WWDAccessories Section II

TOKYO’S HOT BAG DIGITAL INSPIRATIONS COMING TO AMERICA

GANT

GUESS

BY

MARCIA

NO

MIU

MIU

KARL LAGERFELD

WILLIAM

RAST

JUICY COUTURE

SWAROVSKI

MIU MIU

ROBERTO CAVALLI

DVF

ALEXANDER

MCQUEEN

WILLIAM

RAST

FEND

I

CHLO

E

MIC

HAEL

KO

RS

BURBERRY

DIOR

GUESS

FERRAGAMO

DKNY

PUCC

I

VALE

NTIN

O

BOSS

ORANGE

CARRERA

MARC BY MARC JACOBS

CELINE

KATE

SP

ADE

SLIM SHADY Brands are gearing up for Vision Expo at the Javits Center next month with slim, sleek styles and high-tech innovations. PHOTO BY GEORGE CHINSEE; STYLED BY ROXANNE ROBINSON FA

SHIO

N AS

SIST

ANT:

AND

REW

SHA

NG

SECTION II WWD.COM

2 WWD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

WWDACCESSORIES

THEY ARE WEARING®

IT BAGS DON’T have to carry designer labels or cost thousands of dollars, as far as Tokyo style-setters are concerned.

The American Apparel Cities bag in denim has been gaining momentum over the past couple of years and still appears to be going strong. An American Apparel spokesman confirmed that Japan is the best-selling region for the bag, which was gifted to influential trend-setting celebrities like singer Thelma Aoyama and model Emi Suzuki.

The brand sold 23,497 of the bags at its stores in Japan last year. Depending on the model, they retail from 3,500 yen (about $37) to 4,200 yen (about $45).

AMERICAN IN TOKYO

GET YOUR DIGITAL ONThe cyber world is inspiring everything these days, fine jewelry included. From gold and diamond emoticons to hashtags and @ symbols, it’s clear that this is a trend designers are taking seriously.

— RACHEL STRUGATZ

KHAI KHAI JEWELRYInstead of emoticons, Khai Khai Jewelry’s collection of rings, necklaces, earrings and charms includes symbols like a hashtag or an @, integral to anyone active on social media. Comprising 18-karat white, yellow or rose gold, a #hashtag ring retails for $945, an @At ring for $1,120 and an exclamation point ring for $630. The line is available at khaikhaijewelry.com.

ALISON LOUIn the year since Alison Lou designer Alison Chemla started designing pendants, rings and earrings, the collection of emoticon-inspired jewelry more than quadrupled — from 16 to 80 pieces.

“You can get lost in textuation [read: translation], and emoticons can express a little better how you’re feeling,” Chemlas said. The line

retails from $350 to $9,000 and launched three months ago for pre-fall exclusively at Fivestory. The 14-karat gold

collection includes a $3,200 Turn That Frown Upside-Down bar ring

with a reversible white diamond pavé smile (that can be turned into

a frown); a $2,750 Love Struck pendant with ruby heart eyes and a range of

smaller, more accessibly priced face pendants that retail for less than $1,000.

ART YOUTH SOCIETYNew York-based Art Youth

Society created a line of 14- karat gold jewelry to coincide

with the creative collective’s launch. Founder Ays Yuva said her admiration for the “whip

smart,” “diverse” and “street savvy” women around the world inspired

her 34-piece collection of dainty rings with whimsical trappings ranging from

happy faces, hearts and peace signs to crowns and even the I <3 NY symbol. Available in rose, green or white

gold, the collection is $195 to $600 and available at shop.

artyouthsociety.com.

BY THE NUMBERS738: The number of eyewear factories mainly positioned in the northeastern region of Veneto, which listed 388 companies and 16,150 workers. This represents 52.6 percent of all the sector’s business in Italy, followed by Lombardy (11 percent) and Emilia-Romagna (5 percent).SOURCE: MILAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

IN THE MIX

Greater China accounted for 38 PERCENT of sales for Swatch Group brands in 2012.SOURCE: SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY FEDERATION

5.6 percent: The increase in Italian eyewear exports in the first half of 2012 against the same period in 2011.SOURCE: MILAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

$8.64 billion: The U.S. market for frames, up 3.3 percent in 2012 versus $8.37 billion in 2011. SOURCE: THE VISION COUNCIL

$3.52 billion: The U.S. market for sunglasses in 2012, up 4.8 percent against $3.36 billion in 2011. SOURCE: THE VISION COUNCIL

$124.94: The average price of a pair of frames in the U.S. in 2012, up 0.2 percent from 2011.SOURCE: THE VISION COUNCIL

PERCENTAGE OF FRAME MATERIAL USED IN EYEWEAR IN THE U.S.:41 PERCENT: Metal33 PERCENT: Combo (metal and plastic)20 PERCENT: Plastic6 PERCENT: OtherSOURCE: THE VISION COUNCIL

The average Chinese woman who buys luxury goods spends 11 PERCENT of her disposable income on handbags.SOURCE: PAO CONSULTANCY

4.27 billion: The number of leather shoes produced in China in 2011.SOURCE: RESEARCHANDMARKETS.COM.

IN HER DAY job as an MGM producer, Cassidy Lange helps others to fulfill their creative dreams. But now she’s found just the outlet for her own creativity in her namesake bag line, a contemporary collection steeped in the boho-chic vibe

of her home town of Venice Beach, Calif.Like many entrepre-

neurs, Lange, 31, wanted but couldn’t find just the right bag that

could take her from beach neighborhood to corporate job as a senior vice president of production at MGM Studios in Beverly Hills.

“I wanted something that would fit in my office, or on my beach cruiser handlebar or in a yoga class. For me, that meant simple,

classic and unadorned.”She developed the London bag, a round

pouch-style bag, devoid of hardware, with a simple leather strap laced through a loop to form an adjustable handle.

The rest plays out like a Hollywood yarn: Lange was spotted wearing her bag by Rachel McAdams while working on “The Vow.” McAdams was intrigued and asked if she could make her one.

“I really like the way it felt to have people interested in my creative work,” said Lange.

Currently, Lange’s work on “Carrie” has made Hollywood gals Chloë Grace Moretz, Gabriella Wilde and Judy Greer fans, too.

Lange has sold on Fab.com, where all 80 bags were snapped up on the first day. For fall, she’ll start wholesaling through KKS sales in New York. Other styles include a messenger and circle bags made from calf hair, lambskins, distressed leathers with a tie-dye effect and Navajo blanket styles.

First year sales are projected at $250,000, and wholesale prices range between $90 and $250. — ROXANNE ROBINSON

Hollywood Connection

FOR MORE, SEE

WWD.com/eye

Art Youth Society

Khai Khai Jewelry

A Cassidy Lange handbag.

Alison Lou

PHOT

OS B

Y YU

KIE

MIY

AZAK

I

Jewelry Showroom, Trebbianno LLC., 29 West 35th Street, 4th Floor, 212.868.2770

SECTION II WWD.COM

4 WWD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

EYEWEAR IS slimming down, lightening up — and getting a dose of high-tech.

Pastels, blush tones and translucents are re-placing bolder fluorescents and richer colors for spring, according to eyewear firms exhibiting at International Vision Expo East at the Javits Center in New York from March 14 to 17.

Oversize silhouettes are shedding some of their prior heft, as frames become thinner and shapes — ranging from round to cat-eye — are shrinking some-what in size. With their new look, fashion sunglasses are also adding more technical elements, such as po-larization on colored lenses.

“Chunky styles with heavy colors made a very bold statement on your face [in the past],” said Marchon Eyewear Inc. president and chief executive officer Claudio Gottardi. “I think that bold statement is over. I think we’re in a period of softness.”

According to Gottardi, frame shapes are still over-size, but colors are lighter and they counterbalance size. This is the beginning of a trend back toward small-er eyewear. Small shapes and lighter materials were popular 10 years ago, he said. Since then, eyewear has been all about oversize, statement looks. Now, the in-dustry is starting to retrench back to smaller sizes.

Those color and size trends can be seen in Marchon’s new collections, which include Chloé, Valentino and Salvatore Ferragamo. Marchon ac-quired the Chloé license last year from L’Amy Group and is introducing its new collection at Vision Expo. Retailing for between $275 and $385, the line encap-sulates the softer color trends Gottardi highlighted.

Although Marchon’s fashion portfolio takes cues from Chloé, the ceo noted that Michael Kors, one of the company’s most successful mass brands, also re-flects the softer color trends.

“Kors is an exploding business in terms of revenues,” Gottardi said. “We have developed a European collec-tion within Kors. The frames use only light colors, crys-tals, baby blues, vintage styles you’d see in the Fifties.”

Gottardi introduced those “successful” looks in Europe last year, and now is cycling the collection into the U.S. market.

Marchon, which acquired Skaga and Dragon last year, is also focusing on new lines from Valentino and Salvatore Ferragamo, both of which interpret designs from the fashion houses. In particular, in Valentino’s new men’s optical and sun collections, Marchon brings in design elements such as the “V” on the frame’s hinge. According to Gottardi, this type of branding is preferable to logos for men. Valentino also makes use

of studs along the frames for men’s and women’s looks, to create a “structural,” textured feel.

At Safilo Group, the focus is less on any particu-lar color trend, and more on nodding to a house’s heritage. The firm, which makes eyewear for Gucci, Dior, Saint Laurent and other houses, as well as its Carrera and Polaroid Eyewear brands, said it put more emphasis on design details for spring.

“There’s a minimalist trend mixed with iconic de-tails,” said Safilo ceo Roberto Vedovotto. “Minimalist refers to timeless styling conveying a strong and dis-tinctive look.”

Vedovotto pointed to Dior Homme’s Blacktie 2.0 sunglasses, a classic square style that infuses ac-etate and metal in an ultraflat, lightweight black frame. The executive also referred to Saint Laurent’s relaunch, noting that since the house has been re-named, Safilo retooled the styling of the collection to match the minimalist branding.

This work is reflected in two classic models, a men’s pilot-shaped number in metal and a unisex vintage-inspired acetate square frame. The pilot frame includes a “Saint Laurent” logo engraving on the arms of the glasses, while the vintage frame in-cludes a new metal corner on the temples.

Carrera also showcases styling that nods to its sporty heritage, from the wavy design on the glasses’ arms to a round tortoiseshell frame inspired by the brand’s heritage styles.

Polaroid, which is Safilo’s latest acquisition and biggest priority at the moment, ushers in a new era for the firm. Polaroid melds its heritage with tech-nology, which Vedovotto said is an overarching trend in the eyewear industry. And by technology, the ceo means polarization. Safilo has added “ultrafine polar-ized lenses” to its Polaroid collections.

“There’s no glue between the lens and the polarized film,” he explained. “There’s no glare whatsoever.”

Bringing polarization to many of its classic and fashion offerings is central to Safilo.

“I think with the attention on quality sunglasses, po-larization is a real trend,” Vedovotto offered. “Today’s savvy customer is increasingly trying to merge the function of polarization with the fashion trend.”

Fabrizio Gamberini, ceo of Marcolin USA, con-curred on polarization in fashion sunglasses, noting that demand is “moving much faster than we thought.”

To meet that demand, Marcolin is adding polar-ized lenses to most of its brands, including Tom Ford, Montblanc and Timberland Co. Asian-fit frames will also be introduced in many of the collections, as there’s a burgeoning demand by Asian consumers for a broad range of fashion sunglasses.

In addition, Gamberini, who said bold colors, not

simply blush, would be big for summer, echoed the im-portance of “storytelling” within brands as a powerful driver for business. Case in point: Marcolin will intro-duce Diesel sunglasses that will incorporate bits of the brand’s denim in its frame. Gamberini also pointed to playing up Roberto Cavalli’s heritage of animal prints and serpents in eyewear this year, as the Chinese cele-brate the Year of the Snake. Marcolin, which hasn’t ex-hibited at Vision Expo East since the start of the eco-nomic downturn of 2008, hopes this link back to brand heritage will fuel stronger growth, so it can continue to expand its portfolio in the near future, the ceo said.

Carolina Herrera is launching a new collection with De Rigo Vision SpA, to which it has been licensed since 2011. The fashion brand is also banking on its heritage to fuel sales. According to the house, its spring collec-tion will nod to the “effortless luxury and sophistica-tion” reflected in its clothing. The eyewear will bring in a new “signature element” in the form of contrast-ing, accented detail on frames that combine metal with a blend of organic acetates. The natural-colored, tex-tured frames will be “amplified” by exaggerated lenses.

The John Lennon Collection, a new exhibitor at Vision Expo, aims to attract attention with eyewear that’s an interesting amalgam of fashion and technol-ogy. The Adlens-owned brand is launching its niche line at the trade show. The collection recalls John Lennon’s look, namely in small, round eyeglasses, incorporating fluid-injected lenses that allow for in-stant vision correction.

By turning a removable knob at the frame’s tem-ple, the glasses can be adjusted to conform to a va-riety of prescriptions. Retailing up to $150, the col-lection is available in sun or optical, and is currently stocked at vision centers in seven cities. Distribution will expand “significantly” this spring and the line will be available on adlens.com by April, said Christine Fraser, a spokeswoman for the brand, who noted that for every pair of Lennons made or sold, the company donates a pair to Vision for a Nation, a nonprofit based in Rwanda.

Viva International Group, which manufactures eyewear for the likes of Guess, Harley-Davidson, William Rast and Gant, is banking on mixed materi-als and a combination of boldly colored frames and softer, translucent styles.

According to Jennifer Orentas, vice president of merchandising, while color is important for the season, it isn’t necessarily what will sell product — authentic-ity and quality will. While she agreed that silhouettes were slimming down and logos were being diminished, what customers want is a product that feels unique. For its part, Viva has created capsule collections for five of its 12 brands that will make use of higher-priced materials like leather, metal and textured acetate. The collections mainly target male consumers and cost roughly $15 more. Viva’s brands are more moderate-ly priced, in general, with its most expensive brand, Guess by Marciano, topping out at $160.

“At the end of the day, I think having success goes back to making sure customers feel they are getting value,” Orentas said. “We have to make sure that the brand’s DNA is inherent in the frame.”

WWDACCESSORIES

Mix It Up

Celine

CarreraMarc by Marc Jacobs

Saint Laurent

Christian Dior

Gucci

Alexander McQueen

John Lennon

Slimmer styling meets innovation. These are among the key trends being showcased at Vision Expo. By Alexandra Steigrad

SECTION II WWD.COM

WWDACCESSORIES

MILAN — Looking to expand international business, Marcolin SpA is strengthening the focus on its licensed brands and growing in regions around the globe.

After many years of showing at the interna-tional trade fair Mido, the eyewear giant has opted for a photo exhibition to showcase its major spring 2014 frames.

Considering itself an “artisanal eyewear atelier,” the company is putting “an even big-ger focus on our brands, so we decided to or-ganize an event celebrating our labels and our craftsmanship,” said Giovanni Zoppas, chief executive officer of Marcolin, which produces and distributes for such brands as Tom Ford, DSquared2, Roberto Cavalli, Swarovski and Tod’s, among others.

On March 5, Marcolin will unveil the exhibition at Milan’s Edit space, former home to the storied Grazia Neri photo agency, which closed in 2009. The show will include images shot by 15 international photographers, who captured artisans and artists wearing signature Marcolin frames in their ate-liers around the world.

They include California-based bi-cycle designer Paul Budnitz, Japanese tattoo artist Ikebukuro Shodai Horitoshi and British cake designer Lily Vanilli.

However, at Mido the company will re-launch its house brand, Web, which will be presented with the new name, “W Eyewear.” Zoppas said Mido is the right venue in which to introduce new projects.

He added that the company’s goal is to re-discover the brand’s roots: travel.

To drive home the message, Marcolin cre-ated an ad campaign inspired by Black Rock City and the Burning Man festival in Nevada.

According to Zoppas, these new initia-tives are in line with the business strategy of Pai Partners, the European private equity firm that bought 78.39 percent of Marcolin in October through Cristallo SpA, a company in-directly controlled by funds managed by Pai.

Marcolin has since been delisted after a voluntary tender offer on the remaining shares and the acquisition was completed this month.

Marcolin was previously controlled by brothers Diego and Andrea Della Valle, who invested in the eyewear company in 2004 and held a 40.6 percent stake; the Marcolin fam-ily, who owned 30.58 percent of the company, and Italian entrepreneur Antonio Abete, with 10 percent.

“The entry of Pai Partners in the company

marks continuity in Marcolin’s approach to both the brands and the markets, strengthen-ing the company’s ability to deal with brands in the different international markets and to work in the most efficient way in collaboration with our clients’ network, ” Zoppas said.

He said Pai has made important invest-ments in terms of human resources, hiring new high-profile executives to develop the company’s internal organization. In January, Marcolin appointed Massimo Stefanello as its chief financial officer and chief operating of-ficer, along with Valerio Giacobbi, a veteran of competing eyewear giant Luxottica Group, as its general manager of sales, marketing and business strategies.

“We are currently focusing on all the mar-kets — they are all important for us,” said Giacobbi, who pointed at Brazil, the Middle East, Far East and China as the areas that are experiencing rapid growth. Last November, Marcolin punctuated its interest in Asian mar-kets by opening a showroom in Hong Kong.

“The decision to open a showroom there is just the start of a strategy to reinforce our presence in the area,” said Giacobbi, who also highlighted the importance of developing frames with Asian fits as well as completely new styles to meet those markets’ needs.

The U.S. continues to have a relevant role for the business of the company, which also features some brands with particular Stateside appeal, such as Kenneth Cole Productions Inc., Timberland Co. and Cover Girl.

The company has felt the pinch of mar-kets that have suffered during the prolonged economic doldrums, Zoppas said. In the first nine months of 2012, Marcolin’s net profit de-creased 32.4 percent to 11.7 million euros, or $15 million, from 17.3 million euros, or $24.2 million, in the same period in 2011.

Revenues dropped 3.6 percent to 162.5 mil-lion euros ($208 million) from 168.6 million euros ($236 million). Dollar figures were con-verted at average exchange for the periods to which they refer.

Zoppas noted, “We expect to close the year in line with our nine-months results.”

— ALESSANDRA TURRA

Marcolin’s Farsighted Strategy

Giovanni Zoppas

PHOT

OS B

Y DA

VIDE

MAE

STRI

The Calayan, from the W line.

Valerio Giacobbi

S teeped in hundreds of years of glassmaking and crystal cutting tradition, Preciosa’s roots go back to

the very beginning of glass production, which came to the Bohemian region from Italy.

Though offi cially incorporated in 1948, the companies that formed Preciosa have been producing beautiful glass jewellery products since the 14th century, and fi ne cut crystal chandeliers since the 18th century. Even then the monarchs of that time knew that if they wanted the latest in fashion, in glass artistry and fi ne cut crystal it came from Bohemia. In fact, by the late 1700’s Preciosa’s chandeliers already adorned elite palaces and cathedrals in all four corners of the world. With names like Louis XV, Maria Theresa and Osman III, Preciosa can boast of an international, infl uential and elite circle of customers since its very beginnings.

Three hundred years later those in the know continue to turn to Preciosa for exceptional quality and brilliance. The company’s fl agship product, Preciosa® GENUINE CZECH CRYSTAL™ components, is an extension of Preciosa’s rich tradition and precision craftsmanship. Made with the proprietary Hi-Pure Crystal™ technology, it is a unique combination of materials, technologies and processes formulated to create a perfect crystal product every time. Even a non-expert can, at fi rst glance, see the difference.

Preciosa’s long-standing commitment to produce the best crystal means that Preciosa® GENUINE CZECH CRYSTAL™ delivers what the customer wants: beautiful brilliance at a reasonable cost – and 100% Czech made. This is because, though Preciosa’s 12.000+ products are available in over 85% of the world, everything, from raw material to fi nished product, is made exclusively in Europe, in the same place where cut crystal making was born hundreds of years ago.

The commitment to delivering long-standing quality and value, however, goes beyond uncompromising quality and brilliance. To bring its partners even more value, Preciosa has formed strategic alliances in the areas specifi c to its clientele. One such example is in the area of competitive ballroom dancing and artistic sports (e.g. fi gure skating). Supporting budding and established athletes is nothing new to this Czech company, who believes in committing to the future.

Another example is the partnership with Pantone, the creator of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM and industry colour standard in all aspects of the visual world, which began back in 2010. The result was the Apparel & Fashion Jewellery Colour Trend Forecasting tool. This allows Preciosa’s partners to not only be at the source of fashion trend forecasting, but it also offers designers and manufacturers of jewellery and fashion accessories a simple and unique solution for matching up Preciosa® GENUINE CZECH CZECH CRYSTAL™ with upcoming colour trend predictions.

And that, in a nutshell, is what Preciosa is all about: supporting and adding value to its business partners, while providing a beautifully brilliant yet affordable product, all backed by centuries of sparkling cut crystal tradition.

Aff ordableSparkling Brilliancein the Finest European Tradition

SECTION II WWD.COM

8 WWD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

DODODodo, the 18-year-old sister brand of Pomellato, quietly opened its first bou-tique in New York last July, as part of its drive to become a bigger player in the U.S.

Known for whimsical “talking” animal charms in gold and diamonds that each feature a witty catchphrase, Andrea Morante, chief executive officer of Pomellato Group, is keen to turn the mature Italian company into a thriving American business.

Already carried in almost 450 doors worldwide with 38 freestanding stores (including in-store shops in depart-ment stores), Dodo isn’t a stranger to the States — it has been available in

New York at Bergdorf Goodman since 2002 and Bloomingdale’s since 2003. There are also freestanding stores in Aventura, Fla.; Short Hills, N.J., and the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. But it’s not exactly a giant here, either. According to Morante, U.S. business last year made up just $2.5 million of Dodo’s $70 million in sales.

“It’s not a lot of sales in general terms, it’s not a lot of sales from a U.S., perspective, but it is a lot of sales if you see it from a European and Italian per-spective,” said Morante. “There’s no doubt that the brand was and is a suc-cess because it was built on innovative concepts in terms of retailing, product evolution and [themes].”

Morante said the line was developed by Pomellato creative director Sergio Silvestris while visiting Mauritius, the island where the extinct Dodo bird once lived.

Inspired by the “funny, flightless” bird and the way locals created jew-elry by stringing shells together, Dodo was born. Prices start at $205 for yel-low gold and $875 for charms covered in pavé diamonds.

The question he asks though, is: What if Dodo had been born in the States in 1995 instead of Italy? If the company had the same success in terms of channels of distribution and American consumers linked up to the idea that every time there is a celebra-

tion it was a reason to purchase an-other Dodo charm — the way they do in Italy — he estimates that the company might have ballooned into a $500 mil-lion business by now.

“If this argument is true, and it’s purely hypothetical, I would argue that based upon a U.S. platform, Dodo has all the ammunition and instruments to turn into a global brand. It initially has an Italian passport, and has made some significant tests in other countries like France, Germany and the U.K. We weren’t born in the States, but there’s nothing wrong with asking for a green card,” Morante said.

Because the story and personaliza-tion aspect is paramount to the con-sumer experience, the brand has spent a lot of time making sure that nothing gets lost when the charms’ meanings are translated from Italian to English.

The Talking Charms collection con-tains more than 60 charms, and the brand will introduce five more from

March through May, in-cluding a black diamond swallow — which has two different meanings for the Italian and American mar-kets. Morante explains that in Italy, the swallow tends to come back at the same time of day so the message is “come back.” Since that’s not necessar-ily the case in the U.S., the message was adjusted to “don’t ever fly away.”

Other new charms in-clude a fly (“Honey, I can’t resist you”), a dragonfly (“Catch me if you can”), an updated camel (“I’d walk across burning sand for you”) and a rose gold

and resin ladybug (“Lucky me to have you”). Dodo will also launch mini let-ter charms in rose gold. There’s also a selection of good luck charms, like a four-leaf clover, and any option can be worn on a leather cord or silver or gold bracelet and necklace chains.

In the U.S., the top-selling charms, in order, have been the butterfly (“I love my freedom”), the starfish (“Handle with care”) and the elephant (“Don’t forget me”), whereas in Europe the most popu-lar pieces are the starfish, the butterfly and the dolphin (“Follow you anywhere”).

Freestanding stores, designed by architect Paola Navone, are intended to evoke all the senses. For example, vibrant, almost neon green plastic sea grass “grows” from the ceiling, and walls are covered with what looks like wet sand, save for the back wall — cov-ered entirely in pink roses — and an-other composed of blue mosaic tiles.

For Morante, immediate next steps this year include establishing an adver-tising presence in the U.S, supporting the Madison Avenue store and adding wholesale accounts.

“We’re more inclined to take a step at a time instead of putting $10 million into advertising, because we don’t have the actual network here yet to support the demand,” Morante said, noting that Mother’s Day is a good opportunity for the brand to try out some American ad-vertising.

KURT GEIGERWith sales projected to reach $400 million as it rings in its 50th birthday this year, Kurt Geiger still remains relatively unknown in the U.S. But the company hopes that’s about to change, as a key initiative for the brand is bol-stering its profile in America through retail and wholesale channels.

Geiger is carried in about 350 doors worldwide and maintains 80 freestanding doors — 55 of these in its native England — making it the second-biggest shoe company in the U.K. after Clarks.

The Jones Group acquired the com-pany in June 2011 for $350 million in cash, and 13 months later opened its first American store in San Francisco. In August, another unit opened at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., an e-commerce site launched at kurtgeiger.com in October, and on Jan. 29, its first New York boutique opened.

Seated on the plush scarlet couch in the back of the new Bleecker Street store, which overlooks a quaint outdoor garden, chief executive of-ficer Neil Clifford revealed that a bigger SoHo location will open this year, with doors in Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles to follow in 2014. A wholesale partnership with a leading retailer is also in the works for fall.

“We’re desperately looking for a location in SoHo. There are three or four spaces we’re looking at. We want to be in that square of Greene, Prince, Spring and Mercer [Streets],” Clifford said.

Upon entering the boutique in Manhattan’s West Village, a chandelier of shoes — a signature in Kurt Geiger stores — dressed with graphic black and white pumps and wedge sneakers highlights the current collection.

For spring, creative director Rebecca Farrar-Hockley said the tread sole is a key theme, from tee-

tering wedges to metallic, flat gladi-ator sandals.

“Our job is to always push — and the stuff that we actually really push is advanced, and we know it’s early. That gladiator is already in our top-10 styles [sales-wise], and it’s snow-ing. This means our customer really responds to that design aesthetic,” Farrar-Hockley said.

The creative director oversees a team of 26 shoe and accessories de-signers, buyers and technicians that conceptualize and help bring the com-pany’s three brands to market: Kurt Geiger London, which retails from $200 to $430; KG Kurt Geiger Shoes, which retails from $115 to $335 and Carvela, retailing from $75 to $290.

Farrar-Hockley also founded the brand’s “Everything But the Dress” campaign to coincide with the rollout of accessories like handbags, sun-glasses, jewelry and tech-cessories.

But for fall, she said it’s all about the single sole and stiletto — and Kurt Geiger London’s new Court collection (“We call it a court shoe, you call it a pump,” said Farrar-Hockley) is slated to hit stores in June. The selection of pumps will come in 25 fabrics, materi-als and colors such as black ombré calf hair, gray and blue leopard sequins, yellow snake-embossed leather and textured petroleum bronze leather.

Besides the design of the product, it’s all about getting the right mix of retail, wholesale and online that will ultimately determine Kurt Geiger’s success in the U.S., Clifford said.

Overall, though, the breakdown is 80 percent retail and 20 percent whole-sale. Men’s footwear constitutes about 30 percent of the retail business.

“We will find that in the end, wholesale will grow, but we will never be 50-50. We love the control of our distribution and the way that our stores look. We have this mega protec-tion of the brand,” Clifford said. “We see more of a retail rollout than any-thing else, but that might take three or four years. It’s not something we’re crazy rushing with.”

Dodo and Kurt Geiger — two firms with significant global reach, particularly in Europe — are pushing to make it big in the U.S. By Rachel Strugatz

Coming to AmericaWWDACCESSORIES

Dodo’s store on Madison Avenue.

Fly and Panda charms from Dodo.

An ankle strap pump.

A metallic gladiator.

Kurt Geiger’s Bleecker Street boutique.

PHOT

O BY

JOH

N AQ

UINO

PHOT

O BY

THO

MAS

IANN

ACCO

NE

HANDBAG SHOWROOM, TREBBIANNO LLC. 29 WEST 35TH STREET, 4TH FLOOR. PHONE: 212.868.2770

LOS ANGELES native Stacy Perman, the author of “In-N-Out Burger,” a New York Times bestseller, has just published her third book, “A Grand Complication: The Race to Build the World’s Most Legendary Watch” (Atria Books).

Her narrative concerns the competition between two extremely rich men, Henry Graves Jr. and James Ward Packard, who were surreptitiously vying to see who could create the world’s most extraordi-nary watch, a contest that lasted from 1900 to 1928. Packard was a largely self-made man who had commer-cialized the incandescent light bulb and manufactured the first luxury cars in the U.S., making his fortune from his myriad inventions, while Graves, a financier, was the scion of an established New York fam-ily with a vast fortune that came from rail-ways, coal and banking.

The book’s title is derived from the term of art “complications,” which, in watches, means anything beyond the general time-keeping functions of marking the seconds, minutes and hours. Among them are perpet-ual calendars and maps that enable celes-tial navigation — the latter are considered, in watch-collecting circles, to be “super-complications.” The star of the book, which

appears on its cover, is the watch known as the Graves Supercomplication, shown at left, which has 24 com-plications and took Patek Philippe almost eight years to create. In a 2009 Sotheby’s auction, it brought $11 mil-lion from an anonymous buyer, later revealed to be Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed bin Ali Al-Thani of Qatar.

To research the book, Perman combed libraries and archives in the U.S. and Switzerland and attended auctions for watches. One particular pleasure, she

notes, was to bring to life the two main characters in her book. “Henry Graves was a big mystery,” she says. “He kept a very, very low profile.” She writes of him, “Henry was confident, discreet and pathologically private. He grew up a bon vivant, entitled and cloistered, with the ability to differen-tiate friends from sycophants, keeping his circle tight.” A trustee of a Byzantine family trust outlined in the will of his father, Henry Graves Sr., Graves Jr., graduated from Yale, then became a bank vice president.

By contrast, while Packard was the son of a successful Warren, Ohio, entrepreneur, he was a mechanical genius whose remark-able practical gifts were evident very early on. One of Ward Packard’s many automo-bile innovations was the H-slot gearshift

for cars, and, over the years, Packard cars debuted the steering wheel, double wind-shield wipers and air-conditioning in pas-senger vehicles. Packard, an engineer, con-tributed ideas and details to the designs of the watches he commissioned from Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin.

Part of Perman’s original interest in this story had to do with the fact that, after the Great Recession began in December 2007, extremely luxurious mechanical watches, manufactured before World War II, didn’t just hold their value, but increased in price at auction. With their intricate workings, and the far-above-esti-mate prices they have been fetching, these pieces “remain difficult for most people to attain,” she says. — LORNA KOSKI

WWD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

SECTION II

WWDACCESSORIES

10

It’s Complicated

WAT

CH P

HOTO

COU

RTES

Y OF

PAT

EK P

HILI

PPE

WHILE FOREIGN brands still dominate much of the handbag market in Japan, there are also a few homegrown players with large followings.

Take Head Porter, a retailer that sells bags with a utilitar-ian feel in a mix of quirky de-sign motifs like leopard print, camouflage, Mexican-inspired stripes and bold colorblocking. Considered largely men’s bags, they also have an appeal with female shoppers, who make up roughly 40 percent of the store’s customers.

“We want to make bags that people always want to carry, every day,” said Head Porter’s chief ex-ecutive officer, Chie Kunishima.

This month, the brand reno-vated its Harajuku flagship to celebrate its 15th anniversary. The newly revamped store fea-

Head PortHead Porter’s renovated Harajuku flagship.

Patek Philippe’s 18-karat gold astronomical watch, The Packard, 1927. Pressing down on

the winding crown reveals the sky chart.

FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE

WWD.com/fashion-news.

Chan Luu Ethical Fashion International is a new line designed by Chan in collaboration with artisans around the world. The line is developed using materials handcrafted by local area

artisans. This is part of an ongoing effort by Chan, in conjunction with the International Trade Centre, a United Nations agency, to develop sustainable industries in underdeveloped

areas and give artisans in these areas the opportunity to work and build a better life.

“Ethical fashion is taking an active rolein changing the world for the better;

in my case, providing a sense of dignityand a sustainable system of support

for our artisans around the world who

“The work Chan is carrying out in Africaand Haiti is a great contribution towardspoverty reduction and empowerment of

women. It isn’t charity; it’s business.She has been able to create fair and inspiring

work that gives marginalized people thepower to change their own lives.”

Head, Poor Communities and Trade ProgrammeChief Technical Advisor, Ethical Fashion Initiative

International Trade Centre, a UN Agency

- Simone Cipriani

ADVERTISEMENT

EXPAND YOUR FIELD OF

THE COMPLETE EYECARE EVENT

EDUCATION: MARCH 14–17, 2013 | EXHIBITION: MARCH 15–17, 2013New York, NY | Javits Center | www.visionexpoeast.com

LENSES & PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

MEDICAL &SCIENTIFIC

EYEWEAR & ACCESSORIES

CONTINUINGEDUCATION

BUSINESSSOLUTIONS

WWD.COM

11WWD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013

tures design details like angled mirrors above display shelves and eye-catching neon signs. The store, one of four boutiques in Japan, sells a wide range of merchandise including leather wallets, laptop cases, nylon tote bags and a selection of the brand’s clothing line, called Head Porter Plus.

“Our customers come directly to our store from all over the country and the world because they know what they want,” Kunishima said. “Over the past 15 years, bags have become very important, just like clothes and shoes. It used to be that people would just carry any bag and not really think about it, but now bags are a part of the overall image.”

The genesis of the Head Porter brand and the store is a tad complex. It’s tightly linked to that of a storied Japanese ac-cessories manufacturer, Yoshida & Co., which created a brand of bags called Porter back in 1962. In the Eighties, Porter started rolling out a line of industrial-looking nylon bags inspired by Air Force flight jackets. This range became synonymous with the brand name.

In 1998, a team of Porter afi-cionados, including Kunishima, opted to form their own compa-ny as an homage to the original Porter brand and offer more dar-ing fashion-forward versions of the bags. With this, they opened their own store, Head Porter, in Harajuku. Today, Head Porter comes up with its own designs and commissions Yoshida to pro-duce them. It also sells some of Yoshida’s original range of more classic Porter bags.

In fact, Kunishima is quick to point out that these more basic Porter bags in durable black or khaki nylon are the best-selling products at Head Porter stores, making up roughly 40 percent of Head Porter’s yearly sales, which Kunishima says totaled about 800 million yen, or $8.6 million at current exchange, last year.

To honor Head Porter’s an-niversary, Yoshida has made a line of these military-inspired Tanker bags in navy. They are exclusive to Head Porter stores, and will be added to the rest of the basic collection that re-mains constant from season to season. Popular styles include a small shoulder bag for 15,000 yen, or $161, and a briefcase for 27,000 yen, or $289.

“Our way of thinking is that these [Tanker] products are per-fect,” Kunishima said, “so aside from a few tweaks here and there, they have basically been the same throughout the years.”

— KELLY WETHERILLE

TAG HEUER has a new store: an online homage to its freestanding stores that mimics its “lifestyle lounge,” but for the first time, it also allows consumers to buy from anywhere in the U.S.

The site at shop.tagheuer.com in the U.S. is currently the only e-commerce-enabled site for the brand, which is part of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. There are eight freestanding boutiques in the U.S., and the company considers its online showcase its “ninth store.”

Ulrich Wohn, president and chief ex-ecutive officer in North America of LVMH Watch & Jewelry, who is also president and ceo of Tag Heuer North America, said, “We wanted to give consumers lots of choices, whether buying from their pre-ferred local jeweler or directly from us.

The main thing is they get an authentic piece that’s not altered or counterfeit.”

Wohn said the existing tagheuer.com site is just an informational feed. The new e-commerce site can be accessed on its own or through a tab option on the origi-nal site. Besides timepieces, apparel and accessories such as sunglasses are also available online.

So why the U.S. first? Aside from North America being one of the largest consum-er markets, Wohn said the U.S. provides good information on the direct channel. The site was built in tandem with the head office in Switzerland, with an eye toward taking information gleaned from the U.S. to evaluate e-commerce channels and strategies for the brand overseas.

“The crux with selling online is how inventory is regulated….If an item can be delivered within a day, you can show it on your site. If an item is out-of-stock

or not available, it can’t be shown on the site. Consumers want convenience. We follow the same rules [for our site that we have] for our retail partners as well,” Wohn said.

The e-commerce site provides pull-down menus and tabs that offer various ways to narrow down a search. Navigation can be by material, gender, timepiece size, collection or even leather or steel attachments. The site is also information-rich, with technical specifications as well as the history behind a timepiece.

“The U.S. e-commerce site took us the better part of the year to develop,” the ceo said. “The trick for us, like opening a store, was that we were not in a hurry to do it. We wanted to try to get it right, and that means putting ourselves in the consumers’ shoes when we are online, looking at what frustrates us and what de-lights us.” — VICKI M. YOUNG

er Revamps

Tag’s New Clicks

PHOT

O BY

YUK

IE M

IYAZ

AKI

Only the genuine Longchamp Le Pliage® never disappoints in any detail.

LONGCHAMP.COM

Longchamp was founded in 1948 and has become synonymous with stylish and innovative bags and

accessories. The Longchamp Le Pliage bag has been a hit since 1993. All Le Pliage bags are identified by

their unique and recognized design. Longchamp controls all rights in the Le Pliage bag and will enforce

these rights against counterfeit and “look-alike” bags to the fullest extent of the law.