Shine Of the Times

LANVIN’S
L.A. LADIES
JIL’S NEW MAN
JIL SANDER NAMES
RODOLFO PAGLIALUNGA
ITS NEW CREATIVE
DIRECTOR. PAGE 2
WWD
MODEL: ANASTASIA/MUSE; HAIR AND MAKEUP BY KATSUMI MATSUO USING BUMBLE AND BUMBLE AND CHANEL/ARTMIX BEAUTY; FASHION ASSISTANT: LYNDA CHOI
TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY
Shine
Of the
Times
A metallic streak ran through the
fall runways as designers turned
to alluring shiny surfaces. Here,
House of Holland’s leather and tulle
dress worn with a Bochic green
sapphire earring, Ileana Makri white
gold earring, Sequin ring and Peter
Pilotto shoes. For more, see
pages 4 and 5.
PHOTO BY HUGO ARTURI; STYLED BY MAYTE ALLENDE
PERMANENT SPACE
CÉLINE AT LAST REPLACES ITS TEMPORARY
STORE IN PARIS WITH A PERMANENT ONE
ON AVENUE MONTAIGNE. PAGE 9
EMMA ROBERTS WAS AMONG
THE CELEBRITIES WHO TURNED
OUT FOR THE FOUNDATION OF
LIVING BEAUTY GALA IN L.A.,
SPONSORED BY LANVIN. PAGE 10
SEEKING ‘RIGHT’ PRICE
PVH Open to Offers
For Heritage Brands
By ARNOLD J. KARR
PVH CORP. is open to suggestion.
Emanuel Chirico, chairman and chief executive
officer of the New York-based apparel giant, told the
Nomura Retail Conference Monday that the company
would consider selling some of its Heritage Brands
group if the right offers came long, although it is not
actively shopping Van Heusen, Arrow, Izod or the
Speedo and Olga brands picked up in the 2013 acquisition of The Warnaco Group Inc.
Chirico was speaking at the Nomura Retail
Conference in New York, where other speakers included
Eric Wiseman, chairman, president and ceo of VF Corp.,
and Karen Hoguet, chief financial officer of Macy’s Inc.
PVH sold its G.H. Bass & Co. footwear business to
G-III Apparel Group Ltd. for $50 million last year and
acknowledged at the time that the retail business attached to its Heritage Brands had struggled.
On Tuesday, Chirico noted, “The only business [in
Heritage Brands] that’s really problematic for us is
our retail business — Izod and Van Heusen. It’s about
a $300 million business earning low-single-digit operating margins.”
The wholesale businesses in Heritage Brands
“added together are all well over 10 percent operating
margin businesses,” meaning operating income exceeds
10 percent of revenues, “with very low capital investment required. So 95 percent of the [earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] really
turns into cash flow for us to invest back into the highgrowth Calvin [Klein] and Tommy [Hilfiger] businesses.
And so, we like that business model,” said Chirico.
Still, he added, “we continue to look at that portfolio and think about what might be pruned as we go
forward or significantly shrunk to maximize the returns on that business.”
Last year, Heritage Brands was responsible for
$1.99 billion of PVH’s $8.19 billion in revenue, but,
SEE PAGE 9
Pushing the Boundaries
Of Fashion and Tech
By VALERIE DEMICHEVA
WHEN REPORTS STARTED flying earlier this month
that Nike fired the majority of its FuelBand team,
many questioned whether it was a big white flag of
surrender in the race for truly wearable tech.
Some even suggested that FuelBand layoffs and the
tepid reception of Samsung’s Galaxy Gear may usher
out the wearable tech revolution altogether — unless
Apple does indeed save the day with an iWatch launch.
But the true believers on the front lines at the
Smart Fabrics and Wearable Technology Conference
in San Francisco last week viewed the FuelBand layoffs as an inconsequential glitch on the road to wearable-tech progress.
“It just might not be the product for the future,” said
one attendee from the tech industry who requested anonymity. “It’s such a generic scoring system. If I’m scoring
higher in fuel points it could be just because I’m gesturing with my hand, not running. When you’re building smart products you need to make sure that the info
you’re grabbing can lead to insights for the consumer.”
Nike spokesman Brian Strong did not immediately
respond to a request for comment Monday, but previously told CNET: “As a fast-paced, global business
we continually align resources with business priorities. As our digital sport priorities evolve, we expect
to make changes within the team, and there will be a
small number of layoffs. We do not comment on individual employment matters.”
Business leaders continue to be keenly interested
in the intersection of fashion and technology, and
SEE PAGE 8
WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
WWD.COM
Neiman’s Scaling Back in China
By DAVID MOIN
THE NEIMAN MARCUS GROUP LTD. LLC is taking another step back from its stake in China.
The Dallas-based luxury retailer is close to
disclosing that it’s pulling out of its investment in
Glamour Sales Holdings, the Asian-based e-commerce site specializing in flash sales. An announcement could come as soon as today.
“They are actively looking for some new capital,” said Ginger Reeder, NMG’s vice president of
media relations and corporate giving. “We are a
minority shareholder. We don’t have any interest in
becoming a majority partner. We realize that may
result in our exiting [Glamour Sales]. This is being
driven by Glamour Sales.”
NMG continues to operate a Web site in China.
While Neiman’s ships to many countries, China is
the only country where the company has a dedicated site — with Mandarin translation, size conversion charts and customized creative.
NMG recently decided not to hold inventory in
Chinese warehouses and instead to ship to Chinese
customers from the U.S. Glamour Sales had been
handling the fulfillment from China. Neiman’s
maintains a smaller China team now, of about two
dozen workers, for customer care, marketing and
the Web merchandising in Shanghai.
Reeder said that Neiman’s offers its full assortment in China. “Clearly with the business model
operating now, we still believe there is potential
[in China] or we wouldn’t have a site in Mandarin,”
she said. “This is a better way for us to serve the
Chinese customer. We have a much larger assortment now and they like to see the breadth of the
assortment, particularly those who have traveled to
the U.S. and seen our stores. This is a much more
efficient business model.”
In March 2012, Neiman’s disclosed a $28 million
investment in Glamour Sales Holdings, and subsequently invested another $10 million in Glamour,
leading to a 44 percent stake. Glamour helped
Neiman’s launch neimanmarcus.com.cn more than
a year ago and also has helped migrate shoppers
to the Neiman’s site. In addition to products, the
site features editorial content, fashion expertise
and behind-the-scenes videos about luxury brands.
The partnership also involves Neiman’s helping
Glamour Sales expand flash sales.
Neiman’s challenge is to get Chinese consumers more familiar with its brand through marketing, fashion bloggers and editorial content. Last
spring, the retailer staged its first fashion show in
Mainland China in Shanghai’s historic Bund waterfront to generate awareness. Neiman’s also wants
more Chinese to shop Neiman’s stores in the U.S.,
including Bergdorf Goodman.
It’s rare for Neiman Marcus Group to invest in
other brands but the company has taken significant
stakes in a couple of high-profile firms in the last
two decades. The luxury retailer acquired a 56 percent stake in Kate Spade in 1999 for $33.6 million,
and expressed big plans for the brand, including
store openings. However, in 2006, NMG sold Kate
Spade for $124 million to Liz Claiborne, which proceeded to more aggressively reinvigorate the brand.
NMG also once owned Gurwitch Products, the
licensee of Laura Mercier. Gurwitch was founded
in 1995 by Janet Gurwitch, who was a former executive vice president at Neiman Marcus. In 1998,
Neiman’s bought a 51 percent stake in Gurwitch but
sold the company in 2006 to Alticor Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
Paglialunga Named Jil Sander Designer
PHOTO BY PIERPAOLO FERRARI
was upbeat about the company’s yet-untapped poBy LUISA ZARGANI
tential. “The label has not been tied to its founder
for a long time. A number of different designers
MILAN — After several good-byes, the Jil Sander have been in charge, and we are at ease about the
group is ready to say hello to a new creative direc- strength and potential of the brand. It has an evolvtor — Italian designer Rodolfo Paglialunga. His ing, independent history,” he remarked. “This is
first collection will bow in September for the spring a multiyear agreement [with Paglialunga], and we
reason in the medium-long term.”
2015 season.
Cremonesi also said owner Onward Holdings Co.
“He is the most fitting designer to write the new
pages of the Jil Sander story,” chief executive of- Ltd. stands by the brand and firmly denied any idea
ficer Alessandro Cremonesi told WWD. “He has the of a sale of the business.
The label will “continue to be positioned in
right characteristics and the experience to evolve
the Jil Sander brand in a new direction while re- the high-end range,” and Cremonesi said a priority is to develop the accessories category, specifispecting its essential traits.”
Paglialunga started honing his skills with Romeo cally handbags and shoes. He cited the Jil Bag as “a
Gigli in the early Nineties. In 1996, he joined very successful” piece. The bag is being celebrated
Prada, where he worked for 10 years, eventually with a traveling exhibition hitting cities including
becoming women’s wear design director. In March Milan, Shanghai, Tokyo, Chicago, Paris, Berlin and
2009, attracted by his knack for arty cuts and con- Hamburg, Germany.
In 2014, Jil Sander will further develop its retail
structions, former Vionnet owners Matteo Marzotto
and Gianni Castiglioni tapped the designer as cre- network, focusing on “America, which will become
ative director of the brand. Paglialunga helped dust increasingly more important, given its growth pooff Vionnet with his distinctive, glamorous shapes tential; Asia, and Japan,” said Cremonesi. Last year,
the company entered China with stores
and rich textures, until he left the comin Beijing and Shanghai. There are curpany in fall 2011.
rently 59 Jil Sander stores globally.
“I’m deeply honored to have the opSales last year were “flat,” said the
portunity to take on this role. I have
executive, standing at 100 million euros,
boundless admiration for the brand as
or $132 million at average exchange.
I strongly believe in its pure vision and
“The year 2013 was not easy for anyvalues,” said Paglialunga. “My aim is to
body in the industry, and our company
carry forward the fusion between sowas hit by currency headwinds, also in
phistication, luxury and innovation and
light of the fact that the brand has a relbring the house [to] the next level.”
evant presence in Japan,” he explained.
The designer, who hails from
In October, for personal reasons, Jil
Tolentino, in Italy’s central Marche reSander stepped down from the comgion, will be based in Milan, where the
Rodolfo
pany she founded in 1968. She had recompany is headquartered. Cremonesi
Paglialunga
turned for the third time to her nameunderscored that he had faith
sake brand in February 2012, after Raf
Paglialunga will ensure “an evolution,
Simons’ seven-year tenure. Sander rose to fame
not a revolution” of the label.
While recognizing that he was “very happy” with in the Eighties and Nineties with her tailored bathe collections produced by the design team follow- sics crafted from luxurious fabrics. The designer
ing the exit of the brand’s namesake designer in sold 75 percent of her company to Prada Group
October 2013, Cremonesi said he felt a label must in 1999, and made a highly publicized exit a year
be “personified by a creative mind that will clear- later. She was succeeded by Milan Vukmirovic, who
ly indicate a direction.” A creative director will did sporty disco flash until Sander returned in May
“channel the brand with retailers and the press. In 2003, only to split again 18 months later. After her
second departure, the brand’s creative reins were
fashion, this embodiment is important,” he added.
Asked if Sander herself had contributed to the handed over to its long-standing design team.
Prada tapped Simons as Sander’s new creative
selection of a successor, Cremonesi responded that
director in July 2005. The brand changed hands two
this was “the company’s autonomous decision.”
While industry observers had expressed concern more times during Simons’ tenure. Change Capital
over the future of the brand following the sudden Partners acquired Sander from Prada in February
departure of Sander last year and the implica- 2006 and sold it to Japan’s Onward Holdings two
tions of a disconnect from its founder, Cremonesi years later.
THE BRIEFING BOX
IN TODAY’S WWD
Gabrielle Ouellet is the subject
of “Model Call” on WWD.com.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRUMP MODEL MANAGEMENT
2
PVH Corp. isn’t looking to divest elements of its Heritage
Brands group but would entertain offers for the brands in its
portfolio. PAGE 1
The true believers in wearable tech were out in force at a
conference in San Francisco. PAGE 1
Executives attending the American Apparel & Footwear
Association’s sourcing conference recounted what a tumultuous
and evolutionary year it has been for the industry. PAGE 6
Uniqlo has opened its fifth Paris store in a 19th-century
former factory in the Marais district. PAGE 8
Céline has opened a two-floor, 6,500-square-foot store on
Avenue Montaigne in Paris. PAGE 9
The Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up on a similar note to its
opening night: with a musical ode to New York. PAGE 10
Ralph Lauren will travel to London for a two-day visit that
will culminate with a gala in aid of The Royal Marsden Cancer
Charity at Windsor Castle on May 13. PAGE 11
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has invested $1.22 billion in
Internet television company Youku Tudou Inc. PAGE 12
A memorial service was held in London Monday for Beatrix
Miller, the former editor of British Vogue. PAGE 12
The New York Times made its NewFront’s debut Monday
morning at the Dia Art space in New York. PAGE 12
ON WWD.COM
MODEL CALL: Gabrielle Ouellet, the 18-year-old Trumprepped model, talked to WWD about working at an ice
cream shop, smiling (or not) for photos and her crush on
Justin Bieber. For more, see WWD.com.
CORRECTION
Designer Kris Van Assche was in Shanghai recently to present a
repeat show of Dior Homme’s winter collection. The season was
incorrect in a story in a Fashion Scoop on page 19, Monday.
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4 WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
FALL’S SIMPLE SILHOUETTES TAKE A STRIKING TURN IN COLORFUL METALLICS.
PHOTOS BY
HUGO ARTURI
STYLED BY
MAYTE ALLENDE
Ostwald
Helgason’s
cellulose
acetate,
cotton and
polyester
top and
skirt.
Ileana
Makri
earrings;
Sequin
rings.
Timo
Weiland’s
lambskin
leather top
and skirt.
WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014 5
WWD.COM
Azede JeanPierre’s
cotton
acetate and
polyester
blazer and
pants.
MODEL: ANASTASIA/MUSE; HAIR AND MAKEUP BY KATSUMI MATSUO USING BUMBLE AND BUMBLE AND CHANEL/ARTMIX BEAUTY; FASHION ASSISTANT: LYNDA CHOI
Abigail
Stewart’s
acetate shirt
and skirt.
Bochic earring.
6 WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
WWD.COM
textiles
Execs Declare Made in USA Real Deal
WASHINGTON — “If anyone in this
room still questions Made in the USA
as a financially viable option, that’s behind you,” Bill McRaith, chief supply
chain officer of PVH Corp., said at the
annual American Apparel & Footwear
Association’s International Sourcing,
Customs & Logistics Integration
Conference. “It’s done. We are doing it.
It has happened. I think there are 400
investments going on right now in South
Carolina and its way beyond electronics
and automotive. It is absolutely in the apparel sector.”
He said he visited South Carolina in
U.S. with a 41.5 percent U.S. apparel import share, will continue to lose some of
that share this year, Darling said.
“What we are saying is low value-added product will continue to migrate out
of China as minimum wage continues to
increase,” Darling said. “The Chinese
government has mandated a 13 percent
annual increase in minimum wage over
five years, starting a year ago, so by 2017,
the minimum wage will have doubled
and that will begin to minimize production in our areas.”
Executives attending the conference
recounted what a tumultuous and evolutionary year it’s been for the industry.
Mounting pressures in the supply chain,
ranging from rising labor costs in China
Bangladesh, currently the third-largest
supplier to the U.S. apparel market behind Vietnam and China, is expected to
see significant growth in apparel exports
to the world because major companies
are committed to improving building and
fire safety there, according to Darling.
“Based on all of the information we
have right now, Bangladesh exports [to
the world] will actually be up this year
over 2013,” Darling said. “In our own
experience we are up in double digits
in production in Bangladesh in 2014
over 2013.”
He said he expects apparel production
in Vietnam to be “very strong” this year.
“Things are tightening up a little bit,”
said Rick Helfenbein, president of Luen
Bill McRaith
’’
Kim Glas
March and saw some of the biggest mills
in China — a contingency of about 20
mills from the Shanghai area — looking to set up spinning capability “off of
the back of $300 million in investment
in spinning that is going on there today
through key industries.
“We are very passionate about Made
in America,” he said. “In fact, for the first
time in 50 years, PVH is now manufacturing shirts back in the U.S., in North
Carolina today. We are scaling up quickly
because it’s financially viable, not because it’s a good thing to do, not because
we can make a statement but because it
financially makes sense to go make those
products in that location. We can respond
to the consumer so fast. It is completely
irrelevant how much extra I have to pay
for the product. I always make more
when I sell. I may have to pay $5 extra
[to produce it in the U.S.] but I will make
$20 at retail.”
Rick Darling, executive director of
government and public affairs at Li &
Fung Trading Ltd., said in an interview
that he has seen “tremendous interest and some movement” in Made in
America but has not found “the need”
in particular product categories to shift
production back to the U.S.
“I think maybe you are seeing two
kinds of things taking place [in the U.S.]
— some is real niche manufacturing of
higher-end products that can be turned
very quickly close to home in New York
and L.A. for example,” he said. “You
are also seeing some investment in the
Carolinas, in the South, of building commodity-oriented basics and I think that is
really healthy. I think that will continue.”
China, the top apparel supplier to the
most sensitive textile and apparel imports on Day One of the agreement entering into force. To provide even more
opportunities and flexibility to U.S. importers, the U.S. has proposed a temporary and permanent short supply list that
would currently encompass about 190
product categories.
“In terms of the phaseout of duties,
15 years is a long time…for wovens,” as
is 10 years for knits, said Tom Travis,
managing partner of Sandler, Travis &
Rosenberg, who was on a panel with
Glas. “It’s not a criticism of what you
are negotiating. It’s a reality for these
people,” he said, adding that the long
phaseout makes the TPP less attractive
to importers. “It might be a negotiat-
Sen. Ron
Wyden
Rick Darling
to the fallout of the factory tragedies in
Bangladesh, have dramatically changed
the global sourcing paradigm, they said.
Sourcing experts examined how far
they have come and how far they have
to go in Bangladesh, where the Rana
Plaza building housing several garment
factories collapsed on April 24, 2013, co-
We are very
passionate about
Made in America.
We are scaling up
quickly because it’s
financially viable.
Thai USA and AAFA chairman, in an interview. “This idea that all of the horses
are running out of China isn’t really true.
There has been a little bit of a drop off,
but you have to look at China not just
year-to-year but over the last four years.
China has been going down slightly and
Vietnam has been going up. If you look
at the two of them together, they have almost a 50 percent market share.”
Helfenbein said Luen Thai will remain “very involved” in China this
year and also seek new opportunities
in Cambodia and Vietnam, where the
company recently opened its first sewing facility, adding, “We see Vietnam and
Cambodia as growth areas.”
The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations between the U.S., Vietnam,
Singapore, Australia, Peru, Brunei, New
Zealand, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada and
Japan could also profoundly impact apparel sourcing and was a key topic at the
conference.
Kim Glas, deputy assistant secretary
for textiles, consumer goods and materials at the Commerce Department, made
the case for a yarn-forward rule of origin,
which most apparel sourcing executives
oppose, and also shed light on the U.S.
tariff phaseout proposal in the TPP talks.
The U.S. has proposed a 15-year phaseout on tariffs of “sensitive” woven-product
imports and a 10-year tariff phaseout on
“sensitive” knit-product imports, although
no consensus has been reached by all of
the TPP partners, Glas said.
She also said the U.S. is seeking to
find a balance between the domestic
textile industry and apparel importer
needs. To that end, the U.S. has proposed
“substantial” duty cuts on some of the
’’
— BILL MCRAITH, PVH CORP.
inciding with the first day of their conference in Baltimore last year. The collapse
claimed the lives of 1,132 people and
spawned a global backlash and the launch
of two retailer-brand safety initiatives.
“Day One of this conference last year
was the day the news broke about the
Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh,”
said Bryan Wolfe, vice president of international trade at Ann Inc. “So it was a bit
of a dark cloud that hit our industry that
day and it became a profound topic…
what happened there has now permeated
other places in the world.”
ing issue for you, but it’s a commercial
issue for us.”
In an interview, Glass said, “We’ve
always had long tariff phaseouts on sensitive products. What we are providing
here in TPP is substantial duty cuts on
sensitive products on Day One. This is a
different type of agreement and we have
to be very mindful of our current free
trade agreements with Central America,
a major export destination for U.S. yarns
and fabrics,” noting that apparel and
textile imports from Vietnam have increased substantially without duty-free
benefits. “Again, we have come up with a
different paradigm on short supply that
will allow a level of flexibility [for importers] up front in the agreement.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee,
which oversees trade and tax legislation, told the AAFA members that he
plans to craft his own trade-promotion
authority bill, a tool that is seen as vital
to the Executive Branch to complete
trade deals, including the TPP, because
it only allows Congress to vote for or
against trade deals. Wyden’s insistence
on crafting a new TPA bill indicates
that he does not support a bipartisan,
bicameral bill introduced in January,
which could slow down the trade agenda and prolong the conclusion of the
TPP negotiations.
“Some would like to lay blame for lack
of support for the TPA proposal recently
introduced in Congress at the doorstep
of the White House,” said Wyden, adding that the President and U.S. Trade
Representative Michael Froman are
“having a difficult time selling a product
that members are not thrilled about.”
PHOTOS BY JONAH KOCH
By KRISTI ELLIS
On behalf of all denim lovers—the women
and men who thrive on jeans with stay true
fi t, unsurpassed comfort, and undeniable
style—we’d like to congratulate DL1961
on being named Denim Brand of the Year
by AAFA at the American Image Awards.
The LYCRA® brand takes pride in supporting
your mission for the perfect fitting jean
and are honored to have our LYCRA® fibers
and XFIT LYCRA® fabric technology featured
in your denim collections.
8 WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
Wearable Tech Still Seeks Its Place Uniqlo’s 5th Paris Unit
Marchesa Enters Fine Jewelry
By LAUREN MCCARTHY
MARCHESA IS entering the world of fine jewelry.
Designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig
have inked a licensing deal with Prestige Jewelry
to produce their foray into jewelry.
The debut collection, due out for holiday, will
focus entirely on bridal and complement the brand’s
bridal collection. “Our bridal business is growing rapidly over the past few years, so it seems like a natural
fit to offer jewelry in the market,” explained chief executive officer Edward Chapman. The bridal line will
consist of 20 different styles, primarily consisting of
engagement rings and wedding bands. Stud earrings,
pendants and solitaire stones will also be included,
with prices ranging from $2,000 to more than $20,000.
“The bridal business is really a very steady business,”
said Rajiv Kothari, ceo of Prestige Jewelry. “It’s the
right place to launch and really get our feet into the
market and establish ourselves in that space.”
The line will expand beyond bridal for spring
2015 with a full range of styles in colored gemstones
and diamonds. Both collections will be available exclusively at select Macy’s stores and on macys.com
beginning in November.“Macy’s has been a really
great business partner for years,” said Kothari. “We
really like the direction that Macy’s has been taking overall as a company. In terms of retail, they are
being very innovative and taking all the right steps
to connect with the customer on all the right levels.”
Kothari sees the Marchesa customer as well
versed in the realm of fine jewelry. “It’s someone
who really appreciates details,” he said. “It’s someone who wants to step outside of the regular engagement rings that are out there. Bridal is a challenging space, and a conservative marketplace. It’s
all in the detail and the quality.”
Launches New Model
By JOELLE DIDERICH
PARIS — Uniqlo is getting conceptual.
The Japanese fast-fashion giant has inaugurated a new
retail model with the opening of its fifth store here in a 19thcentury former factory in the Marais district, where it is selling clothes and accessories alongside a selection of other
products, including books.
Yuki Katsuta, head of research and design at Uniqlo, said
the store, at number 39 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, was designed as a flagship retail destination highlighting “the coolest Japanese lifestyle concept.”
“We are thinking of making that store…one of the best
fashion-message concept stores in the world. Mainly we’re
going to be merchandising Uniqlo products. We may also
mix in some different items, maybe books, maybe furniture,” he explained.
“It’s supposed to be a completely different store to any
other store,” said Katsuta, adding that the concept could be
rolled out eventually to other cities.
Designed by Tokyo-based interior design firm Wonderwall,
the store spans just over 8,800 square feet across three floors.
Located in a former jewelry-waste foundry, it juxtaposes
modern elements like digital screens and LED displays with
original features such as an imposing 115-foot red-brick chimney, which literally soars through the shop’s glass rooftop.
“Please visit downstairs,” encouraged Berndt Hauptkorn,
Uniqlo’s chief operating officer of Europe, during the inaugural party on Thursday. “We created a museumlike atmosphere,” he noted, calling the place “a ruin” when the company spotted it.
On display are several of the old, highly specialized tools
for cleaning and recycling gold and other precious materials,
as well as a mock-up of
the former factory.
Uniqlo has ventured
beyond clothing before:
In September 2012, it
opened Bigqlo, a collaboration with Japanese
electronics retailer Big
Camera, in Tokyo.
The Marais opening
is part of an aggressive
overseas growth drive
that could see parent
company Fast Retailing
Co. Ltd. open between
100 and 300 Uniqlo
stores outside Japan in
2014. Earlier this month
saw the opening of the
first Uniqlo store in
Germany, the largest in
Europe, and another in
Melbourne, Australia.
The maker of lightLooks from Uniqlo’s UT collection.
weight down jackets and the popular
HeatTech line of thermal underwear also plans to open its
first French store outside Paris, in the Mediterranean port
city of Marseille, later this spring.
The Marais store is the smallest to date for Uniqlo in the
French capital. Its flagships at Opéra and La Défense clock
in at 21,500 square feet and 17,200 square feet, respectively,
while the Uniqlo stores at the So Ouest and Beaugrenelle
shopping malls both span around 10,650 square feet.
That required a more selective approach to merchandising, said Jörgen Andersson, who joined Uniqlo from Esprit
Holdings Ltd. in January as co-global chief marketing officer. To wit: The store’s offer hones in on the spring collection designed in collaboration with Parisian style icon Inès
de la Fressange, who attended a presentation held at the new
space a couple of weeks before the opening.
Andersson hailed the store as exemplifying a new retail model.
“The Marais as a district has really made itself known for
being very creative. I mean, every company that comes there
has been trying to preserve what has been there from the
past and really respect the historical heritage of the area,
and add something new to it, mixing the old and the new,”
he noted.
“It’s much more back to where we used to be. Instead of
going downtown to big flagships locations, we like to shop in
the neighborhood where we live, where you have your local
butcher, your local grocery store, your local Uniqlo store,”
he added.
“I think that’s quite interesting. I could personally see that
coming in London or any other big city around the world.”
The opening was accompanied by an outdoor advertising campaign featuring four local personalities: director
and actress Géraldine Nakache and DJs Brodinski, Mouloud
Achour and Inès Mélia. The four were photographed by
Thomas Lohr and styled by Jonathan Kaye.
PHOTO BY FRANCK MURA
PHOTO BY RONALD GUTIERREZ
PHOTO BY DAAN ROOSEGAARDE
{Continued from page one}
For Anouk Wipprecht, an artist in residence at
research and development people from Apple and Autodesk, a 3-D software design corporation, the
Disney were checking out the scene at the confer- arts of 3-D printing and sensing technology come together in a collection of dresses called Intimacy 2.0,
ence, although declining to comment.
From the presentations and booths at the con- which become transparent and sexier according to
ference, it is apparent that the machines are still biometrics. She calls these plays with transparency
firing up for the future. Companies such as Seattle- a “dialect” between the wearer and the dress.
Another 3-D designer, Julia Koerner, presented
based startup Heapsylon presented socks made out
of undisclosed “propriety 100 percent textile sen- a dress called Hybrid Holism, which was almost
sors” called Sensoria. The conductive material can translucent to start and meant to serve as a second skin. Koerner, an
track steps, calories,
architect by trade,
speed, distance and
discussed a 3-D techstride. Textile sensors
nique called Mammoth
and a detachable anklet
S t e r e o l i t h o g r a p h y,
power the socks. When
which uses laser beams
the wearer is stagnant
to harden polymers and
for too long, the sock
transform them into
can be programmed to
fashion statements.
alert them to move. It
Her engineering
can even tell loved ones
background leads the
that the wearer has had
way for her designs.
an accidental fall. But
“I wouldn’t say there’s
its main hook is that it
a lot of difference begives runners gait and
tween designing strucspeed analysis for longtures and couture,”
term tracking or immesaid Koerner. “My ardiate cyber coaching.
chitectural background
For other compaand knowledge in
nies, technology is procomputational design
viding a natural assist
methods allow me to
to safety. Reebok prebe able to create these
sented Checklight, a
Intimacy
2.0
dresses
are
made
of
leather
and
complex 3-D models.
skullcap that senses the
smart e-foils, which can become transparent
These dresses are very
intensity of hits during
according to the wearer’s mood.
expensive to produce
high-impact sports such
and, besides various
as football. The light
small test prints, you
on the caps glow green,
do not have a second
yellow or red dependchance to print the
ing on the likelihood of
whole dress twice.
concussion, a condition
Whatever I do in the
that often goes unat3-D file has to be pertended in sports.
fect and work out.”
The question that
Koerner has colReebok’s vice president
laborated with Iris
of advanced concepts
van Herpen and her
Paul Litchfield posed
couture pieces have
was: How can one creappeared on runway
ate a product that’s
Made by Art Center College of Design
shows in Paris. But her
going to be used for a
students, Axiom suits correct posture
view on wearability is
long time and not simduring weight training by vibrating.
realistic: “Currently the
ply seen as a novelty?
designs are still rather
It seems that for
the Reeboks and Heapsylons of the wearable tech uncomfortable due to the fact that the materials are
revolution, the answer is to become indispensable still very hard, but I think the more flexible the mato athletes who set the trends for the increasingly terial gets the more comfortable it will be to wear
such garments. There is a difference between haute
fitness-crazed masses.
For products and designers on the other end of couture pieces, which are meant to be exhibited in
the fashion spectrum, the path is perhaps not as a museum as an art piece and ready-to-wear fashion
simple and the value proposition is less utilitarian. clothes. I don’t think we are quite there yet to talk
Representing this camp at the conference were about the clothes and their comfort parameter.”
The tech trend is set apart by its transitive nature.
companies focusing on style with the help of 3-D
By way of 3-D printer, anyone can download and
printers and LEDs, or light emitting diodes.
While LEDs within apparel feel very futuristic, print a gown for free off of Thingiverse.com, an
they’ve actually been around for longer than some open-source file-sharing site for makers. The high
fledgling designers have been alive. Today, it seems fashion Francis Bitonti Studio Dress has seen 2,353
like only early adopters of style — performers such downloads since it was published on March 11.
The hope, at least among some in the tech set, is
as Katy Perry — can get away with a bra top that
outshines the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. that this new spirit of sharing could unlock couture
But many forget that regular civilians have been for all.
But the rest of fashion is left to wonder when
playing with LEDs since the Nineties when the
popular LA Gear sneakers lit up footsteps across wearable technology will be ready for prime time
the nation (they’re still available at Sears for those and, if that moment does come, what it will mean
for the industry at large.
feeling nostalgic).
— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PAULINA SZMYDKE
WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014 9
WWD.COM
PVH Could Reduce Heritage Portfolio
{Continued from page one}
on an adjusted basis, $154.1 million of
its $966.9 billion in earnings before interest and taxes. The retail component
of Heritage Brands lost $24.4 million on
a GAAP basis and $4.2 million on an adjusted basis on $547 million in revenues.
“When you have a business like that,”
Chirico said of Heritage Brands, “you’re always looking at the components of that business and judging if they’re adding value or
not, are they strategic or not. So there are
some assets in there that, if the right offer
was made, then we could see ourselves getting out of some of those businesses.”
While the divestiture of existing businesses was characterized as a possibility,
the PVH executive was more definitive in
his discussion about picking up the rights
to Tommy Hilfiger businesses outside
North America and Europe, which are already operated directly by PVH. Chirico
pointed out that there are opportunities
to bring in-house Tommy Hilfiger businesses in South Korea and China and
other locales in central and Southeast
Asia as well as in Brazil that today are
a “$500 million sales opportunity that’s
being done by licensing partners” or
through joint-venture partners.
“We have relatively short-term licenses or areas where we have an option to
buy a licensing partner or a joint venture
partner out of those arrangements over
the next three to five years,” he said.
All told, conversion of Hilfiger and
Calvin Klein licenses and joint-venture
arrangements could translate into between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion in
sales beyond 2015 or 2016.
With the Warnaco acquisition, he said that
PVH now has “control over all of the markets
with just about all of the product categories
that we would want for Calvin Klein.”
PVH continues to work towards rebuilding its Calvin Klein jeans business,
acquired with the purchase of Warnaco,
and Chirico said that PVH is seeing signs
of progress, with many department stores
committing to shops for the second half of
the year as PVH puts more effort into the
product, systems marketing and point-ofsale support. He noted that last year the
Calvin Klein brand grew between 8 and
10 percent in U.S. department stores,
“and that’s with the jeans business down
double digits in both men’s and women’s.”
In Europe, the Calvin Klein Jeans
business is about $500 million but not
profitable and weak on representation
outside its strongest markets, Spain and
Italy, two of the nations hardest hit by the
euro zone crisis.
Of the $7.8 billion in retail sales
generated by the Calvin Klein brand
’’
You’re always looking
at the components…
and judging if they’re
adding value or not, are
they strategic or not.
diversification” that PVH has with its
Tommy Hilfiger business.
As he has in numerous exchanges with
analysts and the press, Chirico noted that
the Calvin Klein underwear business remains “healthy” and “profitable.”
Wiseman focused his presentation on
macroeconomic factors and how they are
impacting VF. Among his key points were:
n “In general, we think the middle- and
lower-income U.S. consumer is under
a lot of pressure. They don’t have a lot
of disposable income. When you come
through a winter like this, when they’ve
had to spend more to heat their homes…
just something that takes discretionary
income away from something else, and
that’s not the kind of consumer spending that shows up in the store.…For us
to grow, we have to be able to gain share
with them.…And we’ve been able to grow
because we have been able to speak to
them in a way that is relevant to them.”
n “And we have seen the Chinese economy slow down, the consumer economy, a
little bit, still leading as the fastest-growing consumer economy in the world. But
it’s not growing superhigh single digits,
it’s come off that a couple of points. Still
a great place to do business if you have
platforms and know how to make money.
It’s hard to get started there, really hard.”
n “We said…when we announced our
five-year plan last June that we were
going to take [the e-commerce] business from $250 million to $750 million by
growing it 25 percent a year.…We’re running slightly ahead of that growth rate,
which doesn’t surprise us. But if there’s
a channel of distribution that’s growing
faster than all others, that’s the one, and
we’re beginning to get good at it.”
Hoguet touched on a variety of points,
including Amazon, Bloomingdale’s and
Macy’s omnichannel efforts:
n “Amazon is coming. They’re trying,
they’re working on it. Not having stores will
be a disadvantage to them in the apparel
world. The real fashion customers love
’’
— EMANUEL CHIRICO, PVH
worldwide, about 57 percent is in North
America, or about $4.4 billion, and “a
little over $1 billion,” mostly from jeans,
underwear and fragrance, in Europe. He
referred to Europe as “total white space”
for the Calvin Klein brand, especially
once the integration of the Warnaco business is successfully completed.
“No sportswear, no footwear, no meaningful accessories business,” he said.
“There’s huge growth potential in Europe
for the brand, similar to how the Tommy
Hilfiger brand has been developed.”
Ideally, Calvin Klein could “mirror
the product diversification and country
to shop. They love the ability to return in
store. We offer the ability to ship returns to
distribution centers for free, but nobody is
using it. When they do come into the store,
that’s a reason to sell them something else.”
n “We started a Bloomingdale’s outlet strategy, opened 13 stores and then
we paused. We wanted to make sure we
learned where they did well and where
they didn’t do well. Terry [Lundgren,
chairman and ceo of Macy’s Inc.] is now
ready to start looking at real estate and
rolling out [outlets] for 2015. We’re actually quite bullish on the outlets for
Bloomingdale’s. People ask, ‘Are you
going to start an outlet strategy for
Macy’s?’ I think it would be a bad idea because the prices aren’t that different than
an outlet. We’re not talking about hundreds of stores, but a lot more than 13. It
brings new customers to the base store.”
n “Single View of Inventory is when you
have two buyers, but one set of eyes watching where you put the inventory. Dresses
was one of first business where we began
piloting this omnichannel collaboration.
We’ve really improved the assortment.
There were some dresses we didn’t have
in some stores. Now, if an Internet sale
comes back to the store, we have a full-size
range of the dress so it wouldn’t be an automatic markdown. We’re going to roll this
out and test it in other families of business, and Bloomingdale’s will be doing a
similar test.”
n “We didn’t think buy online pickup in
store was going to be important to our
customers. We tested in the Washington
area in 10 stores and we were wrong.
Customers loved it. By July, we’ll have it
in every single store. The technology we
built has the ability to see real-time inventory by location. We don’t fully know
how this is going to work, but we like
what we saw. We built the technology to
be able to get us to same-day delivery
when we do that.”
— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS
FROM SHARON EDELSON
Larger Céline Unit Opens in Paris Warming Up to Herrera
Handbags
at the new
store.
hefty pillar. Next to it is a spacious rtw salon, its living-room
vibe heightened by the sofas
and pale parquet: broad planks
of Danish oak arranged in a
point de Hongrie pattern.
Chunky marble and onyx
cubes are dotted throughout
the boutique, and large slabs of
colorful stone are embedded in
the floor under clothing rails,
or wrapped around pillars.
Céline declined to provide
first-year sales projections,
though it has said in the past
that the François 1er location
was its highest-grossing unit
worldwide.
The high-profile Paris location — in a Haussmann-era
building next to new-look boutiques by Saint Laurent, Fendi
and Chanel — is one of 15 new
Céline stores slated to open
this year. The French firm is
part of LVMH Moët Hennessy
Louis Vuitton, which reported
sales in its fashion and leather
goods division vaulted 11 percent in the first quarter to 2.6
billion euros, or $3.6 billion.
Among scheduled openings are a 7,000-square-foot
unit with 90 feet of frontage on
Omotesando in Tokyo, slated to
open May 31. A 5,900-squarefoot location at IFS in Chengdu,
one of the richest and fastestgrowing cities in China, opened
earlier this month.
A 4,300-square-foot store in
Crystals at CityCenter in Las
Vegas is slated to open May 14
and another on Wooster Street
in New York’s SoHo district is
budgeted for late August.
LVMH, which owns the
handsome, prow-shaped building on François 1er that had
housed Céline’s temporary
store, has yet to indicate which
of its luxury brands might take
over the retail space.
NEW YORK — September might
seem eons away on the fashion calendar, but the Couture
Council of The Museum at FIT
got a jump on its annual fall luncheon by hosting a warm-up one
Monday for this year’s honoree,
Carolina Herrera.
While guests like Yaz
Hernandez, Alexandra Kotur,
FIT’s Joyce Brown and Valerie
Steele, and this year’s cochairs
Julie Macklowe and Elizabeth
Musmanno wound their way
through the designer’s Madison
Avenue boutique for an air-kiss
or two, models passed by in looks
from Herrera’s archives collection. Once seated, they viewed
a sampling of designs from
Herrera’s archive, spring, prefall and fall collections. During
lunch, the modeling stopped any
thank-goodness-winter-is-over
conversations cold and prompted such exclamations as, “Is
that one going to the Met ball?”
Another guest said of an all-gray,
fur-lined ensemble, “I’ll take one
of those in aisle two. That’s in my
color wheel — even if it wasn’t,
I’d still take it.”
At one point, Herrera, who
will receive the 2014 Couture
Council Award for Artistry of
Fashion on Sept. 3, tried to cool
all the attention. While the council’s chairwoman Hernandez
spoke of the upcoming “lovefest
for Carolina” and raved about
the designer being “a megastar”
for Latinas, the designer jokingly
fanned herself, which only lead to
another compliment. “Of course,
everybody knows she’s a fabulous
designer. But does everybody
know that she is so witty and
funny, and a really good friend?
As my Venezuelan husband
would say, ‘She embodies the best
of Venezuela,’” Hernandez said.
Carolina
Herrera
PHOTO BY THOMAS IANNACCONE
PARIS — Phoebe Philo has
finally bid adieu to Céline’s
“temporary” store on Rue
François 1er in Paris — after
more than four years in the
raw, no-frills space — and decamped to a light-filled boutique at 53 Avenue Montaigne.
Roughly double the size
of those temporary digs, the
new 6,500-square-foot location
sprawls over two floors, connected by a coiling staircase
in cement and pale oak, and
gives ample showcase to Philo’s
ready-to-wear, leather goods,
footwear, eyewear and costume
jewelry collections.
The unit opened to the public Monday, and was unveiled
via newspaper ads, outdoor advertising and a mass e-mail.
Residential in feel, the store
boasts views of a leafy courtyard, and is appointed here
and there with cream sofas,
armchairs, area rugs and potted tropical plants.
The main floor, paved in
large squares of gray Vicenza
stone, is dedicated mainly to
leather goods, including three
travertine shelves exalting versions of the label’s most popular handbag styles in colorful
precious skins.
Leather totes and crossbody bags hang from a sculptural steel rack by the Danish
artist known as Fos, who also
designed bloblike terra-cotta
flower pots, brass light fixtures,
some shelving units, brass trays
and even a water decanter and
matching glasses.
Upstairs, shoppers alight
on a large area dedicated to
footwear, a low bench ringing a
PHOTOS BY DOMINIQUE MAÎTRE
By MILES SOCHA
Steele seemed to agree, noting the expected 600-plus crowd
will call for extra tables at the
David H. Koch Theater event.
With the official tribute still
months away, Herrera said she
is not quite ready for that occasion. “I am ready for resort, and
the Met ball. And I’m leaving for
a wedding in London Wednesday,
but I’m coming back on Sunday.
It’s Taki Theodoracopulos’
daughter [Mandolyna]. Reinaldo
is there and the girls are coming.
They are like family.”
— ROSEMARY FEITELBERG
10 WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014
Maria Bell and MOCA director
Laura Mulleavy, Liz Goldwyn and Kate Mulleavy.
L.A. Stories
MILAN-BASED Francesco Vezzoli
described Los Angeles as “a city
that has adopted me,” but judging
from his latest oeuvre, “Cinema
Vezzoli,” which opened at the
city’s Museum of Contemporary
Art on Sunday, it seems the
relationship is reciprocal.
Part of the artist’s
three-museum series,
titled “The Trinity,”
(“Galleria Vezzoli” bowed
at Rome’s MAXXI last
year and “The Church
of Vezzoli” will open in New
York’s MoMA PS1 later this year),
“Cinema Vezzoli” occupies four
of MOCA’s galleries: one filled
with celebrity portraits in starshaped frames, another with
embroidered portraits, a third
with giant fictional movie posters
and a fourth transformed into a
screening room complete with
vintage chairs.
On Friday, MOCA trustees
Maria Bell and David Johnson,
along with their spouses Bill and
Suzanne, respectively, toasted
the opening with a dinner at
Hollywood’s oldest
restaurant, Musso and
Frank Grill. “It’s fitting
that this place is on the
Walk of Fame,” said Maria
Bell. China Chow, Bret Easton
Ellis, Liz Goldwyn, Eli Broad,
Eugenio López, Scott Sternberg and
Kate and Laura Mulleavy sipped
martinis in the railcar-style bar
before retreating to the main
dining room, whose slightly
musty air only seemed to add to
the atmosphere.
Vezzoli himself appeared just
in time for dinner, seated between
more important than art,” Vezzoli
said as he greeted some old
friends who flew in from Europe
for the occasion.
Fittingly, photographer
Matthew Rolston said he had
just shot the artist for Italian
Vanity Fair, in the manner of
George Hurrell. “It was great
fun,” Rolston said. “Getting
him dressed up like an Old
Hollywood icon.”
The following night, the
Foundation for Living Beauty
and its founder, Amie Satchu,
threw its third annual fundraiser, this year sponsored by
Lanvin. The affair boasted
a runway presentation of
the house’s Hiver 2014 precollection, following in the
well-heeled footsteps of Tom
Ford shows the last two years.
The French fashion
house’s touches were seen
throughout the night, from the
bevy of Lanvin-clad starlets
including Emmy Rossum and
Rashida Jones, to the glittering
mannequins on display. A silent
auction preceded the garden
presentation, during which
Olivia Munn
and Emmy
Rossum, both
in Lanvin.
Rossum called out from her
front-row seat and demanded
the opportunity to bid on a
private dinner party. “She’s
shameless,” quipped Satchu of
Rossum, who conveniently lives
three doors down. She failed to
note the irony (Rossum stars on
Showtime’s “Shameless.”)
eye
Emma Roberts
in Lanvin.
Rashida
Jones in
Lanvin.
Also occupying the front row
were guests Olivia Munn (who
was spotted leaving midshow),
Ashley Madekwe and Emma Roberts.
The show featured 27 looks and
ended on a celebratory note
with models tossing handfuls
of confetti into the audience.
“I want all of the gorgeous long
black dresses that I’m just dying
over. I love all of their collections
and each one is just so different,”
mused Roberts postshow.
“Once Upon a Time” star
Jennifer Morrison also came to
lend support, but admitted
there would be no late-night
festivities in store for her,
noting that the next day
marked her first day on set as
a director for the short film
“Warning Labels.”
“This will be a very incontrol evening for me, but it’s
a great cause,” she said. “We
start filming tomorrow at 1 p.m.
— I can’t wait to say, ‘Action.’”
— MARCY MEDINA AND
LESLEY MCKENZIE
MULLEAVY PHOTO BY BILLY FARRELL/BFANYC.COM; ROBERTS BY CHELSEA LAUREN/GETTY IMAGES FOR LANVIN; ALL OTHERS BY DONATO SARDELLA/GETTY IMAGES FOR LANVIN
Philippe Vergne. “Friendship is
Mayor Bill
de Blasio
and Chirlane
McCray
did not have auspicious beginnings.
THE TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
“We were 18 and graduated high
wrapped up Saturday on a similar note
school and thought we were going to be
to its opening night: with a musical ode
rock stars,” he said. “Within six months,
to New York.
we were dropped from the label.
The closing-night film was “Begin
Basically we were a miserable failure.”
Again,” a dramedy starring Keira
The film’s stars, including Hailee
Knightley and Adam Levine, the Maroon
5 front man, as a musician couple
Steinfeld, were joined at an after
who move to the East Village in
party at the Tribeca Grill by
search of fame and glory. Levine’s
festival founder Robert De Niro, his
character finds success — and
wife Grace Hightower and Mayor
hordes of adoring female fans —
Bill de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane
and the pair break up, leaving
McCray. De Blasio, who just
Knightley’s character alone to
stepped out for his first major
record her own album, which
social event as mayor last
she does with the help of a
week, seems to be enjoying
failing music executive played
rubbing shoulders with the
by Mark Ruffalo. It played like
movie crowd.
“It was compelling, a love
a big-budget version of “Inside
letter to New York, for sure,”
Llewyn Davis.”
the mayor said of the movie.
The movie delivers two firsts
“It’s very interesting to see
— Knightley’s debut as a singer
your city again in a different
and Levine’s debut as an actor.
way and sort of fall in love
“[Levine] kept going, ‘I
with it again…it had this
don’t know what I’m doing, I
beautiful sense of New York
don’t know what I’m doing,’”
togetherness, the way anything
Knightley recalled. “But he’s
can happen in New York.”
such a natural entertainer.
And how was
He has a boundless amount of
Levine’s debut?
energy; he just sort of throws
FOR MORE PHOTOS, SEE
“It was kind of a
it at you and you sort of pin
tough role to play
it back at him.” Levine, who
WWD.com/eye.
because he didn’t
walked the carpet of the
get to exactly be the
Chanel-sponsored premiere
Behati
good guy,” de Blasio said.
with fiancée Behati Prinsloo in
Prinsloo
“He was believable as the
a decidedly un-rock ’n’ roll
not-good guy, so I guess that
navy suit, could relate to his
shows acting chops, right?”
character’s career trajectory.
Everybody’s a critic.
His band’s first incarnation,
then called Kara’s Flowers,
— KRISTEN TAUER
Adam Levine in Prada
and Keira Knightley in
Chanel haute couture.
PHOTOS BY WILL RAGOZZINO
Only in New York
Hailee
Steinfeld in
Valentino.
WWD TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014 11
WWD.COM
FASHION SCOOPS
— SAMANTHA CONTI
CHANGES ON THE VINCE BOARD: Jill Granoff,
chief executive officer of Vince Holding
Corp., has been named chairman of the
board. She succeeds Christopher T. Metz,
who has resigned. In addition, Jason
Neimark resigned from the board. Neither
resignation involved a disagreement
with the company or any matter relating
to the company’s
operations, policies or
practices, according to
an 8-K filed Monday.
T. Scott King,
managing director of
Sun Capital Partners,
and Jonathan H. Borell,
principal of Sun
Capital Partners,
were named to the
board, filling the
vacancies created by
the resignations of
Metz and Neimark.
The company
also expanded the
size of the board to
nine members and
appointed Marc Leder,
co-ceo of Sun Capital
Partners, to the board.
Mark Brody, managing director and group
chief financial officer of Sun Capital,
was named lead independent director.
As reported, Eugenia Ulasewicz joined the
board earlier this month.
— LISA LOCKWOOD
BANKING ON BRAZIL: Farfetch is training
the spotlight on Brazilian design talent
with a new shop that stocks 15 of the
country’s hottest brands. Destination
Brazil will launch as a shop-in-shop on
Farfetch.com on Wednesday, with labels
such as Osklen, Martha Medeiros, Lenny
Niemeyer, Patricia Viera and Giuliana
Romanno. The timing is meant to tie
in with this summer’s World Cup in
Brazil, and Farfetch will be promoting
the project with dedicated editorial
and fashion shoots on the site. “It’s the
first time on the site that we’re giving
Brazilian designers a presence outside
Brazil,” said José Neves, the company’s
founder and chief executive officer.
“We’ve been operating a local version of
Farfetch in Brazil with 90 designers. And
we have 50 people in our office in São
Paulo. But we’ve been selling to Brazil
only and exploring the domestic market.”
Of the 90 designers, Neves said he
and his team chose 15 for Destination
Brazil, based on their potential appeal
to a global audience. “A lot of the labels
are atelier-based and ethically sourced.
This is not mass fashion but luxury
made in Brazil,” he said. Some of the
designers will be in London this week
to launch the project, meet with local
retailers and visit the Farfetch offices.
Neves said Brazil has been a vibrant
market for Farfetch. While there
are no immediate plans to replicate
Destination Brazil for designers in other
markets, Neves said his message is
clear: “I want to show how the Internet
— and Farfetch — can be a platform for
different geographies,” he said. “We’re
not a London or New York-centric
group of buyers. There are 25 countries
represented on Farfetch.” — S.C.
APPLE SEED: Could Apple be angling
for an address on Manhattan’s Upper
East Side? There are rumors that
the tech company wants to roost with
fashionable names such as David
Webb, Milly and Ralph Lauren.
According to sources, Apple is circling
940 Madison Avenue near 74th Street,
a former 1921 bank building that’s
now home to VBH. The store has 4,000
square feet of space on the ground
floor, 4,000 square feet in the basement
and a 1,000-square-foot mezzanine.
V. Bruce Hoeksema, designer and
owner of VBH, the Rome-based luxury
brand, hired Peter Marino to transform
the space with his signature luxurious
style. Apple, no doubt would renovate
the space in line with its sleek
minimalist aesthetic. “We’ve made no
announcement about a store in that
location,” said an Apple spokeswoman.
MALIBU MIX: Oliver Peoples feted its
Lydia Hearst
new Oliver Peoples West collection on
Saturday with an outdoor exhibit in
Malibu, Calif., by two-time
FOR MORE
world champion surfer and
SCOOPS, SEE
photographer, Daize Shayne
Goodwin. Never-before-seen
WWD.com.
prints of surf legends from
Goodwin’s Ohana series were
on display poolside at a private
home, as were the beach- and sportsfriendly frames, priced at $265 to $295.
“These were taken in 1999 when
pioneer surfers really helped shape the
culture,” said the Kauai, Hawaii, native,
one of the original Roxy girls who has
also been sponsored by Vans and Hurley.
“We wanted to do something different,
that helps show the collection in a more
— SHARON EDELSON
CH. 11 FOR CAROL’S
DAUGHTER FREESTANDING
STORES: CD Stores
Jill Granoff
LLC, formerly known
as Carol’s Daughter
Stores LLC, is in
bankruptcy. CD Stores
on Thursday filed a
voluntary Chapter 11
petition in a Manhattan
bankruptcy court. The
filing listed assets and
liabilities each in the
range of $1 million to
$10 million. The parent
company and owner of
the Carol’s Daughter
brand, Carol’s Daughter
Holdings LLC, did not
file for bankruptcy court
protection. The brand
sells natural beauty products for hair,
body and skin care.
In a filing with the court signed by
John D. Elmer, the chief financial officer
and chief operating officer for Carol’s
Daughter Holdings, said the plan is to
restructure operations for the two New
York stores. The locations are at 125th
Street in Harlem and at the Atlantic
Terminal in Brooklyn. CD Stores is the
guarantor on the 125th Street store
lease. Carol’s Daughter products are
sold on the company Web site and via
other sites. — VICKI M. YOUNG
ACED-D IT: The Accessories Council has
rolled out it first round of honorees for
the 18th annual ACE Awards, which will
be held Nov. 3 at Cipriani 42nd Street in
Manhattan. InStyle’s Hal Rubenstein will
host the ceremony, which also marks the
Accessories Council’s 20th anniversary.
Proenza Schouler will take home
Designer of the Year; Kate Spade New
York will be honored with Brand of the
Year, and Shinola will be honored with
the Brand Launch award.
Other honorees include: Oliver
Peoples for business visionary, Google
Glass for fashion and technology, Lord &
Taylor for retailer of the year and Alex
& Ani for speciality retailer. Guy Trebay
of The New York Times will receive
the Marylou Luther Journalism Award,
while Rose Marie Bravo will receive
the Leadership Award. Additionally,
Bulgari will receive the Legacy Award,
and Salvatore Ferragamo will be
honored with the Hall of Fame Award.
The council will reveal additional
honorees and sponsors closer to the
ceremony date. — LAUREN MCCARTHY
TOTES FOR TOTS: For the ninth
installment of its Project H
collaboration, Holt Renfrew has
partnered with Rag & Bone for three
limited-edition canvas totes. All
proceeds will benefit Right to Play,
a global organization that uses the
transformative power of play to educate
and empower children facing adversity.
The totes are a riff on Rag &
Oliver Peoples’ Larry Leight,
Daize Shayne Goodwin and
David Schulte.
PHOTO BY BILLY FARRELL/BFANYC.COM
London. The designer will travel to
the British capital for a two-day visit
that will culminate with a gala in aid
of The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
at Windsor Castle on May 13. The day
before, Lauren will tour the Royal
Marsden, a specialist cancer treatment
center in London’s Chelsea. The
charity’s patron is Queen Elizabeth II and
its president is the Duke of Cambridge.
PHOTO BY LARRY LETTERA
LONDON TIME: Ralph Lauren is headed to
authentic way,” said Oliver Peoples chief
executive officer David Schulte. Joining
Japanese surfer Takuji Masuda, who hosted
the event, were Anthony Kiedis and Flea of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lydia Hearst, Fuschia
Kate Sumner and Sanoe Lake. — MARCY MEDINA
Bone’s surf-inspired Numbers T-shirts,
introduced in the men’s spring 2013
collection. They’re available in black,
cream and dark green and will sell
for $55 at Holt Renfrew stores across
Canada as of May 9. — JESSICA IREDALE
Anthony Kiedis and Flea
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MEMO PAD
NYT BETS ON VIDEO: The New York Times made its
NewFront’s debut Monday morning at the Dia Art
space in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. Bruce
Headlam, the Times’ managing editor of video, started
the hour-long presentation with an overview of
the paper’s shiny, expanded digital and marketing
strategy. That strategy includes a souped-up digital
hub comprised of videos organized across 14
channels devoted to different sections of the paper,
such as culture, style, news and politics, sports and
food. Acura is the launch sponsor of the hub, which
will be home to more than 30 new series.
Some of those series will include videos by wellknown columnists, such as Mark Bittman for food, Molly
Wood for technology, David Carr for media and culture
and Adam Bryant, who has a business column called
“Corner Office.”
In a surprise appearance, Vanessa Friedman, who
doesn’t start as the Times’ fashion director until
next month, will also get her own program. Her
videos will explore the behind-the-scenes world of
fashion, and will touch on the industry’s historical,
cultural and political connections, she said. “I was
so eager to be here that I jumped the employment
gun,” said Friedman, who is still tying up loose
ends with her previous employer, The Financial
Times. Although she wrapped up her column last
week, she will end her employment at the British
paper by moderating its annual luxury summit in
Mexico City in mid-May.
Carr lightened up the mood with a selfdeprecating comment about his wardrobe. Calling
his tan suit a “garbage bag with a pair of legs” that
is “rented and due back at 11 o’clock,” he quickly
turned to the driving force behind the digital push.
“More and more because we are becoming a
consumer company, I think it makes us a more
powerful advertising company,” he said, offering
that nyt.com gets 40 million unique visitors and
800,000 paying customers around the world. Carr —
who at times sounded like he’d transferred to the
marketing department, even referring to the paper
as a “brand” — credited those numbers to the Times’
strong and trusted reputation.
In order to bring in new revenue, the Times has
partnered with Vimeo to develop original branded
content for marketers. The videos include riffs off of
popular Times columns like “Modern Love,” as well
as “Verbatim,” a sketch on real legal transcripts that
are reenacted by comedians.
The site will also stream Kevin Spacey’s play
“Clarence Darrow” in September.
The paper launched a native advertising
platform, in which brands can advertise their
own videos alongside the Times’ videos. Marketer
videos will be “clearly labeled,” the company said,
adding that its first native video partner is Sotheby’s
International Realty. The Times also expanded its
cross-platform native program called “Paid Posts,”
comprised of text, images and video.
But back to journalism.
The Times, which posts more than 430 videos a
month, said it is training its foreign correspondents
on how to use and cut video via mobile device for
its site. “The Internet is the great leveler. Once
video was the sole preserve of the broadcasters,”
said the Times’ chief executive officer Mark
Thompson, who closed the presentation. “But now,
anyone with the talent and an idea can create great
video and get it to a big audience. Over the past
year, I’ve been lucky enough to watch the Times
really get to grips with video. We’re all behind this
push into video…and we’re going to back it with
resources and tech investments.”
— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD
WEBBY WINS: The Webby Award winners were
revealed Monday, weeks ahead of the official
awards ceremony, which will take place May 19 at
Cipriani Wall Street in New York. The 18th annual
awards fete the best of digital, and this year some
of the usual suspects nabbed top honors, with a
few newbies grabbing bragging rights. For the third
year in a row, The New Yorker won best editorial
writing, while Wired grabbed People’s Choice. The
technology-inspired title won best magazine for the
second time since 2012.
The Atlantic won for best political site, as
Refinery29 received both the Webby and the
People’s Choice award for Fashion and Beauty. The
site beat out competitors Lucky, Style.com, Net-aporter, Mr Porter and IntoTheGloss, among others.
The New York Times scooped up the Webby
for News site, as J. Crew snapped up best fashion
& beauty social media site. In that category, GQ
received the People’s Choice.
While it could have won the Webby for Humor —
Funny or Die took that one — Mullen got top honors
for native advertising, thanks to its clever Century 21
ad, which showcases a house that looks very similar
to Walter White’s home from “Breaking Bad.” — A.S.
Alibaba Invests in Youku Tudou
By LARA FARRAR
SHANGHAI — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd. has invested $1.22 billion in Youku Tudou
Inc., China’s largest Internet television company.
Youku Tudou announced the investment late Monday.
Alibaba’s investment in Youku Tudou comes ahead of
the e-commerce company’s upcoming initial public offering, which analysts project could be one of the largest in
history. The IPO is projected to come within the next few
days in the U.S.
Yunfeng Capital, a Chinese private equity firm, is also
joining Alibaba in the billion-dollar purchase of class A
ordinary shares from Youku Tudou.
Alibaba and Yunfeng will indirectly hold approximately 16.5 percent and 2 percent respectively of the
shares, according to a statement issued by Youku Tudou.
In recent months, Alibaba has engaged in a widespread investment spree that has extended into the
U.S. market. The
company has announced the establishment of an ecommerce Web site
in America via two
of its subsidiaries.
SIZE OF ALIBABA’S INVESTMENT
In
March,
Alibaba agreed to
IN YOUKU TUDOU.
invest $692 million
in Chinese department store company Intime Retail to create “online-tooffline” retail opportunities. Also in March, Alibaba announced the purchase of a 60 percent stake in Chinese
television and film production firm ChinaVision Media
Group Ltd. for $804 million.
A rationale for the investment in Youku Tudou
was not provided. A recent study from the Boston
Consulting Group on China’s e-commerce industry
noted that Youku Tudou is one of the top-five Web sites
where Chinese Internet users spend a disproportionate amount of time. Many brands have turned to Youku
Tudou as an advertising platform as opposed to more
traditional media channels.
Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma said in a statement that the investment would support Youku Tudou’s
“innovation in this key emerging space as well as accelerate our digital entertainment and video content
strategy. This is an important strategic initiative that
will further extend the Alibaba ecosystem and bring new
products and services to Alibaba’s customers.”
$1.22B
British Vogue’s Beatrix Miller Remembered in London
By SAMANTHA CONTI
Bruce
Oldfield
Bianca
Jagger
Alexandra
Shulman
Zandra
Rhodes
Caroline
Charles
Anna
Wintour
PHOTOS BY TIM JENKINS
ANNA WINTOUR, Manolo Blahnik, Twiggy,
Grace Coddington, Mario Testino, Bianca
Jagger, Lady Sarah Chatto, Jasper Conran
and John Frieda were among the guests at
a memorial service on Monday for Beatrix
Miller, the shy and fastidious former editor of British Vogue who steered the title
through the Sixties, Seventies and most of
the Eighties, a pack of Rothmans cigarettes
by her side and a quip forever on her tongue.
Miller, who died at the age of 90 in
February, and who was known variously
as “Miss Miller,” “Beatrix” or “Bea,” depending on one’s status, served as editor
of British Vogue from 1964 to 1986. She
promoted and supported generations of
editorial, fashion, photographic and creative talent, including Coddington, Liz
Tilberis, Anna Harvey, David Bailey, Patrick
Demarchelier, Bruce Weber, Mario Testino,
Norman Parkinson and Lord Snowdon.
Art historian Sir Roy Strong was among
the speakers at the service, which was organized by Jonathan Newhouse and Nicholas
Coleridge at St. George’s, Hanover Square,
a few minutes walk from Vogue House in
London. Strong recalled Miller telling him
in the Sixties: “I’m trying to educate Bailey
— I ring him up every day, and make him
learn new words,” she said, referring to
the coarse East End snapper whose work is
currently the subject of a retrospective at
London’s National Portrait Gallery.
Strong remembered Miller, “in her dark
glasses, inhaling and exhaling a Rothmans
cigarette,” as a self-effacing figure, a woman
of trust and integrity, and “one of those rare
people you did not ever want to let down.”
Nicky Haslam, who wrote a column for
Miller’s Vogue, said after the service that he
found her reserve “very charming. She was
the very opposite of [Diana] Vreeland. She
drew you out in a different way,” he said.
Sandra Boler, the former editor of Brides
who had worked for Miller, recalled her
“crisp, precise and economic” use of language. “She never used two words when
one would do. She could be brusque — but
it was a way of hiding her shyness. She was
kind and sympathetic — but never sentimental,” Boler said, adding that Miller was
a “born observer.”
Miller presided over the magazine as
the Sixties were coming into full swing, and
she relished transforming Vogue into the
title that would lead the way. “British Vogue
was at its peak in the 1960s, they were the
golden years,” said David Sassoon, following the service. “Beatrix did a tremendous
amount for British designers — and she was
wonderful in encouraging the mood of the
Sixties [among them].” Zandra Rhodes said
Miller’s avant-garde Vogue was a major influence on its American sister title.
Joan Burstein, founder of Brown’s, admitted that she was always terrified of
Miller. “She was so cool, calm and impressive. And she was very supportive of us — in
as much as she could be.”
During the service, Wintour read “Dusk
in Fierce Pyjamas,” a piece that Miller
had written for the 75th anniversary issue
of British Vogue in 1991 about her experiences working for Vogue in New York,
while the British title’s current editor
Alexandra Shulman read “Who Wore What
When” by Angela Carter, which appeared
in Vogue in 1975.
Other guests included Shulman’s mother,
writer and journalist Drusilla Beyfus, Caroline
Charles, Barbara Daly, Min Hogg, Terry Jones,
Julie Kavanagh, Patrick Kinmonth, David
Mlinaric, Martin O’Brien, Terry O’Neill, Bruce
Oldfield and Christopher Sykes.