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PHOTO BY YUKIE MIYAZAKI

By LISA LOCKWOOD

NEW YORK — Calvin Klein Inc., a division of PVH Corp., is about to usher in a new era.

Steve Shiffman, currently president and chief com-mercial offi cer of CKI, will become chief executive of-fi cer on July 1, succeeding Tom Murry, who has been at the fashion fi rm for 17 years. Murry will become executive chairman, serving in an advisory role until he retires on Jan. 31.

Murry, 63, originally planned to change his role at CKI in mid-2016, but decided to accelerate the pro-cess by two years. He said he felt like the company would be in capable hands with Shiffman, with whom he has worked closely for the past seven years.

“The past 17 years of Calvin Klein have been an incredible experience for me, having shepherded the company through multiple transformations over the last decade. I felt this is the right time to accelerate our transition plans and made my decision knowing that Calvin Klein is in an excellent position and that we have the right team in place to build on our suc-cess around the world,” said Murry. He added that selecting Shiffman as his successor “provides for a smooth, seamless transition.”

Starting in July, Murry will serve as an adviser to Shiffman. “I’ll provide Steve with whatever guidance he wishes. He takes over the reins,” said Murry who, as executive chairman, will have his hours, salary and bonus opportunities cut in half. Murry’s base sal-ary is currently $1 million per year.

Murry said he decided on the move after having hip replacement surgery Jan. 8. He couldn’t play golf and he was recuperating with his wife at their Florida home. “I had time to refl ect on our lives and what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives,” said Murry. He said Shiffman, in his role as president and chief commercial offi cer, “had really risen to the oc-casion and really got his arms around the job.”

SEE PAGE 13

CHANGE AT CALVIN KLEIN

Shiffman Named CEOAs Murry Steps Aside

Obama Faces PressureTo Redefi ne Trade Policy

SEE PAGE 6

Tokyo Fashion Week ended over the weekend, and a highlight was Yasutoshi Ezumi’s show. The designer delivered a chic collection rooted in men’s wear, made interesting with tweaks on classics and lovely pilings of knits as shown here. For more, see pages 10 to 12.

TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY

TOKYOFALL 2014

COLLECTIONS

By KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — The global trade playbook needs to be rewritten for it to be dynamic again.

The U.S. is entering a new era for global trade that is not always embraced — even by pro-trade advo-cates — and will force President Obama and future leaders to engage more directly and build a stronger bipartisan consensus to move the agenda forward, ac-cording to experts in the fi eld.

Obama’s trade agenda has stalled in the fi rst half of the year against the backdrop of looming midterm elections in November, thorny issues in trade nego-tiations and some opposition from members in his own Democratic party. Then there is the continued onslaught of global crises, the most recent of which — tensions with Russia over Crimea and Ukraine — could result in trade sanctions and Russia could choose to retaliate with its own trade sanctions against U.S. and European Union exports.

Whatever happens with Russia, experts do expect action over trade deals to ramp up after the elections.

“I don’t remember a time in my career in and out of government ever since I worked for [then-President] Ronald Reagan back in the early Eighties where trade has been seen as an issue as indifferent as it seems to be today,” said Jon Huntsman Jr., chairman of the Atlantic Council think tank in an address before the American Apparel & Footwear Association, “where people in my party — the Republican Party — which used to see trade as a bulwark for economic growth

STAYING FOCUSED

J. JILL AIMS TO GROW BY FOCUSING ON ITS CORE

MISSES’ CUSTOMER. PAGE 5

ON A CURVEHUNTING GROUND

CATCHING UP WITH ARTIST HUNT SLONEM, WHO HAS A NEW BOOK, EXHIBITS AND A MUSEUM IN THE WORKS. PAGE 14

STUART WEITZMAN UNVEILS ITS ZAHA HADID-DESIGNED CONCEPT STORE IN HONG KONG THAT EMPHASIZES

CURVILINEAR SHAPES. PAGE 4

WWD.COMWWD TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 20142

TO E-MAIL REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME@FAIRCHILDFASHION.COM, USING THE INDIVIDUAL’S NAME. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2014 FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 207, NO. 60. TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in March, April, May, June, August, October, November and December, and two additional issues in February and September) by Fairchild Fashion Media, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast: S.I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, Chief Executive Officer; Robert A. Sauerberg Jr., President; John W. Bellando, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer; Jill Bright, Chief Administrative Officer. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 6356, Harlan, IA 51593. FOR SUBSCRIPTION, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 6356, Harlan, IA 51593, call 866-401-7801, or email customer service at wwdPrint@cdsfulfillment.com. Please include both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. For New York Hand Delivery Service address changes or inquiries, please contact Mitchell’s NY at 1-800-662-2275, option 7. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions requests, please call 212-630-5656 or fax the request to 212-630-5883. For all request for reprints of articles please contact The YGS Group at condenast@theygsgroup.com, or call 800-501-9571. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Fashion Media magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.wwd.com/subscriptions. Occasionally we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 6356, Harlan, IA 51593 or call 866-401-7801. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

Headwinds Persist as J. Crew Enters Spring

Carra Named Agnona CEOBy LUISA ZARGANI

MILAN — Agnona has tapped Alessandra Carra as chief executive officer.

She will join the Italian brand in May and suc-ceeds Bruno Laguardia, who will be appointed a member of the board.

As reported earlier this month, Carra is leav-ing her role as ceo of Emilio Pucci. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, parent of the Florence-based firm, appointed Carra in March 2011 to succeed Didier Drouet.

Gildo Zegna, ceo of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, which took control of Agnona in 1999, praised Carra’s “rooted expertise in the business de-velopment of luxury women’s wear.” He told WWD that he was “convinced she has the neces-sary skills and knowledge to lead this project.”

Prior to Pucci, Carra was ceo of Polo Ralph Lauren Italy and countries under license, a post she’d held since 2004. Previously, she was vice presi-dent of marketing, sales and dis-tribution worldwide at Valentino and held positions at Levi Strauss Group and Trussardi.

Zegna has been investing in the development of Agnona, tra-ditionally known for its fine cash-mere looks. He tapped Stefano Pilati, who started in January 2013 as creative director of the women’s brand and head of design at Ermenegildo Zegna, with respon-sibility for that brand’s fashion show as well as for the Ermenegildo Zegna Couture collection.

“I am enthusiastic to be able to be part of this project,” Carra said. “To work on a strategic devel-opment plan to support Stefano Pilati’s framework built over the past year will be my priority.”

The executive said “the motor” behind her choice was the Zegna Group’s “strategy and entre-preneurial” asset, and, “undoubtedly,” a creative director such as Pilati.

Zegna emphasized Agnona’s “unique potential”

and said the company is “implementing the collec-tion’s structure by introducing categories that were not familiar to the heritage of the brand until the arrival of Stefano Pilati.”

The company is expanding Agnona’s prod-uct offer by establishing an accessories line of shoes and handbags. In February, it inked a 10-year licensing agreement with Italian eyewear powerhouse Marcolin Group for the worldwide manufacture and distribution of sunglasses and eyeglasses for the Ermenegildo Zegna and

Agnona brands, marking the debut of the latter in the lux-ury eyewear arena. Agnona’s first 20 glasses models will be introduced this fall.

In terms of distribution, Zegna said that the plan is to “surely” work on the develop-ment of Agnona’s retail net-work, but this “absolutely does not imply we will neglect part-nerships with the department stores of different countries.” He added that the focus now is to “create business relations to be developed soundly.” This was echoed by Carra, who also highlighted the “attention” the group has paid to its retail development, without forget-ting the wholesale channel, is “surely a cause for reflection” going forward in her role at the house.

The Zegna Group, noted Carra, “represents an excel-

lence of Made in Italy; a company that has been able to transform its brand in a global brand with-out renouncing its industrial DNA combined with a skillful artisanal craftsmanship.”

Of Laguardia, Zegna said he was a “storied and precious collaborator. In fact, he is not leaving our group: he will remain on the Agnona board and will be a valued adviser.”

Laguardia took on his role at the Italian brand in January 2012, and was previously ceo of Giorgio Armani Corp.’s New York offices from 2007 to 2010. Zegna said he played “a key role” in the initial phase of the brand.

By DAVID MOIN

THOUGH IT’S STILL EARLY for spring selling, J. Crew Group Inc. is feeling no letup in the pressures and headwinds experienced last year.

“In general, the difficult traffic trends we saw in the fourth quarter are persisting into the early part of the first quarter,” Stuart Haselden, J. Crew’s chief financial officer, told WWD, just after the com-pany reported its fourth-quarter results, marked by a decline in net profits but gains in adjusted earn-ings and on the revenue side as well.

“The promotional environment continues to be chal-lenging,” Haselden added. “Those things are affecting all retailers in the industry and we are certainly not im-mune to that. The weather hasn’t helped either.”

J. Crew entered the spring season with its inven-tory level still “a little high — we wish we had less,” Haselden acknowledged, though he added, “When we look at the composition of the inventory, we have less that’s old than we do current spring-sum-mer inventory. The increase is related to flows of new products for Q1 versus fall-holiday [merchan-dise] we didn’t clear.”

Looking forward, Haselden said, “Given the traf-fic trends, and just the headwinds there, we could see some pressure on margins going forward based on the amount of inventory we have.”

For the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1, J. Crew’s net fell 42 percent to $5.9 million from $10.2 million in the year-ago period. The net was brought down by a $6.1 million dividend-equivalent expense.

However, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 7.5 per-cent to $75.7 million from $70.4 million in the fourth quarter last year.

Revenues in the quarter increased 7 percent to $686.2 million, from $642.9 million, with compara-ble company sales increasing 3 percent.

J. Crew’s gross margin rate slipped to 36.8 per-cent in the last quarter, compared to 38.4 percent a year ago, largely resulting from “a combination of

the promotional environment and actions taken to move through the inventory to make sure we ended the quarter with current inventory and that we weren’t carrying a lot of inventory,” Haselden said.

Despite headwinds, Haselden did say that J. Crew’s international strategy began to get traction with store openings; that Madewell continued to ramp up, and that the factory outlet business was “pretty strong with healthy new store opportunities there.” J. Crew plans to open two stores in Hong Kong in May and last fall opened three stores in the U.K., as well as a unit in Toronto, giving the retailer 10 locations in Canada.

In addition, “The direct business grew faster than the business overall,” Haselden said. “Folks just seem to be ready to shop online more than ever before. That plays to our strength given the compel-ling online offering we have. It represents about 30 percent of our business, which is higher than most of our competitors.”

The direct business was up 10 percent last quar-ter, which came on top of a 27 percent increase in the year-ago fourth quarter that had an extra week.

Haselden would not comment on the company’s fu-ture ownership. Talks to be acquired by Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. reportedly recently broke down, suggesting that J. Crew could proceed with an initial public of-fering with Goldman Sachs. TPG and Leonard Green & Partners bought J. Crew for $3 billion in 2011, taking the company private. J. Crew reports its financial re-sults because of its publicly held debt.

For the year, J. Crew’s net income amounted to $88.1 million, compared to $96.1 million in 2012. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $370.2 million from $359.6 million. Revenues increased 9 percent to $2.43 billion, with comparable company sales in-creasing 3 percent. Store sales increased 6 percent to $1.6 billion, and direct sales increased 16 per-cent to $755.9 million. Gross margin was 41.4 per-cent, compared to 44.3 percent in the year before.

“The entire year was marked by difficult traffic, headwinds and a more pronounced promotional environment. That certainly was the case in Q4,” Haselden stressed.

ON WWD.COM

THE BRIEFING BOXIN TODAY’S WWD

Steve Shiffman, president and chief commercial officer of Calvin Klein Inc., will succeed Tom Murry as the company’s chief executive officer. PAGE 1 The global trade playbook needs to be rewritten for it to be dynamic again, with President Obama taking a hands-on approach. PAGE 1 Zaha Hadid was in Hong Kong Friday to fete the opening of her Stuart Weitzman concept boutique. PAGE 4 Tax-free spending by Russians visiting the U.K. decreased 17 percent year-on-year for the month of February. PAGE 4 There’s nothing fancy, edgy or trendy about J. Jill, and that’s just fine for the enduring misses brand. PAGE 5 Myron “Mike” Ullman 3rd could see his compensation quadruple in his first full year back at J.C. Penney Co. Inc. PAGE 5 While China and Vietnam dominate the textile and apparel landscape, South Korea and Peru are making their mark. PAGE 8 Retailers praised the Tokyo collections, but said the timing of the shows and prices might limit their buying. PAGE 12 Google will partner with Luxottica to help expand the range of Glass silhouettes. PAGE 13 Hunt Slonem tonight will be signing copies of his sixth book, “Bunnies,” at the Paul Smith store in New York’s SoHo. PAGE 14 Rihanna will receive the Fashion Icon Award at the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards on June 2. PAGE 15 The media world has been critical of the paywall erected by Capital New York about six weeks ago. PAGE 15

An image of Spanish-Mexican actress Emilia Guiú in Havana in 1952, from “Cuba Then: Rare and Classic Images From the Ramiro A. Fernández Collection.” For more, see page 14 and WWD.com.

EYE: Vintage images of the island of Cuba are on full display in “Cuba Then: Rare and Classic Images From the Ramiro A. Fernández Collection.” For more, see WWD.com.

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Dree Hemingway in an ad for Agnona.

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4 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

By WWD STAFF

LONDON — The long arm of Vladimir Putin is hitting cash registers across Western Europe.

On Monday, Global Blue reported that tax-free spending by Russians visiting the U.K. decreased 17 percent year-on-year for the month of February. Already reeling from the weakening Russian economy, consumers were further hit by the political unrest in the region, which “exacerbated” the effects and left Russians disinclined to travel.

The company, which offers international tax-free shopping services for tourists, said Russia slipped down one place in February to become the U.K.’s fourth-highest-spending global market, behind China, the Middle East and Nigeria.

Global Blue said Russia is “consistent-ly” one of the top in-ternational spenders in the U.K., with shop-pers paying an average of 669 pounds, or $1,102 at current exchange, per transac-tion. So far this year, Russian spending in the U.K. has decreased 16 percent.

The company warned there could be more bad news on the way for British retailers and hoteliers: “As the ongoing dispute between Russia and Ukraine continues, and Russia’s relationship with the West deteriorates, the U.K. could feel a slowdown in growth from the Russian tourism market.”

Gordon Clark, U.K. country manager of Global Blue, said companies should contin-ue to focus on attracting Russian business.

“Russia is still one of the top global shopper markets in the U.K. as high-net-worth individuals are drawn to

[its] extensive offer of luxury brands, so businesses should renew their em-phasis on strategies to entice these individuals and encourage high-level spend,” he said.

The U.K. is not the only market to suf-fer. According to Global Blue in Austria, the number of Russian shoppers in Vienna fell more than 42 percent year-on-year in February after having risen more than 20 percent in January.

In Paris, tax-free spending by Russians — the second-largest group of foreign consumers after the Chinese — dipped 5 percent in February, although that figure does not include department store purchases.

The long-term pic-ture — for the U.K., at least — is not nearly as bleak as the February numbers. The govern-ment tourism agency Visit Britain expects growth in spending by Russian shoppers to grow 75 percent by 2020.

Global Blue noted that many U.K. luxury retailers are in-troducing services to attract and accom-modate the Russian shopper, including Russian-speaking staff and marketing materials, tax-free services, private opening hours and cultural training.

Apart from Russia, international mar-kets continue to shop across the U.K. In February, Global Blue said, spending by Middle Eastern shoppers was up 31 per-cent year-on-year, while Chinese spend-ing was up 23 percent.

Southeast Asian nations also saw growth, with spending by shoppers from Hong Kong up 23 percent year-on-year, and spending by consumers from Malaysia and Singapore, which were both up 6 percent year-on-year in February.

By PAYAL UTTAM

HONG KONG — Zaha Hadid was in Hong Kong Friday to fete the opening of her Stuart Weitzman concept boutique. More than 300 fans swarmed around the futur-istic store in Hong Kong’s IFC mall for a glimpse of the architect. Hadid arrived at the cocktail party clad in all black with electric blue Prada ankle boots and a metallic cape by Mary Katrantzou. On her wrist was a large latticed cuff she de-signed for Caspita.

A self-confessed shoe aficionado, Hadid says she’s long been familiar with the Weitzman brand. “Actually, I have Stuart Weitzman shoes from maybe 25 or 30 years ago, completely clear ones I bought from New York and I love them. They are still sitting on my table after all these years,” she said.

The Hong Kong flagship marks the ar-chitect’s second collaboration with the New York-based women’s footwear label, which opened its first concept store in Milan during fashion week last year. “They are part of the same family but they are not identical,” said Hadid of the two boutiques.

Composed of a clean palette of gray and white, the Hong Kong store features glossy, curvilinear forms characteristic of the architect’s designs. “It’s a small, compact space, so it’s really about making fluid interiors,” Hadid said. “Other than the design, [it’s about] the elevation: the desk, the shelving, the seating, so it’s [cre-ating] a whole world from that space.”

At about 970-square-feet, the cave-like store is filled with curved walls that swoop down from the ceiling at dramatic angles. Sculptural display units made of fiberglass with a rose gold trim are perched in the center along with cleverly integrated latex foam seating.

Since kick-starting her career in Hong

Kong with the design of The Peak leisure club (an unrealized building) in 1982, the architect has had a soft spot for the city. “I love Hong Kong. I come here quite often, at least every other year,” she said. “We just opened two days ago the [Hong Kong] Polytechnic University’s school of design and we opened a design museum in Seoul. So it’s been a very design-oriented trip.”

Asked what’s next, Hadid replied, “We are doing a lot of work in China, we are doing a project in New York on the High Line and we are doing a project in Miami, a tower.” She’s also been work-ing on an opera set for the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s production of “Così fan tutte” with costumes designed by Hussein Chalayan, which opens in May.

Hadid added that she intends to col-

laborate with Stuart Weitzman on more boutiques. The brand is planning a global rollout of seven concept stores designed by the architect, with a Rome boutique slated for August followed by a shop-in-shop in Harrods in London in September. By the end of the year, the company will open a Beijing store in Shin Kong Place. In 2015, it hopes to cut the ribbon on stores on Madison Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles and Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, as well as a space in Dubai. Weitzman also is eyeing a loca-tion in Ginza, Tokyo.

“The goal is to pick the fashion epi-centers of the world and open up these stores,” said Stuart Weitzman chief exec-utive officer Wayne Kulkin. “But we want to limit it to eight or nine. What makes it

interesting is that it’s not going to be all over the place.”

Kulkin explained that alongside strong product lines and marketing campaigns, store architecture is becoming increasing-ly important. “If you want to get her off the iPad and into the store, you have to create an environment that is different,” he said of their customers. “Zaha always seems to be at the forefront of breaking every ar-chitectural rule. She comes up with these structures that are really quite amazing.”

Asia has become a major focus for the brand of late. “Five years ago if you asked me, I would say Asia is a wonderful mar-ket but it’s a follower market. Now, Asia is the leading market,” said Kulkin.

On April 1, the brand will launch an e-commerce site in Hong Kong in partner-ship with Pedder Group, followed by a site in China in September. According to Kulkin, e-commerce is the biggest growth engine for the company, and it represents about 35 percent of total business in the U.S.

“We think in three years, the China e-commerce business will be a bigger platform than any place in the world,” he added. “Right now it is tremendous, but it’s really based off discounting and pro-motion. We think there will be a major change due to social media, where peo-ple will become very accepting of buying luxury online.”

This year the brand plans to open an-other seven stores in China and about 15 more in 2015, the ceo said. Next month it will open a store in Mongolia and one will bow in India this fall.

Asked how the brand, which gener-ates $300 million in its global retail and wholesale business, is faring in China’s current economic climate, Kulkin’s reply was optimistic: “I think we are beating the trend. We know from our competitors that there has been a slowdown in luxury but our business is better than ever.”

Russian Tourist Spending Drops

Hadid in Hong Kong for Stuart Weitzman Opening

Ippolito Etro Exits Family Firm

17%DECLINE IN FEBRUARY SPENDING BY RUSSIAN TOURISTS IN THE U.K.

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The Zaha Hadid-designed Stuart Weitzman boutique at IFC mall has a futuristic look.

FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE

WWD.com/accessories-news.

By LUISA ZARGANI

MILAN — At a time of generational and ownership shifts at several Italian companies, a major shake-up is taking place at the family-owned Etro SpA.

Ippolito Etro will leave his role as general manager to “pursue new busi-ness horizons,” effective April 1, said his brother Jacopo, global communica-tions vice president.

Their father, Gerolamo Etro, known as Gimmo, president of the Milan-based firm, will take on Ippolito Etro’s role ad interim.

“The Etro Group sincerely ac-knowledges Ippolito Etro’s worth and the profitable job he has performed over the years, which has allowed us to reach important goals in Italy and abroad,” said Jacopo Etro.

He underscored that his family has no intention of relinquishing the com-pany’s ownership.

A market source said future growth strategies may have been central in the reorganization. Ippolito and Jacopo Etro’s siblings, Veronica and Kean, are women’s and men’s wear creative directors, respectively. Jacopo Etro is also more of a creative mind, leaving Ippolito Etro to deal with the business and commercial issues, “often in conflict with the other three siblings,” said the source. “I believe Gimmo Etro and his wife were think-ing of creating the conditions for the company to go forward and my impres-sion was that they were balancing this axis, but tension must have built up and something must have happened that caused Ippolito to leave abruptly,” said the source, adding that a public listing “must have been considered, given the recent success of family com-

panies such as Salvatore Ferragamo and Brunello Cucinelli.”

Armando Branchini, deputy chair-man of Milan-based consultancy InterCorporate, said it’s “normal for conflicts to emerge in family compa-nies, rarely based on personal issues but rather on potential solutions to help grow and develop the firm. When their name is on the tag, each individ-ual believes their vision can help en-hance and build the brand.”

The company’s revenues in 2013 to-taled 325 million euros, or $429 million, up 4 percent compared with the previ-ous year. The Milan-based firm last year stepped up its investments in China, and a big fashion show event and ret-rospective are planned to take place in Beijing on April 25 at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 2013, Etro’s sales in the region grew 120 percent through 13 boutiques, which the fash-ion house plans to double in number this year.

Europe, where Etro operates stores in cities such as Milan, Paris, London, Barcelona, Munich and Vienna, ac-counts for 48 percent of sales, and Italy, in particular, represents 18 percent of total revenues. A first store dedi-cated to its Home collection will open in Milan on Via Pontaccio in the arty Brera district.

As reported in December, Etro is ex-panding its presence in North America, its second-largest market. It has recent-ly opened a new store in Beverly Hills and last June relocated its Miami flag-ship in Bal Harbour. New units are ex-pected to open in Atlanta this year and Houston in 2015. Etro also counts two doors in New York City, in SoHo and on Madison Avenue. The latter was refur-bished in 2012. There is also a boutique in Manhasset, N.Y.

WWD.COM5WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

By ARNOLD J. KARR

MYRON “MIKE” ULLMAN 3RD could see his compensation quadruple in his first full year back as J.C. Penney Co. Inc.’s chief executive officer.

Ullman, the current and former ceo of the troubled midtier depart-ment store, earned $2.4 million after his return to Penney’s as ceo in April. The sum included $811,000 for the prorated portion of his $1 million in annual salary and other compensa-tion of $1.6 million, including $913,000 in personal use of corporate aircraft, making that perk larger than his col-lective paychecks, according to the de-finitive proxy filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

But according to a subsequent SEC filing by Penney’s on Monday, that’s scheduled to change this year. Ullman’s base salary has been raised to $1.5 million and, after forgoing eligi-bility for stock and option rewards and a cash bonus in 2013 as the company faced a rapid cash burn and an uphill battle to turn itself around, this year he will be eligible for a cash bonus of up to twice his salary and equity awards of up to $5.5 million, making his potential pay package $10 million.

The payout on the awards is tied to such performance metrics as earn-ings before interest, taxes, deprecia-tion and amortization and cash flow, as well as appreciation of the com-pany’s stock and Ullman’s continuous employment with the company.

As during Ullman’s previous ten-ure, which ended with the now-de-

parted Ron Johnson’s appointment as ceo in November 2011, he has no employment contract with Penney’s.

Since succeeding Johnson, Ullman has worked to shore up Penney’s capital structure through a num-ber of moves, including a second-ary stock offering and an arrange-ment to develop land adjacent to the firm’s headquarters in Plano, Tex. Sentiment about the company has im-proved since late February, when it reported a less-than-expected fourth-quarter loss coupled with an increase in comparable sales. Shares Monday closed at $8.60, up 1.3 percent and 75.5 percent above the 52-week low of $4.90 reached on Feb. 5.

As for pay packages detailed in SEC filings for other companies in the in-dustry, at Kohl’s Corp., Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and ceo, saw his

total compensation rise 4.6 percent last year, to $8.2 million from $7.8 million. His salary rose 0.7 percent to $1.3 mil-lion, matching an identical increase in his cash bonus, to $536,000. The sum of his stock and option awards rose 7.1 percent to $6 million.

The highest-paid Kohl’s executive last year was Michelle Gass, who left Starbucks to become chief customer officer in June. Her $12.1 million in reported compensation included a $1 million signing bonus and nearly $9.8 million in stock awards to make up for amounts forfeited by her depar-ture from her former employer.

In another proxy filing, VF Corp. reported that total compensation for Eric Wiseman, chairman, president and ceo, fell 16.9 percent to $11.8 mil-lion last year as increases in his stock and option awards and salary were off-set by declines in his cash bonus and the largely accounting-based “change in pension value and non-qualified de-ferred compensation earnings.”

Wiseman’s salary rose 4.2 percent to $1.25 million, and his stock and option awards expanded 31.6 per-cent to $7.8 million. However, his bonus, or non-equity incentive plan compensation, fell 21.4 percent to $2.3 million, and the change in pen-sion value column dropped more than 90 percent to $372,000.

Because of vesting schedules and fluctuating stock prices, stock and op-tion awards aren’t necessarily real-ized by the named executive but are required to be reported to the SEC at fair market value for the date on which they’re granted.

Nu Skin China Fined

J. Jill Keeps the Focus on the Core Customer

Filings Shed Light on Ullman’s CompensationNU SKIN Enterprises Inc. said Nu Skin China was fined in the aggregate of $540,000 in connec-tion with the sale of certain products.

The fines — following a review by the Administration of Industry & Commerce in Shanghai, where Nu Skin China is based and the AIC in Beijing, where Nu Skin has a branch office — included $524,000 for certain products sold by individual direct sellers who were unreg-istered for the direct-selling channel and $16,000 for product claims that were deemed to lack suf-ficient documentary support.

The Provo, Utah-based firm also said that six sales employees were fined in the aggre-gate of $241,000 for unauthorized promotional activities. The company said it was asked to enhance the education and supervision of its sales representatives.

Nu Skin said, “The company is already taking steps to correct the issues raised in the AIC reviews, and is not aware of any other material enforcement investigations currently pending in China.”

Nu Skin in January voluntarily suspended business promotional meetings and applica-tions for new sales representatives to fully cooperate with the regulatory reviews. The company said it will “seek direction from the Chinese government with respect to resuming normal business activities.”

“We continue to believe in the potential of China’s large and growing market,” said Dan Chard, president of global sales and operations. “We remain committed to working cooperative-ly with the Chinese government to ensure the healthy, long-term growth of our business.”

Stifel’s analyst Mark S. Astrachan said the resolution of Nu Skin’s China issues is a “posi-tive, in our view, given it could indicate a path towards resuming normal activities in the mar-ket. Mainland China accounted for 32 percent of 2013 sales and 60 percent of company sales growth from 2011 to 2013.” — VICKI M. YOUNG

By DAVID MOIN

THERE’S NOTHING FANCY, edgy or trendy about J. Jill, and that’s just fine for the enduring misses brand.

Kimono sweaters, ponte knit pants, relaxed leggings, sweater toppers and quilted vests — key looks that help define the brand — are resonating with the Baby Boomer customer base, accord-ing to J. Jill executives.

Regarding its own outcome in a season where most retailers saw declining sales and earnings, “We believe our results in the fourth quarter compare favor-ably to our competition,” Paula Bennett, chairman, president and chief executive officer of J. Jill Group Inc., told WWD. “We had positive comparable gains in spite of a challenging environ-ment. There’s been a positive re-sponse to the collection and our full-price selling. We did become quite frumpy, but we’ve brought the brand back. It’s easy, relaxed and still modern. We are very [pleased] about where we are.”

“I don’t think we are looking for a younger customer. We love the one we’ve got,” added Joann Fielder, J. Jill’s chief creative officer. “We are not intending to be leading edge, though we do want to maintain a current point of view. We wouldn’t be success-ful if we went into trendier or faster product.”

Their message is that after being flipped from owner to owner and shedding the dowdier styles, J. Jill is no longer teeter-ing. There’s been recent specu-lation that J. Jill is up for sale again by its current owners, and those on the inside are certainly flagging that the brand is alive

and well. But as a spokeswoman said, “There is no deal pending. Reports about J. Jill being up for sale are all currently speculation. This is the nature of ownership by a venture capital business.”

J. Jill was founded in 1959 by Karl and Mary Ann Lipsky, who sold the business in 1987 to DM Management, which sold it to Talbots in 2006. In 2009, Talbots sold J. Jill for $63 million to Golden Gate Capital, which two years later sold a majority stake to Arcapita, an investment firm and the current owner. Golden Gate remains a minority shareholder.

As Bennett and Fielder see it, J. Jill has hit its stride by connecting with customers and moving forward with a multi-channel approach. “There was an overall profit in 2013, as well as consistent, strategic, profit-able growth for several years prior to 2013,” Bennett said, without specifying the results.

Other sources said earnings before interest, taxes, deprecia-tion and amortization are about $60 million. The company ended 2013 with sales of $455 million, about $30 million above 2012. About 60 percent of the volume is generated by the stores; 33 percent through the Web site, and 7 percent is ordered directly from the catalogue. E-commerce grew about 15 percent last year. The company distributed 48 mil-lion catalogues last year through 23 editions. “We have reduced our circulation of catalogues, but they’re our main marketing vehi-cle. We have a very strong multi-channel platform,” said Bennett.

Stores in The Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey and Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington Station, N.Y., have been reno-vated to a prototype, designed

by Robin Kramer, and a new store in Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego has been developed as a prototype. Existing units in Bellevue Square in Bellevue, Wash., the Galleria at Edina in Minneapolis and The Village at Corte Madera in Corte Madera near San Francisco are being either renovated or relocated in the prototype format this year. The 234-unit J. Jill chain plans

to roll out 12 to 15 stores this year. “We can grow to up to 300 stores by 2016,” Bennett said.

The company operates two clearance centers, in Maine and North Carolina, and has no physical outlets, though there is a perpetual online outlet and clearance sales online. “We are building our full-price business and focused on creating product our customer is happy to pay full price for. Outlets would be down the road if we needed to drive volume,” said Bennett. The brand message is not promotional, she emphasized. “We have a regular markdown cadence and we have sales. We are in the game when we need to be. We’re not ignoring what’s going on out there. But our

business is not all about putting out coupons and continually sell-ing at 40 percent.”

J. Jill’s research into its cli-ent base shows that more than 70 percent of its customers work outside the home, have college educations, are married or have a partner. The average household income is more than $155,000. Customers tend to be between the ages of 40 and 65, though J. Jill

executives prefer to characterize the appeal as ageless. “This is a woman who can afford to shop many places and cares about looking good,” said Bennett.

Before developing the 3,200-square-foot Short Hills prototype (the average unit is 3,800 square feet), Kramer said she researched J. Jill’s DNA and customers and determined the objective with reviving the brand was to “uncomplicate it.” So she created a store environment with a wide entrance and tall windows for displays and views into the store. Soft grays, winter whites, warm woods and neutrals permeate the space, along with textured pieces such as the rat-tan basket lighting fixture on the

ceiling and marble-topped acces-sory tables. There’s a platform of mannequins, or “runway,” down the center to draw customers in. On either side are little shops to showcase the collections.

The store is divided into four main zones: for the knit domi-nant Pure Jill subbrand, which is introducing wovens this spring; for casual weekend attire, denim, corduroy and leggings; for sweater vests, slim pants, ponte pants and Pima cotton shirts and T-shirts, and, in the back of the store, there are petites, as well as the WearEver rayon/jersey collection, which represents the dressiest side of the line. J. Jill also sells plus and tall sizes, but only online. Prices range from $60 to $200.

“The prototype accomplishes more than a standard retail en-vironment, guiding customers to the most important products and making the shopping easi-er,” Bennett said. “It took a lot of effort to uncomplicate things. That’s how we believe the store experience should be executed. It really reflects what custom-ers love about J. Jill — simplic-ity, relaxed femininity, nothing that’s overdone or with artifice, or ever going out of style.”

Overall, the J. Jill look is pared down with enough details for some distinction, and an empha-sis on outfitting and earthy colors. Seasonless yarns, most often cot-ton-based, are emphasized, with a minimum of wool content.

“J. Jill stays very consistent. They don’t waiver,” observed Kramer. “The company has always been very clear in its product of-fering, but it needed to be trans-lated into the total experience of the brand. Now the challenge for J. Jill is staying true to itself and not getting sidetracked.”

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and development and central to everything we did, people are now running for cover on trade issues and the Democrats are no stronger on trade.”

Huntsman, who served as U.S. ambassador to China under Obama, and is a former governor of Utah and was a GOP presidential candidate in 2012, added, “We’re in trouble in terms of how we see trade as a nation and we need to strengthen that.”

Phillip Swagel, a profes-sor of international economic policy at the University of Maryland, said Obama will need the support of more Republicans to push sev-eral pending trade measures through Congress, including trade promotion authority, an Asia-Pacific trade deal with 11 countries and a transatlantic trade deal with the EU.

“In my mind it is striking — when the president is ener-getic on an issue, it really en-ergizes the issue,” Swagel said. “The most recent example was where he headed off [a nuclear crisis] with Iran. He was re-ally engaged on it and it got things stopped. But he hasn’t done the same thing on trade. [Democrats] share a goal of a stronger economy and job cre-ation, but they disagree whether expanded trade is the route to a stronger economy.

“The worst outcome for trade might be if Democrats maintain a narrow control of the Senate and then the left rises up against trade,” Swagel said, discuss-ing the midterm elections. “In contrast, a narrow Republican majority in the Senate would mean that the [trade] treaties go forward. It’s an irony that the potentially largest economic accomplishment for President Obama’s second term has a greater prospect of success with a Republican Senate.”

Former President Bill Clinton set up a war room in the early Nineties to drum up support for the controversial North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which faced stiff opposition from his

union allies, his own party and even Republicans, and helped get it past the finish line.

“The unions were totally op-posed to NAFTA,” said Julia Hughes, president of the U.S. Fashion Industry Association. “Republicans didn’t want to give anything to Clinton either, which is not that different from these days. But Clinton was per-sonally engaged in the discus-sions…and he built a war room and had a very aggressive cam-paign in the White House, as well as throughout the agencies, to push for it. I think that is a good model and I certainly hope the administration will eventu-ally move to be that aggressive.”

Hughes added that U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has been thorough-ly engaged with members of Congress and the private sector, as have several cabinet mem-bers. Froman recently defend-ed the hard effort he and the administration have put into making a case for TPA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

“I think we’re out there and engaged and this is a long game, and we’re going to con-tinue to make the case and en-sure we’re making it real for the American public and their representatives in Congress,” said Froman, noting that many cabinet secretaries have been mobilized and are conducting outreach on trade.

“There is a process under-way on Capitol Hill,” Froman said. “A bill was introduced in January. There has been a tran-sition at the Senate Finance Committee. Chairman [Ron] Wyden has now stepped into that position. He’s going to want to take the time necessary to confer with the Democrats, as well as with the Republicans on that committee, as well as with his colleagues in the House to try build the broadest possible support for TPA going forward.”

Obama will need all the help he can get to complete negotiations on the TPP pact with Vietnam, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru and Singapore.

Most trade experts argue he will first have to overcome another hurdle before he can conclude TPP — getting Congressional approval on TPA, under which Congress can only vote up or down on trade pacts negotiated by the executive branch.

Obama is facing opposition from many in his own party on TPA and TPP, including from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and several key House Democrats.

There is a growing con-sensus that Congress will not take up a vote on TPA until after the midterm elections in November, which has added to the slowdown in the pace of the trade agenda.

“I think it is looking increas-ingly difficult to finish TPP be-fore the midterms and I think it looks like it is not going to be possible to pass TPA before then,” said Joshua Meltzer, a fellow on the global econ-omy and development at the Brookings Institution. “Fast track [as TPA was formerly known] is needed to get these trade bills through Congress. In the absence of that, the other negotiating parties tend not to want to finalize a deal because they don’t want to have them be picked apart by Congress.”

Stephen Lamar, execu-tive vice president at the American Apparel & Footwear Association, said, “The timeta-

ble on TPA has, for sure, slowed down. There was a lot of expec-tation something could move sooner. A lot of people were talking about getting something moved by late winter or early spring and that timetable is clearly gone.”

Hughes said many trade ex-perts believe the Obama admin-istration is trying to get as close as possible to finalizing TPP as a way of “pushing for action on TPA.” She said she expects TPA to get a vote in a lame duck session of Congress this year, but does not expect TPP to get Congressional approval until early next year.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership accord between the U.S. and EU is much farther behind in the negotiation phase than TPP, but negotiators are con-tinuing to hold rounds and ex-change initial offers this year on a wide range of areas, in-cluding market access and the phaseout of tariffs.

“From our perspective, this is a real opportunity to completely eliminate tariffs between the U.S. and Europe,” Lamar said of T-TIP.

The AAFA sent a joint letter with Euratex to Froman and EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht earlier this month, seek-ing reciprocal duty elimination on Day One of implementation of T-TIP. The EU and U.S. re-cently exchanged their opening proposals on tariff elimination and must also work to find regu-latory convergence in several sensitive sectors, including cos-metics and pharmaceuticals.

Hughes said there is already a “healthy relationship” between the U.S. and EU on inputs and finished products, where some of the highest duties also exist.

“I would expect we would end up with totally duty free and total tariff elimination,” Hughes said.

But Meltzer said there has already been some push back from the EU on the initial tariff-dropping offer by the U.S., which he said has been portrayed as a “low ball” ef-fort and not aggressive enough. Meltzer also said the T-TIP negotiations might run into its own complications this year because of the European parliament elections in May, which he said could change the “composition of the important EU players.”

sourcing horizons

Wake-up Call Needed for U.S. Trade Policy

’’

’’We’re in trouble in terms of how we see trade as a

nation and we need to

strengthen that.— Jon Huntsman Jr.,

atLantIC CounCIL

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South Korea Buoyed by Trade Pact SEOUL — While it’s probably better known for its electron-ics than fabrics, South Korea is emerging as a player in the glob-al textile industry.

The South Korean textile in-dustry recorded $16.3 billion in exports in 2013, surpassing its 10-year high of $15.9 billion in 2011, according to the Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI). For the year end-ing Jan. 31, South Korea was the second-largest supplier of fabric to the U.S., with imports worth $511.7 million and an 8.5 percent market share, accord-ing to the U.S. Fashion Industry Association. In March 2012, the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement went into effect, substantially cut-ting tariffs and setting a schedule to eliminate them within 10 years.

In comparison, China re-mains the largest supplier to the U.S. fabric market with $1.73 billion and a 29 percent market share over the same time period.

In response to the Korea-U.S. FTA, the Gyeonggi Textile Center opened in Los Angeles to manage overseas marketing and provide a one-stop sourcing showroom. The center, created by government of-ficials in South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Small and Medium Business Center, has been advising on trade issues

between buyers and suppliers in the two nations.

Within one year of opening, nearly 350 contracts for textiles totalling $4.7 million were in the works. Now the center has ex-panded and opened offices in New York to help promote the province’s more than 2,800 textile-related firms. South Korea is look-ing to narrow that gap through a combination of government and private sector initiatives.

“Our vision is to initiate a tex-tile renaissance,” KOFOTI chair-man Ro Hee Chan said in an an-nual report on the state of the industry, adding that South Korea is aiming to increase textile ex-ports to $21.2 billion by 2020.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s newly formed Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is now overseeing the campaign to give South Korea an edge in the global market by in-creasing the foreign labor force, investing in research and devel-opment and cultivating brands. The country has long been a source for midmarket textiles, but some companies are aiming higher, according to Lie Sang Bong, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of Korea.

“Firms are experimenting with new techniques and more expensive textiles to target a higher-end market,” said Lie,

whose designs have adorned Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Olympic champion ice skater Yuna Kim.

In New York, Mood Designer Fabrics owner Philip Sauma has noticed the shift. Traditionally, “Italy, Japan and France are the countries more recognized for high-quality fabrics,” he said. “But the quality of fabrics produced by Korea has improved dramatically.”

One Seoul-based textile firm even managed to capture the at-tention of Fédération du Prêt-à-Porter president Jean Pierre Mocho. Ludia Co., which spe-cializes in outerwear and ac-cessories and counts Burberry, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Moncler as clients, was invit-ed by Mocho to show its Bliss line of viscose rayon at Paris Fashion Week in 2010, accord-ing to a company spokeswoman.

Since then, Ludia has been one of the firms featured at the Preview in Seoul trade fairs. KOFOTI sponsors the expos, which are held in New York, Los Angeles, Beijing, Shanghai and South Korea.

The South Korean silk pur-veyor B.C. Corp., which manu-factures fabrics for women’s ready-to-wear, sportswear and formalwear and has been used by Zac Posen, Jason Wu and Lela Rose, had the opportunity to present its intricately woven

materials at the Preview in New York this past July.

“Our challenge is to rethink the ways in which silk can be manipulated and blended with modern regenerated and syn-thetic fibers,” said Jesse Lee, a merchandiser in B.C. Corp.’s New York office.

The expos have been suc-cessful platforms for cutting-edge, high-tech firms, such as Young Poong Filltex. The com-pany, which produces extreme weather-resistant materials with breathable water-repellent fab-ric, left “Preview in Seoul” with several deals, according to Hyun Jung Lee of the Young Poong Filltex planning team.

The firm, which sells to firms such as Bogner, Mammut, Lacoste and Nautica, has more than 15 registered trademarks for its lightweight fabrics.

South Korea has free-trade agreements and joint re-search projects with 75 differ-ent countries, according to the Switzerland-based International Te x t i l e M a n u f a c t u r e r s Federation. — SONYA BEARD

Peru Pushes QualityLIMA, Peru — It doesn’t take long for a textile or apparel maker in Lima to start talking about quality control.

With prices that can’t com-pete with China’s low-cost ex-ports and ambitions as high as the Andes’ peaks, Peru’s indus-try executives are touting their high-quality Pima cotton and alpaca, quick turnaround abil-ity, short shipping times to U.S.

ports and attention to detail to U.S. and European brands as they seek to grow and recover from the recent economic crisis.

“I want the ‘Made in Peru’ label to mean the quality of that garment is better,” said Patricia Flores Rodriguez, production chief of Textiles of Peru.

Her company, which in 2013 doubled its production over 2012 by annually turning out 400,000 units of apparel and 400 tons of textiles, is ranked 14th in textile exports from Peru and expects to move into the top 50 apparel ex-porting companies in Peru by 2014.

Textiles of Peru has done that, she said, by keeping its costs low. It produces its knitted fabrics, but outsources all of its sewing. The firm has quality-control inspec-tors at every step of production, she said. Most of the firm’s ap-parel heads for the U.S. under the brands Southern Point Co., Harley-Davidson, Pippen Lane, Coast, Grande Plaine and Agape North.

Alfredo Malatesta, chief executive officer of the California-based apparel maker Intercontex Inc., which sources

about 15 percent of its work in Peru, said, “Peru can’t compete against Asian prices. People go to Peru for quality, not price.”

Christian Asbeck, who found-ed the Lima apparel company Venator nine years ago, exports all of his production to the U.S. and Europe. His company saw production double in 2013, with 45,000 units in sweaters and about 30,000 units in T-shirts. Some 60 percent of his produc-tion is for the U.S. market and the remainder ships to Europe.

Venator is typical of most of Peru’s textile and apparel export-ing firms, according to PromPeru, which handles international mar-keting for the domestic industry.

Asbeck said Peru has the equivalent of two levels of textile and apparel industries: one that produces for the Peruvian mar-ket, and a second that manufac-tures for export. Those firms in pursuit of the domestic market have been hard hit by low-cost Chinese exports, he said. Others after the higher-end export mar-ket are doing better, he noted.

In the first 10 months of 2013, textile and apparel exports to the U.S. were down 17.7 per-cent, according to the Sociedad Nacional de Industrias/National Industries’ Society. Through Oct. 31, total exports were $1.4 billion compared $1.76 billion in the same period in 2012.

Rodriguez at Textiles of Peru said her company is developing markets in other Latin American countries, and early in 2014 plans to open a European office in France. Veronica Telge, ceo of the Lima apparel maker Lives, said about 10 percent of her firm’s production goes to Latin America, another 10 percent goes to Europe, and the remain-ing 80 percent heads for the U.S.

— JOYCE BARRETT

SOURCING HORIZONS

Emerging Markets

Apparel is assembled in

Lives’ production room. The factory

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LOS anGELES — novelty and texture attracted designers who were benefiting from a recov-ering economy, and attending the Los angeles International Textile Show.

Displaying collections for spring 2015, the 250 exhibitors at the California Market Center represented domestic vendors from Los angeles and Chicago, along with foreign mills from France, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Turkey and India.

While shopping the show, several designers considered the market dynamics that are polarizing consumer spending at retail. On one end, bargain shopping and fast fashion are booming with consumers who yearn for quick hits of trends. On the other, consumers are willing to save up for special items made with quality and ex-clusive materials. as such, de-signers either stuck to a certain budget or didn’t heed pricing at all as long as the style struck them as superior.

Popular items at the exhibi-tion included linen knits from Japan’s Yagi; orange geometric prints on organic cotton jersey from Minneapolis-based Josi Severson; burnout linen and polyester in a black-and-white nature pattern from Italy’s Corti Marcello; ikat handwoven in India for Oakland, Calif.-based

Indigo handloom; metallic-coated cotton bouclé from Italy’s Twelve, and silver Leavers lace that featured a geometric lat-tice bordered by a floral pattern from France’s Solstiss. as for the color palette, metallic tones stood out, while colors segued from light pastels to drenched jewel tones and rainbow brights.

Searching for trims and but-tons, Shari Bender, designer of Duna Designs, which retails its California-made knits for $400 to $700, said, “If it’s interesting, we’ll do it,” regardless of price.

Lynda Baxis, who designs women’s contemporary knits and sportswear for The Outpost Trading Co. and Grand Junction in Los angeles, said most of her fabrics cost $15 to $25 a yard.

“We are careful, but [pric-ing’s] not an issue,” she said. “It’s more about the exclusive type of fabric we can get.”

appealing to California de-signers’ strong interest in knits, Lenzing Fibers sponsored 17 companies that specialize in fabrics made with Modal and Tencel yarns. One of them, Knit house from Vernon, Calif., drew designers who prefer to gar-ment-dye with its fabrics priced from $4 to $12 a yard.

“You can buy a thousand yards and get five colors out of it,” said sales representative Barbara Montz.

King america Textile Group, the Chicago company that op-erates a factory in Dover, Ga.,

tried to win over customers with both its prepared-for-dyeing textiles and Made in USa story. Its 8-oz. cotton twill costs less than $3.50 a yard, and its French twill, made with Cone Mills’ cot-ton, is priced at $3.95 a yard.

amanda Blake was one of the designers who sought dye-able options. For her women’s brand called Calder, which was launched this spring at bou-tiques such as Bird and Ten Over Six with cotton pieces re-tailing for $74 to $250, she bud-gets for fabric that costs less than $10 a yard and can be gar-ment-dyed or printed because “it gives you a lot of flexibility,” she said.

also exhibiting with Lenzing Fibers, Los angeles-based ace Fabric & Trim attracted cus-tomers with its natural yarns and flexibility with orders, which suited many of the small brands and emerging design-ers that shopped the fair. Its prices ranged from $4 to $8 for fake leather, $7 to $12 for cot-ton eyelet and $15 to $30 for embroidered lace.

“We don’t have minimums if we have it in stock,” said sales manager Efren Magsino. “They can buy a roll or two rolls to start with.”

reversible styles also worked for designers who wanted to give value to their customers. a first-time exhibitor from Italy, 496 Fabric Lab, offered denim jacquard in vivid combinations

such as gold and white. Prices are $7 to $30 a yard.

Show organizers diversified the textile options with new par-ticipants that offer manufactur-ing and full-package services.

Founded four years ago, L.a. Tex & Garment Inc. met with contemporary sportswear de-signers from Miami, Portland and San Francisco who were interested in its manufacturing services. The company uses a factory in China, and charges $20 to $50 a garment with a 300-piece minimum. although owner Shannon Bamrick, who previously worked at Majestic Mills, said she didn’t feel pres-sure to manufacture in the U.S., she conceded that her minimum requirement for or-ders is still difficult for small, growing brands.

D&n Textiles of Beverly hills acknowledged the preva-lence of start-ups with a special

offer available only at the show. With a 20-yard minimum, it sold some styles for $5 a yard.

The allure of the U.S. market couldn’t keep away some for-eign vendors. India’s Manuela returned as an exhibitor for the first time since 2010. The american market makes up 45 percent of its total business, and most of its U.S. sales come from Los angeles. Offering hand-em-bellished trims such as colorful ethnic beads at $14 a yard and gold sequined strips for $21 a yard, Manuela must contend with growing concern about so-cial compliance, the environ-ment and workers’ conditions in its Indian factory.

“More people are asking about lead-free and nickel-free [products],” said owner Shaan Ghosh, noting that such goods cost 25 percent more and re-quire tests for verification. “We are trying to source that.”

Tale of Two Strategies in Los AngelesIndigo Handloom interested buyers with its ikat scarves handwoven in India.

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Free entry onlinewww.apparelsourcingshow.com

NEW YORK

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Yasutoshi Ezumi: Yasutoshi Ezumi turned out a collection rooted in classics that looked interesting with asymmetric cuts and bold tailoring. Sleek coats, circle skirts and button-up shirts were done in men’s wear materials — the textile of choice for numerous brands showing in Tokyo this season. A plaid pattern ran throughout in several colorways, while uneven hemlines and contrasting panels were also prevalent. An interesting flared dress, for instance, came with leather sleeves and side inserts made of a synthetic fabric; a short-sleeve gown was worked in various black-and-white plaids and checks with contrasting panels and leather bands.

Johan Ku: London-based designer Johan Ku said the fantasy film “Pan’s Labyrinth” inspired him for fall. He evoked rich, forestlike textures with chunky knits and a series of intricate patchworks combining lace, satin and metallics. His palette was dark — mostly black with touches of deep teal, red and bits of shimmer.

Asymmetric sweaters and ponchos were knitted from thick yarns, and panels of shaggy fur added texture to sleeves and hemlines.

There were a few men’s outfits done in similar patchworks and shiny stuff, with one look that paired an open-knit black sweater with slim textured pants.

Mikio Sakabe: Design duo Mikio Sakabe and his Taiwanese wife Shueh-Jen Fang have a reputation for theatrics, and this season they reprised a gender-bending stunt they carried out for fall last year. They used male models to show their women’s and men’s lineups, although at times it was hard to distinguish which was which.

The designers worked Chinese fabrics, symbols and detailing into a collection with an eclectic Tokyo street-fashion vibe. Some of the more approachable fare included shrunken sweaters with fruit motifs and paper-bag-waist trousers. As for the kooky, traditional Mao-collar shirts came cropped at chest level, and a black shirt had giant, ground-grazing silk sleeves.

Most of the clothes had a sculptural quality — a group of calligraphic tops featured geometric cutouts, and for the finale, a model appeared wrapped in a structural piece shaped like a ribbon.

A Degree Fahrenheit: Yu Amatsu’s A Degree Fahrenheit collections are always themed around a certain temperature, and often consist of looks in one color. For fall, he used the temperature of 6,000 degrees kelvin, which represents “the unstable state of a cloudy sky during the day, neither sunny nor rainy.”

Starting with black, the designer showed elegant, well-cut pieces that transitioned into muted shades of mint green, blues, grays and ivory. Dresses ranged from knee- to floor-length with slim to full skirts, most cinched at the waist with wide, black leather belts. Details like long, flowing ruffles, attached capes and fur muffs gave the pieces a refined yet modern twist.

For the finale, Amatsu showed a series of identi-cal shirtdresses in a range of tones representing the changes in the sky between sunrise and sunset: from cream to blue to yellow, orange and red.

Motonari Ono: Motonari Ono is known for his romantic flourishes and detailing but this season he turned to the Swinging Sixties. He worked a range of retro wallpaper prints into dresses and stovepipe pants, topping them with some cool outerwear looks including a wool coat with lace trim and several riffs on shearling jackets.

There were Mod-ish dresses with ruffles peeking out from under the hem, and a couple of saucy skirts sporting long fringe. Other highlights included color-blocked blouses with lace accents and baseball jackets crafted from a mixture of men’s wear fabrics.

Né-net: Staying true to Né-net’s penchant for playful, quirky clothes, designer Kazuaki Takashima tapped into manga and cutesy animal motifs for fall. Key silhouettes included A-line skirts, shirtdresses, rompers and squarish tops, all shown in various oddball prints: cartoonish eyes, gemstones, comic book-style illustrations and girls’ faces with tufts of sewn-on fringe for hair. There were also a few pleated skirts done in gold lamé and some pieces shown in a shiny gingham check.

Takashima engaged in a bit of theatrical styling,

putting many of his models in glittery masks that com-pletely concealed their faces, and others in silver and gold headpieces in the shapes of cat and bear heads.

Kidill: Hiroaki Sueyasu showed a Kidill collection of streetwear with influences as varied as hunting, formalwear and animation. There were lots of wide, calf-length shorts with crotches so low they sometimes looked like skirts, paired with tuxedo-inspired shirts and hoodies with the sleeves cut just above the elbow. Pants came fuller through the thigh and tapered from the calf down, many in rustic plaids, checks and blanket stripes.

For a bit of humor, a series of brightly colored cartoonlike motifs — including a human heart, wolf and three-eyed chipmunk — were knit into sweaters and appliquéd to T-shirts and the backs of jackets. The show closed with jacket-and-shorts combos in an allover wolf pattern that, from a distance, resembled camouflage.

Yoshio Kubo: Yoshio Kubo often sends his models down the runway in wacky hair and makeup. This season he featured a series of helmetlike wigs in styles including Mohawks, dreadlocks and braids.

The majority of the looks were casual and street-ready, with pieces such as oversize rain ponchos, blouson jackets and tops in geometric prints, and out-erwear trimmed in bright aqua fur. Some jackets had extra panels of fabric attached to the back hem, giv-ing the impression of a long shirt layered underneath.

Kubo also injected a dose of preppiness into the collection via patterned sweater vests, Fair Isle zip-up cardigans and a navy sweater with red and white stripes and a trompe l’oeil gold medal around the neck.

Alice Auaa: The designer of Alice Auaa, one of Japan’s most popular Goth brands, Yasutaka Funakoshi mined the realm of S&M this season, sending his girls out in masked headpieces with whip attachments sprouting from the tops. Metallic contraptions covered parts of their posteriors and branched out into taillike forms. When exposed, the models’ shoulders were blackened to look as if they were rubbed down with charcoal.

As with his past efforts, Funakoshi put a great amount of detail into the tailored constructions with corsetry, ruffles, studs, straps and other embellishments. Strip away the accoutrements, and a few of the dresses — including a leather minidress with oversize short sleeves and wide hips — were quite wearable. The racier looks featured conical bras, netting and harnesses.

Dresscamp: Known for his bold, statement-making clothes, Toshikazu Iwaya delivered a Dresscamp collection that combined Baroque, dandy and sporty influences. For women, that meant romantic ruffled blouses, tulle skirts and dresses in floral motifs — either as prints, appliqués or fake-flower trimmings. For men (all of whom sported wispy painted-on mustaches), there were puffer jackets, slim pants, tracksuits and shirts with large, floppy bows.

Many of the prints and patterns were shown for both genders, including Baroque swirls, dalmatian spots and a belt strap motif. Some of the sharper looks included a guy’s parka and matching shorts in orange-and-black swirls and a woman’s majorette-style tartan jacket and miniskirt worn with a heart-printed blouse.

Ariunaa Suri: Mongolian designer Ariunaa Suri named her fall collection “Punk Urban.” Most pieces were shown in both women’s and men’s versions, including slim-fitting trousers paired with draped tops and raw-edged leather jackets, as well as shearling jackets with crossover front openings. The palette was mostly made up of muted shades of gray, blue, aqua green and black, but pops of yellow appeared throughout, such as on the lining of a sculptural, zippered skirt and on the elbow crease of several gray asymmetric jackets.

Afriqan Apeiron: England-born designer Crystabel Getty launched her Afriqan Apeiron brand in 2012, showing in Tokyo for the first time this season. Her collection of batik clothes included cropped tops, long slit skirts and strong-shouldered dresses in bold acid green, orange and turquoise hues. Many pieces featured trimmings in beads resembling gemstones.

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Fall 2014 Yasutoshi Ezumi Johan Ku Mikio Sakabe

Kidill Yoshio Kubo Alice Auaa

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Japanese fabrics translate through the design and structure of garments.

“In terms of color, design, trend, shape, I think that Japan is on par with Europe as well. It’s just the footwear and maybe the type and quality of fab-ric that could be the next part to work on. Because I think in men’s wear they have it nailed,” said Wooster, a guest of Tokyo Fashion Week organizers.

Natalie Kingham, head of fashion for U.K.-based Matches, was enthusias-tic about the brands she encountered in Japan, although she declined to name drop out of a fear of giving away “trade

secrets.” She said she was impressed with brands’ use of traditional Japanese fabric treatments like shibori — a tie-dye technique dating back centuries. Kingham said she thinks brands that tap into their Japanese identity stand the best chance of resonating with Western consumers. Kingham said Matches has done well with the Japanese brands it already carries such as Toga, Julien David and Undercover, which prompted her trip here. The Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) subsidized her trip.

“There are things to be found over here that are unique,” she said.

Eric Pech, men’s and luxury buyer for Galeries Lafayette, said he is always on the hunt for new Japanese brands. “Japanese designers do a great job….[There’s a] good balance between cre-ativity and [the] commercial aspect,” he said, citing the presence of the season’s big trends like oversize shapes, techni-cal fabrics and the color purple in the collections he saw here.

Pech, also a Jetro guest, said Still by Hand, Diet Butcher Slim Skin and Nude:Masahiko Maruyama caught his eye but he needed to look at his bud-get since it is late in the season and his team will start to buy spring pre-collec-tions in just six weeks time.

Kevin House, who runs a recently launched U.K.-based e-commerce site dedicated exclusively to Japanese women’s fashion called Collectionaires.com, said he liked Yasutoshi Ezumi and Somarta as well as select pieces from Atsushi Nakashima and Lamarck. But he cited a lack of consistency else-where, without naming names.

“A couple of designers that I’ve liked before have disappointed me by seem-ing to leave behind the strengths I saw in the last two seasons, particularly in terms of moving towards more casual or softer styles… and [become] conse-quently less distinctive,” he said.

Although a weak yen helps make Japanese clothing more attractive to for-eign buyers, House expressed some con-cern about Japanese brands’ pricing strate-gies. He said the brands needed to be more realistic about the value of their names while they are still relatively unknown identities outside their home market.

“I’ve found that few Japanese brands have any appreciation of export reali-ties; some have even tried to charge a premium to me because they think I sell at a higher price and therefore that I make a higher margin than Japanese retailers,” House said. “There is also a

sense that they don’t appreciate what supports a market price — they feel that quality/cost of production is the key de-terminant rather than appreciating the importance of consumer perception.”

Beppe Nugnes, who owns and runs on-line multibrand retailer Nugnes1920.it as well as three stores in the southern Italian town of Trani, said he is planning to pick up Still by Hand and some accessories for fall. But Nugnes, a Jetro guest, said he is unable to buy more because there are high tariffs to bring the merchandise back to Italy and his budget is limited because it’s the tail end of the fall buying season.

Nugnes said he thought Japanese de-signers succeeded in terms of manufac-turing quality and their attention to de-tail on particular pieces but they need to think more broadly in terms of develop-ing a cohesive and commercial collection.

“They concentrate on an idea but they don’t sufficiently expand on that idea to create enough other products,” said Nugnes.

Some retailers and fashion week at-tendees complained about logistical prob-lems within the Japanese fashion system. As in past seasons, there were large gaps of several hours in the schedule with no shows or events. Another complicating fac-tor is that brands often hold their market presentations a week after their runway shows or even later. Meanwhile, a few brands, such as Anrealage and Christian Dada, decided to stage their runway shows a full week after fashion week.

Wooster said this type of thinking needs to change to attract more foreign buyers to Tokyo.

“I know a retailer in the United States that buys Japanese brands and…the three different brands that he buys all have exhibitions on three different weeks. So if you’re a retailer, you need to come once and not three times,” he said.

— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM KELLY WETHERILLE

By AMANDA KAISER

TOKYO — Retailers generally praised the collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo, but said the timing of the shows and prices might limit their buying.

Key trends at the six days of shows, which ended Saturday, included the use of men’s wear fabrics, variations on suiting, baseball/varsity jackets, romper suits for both genders and asymmetric detailing. Buyers, some of whom received complementary trips to Tokyo from the Japanese government and fashion week organizers, were mostly upbeat in terms of the quality and execution of the designs. Still, there are some lingering questions, including the fact it is already late in the fall buying season.

Tokyo Fashion Week or-ganizers said international buyer registrations for the fall shows rose to 212, up from 192 last season in October. Registrations from China dropped to 48 from 52 in October, while those from the U.S. grew to 35 from 28 last season. Those were the two top markets.

Miyako Sekimoto, fashion director for Matsuya and a Tokyo Fashion Week regu-lar, said she appreciated an individualist spirit among the designers this season. “I think that each designer showed…more characteristics of their brand,” she said, adding that Mint Designs and Support Surface were her two favorite shows. “Everybody did different things.”

Sekimoto said she thinks Matsuya Ginza will stock more merchandise from Japanese brands this fall as a weak yen cuts into the store’s buying power when it comes to im-

porting brands from Europe and the U.S. She said the store’s multibrand retail con-cept on the third floor currently stocks about 80 percent of its merchandise from Japanese brands and the rest from imported brands.

“I think for Japanese designers…it’s a big chance,” she said.

Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe, senior cre-ative director at Beams, said he felt it was a stronger season for men’s than for wom-en’s. That is a common refrain at Tokyo Fashion Week. His top picks for men’s were Yoshio Kubo and Mr. Gentleman. For women’s, he liked Facetasm.

“For a little while now there have been more men’s brands [than women’s

ones] that have an energy and are interesting. And I also

think there are a lot of them that really show a kind of Tokyo-ness,” he said. “What I thought when I saw Yoshio Kubo’s show was that the men’s style in Tokyo is kind of genderless. And it’s different

from the European kind of gen-derlessness — like J.W. Anderson

putting men in skirts. It’s men’s looks, but with a kind of femininity.”

Similarly, Nick Wooster, a consultant who formerly worked for Neiman Marcus and Atrium, said he thinks the city’s men’s brands are more “fully developed” than the women’s in terms of understanding inter-national customers. His top picks for men’s were Mr. Gentleman, Yoshio Kubo and 99%IS from South Korean-born designer Bajowoo.

Specifically, Wooster said women’s brands in Japan need to think more about how footwear alters the perception of the volume and movement of the clothes. He also said they need to do a better job with fabric selection and making high-quality

Tokyo Fashion Week Earns Plaudits Despite Hurdles

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By RACHEL STRUGATZ

GooGLE iS cozying up to the fash-ion world more and more.

on Monday, the technology giant said it will partner with eyewear firm Luxottica as Google readies for the consumer launch of its Glass product later this year.

Financial terms of the new deal were not revealed, and it applies only to the U.S.

The italian-based de-signer, manufacturer and distributors of eyewear for brands like Ray-Ban, Persol, oliver Peoples, oakley and Vogue-Eyewear — and which also makes eyewear under license for design-er brands such as Giorgio Armani, Coach, Prada and Ralph Lauren — will help expand the range of Glass silhouettes available for Google’s Explorer Program. The program, which launched in February 2013, allowed about 10,000 consumers to

try out the $1,500 Explorer edition. While this collaboration isn’t

part of Glass’ public launch, Google will be able to take advan-tage of Luxottica’s vast retail and wholesale channels in the U.S. once the product sees an official rollout. Google has not revealed a

time frame for when that might be.According to Google, it will

work with Luxottica on the design of all glass-compatible frames.

“Luxottica will manufacture these frames and lead distribution of Glass in the eyewear category, and Glass will continue to sell the device online through our Explorer Program,” the company said.

Google revealed the first in-house designed frames for Glass in January. Sunglass styles retail for $150 and optical styles are priced a bit higher at $225.

“We’re making it a more natural part of your life. [Wearing Glass] will be easier with this, plus you have

more choices,” Google Glass lead designer isabelle olsson told WWD at the Google Glass Basecamp in Manhattan’s Chelsea Market earlier this year. “it’s a very natural exten-sion of things that you already wear. For some people, this will come even more naturally than

the regular [Glass].”The deal with Luxottica is

Google’s latest move in the area of wearable technology. Last week, the firm unveiled a new version of its Android operating system called Android Wear and said it would partner with Fossil to launch a line of smartwatches using the system later this year.

WWD tuesday, march 25, 2014

Murry asked for PVH chairman and ceo Emanuel Chirico’s permission to acceler-ate his retirement, and Chirico agreed.

“Tom’s accomplishments at the com-pany have been nothing short of amazing,” said Chirico. “Under his leadership, Calvin Klein has grown from $2.8 billion in global retail sales to close to $8 billion in 2013, hav-ing evolved from a licensed-only model to a more directly operated business.” Chirico said Murry was instrumental in helping PVH acquire CKi in 2002 “and was a great partner working through the Warnaco acqui-sition and integration to date.”

Shiffman, 56, joined PVH in 1992, and is a member of the PVH corporate oper-ating committee. He has overseen the global commercial operations of the CKi business, reporting to and working closely with Murry, with direct oversight of North American retail and e-commerce busi-nesses, Asia-Pacific and Latin American operations, as well as global licensing and creative services. Earlier, Shiffman served as group president and chief operating of-ficer of PVH Retail, where he oversaw the company’s retail divisions. Before that, he was president and chief operating officer of Calvin Klein Retail, where he headed all aspects of retail apparel and the acces-sories business, including design, sourc-ing, merchandising, planning, distribution and visual marketing.

Chirico said Shiffman brings a familiarity with the brand and a deep retail knowledge to the business. With the acquisition of The Warnaco Group inc., he said about 55 percent of PVH’s busi-ness is direct to consumer, either e-commerce or in their own re-tail stores. “That’s Steve’s area of expertise,” said Chirico. The business units, both internation-ally and domestically, have been reporting to Shiffman, “and it was a natural progression for us as we went forward,” he said.

Shiffman’s successor hasn’t been named yet.

Chirico said he’s not looking for big changes at CKi, since it’s performing so well. He looks to continue the momentum and integration of the Warnaco business into PVH. “We still have some system conversions and integrations going on, which ultimately is his responsibility,” said Chirico. “With the Warnaco acquisi-tion, we’re making significant acquisitions in people, product, design, marketing and presentation of our product globally.”

Chirico said Murry’s skill sets are more on the marketing and creative side, where-as Shiffman’s skill sets skew more toward

the operational side of the business. Murry will probably spend some time in his advi-sory role looking to create a complementary management team going forward, he said.

Shiffman sees expanding the inter-national footprint as a top priority in his new role.

“When you look at the globe, there are huge opportunities in Asia, and many parts of india and Australia, South America in particular, and obviously in Europe. We’re looking to layer on and leverage our jeans and underwear plat-form. We’re looking to convert many parts of the world from a classifications business of jeans and underwear into a lifestyle business and offer sportswear and other categories,” he said. The over-seas business is a combination of whole-sale and retail business. “in combination there are significant opportunities,” said Shiffman, who has spent a lot of time in the last year and a half traveling in Asia, South America and Europe.

Shiffman called the Asian business very good, with the strongest market being China. “We have a very formidable business in China, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, in particular,” said Shiffman. The company just signed a joint venture in Australia. on Monday, PVH Corp. signed an agreement with Arvind Brands and Retail Ltd. as its joint venture partner for

its Calvin Klein businesses in india. Shiffman has been overseeing the e-

commerce business at CKi the last seven years, which he sees as another big growth opportunity. Asked whether CKi is as de-veloped in e-commerce as its competitors, he replied, “i think we have a ways to go. i think we’ve done a good job, but there’s definitely room for improvement.” All of Klein’s products in North America are represented on the Web site, except for Collection. “But we do have plans to add it in the future,” said Shiffman.

Speaking of Collection, Murry said they intend to open another Collection store “on a very high-profile luxury

street” in the U.S., but he declined to divulge details. Right now there’s only one freestanding Collection store, on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

“As you know we licensed the [Collection] business and almost destroyed it. We only got it back in spring 2009, which seems like a long time ago, but it isn’t. Not when you have to rebuild a whole company. Now we’re executing well, shipping a qual-

ity product on time, opening new accounts every season. We’re very proud of the prod-uct out there. You have to look at this business as a very long-term business,” said Murry. He said that the company gets a tremendous amount of publicity from the Collection business, generating $400 million a year in advertising cost equivalent “which is very valuable. The coverage of our runway shows is amazing. it’s a very worthwhile business. We’re very focused now on

creating a bigger commercial success but it’s going to take time,” said Murry.

Fifty percent of CKi’s business contin-ues to be generated in North America, 30 percent in Europe and the Middle East, and 20 percent in Asia, said Murry. “The percent to total has remained relatively constant all of these years, which really speaks to the geographic diversification of the company,” said Murry. in the U.S., Calvin Klein merchandise is distributed in 2,000 department stores.

in discussing how Calvin Klein Jeans was performing these days following PVH’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Warnaco last year, Murry called it a turnaround

situation. “We’re in the midst of that, and the integration has gone very well. it’s a turnaround and it will take some time.” The first season under CKi is spring 2014. “We’ll get it turned around. Manny [Chirico] has said on record, the invest-ment in those businesses are more than we anticipated…we’re on schedule and we’re on track and that’s why i felt comfortable accelerating my timetable,” said Murry.

“our jeans and underwear business was overpenetrated in Spain and italy, which has put additional pressure on us. [Sister company] Tommy Hilfiger is very strong in Northern Europe, so CKi is putting their business on Hilfiger’s platform,” he said. Murry said that while the European econ-omy is still struggling, and its Calvin Klein jeans aren’t through the pipeline yet, what they’ve been doing is improving the stores and in-store presentations and building new showrooms in multiple cities.

Murry described the other CKi business-es in Europe as either “good or very good.”

“our watch business is very strong and our fragrance business is very large and stable. Footwear is oK,” said Murry. “i don’t think you’ll talk to too many brands right now who have really good businesses in Europe. You see what’s going on over there. We keep hearing about improve-ment in the economic environment, but i haven’t seen much evidence of it yet.”

As for Murry’s contribution to CKi, Chirico said the brand successfully tran-sitioned from being a private company under founders Calvin Klein and Barry Schwartz (who left after selling the busi-ness in 2003). “Tom has led our efforts to transition that to a public company envi-ronment. You can never replace a Calvin Klein but he’s been able to build a pro-fessional organization that’s been able to continue that legacy going forward. We’ve never missed a beat at all,” said Chirico.

Murry joined CKi in 1996 as presi-dent of the global bridge business. Two years later, he assumed responsibility for the Calvin Klein Collection for women, including apparel and accessories. in 1999, he was promoted to president and chief operating officer of CKi, succeeding Gabriella Forte, who left the company. in 2008, Murry was named president and ceo. Prior to joining CKi, Murry spent six years as corporate president of Tahari Ltd.

Asked what were his biggest accom-plishments at CKi, Murry replied: “i think i have made a number of contributions. i better have after 17 years. i think if i had to pick something and rank it i would say team building and creating and maintain-ing a team culture. if you don’t have that, it doesn’t matter how much talent you have, you can not accomplish your objectives.”

Google Inks Glass Deal With Luxottica Pinterest to Launch Paid Ads

Shiffman to Succeed Murry as Calvin Klein CEO

’’’’

We’re looking to convert many parts of the world from a classifications business of jeans and underwear into a lifestyle business and offer sportswear and other categories.

— Steve Shiffman, calvin klein inc.

{Continued from page one}

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Steve Shiffman and Tom Murry

PiNTEREST iS getting into the paid advertising space, join-ing its social media peers Facebook, instagram and Twitter.

The site is expected to launch promoted pins during the second quarter of this year — they will look much like the current pins, except they will have a notification along the bottom that says “promoted pins.” it is further proof that digital ads across the social mediums play an increasingly integral role in online marketing.

Brands like TRESemmé and Four Seasons have tested promoted pins on the four-year-old Pinterest so far. As far as rates go, advertisers have the option of paying via cost-per-thousand impressions or cost per click.

According to digital analyst firm eMarketer, nearly 35 million users accessed the site on a monthly basis in 2013. This number is expected to increase 12 percent this year, reaching 38.8 million. Advertising on social networks over-all ballooned 46.2 percent in 2013 to $4.5 billion, compris-ing over 10 percent of total digital ad spending in the U.S.

Twitter rolled out retargeting ad product late last with a tailored audience program, and Facebook launched Premium Video Ads last week. After three months of test-ing its 15-second video ads, Facebook said it will roll out the feature slowly. instagram introduced ads late last year as well with Michael Kors as a launch partner.

Facebook leads social media advertising in terms of revenue. The platform accounted for the majority, or 72.4 percent, of advertising dollars accrued on social networks last year. — R.S.

Google Glass

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14 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2014

VINTAGE IMAGES of the island of Cuba have a great deal of charm, and that’s on full display in “Cuba Then: Rare and Classic Images From the Ramiro A. Fernández Collection” (The Monacelli Press), with a foreword and poems by Richard Blanco, a poet who read at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.

Fernández, who lives in New York’s Chelsea district, left Cuba as an eight-year-old in 1960 and, when he grew up, became a photo editor. In 1981, when he was working as a receptionist at the Museum of Modern Art, a man came in one day with an album of albumen prints by the Spanish-born Cuban photographer José Gómez de la Carrera, which he offered to sell to photo curator John Szarkowski. The curator wasn’t interested, so Fernández decided to buy the album himself in installments. That was the beginning of his collection, which now spans from 1850 to 1970 and which he is still adding to today, often by bidding on images of Cuba on eBay. This is the second book based on his collection; the first was “I Was Cuba” (Chronicle Books).

“My mother also loved photography, and that was

a big influence on me,” says Fernández, who had a long career at Time Inc. that included stints at Sports Illustrated and as a founding editor at Entertainment Weekly. “She was an amateur

photographer. There were always photo magazines around the house with pictures by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.” His grandmother, Hortensia

Lizaso Machado, had an apartment for many years that overlooked the main square in Havana, and she influenced him in the desire to document Cuban ways of life that were vanishing or were already gone.

His mother, Tita, he adds, impressed him in other ways, too. She was an avid athlete, he says, who “played squash, rode horses and waterskied in the dark waters off Cuba.” It was she who, after idealistically volunteering to help Fidel Castro work on the agrarian reform he had promised when he first came to power, discovered that, rather than breaking up the vast

farms on the island owned by the wealthy and distributing the smaller pieces of land to poor people, he was turning them into collective farms. She quickly realized that he was, in fact, the Communist he initially claimed not to be, and she was able to move some of the family’s money out of the country before it was too late. Soon her husband’s business was nationalized, and the Fernández family, which also included Ramiro’s older sister, Sara Sylvia, left for Florida.

Among her son’s favorite subjects for photos are children

with animals; sports, particularly Grand Prix auto racing, which came to Cuba for the first time when he was a boy, and grade B showgirls. “I love people

not in the mold…too thin or too big,” he says. Another favorite theme: anything pharmaceutical. The last isn’t surprising, since his father, Ramiro Sr., was a drug manufacturer whose products included the classic Fifties tranquilizer Miltown — manna for the era’s desperate housewives — and whose laboratory was attached to their house.

“There was always in my home a faint odor of pharmaceuticals; if you crush an aspirin, the dust that’s created — my home always smelled like that,” he says.

In the new book, an airplane from Cubana de Aviación floats in the clouds on a double-page spread, looking somehow surreal, while a group of revellers gathers at Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Havana in 1930, clowning with oversize bottles of liquor, and performer Rosita Fornés, plump in a polka dotted dress, poses for a kitsch publicity still in which she appears to have tripped and fallen.

Fernández has no interest in selling pieces from his collection, believing that it has the most impact as the sum of its parts. He is, however, contemplating leaving some of it eventually to a new division of the Smithsonian that’s planned, which will be devoted to Latino culture, and other photos to the University of Miami’s Cuban Heritage Collection and the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla.

He has been back to the island several times in recent years. “I still have family there,” he says. “Whoever stayed in Cuba actually believed in the system.”

Chela Rodríguez, whom he calls his favorite relative in Cuba, runs the Jose Martí Institute — which is devoted to that revolutionary intellectual, a national hero — in Havana. “She is very involved in the artistic leadership of the country,” he says, adding, “I try not to talk about politics with her.” — LORNA KOSKI

AMIDST HUNT Slonem’s murals, hundreds of paintings and sculptures in his cavernous 30,000-square-foot work space, one thing is clear — the artist likes to go big.

Beyond the art, as far as the eye can see, 60-plus birds, some of which are 60 to 75 years old, were squawking away from an unseen section of his studio during a recent visit. The 62-year-old artist is widely recognized for his neo-Expressionist paintings of birds. But, like much of what he does, even his hobbies are rooted in his art. An ardent antique collector with a New Orleans sensibility, Slonem has what he describes as the largest privately owned Gothic sofa collection, not to mention hundreds of top hats and framed iridescent blue morpho butterflies on display.

But back to the art. With 36 exhibitions of his works planned for this year alone, a new book release and a Lee Jofa-made rug collection set to make its debut this fall, Slonem says he is nearing the purchase of The Rexmere, a former 400-room hotel in Stamford, N.Y., that he plans to convert into a work studio and decorative art museum.

Tonight, Slonem will be holding court in the Paul Smith store in New York’s SoHo signing copies of his sixth tome, “Bunnies” (Glitterati Inc.), which has a foreword by John Berendt. Every morning Slonem starts his work day with “daily warm-ups” (a term he borrowed from the abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann), spending 30 minutes painting

rabbits on small rectangular panels made of wood and Masonite. Signings are also slated for April 9 at Lord & Taylor’s flagship and April 23 at Dylan’s Candy Bar.

The Kittery, Maine-born artist routinely paints until 7 or 8 p.m., or well into the night if he is not going out. But despite having had 350 shows since 1977, he barks, more than bristles, when asked why he is so prolific.

“Because I’m a working

artist. I mean, Picasso was prolific, you know [Andy] Warhol left [behind…] I hate that question. Why shouldn’t I be? Is Damien Hirst?” he says. “I paint my work and I enjoy painting. It is the glue and fiber of my existence. Nothing else satisfies me. I get my ideas by working daily. You know, it has taken me 62 years to arrive at what I do. I didn’t just start scribbling overnight. And the simplicity of my work came

from leaving things out.”Raised in what he called

an Ozzie & Harriet-type world where calling cards were in order, Slonem and his siblings grew up in many places because their father was a Navy officer. As a high school exchange student in Nicaragua, he would skip school and hit the jungle with his butterfly net. Slonem says that magical experience has never left him, “My whole work was influenced by it. I remember

all of it so vividly, the name of the parrot and the servants, and this wonderful woman named Rafaella who used to comb all of the girls’ hair. The grandfather was 95 and lived in this 300-year-old house with 40-foot ceilings, and little families of turtles would walk out into the

jasmine-filled courtyard. It was just straight out of ‘100 Years of Solitude’ [Gabriel García Márquez’s classic novel].”

After graduating from Tulane, he studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, and then in 1973 followed the “don’t go to grad school, just go to New York” career advice. Meeting Roz Chast briefly at a Robert Mapplethorpe opening led him to his first apartment — a $250 monthly rental in SoHo. Recalling that “edgier” time in the city, Slonem says, “I just remember being with René

Ricard at some after-hours place on Avenue D and being frisked for guns walking in. Maybe my ideas were fresher, but every day was this adventure. I’m happier now that I’m more focused.”

One thing is clear: Slonem is savvy about real estate. Years after his arrival in Manhattan,

he scored 30,000 square feet with a terrace in the Starrett Lehigh Building for $5 a square foot, which he kept for a stretch. If that weren’t enough elbow room to paint, the artist later landed an 85-room, 45,000-square-foot space on 10th Street.

Like The Albania and The Lakeside, the two plantations that he owns in Louisiana, The Rexmere is a National Historic Landmark. “I’ve always said that with 100,000 square feet I can be kept busy for the rest of my life,” Slonem says. “I can fill up 20,000 to 30,000 [square feet] in a few years.” — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

Bird’s-eye View

Cuba on My Mind

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The cover of the book, showing Josephine Baker and Italian singer Ernesto Bonino in Havana, 1952.

Hunt Slonem

FOR MORE PHOTOS, SEE

WWD.com/eye.

A wall of the artist’s bunny paintings.

Ramiro A. Fernández

One of the many seating areas in Slonem’s

massive work space.

WWD.COM15WWD tuesday, March 25, 2014

RIRI CALLING: From Dior to Jean Paul Gaultier, Lanvin, Comme des Garçons, Chanel and Miu Miu, Rihanna was a constant fixture at Paris Fashion Week. Her presence clearly paid

toward something. On June 2, she will receive the Fashion Icon Award at the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards.

She is in good company: Past recipients include Kate Moss, Lady Gaga, Iman and Nicole Kidman.

The award, underwritten by Swarovski, will take place at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. — MARC KARIMZADEH

GUESS SCHOLARS: When not scouting for the next Guess Girl, the fashion firm is searching for scholars. Through the Guess Foundation, which is headed by Guess chief executive officer Paul Marciano, Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising is launching the Guess Scholars Program with two annual scholarships covering full tuition. The competition is open to students majoring in marketing, international manufacturing and product development, business management, and fashion design and merchandising.

This isn’t the first time Los Angeles-based Guess is heading back to school. Two years ago, the foundation gave $2.5 million to fund a visiting professorship that links the creative and business sides of fashion at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. “The Guess Scholars Program is just another way we can stand behind and support the next generation of fashion,” Marciano said.

— KHANH T.L. TRAN

ON POINTE: Forget tutus and toe shoes — this season, the

ballet is all about jewelry. To celebrate the New York City Ballet’s 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center, Derek Lam has teamed with fine jeweler and former dancer Jamie Wolf to create a collection inspired by choreographer and NYC Ballet’s cofounder, George Balanchine.

Each piece is designed to honor a specific aspect of his body of work — whether it be a dance move, a costume or a set. Offerings include bracelets, earrings, necklaces and rings done in rhodium-plated sterling silver with black and white diamonds, with prices ranging from $120 to $2,050.

Twenty percent of all profits will be donated to the New York City Ballet once. The collection will be available in-store at the Derek Lam boutique on Madison Avenue and at jamiewolf.com beginning on April 16. — LAUREN MCCARTHY

BLOOMINGDALE’S BOUND: The British label Hobbs — a favorite of the Duchess of Cambridge — has landed on U.S. shores.

This week, the label is opening five shops-in-shop in Bloomingdale’s stores. The shops, which range in size from 400 to 1,000 square feet, will be located at Bloomingdale’s at 59th Street in New York; Chestnut Hill in Boston; King of Prussia, Pa.; Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., and The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack, N.J.

Clare Dobbie, marketing and e-commerce director at Hobbs, said the launch in

Bloomingdale’s follows the brand’s U.S. online sales “taking off like a rocket” since it launched a dedicated American Web site late last year. Dobbie said that the brand’s online sales to the U.S. have risen by 50 percent in the current quarter, compared with the same period last year.

The label’s tailoring is popular with U.S. customers, she said, along with dresses, and Dobbie added that the brand would introduce footwear and coats — seen as its heritage products in the U.K. — for fall. Prices for Hobbs’ collection start at $149 for jersey pieces, with dresses starting at $175 and pants at $225.

Alongside the Bloomingdale’s concessions, Hobbs has franchise stores in the United Arab Emirates and Sweden. Dobbie added that the brand has seen “significant interest” from Germany and Australia, where Hobbs has dedicated Web sites, but said the brand currently has no plans for international store openings beyond the U.S.

— NINA JONES

KRIZIA CLUES?: Shenzhen Marisfrolg, the Chinese fashion company that is buying Krizia, showcased two of its brands as part of Beijing Fashion Week on Saturday evening. The runway show featured the fall collections of the more commercial Marisfrolg

brand and the newly launched ZhuChongYun designer label. Zhu Chongyun, chief executive officer of Shenzhen Marisfrolg, designs both brands and will take over the creative direction of Krizia when the deal is finalized next month.

The looks from Marisfrolg were clean and romantic, using powder pinks and blues to

give a light, feminine feel to oversize wool overcoats, leather culottes and cotton cigarette pants. ZhuChongYun, which the company considers to be a

more “avant-garde” brand, took a bolder approach, combining traditional Asian apparel elements such as wraparound tops, flowing trouser suits and tunics with cutting-edge Italian fabrics like brushed Neoprene.

“I wanted to take a type of material, which is normally used in sportswear, to a simple, modern effect, and turn it into something elegant, stylish and luxurious,” Zhu said postshow.

Still, the designer warned fashion observers that they shouldn’t consider the shows a precursor for what she will do at Krizia.

“Krizia will be different from the two collections you saw tonight. Krizia will stay true to its Italian heritage,” said Zhu, who added that Krizia will continue to be based in Italy. “I will not be incorporating Oriental elements into my designs for Krizia.”

— HANNAH GARDNER

SCALING CAPITAL NEW YORK’S PAYWALL: It’s been about six weeks since Capital New York started charging for access to about 80 percent of its content, which focuses on New York-centric news on City Hall, state politics and media. Called CapitalPro, the paywall was erected in February after readers were given free access to all of Capital’s stories and morning briefings for nearly two months. Since then, buzz — at least in the media world — has been critical of the site, which boasts it provides an insider’s take on the industry. For one thing, critics pointed to the overabundance of media news already out there, as well as the economic health of the industries Capital covers. Unlike its parent company, Politico, whose Web site is a must-read for monied Washington lobbyists, trade organizations and politicians, Capital covers local government and spendthrift media companies. Also, Capital, which was purchased in September, has yet to burnish its brand, as Politico did, before it installed a paywall.

Capital cofounder Tom McGeveran brushed off the notion that the media news space is saturated, offering: “You could say there are a lot of burger joints in town, but what’s the threshold of burger joints that says there are too many?”

McGeveran admitted that Capital still needs to “find its place” in the media landscape, but noted that his bosses at Politico have given him time to work out the kinks.

According to the site, an average subscription to CapitalPro costs $3,500, but media sources told WWD they were offered a variety of rates. When one large media company rejected Capital’s offer of $5,000, the deal was then reduced to $2,500. That still was too high. Another media company was offered a media rate of $1,000 per user, which that firm agreed to. As for other revenue, Capital is “close to break-even” on its monthly

print magazine, said McGeveran, who noted that companies buying ads in the magazine are offered the incentive to “piggy back off of Politico.”

Advertisers in Capital’s first print issue included the Real Estate Board of New York, the New York Library Association, the Long Island Association, New York City Charter School Center and the Civil Service Employees Association, which ran an advertorial on sexual predators. While Capital declined to provide figures pertaining to revenue, Web traffic and number of subscribers, chief revenue officer Roy Schwartz noted that the site is 20 to 50 percent ahead of internal expectations. For the most recent quarter, which included sales from the paywall, ad and subscription revenue was up “10 times” over the fourth quarter of last year, said Schwartz.

Despite those statistics, the uncertainty surrounding gated media content is still a concern.

“We’re trying to figure out what’s working and what’s not working in media,” said Politico cofounder and executive editor Jim VandeHei. “I think we can carve out a space in New York. I don’t care how many other publications are out there.”

What will ultimately drive subscriptions is how Capital covers media, VandeHei said, adding: “I think a lot of media coverage is wrong. A lot of reporters are too gullible. Media reporters do not have a tough, scrutinizing eye.”

Asked to elaborate on Capital’s business progress in view of its reporting thus far, VandeHei declined to comment and offered: “I just want a clear indication that within three to five years that we will be profitable. I don’t know if Capital will be a $10 million company or a $40 million company. The challenge for us at Capital is to make sure we pace our growth. Can we make media work? Can we make policy work? Once we realize that, we can add other things [coverage areas].”

— ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

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