MEn of thE WEEk

Highland Fling

BRAND BUILDING

Peerless Puts Muscle Behind Tallia OrangeTailored clothing giant branches out with own updated label.

{Continued on page MW6}

May 5, 2011

Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy showed some leg by donning kilts at the Costume Institute gala. Page MW2

Plus:Costs and charges weighed on Kenneth Cole in the first quarter, leading to a steeper-than-expected loss. Page MW2

Boss Black’s linen suit and Gant Rugger’s cotton shirt. Canali pocket square worn as scarf.

by JEAN E. PALMIERI

PEERLEss INtERNAtIoNAL has built a $500 million-plus business manufactur-ing tailored clothing under license for some of the industry’s top brands, includ-ing Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors and DKNY. But despite its more than 90-year history, the Montreal-based company owned by Alvin segal and one of the largest clothing manufacturers in the world, has never produced its own branded label.

All that changed two years ago when tallia orange was born.

the brainchild of Ronnie Wurtzburger, president of Peerless and the face of the company, tallia orange provides European sensibility at moderate prices, something Wurtzburger said “did not exist in the midtier.”

For example, tallia suits are promoted at $295 for polyester-viscose blends and $395 for worsted wool three-piece models. there are also sport coats that retail for $199 on average, dress shirts are $75, neck-wear is $49.50 and outerwear sells for $165 to $295. A fancy military peacoat retails for $325 and is the line’s most expensive piece.

Although rooted in tailored clothing, the line is targeted to be sold in the men’s de-signer collection area at department stores. Its primary distribution is at Macy’s, which launched the collection in spring 2009. It is also sold in specialty stores including Boyds in Philadelphia, where Wurtzburger said a tallia velvet blazer “sat between Gucci and Etro, but ours was $295.”

Ken Gushner, co-owner of Boyds, said the line was introduced three seasons ago and “performs very well. We merchandise it in our contemporary clothing depart-ment, where it hangs with DKNY, Hugo Boss and Halston. It brings color, fun and a whimsical spirit to a dull category — all at a very accessible price point.”

A hallmark of the brand is its orange point-of-sale efforts. Mannequins, hangtags, hang-ers, rugs, graphics — all are in a bright orange hue that stands out on the selling floor.

“Ronnie fell in love with Isaia’s red man-nequins at saks,” said suzanne Anderson, creative director for Peerless. Anderson said when tallia arrives on the selling floor and is merchandised with the other suits, the orange hangers stand out “in a sea of black. And orange is a color that a lot of guys can relate to, so we decided to go for orange.

Leisure SuitTailored clothing manufacturers continue to take the man out of the boardroom and into vacation mode. softly constructed suits in light hues, unlined blazers and tropical fabrics such as linen and seersucker are the highlights of this season’s offerings. For more, see pages 4 and 5.

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by JEAN E. PALMIERI

AftER A stRoNg debut here two years ago, superdry is planning a retail rollout in the U.s.

the U.K.-based apparel brand, which oper-ates 110 stores worldwide, granted a license in 2009 to sDUsA, a division of sunrise Brands LLC. since that time, it has opened six stores in the states: a flagship in New York’s NoHo area, as well as units in Paramus, N.J., Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, and san francisco. there’s also an outlet in Woodbury Common, in Central Valley, N.Y.

superdry will add a store in santa Clara, Calif., at the Valley fair mall later this month as well as a unit at the south street seaport in lower Manhattan in June. A store in the Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minn., is slated for a July opening.

According to Michael Martens, president of superdry UsA, the company is planning to open 10 to 12 stores a year for the next four years, depending upon availabil-ity of space. “finding the right property is key,” he said.

the brand has performed well since it made its debut in the U.s. that, coupled with its popularity in Europe, prompted the retail expansion in America and dic-tates where the stores will be lo-cated. the company seeks spots that draw a mix of international tourists and domestic customers, he said, or “places that play to our two strengths.”

Martens said superdry would like to open ad-ditional stores in the Los Angeles market and is also looking at Boston, Chicago and Miami. the average store measures around 2,000 square feet of selling space, although the NoHo store is 6,000 square feet.

superdry, which sells 50 percent men’s and 50 percent women’s wear, blends British tailoring with vintage Americana style and hand-drawn Japanese-inspired graphics. signature styles include t-shirts with hand-drawn graphics; buf-falo sweaters; plaid shirts; jackets with contrast-

ing colored hoods; surplus-inspired outerwear; leathers, and sweaters. With the t-shirts, each graphic is used on only one style and offered in only one color per season.

the t-shirts mimic fifties garage culture, Martens said, and feature tin-tab hangtags that

replicate the graphic on the shirt. these have become collectibles, he said. the t-shirts retail for around $30, and the vast majority of the line sells for under $100.

superdry also has a wholesale component, and about 40 percent of its sales will come from that distribution channel by the end of the year, Martens said. the line is sold in Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s and 150 specialty stores, including Ron Herman. “We want to keep a good balance,” Martens said. “We don’t want to flood the market. We’re looking for responsible growth.” And with a lot of “high-volume stores” opening here later this year, the percentage attributed to retail will be larger. Ultimately, he said, he expects a “50-50 split.”

Martens said the company has worked to get its name known in the U.s. by getting involved at events such as the sundance film festival that “resonate with our customer.” the company rented a bar in Park City, Utah, and hired an up-and-coming band, drawing celebrities such as Penn Badgley, Adrian grenier and Danny Masterson.

When the seaport store opens, Martens said superdry may host

a softball or kickball game rather than throw a traditional party.

“We want to get our product on the right people,” he said, noting that university students receive a 10 percent discount. “We target the col-lege student to the young professional. that’s our core.”

founded in 2003 by James Holder and Julian Dunkerton, superdry Clothing launched in Cheltenham, England, as Laundry Athletics be-fore opening its first store under the superdry name in Covent garden, London, in December 2004. It is sold in more than 30 countries.

Men of THE WEEK

Jacobs and Duffy turned up at the Costume Institute gala looking like a pair of Highlanders flung too far. Although Jacobs has been wearing kilts for some time now and can pull it off, the image of him next to a taller and tanner Duffy created a deliberately amusing — if slightly asymmetric — fashion moment.

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Men’s WeekMW2 WWD thursday, may 5, 2011

Kenneth Cole Posts Loss in 1Q

by sAMANtHA CoNtI

LoNDoN — Pringle of scotland is rapidly remodeling itself into a leaner, more fo-cused operation with plans to open a new store in Mayfair this year, forge a closer link between its men’s and women’s collec-tions and launch an accessories line.

the company will shutter its sloane street flagship, which has been open since 2003, and move to the West End, near Bond street. the store will open by December and have a new design concept. It will also be smaller than the sloane street unit.

“We are bringing focus throughout the brand, and sales will be driven by knit-wear,” said Benoit Duverger, Pringle’s new managing director.

Meanwhile, Alistair Carr, who was named design director of Pringle in March, is rapidly making changes of his own. His first collections for the brand will be resort and men’s wear, which will show on schedule in Milan in June. Resort, for November delivery, will be a core collec-tion of 20 to 25 looks.

In an interview, Carr said he plans to offer a fresh take on knitwear and re-fresh Pringle staples such as the twinset and the argyle.

“I won’t be doing rustic, woolly grand-ma knits, but very beautiful clothes that women want to wear. I want them to buy into the brand. I’ll be bringing back color, and playing with the argyle and the twinset — but not in the obvious ways,” he said.

Carr said Pringle’s heritage will play an important but limited role: “I plan to go through the archives in scotland, and I think it’s important to respect Pringle’s heritage, but I don’t want to ‘do’ a heritage line.”

He also plans to add “more dressed-up elements for evening” and work in more trouser fits and wovens. “I don’t want the wovens to be fillers between the knitwear, but special in their own right,” he said, adding that going forward, there would be more of a link between Pringle’s men’s wear and women’s wear.

Carr also has designs on accessories. He plans to add shoes, bags and small leather goods as soon as he gets the ready-to-wear collection up and running.

Carr will make his first consumer-facing public appearance in the U.s. in september at a saks fifth Avenue event during fashion’s Night out. He will ap-pear at saks with tilda swinton, who stars once again in Pringle’s fall ad cam-paign, which has been shot for the second season by Walter Pfeiffer.

Before joining Pringle, Carr worked at Balenciaga, Marni, Cacharel and Chloé. for three seasons, he designed a signature label, which he showed during London fashion Week.

Pringle’s New Passions

Superdry Planning Major Retail Expansion in U.S.

A look from superdry.

stoRE CLosINgs and severance charges, including those to its former chief executive officer, contributed to a first-quarter loss at Kenneth Cole Productions Inc.

the firm said Wednesday that, for the three months ended March 31, the loss was $17.2 million, or 94 cents a diluted share, against earnings of $1.8 million, or 10 cents, in the year-ago quarter. store closings and severance charges for the current quarter were $16 million, partially offset by $3.5 mil-lion in deferred rent income.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 21 cents a share, according to Yahoo finance.

Revenues rose 7.3 percent to $117.5 million from $109.5 million. same-store sales rose 2.7 percent, but consumer di-rect revenues fell 10.2 percent to $33.2 million while wholesale volume rose 19.3 percent to $74.5 million.

Jill granoff stepped down as ceo of the company on feb. 28. According to a regulatory filing with the securities and Exchange Commission, under the terms of her employment contract she will receive cash payments of about $3.7 million.

Kenneth Cole, chairman, interim ceo and chief creative officer, told Wall street analysts on a conference call that the firm was not pleased with the re-sults, but is taking the necessary steps for growth and profitability.

He also told analysts the company took higher than typical markdowns to move excess inventory, and expects “in-ventories to be at appropriate levels by the end of June.”

Paul Blum, vice chairman, said the management team is “collaborating on a concise strategy to take advantage of the many opportunities in front of the organization,” but that it’s too early to elaborate on the specifics.

the company expects second-quar-ter earnings of between 2 cents and 4 cents a share. In addition, it expects to remain in clearance and liquidation mode during the second quarter.

shares fell 74 cents, or 5.4 percent, to $12.86 in New York stock Exchange trading Wednesday.

separately Wednesday, Bernard Chaus Inc. said that a subsidiary of China ting group Holdings Ltd., its exclusive supplier of merchandise pur-chased in Asia, had acquired 3 million shares of the company’s common stock for $300,000, or 10 cents a share.

the China ting stake represents half of the 6 million shares sold by Kenneth Cole back to Chaus after Chaus’s license to produce Kenneth Cole sportswear was terminated in october.

the remainder of the shares were purchased by Camuto group in february, at which time Chaus said that Camuto “and another party with whom the company has a commercial relationship” had expressed interest in the stock.

Cole had paid $1 a share for the Chaus stock in 2005 and sold it back at 10 cents a share. the price paid by Camuto wasn’t disclosed.

shares of Chaus closed unchanged Wednesday at 16 cents.

— Vicki M. Young and arnold j. karr

Appropriate for his leg length, but too short to

be worn with a kilt.

Lack of a pin or a sporran risks a

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Men’s WeekMW4 WWD THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011

Nautica’s linen jacket, Rag & Bone’s cotton T-shirt and Shipley & Halmos’ cotton pants. Florsheim Limited shoes.

Perry Ellis’ linen jacket, Gant Rugger’s cotton

shirt and Calvin Klein’s linen pants. Giorgio

Armani shoes.

A Man for

ALL SEASONSSeasonal dressing is the key tailored clothing message for spring 2012.

Suit manufacturers are showcasing linen blends, body-conscious silhouettes and earthy color palettes, which allow for a perfect revival

of the British Colonial golden-era style. — ALEX BADIA

Photos by JAKOB AXELMAN

Men’s Week MW5WWD THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011

Isaia’s jacket and Calvin Klein’s tank,

all in cotton.

Louis Vuitton’s suit and Gitman Bros. shirt, all

in cotton. Tallia Orange tie; The Tie Bar tie bar;

Louis Vuitton shoes.

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FOR MORE LOOKS, SEE

WWD.com/menswear-news.

Men’s WeekMW6 WWD THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011

Looks from Tallia Orange’s fall collection.

It’s a fun thing, we give away orange candy and gifts, and it’s very recognizable that it is our brand.”

But the goal is to get it out of the suit department, Wurtzburger said, a move recently made by Macy’s.

“It was a different con-cept for Macy’s tailored

clothing department, so they moved it to the designer col-

lection area,” Anderson said. At the Herald Square fl agship, the

collection now hangs with Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Armani Jeans and Polo.

“We offer a look that is differ-ent but at a great price point,” Wurtzburger said. “It also allows the stores to make enough margin on it.” He attributes the sharp pric-ing to Peerless’ size, which lets the

company get the best possible deals on piece goods and manufacturing, as well as its sophisticated back-offi ce operations in Canada.

The design also sets the label apart from other clothing brands. Reminiscent of Etro in

some ways, Tallia is “whimsical and eclectic,” Anderson said. “We mix pattern with pattern. We’re not afraid of color. We show printed shirts under patterned suits and our guy is comfortable with that.”

Suit silhouettes, while classic, are slimmer and narrower to appeal to a younger customer, such as a 25-year-old just out of college who needs a suit.

“He’s fashion-conscious and willing to step out and take risks,” Anderson said. “Our price points make it possible for him to try something without spending too much. He can’t spend more than $400, and the fi t and color appeal to him.” The pieces are also “great for going out.”

Wurtzburger said Peerless purchased the Tallia name from the estate of Al Cohen, the former president of Hartz & Co. Although the label had been around for 40 years, it had “shrunk to nothing,” he said.

Realizing that “nobody needs another brand, we came up with a new concept. We noticed that the high-price stores all had very exciting, bou-tique-y items from Italian brands, so we decided to give them the same fl avor but in our attitude.”

From the outset, Wurtzburger was commit-ted to making a statement with Tallia, which he calls “a labor of love.” As a result, he has

Tallia Orange: The Birth of a Brand Peerless International puts its muscle

behind updated clothing label.

{Continued from page MW1}

thrown his considerable muscle behind making the brand a success, even if it takes several years.

Although it is “still a baby,” Wurtzburger said the collection should ring up sales of $10 million this year.

“I took a page from Ralph Lauren, the highest man in our industry,” Wurtzburger said. “He said if you believe in something, you stay with it.”

With that as his mission, the first order of business was to bring in Anderson, who had spent 15 years with Alexander Julian, widely seen as a master with color. “He was a great teacher,” Anderson said. “He cre-ated all these color combinations and he taught me everything I know on the textile end. He really understands the importance of color in men’s wear.”

The brand focused first on clothing, but livened up the offering with fancy lin-ings and under-collar orange strips to set the line apart. Worsted wool blazers have built-in pocket squares, orange piping on the interior, metal buttons and collar de-tails. All the linings are designed in-house and change every season.

“Suzanne took my ideas to another level,” Wurtzburger said. He admitted there were times when he thought Anderson may have pushed the envelope too far, but he stepped

back and let the design team do what it does best. “She showed me bow ties and I got ner-vous, but they were right,” he said.

With the tailored clothing on the right track, the company set out to augment the line with other product categories. “Everything had to be moderately priced but look very expensive,” Anderson said.

And so Mario Tomei for I. Miller has been licensed to do woven shirts, J.S. Blank is pro-ducing neckwear and pocket squares, Chelsea Imports is doing scarves and Mundi Westport Group is the small leather goods licensee.

For fall 2011, Peerless will expand into outerwear, which it produces itself. But rather than the standard items, Tallia Orange offers fancy peacoats in red, olive, navy, camel, burgundy and other colors, for example. “They don’t need us for black,” Wurtzburger said. Other outerwear pieces are also tweaked to be different and include three-button, shawl-collar car coats in solids

and plaids, waxed cotton coated raincoats and toggle coats in a range of colors.

The next addition will be sportswear, the big push for which will come for spring 2012. Offerings will include shorts, cargo pants, jeans, T-shirts and bathing suits.

In addition to Macy’s, the line is carried in Lord & Taylor, The Bay in Canada and Dillard’s. For fall 2012, Wurtzburger said, the distribution is expected to be expanded. For the past two years, Tallia Orange has been shown in a separate area at the company’s booth at the MRket show in Las Vegas, where it will remain, but in August, the brand will break out on its own with a booth at Project.

The birth of Tallia Orange is quite a de-parture for Peerless, which is “a branded house,” Wurtzburger said. “We license the best brands,” he said, including Sean John, Izod, Van Heusen, Chaps, Bill Blass and Joseph Abboud for men and Abboud, Kors, DKNY, Elie Tahari, Hickey by Hickey Freeman and Tallia Orange for boys.

At the Peerless New York showroom, each label is housed separately to ensure its own identity. The same with Tallia Orange.

Wurtzburger stressed that he would “never do anything that conflicts” with the company’s licensed brands. “It’s tapered, sexy clothing, and [the other designer brands] would reject this if we showed it

to them. So we did it ourselves. It’s like a football player who sees there’s nobody be-tween him and a touchdown. He just grabs it and runs with it.”

The ultimate goal for Wurtzburger is to eventually take the label beyond North American shores. The company has ad-vertised in L’Uomo Vogue and is currently in talks with retailers in other countries, which he declined to name. And within the next couple of years he may also consider showing at Pitti Uomo in Florence.

“But we’re trying not to let it get too much exposure,” he said. “We want it keep it special.”

And where does Wurtzburger hope the line will be in five years?

“We would like it to be the number-one fashion label sold in America,” he said. “We want to challenge the European brands. It would be nice if we could get the volume to $20 million.”

Men’s Week

Looks from the Tallia Orange collection.

Tallia Orange: The Birth of a Brand

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Styles from spring 2012.

© 2011 DuPont. The DuPont Oval Logo, DuPont™, the miracles of science™ and Teflon® are trademarks or registered trademarks of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

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1 kids’ fancy dress party

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