but it is believed
that this structure will extend to
all Condé titles, as the company is
looking to build a centralized newsroom akin to that of rival Hearst.
(Hearst digital editors report to Troy
Young, while print editors report to
their editors in chief.) For Hearst, a
centralized newsroom permits it
to share viral or breaking stories
across a publisher’s multiple sites.
At Condé, some of the publications have already begun sharing
stories across titles; the addition
of a point person like Sachs would
likely facilitate those efforts.
While there is no clear indication that the Hearst model is the
blueprint for Condé, the restructuring of the digital group is top of
the agenda for Condé. Earlier this
month, the company said it opened
a digital outpost in Austin, Tex., in
order to provide additional engineering and product development
capabilities, for example.
— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD
Vogue Meets
Millennials
Vogue Me, the new bimonthly
magazine targeting China’s
“post-Nineties generation” unveiled
its cover online today.
Hitting newsstands on March
28, a picture of the 260-page new
glossy by Vogue China was posted
on the magazine’s social media
accounts and Vogue Mini app on
Friday morning. WWD has also
been given exclusive access to
images of the first issue, featuring Chinese singer and actor Lu
Han, Japanese-American model
and designer Kiko Mizuhara and
remarked on the collaborative process.
“As a creator — especially an online content creator — I’m so used to just doing it
myself. I had to almost train myself to let
go of that control and trust in the team
that could help me do it.”
She compared her interest in creating
beauty content to developing the comic.
“Just like how I uploaded my first video
in 2007, I didn’t expect anyone else to
watch it. I was really just doing it because
I wanted to make something and share
my passion for makeup,” she said. “In
this case, I’m doing the same thing: I’m
creating something, and I don’t have any
expectations. I just want to tell a story.”
Phan also found some personal
beauty inspiration from the comic: she
recently dyed her hair in the style of the
comic’s main character. “The makeup
looks I’m creating in the comic, hopefully I
can inspire people to do them in real life,”
she said. — KRISTEN TAUER
understood or sought-after as they are
today,” Everett said of the stone. “With
the low estimate of $25 million, honestly
between the rare color and quality of
diamond, it’s well-priced. These pieces
are just not coming along in the way they
once did. Then quality of the stone stands
apart on its own and then you have the
provenance.”
In November 2015, Sotheby’s set a
world record for gemstone sales with a
12.03-carat fancy vivid blue diamond that
realized $48.5 million in Geneva.
The Shirley Temple Blue Diamond will
travel for exhibition to Los Angeles and
Hong Kong, before being mounted for
Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels spring preview in New York — opening to the public
American actress and musician
Pyper America Smith posing on
the cover. The cover was shot by
Boo George.
On Monday, the magazine will
be available for pre-sale on Tmall,
JD, Amazon and Chinese chat app,
WeChat. The e-commerce sites
will also offer a separate, exclusive
limited-edition cover of Han, who is
a former member of South Korean-Chinese boy band, Exo. Editor in
chief Angelica Cheung declined to
disclose how many Han covers will
be available for purchase.
Cheung said Vogue Me is the
first fashion magazine in China to
tap the post-Nineties crowd. It was
partly inspired by its Vogue Mini
app that launched last year, reaching out to China’s young and “cool”
generation who are, on average,
24 years old. Unlike other generations, post-Nineties kids march
to the beat of their own drum and
have been mostly sheltered from
hardships experienced by previous
generations.
“At that time, I thought, why
should I do an app? [Other] magazine apps were very similar to the
magazines, why bother? [Then]
I thought, who would use these
apps? Young people,” Cheung said,
adding how her target readers
were not traditional Vogue readers.
The app has been downloaded by
1.7 million users and Cheung pondered the possibility of launching a
separate magazine for a younger,
Millennial crowd. To test, Cheung
put Chinese-Canadian actor and
singer Kris Wu and American model Kendall Jenner on the cover of
Vogue China’s July issue last year,
photographed by Mario Testino.
“The reaction [to the July issue]
was really good…[we received] so
many young followers. I got really
encouraged,” Cheung said. Vogue
for a four-day run beginning April 15..
— MISTY WHITE SIDELL
Digital Draw
Michelle Phan is embracing her graphic
side. The digital beauty entrepreneur has
expanded her repertoire to the graphic
novel realm with the launch of her first
comic, “Helios : Femina.” The illustrated
series is available on the online publishing
platform Line Webtoon, which utilizes
a vertical scroll format, and features a
female lead character. To coincide with
the comic’s launch today, Phan will also
appear as a panelist at the platform’s
SxSW “Women in Digital Comics” event.
Phan has been developing the concept for “Helios : Femina” since she was
11. “The setting of the story is based on a
not-too-distant future when the world has
under gone a massive global change,”
she explained. While Phan sketched the
majority of the comic herself, she worked
with several artists to refine the details.
“I had to learn to let go of control,” Phan
China has a readership of 1.8
million and has 3.7 million followers
on Sina Weibo, China’s version of
Twitter. Cheung predicts Vogue
Me will attract even more readers.
Twenty percent of the first issue
is ad pages and the cover price
is 20 renminbi, or $3.09 at current
exchange.
The youthful change on the
July cover was not welcomed by
all Vogue China readers, Cheung
said, explaining how she received
comments from loyal readers who
didn’t understand why the magazine was tapping into a younger
crowd.
“That’s when I decided, you
Mango is about to get cheaper.
The Barcelona-based retailer said
on Thursday it was slashing prices of its
casual collection to attract a younger
consumer. Named #NewPrices, the
selection of ready-to-wear pieces and
accessories will carry price tags 15
percent lower than the rest of the offering
and come with a look book inspired by
Coachella, the annual music and arts
festival held in California.
The line is slated to hit stores this
month.
With both Mango’s competitors, Spanish Zara and Swedish H&M, stepping up
expansion, Mango in December presented a strategy to make its fast-fashion
business even faster. Stores now receive
new products every two weeks, while the
company is also launching advertising
campaigns each month featuring the
latest trend represented by the “face”
that best defines it.
As reported, Kendall Jenner made
the start in February with a photo series
lensed by David Sims. — PAULINA SZMYDKE
cannot put two people in one body.
Like a mother and daughter — they
came from the same system but
at the end of the day, daughter
is daughter. Mother is mother,”
Cheung said.
Speaking of the cover models,
all born in the Nineties, Cheung
said the three stars have a major
fan base online and are dynamic in
their own right, wearing many hats
and dabbling in different platforms,
from singing to acting to fashion
design. Mizuhara made her acting
debut in 2010 in the movie “Norwegian Wood” and also moonlights
as a fashion designer, collaborating with Opening Ceremony in
Cover for Vogue Me featuring Lu
Han, Kiko Mizuhara & Pyper
America Smith.
Japan, where singers Rihanna and
Beyoncé have worn her designs.
In a similar vein, Smith also plays
in a band called The Atomics with
her three model siblings. The first
issue of Vogue Me also features a
number of Chinese stars, including
Taiwanese actress and singer Guo
Caijie, also known as Amber Guo,
best known for her role in the television series “The Happy Times of
That Year”; actor Liu Haoran from
the film “Beijing Love Story,” and actor Jiang Jinfu from the television
series “The Legend of Qin.”
“A lot of people ask me: What do
you think of these Chinese young
idols? Are they shallow or are they
kind of mindless? [I say]: ‘We don’t
work with people who are not good
role models. [They’re] talented,
hard-working and possess positive
energy. For me, that’s very important,” Cheung said, adding how
she’d want to support celebrities
who would be good role models for
her eight-year-old daughter, Hayley.
Han is an example of that. “[Lu’s]
quite talented, professional and
hard-working. He’s got ambition
but in a quiet, humorous way. He
doesn’t go all gung ho and say
things like, ‘I’m a hero.’ He’s approachable….When he talks, he’s
quite conscious. He realizes and
knows that he should be a good
role model,” Cheung said.
As for Vogue Me’s new readers,
Cheung said they are China’s
target consumers.
“[Post-Nineties consumers] are
quite educated and grew up in a
wealthy and affluent time of China.
By and large, their parents are
affluent and many have traveled
everywhere. They’re confident.
That’s why they have opinions and
are more international and sophisticated,” Cheung said.
— AMY CHUNG