Phot

ogra

ph b

y G

eorg

e C

hins

eeDAILY EDITION 2 AUGUST 2016 1

Fashion. Beauty. Business.

Key TimeHalle Berry and Christian Louboutin have teamed to help raise funds for Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure campaign. PAGE 3

Artist SearchDesigners like Viktor & Rolf and Gucci are using Instagram to find collage artists to create works for the platform. PAGE 11

Mercedes Castillo, the former creative director of accessories at Tory Burch, is introducing her own collection of footwear, handbags, jewelry and ready-to-wear with the backing of Camuto Group. The spring line is inspired by modern sculptural shapes and proportions and features bold colors and ornamentation. Here, a first look at Castillo’s point of view. For more, see page 4.

ACCESSORIES

A New Mercedes

CONTINUED ON PG. 6

● Shops are returning to their bread and butter and working on improving the in-store experience.

BY EVAN CLARK

Retailers are starting to rediscover their top shelf stores.

After something of a digital spree, a WWD analysis of capital expenditure data shows that most of the major broadline retailers are once again spending on their bread and butter — the physical stores that produce the lion’s share of their sales, particularly the flagships in key areas that are seen as having the greatest potential.

That’s not to say that they’ve left e-commerce or the bricks-and-clicks approach of omnichannel behind. But after a few years of heavy technology spending and a steady drip of store closures, retailers are looking to make

BUSINESS

Retailers SpendingCapEx Dollars On Stores

● Birchbox has raised $15 million in bridge financing as it pushes toward profitability.

BY ALLISON COLLINS

There’s plenty of life in the beauty sub-scription model yet.

After Unilever’s reported $1 billion deal to acquire subscription grooming site Dollar Shave Club, a pioneer in the space — Birchbox — has raised $15 million in bridge financing from exist-ing investors that is meant to act as a cushion as the company works towards profitability.

Sources close to the company said that Birchbox is expected to become profitable by the end of 2016.

“Birchbox raised a $15 million round of internal financing from existing investors to bridge the company to profitability,” said chief executive officer Katia Beauchamp. “Birchbox’s investors are very supportive of the

BEAUTY

Beauty Subscription Model Gets Another Boost

CONTINUED ON PG. 11

Busier Than EverCosmoprof North America saw sharp increases in visitors and exhibitors. PAGE 5

Fashion +

GLOBAL

Tokyo Fashion Week Starts in Challenging EconomyGrowth in tourist spending is softening, but affluent...

They’re not freshmen—or even sophomores—and already they’ve made names for themselves on...

Only 750 places of the two eatch models will be produced...

Milan’s Next Wave: Mens Designers to Watch

Berluti, Hublot Partner on Limited-Edition Timepieces

FASHION BUSINESS

Business + Beauty + Mens + Runway + Accessories +

SUBSCRIBE

You’ll Never Look At Fashion The Same

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES, PLEASE CONTACT PAMELA FIRESTONE, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER AT 212 256 8103 OR PFIRESTONE@WWD.COM

THE P OWER OF CONTENT

The new .com Coming This September

2 AUGUST 2016 3

● The actress is the face of the 2016 Key to the Cure campaign, and Christian Louboutin designed a limited-edition T-shirt for it.

BY JESSICA IREDALE

Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure campaign is always a team effort of A-list talent from fashion and Hollywood. Now in its 18th year, the 2016 cancer research campaign will feature Halle Berry as the face of the initiative, wearing a limit-ed-edition T-shirt designed by Christian Louboutin.

Past ambassador/designer combina-tions have included Julianne Moore and Jason Wu; Jennifer Aniston and Peter Dundas; Gwyneth Paltrow and Karl Lagerfeld. The 2016 campaign is the first time Saks has partnered with an accesso-ries designer on the project.

“When Saks first asked me to partici-pate in this project I felt honored,” said Louboutin, who designed a white T-shirt with a trompe l’oeil necklace and an illustration of a pink stiletto on it, which Berry wears with ripped jeans and nude pumps in the campaign. “I consider this important and a great cause.”

The campaign breaks Oct. 1, when the T-shirt will be available for $35 at all Saks Fifth Avenue locations in U.S. and Canada as well as on saks.com and saksoff5th.com. Saks has long worked with the Entertainment Industry

Foundation on Key to the Cure. For the second year in a row, 100 percent of the sales of the T-shirts will benefit Stand Up to Cancer, an EIF offshoot created to fuel innovative cancer research through col-laboration among leading scientists from different institutions and disciplines.

“Key to the Cure is one of the most important and valuable fund-raising and charitable initiatives that Saks under-takes,” said Marc Metrick, president of Saks Fifth Avenue. “We are committed to supporting the causes we believe in, and at almost two decades old, this annual campaign has raised close to $40 million for cancer research and treatment orga-nizations throughout the United States. This year, we are thrilled to collaborate with SU2C for the second year in a row, as well as have the support of Halle Berry and Christian Louboutin on our extraordinary campaign to fund cancer research and treatment.”

“I, like so many others, have been touched by cancer, which is why I’m proud to continue to lend my support to the Entertainment Industry Foundation and Stand Up to Cancer in serving as this year’s Key to the Cure ambassador,” said Berry.

To support the cause, Saks hosts an annual charity shopping weekend begin-ning Oct. 27 at its 40 locations. Organi-zations which benefited from Saks Key to the Cure charity include the Breast Can-cer Research Foundation, EIF’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund, Cleveland Clinic, Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Nevada Cancer Institute.

FASHION

Halle Berry, Louboutin Team For Saks’ Key to the Cure

Sun’s Out, Buns Out: The Shortest Shorts Of the Summer ● Shorts with virtually nonexistent inseams are an ever-growing trend. A recent heatwave in New York gave the style major exposure.

● Teen Choice Awards 2016 Red Carpet Arrivals

● ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Cheryl Burke is New Face Of Angels Forever Young Jeans

● They Are Wearing: Paris Men¹s Fashion Week Spring 2017

● They Are Wearing: Paris Couture Week

Global Stock TrackerAs of close August 1, 2016

ADVANCERS

DECLINERS

Kose Corp. +8.87%

Luen Thai Holdings Ltd. +7.44%

Inter Parfums Inc. +6.15%

Prada SpA +5.64%

Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. +3.71%

Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. -5.40%

Tailored Brands Inc. 4.98%

Sears Holdings Corp. -3.96%

Matsuya Co. Ltd. -3.94%

Myer Holdings Ltd. -3.37%

TOP 5TRENDINGON WWD.COM

Top

5 ph

otog

raph

by

Aur

ora

Rose

; Dav

id b

y Ka

lory

Ltd

● David had been fashion director at the London store.

BY SAMANTHA CONTI

LONDON – Harrods is relying on insiders to nurture the business in challenging times.

On Monday, the company revealed that long-time staffer Helen David has been promoted to chief merchant at Harrods.

David joined Harrods in 2008, and has over-seen projects including Shoe Heaven, Super-brands, Mini Superbrands and the refurbishment of the Fine Jewellery rooms.

She steps into the role that was most recently held by Marigay McKee, who left the store in 2013 to become president of Saks Fifth Avenue. McKee has since left Saks and runs her own company, MM Luxe Consulting.

David was previously fashion director of women’s wear, accessories, fine jewelry and children’s wear, overseeing buying teams respon-sible for more than two-thirds of the store.

A former banker, David originally joined

Harrods as a buyer, having previously worked at Net-a-porter.com and at Saks Fifth Avenue. She is a graduate of Tufts University.

“We are delighted and proud to have Helen leading the future merchandise strategy for our business,” said Michael Ward, Harrods’ managing director. David will continue to report to Ward.

In 2013, David was promoted to her most recent role alongside Jason Broderick, who became fashion director of men’s wear, sports and watches. Before that promotion, David was Harrods’ general merchandise manager of wom-en’s wear and fine jewelry.

Separately, Ward has confirmed that he will be staying on as managing director of Harrods indefinitely, after revealing plans to step down earlier this year.

“Due to changes in the U.K.’s current and future economic landscape, we need to ensure that Harrods continues to thrive and remains ahead of the competition,” he told WWD.

“To make certain that we continue to deliver growth and see the value of our most important investments come to fruition...I will be staying on as leader of the business and will be working with the leadership team to outline a clear plan for Harrods for the next few years.”

Earlier this year, Ward was named chairman of Walpole, the alliance of British luxury brands, including Aston Martin, Alexander McQueen, Burberry, Jimmy Choo, Mulberry and Redman Whiteley Dixon.

He is also serving his second term as president of the ECCIA, the European Creative and Cultural Industries Alliance, and is a longtime advocate for loosening restrictions on foreign entry visas to promote tourism in the U.K.

BUSINESS

Harrods’ Helen David Promoted to Chief Merchant

Halle Berry in Saks’ Key to the Cure campaign.

Helen David

4 2 AUGUST 2016

● The footwear, handbag, jewelry and ready-to-wear collection is backed by Camuto Group.

BY LISA LOCKWOOD

NEW YORK — Mercedes Castillo is ready to step into the limelight.

This week, the former creative director of accessories at Tory Burch unveils her first namesake collection of footwear, handbags, jewelry and ready-to-wear backed by Camuto Group. The company plans to present Cas-tillo’s spring line to such high-end retailers as Nordstrom, Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Net-a-porter during the Fashion Footwear Association of New York, or FFANY, Shoe Expo.

“It’s very tight, very special and very ele-vated. It’s sculptural, polished, clean and very feminine. That’s what we stand for,” said the Madrid-born Castillo, in an interview Monday morning at Camuto’s offices at 1370 Avenue of the Americas, before presenting to Nordstrom that afternoon.

“The brand is very much inspired by architecture and midcentury design,” said the designer.

Architecture plays a prominent role in her designs, which are characterized by modern sculptural shapes and proportions, bold colors and ornamentation. Born and educated in Spain, Castillo holds a degree in fashion design from Institución Artística de Enseñanza in Madrid. She earned her master’s degree in fashion design from the Domus Academy in Milan. Prior to studying fashion design, she studied law and earned her bachelor’s degree from CEU San Pablo University in Madrid.

Starting out at Gianfranco Ferré in Milan as the designer of women’s and men’s shoes, small leather goods and men’s leather-wear, Castillo then moved to Donna Karan Collection and DKNY for 10 years, where she designed footwear. Ten years ago, she joined Tory Burch, where she launched the designer’s footwear collection in a develop-ment partnership with Camuto Group, and designed her accessories. Her work on the brand’s shoes and accessories collections earned Tory Burch the ACE Award for Acces-sories Brand Launch of the Year in 2007 and

the Accessory Designer of the Year Award in 2008. She has also served as creative director of contemporary brands at Camuto Group. Castillo, who had offices at both Camuto and Burch, left Burch last August.

“Mercedes and I worked together for many years, she is an incredibly talented designer; I am happy about her new venture and know that it will be a great success,” said Burch.

In developing her own collection, Castillo said she wanted to design something “current and relevant” and just didn’t want to come up with another brand in the market. Her goal was to create one that reflected how people really dress today.

“Art has very much become everyday life for everybody. Art and architecture are every-body’s passion today,” she said.

The collection is designed to appeal to all age groups and across a variety of styles. The footwear collection, for instance, runs the gamut from casual sneakers to sexy, high-heeled dressy sandals.

“We like the idea of having a collection that has depth and is very relevant. There is a thread between everything we’re working on, and there’s a point of view,” she said.

Castillo’s footwear features such design ele-ments as bicolored stacked lacquered heels; origami folded uppers; leather spiral pom-pom details; braided leather tubular uppers; leather sculptural ruffles; leather smocking; chiffon, leather and suede petal details, and cutouts. At the other end of the spectrum are sneakers, sliders and mules with minimal ornamentation.

Handbags, which have a sportier look, include elevated market bags, soft leather collapsible totes and day bags, several with leather-wrapped hardware.

Ready-to-wear will launch as a capsule and will be available on an e-commerce site that launches in February. The offering includes wide pants; tops with exaggerated sleeves; dresses, and a sleeveless top with a peplum, in such fabrics as washed linen with leather

detail, double-faced cotton, silk and silk faille.The jewelry, which is bold and architec-

tural, follows the same geometric forms that are evident in the footwear and handbags. The jewelry selection includes statement cocktail rings, big cuffs, simple bangles and leather pom-pom earrings.

Castillo’s footwear will retail from $275 to $600, while her handbags range from $750 to $2,000. Ready to wear and jewelry haven’t been priced yet.

“We didn’t want to compromise on quality,” said Castillo. Footwear is manufac-tured in Brazil and Spain, the handbags are manufactured in Italy, the rtw is produced in New York and the jewelry in Brazil. Castillo said she is sourcing the collection in some of Camuto’s factories and because of the elevated quality, is adding new ones.

“We’re going to create some [rtw] looks that set a tone for the overall brand, hoping to develop it more as times goes on,” she said. The rtw will eventually hang near such resources as Isabel Marant, Alexander Wang and Suno. Footwear, jewelry, handbags and rtw will each be targeted to different depart-ments in department stores. The brand is not logo driven at all, and has a subtle Mercedes Castillo name on the handbags and on the inside sole of the footwear.

Castillo said she had been thinking about designing her own line for a number of years, and that the late Vince Camuto, founder of the company, had a vision for her to do that.

While Castillo described Burch’s aesthetic as “easy for me to understand and beautiful,” she said, “this definitely is closer to my heart. I feel more represented personally.”

The addition of the Mercedes Castillo brand allows Camuto to expand its portfolio into a whole new territory, creating a new halo for the company.

“We think it’s different than everything out there and we’re hoping retailers will agree with us,” said Alex Del Cielo, chief executive officer of Camuto Group, who declined to give a first-year projection. “We’ll see how it goes.”

ACCESSORIES

Mercedes Castillo Steps Out on Her Own

Mercedes Castillo

Looks from Mercedes Castillo’s spring 2017 collection.

Phot

ogra

phs

by G

eorg

e C

hins

ee

2 AUGUST 2016 5

● Cosmoprof North America saw a bevy of beauty trends on display.

BY FAYE BROOKMAN

Skin care, masks, devices and natural prod-ucts dominated the landscape at Cosmoprof North America. This year’s show set a new record for attendance at 33,750, an increase of 12.5 percent over 2015.

Held last week at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, the busi-ness-to-business beauty event featured a 10 percent expansion in show space. Some of that footage was turned over to new concepts.

“Cosmoprof North America 2016 exceeded our expectations in terms of increase in the number of attendees and the positive feed-back to all our special initiatives, including the unveiling of the Discover Green [eco-friendly, clean, organic and/or natural beauty products] area,” said Daniela Ciocan, CPNA marketing director. “With focused sections dedicated to specific market segments, Cos-moprof North America is the launchpad for innovative products from indies and start-up

brands alike with close to 1,200 companies coming from 37 countries.”

The much-buzzed-about Discover Beauty, Tones of Beauty and Discover Scent helped bring in retailers including Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, Amazon Beauty, Lord & Taylor, Kohl’s, QVC, HSN and Walgreens Boots Alliance, according to Ciocan. Addition-ally numerous national and regional stores were in attendance along with large distrib-utors. They joined the throngs of salon and professional beauty operators on the hunt for the next big item.

With consumers looking for instant fixes, exhibits of devices, whether they eradicate acne or wrinkles or promote hair growth, were high-traffic areas.

Among the offerings was LightStim, which produces devices for wrinkles, acne and pain. In addition to adding colors, the latest versions have indicators to tell when it is time to move the light. After many years of development, the company also unveiled a new professional LED Bed said to promote total body wellness.

HairMax expanded its LaserBand, which uses laser light to energize hair follicles to stimulate hair growth, with a faster model, designed to especially appeal to men who

represent the bulk of sales at this time.Another device generating buzz was Dafni’s

heated hairbrush, recently pinpointed as a huge seller by Dermstore.com.

Professional styling tool company Theorie has added a thermal brush for straightening called the Saga Thermal Styling Brush. Set to retail for less than $100, it allows for adjust-able controls and is good for all hair types.

In the category of building an enhanced power scrubber, Aura Clean System has an Orbital Facial Brush and Cleaning Station so brushes get cleaned between use.

The instant results produced by masks unleashed a flurry of entries. Chaleur, a mask activated by hot water, won the best of Discover Beauty, earmarked for its market potential.

Perhaps the busiest stand was ChinUp. Throngs of attendees stopped in to don a special band wrapped around their chins for 30 minutes. Before and after photos showed a visible chin lift.

Other masks vying for attention included Korean brand Vitabrid C, which uses a stable powder form of vitamin C; Beauty Solutions, a sheet mask with pure retinol; bioBelle, a parabens and gluten free mask with no GMOs; Hey Honey Show Your Glow,

and Doll Face, which launched “Little Black Mask,” (complete with a wardrobe encasing it like a little black dress). “Masks are here to stay, especially for Milllennials,” said Lisa Winarick, company cofounder. Doll Face also unwrapped a cold cream with an elegant twist and elimination of some of the chemicals in traditional cold creams such as parabens.

Other standouts in the Discover Beauty area included Hey Honey, which is adding greater distribution and has a new look; CLE, a new brand created by four young Korean women with hero items including a Melting Lip Powder; Simy Skin designed for different life stages; Talika, known best for its eye products but soon to be joined by a small LED acne and wrinkle-reducer tool and Daily Con-cepts, a bath company with items for mass and class distribution. Garnering attention for its vegan positioning was Velvet 59 by Paris Manning.

Dr. Russo Sun Protective Skincare featured a “washon” technology and delivery method with the first FDA compliant facial cleanser, shower gel and hand soap with SPF 30. Peo-ple often avoid the eye area when applying sun protection and this line touts than it can be used safely around eyes.

The movement to better skin care from within continues to gather steam with a com-pany called Be Bella started by sisters whose dad is a biochemist active at the event.

All signs point to a revival in the nail market with entries such as OPI’s unique Gel Break, a line for women who want to fortify nails between gel applications. Technology is moving swiftly in the nail category and OPI founder Suzi Weiss-Fischmann said such developments as waterless manicures will bow in the future.

Red Carpet Manicure showed a new collec-tion of long-wearing lacquers for high shine.

With the synergy with salons, hair products were ubiquitous on the floor – especially with items for men. Farouk is introducing a collection with Esquire magazine. Shark Tank discovery Simple Sugars added men’s this year, according to company founder Lani Lazzari. “Men like more simple skin care,” she said. Emu oil, in many of her items, is taking off like a rocket, Lazzari said. Another new men entry was from Big Boy featuring grooming products for men’s hair, especially beards. Ingredients in the products from Sicily include olive oil, argan oil, cactus and capers.

Click n Curl, a unique system where han-dles detach from curlers so the curlers can remain during blowouts, is adding an extra small curler. At Macademia Professional Prod-ucts, the Eprouvage line, launched late last year, is proving a winner at locations such as Ulta Beauty for its fuller-looking hair results.

Color lines were showing fresh products to take advantage of the booming color cosmetics business. A new entry was Note, a masstige line from Turkey seeking U.S. expan-sion. In addition to dramatic colors it has no chemicals and is not tested on animals.

Doucce Cosmetics has found sampling at great tool with plans to double that practice over the next year.

The Discover Green area was overflowing with green entries highlighted by Jurlique and Skin Yoga. One of Jurlique’s showstoppers was its Rosewater Balancing Mist. The ingredi-ents in SkinYoga’s portfolio are procured from a place where nature plays a role to produce them and that no pesticides or plant growth hormones are used.

Products were key, but technology also was front-and-center at the show. Perfect Corp. maker of YouCam Makeup, took honors for the Trendsetter Award, selected from 1,200 exhibiting brands. YouCam Makeup collabo-rated with four brands in the Discover Beauty section of Cosmoprof North America, to showcase their up-and-coming beauty prod-ucts and give attendees the ability to virtually apply makeup.

BEAUTY

Cosmoprof Raises Roof On Attendance, Innovation

YouCam won the Trendsetter award at

Cosmoprof North America.

6 2 AUGUST 2016

● The agency brought on the influencer network to deepen its digital talent pool and forge relationships with beauty brands.

BY RACHEL BROWN

Sway Group is widening its sphere of influence.

The content marketing agency has acquired iFabbo, a network of beauty, fash-ion and lifestyle influencers, to deepen its pool of digital talent and forge relationships with beauty and fashion brands. The deal brings iFabbo’s roughly 3,000 leading influ-encers, including an estimated 75 percent of the top beauty bloggers, to Sway Group’s array of more than 90,000 bloggers and vloggers. Terms were not disclosed.

“Our influencers are getting older, as happens to all of us, so we were super excited last year to meet [iFabbo founder] Sinead [Norenius-Raniere]. We are both female founders who started our companies with no outside funding. We connected and immediately saw a way for our two compa-nies to work together. What is so amazing about iFabbo is that its influencer base is primarily Millennial, which is a terrific counterpoint to our network,” said Danielle Wiley, chief executive officer of Sway Group. “Sinead and iFabbo are also just so well-con-nected in the beauty and fashion worlds, so we are super excited to add that to extend what we do and build our client base.”

Norenius-Raniere, who established

iFabbo in 2012, will guide iFabbo as an advi-sor to Sway Group. She bought iFabbo back from Women’s Marketing Inc. in March after selling it to the media company in 2014. Sway Group and iFabbo are headquartered in San Francisco.

“I wanted to find a home for iFabbo with a core focus on the influencer space. We can expand our network and really build the community with the education and support of the Sway Group,” said Norenius-Raniere. “I will continue to recruit influencers into our network and work very closely with Danielle [Wiley] to expand our product offering and think of creative ways to

engage with fashion and beauty brands.”Sway Group specializes in sponsored dig-

ital campaigns and has executed nearly 930 campaigns since its launch in 2011. It began with 25 high-profile mom bloggers and rap-idly grew from there. Two years ago, Sway Group made its first acquisition — and only until iFabbo — with the pick-up of blogger community SITS Girls. “We have two mis-sions that live side by side. We really pride ourselves in high-quality content no matter what the brand is, and our other mission is elevating women and making sure they are paid fairly,” said Wiley.

IFabbo specializes in influencer product

seeding and developed back end technology to seed quickly. The technology helps direct merchandise to the appropriate influencers. Skin-care items to fight acne, for example, are targeted to people with acne-prone skin. Around 60 percent of iFabbo’s influencers concentrate on beauty, and 40 percent emphasize fashion and lifestyle topics. Its network stretches well beyond the U.S. borders, and has a robust presence in the U.K. and Australia.

“It’s really important that we get the right product to the right bloggers both from a brand perspective and from a blogger perspective. They hate getting shipped products that absolutely aren’t a fit for them,” said Norenius-Raniere, who noted that, with the Sway Group partnership, “Our incredible bloggers will have a tremen-dous opportunity from a paid perspective. We didn’t do a lot of sponsored campaigns in the past.”

Dermalogica, Strivectin, T3, Foreo, Becca, Dr. Brandt and Rodan + Fields are among the beauty brands that have relied on iFabbo to get their products in the hands of influencers. Sway Group has completed campaigns for beauty brands and retailers such as John Frieda, Ulta Beauty, Dove and CVS, but aims to strengthen its ties to the beauty and fashion sectors with iFabbo in its portfolio.

Sway Group is broadening its reach as digital media becomes a bigger component of most marketers’ advertising mixes. “We are seeing as an influencer agency that we are increasingly reached out to by brands, and they are not going through their PR or advertising agencies,” said Wiley. “Influ-encer agencies are getting a seat at the table and that opens up more funds for these campaigns, and does show this content is super valuable and is deserving of an official piece of the budget pie.”

BEAUTY

Sway Group Acquires iFabbo

company and its ambitious long-term vision, and continue showing their confidence in the business through this financing round.”

The pioneer of the beauty box busi-ness raised the capital as some beauty and subscription models are being her-alded for their success. The Unilever deal for Dollar Shave Club underscores the relevance of the model, according to Ken Wasik, managing director of Ste-phens Inc.’s consumer practice. “Any time you get a consumer to sample your item the retention rates and con-version rates skyrocket,” he said, citing both Proactiv and Dollar Shave Club as successful subscription models. “There is a smaller sample of the population that [Birchbox] fits perfectly,” Wasik said.

Birchbox’s investor lineup includes Accel, Aspect Ventures, Bullish, First Round, Forerunner Ventures, Glynn Capital Management, Grace Beauty Capital, Grape Arbor VC, Harrison Metal and Lerer Hippeau Ventures, as well as individuals.

“[The bridge financing] is likely a way for the company to maintain focus on an operating plan that they’ve put in place…in order to get them to an eventual sale or other form of capital,” said Martin Okner, managing director at SHM Corporate Navigators.

Birchbox’s recent moves — including layoffs — have been motivated by its drive towards getting into the black. Since the beginning of the year, the company has cut roughly a quarter of its staff — about 80 employees. After the latest round of layoffs in June, Beauchamp wrote: “We are one of the fortunate companies that is growing and has supportive investors, but today’s climate demands growth companies make changes to show a more immediate path to profitability, conserve cash in uncertain times and rethink cost structures in order to sus-tain and build a company that can both survive and thrive in any market.”

The business has also put its retail rollout on hold and decided to alter its points system, which gives custom-ers discounts, so that customers earn

points only for their first five product reviews and points expire after six months. That decision prompted some customer backlash on social media. Last year, Birchbox engaged J.P. Mor-gan Chase & Co. to explore options, sources said.

Birchbox currently brings in about 65 percent of its revenues from its $10 sub-scription box service, and 35 percent from the sale of full-sized products, the company said.

Birchbox’s latest capital infusion follows the company’s previous $60 million Series B round in April 2014. After that round, which valued the company at about $485 million, the business expanded and opened its first retail location, with plans to eventually open more. Several sources suggested that in those days, Birchbox took on too much, too quickly, but stressed that the company still has a chance to make it — especially in an environment where subscription models are proving attractive.

“They need to either focus on being a retail company or being a media company — that’s their fundamental issue,” said Okner. “For a prestige com-pany, as a media channel or more of an awareness-and-trial-building vehicle, that becomes the cost center. I think they’ve been really pressured by a lot of manufacturers to become more of a retailer, and that obviously comes at the expense of media.”

“They’re sort of caught in the middle right now and they need to pick a path,” Okner continued. “They’re not dead. They’ve got a viable model, they just need to retrench and focus on their core.”

In 2015, Birchbox hired a team to

oversee the brick-and-mortar expan-sion strategy. At the time, Beauchamp told WWD: “Our expansion in bricks-and-mortar wasn’t on plan when we launched five years ago — we were focused on the subscription-box model and on sampling. But as we evolved, we realized that this business is about underserved consumers. We can’t be just one channel. And as we have become a much larger company, it’s become really important for us to have both expertise and entrepreneurial tenacity. Our roots are online and user experience is key — we want to make sure they will be delighted in-store, too. It made sense to focus on hiring a team with extensive experience in retail.”

While some industry sources have expressed skepticism about Birch-box’s decision to go into retail, not all experts agreed.

“I think you need stores,” said Jane Hali, ceo of Jane Hali & Associates, a retail analysis business. “If you look at any retailer, if they have e-commerce, if they have small stores, if they have off-price — all of those channels are another touchpoint for the brand, and the more touchpoints, the more conversion.”

Customers who have shopped at Birchbox’s retail outposts have a 2.5 times higher lifetime value with the business, according to the company.

But for now, Birchbox’s focus remains on e-commerce. “We’re still very focused on being digitally native while continuing to grow and enhance our omnichannel efforts; we want to remain predominantly digital with a smaller, more impactful offline pres-ence,” Beauchamp said.

Beauty Subscription Model Gets Another Boost CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Katia Beauchamp

An example of iFabbo’s product-seeding campaigns.

2 AUGUST 2016 7

● The Sant’Angelo Church was brimming with several members of the Marzotto and Borromeo families, as well as fashion personalities such as Anna Molinari, Franca Sozzani, Eva Cavalli and Beppe Modenese.BY LUISA ZARGANI AND ALESSANDRA TURRA

MILAN — Countess Marta Marzotto’s ease in embracing both high- and low-brow culture stood out clearly on Monday at her funeral, held at the city’s central Sant’Angelo Church, filled to capacity with both the famous and not-so-famous. Bodyguards circled around Marzotto’s granddaughter Beatrice Borromeo and her husband Pierre Casiraghi, as well as Matilde and Lavinia Borromeo, married to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chairman John Elkann.

“We did not expect the church to be so full today, the first day of August,” said Matteo Marzotto, Marta’s son, referring to a month that is generally considered quiet in Milan. Visibly moved, the audience clapped a few times to encourage him in his speech.

“I don’t remember ever seeing a photo of her where she was not smiling,” he said, remembering her cheerful disposition and ironic streak. “And she continued to smile until the end.”

Marzotto marveled at the avalanche of sup-port for the family after his mother’s death. “I received 2,500 messages in three days, and I am [only one family member].” His siblings Paola, Vittorio and Diamante were also in

attendance.The designer died Friday at age 85. Coin-

cidentally, July 29 was Saint Marta and the family requested the readings would match those from mass that day. “She said she wanted a party with music,” said the minister, Davide Banzato.

In an emotional speech, Beatrice Borro-meo, daughter of Paola Marzotto, highlighted her grandmother’s playful spirit, defining her as “an unconditional ally.” Her first gift was a giant Easter egg, which Borromeo and her siblings proceeded to break into and walk in — literally. “The only rule she had was to return home before 7 in the morning. One time we both got back at 8. She looked at me and said: ‘It’s not such a restricted rule — but don’t tell your mom.’”

Borromeo recalled Marzotto’s generosity. “She would take what she was wearing — necklaces, bracelets — and give them as gifts and that was what made her happy. Her room in the hospital had become a souk, full of packets and she would look around and say that nobody had such a beautiful family. Nobody will be able to replace my grand-mother. The pain is directly proportional to the joy of having spent 30 years with her. She was a free spirit, she taught us how to be curious and learn about new foods, different people, new cultures, to never be lazy. Fan-tasy is the most beautiful gift she gave us.”

Her brother Carlo Ludovico Borromeo with his wife fashion designer Marta Ferri, their eldest son Cristoforo and his mother-in-law Barbara Frua were also in the church. Pitti Immagine president Gaetano Marzotto was among the family members attending the funeral.

Members from the fashion industry included Camera Nazionale della Moda

honorary chairman Beppe Modenese and architect Piero Pinto; Vogue Italia editor in chief Franca Sozzani; Eva Cavalli; Blumarine founder and creative director Anna Molinari; Carla Braccialini; photographer Giovanni Gas-tel; Rita Airaghi, cousin of the late Gianfranco Ferré, and jeweler Fiammetta De Simone. Among others attending the service were Afef Jnifen, wife of Pirelli Group chief executive officer Marco Tronchetti Provera; Italian man-ager Carlo Alessandro Puri Negri; art critic Philippe Daverio, and actor Paolo Kessisoglu.

FASHION

Marta Marzotto’s Funeral Held in Milan on Monday

● The Biscayne Boulevard store also highlights the designer’s new sunglasses collection.

BY REBECCA KLEINMAN

MIAMI – Trina Turk relocated to mainland Miami after being in Bal Harbour Shops since 2009. But in a move as bold as her signature prints, the designer didn’t follow the herd to the Miami Design District, opting instead for the Upper Eastside corridor of Biscayne Boulevard. The emerging neighborhood’s mid-century modern architecture, especially motels with names like Vagabond, Shalimar and Seven Seas, felt familiar to the California girl. The store’s single-story, 4,500-square-foot layout is also on par with the Palm Springs flagship, and both have multiple entrances for defined sections including full assortments of Mr. Turk men’s wear and

home collections, which were previously limited in Miami.

“Our number one store is Palm Springs, which grew bit by bit as surrounding space became available to annex, so this mini-de-partment store model obviously strikes a chord with our customers,” said Turk, who doesn’t mind being ahead of gentrification. “We pioneered Gansevoort Street in New York before the Whitney and High Line, and Biscayne Boulevard is at least further along than Palm Canyon Drive was at the time.”

The simultaneous arrival of other retail-ers — Beacon Hill Chocolates, Panther Coffee and Fly Boutique, a popular destination for vintage clothing — validated her decision. In meeting “actual” locals, she learned that the majority avoids South Beach’s parking headaches; it won’t be an issue here with 15 spaces behind the building. Acknowledging the absence of foot traffic, Turk is embrac-ing the 40,000 cars that drive by on a daily

basis, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

“There’s an iconic Coppertone girl bill-board a block away, so we’re creating backlit signage with that vibe.”

David Mann, whose MR Architecture + Décor firm designed her stores in Bal Harbour, Atlanta and Dallas, knows Miami’s vintage furniture shops well, and she likes to hit the cluster along NE 125th Street. They filled the turquoise and citron setting with authentic and inspired 20th-century pieces. Grass cloth and philodendron-printed wallpa-per add to the tropical mood.

The edit also reflects the market, such as lacy cover-ups that double as dresses. Exclu-sives begin shipping in the spring. It’s the third company store to represent all catego-ries of Mr. Turk, a result of strong online sales in the region and requests by Bal Harbour shoppers.

“That store was number one for swimwear, so we expect that business to continue with men’s now, too,” said Turk, who presented a fashion show at Style Saves fundraiser during Miami Swim Week. “Our colors and prints do well in resort towns.”

Right on cue for her new sunny locale, eyewear launches in September. The license with the McGee Group, which makes eyewear for Badgley Mischka, Vera Bradley and XOXO, among others, includes eight sunglasses and 14 optical frames. Sunglasses, which retail from $128 to $198, incorporate the brand’s DNA through Japanese and Italian acetates in custom colors like coral, pink and navy. Topanga, a retro, oversize round frame, picks up a signature print with hand-enameled flowers. Another floret logo appears as metal embellishment on temples and tips. Vintage inspired in shape, the collection is entirely modern in production from custom Italian laminations to HD printing.

Turk, who’s looking to expand in Florida, is testing Palm Beach County with a shop in shop that opened in May in Bloomingdale’s at the Gardens Mall. Freestanding stores bow at International Market Place in Honolulu in August, and in Los Angeles’ Larchmont Village in early 2017 (the West Third Street location closed six months ago).

“L.A. will have two storefronts for men’s and women’s but won’t be as big as Miami,” the designer said.

RETAIL

Trina Turk Unveils Miami Flagship

Diamante and Matteo Marzotto

Mar

zott

o ph

otog

raph

s by

And

rea

Del

bo

Franca Sozzani

One of the styles from Trina Turk’s new sunglasses collection.

8 2 AUGUST 2016

● He moves from overseeing Vans’ North America region to leading its global strategic direction.

BY KHANH T.L. TRAN

As Vans seeks to increase sales in new markets worldwide, VF Corp.’s skate brand has promoted Doug Palladini to global brand president.

In his new position, effective immediately, Palladini succeeds Kevin Bailey, who remains president of VF’s Action Sports Coalition, which includes Vans, Reef and Eagle Creek. Palladini is responsible for leading and managing the global strategic direction of the 50-year-old brand, while also enabling its regional teams to develop and deliver local strategies. He also oversees global marketing and product and maintains direct purview of sales in the Americas area.

Palladini has been immersed in the brand for the past 12 years. Since 2013, he has served as vice president and general manager of Vans’ North America region. In that capacity, he formed local initiatives for the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which helped the brand to surpass its sales targets early and hit $2.2 billion in revenue. He joined the Cypress, Calif.-based company in

2004 as head of its global marketing department. He’s also the author of “Vans: Off the Wall,” a col-lection of photographs and anecdotes published in 2009 that details the Southern California

company’s history.“Vans immediately became a part of my life

when I moved to California at age six and bought my first skateboard,” Palladini said. “After college, working at action sports magazines, I got to know incredible Vans athletes such as Geoff Rowley and Jamie Lynn and the company itself, which led to a very personal connection with the brand early in my career.”

His appointment comes at a time when VF is reshaping for the future. Even though its outdoor and action sports category reported a 2 percent increase in sales in the second quarter, the com-pany said last month that its total revenue grew less than 1 percent due to lackluster performance in the sportswear division. As a result, the group missed analysts’ targets for earnings per share. In June, VF also unloaded Seven For All Mankind, Splendid and Ella Moss to Delta Galil Industries in a bundle valued at $120 million. For perspec-tive, VF acquired Seven alone for $775 million in 2007.

Vans views Palladini, a 30-year veteran of the action sports industry, as instrumental to its brand identity and business growth.

“His remarkable leadership and deep connec-tion to Vans’ heritage will serve him well as he shapes the future of the brand for our employees and consumers around the world,” Bailey said.

BUSINESS

Vans Promotes Doug Palladini

● The processing technology enables cotton to effectively compete with synthetic fiber fabrics in the active and ath-leisure markets.

BY ARTHUR FRIEDMAN

Cotton Inc. and Nanotex have collaborated on a new technology called Nanotex Dry Inside aimed at enhancing cotton’s moisture management characteristic.

The patented Nanotex Dry Inside technology enables effective moisture transfer away from the skin, eliminating dampness and chaffing in 100 percent cotton apparel, while maintaining the additional comfort aspects of garments made from the natural fiber.

The processing technology enables cotton to compete with synthetic fiber fabrics in the active and ath-leisure markets, the companies said. Extensive testing on the technology at Cotton Inc.’s laborato-ries in Cary, N.C. showed that Nanotex Dry Inside outperformed 100 percent polyester and untreated cotton in one-way moisture transport and cling.

“In the last five years, we have seen tremendous growth in the active and ath-leisure markets and with this movement, customers have come to expect a high degree of comfort alongside a high level of performance,” said Randy Rubin, chief executive officer of Nanotex, a Crypton company that provides nanotechnology-based textile enhancements to the apparel, home and interiors markets. “The stum-bling block has been cotton’s innate absorbency and limited wicking abilities. Nanotex Dry Inside for

cotton is the solution. It enables Nanotex to give its customers what their customers are interested in — high-tech performance, plus the comfort of cotton.”

Nanotex Dry Inside is a technical print on the reverse side of the fabric that encourages the move-ment of moisture to the outside of the fabric through hydrophilic channels. Once moved from the inside to the outside, the moisture spreads and evaporates more readily, leaving the wearer dry and comfort-able without clogging the fabric weave or compro-mising the look, feel or breathability of the fabric.

“We sent Nanotex Dry Inside cotton through a battery of moisture management test methods, as well as our own cling force test,” said William Kim-brell, director of technology marketing at Cotton Inc. “We found that the Nanotex Dry Inside technology

created a high performing cotton product. Specif-ically, we saw cotton finished with Nanotex Dry Inside outperformed 100 percent polyester samples, as well as untreated cotton samples for moisture transport, and offered an 80 percent reduction in cling force.”

Cotton has lost market share in recent years to polyester and other fibers in the activewear and outdoor sectors through technology that has allowed fabrics to be constructed with performance characteristics.

“We see Nanotex Dry Inside for cotton impacting the active and ath-leisure markets in a tremendous way,” Rubin added. “It allows for the touch, look and feel of cotton to be experienced in a revolutionary new way, one that has long been desired.”

Nanotex has created a short video that will appear on its web site explaining the Nanotex Dry Inside technology and demonstrating its laboratory testing.

Nanotex and Cotton Inc., the research and promotion company of U.S. cotton producers, will showcase Nanotex Dry Inside at the Outdoor Retailer show that opens Wednesday in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Nanotex is comprised of a family of 11 products, such as Resists Spills, Releases Stains, Neutralizer and Coolest Comfort, and includes the important enhancement of the integration of a DNA marker to protect against counterfeiting. The brand has more than 100 manufacturer partners worldwide, includ-ing in branded apparel and outdoor gear.

THE MARKETS

Cotton Inc. Bonds With Nanotex On Dry Inside Technology

A shirt with Nanotex Dry Inside.

Vans global brand president Doug Palladini.

● A popular destination for shopping, dining and antiquing was badly damaged during a storm.

BY SHARON EDELSON Ellicott City, Md., a small, scenic town in Howard County that is 14 miles from Baltimore, on Monday was still sorting out the damage from Saturday evening’s flash flood, which unleashed 6.9 inches of rain on the area.

The National Weather Service said the rain was “like a once in a thousand years storm,” said Jon Weinstein, a council member for District 1 in Howard County.

Most of the damage occurred along Main Street in the historic downtown district, where some 70 businesses are located in a four-block area.

“Many businesses were very badly dam-aged,” said Andrew Barth, press secretary for the Howard County government. “Nothing is open and the entire town is closed indefinitely. There’s no damage cost estimate so far. It’s really hard to describe how fast the water moved. I’ve seen flash flooding before, but nothing like this.”

There were two deaths associated with the flooding. “It turned out to be a con-fluence of horrible circumstances,” Wein-stein said. “One victim was washed away trying to get to her car and another was in his car when it was washed away. About 180 cars were removed from the area today. Ten were in the river or channel.”

Weinstein said there were acts of her-oism, such as when Matthew Milani, the chef of Rumor Mill on Tiber Alley, led 47 patrons and eight staff members to safety through the roof of the restaurant.

From one end of Main Street, where a river runs underneath some of the buildings in the former mill town, to the top of the street, which has an elevation of about 200 feet, the amount of damage was different, dictated in part by a retailer’s location.

“It was a freak occurrence where the rain hit at the head of the creek and it swelled,” Barth said. “At the bottom, the entire street was swept away. The fronts of the stores were gone and you could see into the basements.”

Weinstein said about four buildings will need to be demolished, 20 have substan-tial or serious damage and others have varying levels of damage.

Retailers on Main Street include A Diva’z Boutique, contemporary clothing for teens to young adults; Boliwalou, designer labels; Craig Coyne Jewelers; Discoveries, occasion dresses and semi-precious jewelry; Sweet Elizabeth Jane, a vintage-inspired lifestyle store, and Zebop, fashion from around the world. Restau-rants, cafés, a wine shop and several pubs are also located on Main Street. “It’s one of the only places where you could go for high tea and get a tattoo,” Weinstein said.

“You can grab wine and go into a real neat hipster run place that has cool cloth-ing,” Barth said. “It’s constantly packed, even during the week it’s busy. It’s a weird area. That’s part of what its charm is. It was very, very popular and it will come back.”

RETAIL

Maryland Town’s BusinessesDevastated by Flash Floods

2 AUGUST 2016 9

● The family-run factoring firm will be honored at the ACE Awards.

BY DAVID MOIN

NEW YORK — What are two art lovers doing in the factoring business? Reposition-ing a family firm that’s been around for 78 years.

“There has been volatility. There used to be way more factors. Firms were bought by banks or disappeared,” said Cassie Rosen-thal, a former art gallery owner, now senior vice president of Rosenthal & Rosenthal Inc. and the granddaughter of the late Imre Rosenthal, who founded the business. “We are an independent operator at a time when factoring seems like a dinosaur. But we are redefining our business and branching out.”

“We’re looking at things from a differ-ent place,” added Eric Bader, senior vice president of Rosenthal & Rosenthal, who is married to Cassie Rosenthal’s first cousin and was formerly a classical oil painter by profession. “Cassie and I have the same kind of vision.”

Tonight, at the Accessory Council Excel-lence (ACE) Awards at Cipriani 42nd Street, Rosenthal & Rosenthal, the nation’s largest privately held factoring and financing firm, will be honored for “business leadership” in the apparel and accessories sectors, which still represent the firm’s core business.

“The ACE Awards recognition is partic-ularly meaningful because the accessories industry has always been such a huge part of Rosenthal’s business and growth over the years,” said J. Michael Stanley, managing director and head of factoring at Rosenthal & Rosenthal. The 17-year veteran of the com-pany is scheduled to accept the award.

Rosenthal and Bader represent a younger generation of managers and a new outlook on how to grow Rosenthal & Rosenthal. They’ve begun mining sectors for clients that hadn’t been tapped before, in part to offset recessionary trends in the fashion industry, and reworking the marketing to explain in simple terms what the company and factoring are all about. It’s also about bringing a human dimension to a kind of business that can been seen as stuffy.

“When you hear Rosenthal & Rosenthal for the first time, you might think it’s a law firm,” Rosenthal said, half-jokingly. “But we worked hard at redeveloping the language of what we are talking about here, in all of our marketing materials, even our advertising campaign and the visuals we use. It’s very obvious. We’re not dumbing it down. We’re explaining it in a way a regular person can understand.

“Over the years, Rosenthal & Rosenthal was in a very luxurious position,” she added. “We didn’t really have to work that hard to market ourselves. I don’t think we actually did market ourselves. We built a strong reputation and nice client base. Then it became abundantly clear that in today’s day and age, to reach different audiences and go beyond our traditional scope, we have to tell our story.”

Last year, the web site was redesigned, a marketing department was started and the firm’s first national print and digital ad campaign was launched, bearing a degree of levity. One ad depicts a suited executive with a stack of hats on his head and the tagline,

“Wearing too many hats?”“Before there was a novel’s worth of

language. We have really pared it back,” Bader said.

There is also a video series, including one shown in business class on Virgin America, United and American Airlines cross-country flights, and another outlining what Rosen-thal & Rosenthal does. Factoring, which provides manufacturers with the capital to produce merchandise for upcoming seasons without waiting weeks or months for retail-ers to pay up, accounts for 80 percent of the business; asset-based lending represents 20 percent. Rosenthal & Rosenthal will chase down unpaid invoices and assess retailers for clients, among other services.

The company, with 210 employees and about 550 clients, will launch a training department later this year to nurture talent, and last month started the Rosenthal Trade Capital division for alternative inventory financing for cash-constrained companies. It’s geared for manufacturers, wholesalers,

assemblers, importers and exporters con-fronting issues related to seasonality, rapid growth, being under-capitalized or undergo-ing turnarounds.

“Eric and I push the envelope a little more,” Rosenthal said. “I am very much rooted in new business strategy. I’m involved in the marketing, prospecting for clients, what industry sectors should we be looking at, diversifying our portfolio, seeing what the needs are out on the street and doing what is necessary to enter new markets. Furniture and apparel have been factored for a long time, but factoring isn’t necessarily on everyone’s radar.”

“If you don’t know about something, it can be scary,” said Bader, whose role has evolved from being an underwriter in the lending division to working with the chief financial officer on the finance side. “We

each have our own strengths, and we kind of know right away each thing we are working on, which one of us will take the lead on it. We don’t even really discuss it. We just know.”

For the two of them, it’s a matter of balance — supporting Rosenthal & Rosenthal traditions while innovating. “We try to main-tain that personalized service that we are known for, that personal contact we have on a daily basis,” said Rosenthal. “Our clients know they can just pop in and see us. That availability is really critical, especially in an age when everything is getting much more automated.”

If you are a client at Rosenthal & Rosen-thal, “a good portion of the time you are literally talking to someone who can make a decision or someone who is a Rosenthal,” said Bader. “There is no bureaucracy. In a bank, you may be talking to a decision maker who will have to go to regulator, slowing the process down. We understand the pressing nature of our clients’ needs.

Sometimes they need cash right away. We can react faster. We’re not subjected to the same regulations that public companies con-front. The concept of having money in your pocket today as opposed to waiting 30, 60, 90 days is great advantage. Having a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. It takes the pressure off entrepreneurs and business owners away from things they are not good at it. It allows them to focus on things they are good at which is developing their product or service, and puts the onus of collecting and managing receivables on us.”

Apparel, footwear and accessories “will always be our bread and butter, but we recognize that other industries could use our services,” said Rosenthal. “Any consumer product is a candidate.” Companies selling electronics, home goods, pet products, gifts,

food and technology are being targeted. About two years ago, Mad Style, which spe-cializes in gift-oriented apparel and accesso-ries, became a client. Another new client is Browne Trading — a distributor of caviar and other fine foods selling to restaurants like Daniel and Per Se.

“If it’s a company that actually has sales out there and has receivables, then it becomes about the people and the story, and whether we believe in the business,” said Bader.

For a decade, Rosenthal, who is 42, owned a gallery in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and another in Berlin. “In 2010, I left my business. My partner bought me out. I found it really frustrating and difficult in the art world. It wasn’t working for me, but I always thought I would be in the family busi-ness,” which she joined in 2012. “It seemed liked there was a real place for me.”

Bader, 36, was as an artist specializing in classical oil paintings and drawings. His work was displayed in galleries and shows across the country, such as the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, N.Y., and The Lily Pad Gallery in Rhode Island. “When I first got out of school, painting was fun for me but frankly, I’ve always had a much stronger interest in business and making money,” said Bader. “Art was simply not going to pay the bills so I got my MBA.” While at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, he worked as a part-time intern at Rosenthal & Rosenthal. “Once you are at Rosenthal, you

just don’t leave.”Other family members working at the

firm include Peter Rosenthal, president and Cassie Rosenthal’s brother, and their father, Stephen Rosenthal, who serves as chairman. Stephen’s brother Eric Rosenthal is vice chairman.

Cassie Rosenthal considers it a funny coincidence that she and Bader were both in the art world, decided to drop out and join the family business. “Eric and I tend to be on the same page on a lot of things. It has a lot to do with our background. We have a fresh perspective on finance and not always a linear perspective. Keep in mind, we are not a bank. We are not just looking at balance sheets and regulatory hurdles. We are creative lenders. The challenge is how do we convey our story, in a way that really resonates with people?”

BUSINESS

Factoring in the Family at Rosenthal & Rosenthal

Cassie Rosenthal and Eric Bader

Phot

ogra

ph b

y Jo

e S

child

horn

/BFA

nyc.

com

10 2 AUGUST 2016

● The new denim-centric launch was shot by Matt Jones and styled by Deb Watson.

BY SAMANTHA CONTI

LONDON — Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is changing out of its old denim — and stepping up the fashion quotient with a new collection and accompanying ad campaign. It will break in London’s Evening Standard newspaper on Tuesday.

The brand is set to unveil a collection for pre-fall that includes a diverse range of fabrics, washes, styles and fits aimed at customers in their Twenties and older, rather than teens.

“Denim has always been a part of our brand heritage, and we have put together a collection inspired by current trends and heritage pieces. We are listening to our customers, and believe they will love the new collection,” Ashley Sargent Price, creative director of marketing for Aber-crombie & Fitch Co., told WWD.

She said the company has finalized its brand positions and “has started to filter that thinking into our marketing campaigns.”

The denim launch comes with an ad campaign that was shot in New York by Matt Jones and styled by Deb Watson. The campaign aims to telegraph a “more sophisticated” point of view, according to Abercrombie.

A film, titled “The Blues,” featuring a song by Bo Diddley, the late R&B and blues musician, will

accompany the new ads.The collection includes a jumpsuit, cropped

flares and wide-leg boyfriend silhouettes. The classic skinny, flare, straight-leg, boyfriend and girlfriend styles are still part of the mix, and come in an array of hues and finishes.

For men, there’s an emphasis on stretch fab-rics, while new styles include a super skinny and a raw selvage. The denim collection also includes fleece, outerwear pieces, a denim jacket and a

peacoat.Abercrombie’s latest outing comes in the wake

of sister brand Hollister’s new and unconven-tional denim campaign that features more than 30 teenage customers dressed in jeans and expressing personal thoughts and feelings. That campaign, called #HCoJeansMovement, launched last month and will run through August.

The Standard will break the Abercrombie cam-paign later on Tuesday, and it will also appear in Elle, Marie Claire online and InStyle online.

The new denim collection and campaign come in the context of bigger changes at the company, which has been working at narrowing its losses and honing its offer. For years, teens had been driving double-digit sales, but those customers are now opting for cheaper fast-fashion brands.

In May, Arthur C. Martinez, executive chair-man, said an updated concept store format is also in the works at Abercrombie, with the first new units set to open later this year. He said the focus would be on consumers aged 20 years and up, with a “grown-up feeling in the store.”

In May, after months of management changes, the company named Stacia Andersen brand president for Abercrombie, and Kristin Scott the president of Hollister. Both report to Fran Horowitz, the company’s president.

Horowitz has said the key components of the company’s new strategy are being customer-cen-tric; delivering compelling and differentiated assortments; defining a clear positioning for the brands; optimizing brand reach and channel performance; improving efficiency, and reducing expenses.

The company said for fiscal 2016 it is expecting a challenging second quarter, but improvement in the second half. It plans to open 15 stores, with 10 in international markets, primarily in China. It also plans to open six outlet stores, and close up to 60 stores in the U.S. as leases expire.

MEDIA

Abercrombie & Fitch Unveils Collection and Ad Campaign

● The daughter of Max Azria left her post at BCBGeneration to launch a Millennial brand, Avec Les Filles.

BY MARCY MEDINA

LOS ANGELES — Joyce Azria has exited her post as creative director of BCBGeneration, the brand founded by her father Max Azria, to launch her own line, a contemporary brand aimed at Millennial women called Avec Les Filles.

Joyce Azria, 35, began her fashion career design-ing swimwear for BCBG right out of college, and has been creative director of its young contemporary brand, known as “Generation,” since 2009. In May, she decided it was time to leave the family nest and branch out on her own. The timing was certainly right; in March, her father left the role of chief executive officer as BCBGMaxAzria Group’s majority stakeholder Guggenheim Partners took financial control of the company that Azria founded 30 years ago. Her stepmother, Lubov, is still creative director of the BCBG and Hervé Leger brands.

“Everything was changing,” Azria said. “I had been super happy running Generation and seeing it grow, but it was very much from behind the veil of my father’s company. It was time to take a more primary role in my own brand.”

Funded by non-family member, private equity investors, Avec Les Filles, meaning “with the girls” in French, provides Azria with a new platform to be the friendly fashion adviser for the Millennial fashion customer. It also combines the current vogue for French-inspired fashion (think Zadig & Voltaire, San-dro, Maje and Joie, the latter of which is owned by her uncle, Serge, and all of which take a page from BCBG’s French twist on fashion) and designer-led

brands, where customers can identify with the actual person designing the products.

Avec Les Filles’ spring 2017 line will debut at Los Angeles market this week with a stable of accesso-ries licenses, from shoes, bags and hosiery to hats, scarves and belts, even fine jewelry.

“Most brands aimed at Millennials start around price, but we know that girls shop up for accessories. She can buy Chanel off Tradesy and get her clothes at Target. She’ll figure out a way to afford that Rebecca Minkoff bag,” Azria said.

She is savvy to the quickly changing shopping habits of young women, as well as the retail world’s need for new business models. Her line ranges in price from $18 up to $600 because “girls shop high and low, and retailers can decide where certain products work for them.”

The higher range of product includes aspira-tional leather bags, shoes and jackets, as well as fine jewelry, which young women are also starting to self-purchase. “It’s been exciting to build a brand that is in sync with the pace of the actual customer. It’s disruptive on a large scale,” she said.

Indeed, her years at BCBG and her connections in the Los Angeles apparel manufacturing world have enabled her to form high-level licensing and wholesale partnerships. The forthcoming apparel collection, launching with a web site in November, will be produced in-house and launch with one major retailer, to be revealed soon.

“The trend of a celebrity-driven brand is waning. Millennials want a real connection with a design-er-led brand, not actors or singers who have had other mediums for success,” Azria said.

She also has a forthcoming book espousing her own Millennial “moral code” on family, fashion and food. A mother of three boys and two girls, she’s an avid foodie who enjoys sharing her latest discoveries on Instagram. She also touts her entrepreneurial

friends including Clique Media Group’s Katherine Power and Hello Giggles cofounder Sophia Rossi as her support network.

As for her high-profile family, Azria said she’s proud of her “garmento” roots. “When people say, ‘Aren’t you worried people will think you got this far because of your family?’ I say, ‘I did. They taught me everything.’ My parents are still sounding boards. I go to my uncle with every investor question. They are part of everything I do, but I had to take this one alone.”

Her most important lesson still comes from her dad.

“He always said ‘In fashion if you’re not going to take a risk, then you are dead before you’ve started.’ When he started BCBG there was only juniors and misses’. He took a risk creating contemporary clothes. Now women are informed and want the best product at the best price and they will get it wherever they find it — online or in store. The old doesn’t work anymore, everyone wants a change. I’m excited to break down the walls and see where this takes us.”

THE MARKETS

Joyce Azria Goes It Alone

● The six-piece range looks to the brand’s British roots.

BY LORELEI MARFIL

LONDON — Denim label Lee Cooper is taking a cue from its heritage, with plans to launch The Cooper Collection, WWD has learned.

Inspired by the jeans launched in 1908 by Morris Cooper, the six-piece range looks to the brand’s British roots. The company was formerly a producer of workwear uniforms for British troops during both world wars. It shifted its fashion focus to denim in 1945, tapping into youth culture and counting on The Rolling Stones as fans.

The men’s and women’s styles are made from Italian blue selvage denim, and include a slim, straight and tapered leg fits. All items are priced at 250 pounds, or $330, the range will be sold at a limited-edition pop-up shop in East London, with the launch set for October.

Creative director Tilmann Wrobel told WWD that working with premium shuttle loom denim and working with the archive styles was inspiring. “Tracing back denim’s European origins and British workwear history — way before Californian gold-digger times — gave birth to these products,” he said.

“Having the chance to blend incredible Lee Cooper heritage and know-how, with inspirational documents from the Lee Coo-per workwear archives, drives my passion. Today, while denim lovers research true and earnest denim-products, the brand feels it’s the right moment to release TCC, true British heritage jeans.”

Lee Cooper, owned by Iconix Brand Group, is sold in 100 countries in more than 500 Lee Cooper stores.

FASHION

Lee Cooper Launches The Cooper Collection

Joyce Azria

Abercrombie & Fitch

launche pre-fall denim

collection.

A look from Lee Cooper’s Cooper

Collection.

● What’s old is new, and perhaps nowhere is that motto more true than in collage, which has become a fashion-world favorite.

BY MAGHAN MCDOWELL

What’s old is new: The oft-repeated refrain is a favorite of the fashion commu-nity, but perhaps nowhere is that motto more true than in collage, which has again become a fashion-world favorite.

Loosely defined, collage is a combi-nation of various different elements, so it’s fitting that designers and artists are increasingly turning to Instagram — that creative community melting pot — to not only find new collaborators, but to publish the fruits of their labors.

One of the latest iterations is from a col-laboration commissioned by Viktor & Rolf.

During the month of July, Viktor & Rolf turned to London artist Adam Hale to cre-ate a series of six works that the designers published on their Instagram account, starting July 7, using the hashtag #collage-couture throughout the month.

The idea of collage was a major theme in the designers’ autumn haute couture collection. The designers called the collec-tion “vagabonds,” and used fabrics and

garments from past seasons to create the collection.

“Every season, we translate the essence of our seasonal Haute Couture collection to the digital sphere. We like to get the creative Instagram community involved in our work because there is so much cre-ativity flowing,” the designers said. “The collection ponders over the past, where elements from past iconic collections are carefully scrutinized before being lovingly reworked into a new order.”

The designers, who also use Twitter and Facebook, said that they particularly approach Instagram, which they began using three years ago to show their work, as “an artistic medium for expression. For us, it is a platform that we often like to explore for visual inspiration.”

In this case, they said, Hale looked at “the past in a new light, creating a stepping stone for the new.” Hale had access to the collection before it debuted, from which he was able to produce abstract composi-tions, using mementos from past Viktor & Rolf collections.

Hale said that the idea was to kick-start a digital initiative that revolved around the art of collage in which Viktor & Rolf ’s 155,000 Instagram followers were urged to create their own artwork based on Viktor & Rolf ’s body of work.

“There’s been a really positive response to the work,” Hale said. He added that for his 119,000 followers, the conceptual

designs were a refreshing departure from his usual content. Hale said that before working with the designers, he knew little of couture, but that his work often appealed to those in the fashion industry. He has also worked with Christian Loubou-tin, Adidas, W, and Elle, and is working on a project with Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

“Collage is such a broad term and in its simplest form can be applied to almost anything creative,” Hale said. “To me, it’s the recycling of particular parts of a ‘previ-ous generation’ in order to build some-thing new and original. What interests me most at the intersection of fashion and design and collage is that it never ends; creativity breeds creativity.”

Brands such as Courreges, Stella McCa-rtney and Gucci have also increasingly turned to Instagram as a platform to pub-lish work created by artists and inspired by the brand.

For its #GucciGram project, Gucci invited artists to create work that featured its patterns and designs. In addition to publishing the works on Instagram, on which it has 9.7 million followers, it shares both commissioned and uncommissioned works on a micro site, at gucci.com/guc-ci-gram. And last week, it published the work of visual and video artists who cre-ated pieces inspired by Gucci’s ace sneaker using the hashtag #24HourAce. They were also published on the microsite gucci.

com/24hourace.The introduction to the #GucciGram

project, written by Brooklyn-based tech-nology and culture writer Kyle Chayka, states that the Internet has “changed the way we interact with images. It can always be changed, altered, remixed and reimagined with the help of technology…We don’t need to wait to go to a museum anymore. We just open Instagram on our smartphones and have immediate, inti-mate access to brilliant photographers and artists around the world who post their work as soon as they create it.”

In the introduction to the #24HourAce project, Gucci designer Alessandro Michele endorses digital discovery and its encour-agement of self-expression: “Creativity is often born and finds its voice in digital media, a vital source of visual culture.”

MEDIA

Fashion Embraces Collage Artists on Instagram

2 AUGUST 2016 11In

stag

ram

col

lage

by

Ada

m H

ale

their smaller store bases more exciting to a distracted consumer while better powering the effort with technology.

At least, that’s the idea.The next phase of retail, which

the dollars spent today will build for tomorrow, is still a work in progress. Sales have generally been disappointing since last summer, which makes splashy expenditures harder, but the money retailers are spending is going into the stores, despite all the crowing about e-commerce.

“Retailers have a higher bar now, because there’s so much competition, to make sure that your store experience is that much better given the new rules of retail,” said Oliver Chen, Cowen and Co. retail analyst. “The transition of retail is underway whether anyone likes it or not.”

Chen said that having a good cus-tomer experience is “imperative to maintaining brand health and store traf-fic. People need a better store experi-ence than ever before, customers have a lot of substitutes for the physical store.”

Today’s stores have been getting low marks from many, including from retail’s Mr. Fixit, Allen Questrom, the former chairman and chief executive officer of J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Federated Department Stores, Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus Group.

When asked how department stores today should decide on where to put

their money, he said that e-commerce and mobile were important, but generally stuck to his knitting: “The number-one thing always has been the quality of the store and presentation of the store,” Questrom said. “It’s the whole feel when you walk in.”

He said retailers have too many stores and too much inventory, which prompts an overly promotional stance.

“They’ve got to cut this [store count] down to a reasonable number, then they have to make sure those stores are an experience worth going to,” Questrom said.

Many are trying to do just that, focus-ing on their biggest and boldest stores and trying to make them more so.

Macy’s Inc., which in recent years was renovating its mammoth Herald Square flagship in Manhattan, plans to cut its capital expenditures by 19.1 percent to $900 million. In its annual report, the company reported that, “budgeted cap-ital expenditures are primarily related

to new stores, store remodels, main-tenance, the renovation of the Macy’s Brooklyn location, technology and omnichannel investments, distribution network improvements and new growth initiatives.” It’s telling that the top four items on the spending list are all stores.

Nordstrom Inc., which sees its capex this year as down slightly from the $1.08 billion it spent in 2015, has steadily put a little more than 60 percent of its spending dollars toward its stores, which would include spending on its forthcoming Manhattan flagship.

Likewise, Neiman Marcus, which is toiling away with $4.8 billion in debt, planned to spend $260 million to $270 million in its fiscal year, which ended Saturday. That’s potentially off the $270 million to $300 million the company projected initially, but just down slightly from the $270.5 million spent a year earlier. Some of the big spending items going forward are also in New York bricks-and-mortar — a full-line store at

Roosevelt Field in Long Island and a flagship at the new $20 billion Hudson Yards.

Antony Karabus, ceo of HRC Advisory, said retailers have been making up for lost time after spending heavily to build up their omnichannel infrastructure.

“What’s happened over the past two years — and I think it’s the right thing — is that retailers have been investing in their better stores,” he said.

Despite the major outlays of cash, Karabus said investments in top areas such as New York were important, in part because they are draws for interna-tional and domestic tourists.

“The best way to compete against Amazon is having the power of your own local assets where the customer can touch and feel and experience the brand,” Karabas said. “In the better stores, I don’t think there’s an upper limit on potential whereas, in the sec-ondary market, there’s much more of an upper limit on volume.”

Hana Ben-Shabat, a partner in A.T. Kearney’s retail practice, said capital spending needs to be seen through the lens of store closures since so many companies are now in the process of cutting back.

“They’re reducing footprint [of bricks-and-mortar stores], they’re making the current footprint look better so people will be comfortable and find the environment more resonating,” Ben-Shabat said.

The reasoning, then, is to power that smaller base of stores with more tech-nology, she said.

It’s an approach that the consultant said is the right one — for now. “Ten years from now there will be another round of rationalization,” she predicted.

Retailers SpendingCapEx Dollars On Stores CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Collage artist Adam Hale created works for Viktor & Rolf’s Instagram,

inspired by a couture collection.

Retailers are betting that dollars spent on top tier stores, such as those that will populate Hudson Yards, will pay dividends.

12 2 AUGUST 2016

While Shailene Woodley, Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds and Jenni-fer Lawrence were among those nominated for this year’s Teen Choice Awards, the turquoise carpet attracted a slew of up-and-coming tweens, teens and You Tubers alongside “veterans” like Lea Michele, Lucy Hale, Jason Derulo and Jessica Alba. Most bypassed speaking in favor of the air conditioning that waited them inside The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Sunday afternoon, where the live show was filmed to air on Fox.

Ever the pro, “Modern Fam-ily” star Nolan Gould, who was practically raised on the red carpet, gamely stopped every few feet. “I’ve been here like six years or some-thing, so I know the drill. There’s not a lot of pressure,” said the 17-year-old. Even so, he said public speak-ing isn’t quite his forte, if the show should win its Choice TV Show: comedy nomination. “I’m horrible at giving speeches. So hopefully if we win, somebody else will take control.” Luckily his on-screen sister Sarah Hyland arrived shortly thereafter.

Andrea Barber of “Fuller House” admitted she’s less versed in the ways of the red carpet. “Back when we did ‘Full House,’ 20 years ago, there was no Teen Choice Awards. Heck, there was no e-mail when we started,” said the actress, who is enjoying a renewed sense of fame following the Netflix show’s success. Barber attended with co-stars Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin and the show’s producer John Stamos.

Newcomer Madisyn Shipman

was among the teens who braved the heat in a black midiff-bearing ensemble. The 13-year-old said she was excited to watch fellow Nickel-odeon alum Victoria Justice cohost the show alongside John Cena. “I’m hoping to meet her tonight,” said the “Game Shakers” actress, who said it was her father who saved her from a fashion disaster. “My shorts zipper busted this morning, so last minute my dad had to sew it back together. Dad to the rescue!”

Lana Parilla, nominated for her role on “Once Upon a Time,” attend-ed with her teenage son. “We just met John Cena, so he was excited. It’s his birthday. It made his day, so it made my day.”

Nominee Katherine McNamara selected her Christian Siriano dress because of its pretty shade of pink. “I never wear color, but my amazing stylist pushed me a little farther today out of my comfort zone of black,” said the “Shadow-hunters: The Mortal Instruments” actress, adding that her individual nomination was “surreal” and “a huge honor.”

Rapper Flo Rida kicked off the carpet by performing his hit “My House.” However, for “The Fosters” actress Teri Polo, music and star sightings were the furthest things from her mind. “I’ve got to pee! They should have port-a-potty’s every couple feet.” — LINDZI SCHARF

Style at the Teen Choice Awards Jessica Alba, Victoria Justice, Lea Michele, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell and more stood out on the red carpet.

Phot

ogra

phs

by B

uckn

er/V

arie

ty/R

EX/S

hutt

erst

ock

Victoria Justice in Versace.

Katherine McNamara in Christian

Siriano. Jason Derulo

Lucy Hale in Azzaro

Couture.

Lea Michele in Self

Portrait

Jessica Alba in David Koma with an M2 Malletier clutch.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

ATTEND: PREIDY@WWD.COM, 646.356.4724 SPONSOR: ACOYLE@WWD.COM, 646.356.4719

summits.wwd.com

DIGITAL FORUM NEW YORKSEPTEMBER 21 - 22 • NEW YORK CITY

EVENT SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSOR AMERICAN EXPRESS

Carol KaneBOOHOO.COM

Lance MartelALDO GROUP

Jeff RaiderHARRY’S

Lindy RawlinsonNEIMAN MARCUS

14 2 AUGUST 2016

Zadi

g &

Vol

taire

pho

togr

aph

by F

red

Mey

lan

Going CustomLapo Elkann is spending the summer in California exploring what he loves most: cars and customization, plus technology and entertainment. On Saturday night, he showed off his latest project: two custom cars he brought for Adam Lindemann’s art exhibit, “Piston Head II: Artists Engage the Automobile.”

The show, which opened at Linde-mann’s Venus gallery in downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District on Saturday and is on view through Sept. 10, is the followup to the “Piston Head” exhibition at Art Basel Miami in 2013, which also explored the intersection of art and cars. The latest exhibit contains new and existing works by César, Katherine Bernhardt, Matthew Day Jackson, Olivier Mosset, Richard Prince, Sterling Ruby, Peter Shire, Keith Haring, Will Boone, Lawrence Weiner and Jonas Wood, among others.

Fine automobiles run in Elkann’s blood; the Agnelli family scion formed his own customization house a few years ago called Gargage Italia Cus-toms, which has the means to trick out any mode of transportation. As Elkann explained, “Personalization is far more interesting than fashion. It’s a broader and more growing industry and the mo-

tion industry is very wide, so customiza-tion of cars is natural and personalizing with art, creativity and materials you can do anything. In the future maybe we’ll be doing space shuttles. Today there is the opportunity to build, create and customize your own items and I believe the fashion industry is getting into it now. I started it 20 years ago with the Fiat Cinqucento democratic cus-tomization and the Ferrari Tailor-Made program. When I finished that, I said, ‘One can do more.’” Delving into the art world, he said, “was a great opportunity to work with a friend and collector like Adam and to put art onto and into the cars.” He noted the motion personaliza-tion industry is worth $597 billion.

Garage Italia Customs personalized an Alfa Romeo 4C painted with Hoku-sai’s “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa,” merging elements of Italian and Japa-nese culture. The hand-painted depic-tion of a tsunami wave dominated the roof and rear of the car and is meant to be a metaphor for the feelings experi-enced while driving it. The interiors are upholstered with Kurabo denim and koi-patterned cream Foglizzo leather and the steering wheel and handbrake handle are covered in the manner of wrapping the hilt of a katana (a samurai sword).

The creative hub also worked on a BMW i8 painted with Giacomo Balla’s “Street Light.” The plug-in hybrid sports car is decked in a Futurism art theme. Balla’s 1909 oil painting was applied to a film which was custom-wrapped around the car. The interior upholstery catches the light and is made by Sola-ro, a fabric used for suits.

Elkann is also producing a car show for television, the details of which are to be revealed soon. “It’s around music, art, women, men, design because mo-tion speaks to everyone. It’s a neces-sity. Then there’s a pinnacle where you have the most beautiful cars.” Elkann will be speaking publicly about his new business at the Concours d’Elegance car show in Pebble Beach later this month, and privately with tech compa-nies in Silicon Valley. — MARCY MEDINA

Vive La VoltaireZadig & Voltaire is now known as Zadig & Voltaire Paris. The brand has always been associated with the City of Light since it is based there, but now it’s official.

“It’s always Paris,” said the company. “Paris is the source of inspiration for artistic director Cecilia Bonstrom.”

The brand recently moved into new headquarters in Paris in the 16 arrondissement. The offices, which are in a building designed by Hausmannien, have a view of the Eiffel Tower and enough space for the entire company.

The last part of the brand’s name comes from the 18th-century writ-er and Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. “Zadig,” which he wrote in 1749, is said to be an allegorical biography where the title character is a free spirit who experiences a continuous loop of successes and disappointments.

In addition to the new name, Zadig & Voltaire Paris heralds a new advertising direction and digital platform with an integrated photo studio, showrooms featuring the men’s and women’s col-lections as well as the brand’s licens-ees for watches, fragrance, eyewear, children’s wear and jewelry.

Zadig & Voltaire’s upcoming fall

ad campaign features Malgosia Bela photographed in a Parisian-inspired apartment accessorized with stuffed animals and colorful balloons.

The fall collection combines strong prints and a vibrant autumnal color palette infused with the brand’s rocker aesthetic. The company said the clothes play a tune “Parisian women have mastered better than anyone...preternaturally cool, feminine, noncha-lant and never too calculated.”

There are 315 Zadig & Voltaire stores in 40 countries, including four units in Manhattan. Despite the fact that the brand is 20 years old, it said it “affirms a corporate attitude that is forever young and urban.” — SHARON EDELSON

All In the DrawFor its spring collection, Sakroots has enlisted an illustrator to update its bags. The brand has collaborated with Welsh artist Niki Pilkington, now based in the East Village of Manhattan, on bags that are priced from $50 to $150.

Fabricated in canvas and vachetta leather, the collection is due to be retailed in select boutiques and on Sakroots.com. Called Wild Life, the collection is covered in flora and fauna native to tropical locales.

Pilkington boasts a rather large on-line audience — with more than 48,000 followers on Instagram.

“Wild Life reflects the fun, whimsical world of Sakroots,” said Aaron Duncan, creative director of Sakroots. “The pencil-sketch print uses a drop shadow technique combining a vibrant Eighties fantasy vibe with an ostrich, giraffe, tiger, zebra, rhino, leopard and elephant, tropical leaves, geometric shapes and neon leopard spots, which features

an electric array of yellow, pink, green, orange and blue neon hues tying in perfectly to the DayGlo trend that is so popular with Millennials.

“Creating a neon safari was kind of a dream come true,” Pilkington said. “My work is made to be playful and relatable. I like the thought of someone seeing my work and it making them smile.” — MISTY WHITE SIDELL

Babaton’s New BagsAritzia continues to expand its acces-sories repertoire. The retailer’s popular in-house brand, Babaton, will debut a selection of minimalist handbags for fall in leather and suede. The new col-lection rounds out a handbag offering that currently includes styles from Auxiliary, another of Aritzia’s in-house labels, and Herschel Supply Co., also based in Vancouver. Aritzia also offers hats, hosiery, scarves, sunglasses and small leather goods.

Babaton’s three handbag styles, which range from $175 to $395 in navy, black and red color ways, will land in Aritzia stores later this month. — KRISTI GARCED

Fashion Scoops

Exiting VogueThere’s change under way at Vogue.com. Site director Ben Berentson has left for digital creative agency Code and Theory, where he will serve as senior director, sources close to Vogue told WWD. Incidentally (or perhaps not), Code and Theory had redesigned Vogue.com in 2014.

Former Glamour executive digital director Anne Sachs, who was moved to Condé Nast’s corporate digital depart-ment, will work as Vogue.com’s interim site director, it has been learned. Vogue is on the search for a permanent site director.

Berentson had served as site director for almost three years and had held various roles at parent company Condé Nast over the course of 11 years. He spearheaded the August relaunch of Vogue Runway, and helped build the site’s digital team.

Code and Theory managing partner Mike Treff expounded on Berentson’s new role, offering: “Ben is joining Code and Theory in a senior director role, focusing on expanding and developing new service offerings to help our clients

continue to shift their businesses within the fast-changing world of content creation and content marketing.”

But back to Vogue. For Condé Nast, the fashion glossy’s website has been a major focus of its digital investment. Vogue has by far one of the largest digi-

tal teams of any Condé title with roughly 50 employees. Despite that, it has had trouble gaining the kind of traction seen at some of its sibling sites. Web traffic for Vogue.com is generally outpaced by The New Yorker, Wired and Vanity Fair, to name a few.

Drilling into the numbers, according to Comscore, Vogue garnered 5 million unique visitors in June versus a mere 2.4 million a year earlier. The site has yet to hit double-digits in unique views, but it does boast some of Condé Nast’s high-est video views thanks to its marquee franchise: “73 Questions.”

In terms of Web traffic, Vogue.com has shown stronger growth in recent months, and appears to be picking up steam. Case in point: for the first half of this year, Vogue.com’s unique visitors averaged 5.1 million versus 2.8 million in the same year-ago period. — ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

Reimagining BellaJ.W. Anderson has taken a different approach to his fall campaign, casting a celebrity model for the first time.

Moving on from last season’s post-age stamp-sized campaign image, Anderson has gone big, tapping Bella Hadid as his face for fall. Last spring, the designer’s campaign featured a minuscule image of model Mayka Merino against white space to resemble a post stamp and the images went on

to be developed into stamps with real postage value, available for collectors to purchase on the label’s web site.

Drawing inspiration from film sets, the current campaign sees Hadid playing the role of a screen actress captured during a moment backstage. The images feature the model in key pieces from J.W. Anderson’s fall collec-tion, including peplum-trimmed, struc-tured blouses and asymmetric, leather studded skirts. The pictures appear alongside a black-and-white image of a puppet and a young boy to highlight the

cinematic concept further.The arid country setting of the Lee

Valley Regional Park, outside London, formed the backdrop of the imaginary film set.

Anderson’s longtime collabo-rators Benjamin Bruno and Jamie Hawkesworth styled and photographed the campaign respectively, while cre-ative agency M/M Paris worked on the art direction. The campaign has been published on the designer’s web site and social media channels. — NATALIE THEODOSI

Memo Pad

Sakroots collection with Niki Pilkington.

Lapo Elkann at Venus Over Manhattan gallery in Los Angeles for the opening of “Piston Head II:

Artists Engage the Automobile.”An ad from Zadig & Volaire’s

fall/winter campaign.

The new handbags by Babaton.

A visual from the J.W.Anderson fall 2016 campaign.

Vogue’s August 2016 cover.