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By WWD Staff

PARIS — Europe’s flight freeze due to volcanic ash, which entered its fifth day Monday, is al-ready impacting the fashion industry: scuttling or postponing events, stranding designers and executives and raising the specter of dampening the region’s fragile economic recovery.

The ongoing disruption as a result of volcanic ash from Iceland has impacted designers from Giorgio Armani to Ralph Lauren, as well as cos-metics industry executives and design editors in Milan for various trade fairs. European authori-ties said they hoped some flights could begin today but the backlog of passengers and planes is likely to continue to strand people for days.

French civil aviation authority DGAC said flights in the Paris region would remain suspend-ed until today at least. As a result, Paris airport au-thority ADP asked passengers, regardless of their destination, to stay at home until further notice.

Luca Solca, senior research analyst at Bernstein Research in London, noted that trav-elers were an important source of luxury sales.

“I expect that the airline standstill is a nega-tive for duty free sales and for luxury in gen-eral,” he said. “If this was to be protracted, we would also have inventory issues, but I think this would probably have to go on for weeks before you have this effect.”

At trade shows in Milan and Bologna, competitors cozied up as the travel embargo fostered a newfound camaraderie among those united in misfortune.

Cosmetics industry executives attending the Cosmoprof fair, which ended its four-day run in Bologna on Monday, resorted to alternative means of transport, including buses and taxis.

“So many of us in the cosmetics industry are stranded here in Europe,” Caroline Pieper-Vogt, president and chief executive officer of Fusion Brands Inc., wrote in an e-mail. “[There are] very interesting stories of competitors partnering up and problem-solving on how to get home.”

Pieper-Vogt embarked on a 15-hour car trek from Paris to Madrid in hopes of catching a plane via Colombia back home to New York.

The can-do spirit failed for John Paul DeJoria, founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, who missed the brand’s 30th anniversary cel-ebrations. He attempted to charter a private jet, but refueling stops would have required the plane to land every 1,500 miles, making the trip an epic 36 hours long.

Designers, editors and furniture buyers attend-ing the Salone del Mobile, which ran from April 14 to 19 in Milan, scrambled for ways to escape as the volcano ash cloud spread over Europe.

Giles Deacon, in town for a Fay presentation, rushed to Milan’s Central Station on Thursday night as soon as he heard about it. He said the station was so crowded he ended up hiring a car and driver and traveling through France to take the Eurostar to London, for what ended up being a 21-hour journey.

Others stayed behind and shopped. Alberto Baldan, general manager at high-end depart-ment store La Rinascente, said business dur-ing the week was up 13 percent year-on-year

and the weekend, in particular, registered an increase compared to 2009. “It’s likely [the air freeze] forced many people to stay in Milan over the weekend,” said Baldan.

Ralph Lauren, in Paris last week to inau-gurate his largest Polo Ralph Lauren store in Europe, is among Americans stranded in the French capital. About 40 Polo employees, in town for the opening, are in the same situation, as is Thom Browne, also stranded in Paris.

Activewear brand Puma AG canceled a planned press conference on Monday at its headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, at which chairman and ceo Jochen Zeitz was due to unveil its strategy for the soccer World Cup in the presence of guests including Bayern Munich striker Mario Gómez.

No new date has been set for the event, said a spokeswoman for retail-to-luxury group PPR, which owns Puma.

A spokeswoman for fellow PPR brand Gucci, which is set to open its London pop-up store on Thursday and hold an opening party on Wednesday night, said the company is monitor-ing the situation.

Gucci’s creative director, Frida Giannini, is in Rome and had been planning to arrive in London today to take press on a walk-through of the store. “We’re looking into different options of getting Frida to London,” the spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, Giorgio Armani, who has post-poned the launch of his first hotel in Dubai three times already for unrelated reasons, has again pushed back the event. A company spokeswoman said the celebrations scheduled for Wednesday — including a fashion show and party — are now provisionally set for April 27.

The postponement will not affect the format of the opening, and Armani is slated to attend, she added.

Another event that had to be postponed be-cause of the chaos is the 2010 World Retail Congress, which originally was scheduled to open Wednesday at the Hotel Intercontinental in Berlin. The organizers said with much of European airspace still closed Monday, too many speakers and delegates couldn’t reach Berlin in time for the three-day event.

The World Retail Congress has been resched-uled for October 2010 in the same Berlin venue. Details will be announced in the next few days, the organizers said.

For major high-street chains including Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz and Spain’s Inditex, the air transit situation has not had any significant impact on deliveries to their stores so far.

The situation was more complicated for on-line retailers like Net-a-porter.com, which said shipments within Europe were being delayed by one to three business days, while parcels destined for Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Australasia were incurring delays of three to five business days.

François-Marie Grau, general secretary of the French Women’s Ready-to-Wear Federation, said he was not particularly worried about the impact on retail of the plane cancellations, given the situ-ation was expected to return to normal by the end of next week, according to weather forecasters.

Sigfried Jacobs, associate director of the German Association of Apparel Retailers (BTE), noted most merchandise is shipped in sea con-tainers, so the flight embargo won’t seriously im-pact delivery cycles.

European airport duty free and in-flight sales, on the other hand, have ground to a halt since the planes have been grounded.

European airport shops and sales onboard European airlines represented 33 percent of worldwide travel-retail sales in 2008, said Jérôme Goldberg, managing director of JMG Research, citing figures compiled by tracking firm Generation Research.

World Duty Free (WDF), which has stores in 22 airports in the U.K., said the scenario was un-precedented, but noted it had a history of deal-ing with unpredictable world events, including 9/11, the Asian economic crisis and epidemics such as avian flu.

Philipp Wolff, director of communication for Hugo Boss, suggested the air traffic chaos pro-vided an opportunity to take stock.

“Perhaps we need to time to think about the world, and realize it doesn’t always function the way we think it should, and to think about how we travel,” he said. “Of course [the flight ban] is bad for the economy. But maybe it’s good for nature.”

A traveler scans the canceled flights at Charles de Gaulle airport.

2 WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

European Air Chaos Hits Industry WWDTUESDayReady-to-Wear/Textiles

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Lacoste pool party at Coachella.

WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2010 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 199, NO. 84. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except for Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in January, May, June, October and December, two additional issues in March, April, August, September and November, and three additional issues in February) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast: S. I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President/CEO; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice President/COO; Jill Bright, Executive Vice President/Human Resources. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6 POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615–5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289-0273, or visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions and reprint requests, please call 212-630-4274 or fax requests to 212-630-4280. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

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6FASHIONthis spring bridal season, strong statements prevailed. in looks ranging from short, frothy dresses to big tulle-enveloped gowns, the message was clear: designers favored the bold.

GENERALCoach is expanding beyond north america and asia by partnering with department store operator Printemps for France and hackett ltd. for distribution in the U.K., Spain, Portugal and ireland.the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case in which Costco Wholesale Corp. is challenging omega Sa’s right to use copyright law to control the distribution and resale of imported products.Vera Wang has signed a long-term agreement with david’s bridal to bring the designer’s renowned bridal aesthetic to a mass audience. TEXTILES: according to executives, textile and fabric manufacturers in the Western hemisphere must establish a stronger regional identity to remain a viable force.

EYEbased on the turnout at parties surrounding the Coachella music festival last weekend, it seems a few of the fashion-focused kids may have missed the memo about the concerts.

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CORRECTIONThe Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is host-ing its annual spring gala on May 18. The date was incorrect in a Fashion Scoop on page 4, Monday.

QUOTEDAILY

• More images from the Coachella music festival in Indio, Calif.

• Online coverage of the bridal fashion shows, with full runs of show

• Additional images of the Calvin Klein event in Shanghai

• WWD Blog: The Zac Posen for Target party

A bridal look by Oscar de la Renta.

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Gucci launched its artisan corner program in the u.s. on Monday, bringing its most skilled italian leather artisans to stores across the u.s. to show what goes into creating the new Bamboo and the new Pelham, the house’s hand-bags pushes for spring.

“the artisan corner is a project that we have spe-cifically planned to coincide with the launch of the new Forever now campaign, as it is a firsthand expe-rience for our clients that brings to life the values and traditions of the house in the retail environment,” said Patrizio di Marco, Gucci president and chief ex-ecutive officer. “For Gucci, ‘Made in italy’ is not a slo-gan, but rather a cultural approach, a know-how that

has been built over generations of craftsmen.”Workshops have been set up in Gucci boutiques

in san Francisco, Beverly hills, chicago and new York, which culminates the tour on april 29. the artisan corner has already included events that started last month in tokyo, osaka, rome and Paris. the first stop is in san Francisco where, like the other events, ViP customers have been invited and have the option of buying a customized bag with their initials embossed. each bag purchased at the events will have a plaque within, embossed with the location and date of the event. Prices range from $465 to $18,000, for an exotic skin piece.

— Sophia Chabbott

WASHINGTON — the u.s. supreme court has made deci-sions and reviewed several key cases involving industry- related matters.

among the most important were:• Inwood Laboratories v. Ives Laboratories, 1982: The

court found that companies and other sellers not directly responsible for trademark infringement by third parties such as online auction sites could still be held responsi-ble for it. Brands have used the case to target flea market owners and landlords who allow counterfeiters to sell on their property.

• Nike Inc. v. Kasky, 2003: After hearing oral arguments, the court dismissed the case in which nike sought free-speech protections for its public defense against allegations that nike products were manufactured in southeast asian sweatshops. the accusation was made by san Francisco ac-tivist Mark Kasky. The court said it didn’t have enough infor-mation about the facts of the case and left unanswered the question of whether corporations have constitutional free speech protections.

• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 2007: The court ruled that victims of wage discrimination must file a complaint within 180 days of their first paycheck or lose the right to sue. last year, congress passed legislation that superseded the court’s decision and allows employees to sue as long as they file within 180 days of any paycheck deemed discriminatory.

• Leegin Creative Leather Products Inc. v. PSKS Inc., 2007: a landmark case in which the court gave apparel brands the ability to set minimum prices. a bill approved by house and senate committees would supersede the court’s ruling and re-instate an almost century-old ban on minimum pricing agree-ments, shifting power on setting prices from apparel brands back to retailers.

• American Needle Inc. v. National Football League, et al., 2009: an antitrust case involving exclusive licensing agree-ments between apparel makers and professional sports leagues. the court heard oral arguments in January but has not issued a decision.

— K.E.

By Kristi Ellis

WASHINGTON — the u.s. supreme court on Monday agreed to hear a case in which costco Wholesale corp. is challenging omega sa’s right, as a foreign manufacturer, to use copyright law to control the distribution and resale of the watchmaker’s im-ported products.

the decision means costco will have the opportunity to make the case for pre-venting omega from restricting middlemen from selling its watches to discounters like costco.

the case has significant implications for off-price retailers and discounters that often purchase imported goods from middlemen and distributors at lower prices, rather than buying direct from a manufacturer or its authorized u.s. distributor, and then selling them in the u.s. below the brand’s official price. online auction sites such as eBay also could be affected by the decision.

costco filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in May, on appeal, asking the court to consider the case and review whether omega can use a copy-righted image to control secondary distribution and resale of its watches made in switzerland once it has sold them to a foreign distributor.

at the center of the case is whether a provision under u.s. copy-right laws known as the “first-sale doctrine” applies to imported goods. under the doctrine, a manufacturer’s rights to distribution of a product end upon the first authorized sale it makes.

“costco is pleased with the cert and is looking forward to litigat-ing the case in the supreme court,” said roy englert Jr., a partner in Englert, Orseck, Untereiner & Sauber LLP, the law firm repre-senting costco.

The Supreme Court ruled in the 1998 Quality King distributors inc. vs. l’anza research international inc. case that the first-sale doctrine does apply to goods made in the u.s., exported abroad and reimported to the u.s. the specific ques-tion in the costco case is whether it makes a difference whether the goods are manufactured abroad.

“i think what it indicates is there were loose ends that were left open in the Supreme Court opinion in the Quality King case,” said Seth Greenstein, an attorney with constantine cannon llP, which represents the retail industry leaders association and the national association of chain drug stores, which filed a joint amicus brief in support of costco. “the issue does repeatedly arise in lower courts. i would surmise the rea-son they took it was to resolve loose ends and give guidance to courts in an issue that continues to perplex them.”

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg filed a concurring opinion in Quality King, agreeing with the outcome because it involved the “round-trip” of goods manufac-tured in the u.s.

“that led courts, including the ninth circuit in the omega vs. costco case, to be-lieve that the outcome would be different if the goods were manufactured outside the u.s.,” Greenstein said.

Greenstein said he was “optimistic” the high court will reverse the decision against costco issued by the ninth circuit court of appeals in san Francisco.

In 2004, Costco purchased 117 Seamaster style Omega watches from a U.S. distribu-tor. it was later revealed in discovery that omega had sold some of the watches to au-thorized foreign distributors in egypt and Paraguay who subsequently resold them to a u.s. distributor, according to costco’s court documents.

Omega filed suit against Costco in 2004 after the warehouse club sold 43 of the seamaster omega watches in its stores, alleging costco’s acquisition and sale of the watches constituted copyright infringement. costco charged that omega created a laser-engraved emblem for the back of its watches and applied for a copyright in the u.s. for the sole purpose of invoking the copyright act to “restrict the resale of its products.”

costco also argued that “under the first-sale doctrine…omega’s initial foreign sale of the watches precluded claims of infringing distribution and importation in connec-tion with costco’s subsequent sales.”

the u.s. district court for the central district of california ruled in favor of

costco, but the appeals court reversed the lower court’s decision, saying copies made abroad by the holder of a u.s. copyright for sale abroad are not subject to

the first-sale defense.omega argued in court documents filed with the supreme court that the ninth

circuit’s decision “gives effect to the intent of congress to give copyright owners en-forcement rights against unauthorized parallel imports.” omega also charged that after a deal could not be reached, costco knowingly obtained the watches from a source who was buying the watches outside of the u.s. and importing them to the u.s. without omega’s authorization.

however, rila and the nacs said in their brief that, “retailers need confidence that lawfully produced goods they purchase from distributors can be resold in the united states commerce free from claims of copyright infringement and constraints on consumer rights.”

Supreme Court to Hear Costco-Omega Case

Key High Court RulingsGucci’s ‘Artisan’ Tour Comes to U.S.Gucci’s New Bamboo bag.

A look at the Artisan Corner in a Gucci boutique.

A Costco store.Inset: An Omega watch.

4 WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

There were concerTs? Based on The turnout at parties surrounding the coachella music festival in Indio, calif., last weekend, it seems a few of the fashion-focused kids may have missed that memo. But who could blame

them when there was a full schedule of pool parties hosted or sponsored by brands including

diesel, Lacoste, sophomore and express.Rosario Dawson, Peaches Geldof, Penn Badgley and Vampire

weekend hit diesel’s bash held at a spanish-style home. Devendra Banhart hobbled around the estate on crutches, which allowed him to observe the crowd, rather than participate. “everyone’s handicapped,” he said. “I’m physically handicapped, but everyone else is intoxicated.”

Lacoste drew Kristen Stewart, Rachel Bilson, Alexa Chung and Emile Hirsch to a ranch house for burgers and swimming with inflatable crocodile toys, while new York designers Chrissie Miller and Madeleine Von Froomer invited pals Alexander Wang, Katy Perry and Lindsay and Ali Lohan to another soiree for an event celebrating their sophomore collection. Lindsay was already on her third outfit of the day. “especially for girls, it’s always fun to change, like, every 10 minutes,’” she said. “It’s like, ‘oh, I was sweating so I had to change.’”

some of the parties were mini-concerts within themselves, eliminating the need for a ticket to the festival (going rate: $500 scalped).

express sponsored the Music Lounge at Indioasis in a private home where Macy Gray and crystal Method performed next to a miniature golf course. The dutchess and the duke and Sondre Lerche played at the ace hotel & swim club in nearby Palm springs, playground for Thom Yorke, Flea, John Mayer, Jeremy Scott, Lcd soundsystem’s James Murphy, dJ Lance Rock and colette’s Sarah Lerfel. andrew andrew, Peanut Butter wolf and orbital also hit the turntables for the crowd.

Then there were folk like Chanel Iman who, at the carnival-themed affair that armani exchange and 944 magazine held on the tarmac at the Jacqueline cochran regional airport in Thermal, was unapologetic about her lack of interest in seeing a show.

“I’m here for the after parties,” she said, taking a spin on the mechanical bull while wearing strappy stilettos. “If I had known [it was a carnival], I would have worn flats.”

— Khanh T.L. Tran and Kristin Studeman

Behind the Music

s Compared with the rest of the crowd, Aussie songbird Kate Miller-Heidke, who opened Coachella, looked like she was about to attend a bat mitzvah. Her pink lace peplum frock cost $20 at a Toronto thrift store, and she paired it with opaque black tights despite the 90-degree weather. “I’m from Australia,” the 28-year-old Brisbane native explained. “This is like winter.”

Kate the Great

Tara Subkoff at Lacoste.

Kristin Cavallari at Diesel.

For more, see WWD.com.

Rosario Dawson

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Taylor at Sophomore.

Penn Badgley

Lindsay Lohan in Ashley Paige and Levi's, with Ali Lohan in Topshop.

Mia Moretti and Macy GrayMia Moretti and Macy Gray

5WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010WWD.COM

FASHION SCOOPSJUST DESSERTS: In keeping with the fashion angle for its Thursday night gala and preview of the “High Style” exhibition, the Brooklyn Museum tapped retail’s reigning king and queen of cool, Opening Ceremony’s Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, to get the new guard of American designers involved. Rather than stick to the predictable designers-dressing-guests routine, Leon and Lim have enlisted six labels — Band of Outsiders, Philip Crangi, Patrick Ervell, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Rodarte and Slow and Steady Wins the Race — to create a carnival-like experience during the dessert-dancing portion of the evening. Lim said the idea sprung from food artist Jennifer Rubell, who is making a giant piñata “the size of a room” filled with desserts for the occasion. “We thought it would be fun to have booths where designers could have an activity or a souvenir that they could give to each guest,” said Lim, who will also host an Opening Ceremony booth with Leon. The fashion-infused festivities will range from ring tosses to palm readings to a wheel of fortune.

SAC RACE: Designer Peter Copping is celebrating the launch of his new bag line for Nina Ricci with a limited edition version of his draped Ambre style, sold exclusively at Ricci’s Avenue Montaigne store from April 15.

The version, in lace-covered black leather, employs the amber-colored acetate clasp echoing the color of L’Air du Temps fragrance. Only 10 of the bags will be made.

TOMMY MEXICANA: Tommy Hilfiger’s Mexico business just turned 15 and, to mark the occasion, the designer ventured to Mexico City last week for multiple celebrations. He kicked off his trip with a tour of the city’s

Teleton CRIT public health facility and its program for disabled children rehabilitation. Following the visit, Hilfiger accepted Fashion Group International Mexico City’s Sebastian Star award. But the crowning moment of his trip was probably a reprise of his fall 2010 runway show, which was part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Mexico, and which culminated in Hilfiger receiving the Mercedes Award.

FRESH FACES: Lara Stone is the new face of Giorgio Armani Cosmetics. The Dutch model appears this month in an advertisement shot by David Sims for the brand’s bronze color story. Next up, in September, Stone will feature in another ad image, for Armani foundation.

Meanwhile, at the Cosmoprof trade fair in Bologna, Italy, Ferragamo unveiled its new women’s fragrance, called Attimo. Dree Hemingway is in its ad lensed by Craig McDean. THE ART OF PUBLISHING: Art Ortenberg gave a special shout-out to Diane von Furstenberg, when he thanked her and the CFDA for the support of his new book about his late wife, Liz Claiborne. “She [Diane] is a great woman from Brussels, who’s very much like Liz in many ways,” said Ortenberg. He told the packed room, which gathered at The Salon at Le Bernardin on Wednesday evening to toast “Liz Claiborne: The Legend, The Woman, “Thank you for helping me define the values of Liz’s life.” Among the fashion guests were Vera Wang, Paul Charron, Elie Tahari and Charles Nolan.

IN ON THE ACT: “Eclipse,” the third of the “Twilight” saga films, gets released June 30, so why not put some fresh blood into the fashion inspired by the movies’ main characters? Beginning May 15, Nordstrom will again sell exclusive lace trim tops, miniskirts, striped and floral dresses, skinny jeans, cardigans and plaid jackets, in the style of protagonists Bella and Alice, and priced from $30 to $58, on nordstrom.com/eclipse. Beginning June 4, the collection will be sold at Nordstrom stores as well as online. This is Nordstrom’s second collaboration with Summit Entertainment and vendor Awake Inc. on a “Twilight” collection, following last fall’s tie-in to “New Moon,” the second film in the series. For those bit by the “Twilight” bug, Nordstrom will also sell life-size cardboard cutouts of the main characters, priced $33, and Luna Twilight cosmetics including Twilight Lip Venom. Nordstrom is also planning advance screenings, cast member appearances and Twilight Takeover parties. In “Eclipse,” Seattle, which happens to be Nordstrom’s hometown, is ravaged by mysterious killings, but the retailer isn’t part of the plot.

Nina Ricci limited edition Ambre bag.

Tommy Hilfiger with the Mercedes Award.

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6 WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

DRESSED TO IMPRESS

This spring bridal season, strong statements prevailed. In looks ranging from short, frothy dresses to big tulle-enveloped gowns, the message was clear: Designers favored the bold. — MAYTE ALLENDE

Monique Lhuillier Oscar de la Renta

WWD.COM7WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

For more reviews and full runs of shows see WWD.com.

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Marchesa

By Rosemary Feitelberg

“It was lIke happy days are here again.”

that was the takeaway from last week’s run of bridal shows, according to Mark Ingram, whose signature New york boutique is a favor-ite haunt of fashion-minded brides.

this time around, designers ramped up the fashion quota with an array of colors, geared for sophisticated brides keen on making their weddings more of a party than a traditional reception with cake-cutting photo ops and bouquet throwing. several executives noted the assortment of more formal gowns adorned with rosettes, distressed flower details, silver beading and other flourishes seemed to indi-cate a turnaround in demand is near. those were welcome signs for the $183 billion wed-ding industry, which, like other business sec-tors, has faltered in the recession.

all too familiar with how the unsteady econ-omy, job security concerns and diving stock portfolios last year forced many brides-to-be to postpone their weddings until this year or next, bridal executives are eager to make up for lost time and in many instances lost sales. david’s Bridal aims to woo more of the newly engaged with its inaugural collection of Vera wang dresses, which will hit stores early next year. (For more on the Vera wang collec-tion for david’s Bridal, see pages 10 and 11.)the fact that other retailers like J. Crew and anthropologie are going after the bridal sector as well has increased the competition. several designers strove to distinguish themselves by sending more individualistic styles down the runway. For example, for her show at the pratt house, Carolina herrera designed dresses inspired by such free thinkers as Georgia O’keefe, Isak dinesen, edith piaf and Frida kahlo. herrera said, “all of these women con-tributed to the world with their beauty, intel-ligence, style and uniqueness. they were more or less inspirational by the way they lived.”

while styles were as varied as the women who will buy them, three major factors have clearly taken hold of the bridal business. the New Bride is not about to let her mother or anyone else sway her wedding-related buy-ing decisions; destination weddings continue to be a consideration in terms of design and cost cutting, and bridal executives see shop-pers split in two camps — opening price point bargain seekers and the more indulgent high-end shoppers.

THE NEW BRIDEtoday’s brides-to-be make, on average, 177

product decisions, according to Condé Nast’s 2009 american wedding study. they are also just shy of the age of 28 on average, and spend $28,082 on their wedding — a slight increase compared with a 2006 survey. Nearly 8 percent cover the costs of their weddings themselves. Brides-to-be typically spend $1,075 on a wed-ding dress, another slight increase compared with three years ago, and their bridesmaids tend to pay $126 for their dresses.

during a Brides magazine-hosted trend pre-sentation last week, the Future laboratory’s Chris sanderson defined today’s brides in three categories — young pragmatics, 18-to-24-year-olds who often are serious savers; Uptime Girls, 25-to-34-year-olds who delayed marriage for careers, and the Calm Indulgers, women in their 30s and 40s who are the most asser-tive shoppers. regardless of which category best suits them, the current batch of brides are willing to break the bank for select items. sanderson said their attitude is, “this is my special day. I have license here to spend more than I normally would.”

after his show last week, Oscar de la renta said his varied collection was geared for the assortment of today’s brides. “One of the big-gest changes with weddings today is the ven-ues. there all different kinds of weddings now — some people go to very fancy places, or to the beach. I am trying to address all the differ-ent ways a bride wants to dress.”

Marchesa’s Georgina Chapman and keren

Craig also presented a well-balanced mix of dresses. “we’ve thought of every different kind of bride from traditional to fashion-forward,” Chapman said.

the designers also now have newlyweds covered in the china department, thanks to a licensing deal with lenox unveiled last week.

JlM Couture’s Joe Murphy said, “today’s bride is more confident and better educated with more refined taste. she has better access to information through the media and social networking.”

In addition to searching fashion sites to see designer looks right after they appear on the runway, today’s tech-savvy shoppers are also surfing the web to find the best price for their favorite looks. that thrifty strategy has its limitations, though, since most high-end styles are primarily available in stores. Nevertheless, more bridal executives are tak-ing to the web to get their branding messages out. Junko yoshioka’s chief operating officer david Gomez said, “the current bride is on-line more than ever.”

Given that, the company is stepping up its social media branding efforts by networking on sites like Facebook and twitter, and look-ing at upscale bridal blogs for advertising. “I wouldn’t say I am saving money, but I am targeting smarter, tracking better and seeing strong results,” he said.

with the breadth of today’s brides’ demo-graphics, it isn’t surprising budget-conscious shoppers are also looking for more stylish gowns. the strapless black prada dress with a graduating hemline that Carey Mulligan wore to this year’s Oscars has prompted david’s Bridal shoppers to look for a similar style, said design director dan rentillo. the 300-plus store chain has seen strong sales for its $500 signature wedding gowns as well as the higher-end Oleg Cassini dresses, which go up to $1,150 for a tulle ball gown style with tiny ruffles. Jeweled combs, headpieces/veils reminiscent of something Grace Jones might wear and other accessories have been another bright spot.

DESTINATION WEDDINGSMore than one in 10 brides were planning

a destination wedding, according to the 2009 Condé Nast study. But that is not cause for a sundress and flip-flops. “these are not casual affairs — they’re not spur of the moment, grab five friends and let’s go to the airport,” Ingram said. “destination weddings are well-planned out events at resorts, hotels or villas, and the dress is as important as it would be at a New york City wedding at the plaza hotel.”

On average, destination weddings cost 64 percent less than traditional ones, but last year’s economic turmoil and escalating travel expenses caused a downturn in the numbers, according to the wedding report. this year, the average destination wedding is expected to cost $7,520, which would be slightly down compared with the 2009 figures, said the wedding report founder and chief executive shane McMurray of the wedding report. the Bahamas, Jamaica, the dominican republic and other Caribbean destinations shared the top slot for destinations, followed by Florida, hawaii, las Vegas, California, Central america or Mexico, Miami, New york City and europe, he said.

Jacqueline Johnson, president and ceo of Marrycaribbean.com, noted many Caribbean resorts offer incentives that range from free weddings to 60 percent off traditional rates.

with interest in destination weddings showing no signs of letting up, Oscar de la renta, lela rose, reem acra, Monique lhuillier and several others showcased wide-ranging collections. the influx of fuller dress-es such as ball gown styles hasn’t dampened interest among destination wedding-bound brides. kleinfeld co-founder Mara Urshel said, “destination no longer has to be defined by the small narrow dress. so many of the styles now are lightweight and packable. and because they are fuller with so much ruching and draping, the girls don’t have to worry so

8 WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

Brides for All Seasons, LocalesReady-to-Wear Report

Oscar de la Renta designed his collection with all sorts of venues in mind.

Newlyweds at the Crane Residential

Resort in Barbados.

Poolside at Caneel Bay.

WWD.COM9WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

Ready-to-Wear Reportmuch about wrinkling.”

Regardless of where they plan to wed, more brides are gravitating toward gowns with more luxurious elements as opposed to architectural styles, said designer Angel Sanchez. “People have gone back to more romantic styles. Women want to dress in more special gowns. The modern, clean bride was my client five years ago,” he said. “The attitude of the buyers was so much better this season. They came with bigger budgets and were less inclined to just take two or three samples.”

Ritz-Carlton executives have noticed a surge in “minimoons,” three-to-four-night postwedding stays, followed up with more ex-tended trips a few months later. To cater to those newlyweds looking for shorter initial es-capes, the company is offering such packages as “Romance: No Planning Required,” an all-in-clusive package offered at its St. Thomas resort with such indulgences as a catama-ran sunset sail and rose petal turndown service.

THE STATE OF THINGSBack in the U.S., industry executives are rally-

ing to create excitement at retail. Brides revealed its plans for “White Hot Hope,” the first industry-wide, charity-driven retail initiative designed to ring up sales, create consumer excitement, and benefit Dress for Success and Operation Smile during October.

Several resources have been working to keep prices down. This time around, Lela Rose, who has built her ready-to-wear business by being amidst the opening price point for the designer business, slightly lowered her opening price point for wedding gowns to $1,700. But the designer’s Aviary design, a $2,700 gown with hand-cut flowers with feather and crystal details, was a standout this season. Such delicate and often subtle details were evident throughout her collection, which was inspired by the seaside rock erosion she saw during a recent trip to the Galapagos Islands. As

for the recession’s toll on the industry, Rose said she was encouraged that “no one is talking about it as much as they were before.”

With a budget 10 percent greater than last year’s, Ingram planned to buy more heavily from Vera Wang and Marchesa, two new labels to his store. Long, languid dresses from Rose, Wang and Herrera, which he described as Thirties garden party dresses, were among his favorites. A trunk show last month sold 30 gowns, including sev-

eral that retail for upwards of $9,000, which indicated to him the economy has begun to turn around. “My classic dress busi-ness is dwindling — even those girls are trading up,” he said.

Kleinfeld’s Urshel agreed: “Our bride is getting more dar-ing. She used to be staid, true and classic, but now she wants to be different and wear some-thing really unique.”

Lhuillier, Herrera, Romona Keveza, Anne Barge, Badgley Mischka, Amsale and Kenneth Poole were among her top picks. Kleinfeld shoppers typically spend $4,000 to $5,000 for a dress. “There’s something about a wedding — whether they have the money or not — they want to look fabulous and they have to have the right dress,” Urshel said.

Knowing bridesmaids are more intent than ever to find the right look, The Dessy Group un-veiled its Cynthia Rowley bridesmaid dresses. The company, which has an assortment of labels and a Pantone Wedding color guide, sold 500,000 units last year, which was nearly a double-digit gain compared with 2008, said ceo Alan Dessy.

Another newcomer to the bridal scene is David Meister, who just signed his first license, a brid-al one with Designer Bride Inc. Due to debut in June, the 12-piece collection will retail from $1,500 to $3,500. David Meister Bridal will be available later this year at select full-service bridal salons in North America and internationally. Meister said, “Walking down the aisle is the biggest red carpet moment of a woman’s life,” he said.

“Today’s bride is more confident and better educated with more refined taste. ”

— Joe Murphy, JLM Couture

Carolina Herrera was inspired by free thinkers like Frida Kahlo.

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By Bridget Foley

“Vera, do you take brides on a budget to swath in chic folds?”“I do!”It may be the ultimate in aspirational design and

marketing. Vera Wang, high priestess of high-profile, ul-tratony wedding glamour, has signed a long-term agree-ment with David’s Bridal, mainstream mecca for the proletarian bride. The pact promises to bring the designer’s renowned bridal aesthetic — and the magical aura that comes with the best kind of celebrity endorsement, the genuine kind — to a mass audience. The name of the collection remains under wraps until its trademark is secured.

Wang, who has dressed countless movie-, music- and social-star brides — Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman, Kate Hudson, Ivanka Trump, to name a few — maintains that, while the high end of bridal is lovely, there’s much to be said for an ecumenical scope. “It’s ginormous,” the designer offered of signing with David’s. She and company president Mario Grauso sat for an interview at their headquarters on Thursday afternoon. “There’s a big market out there that we could never take advantage of [before].”

While clearly focused on the bottom line, Wang ac-knowledged the emotional significance of this deal for consumers. She paraphrased a line from her tome, “Vera Wang on Weddings” (Harper Collins, 2001). “I said, ‘Most of you can never wear a Vera Wang dress.’ My book is me talking through all my years of experi-ence of going to weddings, helping girls with [their own] weddings, being in weddings, all of it. Now I can do the dress for these girls — something we could never do on our own.”

For his part, David’s Bridal president and chief ex-ecutive officer Robert Huth noted that signing Wang amounts to a major coup. He spoke by phone from

company headquarters in Conshohocken, Pa. “Vera is the name in bridal,” he said. David’s had long been in-terested “in adding a recognizable brand [to] provide a halo effect to the company, one that would not only drive incremental traffic, but would offer our custom-ers a value they’re looking to get from an aspirational brand. When you start looking around at who would ful-fill that, there’s no question.”

Spread across all 50 states, David’s 308 mostly mall-based stores currently feature the collections of Oleg Cassini and Galina as well as its own extensive private label. Gowns range from $299 to $1400. Wang’s offerings will run from $600 to $1500, with most under $1200, and will, like all David’s collections, run in sizes zero to 30. (David’s is owned by Leonard Green & Partners, also the owner of Priscilla of Boston, which is sold in its own brand stores across the country.)

The Wang-David’s union was not entered into in haste. “They’d spoken to us over the years, as they have with our competitors,” Wang said. Things turned serious after Grauso returned in September to the company at which he had worked years ago. “I focused on closing the deal,” he said. “Vera came to me when I started and said, ‘This is something that we’ve been considering. What are your thoughts?’” As it turns out, he had plenty,

some rooted in his concern over bridal’s overall “dimin-ishing distribution channel in the U.S.”

Wang then interrupted that thought to chime in: “We lost 16 doors between Neiman’s and Saks in one week. I believe it was on a Monday, Saks closed eight doors and on a Friday, Neiman’s.”

The issue, though now acute, has festered for years, according to Grauso. “Vera and I learned together when this company was young that distribution is one of the most difficult things with bridal,” he said. “There’s not that many stores to sell to, and it’s been slowly, slowly eroding. [In the current market] we’re seeing only a nominal number of stores. So I said to Vera, not only am I interested in offering your dresses at a lower price point, but how nice to have distribution.”

By Huth’s accounting, David’s owns 30 percent of the U.S. bridal business. In addition to bridal attire includ-ing bridesmaids and accessories, it offers prom and special occasion fare, as well as gifts and stationery. The firm’s Web site boasts more than 40 million unique visitors annually. Although Huth declined to articu-late how large the Wang business might become, he is clearly thinking big. “Vera wants to sell a lot of dresses, and that’s what we want to accomplish,” he said. “As she designs we’re going to be on the other side, trying

10 WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

Bridal’s New Union: Vera and David’s

exclusive

“i’ve been doing this for 20 years...what is the point if i can’t share all this work [via] a brand that is reliable and credible to people, if i can’t bring it to another audience?”

— vera Wang

Mario Grauso and vera Wang

David’s Bridal president and

ceo Robert Huth.

to balance her enthusiasm and her design with the realities of our customer.”

One such reality is the mass bridal customer can barely help but be obsessed with the notion of a Vera Wang dress. “A show like the Kardashians, [Khloe] was talking about having a Vera dress and who wouldn’t want to have a Vera dress,” Huth said. “I mean, how many stars do you have, or [famous] people, who want Vera Wang to design [their] wedding dress? You look at our customer who’s mainstream America, and how many of these woman would say, ‘Geez, I’d do anything to have a Vera Wang gown?’ That’s the whole premise [with] Vera: She is the queen. For us, it’s going to fur-ther validate the value of what we give our consumer.

“‘I’d like a Vera Wang dress, but I can’t afford it’ — we hear that fre-quently,” Huth continued. “We do an awful lot of consumer work and when we were looking at different brand options, hands down, she was the one that they wanted.”

For her part, Wang insists that those women will get more than her name on a label, a statement supported amply by precedent: her far-flung collection for Kohl’s, the design of which traces back clearly to the artful approach she takes to her own ready-to-wear. “I said then, ‘I’m not going to Kohl’s unless I can make good product that I’m proud of, or if it’s not true [to my aesthetic],” she said. “At David’s I think I will be able to bring a taste level. I’ve been doing this for 20 years in September, and whom can I reach? With all the development, with all the draping, trying to push the vocabulary of bridal ahead every single year, what is the point if I can’t share all this work [via] a brand that is reliable and credible to people, if I can’t bring it to an-other audience?”

Asked whether she’s concerned about the inevitable downgrade in fabrics, Wang took issue with the premise of the question. She maintains that at least when it comes to classic fabrics — crepe de chines, for example — she and other top-tier designers source from the same mills as many designers further down the food chain. “Even for my lower price point of ready-to-wear, I do the basic CDC program,” she said. “We do wash it, and we do things to it….The truth is, we’re all using [certain] fabrics. And by the way, a lot of the [designers] who do those [mass] chains use the same fabrics, only they get them directly from the mills in China. You can’t compete unless you have a big company behind you because, let’s be honest, they’re not going to pay the same for the fabric. The truth here [is that] most of us in America who are upper-end designers use Symphony. [For David’s] I will be using Symphony and other things. I’m sure there are poly versions [of various fabrics] — which a lot of designers on the upper end [of bridal] use, too.”

The collection’s initial range will feature about 20 bridal gowns, which will hit the stores next spring. Beyond that, a number of fine (and some not so fine) points remain to be fleshed out. For example, Wang and Grauso indicated the launch would be across all doors, likely in March, starting with bridal gowns only with bridesmaids to follow. Wang

also said she would love to do children’s wed-ding attire. Huth said he expects to start with “150 doors, give or take,” launching with bridal and bridesmaids, as early as late January: “It’s a mat-ter of how quickly we can get both lines together.” And he’s not anticipating Vera Kids.

All agree that this could develop into some-thing huge that could well change the vocabulary of mainstream bridal across the country. And while none of the three key players would bite when asked if the business is intended to go after J. Crew and the upcoming Urban Outfitters foray

into bridal, it certainly sets the stage for “Bride Wars” of the retail sort.

Then of course, there’s the matter of high-low, and wheth-er a customer for one of Wang’s elaborately hand worked lace creations from the luxe end of her signature collection, which could cost upwards of $15,000, might not like that another bride can get her own Vera for three figures.

“Our modern girls are not going to be turned off because we do something less expen-sive,” Grauso said. “That’s not something people today are embarrassed by.”

Besides, the design will be worthy of the label. Notes Wang, “If I couldn’t raise the bar, I wouldn’t do it.”

WWD.COM11WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

MEMO PADBridal’s New Union: Vera and David’s LOVE IS ALL AROUND: The 40th annual Matrix Awards on Monday honored a group of distinguished women, with equally distinguished women introducing the award winners. So if it all seemed like one big love-in — well, it was. The awards honored Sheryl Crow; Tina Fey; Ina Garten, aka The Barefoot Contessa; historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; Gayle King; Bloomingdale’s Anne Keating; Google’s Marissa Mayer, and Susan Chira, foreign editor of The New York Times.

And the array of presenters, which included Oprah Winfrey and Katie Couric, wasn’t chopped liver either. “Gayle has always, always, always been there for me,” Winfrey said before the largely female crowd of 1,300 at the Waldorf-Astoria. “Last week was rough for Gayle when a new, unauthorized biography [of me] came out….She has never ever been jealous or envious of a single moment in my life except when I got on stage and sang with Tina Turner.” In regards to the biography, Winfrey simply noted, “This too shall pass.”

Introducing Goodwin, Lesley Stahl said, “‘Prayer and reapportionment’ was her Harvard thesis. Can there be any doubt she’s an intellectual?”

As for Keating, Couric stated, “Once Anne sinks her teeth into something, she’s like a pit bull, a very lovely pit bull. She all but invented the phrase corporate philanthropy.”

Fey said that while promoting her new movie “Date Night” with co-star Steve Carell, she was often asked how she juggles career and family, but no one ever posed that question to Carell. “There’s a certain kind of scrutiny in this business that does not apply to men,” Fey said. She later joked that she will be pitted against fellow award winner Crow (who was wearing a nearly identical floral print Dolce & Gabbana dress) in one of those “Who Wore It Best” celebrity weekly features.

Other presenters were Mariska Hargitay, Seth Meyers, Anna Quindlen, Maria Bartiromo and Jill Abramson, managing editor at the Times. The luncheon recognized women who change the world and raised money for scholarships for women studying media. “There is enough estrogen in this room to make Arnold Schwarzenegger ovulate,” said Linda Kaplan Thaler, president-elect of the New York Women in Communications.

As one of the token males in the room (and the event’s emcee), Brian Williams, “NBC Nightly News” anchor and managing editor, perhaps couldn’t resist injecting some bite to the event. As the audience was heading for the exits, Williams joked, “Please remain seated while Oprah’s plane clears New York airspace.” — David Moin and Amy Wicks

THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG: Alyce Alston has a new gig. The former president of emerging businesses at Reader’s Digest Association, who left her post and longtime boss Mary Berner only a few weeks ago, has landed at American Achievement Corp., a company that makes inspirational products that “celebrate special moments in life.” Alston will serve as president and chief executive officer. — A.W.

RESTYLED: Little-known fashion media site StyledOn relaunches this week with a hire from Gilt Groupe and new content that combines shopping, editorial and community. The site, which made its debut in September, has about 4,000 unique visitors a month and covers fashion, culture and interiors. Brands can post look books and other content. As soon as traffic grows, the site plans to charge for advertising and sponsorships.

“We’re giving people a forum to play and connect and get inspired,” said chief executive officer Leora Kadisha, a recent graduate of Boston University. Chief operating officer Elaine Chang was previously director of new business and international operations for Gilt Groupe and vice president of strategy and operations for MTV Networks’ digital music business.

The firm, based in New York’s SoHo, has nine full-time staff, and an undisclosed amount of funding from Omninet Capital. Kadisha’s father, Neil Kadisha, is a co-founder of Qualcomm. — Cate T. Corcoran

YOUR NEW BFF?: MSN is hoping viewers will make Jenn Falik their new best friend. The beauty publicist — who has moonlighted for seven years as a beauty expert on a number of shows, including the “Today” show and “E News” — is appearing in a new original Web series on MSN.com called “Beauty BFF,” which premieres today. Part of MSN Lifestyle and Bing Video, the first season comprises 24 episodes, each featuring a different beauty subject. Topics include mastering the art of the at-home manicure, guest-starring Essie Weingarten, and Oscar Blandi teaching Falik how to master a perfect blowout. — Julie Naughton

LEAVING SAKS: Caroline Packer, Saks Fifth Avenue’s vice president of public relations and special events, handed in her notice on Friday. After six years, Packer will be leaving the retailer at the end of this month. Packer had joined Saks from Club Monaco, where she was public relations director. Prior to that, she held a similar position at Louis Vuitton North America. — Marc Karimzadeh

MCCOLLUM’S NEXT LIFE: After a five-year run as associate editor at ForbesLife magazine, Adam McCollum has joined BPCM as a senior account executive handling men’s and luxury accounts such as IWC and Christian Lacroix men’s. His hire is not such a reach, considering the agency’s clients include the city of Marrakesh, which just tapped BPCM to oversee lifestyle, fashion and trend coverage. — Rosemary Feitelberg

“...distribution is one of the most difficult things with bridal. There’s not that many stores to sell to, and it’s been slowly, slowly eroding. ”

— Mario Grauso

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Vera Wang has long been an aspirational reference for David’s Bridal customers,who are inspired by the designer’s celebrity clients, including Ivanka Trump and Khloe Kardashian, below.

Vera Wang has long been an aspirational reference for David’s Bridal customers,who are inspired by the designer’s celebrity clients, including Ivanka Trump and Khloe Kardashian, below.

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WWD.COM12 WWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010

Textile & Trade Report

WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are stepping up the pressure on the Obama administration to eliminate a controversial cross-border trucking program with Mexico and resolve a long-simmering dispute.

A bipartisan group of 78 lawmakers wrote letters to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week urging the admin-istration to renegotiate and eliminate from the North American Free Trade Agreement a section that opens up U.S. highways to Mexican trucks.

“We believe the U.S. should renegotiate…the U.S. commitment to liberalize cross-border trucking and thus eliminate the requirement to open our borders to Mexican trucks,” the lawmakers said. “This would rem-edy all the truck safety, homeland security and unem-ployment issues associated with this long-standing trade dispute. A successful renegotiation would also eliminate retaliatory tariffs, which are negatively impacting our export markets.”

USTR declined to comment and the Department of Transportation did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. agreed to open its borders to Mexican trucks in 1994 as part of NAFTA, but a prolonged battle with the Teamsters Union led to several court cases and delayed implementation. Democrats in Congress also cut off funding for a pilot program last year, cit-ing safety concerns and potential job losses in the U.S. trucking industry.

In response, Mexico imposed punitive tariffs on $2.4 billion in U.S. goods, including personal care products, sunglasses and synthetic staple fiber yarns.

In recent months, the Obama administration has held talks with Mexican officials and U.S. transporta-tion and trade officials to try to restore and restructure the program.

LaHood said this month the U.S. and Mexico had established a working group to consider “next steps of the cross-border trucking program.” LaHood met with his Mexican counterpart, Juan Molinar Horcasitas, sec-retary of communications and transportation for the Mexican government, on April 12 in Mexico to discuss a broad range of transportation issues, including resolv-

ing the cross-border trucking problem, which they said was their highest priority.

The lawmakers stressed in their letter that Congress has “repeatedly and overwhelmingly rejected the cross-border program because it failed to adequately protect Americans from unsafe Mexican trucking standards.”

— K.E. and L.C.

By Liza Casabona

WASHINGTON — Textile and fabric manufacturers in the Western Hemisphere must es-tablish a stronger regional identity through coordinated initiatives on issues ranging from trade policy to financing to remain a viable force, executives said.

Members of the National Council of Textile Organizations ended their three-day annual meeting here last Wednesday with a consensus that, in order to meet low-cost competition from Asia, they have to do a better job of connecting retail compa-nies with producers in the region to build awareness about sourcing, as well as the benefits of faster turnaround time and knowledge of the consumer base.

The meeting also touched on the challenges created by China’s currency policies, trade preference reform, allowing Haiti to bring in more duty free items, customs enforcement and the need for increased dialogue between U.S. companies and their counterparts in Central and South America.

Executives said they debated specific options re-garding the difficulties companies face in trying to get credit. Much of the talk focused on purchase order financing, in which an order from a major retailer or brand can be considered as a loan guarantee for a com-pany that doesn’t have enough collateral otherwise.

They also discussed stabilizing the financial mar-kets that do lend to the textile and apparel industry, primarily factors.

Gail Strickler, assistant U.S. Trade Representative for textiles, said the USTR is working to communicate

the special needs of the industry to the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. and other creditors. Many companies in the U.S. manufacture items that are exported to other countries where they are made into apparel that eventually reenters the U.S.

“The ability for our banking system or our factor-ing system to understand what I would call interim exports was basically nonexistent and that is really where our focus has been,” Strickler said. “We are making progress.”

Tightening of credit during the recession, coupled with the bankruptcy last fall of the largest domestic fac-tor, CIT Group Inc., made finding financing one of the most troubling issues facing the domestic industry, she said.

Walter Kosciow, vice president of the Short Term Trade Finance division at the Export-Import Bank, said he and his team have worked with the USTR and factors to solve the problem.

“We are trying to think outside the box to come up with different ways to help your industry,” Kosciow told executives. “Hopefully, we can come up with some creative solutions.”

NCTO president Cass Johnson pointed out that this year’s meeting, for the first time, included representatives of foreign trade associations from Mexico and Guatemala, who participated in lobbying on Capitol Hill.

To establish a united industry voice on trade issues Johnson said the NCTO would work with trade associations from Central America, the Andean region and Mexico, among others, to establish a council representing the entire hemisphere.

“It’s very important to establish a regional identity that shows that textile and ap-parel industries throughout this region support so many jobs,” said Wally Darneille,

the departing chairman of the organization, who also is president and chief executive officer of Plains Cotton Cooperative Association in Lubbock, Tex.

Darneille is being succeeded as chairman by David Hastings, president and ceo of Mount Vernon Mills Inc., based in Mauldin, S.C.

Francisco Sanchez, undersecretary for international trade at the Commerce Department, said during a panel discussion: “I recognize how important integrating commercially [within] this hemisphere is.”

Sanchez said his counterparts in Latin American countries have expressed con-cern that China has emerged as the top trading partner for an increasing number of countries in the region.

He touted initiatives intended to help boost U.S. exports, such as increasing the number of trade missions and broadening the pool of foreign buyers that the commerce department lobbies on behalf of U.S. companies.

Kim Glas, deputy assistant secretary for textiles and apparel at the commerce department and chairwoman of the interagency Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements, said there might be a role for the government in helping to connect retailers, brands and manufacturers within the region.

Carlos Arias, president of Guatemala-based Denimatrix and president of the board of the Apparel & Textile Commission in Guatemala, and David Garcia, president of Canaintex, the National Chamber of the Textile Industry in Mexico, both said they were inter-ested in closer cooperation within the hemisphere.

The benefits of producing in the hemisphere have not been communicated well to retailers and brands that have grown accustomed to sourcing in Asia, they said.

“We need to start thinking as Europe thinks — as a region,” Garcia said.

Most regions in the world took a hit in the economic downturn, but the Western Hemisphere suffered more than most, despite having the advantage of location, said Jerry Cook, vice president of international trade and government relations for Hanesbrands Inc.

“It’s not about distance; it’s not about proximity,” Cook said. “No one pulled China closer. It is about competition.”

The Western Hemisphere is a complex and difficult place for brands to source because of complicated trade rules, he said.

The industry is also focused on trade issues such as the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement and potential duty free benefits for Bangladesh and Cambodia, said Andy Warlick, president and chief executive officer of Parkdale Mills Inc. in Gastonia, N.C.

The USTR is in the early stages of negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership, a regional free trade agree-ment that was forged in 2006 between Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, New Zealand and Chile, and could also include Vietnam, Australia and Peru. United States textile and apparel companies oppose Vietnam’s

inclusion because it is considered a nonmarket economy.“[The domestic industry] exports a lot into Central America,” Warlick said, adding

that if countries in Asia had access to the duty free benefits proposed it “will shut down business here.”

The Central American Free Trade Agreement that was enacted in 2005 features duty free trade between the region and the U.S.

Another priority for textile executives is pressing Congress and the Obama administration to confront China on what critics charge is its undervalued cur-rency that drives down the cost of Chinese imports and puts U.S.-made goods at a competitive disadvantage.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R., S.C.) pledged to the group of executives he will press hard to advance a punitive bill he has cosponsored with Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) targeting China’s currency policies, regardless of whether China allows its cur-rency to appreciate against the dollar.

— With contributions from Kristi Ellis

U.S. Mills Focus on Western Hemisphere Relations

End to Mexican Trucking Dispute Urged

“It’s very important to establish a regional identity that shows that textile and apparel industries throughout this region support so many jobs. ”

— Wally Darneille, NCTO

Wally Darneille

Kim Glas and Gail Strickler

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Lawmakers are seeking to end the cross-border trucking program with Mexico.

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WWD.COMWWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010 13

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Locations in Spain, Portugal and the U.K. — including a London flagship — are expected to bow in the next 12 months.

“We’re a company that’s focused on growth, and obviously [Europe] is an untapped opportunity for us,” Ian Bickley, Coach Inc.’s president of international, said in an interview. “We really see a multichannel distribution approach throughout the key western European markets.”

Bickley said Italy and Germany are “on the radar screen” for future expansion.

Coach declined to give first-year sales projections for its European foray, but said it’s angling for 3 percent market share within five years. The company estimates the region represents 25 percent of the world’s premium handbag and accessories business, with North America and Japan accounting for half.

Bickley described the European accessories market as “fragment-ed,” asserting that Coach would offer a “strong alternative” with its “New York heritage and fashion orientation.” Moreover, he charac-terized the price positioning for Coach handbags, in the 200 to 600 euro, or $308 to $924 at current exchange, range, as a “sweet spot” and a void in the continental landscape.

Bickley acknowledged brand aware-ness of Coach is still “quite low” in Europe. On its side, however, is a post-recessionary consumer who is “less focused on sta-tus” and more interested in an appealing price-value prop-osition, he said.

The distribution agreement in France calls for Coach shop-in-shops in at least 14 Printemps stores within a three-year period. Besides the Haussmann flagship, five more shops are slated to open before yearend: two in suburban Paris locations plus Lille, Rouen and the seaside resort town of Deauville.

The Haussmann showcase, located near the main entrance, is to feature an assortment of Coach products for women and men, spanning handbags, small leather goods, outerwear, scarves, sunwear, jewelry and travel acces-sories. Designed by Coach’s in-house architectural team, the shop will boast herringbone walnut floors, white-paneled walls and cus-tom fixtures in nickel and lacquer, accentuated with antique mirrors, artwork and custom furnishings.

European shops will carry the same products Coach sells in America and Japan, with a likely accent on leather bags as logo products are not as in demand as they are in Asia, Bickley noted. There are also some exclusive styles to fan de-mand in France.

Last week, Printemps officially unveiled a renovated luxury accessories de-partment. The three-story zone is part of a wide-ranging effort to move the 17-unit Printemps chain upscale, following its $1.33 billion sale in 2006 by French retail-to-luxury group PPR SA to a consortium that includes the Borletti Group, which also owns Italian department store chain La Rinascente.

The introduction of Coach to Printemps follows the launch of other brands that are not widely familiar to French consumers, such as David Yurman and Manolo Blahnik.

“That’s really the history and the role of a department store like Printemps. In a sense, for 145 years, our role has been to create, bring and support new trends, sup-port them to become broader and mainstream,” Printemps chief executive officer Paolo de Cesare told WWD. “It was in our DNA to say: ‘What is out there that can be exciting, that can be new, that can be different?’

“In this context, we clearly look at brands that have global appeal and it makes a lot of sense to bring a brand that is a leader in Asia, a leader in the United States, to Europe,” he continued.

De Cesare said he became aware of Coach when living in Japan between 1999 and 2002.

“I was very impressed because the Japanese customers are very demanding. They are very fashion-conscious, but they are also very careful with the quality. They would not buy something that is poor quality, even at a low price,” he said. “So since then, I had a keen eye on this brand and I saw it growing over the past decade. And when the moment arrived, I felt it was absolutely the right match between them and us to do something that would be new and innovative in France and frankly, in conti-nental Europe, because we are the first distribution point in continental Europe.”

Bickley noted Coach would also benefit from exposure to international tourists at Printemps, who accounted for 20 percent of the department store’s turnover last year.

The partners have planned an “integrated marketing and communications effort” in tandem with Coach’s arrival in France that will include a national advertising, window displays, store events and leveraging the retailer’s database, Bickley said.

The agreement with Hackett, a subsidiary of Pepe Jeans SL, calls for a multichan-nel distribution model spanning flagship stores, freestanding boutiques and shop-in-shops. Bickley is to serve as chairman of the board of the joint venture. He said Coach was attracted to Hackett’s understanding of premium and luxury retailing, through a variety of formats and “with a high-touch service model, which is important for us.”

Coach tried to break into the U.K. market once before in the Nineties, when it opened a freestanding store on Sloane Street and had a shop-in-shop in Harrods. But the strength of the dollar against the pound made its price points prohibitive, and consumers’ lack of knowledge of the brand also hurt. Coach withdrew from the U.K. a few years later.

Established in 1941 and headquartered in New York, Coach made its first steps abroad in 1988 when — detecting a good number of Japanese clients in its Manhattan and Seattle boutiques — it formed a distribution agreement with the Mitsukoshi de-partment store. Success in Japan came quickly, and soon after, efforts to capture Japanese clients as they traveled in the Asia-Pacific.

Today, Coach bills itself as the second largest importer of premium handbags and

accessories in Japan with market share in excess of 14 percent, and brand awareness exceeding 90 percent.

For fiscal 2009, when net sales totaled $3.23 billion, North America ac-counted for 71.7 percent of Coach’s revenues, Japan 10.7 percent and 7.5 percent other international. Of the latter, China represents the largest country, projected to account for 3 percent of full-year 2010 sales and still considered Coach’s largest growth opportunity. Other key Asian countries

for the brand include Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia.Bickley said Coach’s late arrival in Europe would impose no impedi-

ment, given that was hardly the case in Japan or, more recently, China.“China is clearly the number-one growth opportunity for us,” he said.

“Europe is just another untapped market and we think it’s time to enter.”— With contributions from Joelle Diderich

Coach Signs Deals for European ExpansionContinued from page one

Coach items on display at Printemps. Left: Coach’s Sabrina bag.

www.twitter.com/worldretail T: +44 (0) 20 7554 5808 | E: info@worldretailcongress.com

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Other contributors to World Retail Congress include:

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Gilbert Harrison Chairman, Financo

Angela Ahrendts CEO, Burberry

Dr Eckhard Cordes Chairman & CEO Metro Group

Gordon Segal Chairman & Co-Founder Crate & Barrel

PLUS! Over 100 other global retail leaders confi rmed to speak.

21-23 April 2010 - Berlin

HALL OF FAME

Co-sponsors Awards headline sponsor Hall of Fame co-sponsors US Media Partner

Congratulations to a US retail veteran Michael GouldThe World Retail Hall of Fame at World Retail Congress honours those who have created modern retailing. Made up of over 100 retail legends spanning many decades, these men and women made retail as we know it today. WWD, the US Media Partner of the event, are pleased to announce Michael Gould will be inducted at the event in Berlin this month.

“I was overwhelmed to have learnt that I will be inaugurated into the World Retail Hall of Fame in Berlin this April. I am proud to accept this honor on behalf of my associates and partners, past and present, who working together have enabled each of us to be more than we thought we could be.” Michael Gould, Chairman & CEO, Bloomingdale’s

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Financial

15.42 14.62 Duckwall-Alco (DUCK) 69.5 8026 15.25 +4.49

13.26 12.79 Freds (FRED) 21.3 909627 13.23 +3.36

14.55 14.07 Penn Real Estate (PEI) - 420159 14.54 +2.04

9.18 8.89 Sally Beauty (SBH) 15.2 353134 9.13 +1.78

7.25 6.87 Caché (CACH) - 177188 7.16 +1.70

3.88 3.70 Casual Male (CMRG) 27.1 145950 3.86 +1.58

9.50 9.24 Bebe (BEBE) - 705922 9.49 +1.50

29.55 28.12 Dollar General (DG) 49.3 1889189 29.01 +1.43

31.34 30.49 Wolverine (WWW) 24.9 455997 31.27 +1.20

31.46 30.43 J.C. Penney (JCP) 28.8 5327231 31.46 +1.19

10 BESt PERFoRMERS DAILY COMPANIES P/E VOLuME AMt

HIgH LOw LASt %CHANgE

21.64 20.25 Zumiez (ZUMZ) 72.3 402834 20.48 -5.54

44.66 41.67 Lululemon (LULU) 54.4 1736298 42.33 -5.13

10.73 9.66 Crocs (CRoX) - 4908090 10.00 -5.12

2.24 2.13 Parlux Fragrances (PARL) - 11234 2.17 -4.82

4.36 3.84 tandy Brands (tBAC) - 22717 4.07 -4.01

36.45 34.98 Citi trends (CtRN) 26.9 76767 35.27 -3.69

10.08 9.62 Syms (SYMS) 10.4 9550 9.67 -3.59

43.25 40.00 French Connection * (FCCN:L) - 92358 41.00 -3.53

16.02 15.14 Chico’s (CHS) 40.8 3906652 15.36 -3.52

6.02 5.63 New York & Co. (NWY) - 155608 5.73 -3.37

10 WoRSt PERFoRMERS DAILY COMPANIES P/E VOLuME AMt

HIgH LOw LASt %CHANgE

By Arnold J. Karr

Michael Duke’s earnings dropped by almost one-third last year as equity awards received on his February 2009 promotion to president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart stores inc. were credited to the previous fiscal year, according to the retailer’s proxy.

J. crew group inc.’s proxy, also dis-closed on Monday, showed that Millard “Mickey” Drexler, chairman and ceo, earned a total of $5.8 million, 60.1 per-cent above his 2008 pay of $3.6 million. Without the $2 million discretionary cash bonus granted to him by the company’s board, and dis-closed on Friday, his com-pensation would have been $3.8 million, 5.3 percent above its 2008 level.

The sum of Drexler’s stock and option awards rose 4.3 percent last year, to $3.6 million, while his salary remained $200,000. Drexler is deemed to ben-eficially own more than 7.5 million shares of the company’s stock, giving him an 11.8 percent stake, accord-ing to the proxy.

according to Wal-Mart’s definitive proxy, filed with the securities and exchange commission Monday, Duke earned $19.2 million last year, 32.3 per-cent less than his reported 2008 com-pensation of $28.4 million. Based on his promotion to ceo from vice chairman, his salary increased 14.6 percent to $1.2 million from $1.1 million.

however, Duke’s stock awards de-clined 46.3 percent to $12.7 million from $23.7 million. almost half of the 2008 fig-ure — about $11.4 million — were equity awards received in connection with his promotion. had they been recorded in the most recent fiscal year, his total pay would have increased 80.2 percent to $30.6 million from $17 million.

Duke received no bonus in 2009, as in 2008, and Wal-Mart didn’t grant option

awards. Because of vesting schedules and fluctuating stock prices, stock and option awards aren’t necessarily realized by the executives on record as receiving them but are reported to the sec in ac-cordance with regulatory requirements.

Duke’s nonequity incentive plan compensation rose 56.6 percent to $4.8 million last year, up from $3.1 million in 2008. he earned the maximum nonequi-ty bonus available, with the $4.8 million representing 400 percent of his base salary based on the company’s pretax

profit. stock awards were doled out based on rev-enue growth and return on investment over the three-year period concluded on Jan. 31, the end of Wal-Mart’s fiscal year.

as with several re-tail executives, his other compensation dropped, declining 16.3 percent to $318,000 from $380,000. Wal-Mart recorded a $194,000 change in pension value and nonqualified de-ferred compensation earn-

ings for Duke last year, versus $210,000 in 2008.

eduardo castro-Wright, vice chair-man and head of Wal-Mart’s u.s. stores, saw his overall compensation dip 24.9 percent to $13.9 million from $18.6 mil-lion in 2008. however, it would have risen 65 percent to $20.2 million from $12.3 million if the $6.3 million in equity awards given to him at the time of his 2009 promotion had been recorded last year instead of in 2008.

although Wal-Mart’s 2009 sales rose far less than in previous years, advanc-ing 1 percent to $405.05 billion, its net income picked up 7 percent to $14.34 billion from $13.4 billion in 2008. The company’s return on investment was flat at 19.3 percent and return on assets rose to 8.9 percent from 8.4 percent in 2008. in 2008 net income grew 5.3 percent to $13.4 billion as sales rose 7.3 percent to $401.09 billion.

* Editor’s note: European stocks are quoted in the currency of their principal exchanges. Shares on the London Stock Exchange are quoted in pence, Richemont and The Swatch Group are quoted in Swiss francs and Hennes & Mauritz is quoted in Swedish kronor. All other European stocks are in euros.

Wal-Mart’s Duke Sees Drop in Pay

Uniqlo to Open Fifth Avenue FlagshipBy Amanda Kaiser

TOKYO — Fast retailing co. ltd. said Monday it has signed a lease for a new uniqlo store on Fifth avenue in Manhattan.

a spokeswoman said an opening date has not been established, adding that it’s unlikely to happen this year. The 89,340-square-foot flagship will be located at 666 Fifth avenue.

The Fifth avenue store will be the Japanese brand’s second location in new York. its 36,000-square-foot soho unit opened in 2006.

The spokeswoman declined to provide further details on the format of the up-coming Fifth avenue flagship.

uniqlo has spearheaded an interna-tional push in recent years, rolling out

stores in Paris, london, singapore and Moscow, as well as several locations in south korea and china. next month, the brand will open a flagship in shanghai, coinciding with the opening of the

World expo.asked what has

surprised him the most about doing business in the u.s., shin Odake, chief operating officer of uniqlo usa, said, “i was surprised that, for the most part,

what sells in Japan also sells in the u.s. What people are looking for is strikingly similar around the globe.”

Moreover, uniqlo’s product has been accepted almost as is. “We haven’t made any changes except for the fit adjust-ment,” he said.

— With contributions from Sharon Edelson, New York

For full daily stock changes and more financial news, see WWD.com / business-news.

FINANCIAL new

Retail Stocks Slide, Lag MarketsBy Evan Clark

reTail sTOcks sliPPeD MODesTlY Monday despite hints the economic re-covery is on the right track.

The s&P retail index dipped 0.1 per-cent, or 0.44 points, to 474.94 Monday, but is still trading at levels that prior to last week had not been seen since October 2007. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 0.7 percent, or 73.39 points, to end at 11,092.05, and the s&P 500 failed to break back through to 1,200, but closed up 0.5 percent, or 5.39 points, at 1,197.52.

retail’s decliners included chico’s Fas inc., down 3.5 percent to $15.36; abercrombie & Fitch co., 3.3 percent to $47.09; The Men’s Wearhouse inc., 3.3 percent to $24.92; annTaylor stores corp., 3.1 percent to $21.57, and Zale corp., 2.8 percent to $3.15.

shares of liz claiborne inc. fell 2 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $8.53. after the markets closed, a regulatory fil-ing with the securities and exchange commission revealed that Tremblant capital group was the owner of 5.7 million shares of claiborne stock, equaling a 6 percent stake in the firm. companies holding 5 percent or more of a public firm are required to reveal those holdings to the sec. no pre-vious disclosures had been filed by Tremblant, indicating either that the stake was new or had exceeded 5 per-cent for the first time.

The decline among specialty stores

belied a fresh reading from The conference Board’s leading economic index, which rose to 109.6 in March, a gain of 1.4 percent from February and a new all-time high. The index, a snap-shot of 10 forward-looking indicators that has been kept since 1959, advanced 0.4 percent in February and 0.6 percent in January.

“The indicators point to a slow re-covery that should continue over the next few months,” said ken goldstein, an economist at the research group. “strength of demand remains the big question going forward. improvement in employment and income will be the key factors in whether consumers push the recovery on a stronger path.”

u.s. markets were also supported by citigroup inc., which posted a $4.43 bil-lion first-quarter profit. and investors cautiously warmed to goldman sachs group inc. after the securities and exchange commission charged the bank Friday with fraud related to its dealings in the subprime mortgage market.

The shadow of the goldman case hung over asian markets, where trad-ers pushed the hang seng index down 2.1 percent to 21,405.17 in hong kong and the nikkei 225 down 1.7 percent to 10,908.77 in Tokyo.

although european markets were off, general sentiment improved as trading moved westward. The cac 40 slipped 0.4 percent to 3,970.47 in Paris and the FTse 100 dipped 0.3 percent to 5,727.91 in london.

“What people are looking for is strikingly similar around the globe.

” — Shin Odake, Uniqlo USA

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WWD.COMWWD, TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010 15

DUSSELDORF — Renamed, redefined and refined, Global Art of Perfumes, held here March 26 to 28, tried to set a new stan-dard for the fragrance trade show — or, as or-ganizer Frank Schnitzler would prefer to call it, scent convention.

While the name was new, the event grew out of last year’s Sniffapalooza Fragrance Fair, Germany’s first niche event, which drew more than 1,000 visitors.

The fragrance fair moved from a small, cen-tral venue to the scenic Weimar Republic-era Rheinterrasse Hall on the Rhine. It featured big brands like Chanel, Dior, Kenzo, Guerlain and Coty, which all had large, well-appointed stands — some the size of in-store boutiques — in a spacious ornate ballroom. Still, niche brands had their own place in the sun — a window-filled riverside room complete with tranquil seating area. About 100 niche perfumes were unveiled to the German market at Global Art of Perfumes, including a new Arturetto Landi fragrance called al03, due to be launched in fall. There was a combination of workshops and talks on offer, featur-ing trend researcher Li Edelkoort.

While final figures have yet to be tallied, prelimi-nary data indicate about 500 visitors, including 200 from the public, attended the new iteration of the show. There were more exhibitors, however, 62 at this year’s fair, compared with 40 last year.

Guerlain’s fragrance creation director, Sylvaine Delacourte, gave presentations on her firm’s his-tory to both retailers and consumers at the fair. A Guerlain counter in Düsseldorf is the only place in the country that stocks Guerlain’s exclusive lines. “We’re number one in France,” she claimed, “but that’s not the case in Germany. If you don’t come to people, they don’t come to you.”

Nasife Gauch, founder and general manager of German distributor NPassion, noted she had acquired new customers, including store owners who came from

cities several hours away in the very south and east of Germany. NPassion handles niche brands including U.S.-based Ineke and France’s Les Parfums de Rosine. “It’s good for us as exhibitors to meet people, and the visi-tors have a small but refined selection — they won’t be overwhelmed. It suits the German market,” she said.

German-born, New York-based Ulrich Lang, who pre-sented his latest Ulrich Lang

New York men’s fragrance, called Nightscape, agreed. “I think what’s becoming more important in our in-dustry is the actual face time. You need to go the extra distance, you need to do it more and you need to do it more regularly,” he said, adding that the recent closure of Takashimaya’s New York location, which stocked his brand, was another sign that the crisis is not yet over, and that innovation is needed.

Innovation was evident, though, with the introduc-tion of a concept called “Duftkino,” or scent cinema. Created by perfumer and inventor Georg Ortner, the system pipes perfume through a gridded floor in coordi-nation with videos showing fragrance concept campaigns. A sort of sillage synthesizer, it is meant to evoke the trail of fragrance left in the path of a woman wearing her fa-vorite scent. Coty used the device in Düsseldorf for the German launch of the Balenciaga scent, and to present Marc Jacobs’ Daisy and Lola fragrances and Vera Wang’s Princess and Look scents. The machine was the subject of buzz and curiosity throughout Global Art of Perfumes.

The fair was timed to coincide with Beauty International Düsseldorf at the urging of the city, and happened concurrently with Milan’s Esxence niche fra-grance fair, whose organizers have said their goal is to eventually host niche fragrance fairs in cities around the world. France’s Lubin and Parfumerie Generale, U.S.-based Keiko Mecheri and Germany-based Linari were among those brands which either raced between the two cities, or split up staff to cover both shows.

Still, overall responses were positive.— Susan Stone

By Jean E. Palmieri

NEW YORK — Peter Elliot, the Manhattan-based independent retailer, has inked a deal with Atlantis WeatherGear to open a co-branded store in the Hamptons.

The 800-square-foot store at 150 Jobs Lane, in the heart of the Southampton shopping district, is located in the for-mer Jackie Rogers space. It is across the street from the Polo Ralph Lauren unit and is slated to open in about two weeks.

Elliot Rabin, owner of Peter Elliot, said the store name has yet to be finalized but will most likely be Atlantis WeatherGear by Peter Elliot. Until last September, Rabin operated three Barbour by Peter Elliot doors in Manhattan, Boston and Ardmore, Pa. After a six-year association, Barbour took back control of those stores and renamed them Barbour.

Rabin called Atlantis WeatherGear, a Marblehead, Mass.-based brand centered on sailing, “a clean sportswear brand.”

It specializes in high-quality, technically ad-vanced outerwear for sailors and boating

enthusiasts, but Rabin said the store will also sell knitwear, sport shirts and a newly developed line of “sexy, hip” swimwear.

The store will remain open through at least Christmas, Rabin said, and “if

it works, it will be permanent.” Rabin said he sees opportunity to add Atlantis

WeatherGear units in other coastal commu-nities. “But this is a great place to do the first one,” he said of the Hamptons store.

In other Peter Elliot news, Rabin said Peter Lloyd Greer, a former Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. executive, has joined the com-pany to spearhead a men’s tailored clothing initiative for fall.

“He will refresh the Peter Elliot Madison Avenue store by reintroducing clothing as it should be worn,” Rabin said.

Greer will oversee the development of a new private label clothing collection that will be sold as separates and hope-fully also be offered wholesale, Rabin said.

Greer said his concept is to offer a domestically produced collection that can be worn separately or with jeans and boots, which will also be produced for the Peter Elliot stores. “It’ll be an American back-to-basics package,” he said, noting that suit jackets will retail for around $1,750, jeans for $295 and boots for $950 to $3,000.

“It’ll be upper-end but affordable for a fashion guy,” Greer said.

Peter Elliot operates separate men’s and women’s stores on Madison Avenue as well as a men’s and boys’ store on Lexington Avenue.

WWDMen’s

BEAUTY BEAT

Chanel’s stand at Global Art of Perfumes.

Global Art of Perfumes Makes Debut in DüsseldorfPeter Elliot to Open in Hamptons

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