DAILY EDITION 1 SEPTEMBER 2016 1

Fashion. Beauty. Business.

China BoostSMCP, parent of the Sandro and Maje chains, saw first-half revenues climb 19.2 percent, thanks to strong growth in China. PAGE 3

Ulta MoveProactiv launches in Ulta, the beauty firm’s first big move since being acquired by Nestlé. PAGE 7

Better QuarterJ. Crew Group cut its second-quarter losses, helped by the Madewell brand. PAGE 9

Uniqlo has been performance-challenged in the States, but is looking to its renovated SoHo flagship in Manhattan as a key to a better future. The decade-old store has been remodeled for easier navigation with a beefed-up assortment and is sprinkled with elements tying into Japanese culture and contemporary art, as seen here with an image of Jean-Michel Basquiat. For more, see pages 4 and 5.

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● The brand has named the designer creative director and he will show his first collection in January.

BY MILES SOCHA

PARIS — Reflecting the rise of casual cool in men’s wear, Berluti has tapped Haider Acker-mann as its new creative director.

He is to show his first collection for the brand here next January for the fall 2017 season.

This confirms a report in WWD on July 27 and marks something of a left-hand turn for the Paris-based brand, which accrued a rep-utation for suave tailoring under its previous creative director, Alessandro Sartori.

“We are not a sartorial brand,” stressed Antoine Arnault, chief executive officer of Berluti and the architect of its transformation from an elite cobbler to a luxury lifestyle label for men. “If you go to our stores, yes we do have high-end bespoke. But we are a luxury men’s wear brand where sartorial meets casual. And when you see our product mix, a mix of both makes it interesting.”

Footwear still accounts for “roughly half” of the Berluti business and its two bestsellers, introduced under Sartori, reflect the shifting tide in men’s wear from uptight suits toward athletic-tinged, laid-back clothes.

They are the Playfield, a white, Stan Smith-esque sneaker that is out of stock, and the Fast Track, which Arnault described as a “modern running shoe.”

“All categories — whether it’s T-shirts, or sweaters — everything casual is overperform-ing the sartorial right now,” he said. “Casual is king.”

Ackermann, who first approached men’s wear as a guest at the Pitti Uomo trade fair in 2010 and staged his first Paris show in 2013, has a penchant for fancy dinner jackets, low-slung pants and long, artfully coiled scarves.

Yet he’s also earned a wide celebrity fol-lowing for his sweatshirts and hoodies, with musicians Kanye West and Miguel among famous devotees who have fanned Acker-mann’s reputation on social media.

Asked if he owns any Ackermann pieces, Arnault said: “I checked yesterday, and I have a hoodie. I don’t remember where I bought it — maybe online at Mr Porter. It’s black, very simple, but quite nice actually. Very comfortable.”

In an exclusive interview, the executive said he met Ackermann before the summer and discovered an immediate complicity with the Colombian-born designer, whose upbringing in countries including Chad, Ethiopia, Algeria, The Netherlands, Belgium and France is reflected in his eclectic, globe-trotting style.

“We very quickly agreed on one vision,” Arnault related. “He had a lot of knowledge

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1 SEPTEMBER 2016 3

● The French retail group operates the Sandro, Maje and Claudie Perlot chains.

BY MILES SOCHA

PARIS — Parisian chic — at an attractive price — continues to conquer the globe.

On Wednesday, the fashion chains Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot reported a 19.2 percent gain in first-half revenues, powered by “explosive” growth in China, resilience in France, and a promising start in leather goods and shoes.

“We’re bucking the trend at retail,” said Daniel Lalonde, president and chief executive officer of the chains' parent SMCP Group, revealing results that outpaced most of Europe’s luxury players, underscoring heady days for the contemporary fashion segment and SMCP’s “affordable luxury” proposition. “We’re at the beginning of the global expan-sion strategy — with great results so far.”

Like-for-like growth in the six months ended June 30 stood at 9.3 percent, a faster click than the 8.9 percent pace in the first half of 2015. Revenues totaled 377.2 million euros, or $420.9 million at average exchange rates, for the six-month period.

The company trumpeted growth across all brands and regions, with France registering growth of 12 percent “despite a challenging environment.” In an interview, Lalonde said the group's banners are gaining market share at a morose time for France, with tourist numbers dwindling in the wake of a series of terror attacks.

Sales advanced 26 percent in Europe and the Middle East and 9 percent in the Americas.

Asia-Pacific, led by Greater China, “proved to be an extremely dynamic market” and reg-istered gains of 51 percent, the company said, reporting its first set of results under Chinese ownership.

Last April, Chinese textile concern Shan-dong Ruyi Group acquired a controlling interest in SMCP from private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., which had held a 70 percent stake. KKR retains a minority interest in the group and the current management team also put down money.

Lalonde trumpeted strong like-for-like gains in Greater China, where SMCP’s banners have been present for three years and where it operates 85 stores.

Luxury consumers there “understand the value proposition” and “we’re hitting the younger consumers in China” and the “grow-ing middle class, not only in big cities but the top 15 cities in China.” The company recently opened two flagships at Fashion Walk in Hong Kong, hit by a sharp decline in luxury spend-ing, “and they came out of the gate strongly,” Lalonde said.

SMCP cited strong sales of jackets, skirts

and dresses, with sales in its nascent acces-sories category — mainly handbags and shoes — rising 59 percent. Sales gained 31 percent at Claudie Pierlot stores compared with 15 percent for Sandro and Maje banners.

More than half of sales in the first six months were generated outside of France as the company ramps up its international pro-file. It opened 58 locations during the period, including 14 in Greater China. As of June 30, the group counted 1,176 stores in 35 countries.

Online sales in the first half increased 104 percent as the group launched online sales in Spain and Germany and Claudie Pierlot opened a portal on Harrods’ web site.

Lalonde said the company plans to open 120 to 125 stores a year for the next two to three years, meaning the second half of 2016 would see a full schedule of openings. Projects include new boutiques in Florence, Macau, Toronto, Hong Kong, London and Paris, the latter a unit in the Carrousel du Louvre shop-ping complex. Italy and Switzerland are slated to add online sales. While the numbers in the Americas were more muted, Lalonde char-acterized the 9 percent gain as “good” given a weak environment. He noted the company focused on building like-for-like sales within its network of 127 stores.

Sandro men’s wear is also considered a growth lever for the group.

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China Powers a 19.2% H1 Gain at SMCP

● The former J. Crew senior vice president for women's design joins Cole Haan.

BY MISTY WHITE SIDELL

From one preppy American brand to the next. Former J. Crew senior vice president for women’s design Tom Mora has been appointed creative director for women’s and licensed product at Cole Haan.

Mora’s new role is effective immediately. It is understood he will work to up Cole Haan’s women’s fashion quotient.

Jack Boys, chief executive officer of Cole Haan, said of the appointment: “We are delighted Tom Mora has joined Cole Haan in this new leadership role. His unique understanding of how iconic American brands integrate with the world of fash-ion in a genuine way will bring a level of seasoned expertise that will help continue the spectacular growth of Cole Haan in the marketplace.”

Mora, who was unavailable for comment, in a statement described Cole Haan as “one of the strongest American brands in the marketplace that is bridging technology

and innovation with classic style. It is an exciting opportunity to be able to bring my women’s fashion design experience to the Cole Haan product line while expanding the core of their DNA."

Mora has ample experience with the tasselled loafer-type merchandise for which Cole Haan is known. The designer ended a 14-year run with J. Crew in June 2015, as part of a corporate restructuring to help abate that brand's declining sales and prof-its. At the time, Madewell head of design Somsack Sikhounmuong was installed in his place.

Prior to J. Crew, Mora worked with Coach Inc. and Ralph Lauren Corp. in various design roles. He is a graduate of the Par-sons School of Design.

Cole Haan was acquired by Apax Part-ners in 2012 from Nike Inc. in a $570 mil-lion deal. In 2013, the firm appointed Boys as ceo. Prior, Boys had served as the ceo of Converse Inc. for 10 years, from 2001 through 2010.

In 2014, Apax told WWD that the firm hoped to boost Cole Haan's global momen-tum and scale its international business — particularly in Asia. Since the purchase, Apax has focused on developing store con-cepts for the brand, as well as developing new product — which has notably included its ZeroGrand lightweight range designed in partnership with dancers from the New York City Ballet.

FASHION

Tom Mora NamedCreative DirectorAt Cole Haan

Topshop Latest to Join Runway-to-Retail Move ● PVH’s CR program is structured with 10 commitments across three key focus areas: empowering people, preserving the environment and supporting communities.

● Anthony Vaccarello Confirms His Label’s End

● As the ‘Instagram Effect’ Grips Gen Z, Consumers Spend $830 Billion on Them

● President Obama Edits Wired’s November Issue

● Chanel Profits Slump 22.7% as Luxury Sales Weaken

TOP 5TRENDINGON WWD.COM

NEWSMAKERSTHIS WEEK'S MOST TALKED-ABOUT NAMES IN OUR INDUSTRY

ANTHONY VACCARELLO

ASHLEY GRAHAM

ARTHUR C. MARTINEZ

MICHAEL WARD

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A look from Claudie Pierlot Fall 2016.

Tom Mora photographed in

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4 1 SEPTEMBER 2016

● The Tokyo-based specialty chain has had difficulties in the U.S. and looks for change with its SoHo remodel.

BY DAVID MOIN

NEW YORK — Uniqlo has set its sights on SoHo as the key to a better future in the U.S.

On Friday, the Tokyo-based retailer unveils an overhaul of its SoHo store at 546 Broadway between Prince and Spring Streets — Uniqlo's first flagship in the states launched 10 years ago.

Depending on the performance of the flagship over the next year, it could become the standard for how Uniqlo designs, merchandises and markets its other stores in the U.S. More than a decade ago, Uniqlo discreetly entered the U.S. with a store in New Jersey, followed by the SoHo store in 2006.

Since then, there has been mixed success with its U.S. expansion, and recently executives have been up-front about the disappointments. They cite a lack of consumer awareness, particularly in suburban locations; insufficient marketing and advertising, and some issues with prod-uct presentations. Last spring, Tadashi Yanai, founder and president of Uniqlo's $13.89 billion parent Fast Retailing Co. Ltd., admitted the com-pany was struggling in the U.S., where there are 45 stores, but vowed it would rebuild, though he did not explain how.

But the SoHo store is clearly a key part of the strategy.

While generally not happy with the state of business in the U.S., Hiroshi Taki, ceo of Uniqlo USA, said SoHo was doing well until the disruptive nature of the renovation started. It's among the top three volume stores for Uniqlo in the U.S., along with Fifth Avenue — the

largest volume unit — and 34th Street, both in Manhattan.

"Overall our business is improving," Taki said, though he candidly acknowledged, "We have had many mistakes — product mixtures, designs, the way we create the stores, service. Uniqlo is not well-known in the suburban areas. There are a lot of customers in the malls, but they don't come into our stores. Maybe the presentation is not that good or the marketing is lacking. Some people don't know what Uniqlo is or who Uniqlo

is yet. They don't think of Uniqlo as their local community store yet.…There have been a lot of carryover items and we had to reduce the pricing of those items, but [the stores] have been improving."

He characterized the SoHo project as part of a "re-branding." Previously, "We were focusing on discounting and promotions. We need to let customers know how our products are different from competitors' and what's good about them and also to focus more on the Manhattan area. Unless we can sell in the cities we cannot sell in the suburbs. That's why we are re-branding."

Taki added: "We would like everybody to know about Uniqlo through our SoHo store," talking about the significance of the downtown flagship and the details of its remodeling and new marketing plan. "We are refreshing the SoHo store and changing the product mixture."

Speaking through an interpreter at the U.S. headquarters in SoHo, Taki said, "The 10th

anniversary is the perfect timing. The store had gotten kind of old after 10 years."

The 28,850-square-foot, three-level store has been remodeled with 12 shop-in-shops; an expanded assortment of trendy products along with core basics, which were more dominant before, and many exclusive items, he said. There is also Uniqlo's first denim bar.

"We are now able to have the full-line pre-sentation. Before, it was only Fifth Avenue that carried the flagship collection," Taki said, refer-ring to the 89,000-square-foot mother ship that opened on Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street in 2011, following Uniqlo's agreement to pay a then-re-cord lease of $300 million over 15 years.

"This is our first major renovation here. We are going to have a flagship mixture of products. We're going to have 100 items special to the

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Uniqlo Aims to Reset Its Future

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Here and above: Inside Uniqlo’s remodeled SoHo flagship.

Uniqlo’s women’s Heattech bra-top.

Uniqlo’s men’s ultra light down vest.

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store," Taki said.For the reopening, touches of Japanese cul-

ture and T-shirts, hoodies and sweats adorned with contemporary art are set amid the raw, spacious warehouse-like ambience of the site, with its exposed ceiling and brick walls. Along the staircases are blow-ups of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat to flag the items with their artwork. The store’s mezzanine has become an exhibition space reminiscent of a SoHo artist’s loft, to display the products from the SPRZ NY (Surprise New York) collaboration between Uniqlo and the Museum of Modern Art.

Seeking to further raise the profile and con-nect better with the community, the flagship will host special events and unusual presentations over coming weeks, including a pop-up matcha bar, a temporary "gacha gacha" vending machine dispensing candy and trinkets, and custom bicy-cles from Tokyobike of Japan, which has a store in SoHo. There will also be pin giveaways. Pins are considered gifts in Japan, and like emojis, important in Japanese culture.

"We want to show our Tokyo ethnicity and background," said Taki. "The theme for the store is the new Tokyo in SoHo. We are bringing in a lot of Japanese elements."

Taki said a series of events has been set through December, and more afterward are contemplated.

Each shop-in-shop has its own name to reflect the merchandise. For example, there's the "Get Moving" shop for products with performance technology like "blocktech" coats and "dry sweat"

activewear to wick away moisture, and bicycles by Tokyobike displayed to further the active atmosphere.

Among the other shops are:* The Design Studio for women’s flannel

shirts, merino sweaters and wool outerwear dis-played alongside measuring tapes and a vintage sewing machine to highlight the design process, fabrics and patterns.

* Supima Perfection for cotton T-shirts in a variety of styles set alongside traditional Japa-nese tea ceremony tools to invoke the ethos of "simple made better."

* Living Well for innerwear items and fluffy fleece displayed with candles by SoHo Candle & Co. to create a relaxed environment as shoppers browse the comfort wear.

* The Tokyo Newsstand with more than 60 fashion, lifestyle and design magazine titles including Popeye, a leading Japanese men’s fashion magazine.

* The Ready-to-wear shop for knits, merino wool, jackets and bottoms for "everyday style."

* The New Gentlemen for contemporary workwear.

For easier shopping, merchandise has been rearranged so men's is on the lower level, wom-en's and men's are on the main floor, and kids' and some additional women's are on two. The store retains its imposing enclosed glass show-case up front, highlighting key products of the moment. Floors have been refinished, another 1,000 square feet was added by eliminating an elevator, and like before, there is more than ample folded sportswear, which keeps the staff busy maintaining it all neatly displayed.

On the promotional side, Uniqlo SoHo will offer $10 off core items on the first weekend of trading, including the Ultra Light Down Jackets, Extra Fine Merino sweaters, flannel shirts and jogger pants. The first 1,000 customers in the

store on each day of the Labor Day weekend will receive a mystery gift card ranging from $5 to $100, and the first 25,000 customers will receive a limited-edition Uniqlo x Pintrill pin upon a purchase, to commemorate the relaunch of the store. Some restaurants and bars in the neigh-borhood will distribute free Uniqlo beverage coasters and customers will receive $10 off any purchase of $50 or more at the SoHo store when redeeming their coaster.

During every weekend in September, com-plementary iced matcha green tea lattes will be provided courtesy of MatchaBar, a family-owned business in Brooklyn. The serving ceremonial grade matcha is sourced directly from an inde-pendent family farm in Nishio, Japan.

Uniqlo SoHo will also engage with local non-profit organizations such as Free Arts NYC and municipal agencies, including the NYC Depart-ment of Homeless Services, on special events. And in September, Uniqlo's two-year-old Science of Lifewear campaign, which is themed around simple modern fits and fabrics "to improve peo-ple’s lives," launches in the U.S.

"This hopefully will become our new flagship store in the U.S.," Taki said, with elements possi-bly applied to the company's other flagships on Fifth Avenue and at 34th Street in New York, in Chicago and in San Francisco. "We may be able to make this the standard for other mall stores, too, if this is successful, Taki added. "We would look at this for a year" before determining what elements can be applied to other locations.

"Our strategy here in the U.S. is to focus on our flagships and expand if possible. We would like to open new flagships. Going forward, we want to open up in new cities such as Los Angeles. Or maybe even Seattle. We are going to open up in Washington, D.C., this year but it is a small store [where] we cannot express the true Uniqlo."

Another unit will be opening in Denver, which Taki described as not small, but still not qualifying as a flagship. What makes a flagship a flagship? "Of course, it's the sizing," Taki said. "About 30,000 square feet or more, and the full line of our product assortment goes into our flagship stores."

Uniqlo Aims to Reset Its Future CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

Here and above: Inside Uniqlo’s remodeled SoHo flagship.

Uniqlo’s Ultra Light Down jacket.

Uniqlo’s women’s cashmere turtleck.

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● Within the next 18 months, the line should comprise at least 50 percent of global apparel sales.

BY ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

NEW YORK — At first glance, Tuesday night’s Adidas event at Skylight Clarkson Sq looked like one very elaborate party for what is essentially a white hoodie.

The gathering of 100 or so was the global media launch for the athletic company’s new Ath-letics division. U.S. Olympic track star Tori Bowie, Minnesota Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins, New York Knicks’ Joakim Noah and junior tennis player Coco Shilin dutifully mingled with guests. The starkly-designed mostly white space featured oversize black-and-white images of elite athletes set against artlike installations.

Once attendees had taken the requisite walkabout, ex-NFL-er Keyshawn Johnson led an onstage chat with Rob Lee, vice president of design for Adidas Training and Kate Ridley, vice president of training for Adidas North America. Male and female models wearing the ZNE hoodie sat quietly in the top row of white bleachers. Later, a fleet of models wearing all sorts of Ath-letics attire cruised in and sat casually in rows of white bleachers.

While drinks were served and swag doled out, attendees were encouraged to take a closer look at the Athletics apparel featured on nearby fixtures. And then rapper Fetty Wap performed.

But for Lee and Ridley, the launch of Athletics was the main event. Within the next 18 months,

Adidas Athletics should comprise at least 50 percent of global apparel sales, Ridley told WWD. “We are setting a new brand identity and that’s going to take some time to resonate,” she said.

Twenty months of development and wear-test-ing — four months longer than the norm — were needed to finesse the ZNE — an abbreviation for zero-negative energy, Lee said. Geared for all sorts of athletes — from European soccer teams to NCAA ones — the hoodie’s oversized design is meant to help drown out noise and shield them from distractions. (Think Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps' prerace stare-down in Rio, as his rival Chad le Clos stood by shaking out the muscles in his arms.)

Adidas had 800 of its own athletes try out the

ZNE before deciding on the final version, said Lee who flew in from the company’s home office in Herzo, Germany for the launch. The decision to only offer the ZNE in white was a big decision for the brand, he said. The $100 unisex hoodie will be available starting Sept. 7, but select fall street-wear-infused items are rolling out now. World-wide, 20,000 athletes tied to the brand will plug the item via social media on that day. "We need to make sure that this is very closely associated with sport. We don’t want to blur the lines too much,” Ridley said. "We want the athletes who are representing this product to help consumers understand where it comes from."

With a dropped construction, the fit is meant to be a bit more modernistic than old-school collegiate. And as the somewhat slack-looking models at Tuesday’s event relayed, the collection has an athletic-inspired streetwear feel.

The design of the hood is oversized so that wearers’ mouths are covered — a request made by many athletes who do not want competitors to be able to read their lips when speaking with coaches and teammates on the sidelines. The hoods will also shield them from media stationed waiting for athletes’ arrivals, Ridley said.

As a sign of its anticipated growth, Adidas has started staffing up its design studio in Brooklyn, which is still being developed. The company hopes to have that “very large space" up and running possibly by the end of this year, Lee said. Overseeing Adidas’ Stella McCartney business among other subgroups, he declined to comment about future collaborators. “It’s always exciting as a brand,” he said. “And we have so many people who want to work with us, which is really nice and such an opportunity."

THE MARKETS

Adidas Launches Athletics With Help From Andrew Wiggins, Joakim Noah

● An Interactions Marketing report found cost is a top factor when buying products.

BY DEBRA BORCHARDT

Almost all of today’s teenagers consider them-selves to be price-conscious shoppers, according to a new report by Interactions Marketing.

The report found that 89 percent of teens between the age of 14 and 19 are keeping an eye on prices. The group said that price was a top factor when making a purchase. Quality is the second biggest factor, followed by brand name, social responsibility and then, lastly, whether the product was environmentally friendly.

When teens do their online research before making a purchase, half are looking for the best price. Price is so important that 75 percent of teens check the store’s app while shopping to see if there are any special offers and 67 percent will keep checking for deals on a regular basis.

Half of the teens have part-time jobs and the other half get an allowance from their parents. As teen apparel brands are well aware, this group prefers to spend their money on experiences rather than material items. Food is the top item they like to spend their money on.

While many retailers believe this group only wants to buy things online, that actually isn’t the case. Sixty-four percent said they’d rather shop in-store versus online. They want a clean store and an engaging in-store experience. Store associ-ates are also important to the teens as they prefer talking to a knowledgeable sales person versus reading a product display.

Even though the teens like making their purchases in a store, social media is a critical component of the transaction. Facebook is the main place they go to get their shopping ideas and inspiration. They do their research there and check with friends about purchases. Instagram and Snapchat are used to connect with friends, while Pinterest is used for inspiration. Twitter is second to Facebook when it comes to product research.

As most retailers know, teens simply expect the company to have a social media presence. The biggest disconnect between retailers and teens today is the aspect of texting. Teens say they prefer for retailers to communicate with them through text, but only 19 percent say that they get texts from retailers.

Finally, while brand name was the third most important factor when making a purchase, the teens were quick to switch brands if the quality of the product was better elsewhere. Eighty-one percent will make the jump for quality and 72 per-cent will switch brands for a lower price.

Retailers can't afford to ignore this important shopping demographic because parents say these Generation Z shoppers are influencing the entire family's buying decisions.

RETAIL

Gen Z Teens Keep Eyes On Prices

● Multinational companies are closely watching their business investments in Europe in the wake of the order to Apple to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes to Ireland.

BY KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — Tensions between the U.S. and Europe ratcheted up on Wednesday after the European Commission ordered Apple Inc. to pay $14.5 billion in back taxes, a move that put U.S. multinational companies on high alert.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew weighed in on the action on Wednesday, saying the EC’s ruling undermines business confidence in Europe and indicates a “pattern” of probes that appear to be “aimed squarely at the U.S. tax base.”

The unexpected move by the EC, which is going after a major U.S. technology firm over taxes, has sparked a firestorm on Capitol Hill.

“As the head of the U.S. tax agency, I have been concerned that it reflects an attempt to reach into the U.S. tax base to tax income that ought to be taxed in the United States,” Lew said after a speech at the Brookings Institution here on the upcoming G-20 Leaders Summit in China. “What I don’t think is right is for these issues to be addressed in ways that undermine the spirit of economic cooperation and is inconsistent with well-established principles of tax law.”

The EC, which is the executive body of the European Union, issued a ruling Tuesday stating that Ireland provided illegal tax incentives to Apple over several years and must now recoup as much as 13 billion euros, or $14.5 billion, from the company.

The EC ruled that Apple, which runs its Euro-pean operations out of Ireland, received illegal and unfair “state aid” from Ireland through tax breaks that allowed the company to significantly reduce the amount of taxes it paid on profits from European sales.

Margrethe Vestager, the European Commis-sioner for competition, said Tuesday that two tax rulings granted by Ireland “artificially reduced Apple’s tax burden for over two decades, in breach of EU state aid rules” that have been in place since 1958.

She said the rules are designed to “ensure that companies can compete on equal terms” regarding taxation in each of the EU’s 28 member states in order to protect European taxpayers. Both Apple and Ireland said they plan to appeal the EC’s ruling.

The ruling has broad implications for multina-tional firms doing business in Europe.

The EC has been ramping up pressure on U.S. firms to repay taxes it claims they have avoided in countries including Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Ireland. Starbucks and Fiat’s tax payments have been found unlawful already, while McDonald's and Amazon remain under investigation. Microsoft, Google and Facebook all have used the same tax practices in Ireland that the EC has ruled are illegal in the case of Apple.

Asked whether he believes the EC is targeting

U.S. companies, Lew said: “I have raised the issue that the pattern of the actions certainly appears to be highly focused on U.S. firms.”

“[European officials] point to some smaller action against non-U.S. firms, but the largest actions do appear to be aimed squarely at our tax base,” Lew said.

“Our concern with the European Commis-sion’s action is that it is using a state aid theory to make tax law,” Lew said. “It is doing it in a way that is retroactive and that overrides national tax authority in our view. And we think that it under-mines the environment in Europe for interna-tional business because it creates an uncertainty that ultimately will not be good for the European economy.”

Lew said the U.S. has been working hard to find a bipartisan compromise in Congress that would allow the U.S. to tax a company’s profits overseas. The strategy has been labeled as “cor-porate inversion” whereby U.S. companies keep their profits overseas to reduce the tax burden on income.

Lawmakers have been calling for reform of the U.S. international tax system for the past few years and many expressed outrage that the EC is trying to obtain taxes that they argue are duly owed to the U.S. government.

BUSINESS

Treasury Secretary Lew Criticizes EC's Ruling Against Apple

A report finds many teens to be price-conscious.

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew at the G-20 finance meeting in Chengdu, China in July.

The Adidas ZNE Hoodie.

1 SEPTEMBER 2016 7

● The acne-treatment line and sister brand, X Out, will be sold through Ulta starting today.

BY ALLISON COLLINS

Proactiv is rolling into retail with Ulta Beauty.

In its first major move since Nestlé Skin Health took over majority ownership, Proactiv will launch in 375 Ulta Beauty locations today. For most of its history, Proactiv built a huge business via infomercials on TV. The Nestlé deal put Pro-activ under the ownership of a joint venture that is controlled by the food giant, with previous majority owner Guthy-Renker holding around a 30 percent stake, industry sources previously told WWD.

“There are 40 million people in the United States who suffer from acne, and when you look at the consumer, they have the exact consumer who we are looking for,” said Kimber Mader-azzo, executive vice president of global brand and product marketing for Proactiv.

“We have been talking to Ulta for several years,” Maderazzo said. “Their customers have been asking for Proactiv.”

“Our guests have been requesting Proactiv by name, given its reputation for helping people achieve clear, healthy-looking skin,” said Dave Kimbell, Ulta Beauty chief merchandising and

marketing officer. “This is the first time Proactiv will be available at a national beauty retailer. Another exciting first for Ulta Beauty.

“Offering exclusive products that excite our guests is a key part of our strategy and some-thing our guests expect us to deliver,” Kimbell said. “We have more than 87 skin-care brands

across our prestige and mass categories at Ulta Beauty. While many of our skin-care brands have products devoted to acne treatment, Proactiv will be the only prestige skin-care brand we carry that specializes solely on acne skin-care solutions.”

Proactiv’s three-step acne system is among

the items that Ulta Beauty will stock. X Out, which is also owned by the joint venture, will be launched on ulta.com today. “X Out is really for the true Millennial who is young and buys on the Internet,” Maderazzo said.

By the end of the year, Proactiv should be in about 660 Ulta Beauty doors, according to Maderazzo. While X Out will start online, the brand may eventually move into retail. “If it does well on the web we’ll probably then bring it into the stores,” Maderazzo said.

“The Ulta environment and ecosystem can really speak to the consumers and share with them and tell them how Proactiv works,” Maderazzo said. “We will be working with Ulta in having their users work directly with Proactiv…telling us their stories, and we’ll be telling those stories on TV.”

While Proactiv and Ulta Beauty had been in discussions for years, new ownership at Nestlé really “embraced” the idea of selling in the specialty retailer, according to Maderazzo, especially because it aligns with Nestlé’s goal of bringing skin health to more people. While Ulta is the exclusive retail partner for the brand, Proactiv has also been sold in mall-based kiosks for about 20 years, according to Maderazzo.

When Proactiv’s ownership shifted, the joint venture planned to focus on selling Proactiv and developing non-Proactiv acne-treatment products, while growing Proactiv’s global distribution.

BEAUTY

Ulta Beauty Lands Proactiv Deal

● Retailer enthusiasm over the beauty category was tempered only by uncertainty as industry mergers unfold.

BY FAYE BROOKMAN

The most recent National Association of Chain Drug Stores Total Store Expo, held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, ranks as the best balance of big beauty powers and emerging brands in the meeting’s four-year history.

That’s according to representatives of the almost 300 retail chains and 100-plus beauty brands that hit the exhibit floor in search of items to keep the momentum building in the category.

According to IRI data for the 52-week period ended May 15, in multiunit chains, the category is clicking on all gears with facial cosmetics sales climbing 5.4 percent; lip category volume jump-ing 9.5 percent, and eye expanding more than 12 percent.

While TSE might not lure the chief executive officers, it has grown into the meeting where corporate lieutenants follow up on leads gathered at the April annual meeting, one buyer said. Total Store Expo will be held next year in San Diego from Aug. 19 to 22.

One of the attendees with a keen eye for what’s emerging was WSL Strategic Retail’s founder Wendy Liebmann, who shared her observations with WWD.

She applauded NACDS for stretching beyond the traditional boundaries of brick and mortar retailing to include e-commerce operators, value stores and specialty merchants.

NACDS had the foresight to feature Jet.com in one of its 20 Insight Sessions just as news

of Wal-Mart’s interest in buying the company percolated. Liebmann also gave kudos to NACDS for including Boxedwarehouse.com, a start-up wholesale-club approach to online shopping positioned to attract millennials.

The Meet the Market portion of the show was bustling with more than 7,000 face-to-face appointments where upstart brands could get their items in front of retailers.

The trends gathering the most steam on the massive show floor included those representing the intersection of beauty and wellness, especially the proliferation of test kits, which can potentially help consumers have better skin or hair; natural and healthier options from small and big compa-nies; a push to more premium items especially in professional hair care; well-designed and extensive beauty devices; and “ankle-biter com-panies,” which have the potential to challenge big beauty brands while offering chains the chance to differentiate from competitors.

There were also ideas on the floor to bring

customers into stores such as a self-ear-piercing kit including earrings.

“There were products and services that offered retailers ways to make another sale — the chance to get the extra item in the basket and not just depend on coupons to drive the sale of your body lotion,” Liebmann said.

The mood at the meeting was tempered by the uncertainty circulating around the upcom-ing election. “There’s a real pragmatism on the part of the retailers,” she said, explaining they are searching for avenues to generate traffic in a tough retail environment. The challenge of competing with, or joining, the digital revolution was heavily discussed.

“On the other hand, there are new categories to think about and legitimate opportunities in health and wellness,” Liebmann said. Retailers encouraged suppliers to push the envelope to bring innovation to the beauty category.

The overarching themes included discussion of how the industry will look after the assumed acquisition of Rite Aid by Walgreens Boots Alliance on the retailer side. As far as suppliers, chatter centered on what Coty Inc. has in store for the 41 brands it purchased from Procter & Gam-ble. The transition of these brands did account for a somewhat diminished presence on the floor of big brands such as Cover Girl.

Some other news from the show:• NACDS bestowed its best of show in beauty

to Sinful Colors/Pure Ice, which made a big news splash this year with a partnership with Kylie Jenner.

• One natural exhibit getting a buzz was Éclair Naturals, which recently added Rite Aid as well as target.com to its distribution. “We had an incredi-ble and successful first exhibition at NACDS,” said John Matise, chief executive of Éclair Naturals. “As we continue to propagate the message of clean living and clean beauty products, we are thrilled to see the excitement around this category of products by key industry partners.”

• Cutex is bucking the trend in the down nail category where remover sales dropped 1.6 percent, according to IRI data. Cutex Brands has achieved double-digit growth in the last year — all without the launch of a new product to the marketplace. The company reported that sales for Cutex were up 22 percent for the 52-week period ended May 15 in multiunit doors. For the four weeks ended June 20, Cutex volume is up 19 percent. The Advanced Revival and SPA Formula removers have proven to be a major sales driver for the brand as consumers continue to demand multiuse products that promote healthier nails. After launching a lineup of nail-care products in Target stores nationwide in March 2015, sales of Cutex Advanced Revival Nail Polish Remover Pads have doubled in Target stores over the last year. Wal-Mart IRI is up 58 percent, driven largely by SPA Formula Nail Polish Remover, Cutex officials said.

• Mass fragrances are stale, but at the show Instyle Products had a long list of preset appoint-ments of retailers looking to solidify their business with the company, which offers value versions of premium fragrances. “Our booth was consistently visited by both retailers and exporters and we had little down time. We opened new business abroad and solidified some new business domes-tically,” said Instyle’s ceo Rob Luby. The company revealed a new all-natural bath line called Good to Know, which includes body wash and bar soap. Instyle’s Men’s Body Spray with six new scents attracted notice on the floor, as did its ActivEs-sence time-release fragrances with skin-enriching ingredients.

BEAUTY

NACDS Total Store Expo Hotbed of Product Trends

Proactiv is set to launch in 375 Ulta Beauty locations.

Natural products were on buyers' list at Total Store Expo.

about Berluti, and a lot of knowledge about the market and he had a lot of respect for our savoir-faire. His idea of luxury was the same as ours.

“I like his composure, I like his ideas. I like what he showed me as the project and I thought it was very modern and very relevant,” he added.

Arnault said he expects Ackermann’s collections won’t disorient Berluti devo-tees, while widening its customer base.

“We want him to express his creativity and his point of view on fashion and on men’s wear,” he explained. “We want to keep our actual customers and to please them, while also speaking to a bit of a younger and more edgy audience.”

That said, Arnault stressed that Ackermann is “very smart and not so radical in his expression. What he proposes is actually less radical than we think. I hope there will be a little bit of

radicalness and a clear point of view on fashion, but at the same time wearable and commercial. And I don’t think it’s a bad word, commercial.

“The spirit of the brand will stay the same,” he stressed.

In a statement, Ackermann said he was “honored” to join Berluti and that the house “stands for the essence of luxury men’s wear and embracing this new adventure inspires me.”

Arnault said Ackermann would con-tinue to produce and show his signature women’s and men’s collections, which are produced by Belgian entrepreneur Anne Chapelle.

Berluti is part of luxury giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which does not break down sales by brand in its core fashion and leather goods busi-ness group and includes such names as Givenchy, Kenzo, Emilio Pucci and Marc Jacobs.

Arnault characterized the business as “very healthy for the past few months” with revenues advancing at a “high dou-ble-digit” pace.

Berluti continues to expand its net-work of full-line stores. Forthcoming openings include Las Vegas CityCenter in November, and Brighton Way, just off Rodeo Drive, in Beverly Hills, Calif., early next year. Arnault hinted at “other

projects” in Asia next year.Today, Berluti counts 45 boutiques

worldwide and 20 wholesale accounts.Ackermann is a graduate of fashion

at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts and started his signature label in 2003, earning acclaim for his glamorous dishabille and attracting such celebrity devotees as Tilda Swinton.

Sartori, who spent five years at Ber-luti, recently returned to Ermenegildo Zegna, where he had earned his reputa-tion prior to Berluti as the head of its Z Zegna brand.

Sartori is now Zegna’s new artistic director, with responsibility across all brands and for all creative functions. His first collection will be for the fall 2017 season that will be shown in Milan next January.

At Berluti, Sartori brought a contem-porary approach to tailoring, and an artisanal, ultraluxurious approach to echo its heritage in shoes, known for its unusual colors and patinas, plus a court shoe fashioned from a single piece of leather without any seams.

While his collections were more classic than much of the men’s wear parading in the French capital, Sartori earned a following for his gentlemanly

and dandy approach to fashion, imbu-ing the brand with a quirky, endearing personality.

Earlier this year, Arnault noted that Berluti, which generated revenues south of 30 million euros when Sartori arrived in 2011, has added “more than 100 mil-lion euros” to its tallies as it expanded its product offering and global store network.

Son of LVMH chairman and chief executive officer Bernard Arnault, Antoine Arnault assumed the manage-ment helm of Berluti in 2011 and set out to create a luxury men’s house to mirror such female-driven brands as Fendi and Céline within the vast luxury group. He also oversees the Loro Piana business, acquired in 2013.

At Berluti, Arnault acquired Arnys, a landmark Left Bank men’s wear bou-tique that came with a dozen skilled tai-lors, propelling Berluti into the bespoke business.

Berluti was founded in 1895 by a transplanted Italian and famous for such celebrity clients Andy Warhol, Pierre Bergé, Jean Cocteau, Alain Delon, Dean Martin and Yves Saint Laurent.

LVMH acquired Berluti in 1993 and added leather goods in 2005.

8 1 SEPTEMBER 2016

Haider Ackermann To Lead Berluti's More Casual Push CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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● Madewell continues to show gains while comp sales at the J. Crew brand remained challenged.

BY DAVID MOIN

Showing some progress in its turnaround efforts, J. Crew Group on Wednesday posted a second-quarter net loss of $8.6 million, which was significantly smaller than the $13.6 million lost in the year-ago period.

The company continues to remake the merchandise of the J. Crew brand and grow the Madewell brand through new stores, online and through increased distribution at Nordstrom doors. Madewell has been performing better than J. Crew.

This week, WWD reported first that Nord-strom would also be selling J. Crew, beginning Sept. 12 at 16 of its full-line stores.

J. Crew Group's reduced loss came despite a 4 percent decrease in total revenues to $569.8 million during the second quarter. Comparable company sales fell 8 percent following a decline of 11 percent in the second quarter last year.

The results fueled some optimism at the company which, like many retailers, is struggling with the tough climate for selling fashion. “I am pleased with the steps we are taking to improve our core business in a challenging traffic environment," said Millard Drexler, chairman and chief executive officer. "Looking ahead, we are focused on driving sales productivity with exciting new merchandising and marketing ini-tiatives that are expected to enhance customer loyalty and extend our brand reach. We have several key operational initiatives under way that we believe position us to optimize our global sourcing and supply chain and we will continue

to review all aspects of our business to drive further efficiencies. Overall, I am encouraged by the work that the teams are doing as we evolve our business to maximize the power of the J. Crew and Madewell brands.”

By division, J. Crew sales decreased 6 percent to $476.7 million. J. Crew comparable sales fell 9 percent following a drop of 13 percent in the second quarter last year.

Madewell sales increased 15 percent to $78.3 million, while comparable sales rose 3 percent following an increase of 8 percent in the second quarter last year. Gross margin was 35.7 percent compared to 34.3 percent in the second quarter last year.

Operating income was $6.7 million, compared to $2.6 million in the second quarter last year. Operating income in the second quarter last year included a charge of $4.5 million for severance and related costs associated with the company’s workforce reduction in June 2015 and pre-tax,

non-cash impairment charges of $1 million.Selling, general and administrative expenses

were $196.5 million, or 34.5 percent of revenues, compared to $199.8 million, or 33.6 percent of revenues in the second quarter last year.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $38.3 million compared to $41 million in the second quarter last year.

Earlier in the week, Pete Nordstrom, copres-ident of Nordstrom Inc., told WWD, "I will say our customers have an awareness and affinity for the J. Crew brand. If you were to survey our customers about what brands they like, J. Crew would be right up on top. We probably share more customers with J. Crew than any other department store.”

Meanwhile, Nordstrom is increasing its Madewell distribution to another 20 stores this fall, bringing the total to 76 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

RETAIL

J. Crew Group Narrows Q2 Loss

● The men’s shopping site cofounded by Greg Selkoe of Karmaloop has a fresh name and a new app.

BY ARIA HUGHES

Greg Selkoe, the founder of Karmaloop, partnered with Paul Judge and Cedric Rogers in June to launch Curateurs, a men’s shopping site that sold items curated by influencers — the site included long-form stories and other editorial content about each influencer, who ranged from A$AP Ferg to Ryan Leslie.

Now, in order to better scale the concept, the founders are tweaking their original idea and operating as Looklive, an already existing site they acquired in July.

Looklive posts pictures of male celebrities’ outfits and allows readers to shop for the pieces or more-affordable versions of the items. The e-commerce site also operates an app that enables customers to choose celebrities whose style they want to re-create and Looklive provides images of what the celebrity is wearing and where custom-ers can purchase it. Its proprietary technology and tagging tools automate the process to make the celebrity images shoppable, while Curateurs’ process was more manual.

“We sold a limited-edition collection of cactus headbands that Pharrell wore on 'The Voice' and they sold out," said Selkoe. "We learned that people didn’t care that much if Pharrell owned the item. They were more interested in the style and we thought, 'Why are we doing as much work when, really, people just want to see and buy the style?' It’s not as important whether it came out of their closet and what it came from.”

Looklive has also partnered with Complex Media Group, which was acquired by Hearst and Verizon in April, and will have a channel within the app that will feature images and video from Complex’s archive that will be shoppable with Looklive’s technology. Selkoe said that in the future it’s possible that Looklive’s technology could be integrated into Complex’s site.

Selkoe and his cofounders have also received investment from Y Combinator, a three-month seed accelerator, which has backed start-ups including Reddit, Dropbox and Airbnb.

MEN'S

Curateurs Transitions To Looklive

● Federal authorities said Wednesday they have seized a shipment of counterfeit shoes with an estimated value of $4.3 million.

BY KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities said Wednesday they seized a shipment of coun-terfeit Salvatore Ferragamo shoes with an estimated value of $4.3 million.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in conjunction with staff from the agency’s Center of Excellence and Exper-tise seized 7,800 pairs of bogus Ferragamo shoes at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex.

Officials said the counterfeit merchan-dise arrived in Los Angeles in two separate shipments from China on July 20. The agency said the quantity and value of the shoes are an indication of the profits involved in the “illegal trade” of luxury goods.

“These seizures demonstrate the high level of skill and vigilance of our officers in protecting the intellectual property rights of companies and individuals, as well as

preventing the proliferation of counterfeit luxury footwear, potentially damaging our national economy,” said Sergio Espinoza, CBP Acting Port Director of Los Angeles/Long Beach Seaport.

About $1.35 billion worth of counterfeit goods originating overseas were seized by CBP in fiscal year 2015. China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Romania and Turkey were the top five countries of origin for counterfeit goods seized by CBP in fiscal year 2015.

Ferragamo has continued building on its anticounterfeiting efforts and has focused on China and the web, as reported.

Last year, the company said it inter-cepted or blocked 91,000 online adver-tisements for counterfeit products and recovered or canceled 140 domain names and illegal web sites, primarily managed by Chinese individuals.

Ferragamo Group chairman Ferruccio Ferragamo said in March the company expanded the number of e-commerce

sites that it monitors in 2015 and has also increased monitoring of trade fairs and resellers in the Chinese market.

The company also started embedding microchips in its women’s shoes with its pre-fall 2014 collection to help the luxury brand track products and guarantee their authenticity. The brand started inserting microchips in its men’s shoes with the cruise 2015 collection and in women’s small leather goods, luggage and bands with the fall 2015 collection.

Global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods has reached an estimated $461 billion a year, and American, Italian and French brands have been the hardest hit, according to a recent report by the Orga-nization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office.

Among the most frequently seized counterfeit goods were footwear, apparel, electrical machinery, watches and medical instruments, the report found.

China remains the number-one spot origin for counterfeit products, accounting for 63.2 percent of total global seizures in 2013, the study said.

In the U.S., federal authorities seized $1.35 billion in counterfeit and manufac-tured goods imported into the U.S., based on an estimated manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the goods, in fiscal year 2015.

China remained the primary source economy for counterfeit and pirated goods seized, accounting for an estimated MSRP value of $697 million, or 52 percent of the estimated MSRP value of all IPR seizures. Bogus apparel and accessories, along with watches and jewelry, were the top-two product categories seized.

BUSINESS

Customs Makes Counterfeit Ferragamo Footwear Bust

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Outside the J. Crew store on Regent Street.

An officer showing Ferragamo seized shoes.

Looklive app.

10 1 SEPTEMBER 2016

“I think that when you’re in this industry, once you’ve got to a certain point — I guess it’s always sort of the dream,” says Jess Shadbolt, who, after eight years at London’s famed River Café, is following the dream and will open King on Friday with fellow River Café alum Clare de Boer in the kitchen and Annie Shi at front of house.

“You probably never think it actually will ever happen,” Shadbolt contin-ues, “and it's just happened a lot quicker than we imagined it.”

The rush, in part, hap-pened once their dream space suddenly became available. King takes over the corner of King Street and Sixth Avenue, vacated after a decade by Vietnam-ese restaurant Mekong. “It’s a wonderful neighborhood,” says Shi of their space, which sits on the cusp of the West Village and SoHo, across the street from Charlie Bird. “You're still in downtown SoHo and the

West Village, but we’re not quite in the heart of it — we’re a little bit more on the residential side, which is perfect.”

De Boer agrees. "We had our eye on the space for a while because we were familiar with the previous restaurant and I think it is so rare in New York to find this amount of frontage,” she says. “We love this corner — we love the bay windows, and on the outside, it feels almost like someone’s living room or dining room, which is the feeling we really wanted to create.”

That feeling is not by chance – de Boer’s moth-er, a residential interior decorator, came over from London to design the space.

Shadbolt and de Boer, both English, met native New Yorker Shi in London, where she was working at The Clove Club. Shadbolt and de Boer were both trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland, one of the early innova-

tors of the farm-to-table movement. “It’s run by this incredible, nuts old woman who basically started the entire farming movement,” de Boer says. “It's a really comprehensive look at food — it’s not just how to cook, and how you develop your knife skills. It really gets you in touch with the ground.”

They take that approach to cooking, honed by their years at the River Café, and apply it in the style of a short daily changing menu of dishes inspired by Tuscany and Provence. “It’s not a daily changing menu for the sake of it,” de Boer stresses. “We’re really responding to the weather and the food as we get

it in, and we’ll write the menu each evening for the following day.”

To open, they plan to serve dishes like their fa-vorite fish stew, with half a lobster, fluke, clams, saffron and bruschetta; a poached Sasso chicken with lentils, celery and sauce ravigotte, and whipped salt cod with tomato bruschetta and dried oregano.

“Very simple, yet very elegant,” Shadbolt says. “I think there’s a real bravery in putting fewer things on a plate and it celebrates what’s on the plate and where that came from. That’s very much what we want to do. The food will look really amazing in the space as well, and I think that is why we kind of stripped the space back

and kept it really chic and simple.”

The simplicity of the food and space, the King team predicts, will find a place in the booming culi-nary scene of downtown Manhattan. “In terms of where it’s encouraged for young people to have crazy dreams, this is the place to do it,” Shih says. “I think when you open a restau-rant in New York you’re like kind of putting a stick in the ground, and we just wanted the best chance to be able to make it happen. The type of cooking that Clare and Jess do is, in a way, natural to how people eat in Eu-rope, but I think that there’s room for it to happen in New York as well. There’s a niche for it.” — LEIGH NORDSTROM

River Café Alums Open King in N.Y. The restaurant opens Friday on the cusp of the West Village and SoHo.

Clare de Boer, Annie Shi and Jess Shadbolt.

Here and below: The atmosphere at King.

Fish stew of lobster, John

Dory and scallop with bruschetta

and saffron aioli.

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12 1 SEPTEMBER 2016

Natural BeautyLéa Seydoux goes back to nature in the advertising for Louis Vuitton’s new per-fume collection, which was photographed by Patrick Demarchelier in South Africa.

He shot the French actress at Lone Creek Falls near Sabie in Mpumalanga. In one black-and-white image, Seydoux stands in front of the waterfall, while in another, more up-close color photo, she holds a delicate pink flower.

Marie-Amélie Sauvé served as stylist for the campaign, while Damien Boissinot headed up hair and Christelle Cocquet was the makeup artist.

“Louis Vuitton is about travel, but it’s also about dreams. Its spirit blends adventure, discovery and emotion,” stated Seydoux.

The 31-year-old recently played the James Bond girl in “Spectre” and won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013 for her role in “Blue is the Warm-est Color.” Seydoux’s next silver-screen appearance will be in “It’s Only the End of the World,” directed by Xavier Dolan, who has fronted men’s wear campaigns for Vuitton.

The label’s fragrance ads are due to

break in October magazine issues and the Sept. 15 editions of daily newspapers around the globe.

As reported, Vuitton is journeying back into the world of perfumes 90 years after the launch of its first two fragrances — Heures d’absence from 1927 and Je, Tu, Il from 1928. Called Les Parfums, the new offer is a collection of seven women’s scents that were created by in-house master perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belle-trud, who was given carte blanche for the project by parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

“I wanted to celebrate women and their universal values — femininity in the world,” he said during the press launch in Paris. “I think that perfumes have to be back in luxury.”

The new Vuitton scents are to be sold starting today in some 200 of Vuitton’s stores worldwide. Flowers take center stage in the line of eaux de parfum, which includes Rose des Vents, Turbu-lences, Dans La Peau, Apogée, Contre Moi, Matière Noire and Mille Feux. Each is meant to correspond to a different olfactive journey.

Vuitton also has five pop-up units in the works, in Paris, London, Seoul and Dubai,

to showcase its return to the perfumery business. — JENNIFER WEIL

Greater FocusAbercrombie & Fitch, which has been remaking its merchandise and image to reverse poor results, today launches a new campaign for its fall collections. It's the first campaign under the creative direction of Kristina Szasz, group vice president of women's design for the Abercrombie & Fitch brand, who joined the company a year ago.

"It's more focused," Szasz told WWD, citing outerwear and denim, including the sherpa coats, classic peacoats, suede utility flight jackets as well as "elevated" washes, hardware and fits on the den-im, as key elements in the campaign. High-waisted, stovepipe, ankle flair, wide-legged boyfriend and classic skinny jeans are also part of the focus.

The campaign was shot by photog-rapher Josh Olins and styled by Clare Richardson. Appearing in the campaign are Conie Vallese, an Argentinian-born artist; Frances Tulk-Hart, a British photog-rapher, artist, singer and creator of the site 5minuteswithFranny.com, and Myla Dalbesio, an American model and pho-tographer. Each is used to show different facets of the brand. It's about "rediscover-ing the new Abercrombie, a true American heritage brand," and showcasing "a more grown-up and elevated Abercrombie & Fitch," Szasz added. The campaign will be

seen on the brand’s social channels, on abercrombie.com and in public relations endeavors.

The campaign fits in with Abercrom-bie's aim to attract an older consumer and move away from its previous teen-based focus. But the retailer's results, released Tuesday, indicated a lot of work remains and A&F's shares have fallen sharply over the last two days. On Wednesday on the Big Board, the retailer's shares fell another 1.93 percent to $17.74, following a 20.3 percent drop Tuesday. — DAVID MOIN

Elle TVLagardère Active is to launch Elle Girl on Sept. 15. France’s largest magazine publisher, whose flagship titles include Elle and its international editions and Paris Match, will make its new TV channel targeting women between ages 18 and 49 available on cable television channel Ca-nalsat. "The editorial project is inspired by the values from the magazine," explained Caroline Cochaux, managing director of France and international for Lagardère Active TV, noting that Elle Girl emanates from the television segment, and not from the magazine. "It's not a camera put inside Elle's newsroom," she said.

A program named "Follow Me" is di-rectly inspired by a section of Elle France "A day with." The first episode will feature model Cindy Bruna. Another program called "Paris Fashion Week Inside," to kick off on Sept. 27, will be a daily recap

of the Paris runway, with sound bites of Elle France fashion editors, designers and celebrities. There's also "Catwalks, a decade of fashion in Paris," hosted by Ma-lian-French singer and model Inna Modja, retracing 10 years of shows of a designer or a house, starting with Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier and Julien Fournié.

The new channel is also to air "Project Runway," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "The Royals." Cochaux declined to comment on the budget devoted to the project.

Meanwhile, Lagardère Active's TV channel targeting young girls, June TV, stopped airing as of Wednesday. Camille Bignon of June TV was appointed head of programs at Elle Girl.

The launch of Elle Girl is part of Lagardère Active's strategy to focus on its audiovisual activities. It comes after the firm divested 10 print publications in 2014 and made acquisitions in the TV production sector. As reported, Lagardère magazine revenues in France fell 6.8 per-cent on a like-for-like basis in the first half of 2016. The company said this was due to a sharp contraction in the print advertis-ing market, which retreated 10.4 percent in the first half, despite “circulation proving resilient,” falling 2.1 percent.

An ad campaign accompanying the launch of Elle Girl is slated to break in newspapers and magazines starting mid-September and be plastered around Paris. — LAURE GUILBAULT

Kith-ing CousinsBergdorf Goodman contin-ues its drive to heighten its cool quotient, and its latest collaboration will be with Kith, a sought-after favorite in the streetwear market that is best-known for its sneakers.

During New York Fashion Week, the upscale retailer will hold a private dinner at its men’s store hosted by Josh Schulman, Bergdorf’s chief executive officer, and Ronnie Fieg, Kith’s ceo, “to celebrate the opening of Kith at Bergdorf Goodman.” The event on Sept. 13 precedes the Kith presenta-tion at 9:30 p.m.

Neither company is provid-ing details about the partner-ship at this point, but sources said it will mark the first Bergdorf Goodman-branded collection with Kith, which will be housed in a new shop at the men’s store designed by Snarkitecture in association with contemporary artist Daniel Arsham.

Kith has previously collab-orated with brands including Puma, Asics and New Balance on sneakers, and has intro-duced its apparel collection at wholesale with Dover Street Market London in 2014.

In August, Kith opened a Nike pop-up shop at the Atrium store in SoHo. It also has two stores at Bleecker and Broadway as well as a store in Brooklyn on Flatbush Avenue. The brand is planning to open a women’s store in SoHo in December.

In its quest to gain a follow-ing with a younger fashion-for-ward shopper, Bergdorf teamed with hot emerging designer John Elliott on a limited-edition capsule this spring that was exclusive to its men’s store and United Arrows in Tokyo. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

Pencil PusherKarl Lagerfeld, who continues to churn out provocative polit-ical cartoons for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, relies on

his Faber-Castell pencil cray-ons. Now he has designed the ultimate set: a Karlbox con-taining 350 tools for drawing and painting, housed in a sleek black wooden box resembling a Chinese wedding cabinet.

Only 2,500 will be produced and sold exclusively beginning today at Faber-Castell stores, Karl Lagerfeld boutiques and Harrods in London. Select department and specialty

stores — including Breuninger in Stuttgart, Jelmoli in Zurich, Le Bon Marché in Paris and Gump’s in San Francisco — will also stock the box from Sept. 19. The retail price is 2,500 euros, or $2,850.

Releasing images of the chest and details exclusive-ly to WWD, Lagerfeld said Faber-Castell, established in 1761, has been a symbol of quality since he was a child in Germany. And he hasn’t stopped sketching since those days. “To me, drawing is like breathing and writing. These are things that almost relax me,” he said.

Implements are lined up

in removable drawers and sorted by shade — all personally selected by Lagerfeld.

His favorite product line is the Albrecht Dürer range of pencils, and all 120 colors are included in the box. According to Faber-Castell, on the right paper, the pigments can be completely dissolved, and will then behave in the same way as classic watercolor paints. The box set also includes Poly-chromos color pencils, Pitt ink pens and Castell 9000 graphite pencils along with brushes, a foldable cup, erasers and sharpeners.

Faber-Castell bills itself as the world’s largest pencil manufacturer, capable of producing more than two billion a year. The family-owned firm generates annual revenues of about 577 million euros, or $652.1 million, according to its web site. Other famous users of its colored pencils from the past include Vincent van Gogh and Paul Klee. — MILES SOCHA

Bloomies BoundAccessories brand Fairchild Baldwin is expanding its department store reach. The line, founded by Jill Fairchild

and Karen Baldwin, is set to be stocked on Bloomingdale’s web site.

Starting in the second half of September, bloomingdales.com will carry an assortment of statement necklaces from the brand. Fabricated from a spectrum of beads, the designs will be priced from $395 to $495 at retail. The collection includes the brand's signature Bella beaded necklaces, as well as the Mini Bella, the Masai, the Matte Bella and Opaline styles.

Said Fairchild: “We are so excited to be joining blooming-dales.com because Fairchild Baldwin and Bloomingdale's share the same DNA. We are both contemporary, constantly innovative, stylish — and always in fashion. It is a big vote of confidence in the brand."

Fairchild Baldwin presently sells in Nordstrom and with e-commerce site AhaLife, as well as at select specialty retail-ers throughout the U.S. and via its own web site.

In 2014, the brand won the Accessories Council’s inaugural Emerging Designers Competition — earning Fairchild Baldwin membership to the association and press repre-sentation. — MISTY WHITE SIDELL

Fashion Scoops

Memo Pad

Léa Seydoux in the ad campaign for Louis Vuitton's new perfume collection, photographed by Patrick Demarchelier.

A visual from the fall 2016 Abercrombie & Fitch ad campaign.

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The Karlbox contains 350 tools for drawing and painting.