Look Placid

WWD

PHOTO BY JOHN AQUINO

By OVIDIS A NATQUE NET

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By OVIDIS A NATQUE NET

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By ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

NEW YORK — C. Wonder has lost its wonder.The retailer has laid off all 100 of its staff and is

closing its 11 remaining stores, ending an ambitious plan by founder Christopher Burch and his fi rm Burch Creative Capital to create a new specialty chain offer-ing colorful, fun and relatively inexpensive women’s fashion and accessories and home goods. At one point the fi rm had been valued at almost $350 million.

After being laid off in a meeting at Burch Creative Capital’s Flatiron offi ces on Monday, employees exited the headquarters for good, one insider said. It is not yet known what will become of the fl oor that the C. Wonder managerial, design and merchandising teams occupied there. New York-based sales associates, who requested anonymity, said the brand plans to shutter its eight other non-Manhattan stores within the next two weeks. Remaining merchandise is expected to be liquidated in C. Wonder’s stores in the Time Warner Center, in SoHo and on lower Fifth Avenue. Staffers in those stores still did not know as of Tuesday after-noon when their respective locations would close and if there would be any sort of severance packages for management. A few sources said they expected to have a three-week window before closing for good.

Burch said Tuesday, “The retail environment is highly competitive and it saddens me that the com-pany is taking these necessary steps today. I want to personally thank the departing C. Wonder employ-ees for their invaluable contributions.”

By VICKI M. YOUNG

COACH INC. ISN’T GOING to find the solution to its problems in Stuart Weitzman.

That seemed to be the reaction Tuesday from inves-tors after Coach revealed it will acquire the Weitzman footwear brand from Sycamore Partners in a trans-action valued at $574 million, with $530 million paid up front and up to $44 million in earnouts over three years. The deal, which is expected to close in May and will immediately be accretive to earnings as well as expand Coach’s market share in footwear, comes as the company’s management team — headed by chief ex-ecutive offi cer Victor Luis and creative director Stuart Vevers — continue with their ambitious and still un-proven strategy to turn Coach into a lifestyle brand.

The accessories fi rm was forced to develop that strategy since its growth has been undermined by newer competitors such as Michael Kors and Kate Spade gobbling up market share. The bad news is that Kors and Spade now are also struggling in the U.S. as the overall handbag market slows.

After news of the Weitzman acquisition broke, Coach shares hit an intraday high of $37.10, up 1 percent from Monday’s close of $36.73, before dipping south by 1.2 percent to close at $36.29 in Tuesday’s trading session. Perhaps there was some element of sympathy pains given that shares of Kors and Spade also declined, with the sell-off triggered by a downgrade of Kors by Credit Suisse analyst Christian Buss. Shares of Kors saw the most activity, dropping 8.4 percent to $66.87, with more than 15.7 million shares changing hands compared with a three-month average of 3.5 million. Spade slipped 4.4 percent to $29.57. Shares of all three fi rms trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Buss downgraded Kors to “neutral” from “out-perform” due to, in his view, the “dramatic ramp in promotional activity seen across the U.S. retail land-scape for the brand’s handbags.” His new target price

SEE PAGE 8

MAJOR ILLS REMAIN

Coach Shares DeclineOn Weitzman Purchase

Chris Burch ShuttersC. Wonder Operation

SEE PAGE 7

With their pre-fall collection for The Row, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen wrote an ode to serenity. The duo rendered their pared-down aesthetic with a light touch befi tting California’s climate, as seen in the clean lines of this pale blue organza dress and artisanal embroidered slides. For more from the season, see pages 4 and 5.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY

PRE-FALL2015

COLLECTIONS

JUSTIN BIEBER AND LARA STONE APPEAR IN CALVIN

KLEIN’S NEW UNDERWEAR

AND JEANS AD CAMPAIGN. PAGE 3

JUSTIN AND CALVIN AFRICAN OPPORTUNITY

MALL FOR AFRICA AIMS TO MAKE U.S. AND U.K. BRANDS AVAILABLE TO AFRICAN CONSUMERS VIA E-COMMERCE. PAGE 8

HEIDI AND GABRIEL

MACY’S MARKS THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY

OF ITS INC BRAND WITH ADS FEATURING

HEIDI KLUM AND GABRIEL AUBREY.

PAGE 3

2 WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

Jonathan Anderson Joins LVMH Prize Jury

Penney’s Sees Same-Store Sales JumpBy ARNOLD J. KARR

SHARES OF J.C. Penney Co. Inc. shot up more than 18 percent in early after-hours trading Tuesday following the midtier department store’s report of a 3.7 percent increase in same-store sales for November and December.

The company now expects fourth-quarter com-parable-store sales to grow at the upper end of its previous guidance for an increase of between 2 and 4 percent.

Praising employees’ “hard work, warrior spirit and commitment to delivering an exceptional cus-tomer experience every day,” chief executive of-fi cer Myron “Mike” Ullman III commented, “Our highest priority over the last year has been to re-store profi table sales growth at J.C. Penney. This holiday season was instrumental in that effort, and our teams delivered.”

Ullman is expected to retire and be suc-ceeded by Marvin Ellison in August.

Penney’s shares, up 1.9 percent to $6.56 during the regular trading session, rose 18.3 percent to $7.76 in the fi rst 90 minutes of after-hours trading following the announcement.

The disclosure stood in marked con-trast to a press release issued at about the same time last year, when Penney’s said it was “pleased with its performance for the holiday period, showing continued prog-ress in its turnaround efforts” and reaf-fi rmed its earlier fourth-quarter outlook. A week later, Penney said it would close 33 underperforming stores and in early February reported a 3.1 percent increase in comps for the November-December pe-riod and a 2 percent increase in quarterly comps, its fi rst upward movement since the second quar-ter of 2011, just before the ill-fated tenure of Ron Johnson as ceo began.

Based on its polling of analysts, Retail Metrics Inc. had expected a 2.7 percent comp increase from Penney’s during the current fourth quarter.

The holiday increase hardly erases the enormity of the task still ahead for Penney’s. If the company were to match analysts’ expectations for fourth-quarter sales of $3.82 billion and fi nish the year with revenues of $12.18 billion, that would repre-sent a 2.7 percent increase from the prior year but be 6.2 percent below the $12.99 billion in sales reg-istered in 2012, 29.4 percent below the $17.26 bil-lion recorded in 2011 and 31.4 percent below the $17.76 billion logged in 2010.

The upbeat report from Penney’s came in advance of what is expected to be a swarm of updates from other retailers surrounding Thursday’s reports on monthly sales from the small sample of publicly held retailers who continue to report them, a group now dominated by Costco Wholesale Corp., Gap Inc. and L Brands Inc. Last year, such supplemental comp re-ports came not only from Penney’s but also Macy’s Inc., Target Corp., Stage Stores Inc. and a substantial

number of stores in the troubled teen sector, includ-ing the so-called Three A’s — Abercrombie & Fitch Co., American Eagle Outfi tters Inc. and Aéropostale Inc. — as well as Urban Outfi tters Inc., Ascena Retail Group Inc. and Express Inc.

A number of those expected to provide updates would be doing so in advance of their appear-ances at next week’s ICR XChange Conference in Orlando, Fla.

While hardly spectacular, expectations for December comps are fairly strong. Thomson Reuters estimates a 3.7 percent median increase among comp reporters and Retail Metrics expects the average in-crease to be 3.9 percent. Both fi gures were reduced in recent days due to more modest expectations for Costco, which has seen its comps put at risk by falling gas prices and overall revenues in jeopardy because of the strength of the dollar against the euro.

Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, con-tinues to expect year-on-year growth in earnings per share for the fourth quarter to come in at about 7.9 percent, a fi gure that would rise to 12.9 percent without the expected EPS result of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., whose profi t results are weighted to refl ect its enormous volume.

“Given the precipitous decline in gas prices coupled with improved employment and solid economic growth, we would expect retailers to surprise on the upside relative to modest current expectations,” Perkins said. “Retailers do not have the luxury of macroeconomic excuses for poor per-formance this year, other than the lack of wage in-creases accrued to consumers this past year.”

The increased earnings expectations were helped in part by the continuing decline in the price of gasoline — down $1.12 a gallon from a year ago to an average of $2.21 — offset by relentless margin pressure, Perkins said.

He added that, with customers focused on au-tomobiles and electronics, “apparel seems to have taken a back seat in terms of consumer interest,” a situation made worse by a “lack of any overriding fashions that have sparked consumers’ interest for some time, as well as softer mall traffi c.”

By MILES SOCHA

PARIS — Jonathan Anderson, a poster boy for the heights nascent fashion talents can reach, has joined the all-star jury for the next edition of the LVMH Prize for young fashion designers.

The 30-year-old, who heads up his signature label J.W. Anderson and is also creative director of Loewe, is to join the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Nicolas Ghesquière, Raf Simons, Phoebe Philo and Riccardo Tisci to select the second recipient of the award, which comes with 300,000 euros in cash, or $358,200 at current exchange rates, plus a year of coaching by executives at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the luxury group comprising such brands as Louis Vuitton, Céline, Fendi and Givenchy.

Launched in 2013 and spearheaded by Delphine Arnault, second-in-command at Vuitton and a key talent scout at the luxury group her family controls, the prize is open to designers under age 40 who have presented and sold at least two collections of men’s or women’s ready-to-wear.

Arnault also sits on the jury, along with Kenzo creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim; Pierre-Yves Roussel, chairman and chief execu-tive offi cer of LVMH Fashion Group, and Jean-Paul Claverie, an adviser to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault and LVMH’s head of corporate philanthropy.

London-based Canadian designer Thomas Tait scooped up the inaugural award, beating out

1,221 designers who vied for a chance to win. The 28-year-old said most of the money went to manu-facturing, including hiring a dedicated production director, “and making sure that I can accept all of the orders that I want to accept,” he told WWD Collections magazine last year.

On Tuesday, Tait noted he would also relaunch his Web site this year, in hopes of using it as an e-commerce platform in the near future.

Hood by Air designer Shayne Oliver — who, along with Indian brand Miuniku received a special jury prize of 100,000 euros, or $119,400, plus mentoring — said LVMH executive Sophie Brocart gave him “the tools and leverage to become a great fashion brand.

“Our voice went from claiming luxury through our ideas to becoming a luxury business in the eyes of LVMH and the world,” Oliver added.

Young talents have until Feb. 8 to apply on a dedi-cated Web site. The LVMH competition is unique in its global scope, online-only registration and nomi-nation process, plus a gradual elimination process.

A committee of buyers, editors, stylists, pho-tographers and other fashion professionals, yet to be fi nalized, is to select 10 fi nalists during Paris Fashion Week, scheduled for March 3 to 11. The winner is to be revealed in June.

Three recent fashion graduates are also to be recognized with a grant of 10,000 euros, or $11,940, and a one-year placement on the design studio of an LVMH brand. Online applications for this com-petition are open until May 3.

ON WWD.COM

THE BRIEFING BOXIN TODAY’S WWD

What might the handbag fi rms — Coach Inc., Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. and Kate Spade & Co. — do to grab marketshare in 2015? PAGE 1

C. Wonder employees were blindsided by Monday’s news that all 100 staffers were being laid off and that the company is closing its remaining 11 stores. PAGE 1

Bloomingdale’s is now teaming up with the National Basketball Association for the NBA All-Star Game, scheduled for Madison Square Garden in New York City on Feb. 15. PAGE 6

Mall for Africa is being rolled out to help retailers cope with concerns about shipping merchandise to the continent. PAGE 8

The costs of yarns and fabrics made from major ingredients such as cotton, polyester, wool and cellulosics are at cyclical lows and show no signs of climbing anytime soon. PAGE 9

Retailers that have spent millions of dollars in extra costs due to delays at West Coast ports over the past several months hailed intervention on Tuesday by federal mediators. PAGE 9

Ava DuVernay talks quitting her day job as a publicist and marketing executive to forge a career as a full-time fi lmmaker and much more in an exclusive interview. PAGE 10

Donna Karan and Peter Lindbergh rekindle their history of collaboration for spring, with an ad campaign featuring model Andreea Diaconu. PAGE 11

Schiaparelli has secured timeslots for two runway shows — one for press, another for clients — on Jan. 26, helping start four days of high fashion shows in the French capital. PAGE 11

Zosia Mamet, Lena Dunham, Allison Williams and Jemima Kirke at the “Girls’ premiere.For more, see WWD.com.

EYE: It’s been two years since “Girls” fi rst aired, but if Monday night’s season 4 premiere was any indication, the show hasn’t lost its footing. For more, see WWD.com.

PHOT

O BY

STE

VE E

ICHN

ERCORRECTION

Ben Nordberg will be featured in a new campaign for Macy’s American Rag Cie label. This was incorrect in a story on page 8, Tuesday.

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Following a few rocky years, J.C. Penney’s shares and sales have risen.

WWD.COM3

By JEAN E. PALMIERI

JUSTIN BIEBER doesn’t keep secrets very well.

Rumors began to circulate as early as last spring that the 20-year-old had signed a deal to be featured in an ad campaign for Calvin Klein underwear and jeans. He shot selfi es of himself in his Calvin undies as early as April and was photographed wearing the brand with its signature wide waistband out-side his Los Angeles home. Then, at Fashion Rocks in September, Bieber did what was billed as a “surprise appear-ance” alongside longtime Calvin model Lara Stone and proceeded to strip down to a pair of black and red Calvin Klein briefs (and Calvin happened to be a spon-sor of the event).

Figure it out yet?If there was any lingering question,

it was quelled on Tuesday when Calvin Klein posted a teaser video on its social media platforms, and Bieber confi rmed the association later that afternoon by posting that he and Stone will be fea-tured in the brand’s spring ads.

“I have been wearing Calvin Klein underwear for years in hopes of getting to model for the brand one day,” Bieber told WWD. “It’s always been a dream. Last spring, I posted a picture on Instagram in my underwear, using the #mycalvins tag. Thankfully the brand saw it and liked the reaction it was getting, and a relationship started from there.”

He said the Fashion Rocks appear-ance was an even bigger hint.

“Fashion Rocks was a teaser for sure,” he said. “We had started working togeth-er before the show, but they didn’t know what I was planning to do on stage.”

Still, the moment generated lots of buzz for the brand: Bieber’s “strip” turned out to be the most tweeted moment of all of New York Fashion Week last season.

For the spring campaign, Bieber and Stone appear in black-and-white photo-graphs that are reminiscent of the Mark Wahlberg/Kate Moss campaign in the Eighties. The ads were shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott in New York City and feature the duo in provocative poses wearing key looks from the jeans and un-derwear spring collections.

Bieber said that working with Stone was “incredible. She is such a great girl. Our chemistry came very naturally, and we were both very comfortable. Mert and Marcus shot the campaign and are the best photographers I’ve ever worked with. It was really a magical shoot.”

Stone agreed, saying, “It was really fun working with Justin. I think the shoot really captured the energy of the Calvin Klein brand.”

Although Bieber wasn’t even alive

when the Wahlberg/Moss ads debuted in 1992 — he was born March 1, 1994 — he’s quite familiar with the images.

“Of course I’ve seen the Mark Wahlberg/Kate Moss ads. They are over 20 years old and we’re still talking about them today — I was defi nitely inspired by them,” he said. “I haven’t spoken to Mark about [the new ads] yet, but I hope he will like how they turned out.”

Bieber, who’s never been shy about showing off his body, said he didn’t do any-thing special to prepare for the Calvin ads.

“I was very diligent about my work-outs leading up to the shoot. I have a

trainer and work out daily so it was re-ally about sticking to my routine once I booked the campaign,” he said.

And he also didn’t sport any new ink for the spots. “No, I didn’t get any new tattoos for the shoot,” he said.

Whether he’s showing off his tattoos or covering them with clothes, Bieber, like many young men today, embraces fashion as an important part of his life.

“Fashion is very important to me,” he said. “It is a very infl uential form of

self-expression, the same way music is for me. I strive to remain ahead of the curve with my fashion choices and am very grateful that the fashion world has embraced me in the way it has.”Bieber has been front row at shows rang-ing from Opening Ceremony to Y-3 over the past several years.

“I love attending fashion shows and being a part of fashion week, and I defi nite-ly hope to continue to have the opportunity to do so moving forward,” he said. Even so, he’s not expected to attend the Calvin Klein Collection show in Milan later this month since his association with the brand

is only for its jeans and underwear labels.Although Calvin Klein is a key part

of his wardrobe, Bieber is not limited to wearing the brand.

“Recently, I’ve been wearing a lot of different designers in my day-to-day — but am always wearing them over my Calvins,” he said. “I also like the cut of Calvin Klein Collection suits.”

Bieber joins celebrities including Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Drake, Kanye West, Harry Styles, Rita Ora, Fergie, Joe and Nick Jonas, Ne-Yo and Iggy Azalea as ambassadors of the brand.

“Justin joins a long list of musicians, models, celebrities and fashion icons that have been featured in our global advertising campaigns,” said Melisa Goldie, chief marketing offi cer for Calvin Klein Inc. “Justin’s global recognition, ex-pressed affi nity for the brand and power-ful persona bring a compelling energy to our jeans and underwear brands.”

The spring campaign will be featured in 20 countries and include digital and outdoor ads in addition to print. They feature the hashtag #mycalvins, an ini-tiative created last year to encourage fans to post selfi es of themselves in their Calvin Kleins.

The brand is also promising “experi-ential components timed to coincide with the March 2015 magazine issues.” The fi nal details have yet to be worked out, but this is expected to include musical events.

This campaign will be Calvin’s most digitally focused effort to date with an increased emphasis on so-cial media over print. Bieber was re-cently ranked by Twitter as the most tweeted about musical artist of 2014. He has more than 150 million follow-ers on his social media platforms.On a personal note, Bieber said he has no specifi c game plan for his 21st birthday in March. “No plans yet, but I am sure I will celebrate with friends and family,” he said. And he’s also been busy working on some new music.

“After taking a year off, I’m going into the studio to work on a new album that will come out this year,” he said. “I’m so excited to get to work and create new music for my fans.”

The spring campaign was produced by Calvin Klein’s in-house ad agency in col-laboration with Wednesday London.

By MARCY MEDINA

IF 40 IS the new 30, then Macy’s INC International Concepts has hit the marketing sweet spot on the nose. The brand has tapped Heidi Klum, 41, as its 30th anniversary ambassador, along with male model Gabriel Aubrey, 39.

The multimedia campaign will break next month in March books as well as February ROP, billboards, Jumbotrons and Macy’s in-store dis-plays, windows and digital platforms.

“Thirty years is a big deal. It’s a very long time for any company, really, so I’m excited they brought me back for it,” said Klum, who fi rst worked with the compa-ny 15 years ago. “The clothes are always fun and a little sexy,” she said between takes at Los Angeles’ Siren Studios.

As they joked and posed for photog-rapher Walter Chin, Klum and Aubrey looked like old friends, but it was the fi rst time they’d ever met.

“It’s amazing because he looks great in every photo. It can be a little tricky when posing with another model, be-cause I tend to do a lot of weird things. I laugh a lot, I do goofy faces, serious faces, sexy faces…and I can’t see what he’s doing, but thank God he always looks hot, so I just have to keep track of how I look,” Klum said.

“Thank you, Heidi,” Aubrey said. “Really, the only person I knew today was Walter. I’ve worked with him a lot, and when he knows he’s got the shot, he’s got the shot. The clothes and the set felt real fresh, so that always helps make it easy.”

Klum may be affable, but she’s also a taskmaster on set. While Aubrey re-treated to his dressing room to return phone calls, she stood over the monitor with Chin, appraising the photos. “I like that one. But is there one where I don’t look like I’m not wearing pants?” she asked of one setup with a pair of black-and-white short shorts and a white trench coat, part of the March delivery. Chin, who also shot Klum’s fi rst INC campaign, came prepared with some of the original shots, which the two pored over before the shoot.

“The 30th anniversary of INC is a signifi cant milestone, both for the brand itself and for Macy’s,” said Jeff Gennette, president of Macy’s Inc. “A Macy’s private brand, INC has grown over the past three decades into a real powerhouse, earning its place among the most popular brands in our over-all portfolio and serving a very loyal fashion customer. We look forward to celebrating INC’s past, present and fu-ture with a lot of exciting activity over the course of 2015.”

While the company declined to specify the percentage of INC in Macy’s overall in-house business, Nancy Slavin, senior vice president of marketing for Macy’s Merchandising Group, called it, “among the suite of power brands at Macy’s, a real complement to Tommy and Calvin and Ralph. It’s a legacy brand with a tremendous amount of organic growth still to be had.”

The driving fashion theme of the women’s spring 2015 collection is col-orful feminine, with plenty of pastel fl orals balanced by crisp, tailored black-and-white pieces serving the wear-to-work market. For men’s, which original-ly launched before women’s, the emphasis is on transi-tional dressing between cat-egories. While the fashion is more nuanced in tailor-ing, there’s an increased emphasis on contemporary trends in denim, weekend wear and casual suit-ing categories.

Stockkeeping units in the INC col-lection number well into the thou-sands, and the brand is available in all Macy’s stores and online. Retail prices for women’s apparel range from $35 to $200; men’s, $15 to $175; shoes, $40 to $180; jewelry, $15 to $90; handbags, $50 to $130; and home, which launched a year ago, $35 to $420.

INC Celebrates 30th With Ambassador Klum

Bieber Strips Down for Calvin Klein

Justin Bieber and model Lara Stone in the brand’s steamy spring advertisements.

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FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE

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FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE

WWD.com/markets-news.

WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

4 WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

The Row: Live and learn. When Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen launched their store in Los Angeles a year ago, it was merchandised with a pre-fall collection of dark colors and hefty fabrics. “It was 110 degrees when we opened,” said Ashley at The Row’s pre-fall presentation. “So it was really important for us to explore weight and color in the right way, knowing what the weather was going to be like during this time.”

California’s climate and surf culture from the Fifties and Sixties steered the collection, the former more obvious than the latter in an ivory burlap linen coat over a short scuba shift, a lightweight mocha suede zip-up jacket over a long linen skirt, and an elegant pool-colored organza dress. Surf style was noticeable only if you were looking for it, in wet-suit-inspired necklines and the laid-back slouch of drawstring pants.

As usual, the focus was on the subdued luxury of impeccable fabrics with a refi ned artisanal hand and clean silhouettes. Ashley and Mary-Kate put an emphasis on color with muted shades of paprika, green and yellow. Beautiful but quiet, the collection benefi ted from the earthy adornment of fantastic embroidered slides. One hopes they go into production.

— JESSICA IREDALE

J.W. Anderson: Jonathan Anderson channeled several abstract ideas into a pre-fall collection that put the focus on exaggerated silhouettes with a retro spin. “[I was] looking at the Sixties, looking at odd modernity,” he said. “It’s evoking nostalgia, but not making it decade specifi c.”

Many looks featured high-waisted pants with a fl are created by a split at the ankle and hems that brushed the fl oor. One black pair was shown with a jacquard and chenille knit top in an off-kilter, red-and-brown pattern, while another version was teamed with a chocolate brown belted leather trenchcoat.

Those elongated silhouettes contrasted with a few youthful shapes: a short camel-colored dress in a fl uffy, teddy-bear-like fabric, and a skater dress in a white fl oral jersey cloqué. The lineup also featured experimental fabrics Anderson developed himself, including a pink, calf-length dress with a ruffl ed hem in a jacquard jersey worked into a textural pattern that looked perforated.

— NINA JONES

Yeohlee: Nothing is ever what it seems with Yeohlee Teng. Her pre-fall collection for Yeohlee was rich with

surprises: a straight skirt softly pleated in back, a mid-thigh coat that dipped to the knees when viewed from the rear. And geometric shapes — an oval, a triangle and a rectangle — in fuchsia on black gabardine pants, for instance, together with an unexpected strip of leather.

Geometry, in fact, is what informs almost all of the designer’s collections, with coats always offering strong examples, be it in silhouette, fabric details or collar shapes. For pre-fall, a slender, fl ame-hued, felted-wool coat and another one in chalky white over a tweedy stripe-accented sheath were standouts. Yeohlee’s mantra: “I design clothes that one does not have to think about too much, but still, they make a statement.”

— BOBBI QUEEN

Issa: The pre-fall collection, designed by the Issa in-house team following the departure of creative director Blue Farrier last fall, was packed with fl uid fabrics, draped silhouettes and cinched waists. The label’s signature wrap came in a navy-and-black belted pencil dress with white piping, a bougainvillea-pink kimono dress with a deep V at the front, and a turtleneck number in an abstract fl ower print.

Coats, too, took their cue from wrap styles: Some

Pre-Fall 2015

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were made from felted wool and had a Japanese feel with belts tied obi-style, while others were longer and more languid. — SAMANTHA CONTI

Karolina Zmarlak: With a mood board covered in images from the Industrial Revolution — as well as a few nods to Nineties grunge, à la teenage Kate Moss and Kurt Cobain — Karolina Zmarlak talked about the idea of decay and degradation, which informed not only her palette of black, slate gray and burgundy but also the intentional rawness seen in her signature seaming. A reversible, double-faced Italian wool coat in dual shades of gray with exaggerated lapels was a standout, as was a mixed-media taffeta and leather topper. Pre-fall marked Zmarlak’s fi rst venture into cashmere knitwear, which she put her own twist on by focusing on precise tailoring and elongated sleeves.

— KRISTI GARCED

Suno: Suno’s aesthetic remains entrenched in its artisanal African genesis — even if its actual production has moved on to other locations for manufacturing (Italy, Romania). Rather than focusing on a specifi c trend or concept for pre-fall, Erin Beatty

showcased material with a craft vibe. “There’s a lot of original fabric development that’s one-of-a-kind to us, and we wanted it to feel as if it had been hand-painted or hand-sewn or hand-texturized,” she said, noting a preference for a darker, more primary palette of black, navy, green and yellow, which made the colorful stitchwork and beading pop in a rich way. A roomy navy dress with bright, vertical embroideries channeled sophisticated bohemia, while lean tunics in stretchy melange knits — some with braided details — gave the layered silhouettes a soft structure.

— J.I.

Theia: Inspired by a trip to Sedona, Ariz., Theia designer Don O’Neill worked the landscape’s rich colors — greens, blues, pops of fuchsia — into a lineup of ball gowns and party dresses that incorporated earthy ikat and Navajo prints. “The reds are intense,” O’Neill said of the region’s sandstone rock formations. “And I was particularly taken by the cactus rose against this green, barren desert.” He fashioned the fl ower print onto several silk faille and jacquard looks, some of which were equipped with pockets and open backs for a sexy, youthful edge. — K.G.

Pre-Fall 2015FOR MORE

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By JEAN E. PALMIERI

NEW YORK — Bloomingdale’s is getting its game on.

Following on the heels of its successful collaboration with the National Football League for last year’s Super Bowl, the re-tailer is now teaming up with the National Basketball Association for the NBA All-Star Game, scheduled for Madison Square Garden on Feb. 15.

“Our NFL collabora-tion was really, really successful,” said Kevin Harter, vice president of men’s fashion direction. “We’ve always known that the Bloomingdale’s customer loves pop culture. But now we’ve realized that the Bloomingdale’s men’s customer loves sports.”

In addition, Harter said, “the NBA guys are the new fashion icons. They are im-maculate dressers and really set the tone for men’s wear today.”

Bloomingdale’s has installed 16 basketball-inspired pop-up shops at its stores around the country, offering retro-era jerseys, vintage graphic T-shirts and ac-cessories from brands including Mitchell & Ness, Sportique, Junk Food, Been Trill, Mark McNairy and Stance. Special NBA All-Star merchandise will also be offered.

The shops are at the 59th Street and SoHo stores in New York City, as well as units in the New York suburbs, Florida, California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

“We are always looking for new ways to engage with our

fashion-forward fan base, and we felt the NBA shop-in-shop was the perfect opportunity to unite fashion and basketball as we celebrate the NBA All-Star Game’s return to the city,” said Lisa Piken Koper, NBA vice president of licensing.

Frank Berman, Bloomingdale’s executive vice president of mar-keting, said the retailer “saw

the opportunity to tap into the basketball community’s love for fashion through close col-laborations, merchandise, visual displays and special events to celebrate this iconic event with fans and shoppers while sup-porting Mentoring USA.” Last year, Bloomingdale’s enlisted

the help of the Council of Fashion Designers of America to have 48 designers create cus-tom helmets for the Super Bowl.

Berman said that while the NBA All-Star Game is a “spec-tacle” in and of itself, it doesn’t lend itself

to a similar i n i t i a t i v e . “We thought about it, but decided to go with a dif-ferent angle.” He said football helmets could be viewed by designers as “a blank canvas,” but the same couldn’t be said of basketball jerseys.

So instead, the re-tailer worked with the league and designers on the licensed collec-tion — Mark McNairy d e s i g n e d s p e c i a l bomber jackets for the collaboration — and produced a mailer fo-cused on tailored cloth-ing. The direct mail piece, which ships to homes this week, fea-tures Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden — and his sig-nature beard — on the cover. It offers a story on the player, who is shown wearing a Freemans Sporting Club made-to-measure suit and touts three online videos with

the player “dropping dimes on his personal style,” on the Bloomingdale’s Web site. Harden is also scheduled to make an appearance at the 59th Street fl agship on Feb. 12.

The videos, which are a part-nership between Bloomingdale’s and GQ, were inspired by “The

Walk,” the style moment between the locker

room and team bus for players

to showcase their off-t h e - c o u r t attire. In the videos, GQ’s e x e c u t i v e stylist of pub-lishing, Brett Fahlgren, talks with Harden about every-thing from how to get the NBA look to dressing

for specific body types. An NBA-specifi c

microsite goes live Thursday, where customers can shop and check out the Harden videos.

“Basketball has always been a game of style,” said Harter.

“NBA players have become sar-torial leaders and, for men in-terested in dressing well, a go-to source for inspiration.”

In addition to The Walk, the collaboration also hones in on the ath-leisure trend, Harter said. One look in the catalogue, for example, shows a model in a rubberized baseball jacket from

Michael Kors over a Mitchell & Ness T and leather shorts from Theory while another offers a Burberry Brit leather jacket over Michael Kors track pants.

The initiative also has a charity component, with an auction of tickets to events surrounding the All-Star game, and to the game itself, as well as merchandise and a Bloomingdale’s shopping spree. All proceeds will benefi t Mentoring USA, which provides supportive relationships for youths aged seven to 21.

Berman said there’s an “emerging trend” among cus-tomers who are increasingly seeking unique experiences, and “with the All-Star Game in our backyard,” the association made sense.

Bloomingdale’s will install win-dows with NBA and All-Star mer-

chandise in its Lexington Avenue windows beginning Jan. 19.

In addition to the Harden ap-pearance, other in-store events are also planned around the game, although they are still being planned, Harter said.

The NBA All-Star game will reach fans in 215 countries and will be televised by TNT.

By JOELLE DIDERICH

PARIS — Tiffany. Cartier. Le Bon Marché?

Men who want to put a ring on it have a new destination in Paris: Le Bon Marché has launched private-label bridal jew-elry as part of the new fi ne jewelry department, which bowed at the Left Bank department store in the fall, completing the revamp of its ground-fl oor accessories department.

Located opposite the store’s year-old watch de-partment in a space previ-ously dedicated to temporary exhibits, the jewelry area features three shops-in-shop — Chaumet, Fred and Pomellato — in addition to 24 brands, with a focus on cutting-edge designers with little or no ex-isting distribution in the French capital.

“We wanted to work on different entry points for jewelry,” said Marie Lassagne, watch, fi ne and fashion jewelry buyer at Le Bon Marché. “The idea was to present the most avant-garde brands in terms of new ways of wearing jewelry: asymmetric ear-rings, phalanx rings and items like that.”

Among the unusual pieces offered are architect Zaha Hadid’s geometric mesh

rings for Caspita and dramatic winged earrings by Cristina Ortiz, a former de-signer at Prada, Lanvin and Brioni.

Le Bon Marché is the only retailer in Europe to carry Japanese pearl special-ist Tasaki. It offers not only designs from the brand’s creative director Thakoon Panichgul, but also its M/G Tasaki col-laboration with Melanie Georgacopoulos, which features sliced pearls and experi-mental pieces such as deconstructed bibs.

Other brands include Selim Mouzannar, Delfina Delettrez, Yannis Sergakis, Dauphin, Elena Votsi, Fernando Jorge and Noor Fares.

The department is divid-ed into three alcoves with a color-coded decor by artist Mathias Kiss — blue for gem-stones, pastel yellow for avant-garde designers and powder pink for the bridal section. The display cases, framed by a geometric frieze in caplain gold leaf, contain delicate white paper bird sculptures by Mathilde Nivet.

The bridal department features classic engagement rings and wedding bands, and a pair that can be worn togeth-er, made exclusively for the store by AS29 designer Audrey Savransky. Le Bon Marché plans to tap other rising de-

signers for additional collaborations.Lassagne said the rings, made in

France and priced from 1,300 euros, or around $1,600 at current exchange, to 18,000 euros, or $22,400, have been well received despite the brand’s fl edgling status.

“We see that when women come in to pick a ring, they are attracted by the design and the look,” she noted. “The idea was to do something very classical but to base them on designs which are quite iconic.”

Elsewhere, there is a special focus on designers who work with raw stones,

such as Irene Neuwirth and Céline d’Aoust, both of whom are exclusive to Le Bon Marché.

“We place a particular emphasis on materials, and the idea was to show de-signs based on stones that are off the beaten path and different from the kind of fi ne gemstones you might fi nd on Place Vendôme,” Lassagne explained.

Le Bon Marché Unveils Private Label Bridal Jewelry

Bloomingdale’s, NBA Team Up for All-Star Game

The fi ne jewelry department at Le Bon Marché.A jewelry display case at Le Bon Marché.The bridal jewelry section at Le Bon Marché.

A jewelry display case at Le Bon Marché.

James Harden is featured in the mailer.Here and above: Items from the offering.

The bridal jewelry section.

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SKöDIA DESIGNER JESS McKie runs a largely one-woman operation — but that hasn’t deterred her from racking up some significant collaborations.

After learning the ins and outs of design at Creatures of Comfort, the Australian-born designer launched Sködia, a collec-tion of high-end basics, a year ago. Sködia refers to the Swedish word “to shoo,” but McKie said it is the Swedes’ clean, mini-mal and simple design aesthetic that reso-nated with her. Sködia separates, which feature unexpected accents like a hidden inseam hand pocket with a cozy, fuzzy lin-ing, are definitively Swedish, she said.

The Brooklynite has teamed with elec-tronica musician Chet Faker, whom she grew up with and once worked in a Melbourne bookstore with, to create what they are call-ing “Chet Sweats.” As of March, the sweat-shirt and sweatpants will be sold via his site, the Sködia e-commerce site and at his various concerts this year in Australia and the U.S. “The whole idea of Chet Sweats is that this is supposed to be something he can wear on the bus, traveling, on an airplane or doing other activities while on tour, even if he’s just relaxing. But he could also wear them straight onstage,” McKie said.

Rihanna gave Sködia some major atten-tion when she wore a look at the announce-ment of her deal with Puma last month. (Her stylist had bought a few pieces at Opening

Ceremony, according to McKie.) That pub-licity drove new visitors to the Sködia site, but many fall items had already sold out and spring styles had yet to arrive, McKie said.

Building on the New York–made brand’s success at Opening Ceremony last fall, McKie has offered the retailer the choice of one of three exclusive items for spring, with her hope that the retailer will opt for the bag. The designer is also team-ing with creative agency Arena in Kansas City to develop a few multifunctional artis-tic pieces, such as a cup that can be used as a planter or to water a plant.

Next week, an Arena founder will be helping her shoot her look book in Beacon, N.Y. The fall collection is meant to be more refined and colorful, since she has a secondary label in the works with model, fitness instructor and stylist McKenzie Hayes. They have dreamt up seven or eight styles for the Sködia for McKenzie Hayes collection. Due out in June, the yogawear-like attire is meant to be worn as loungewear, though it could fit the task for working out as well.

While McKie’s mother, Deborah, still knits some of the knitwear, as she has done from the start, McKie said her collection is becoming more sportswear-based. The en-terprising designer relies on freelancers to pitch in with her company and she is starting to envision a potentially larger operation. She plans to meet with department stores in the coming months “to feel out those wa-ters,” she said. — RosemaRy FeitelbeRg

It remains to be seen whether Chapter 11 will be filed or if Burch will try to sal-vage the C. Wonder brand or its licenses in any way. Significant lease obligations would appear to be Burch’s biggest liability for C. Wonder — commercial space at The Shops at Columbus Circle alone are said to be upward of $1,600 per square foot. It was only in late November that the company re-vealed it would be closing 20 of its 32 stores.

With 35 other active investments and C. Wonder to sort out, Burch presum-ably is not in need of things to do. One source said he is particularly revved up about his six-month-old deal with Ellen DeGeneres to develop her E.D. lifestyle label. Burch also now has more time to focus on a diverse portfolio that includes BaubleBar, his daughters’ — Pookie and Louisa — sportswear label Trademark, Five Below and Solid & Striped, as well as nonfashion companies.

In a July interview with WWD about E.D., Burch insisted he hadn’t been look-ing for another project of any kind. “I’m exhausted,” he said at that time. “For some reason, everyone in our industry thinks I’m [just in fashion]. I’m really not. I have 50 other things I do on a daily basis. Yes, I’ve invested in a lot of entrepreneurs in our in-dustry. [But] I’m in technology in every cat-egory. My resorts, I really enjoy. So for me, I really wasn’t looking for anything.”

“Unstoppably enthusiastic, inventive and intuitive,” as one friend described him, Burch’s greatest stumbling block with C. Wonder may have come down to the age-old dilemma of too much, too soon. After unveiling a licensing deal with Al Tayer to open stores in the Middle East in November 2013, Burch said the company’s five-year plan was to open 250 to 300 stores in 50 countries. Unlike the company he co-founded with his ex-wife, Tory, that bears her name — which first opened a signature store in NoHo and then strategically built a wholesale business from the ground-up before rolling out other freestanding stores all around the world — Burch charged straight into retail with C. Wonder. He in-vested heavily in its infrastructure and foreign sourcing even though demand for products hadn’t advanced to that grand scope, according to one source.

C. Wonder had a troubled existence from the start, though. The colorful kitschy, low-cost label was a point of legal contention between the Burches

in November 2012, when Tory Burch filed a response and counterclaims to Christopher Burch’s earlier lawsuit against her. The crux of their dispute hinged on whether the C. Wonder concept was too similar to the Tory Burch brand in terms of its product and store design. The couple started the Tory Burch company in 2003 and divorced in 2007. Christopher Burch’s initial legal action claimed that his ex-wife and board members of her company had interfered both with his business and his effort to sell part of his 28 percent stake in the Tory Burch brand. In January 2013, the Burches said they had settled the legal claims between them, but not before presiding Judge Leo Strine made some choice comments about the Burches’ products and the fashion world in November 2012. Strine, of the Delaware Chancery Court, said, “I think if you read Cheever, go see the new Virginia Woolf revival and watch ‘Mad Men,’ we’ll be all geared up and in the mood for this sort of drunken WASP fest.”

On the image of the WASP, Strine said, “Honestly, there are hundreds of people in New Castle County who could make a bunch of clothes if you gave them the catalogues. I’m not saying Mr. Burch — it’s going to be interesting, because

there’s what Tory Burch was before she met Christopher Burch, and there’s what Christopher Burch was after Tory Burch became the Tory Burch in The New York Times, and there’s maybe influences that go in a lot of directions here. There prob-ably are lots of catalogues people could see. There are all kinds of dream images of the world. The WASPs, right?”

However indomitable Christopher Burch may be about investing and gen-erating creative ideas, he has a reputa-tion for leaving the day-to-day opera-tions to full-time staff, while juggling too many projects at once. In May, he tapped Harlan Kent to join C. Wonder as chief ex-ecutive officer, succeeding former presi-dent Andrea Hyde, who left to become ceo of Reese Witherspoon’s lifestyle company.

Irving Place Capital ceo John Howard considered C. Wonder’s demise to be an anomaly in Burch’s career. “When you look at his track record, he is in the Hall of Fame of investors. He made that SoHo store a happening — it was a point of ex-citement,” Howard said.

Laden with an assortment of vibrant-colored, low-cost sportswear, accessories and home decor items, that 7,200-square-foot boutique was the first to open in October 2011. Such unexpected features

as fitting rooms with touch screens where customers could tweak the lighting or change the music were an attraction with shoppers. While common today, C. Wonder also was among the first New York retailers at that time to equip sales associates to check-out customers via iPod Touches anywhere in the store.

However tech-savvy those stores may have been, staffers in some of them learned of their layoffs via the Internet. While store managers in the company’s 11 freestanding locations were clued into the planned closings Monday during a conference call, some staffers first heard of their pink slips via a BuzzFeed report.

The Columbus Avenue store employs about 25 people and the SoHo flagship has a staff of about 40. Headhunters for such firms as Tommy Hilfiger, Lord & Taylor and Scotch & Soda had already swept in Tuesday con-tacting select store managers about potential jobs. “Management was too late to react to what was going on and that’s why they had to pull the plug. They should have done some-thing a year ago instead of last fall,” one C. Wonder employee said Tuesday. “That’s why they had to close all the stores.”

While sales in the Spring Street loca-tion were relatively healthy, the volume, overhead and expense of more lacklus-ter locations dragged down the business, a staffer said. A salesperson at the C. Wonder store in The Shops at Columbus Circle described recent sales as “fairly OK” Tuesday, even though that location’s seasonal markdowns were considerably more aggressive than other locations.

In fall 2012, Burch said he was delay-ing the launches of Electric Love Army and Number 9 Christopher, to zero in on C. Wonder and Monika Chiang. “We’re concen-trating our full resources on these efforts,” he said at that time. By February 2013, Boston-based investment giant Fidelity took a 10 percent stake in C. Wonder, according to sources. The hedge fund reportedly paid $35 million, giving C. Wonder a lofty $350 million valuation at that time.

More recently, Burch faced uneven sales with C. Wonder. Burch Creative Capital staffers denied a report in late November that all of the stores would be shut, claiming that wholesaling would be introduced. As of Tuesday, at least one ex-ecutive thought that really had been the plan, noting that Monday’s news caught even senior employees off-guard, leaving them to wonder what went wrong as well.

Sködia Collaboration Results in ‘Chet Sweats’

Staff Shocked by C. Wonder Layoffs

It remains to be seen whether Chapter 11 will be filed or if Christopher Burch will try to salvage the C. Wonder brand or its licenses in any way.

{Continued from page one}

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NEW YORK — C. Wonder has lost its wonder.The retailer has laid off all 100 of its staff and is

closing its 11 remaining stores, ending an ambitious plan by founder Christopher Burch and his firm Burch Creative Capital to create a new specialty chain offer-ing colorful, fun and relatively inexpensive women’s fashion and accessories and home goods. At one point the firm had been valued at almost $350 million.

After being laid off in a meeting at Burch Creative Capital’s Flatiron offices on Monday, employees exited the headquarters for good, one insider said. It is not yet known what will become of the floor that the C. Wonder managerial, design and merchandising teams occupied there. New York-based sales associates, who requested anonymity, said the brand plans to shutter its eight other non-Manhattan stores within the next two weeks. Remaining merchandise is expected to be liquidated in C. Wonder’s stores in the Time Warner Center, in SoHo and on lower Fifth Avenue. Staffers in those stores still did not know as of Tuesday after-noon when their respective locations would close and if there would be any sort of severance packages for management. A few sources said they expected to have a three-week window before closing for good.

Burch said Tuesday, “The retail environment is highly competitive and it saddens me that the com-pany is taking these necessary steps today. I want to personally thank the departing C. Wonder employees for their invaluable contributions.”

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Colorful wears at a C. Wonder location.

Looks from Skodia’s spring collection.

8 WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

for Kors shares is down to $79 from $103.

In a study tracking handbag discounting over the October through December time period, Buss said Spade markdown ac-tivity on its e-commerce platform “is the highest of all the brands, with almost 50 percent of prod-uct on sale.” But Sterne Agee’s Ike Boruchow is keeping his “buy” rating on Spade shares. Boruchow believes the online sale stockkeeping units for both Kate Spade New York and Kate Spade Saturday were down year-over-year in December.

Regardless of who is mark-ing down what, the fact remains that the underlying problems inherent in the handbag sector, Coach’s core business, aren’t going away anytime soon. That means Coach might be strug-gling for an even longer period than projected.

That wasn’t lost on the Wall Street crowd, with many ana-lysts lukewarm at best over the Weitzman acquisition.

Morgan Stanley & Co.’s Kimberly C. Greenberger noted that Coach is likely to add debt to its balance sheet, concluding that “debt fi nancing to fund the acquisition now leaves less

fi nancial fl exibility for later….If turnaround efforts either take lon-ger than anticipated or fail to ma-terialize, future cash fl ow may not be suffi cient to cover operating needs, capital expenditures and the dividend at current levels.”

Randal J. Konik at Jefferies said, “Though we recognize the potential for synergies with Coach’s own footwear business as it leverages learnings from the deal, improving the core handbag business remains the primary lever for this story.”

Wells Fargo’s Paul Lejuez said, “While we believe

Weitzman is a relatively strong brand, and has the potential to improve/expand its product line, we do not believe the ac-quisition does much to solve Coach’s existing brand puzzle.”

Lejuez noted that Weitzman’s $300 million in annual volume plus e-commerce and wholesale sales puts the brand’s revenues

at $500 million to $600 million at retail, and with the purchase price representing almost 2x wholesale revenue, he concluded the acquisition was “no bargain.” The Wells Fargo analyst also concluded that Weitzman “would be a nice tuck-in

acquisition for a company that was on its feet, not a saviour for a brand that is struggling.”

W. Baird’s Mark R. Altschwager said enthusiasm for the deal is “tempered given the potential distraction amid an intense transformation strategy for the Coach brand.”

While Cowen & Co.’s Oliver

Chen saw pluses for the acquisi-tion on the long-term value side of the equation, he cautioned that there could be integration risk given that Coach is used to organic growth rather than ex-pansion through a mergers-and-acquisitions focus.

Sterne Agee’s Boruchow concluded: “Under normal cir-cumstances, a leading American handbag brand acquiring a lead-

ing American footwear brand would be a reasonable strategy, but Coach may have too many balls in the air right now. On top of that, we believe the business is currently burning through cash in the U.S. [With U.S. op-erations continuing to struggle], negative cash fl ow, a potential $1 billion in debt moving onto the balance sheet and a new acquisition to integrate into the global business — management has their work cut out for them.”

The analysts’ reaction was on top of questions over the poten-tial of the Weitzman business it-self. Potential buyers who spoke with WWD under the condition of anonymity said they balked at the $600 million plus asking price for Weitzman either because they weren’t as optimistic about the brand’s international growth op-portunities — Weitzman as an established brand is already in select overseas markets — or had some concerns over how long Stuart Weitzman, founder and ceo of Stuart Weitzman Holdings, LLC, would continue with the business.

On Tuesday, Coach said Weitzman and the existing man-agement team would continue with the company after the deal is closed. Neither executives at Coach nor Stuart Weitzman would comment, citing the cur-rent quiet period leading to Coach’s release of second-quar-ter earnings on Jan. 27.

By DAVID MOIN

WITH THEIR dot-com expansions, re-tailers usually steer clear of Africa.

“Over 95 percent of U.S. and U.K. e-commerce sites do not ship to Africa,” said Chris Folayan, the Nigerian-born founder and chief executive offi cer of the Mall for Africa. “The three biggest concerns are people using stolen credit cards, adminis-trative issues involving clearing merchan-dise through customs and customers fi nd-ing their merchandise.”

Mall for Africa, which was started in 2011, is now being rolled out to help re-tailers cope with those issues. Folayan de-scribed the site as a vehicle to circumvent cyber fraud and an online solution for millions on the continent who view Web sites but are frustrated that in the vast majority of cases, they can’t be shopped.

“We tell retailers, ‘Look, you don’t have to have this tunnel vision about Africa. We are opening Africa up to you, at no expense to you. No liability to you. You ship to us and we will ship to Africa,’” Folayan said. “We basically cre-ated a platform that allows people to do transactions and actually receive prod-ucts from sites that do not ship to Africa.”

Folayan is an entrepreneur, software designer and digital marketing consul-tant whose fi rst business venture came at age seven, when he started reclaiming old tires and reselling them to vulcaniz-ers. He landed in the U.S. to attend San Jose State University, where he earned a degree in business administration and marketing, though he’s a self-taught computer programmer. He founded the OCFX software and Web design agen-cy in 1996 in Modesto, Calif. When he was working in Silicon Valley, friends and family pleaded with him to bring Western products whenever he traveled home, so the obvious demand motivated him to start MFA. Folayan is the majority owner; Helios Investment Partners took a minority stake in 2013.

Though still a small player on the Web with annual revenues of between $10 mil-lion and $20 million, MFA this year will grow beyond Nigeria, where the busi-ness fi rst launched. “We are expanding to

Ghana and Kenya this quarter and hope to have fi ve pickup locations in each coun-try to start with,” Folayan said. Currently, there are 150 pickup locations in Nigeria, including many run in partnership with Red Star Express, a licensee of Federal Express. Over the next two years, Folayan intends to have a presence in 18 countries.

On average, it takes three to 15 days for a package from the U.S. or the U.K. to reach an MFA pickup location. A 2 percent fee, covering airfreight, duty and currency conversion, is charged to consumers although there is no cost for retailers or brands. Macy’s, Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Carters, Amazon, Aldo, Neiman Marcus Last Call and Maurices are among the 120 fi rms listed on the Web site. The average cart is $260. Women’s apparel is the category most in demand, followed by children’s wear, women’s accessories and men’s wear.

MFA acts like a middleman, connect-ing African consumers with U.S. and U.K. retailers and brands. Here’s how it works: Consumers in Africa download the Mall for Africa.com app, select an

American or U.K. site — such as macys.com or Net-a-porter.com — off the MFA app, shop directly from the site and add items to their cart. When shoppers are ready to order, they click the MFA “buy now” button and pay MFA. Purchases are made through two methods: MFA debit cards, which consumers load with funds from local banks, or the Mall for Africa Visa card. Then MFA pays the re-

tailer or brand, which ships the orders they receive to MFA’s 17,000-square-foot Portland, Ore., warehouse, where prod-ucts are inspected and then shipped to pickup locations in Africa. Shoppers des-ignate the pickup location they prefer. MFA also operates a smaller warehouse in Feltham, a suburb in West London.

MFA handles the entire fulfi llment process, from ordering, to payment, to delivery, so retailers don’t have to worry about getting paid, experiencing credit fraud, or dealing with the logistical and administrative hassles of overseas ship-ping, tariffs, verifying whether products were properly received, and returns.

“Cyber security is important because the entire continent of Africa, specifi cal-

ly Nigeria, has been viewed as the fraud capital of the world,” Folayan said. “Many Americans and non-Americans have expe-rienced e-mails soliciting various forms of personal information and in many cases, have become victims of a scam.”

Most e-commerce sites, Folayan added, don’t want to handle the stress and strain of conducting e-commerce in Africa, but people there want products.

“There are over 172 million people in Nigeria. The continent has 1.1 billion people. Imagine opening the market up and saying to Macy’s, BCBG, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, ‘you have this huge market to sell and you can do it without opening shops there or shipping to cus-tomers. We are fi guring it all out for you. Just use our system.’ People in Africa are willing and able to afford and buy high-quality products from the U.S. and the U.K. and have been unable to do so.

“There is a lot of misconception about Africa. Africa has skyscrapers and Bentleys and people doing really well. One time I was asked if I saw lions on the streets. I realized then there was no need to continue talking to that person.”

Coach, Weitzman $574M Deal Met With Skepticism

Site Aims to Spur E-commerce in Africa

Retailers would ship to Mall for Africa, which would then ship items to customers.

’’

’’

Though we recognize the potential for synergies with Coach’s own

footwear business…improving the core handbag business remains the

primary lever for this story.— RANDAL J. KONIK, JEFFERIES

{Continued from page one}

Chris Folayan’s experiences with family in Nigeria inspired him to start Mall for Africa.

By VICKI M. YOUNG

COACH INC. ISN’T GOING to find the solution to its problems in Stuart Weitzman.

That seemed to be the reaction Tuesday from inves-tors after Coach revealed it will acquire the Weitzman footwear brand from Sycamore Partners in a trans-action valued at $574 million, with $530 million paid up front and up to $44 million in earnouts over three years. The deal, which is expected to close in May and will immediately be accretive to earnings as well as expand Coach’s market share in footwear, comes as the company’s management team — headed by chief ex-ecutive offi cer Victor Luis and creative director Stuart Vevers — continue with their ambitious and still un-proven strategy to turn Coach into a lifestyle brand.

The accessories fi rm was forced to develop that strategy since its growth has been undermined by newer competitors such as Michael Kors and Kate Spade gobbling up market share. The bad news is that Kors and Spade now are also struggling in the U.S. as the overall handbag market slows.

After news of the Weitzman acquisition broke, Coach shares hit an intraday high of $37.10, up 1 percent from Monday’s close of $36.73, before dipping south by 1.2 percent to close at $36.29 in Tuesday’s trading session. Perhaps there was some element of sympathy pains given that shares of Kors and Spade also declined, with the sell-off triggered by a downgrade of Kors by Credit Suisse analyst Christian Buss. Shares of Kors saw the most activity, dropping 8.4 percent to $66.87, with more than 15.7 million shares changing hands compared with a three-month average of 3.5 million. Spade slipped 4.4 percent to $29.57. Shares of all three fi rms trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Buss downgraded Kors to “neutral” from “out-perform” due to, in his view, the “dramatic ramp in promotional activity seen across the U.S. retail land-scape for the brand’s handbags.” His new target price

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A bag from Coach’s fall 2014 collection, designed by Stuart Vevers.

WWD.COM9WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

By ARTHUR FRIEDMAN

THERE SHOULDN’T be any complaints coming from ap-parel manufacturers about the price of raw materials. The costs of yarns and fabrics made from major ingredients such as cotton, polyester, wool and cel-lulosics are at cyclical lows and show no signs of climbing any-time soon.

The year-end price of a pound of cotton was 60.52 cents compared with 81.01 cents a year earlier and nearly a quar-ter of what it was in March 2011, when it reached an historic peak of more than $2.

Cotton Inc.’s December Economic Letter, a monthly analysis of market conditions, noted that over the last 10 years, there have been three instances when cotton prices declined more than 20 cents a pound in a six-month period: following the onset of the fi-nancial crisis in 2008-09, in the months after a peak was marked in cotton prices in 2010-11, and in the current market, with prices having fallen about 30 percent since March.

“After each of these decreases in cotton prices, there was a de-crease in average import prices,” Cotton Inc. said. “Decreases in import prices could be observed within three months of the down-turns in fi ber prices. However, examination of the correlation structure between fi ber prices and cotton-dominant import prices reveals that the strongest statistical relationship between the timing of the change in fi ber prices and the change in apparel import prices is seven months. This suggests that even though import prices have already start-ed to decline, the full impact of the recent decrease in cotton prices may be completely trans-mitted through import prices late in the spring of 2015.”

Average import prices for cotton-dominant apparel have declined in the last fi ve months through October to $3.38, the lowest value since April 2011. December’s Consumer Price Index showed retail apparel pric-es fell 1.1 percent in November.

Over the last several years, the Chinese government was making large purchases through its reserve system, shifting global import demand higher as it allowed mills to fi ll orders with a higher proportion of im-ports. Strong Chinese import de-mand, along with the persistent drought in western Texas that inhibited stocks from accumu-lating in the U.S., held export-able stocks at low levels.

In 2014-15, the situation is reversing itself. Easing drought conditions in western Texas have enabled a U.S. crop that is forecast to be 25 percent larger than last year, according to the

U.S. Department of Agriculture. At the same time, China is pulling back on imports — in October they were the lowest since early 2009 and were down 42 percent year-over-year.

“If quota is restricted as out-lined by the Chinese govern-ment (that only 4.1 million bales of quota will be issued in 2015), similar year-over-year reduc-tions could be expected in fu-ture months,” said Cotton Inc.

“The corresponding pullback in Chinese imports could be ex-pected to affect exporting coun-tries differently.”

For example, U.S. cotton exports decreased sharply last crop year, to only 2.7 million bales in 2013-14 from an aver-age of 6.1 million bales from 2011 to 2013. The reduction in U.S. shipments can be ex-plained through the combined effects of a small U.S. harvest

and lower Chinese demand.A steep decline in gasoline

prices, along with an historic relationship between cot-ton and polyester prices, has helped keep prices of the man-made fi ber down. Prices for U.S. polyester staple fi ber averaged 93 cents a pound last month ver-sus $1.05 a year ago, while pric-es for polyester fi lament are at about $1.05 a pound from $1.15 at the end of 2013.

Crude oil prices have been nearly halved in the past year, to $54.73 a barrel from $100.32, and experts have noted that a delayed effect is likely to occur to drive polyester fi ber down further in coming months. That comes as several companies in the U.S. are adding capac-ity. DAK Americas is increas-ing staple production by 24,000 tons in two stages at its Cooper River site in Charleston, S.C., while Parkdale Mills is taking over two spinning mills from Fruit of the Loom and upgrad-

ing them to increase volume.Gildan Activewear is invest-

ing in yarn-spinning operations in North Carolina, and Unifi Inc., in Greensboro, N.C., has expanded its Repreve line of polyester yarns made from re-cycled plastic.

Roger Berrier, president and chief operating offi cer of Unifi , during a conference call dis-cussing the Greensboro, N.C.-based company’s first-quarter earnings, said, “Prices for poly-ester raw materials are decreas-ing in the December 2014 quar-ter based on the recent decline in crude oil. We will continue to offer our customers pricing stability throughout these shifts in raw materials, which is some-thing that has become valuable to them, given the length of time that it takes for them to go from yarn to fi nished goods.”

The Lenzing Group, one of the world’s largest manufactur-ers of cellulose fi bers, from clas-sic viscose to Modal and Tencel, said in November when report-ing third-quarter earnings that the decline in average fi ber sell-ing prices and the high volatility in the fi ber market continue to negatively impact the company’s business operations. Average fiber selling prices of the Lenzing Group fell to 1.55 euros, or $1.89, a kilogram, from 1.73 euros, or $2.11 a kilogram, in the comparative fi rst nine months of 2013. Fiber sales volume rose 7 percent year-over-year to 706,900 tons in the period.

Wool prices have also dipped over the last year, fi nishing 2014 at $4.05 a pound compared with $4.51 cents a pound a year ear-lier, according to the U.S. DOA. Australian Wool Innovation said at last month’s fi nal Australian wool auctions for 2014 that there was a negative tone based on poor market conditions, al-though there were encourag-ing signs, notably a positive approach by overseas users to merino fleece. Demand, and therefore competition and pric-es, appeared to be stronger in this area as exporters reported stronger bookings for 2015.

By KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — Retailers and brands that have spent millions of dollars in extra costs due to severe delays and congestion at West Coast ports over the past several months hailed interven-tion on Tuesday by federal me-diators in an ongoing dispute between union and management that has caused major disrup-tions in commerce.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service said it is entering the dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacifi c Maritime Association after re-ceiving a joint request from the ILWU, which represents 20,000 West Coast dockworkers, and PMA, representing 72 multina-tional cargo carriers and termi-nal-operating companies.

The two sides have been locked in heated contract ne-gotiations for more than six months since a key labor con-tract expired in July.

“In response to a joint re-quest for assistance from both

parties, collective bargaining between ILWU and PMA rep-resentatives will continue as soon as possible under the aus-pices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service,” said Allison Beck, acting director of the FMCS. “We are prepared and ready to render prompt as-sistance. Deputy Director Scot Beckenbaugh, a senior FMCS mediator with extensive collec-tive bargaining experience in this industry, has been assigned to help the parties bring these important negotiations to a mu-tually acceptable resolution.”

PMA said in late December that several unresolved issues re-main, including wages, pensions, jurisdiction and work rules.

“We consider it good news and hopefully a positive step forward in the negotiations,” said Jonathan Gold, vice presi-dent of supply chain and cus-toms policy at the National Retail Federation.

Sandy Kennedy, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said, “We urge all sides to work hastily to reach an agreement that prevents

a shutdown and restores the free fl ow of cargo through West Coast ports. The current slow-down has stranded cargo off-shore, which harms consum-ers unable to fi nd the products they seek, retailers that lose sales and ultimately the econ-omy at large.”

Juanita Duggan, president and chief executive officer of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, said, “Nearly 50 percent of the cloth-ing and shoes sold in the United States is imported through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the industry is hav-ing critical product deliveries delayed by three to four weeks

as a result of the labor dispute.” But industry groups also

voiced concern about the expand-ing impact of the ongoing dispute.

The announcement by the FMCS to facilitate the port talks came as a major railway, BNSF Railway, imposed an em-bargo Monday on certain ship-

ments to the West Coast due to concerns over slowdowns at the ports. The railway, based in Fort Worth, Texas, covers the western two-thirds of the country. While the embargo will primarily affect agricultural ex-ports, it could also impact the movement of apparel, footwear and other consumer products, and it raised another potential

concern for retailers that have made contingency plans and re-routed imports from Asia to the East Coast to avoid delays on the West Coast, Gold said.

He also said there continues to be long wait times at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, adding that seven to eight ves-sels were waiting at the dock on Monday.

Several retailers — includ-ing Ann Taylor, Ascena Retail Group, New York & Co. and Lululemon — have all cited a fi -nancial impact, some involving millions of dollars, on recent earnings calls because of the port delays.

The PMA asked for federal mediation in late December after more than 160 national, state and local trade associa-tions and organizations wrote to President Obama, urging his administration to immediately assist the two sides. The FMCS had been monitoring the on-going negotiations but said it would only step in with a joint request from both parties.

Both the ILWU and PMA de-clined to comment on the media-tion and the FMCS, citing agency protocol, said it will not release information regarding future meeting dates or locations.

Mediators Step Into Ports Dispute

’’

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The industry is having critical product deliveries delayed by three to four

weeks as a result of the labor dispute.— JUANITA DUGGAN,

AMERICAN APPAREL & FOOTWEAR ASSOCIATION

Fiber Prices Seen Staying Low

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FIBER 12/31/14 12/31/13

COTTON 60.52 CENTS 81.01 CENTS

POLYESTER STAPLE 99 CENTS $1.05

POLYESTER FILAMENT $1.28 $1.44

WOOL $4.05 $4.51

CRUDE OIL $54.73 100.32

* SOURCES: THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS.

Average import prices for cotton-dominant apparel has

declined to $3.38.

10 WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

THREE YEARS AGO, Ava DuVernay quit her day job as a publicist and marketing executive to forge a career as a full-time filmmaker. It was, in her words, a “scary” move. There are few female directors and fewer still black female directors. Recently, though, she was vindicated. When the Golden Globe nominations were revealed, she was listed among those up for the best director prize, running against veterans David Fincher and Richard Linklater. She was, in fact, the first African-American woman nominated for the award.

“It makes me a little uncomfortable, the ‘fi rst’

thing, because I know I’m not the fi rst woman deserving of it,” she said. DuVernay was speaking from the Palm Springs International Film Festival at the premiere of her third feature, “Selma,” the

story of Martin Luther King Jr. and the historic 1965 march that led to the Voting Rights Act. In an awards season cluttered with real-life stories, “Selma” has

quickly jumped ahead of the pack (four Globe nominations) and, more importantly, it has become a cultural lightning rod for its depiction of the historical record. At the festival, Brad Pitt, one of the fi lm’s producers, honored its star, David Oyelowo, at the

signature gala Saturday night.DuVernay, who was also

honored by Variety as one of the “10 Directors to Watch” on Sunday, premiered her fi rst short fi lm, “Saturday Night Life,” in this tony desert town nearly a decade ago. “No one’s heard of it, and you will never fi nd it. I’ve banned every copy,” she said of the short, which she made on a Christmas vacation. “But it was special to get into my fi rst fest, and it was here.”

But this isn’t her fi rst moment in the spotlight. “I’m not a spring chicken. I’m not 23, just out of fi lm school,” she said. DuVernay was also the fi rst African-American woman to win Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 for “Middle of Nowhere,” an

honor that convinced her to switch career paths. “It’s hard to be rah-rah for yourself,” she said. It was during the fi lming of that movie that she fi rst met Oyelowo, who was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his role. When director Lee Daniels dropped out of “Selma” to shoot “The Butler,” Oyelowo campaigned for DuVernay to get the job.

Once production began, she knew they had something special. “I remember the fi rst day watching him in the scene where King is in jail and thinking to myself, ‘He did it. This is going to work,’” she said. “I saw the weight gain every week, and I heard the infl ections in his voice. I was there measuring how much his

hairline was getting cut back and how we were going to do the moustache.”

Filmmaker and actor watched the Golden Globe nominations together.

“Her name was called fi rst, and I jumped so high, I almost shattered a kneecap,” remembered Oyelowo.

After directing an episode of “Scandal” last year, DuVernay is getting serious about television, soon taking on a credited writing role for an unnamed drama that she hints could star Oyelowo. “We’ll see,” she said with a raised eyebrow about the project that she’ll also direct. “There’s a freedom to being able to tell a story for so many episodes,” she added, citing the work of other indie

fi lmmakers who’ve moonlighted in television, like Cary Fukunaga (“True Detective”) and Steven Soderbergh (“The Knick”).

First, she has to contend with some serious Golden Globes dress stress. As she boards the speeding train that is awards season, she keeps things in perspective with help from Oprah Winfrey, a producer and costar in “Selma,” with whom she chatted after the fi lm’s premiere on Friday night. “‘All is in order,’” DuVernay said. “[Oprah] says that all the time.”

— JENNY SUNDEL

IT’S BEEN TWO years and countless think pieces since “Girls” first aired, but if Monday night’s Season 4 premiere was any indication, the show hasn’t lost its footing. The series has already gotten the green light for a fifth season, and fans and supporters — Kirstie Alley, Victor Cruz, Rita Wilson, Chris Benz and Jon Hamm among them — came out to the American Museum of Natural History in New York to catch the first two episodes.

The spotlight continues to shine on the show’s 28-year-old creator and star, Lena Dunham. Like the show, her fi rst book, “Not That Kind of Girl,” drew a swarm of praise and criticism last fall. None of the negative chatter has seemed to deter the young scribe, who on Monday dispelled the most recent

reports of an engagement to her longtime boyfriend, the musician Jack Antonoff. “I just want to say that if we were going to get engaged, we’d be more creative to do it on New Year’s Eve. We don’t want to be basic,” Dunham said on the carpet.

While not lauded as a traditional fashionista, Dunham has landed on the covers of Elle and Vogue, and she chose a less traditional label for her big night. “Is this Creatures of the Wind? Oh my God! Dope!” said Tavi Gevinson as she sidled up.

“I found the Tav!” Dunham exclaimed, turning around to

embrace the Rookie founder turned actress, whose show on Broadway, “This Is Our Youth,” closed the night before. “You’re done! Congratulations! I’m so proud of you. I’ve known you since you were like, a little person,” said Dunham, incredulous.

While not so little anymore, the 18-year-old

Gevinson noted that she is able to connect with the

on-screen tribulations of the 20-something “Girls” gang. “Probably way too much, like any viewer,” she said. According to

Jemima Kirke, the girls on the show are also growing up. “She’s becoming more dynamic, she’s a more relatable human being,” Kirke refl ected on her character, Jessa. “She’s not a prototype anymore.”

After the screening, Dunham held court under the museum’s famous Great

Blue Whale. Antonoff, clad in a long green trench coat, made a quiet appearance and idled at the bottom of the room’s staircase as his girlfriend worked through the throng of admirers. “I’m

so glad to see you,” Dunham continuously gushed to passers-by

as the pair fi nally walked out hand-in-hand, shortly after 11 p.m. The night was still young in “Girls” land.

— KRISTEN TAUER

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Jemima Kirke in Adam Lippes.

Lena Dunham in Creatures of the Wind with Jack Antonoff.

Jon Hamm and Andrew Rannells

Ava DuVernay

Making History

David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. and Ava DuVernay on the set of “Selma.”

Let’s Hear It for The...

Allison Williams in Monique Lhuillier.

WWD.COM11WWD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2015

IN THE PINK: Schiaparelli’s show will go on, despite the surprise exit last November of creative director Marco Zanini. The nascent couture house has secured time slots for two runway shows — one for press, another for clients — on Jan. 26, helping start four days of high fashion shows in the French capital. A Schiaparelli spokesman said an in-house team designed the spring-summer 2015 couture collection, awaiting the appointment of a new designer. Italian entrepreneur Diego Della Valle controls Schiaparelli, which he revived after 60 years of dormancy. Zanini paraded two collections for the brand, earning mostly plaudits for his flamboyant and eccentric designs. — MILES SOCHA

AMERICAN WITHDRAWAL: Shares of American Apparel Inc. fell 12.7 percent to 86 cents Tuesday, leaving the company with a market capitalization of $150 million. The stock went from a low of 50 cents last month up to $1.20 on word that John Howard’s Irving Place Capital was interested in talking takeover at a price of up to $1.40 a share, depending on due diligence.

The company acknowledged it had received some interest and hired an investment bank, but so far no talks have been held. Some investors could be growing impatient, or betting that a deal won’t come about. More than

4.4 million shares traded hands on Tuesday, well ahead of the 1.9 million daily average for the last three months.

— EVAN CLARK

BIG STEP: The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg made history when, for the first time during its 250 years in existence, it is exhibiting an archeological discovery from Israel. The museum became the temporary home for a 27-foot-wide by 50-foot-long Roman mosaic floor, dating back to the 4th century. It was uncovered in Lod, Israel, in 1996 when workers began to clear the ground for a new road’s plumbing. Even a workman’s footprint remained among the design of two Roman merchant ships and various birds, fish and animals, including a segment with ferocious wild animals, which were well known to the Romans since they appeared at gladiatorial games, where they were pitted either against each other or against human adversaries. After being lent to major museums in London, Berlin and Paris as well as in many cities in the United States, the mosaic is at The Hermitage, on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Shelby White and Leon Levy Lod Mosaic Center. In welcoming guests to the exhibit’s opening,

museum’s director, Mikhail Piotrovsky, spoke about how pleased he was to “begin this relationship with Israel and to have this beautiful piece here.” The mosaic will return home in the spring, where a museum will later be built for it that will include a bridge from which visitors may view the ancient floor.

— BOBBI QUEEN

EN ROUTE: Seoul’s Incheon Airport claims its duty-free shops did more than 2 trillion won, or about $1.84 billion, worth of business last year, beating out the sales volume of the shops at both the Dubai International Airport and London’s Heathrow. Wan-su Park, president and chief

executive officer of Incheon International Airport Corporation, released the figures last

month, claiming they set a new international record for duty-free sales.

Incheon was the first airport in the world to house Louis Vuitton in 2011. It is home to more than 500 brands including Louis Vuitton, Bally, Burberry, Cartier, Chanel, Hermès, MCM, Bulgari, Gucci, Longchamp, Montblanc, Salvatore Ferragamo and Coach. Incheon International Airport is the main gateway to South Korea and a major destination for Chinese travellers.

— KAREN E. LEE

THE CAMPAIGNS OF SPRING: As magazine publishers gear up for their February and (hefty, they hope) March issues, fashion firms are unveiling their spring ads, which will form an all-important part of them. And many of those ads link to the past in some way.

At Donna Karan, the designer has returned to a longtime favorite photographer, Peter Lindbergh. The duo shares a long history — from 1992, Lindbergh shot 15 campaigns

for Karan, their last collaboration being for spring 2007. For the spring ads, Lindbergh photographed model Andreea Diaconu against a backdrop marked by giant brushstrokes. Like the collection itself, the images are “inspired by passions so much a part of Donna Karan…art, sensuality and the woman,” according to the company.

At Céline, the ballet flats Phoebe Philo paraded on its runway last September turned out to be a clue: Marie-Agnès Gillot, a dancer and choreographer with the Paris Opera Ballet, appears in the brand’s spring campaign, slated to break in an array of February fashion titles. But the diversity of Philo’s spring collection — spanning sharply

tailored looks and retro florals — is reflected in the casting. Another surprising personality, 80-year-old American author Joan Didion, also posed for photographer Juergen Teller, along with teenage model Freya Lawrence.

Another Paris fashion house, Sonia Rykiel, also tapped Teller to shoot Elizabeth and Georgia May Jagger. For her first advertising campaign at Rykiel, artistic director Julie de Libran has the daughters of Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger and Texan model Jerry Hall posing in various locations in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the historic home

of the brand. The shoot was styled by Alexia Niedzielski.

“We had the Jagger sisters for the show. I loved the energy that passed between them, and

their individual beauty so equal, yet so unalike,” de Libran said. “Their mother walked for Sonia Rykiel, and they would come to the boutique. It’s the story of a family and a family business. It was great to have Juergen shoot them in such spontaneous fashion in Saint-Germain-des-Prés,” she added.

The campaign will break in the February issue of W magazine.

Then there’s Guess, where Gigi Hadid is returning to her roots. Having

modeled for the Los Angeles-based denim company when she was a toddler and made her debut as a Guess girl for the women’s business two years ago, the 19-year-old model appears in the spring 2015 ad campaign. Unlike recent promotions that paired up models, Hadid rolled solo on a Malibu beach in flared jeans, gingham bikinis, tomboyish overalls and other looks.

“Going on 15 years as a Guess Girl, this may be my favorite campaign yet,” said Hadid, whose fame has since been fueled by a guest stint on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.” “I couldn’t think of a better place to shoot the campaign than where we did — on the beaches of my hometown in Malibu! So fitting.”

— MARC KARIMZADEH, MILES SOCHA,

JOELLE DIDERICH AND KHANH T.L. TRAN

POULIQUEN NOMINATED: French Elle has named Katell Pouliquen to oversee the magazine’s feature sto-ries, effective Jan. 12.

Pouliquen succeeds Anne-Cécile Sarfati, who is becoming responsible for Elle Active, a series of conferences and job fairs for women. Sarfati is also to oversee the 11 regional editions of Elle, which

includes Elle Paris.Pouliquen has served as deputy

editor in chief of Marie Claire since August 2014. Before that, she was editor in chief at women’s magazine Be, which was sold to Reworld Media Group by Lagardère Active, Elle’s owner.

The nominations come after Elle deputy editorial director Véronique Philipponnat left the magazine in December.

Last November, Elle editorial director Françoise-Marie Santucci also named Friquette Thévenet-Mondino to oversee fashion.— LAURE GUILBAULT

For more scoops, see

WWD.com.

MeMo pad Fashion scoops

2.5x7 (right)

s Andreea Diaconu for Donna Karan.

s Marie-Agnès Gillot and Joan Didion in Céline’s spring campaign.

s The Sonia Rykiel spring campaign.

s Gigi Hadid in a marketing image for Guess.

For more career opportunities log on to WWDCareers.com.

PATTERNS, SAMPLES,PRODUCTIONS

Full service shop to the trade.Fine fast work. 212-869-2699

ABS / BLUE PEARLBY ALLEN SCHWARTZ

PRESIDENT OF SALES - NEW YORKPresident of sales for new

contemporary sportswear division(Blue Pearl). Must have relationshipswith select stores, international and

domestic specialty boutiques. Must beable to do business based upon

existing relationships and lead byexample. Social media skills req’d.

Min. 5 yrs exp. Comp. package open.Send resume via email to

Allen Schwartz:HSIMONIAN@ABSSTYLE.COM.

ABS / BLUE PEARLBY ALLEN SCHWARTZ

SENIOR ACCOUNTEXECUTIVE - NEW YORK

Must have relationships with at least50 East Coast boutiques and have the

ability to do business immediatelyupon starting. Must be able to

establish new relationships with ECboutiques, online and intl. stores.Social media skills req’d. Comp.

package open. Send resume via emailto Allen Schwartz:

HSIMONIAN@ABSSTYLE.COM.

TO ATTEND:kim_mancuso@fairchildfashion.com / 212.630.4212

TO SPONSOR:amber_mundinger@fairchildfashion.com / 212.630.4824

/ JUNE 9-10NEW YORK CITY

SENIOREXECUTIVES

/ FEBRUARY 12NEW YORK CITY

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