WWD. Gentle Woman. U.S. to Bangladesh: More Must Be Done

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1 BRAVO AND GOULD THE TWO RETAIL LEGENDS TALK CONCESSIONS, NORDSTROM AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BEAUTY BUSINESS TO DEPARTMENT STORES. PAGE 3 BLEND OF TRENDS THE MEN S RUNWAYS IN LONDON, MILAN AND PARIS OFFERED SOFTER TAILORING, LUXE LOUNGEWEAR, THE RETURN OF DENIM AND MORE. PAGE MW1 SPIKE S FASHION TAKE SPIKE LEE MARKS HIS COLLABORATION WITH HAT BRAND NEW ERA, AND TALKS FASHION AND FILM. PAGE 6 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 $3.00 WOMEN S WEAR DAILY Gentle Woman Modern yet modest shapes in natural fabrics and homespun prints make for a distinct style this resort season. Here, Suno s cotton dress worn with a Eugenia Kim turban; Zoë Chicco earrings; Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses; Donni Charm shawl; Natalie Frigo bangles, and Sam Edelman sandals. For more, see pages 4 and 5. APPAREL INDUSTRY CONDITIONS U.S. to Bangladesh: More Must Be Done By KRISTI ELLIS WASHINGTON The U.S. keeps upping the pressure on Bangladesh over the safety of its apparel industry. The U.S. Trade Representative s office said Wednesday that the Asian nation has failed to meet several criteria outlined in an action plan on improving safety in the garment industry and reforming labor laws, leaving in place a suspension of its U.S. trade benefits that the Bangladeshi government has lobbied to have restored. The U.S. suspended Bangladesh s duty-free benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences last June, citing pervasive garment factory safety problems, including the collapse of the Rana Plaza building complex in April and the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. fire in November 2012, which combined claimed the lives of more than 1,240 workers. It also cited the failure of industry and government to allow Bangladeshi workers to exercise their rights to organize and bargain collectively in the apparel sector. Following the suspension of GSP benefits, the U.S. and Bangladesh signed the Bangladesh Action Plan last July, under which President Obama could consider reinstatement of the GSP benefits. As part of its six-month interagency review released Wednesday, U.S. officials concluded that while Bangladesh has made some progress, it has failed to implement substantial parts of the action plan, developed in the wake of the two factory tragedies and an escalation of violence against labor activists. SEE PAGE 8 Paris Men s Collections Seen As Creative, Salable MODEL: LETICIA O./ONE MANAGEMENT; HAIR BY MARCOS DIAZ; MAKEUP BY MISUZU MIYAKE FOR ARTMIX USING NARS PHOTO BY GEORGE CHINSEE; STYLED BY KIM FRIDAY By WWD STAFF PARIS Business and pleasure: Paris delivered both in equal measure, according to buyers, who praised the recent round of men s shows here for combining high-level creativity with greater practicality like the fact that recent spring seasons have been plagued by heavy rains in many regions. Paris is still the best place where creativity and commerce are linked together with a good balance. You can find established brands as well as young and small fashion projects, said Carla Sozzani, founder and owner of 10 Corso Como, who said her open-to-buy was steady and skewed more toward new and upcoming brands. Eric Jennings, vice president and men s fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue, said the retailer used to have one buyer assigned to Paris collections and now has four one each for shoes, accessories, designer and contemporary. Men s continues to deliver and so we are looking to ways of growing and expanding that business, he said. Tom Kalenderian, executive vice president and general merchandise manager at Barneys New York, said the retailer has been renovating all its men s floors and will have put the finishing touches on its New York flagship by fall, while renovations of the Beverly Hills location are also under way. We came to Europe with plans to grow the men s designer business. The Paris collections have exceeded our expectations, he said. There is an energy in the air that creates the foundation for creativity on an extreme level. Emmanuel de Bayser, owner and head buyer for The Corner in Berlin, summed up the shift taking place on the men s front: Fashion and lifestyle are moving closer and closer together. In previous seasons, it was either rock or athletic. Now designers are paying more attention to the streets and men s active lifestyles, valuing comfort and practicality above all, he said. SEE PAGE MW4

2 2 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 Would-Be AA Buyers in Wait By EVAN CLARK AS DOV CHARNEY locks horns with American Apparel Inc. s board for control of the company, potential buyers weighing a takeover are sitting on the sidelines and, as one source put it, more intrigued than interested. I don t think this is an asset that s a need-to-have asset for anybody, said the banker, who s been talking to would-be buyers. Everybody s sitting back and waiting. I m not sure anybody knows how this plays out. I don t think this is over anytime soon. Ousted founder Charney borrowed nearly $20 million to buy 27.4 million shares of the company, boosting his stake to 43 percent. That puts the former president, chief executive officer and chairman in striking distance of retaking control of the company, but he has to rally support from other shareholders and contend with a poison pill installed to prevent a takeover. Charney has called for a special shareholders meeting in September to rejigger the board and is contesting his firing at arbitration. The company, meanwhile, is continuing its investigation into Charney, who was fired for misconduct following years of high-profile allegations of sexual Japan Retailers See Mixed June Sales By AMANDA KAISER and KELLY WETHERILLE TOKYO Japanese retailers posted mixed comps for June as consumers continued to digest higher price tags after April s sales-tax hike. Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. said Wednesday that same-store sales at its Uniqlo stores in Japan rose 2.6 percent, thanks to brisk demand for summer items including a line of stay-cool innerwear called Airism. Meanwhile, sales at Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. s nine main stores in Japan were down 4.6 percent in June on the year. Sales declined at every store except the Mitsukoshi branch in Tokyo s Ginza district, which saw a sales increase of 1.4 percent. Takashimaya Co. Ltd. said sales at its 18 stores across Japan fell 4.9 percent year-over-year in June. The company attributed the drop to the consumption tax increase, as well as the fact that this June had one fewer Saturday than the same month last year. H2O Retailing Corp. reported a 4.3 percent drop in June sales at its Hankyu and Hanshin department stores in Japan. J. Front Retailing Co. Ltd. said sales at its 18 Daimaru and Matsuzakaya department stores in Japan fell 4.8 percent on the year in June. The company said it is seeing a steady rebound in sales across all of its product categories, including home goods and jewelry, and that its sales were further helped by a clearance sale that started in late June. Japan s sales tax increased 3 percentage points to 8 percent in April. Several retailers posted substantial sales gains in March harassment from former employees. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Since Charney was suspended pending termination two weeks ago, American Apparel has said it remains committed to its Made in the USA, sweatshopfree model. That was called into question in a published report Wednesday, which said one of the company s largest creditors, Monarch Alternative Capital, was trying to force a sale of the company and shutter the retailer s Los Angeles factory. Sources close to the company and to Monarch denied the report. And the source familiar with the creditor s thinking said, Monarch supports the Made in America strategy and has never had conversations with American Apparel or others about an outsourcing strategy. Another source maintained that Monarch has been working behind the scenes and pushing for the business to take more of a licensing approach. Monarch is said to own about half of American Apparel s debt and could eventually play a more prominent role in what happens to the company. Charney has teamed with Standard General, which lent him money to increase his stake, and might find itself squaring off with Monarch. as consumers rushed to make large purchases before the tax hike came into effect. As expected, April sales figures took a hit immediately after the tax increase. May and June saw a mixed performance from retailers here. Last week, Bernstein Research issued research predicting that Japanese consumers post-tax retreat from cash registers will be a short-lived phenomenon. Japan should continue to grow, albeit at a more [normalized] rate over the next few years, wrote Bernstein s analyst team led by Mario Ortelli. We expect the market to return to growth at [a compound annual growth rate of 2 to 4 percent over the 2013 to 2018 period] driven by a cheaper yen, which will help to attract more tourist traffic and keep a higher share of the domestic consumption of luxury goods. Social Media Firms Fine-tune Ad Strategies By RACHEL STRUGATZ SOCIAL MEDIA companies are honing their advertising game. On Tuesday, Facebook said it agreed to acquire LiveRail, a technology company that helps brands create better video ads and target them more effectively. Founded in 2007, LiveRail counts ABC, A&E Networks, Major League Baseball, Gannett and Dailymotion among its clients. Facebook said in a blog post that the acquisition was an opportunity make video ads more relevant for the hundreds of millions of people who watch digital video every month. Fashion brands are pushing more ad dollars onto social media networks, following the consumer as they spend more time than ever posting, tweeting, pinning and liking. Facebook is among the most aggressive in seeking ad dollars and is only second to Google in revenue terms. EMarketer estimated that Facebook s global advertising revenues will reach almost $11 billion this year a 56.4 percent increase versus Overall, emarketer expects spending on digital video ads in the U.S. to increase 41.9 percent this year, to $5.96 billion. Twitter is looking to get a piece of that growth. On Monday, the social network said it would roll out its mobile app promotion to all advertisers globally (it was previously in beta) and that it snapped up advertising start-up TapCommerce. JackThreads, a men s fashion brand, has been part of Twitter s beta-stage mobile app promotion for two months. The company works with Twitter to create targeted ads that drive users to download its JackThreads app, which currently has almost five million app downloads. More than 3.6 million of those downloads are on iphones the platform the company used to test Twitter s Mobile App Install Ads. We wanted to drive efficient iphone users to the iphone app, said Prash Mohan, manager, acquisition marketing of Thrillist Media Group, parent company of JackThreads. Facebook was becoming competitive, and it seemed like there was an opportunity to compete on Twitter. One of the challenges we have in general is that it s difficult to just get someone to download your app. On the mobile downloads and engagement fronts, Mohan said the Twitter program produced a 39 percent lift in efficiency for JackThreads cost per clicks (relative to other platforms when it comes to ios acquisition). The app also saw 8 percent growth in install-to-sign-up conversion rates and a 63 percent efficiency gain in cost per buyer the amount spent on acquisition versus the amount of buyers acquired. The official rollout of Twitter s ads synced up on Monday with news of its acquisition of TapCommerce. The microblogging platform reportedly ponied up $100 million for TapCommerce, which specializes in getting users to reopen and reengage with apps through retargeting. EBay and Fab are clients of TapCommerce. In a blog post, Twitter said it will now be able to offer mobile app marketers more robust capabilities for app reengagement, tools and managed service solutions for realtime programmatic buying, and better measurement capabilities. The reason: Apps might attract new users early on, but programmatic advertising is essential in getting users to revisit and use the app. THE BRIEFING BOX IN TODAY S WWD Keira Knightley in a girly Prada dress and accessories. For more looks from the actress, see WWD.com. ON WWD.COM WWD.COM The Paris men s shows delivered both business and pleasure in equal measure, according to buyers, who praised the recent round of collections. PAGE 1 The U.S. Trade Representative s office said Wednesday that Bangladesh has failed to meet several criteria outlined in an action plan on improving garment industry safety. PAGE 1 Michael Gould, the former Bloomingdale s chairman and chief executive officer, spoke at Fashion Group International s taste makers breakfast in New York Tuesday. PAGE 3 Construction on the Galeries Lafayette Foundation headquarters in central Paris is to begin this summer and the foundation is due to open to the public in late PAGE 6 Lew Frankfort s role as executive chairman of Coach Inc. is moving to part-time from full-time and his salary to $500,000 from $1.5 million. PAGE 7 Oscar de la Renta s fashion will feature in its second presidential library exhibition opening July 19 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. PAGE 7 Gucci has recruited several top models for its fall advertising campaign, including Natasha Poly, Raquel Zimmermann, Anja Rubik, Nadja Bender and Karmen Pedaru. PAGE 8 The men s runways in London, Milan and Paris were awash with luxe loungewear, the return of denim, summer stripes and wintry styles for spring. PAGE MW1 Toronto is about to host the eighth fashion week in the world devoted exclusively to men s wear, called Toronto Official Men s Fashion Week, which runs Aug. 12 to 14. PAGE MW4 CELEBRITY TRENDSETTER: A designer favorite, Keira Knightley showed off her effortlessly chic style while promoting her new film, Begin Again. For more, see WWD.com. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL WWD.com/social TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME@FAIRCHILDFASHION.COM, USING THE INDIVIDUAL S NAME. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT 2014 FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME 208, NO. 3. 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3 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, WWD.COM Gould s Take on the Art of Retail By DAVID MOIN NEW YORK Michael Gould, the former Bloomingdale s chairman and chief executive officer, wears his passion for the business on his sleeve. So it was no surprise that when speaking candidly at the Fashion Group International s tastemakers breakfast at the 21 Club here Tuesday, Gould spoke up for having concessions in department stores as he referred to the Bloomingdale s 59th Street flagship as a mall, and described Nordstrom as the anomaly of all in its ability to sell price points spanning those seen at Neiman Marcus down to Macy s. Gould also addressed the question of whether a retailer must be led by a merchant, singled out the beauty business as something special on the selling floors and honed in on one of retail s big challenges, stating, We don t lack for customers in the store. We lack for conversion and for really maximizing the unit sale going out of the door. Gould was interviewed by another one of the industry s great veterans, Rose Marie Bravo, the former Burberry ceo and onetime competitor to Gould when she was president of Saks Fifth Avenue. While she got Gould to open up on several subjects, like what his last day on the job was like he was succeeded by Tony Spring on Feb. 1 Gould also fielded a few questions from the audience, including one on the impact Nordstrom will have on the competition and vendors once it enters New York City on 57th Street in I think the vast majority of people are going to sell it, Gould said, albeit not without challenges, he suggested, posing the question: What s Armani going to do? There will be pressures on Armani and other vendors from their current retail accounts in New York, whether it s a store on Fifth Avenue, a store near Central Park, or another on Lexington Avenue, Gould said. I think Nordstrom will make us work harder, everyone, because they are so big. Yet here s this big [retailer] coming in a little different location. I think it s going to be a challenge. The competition, Gould said, must respond by looking inward. What are you doing with all programs you have in the stores today that makes going to Bloomingdale s the most exciting thing in the world a loyalty program, or relationships with sales professionals? On the role of concessions in department stores, Gould responded: My mantra, if I was a manufacturer today, for the most part would be I want to be a concession, because I want to control my own destiny. I m talking from a wholesale point of view. If I have the structure in the U.S., I want to control my own destiny. I think I could do it better. I can flow the goods differently. I am strongly in favor of it depending on what the store is, if the mission of the store is: how do I create the most exciting environment. As far as I am concerned, 59th Street is a mall. There are folks there that don t like that phrase, they say it s a store. It is a store, but it s a mall. It just happens to be under the name Bloomingdale s. It s no different from Shin Kong Place in Beijing in my mind. It s an exciting mall with one name, Bloomingdale s, one DNA. As a retailer, the most important thing is to have the most exciting product for my customer, if Armani is a concession or not a concession. That s the We don t lack for customers in the store. We lack for conversion and for really maximizing the unit sale going out of the door. MICHAEL GOULD mission. Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, Selfridges are all anywhere between 65 and 70 percent concession. That includes the beauty business. Gould recalled his early days at Abraham & Straus, which Macy s eventually took over, where he was on the executive training squad and became a sheet buyer, to underscore the relevance of concessions. There was a post office, a drugstore, books, records, a notions department all these little businesses. The problem now in department stores is no one nurtures little businesses. However, You walk through a Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette, you see all these little businesses. They are surviving because they are concessions. Concessions, he noted, have a flow that is very different. Stores can staff it the same way with the same expertise, but there is a different flow. You look at that flow and say that s it, because more newness comes into the store. It will be interesting to see how it plays at Saks, which has a new president, Marigay McKee, from Harrods, where there s a large concession business. I think Neiman s has a bigger problem though the Neiman Marcus Group is so profitable in the businesses they already own. NMG already sells all the big designers though some want to convert to leased shops and Neiman s is considering it in certain cases, breaking from a longstanding business model that encourages sales associates to work all departments in stores to better service and outfit customers, and prohibits leased shops. Here are excerpts from the conversation between Bravo and Gould: Rose Marie Bravo: How did you think Bloomingdale s survived when so many department store nameplates have disappeared? Michael Gould: I ve always been a passionate believer that culture trumps all. I think the culture of Bloomingdale s trumps all. Maybe 3 percent of the merchandise in the building you can t find within 10 blocks. What s unique about it? The people. I think there is a feeling that people could be something special in that organization. Bloomingdale s is a maker s mark. A maker s mark is a brand. It transcends. It s community property. There s something about the place that really embraces you. R.M.B.: How important is it for a store to have a ceo that is a merchant in today s world? M.G.: I am not sure it s mandatory. Like everything else, it helps. If you are going to be ceo, how important is it to know about finance, or about legal implications. My gift to life, aside from my family, is I always knew I wasn t the smartest person in the room but I always surrounded myself with the smartest people. Michael Gould and Rose Marie Bravo R.M.B.: How did you keep it so fresh for 22 years? You always approached [the business] with so much energy. M.G.: What makes Sammy run? What was your greatest fear? My greatest fear is failure. When your greatest fear is failure, you run very hard. Referencing John Gardner s essay on Personal Renewal, and the importance of keeping fresh by always learning, Gould added, Life is this endless unfolding of self-discovery. R.M.B: You loved the beauty business. Tell us what you loved about it. M.G.: I understood clearly that beauty gave the store a different level of energy, you create that energy on the first floor, that interaction. There s an opportunity to get brands that wouldn t sell you in other parts of the business. To me it was something that gave the store energy. With personal appearances, Halston when he was hot. Paloma Picasso. At the end of the day, fragrance is terrific. You can t be two-faced and say it s the future. The future has to be the color and treatment in any upscale store. If you look at the redo of Bloomingdale s, it s about color and treatment. I think there is a passion in this industry that is a little bit different. It gives the PHOTO BY KYLE ERICKSEN store a different kind of beat, a different kind of energy. R.M.B.: How were you able to walk that fine line of having a lot of the luxury players at Bloomingdale s, some of the specialty stores had, yet you had the dynamics and excitement of a department store? M.G.: I said to Jean-Louis Dumas [of] Hermès, Give me a corner. He said, No, you are a department store and I only want to be in a specialty store. Your opportunity is how do you become a specialized department store. If you look at Nordstrom, it s the anomaly of all. Nordstrom can go from the bottom of Neiman s to the top of Macy s. How they do it is really remarkable from a price point of view. I always said don t try to be someone you are not. I can t go into MAC and tell them I can do as much as Macy s in Poughkeepsie. I can t, but how can you have this balance touching customers from 15 to 55, with Chanel and Armani on the fourth floor for designer lines as well as the second floor for contemporary collections, and home lines stretching from Frette to the Hotel private brand, Gould said. It isn t even affordable luxury. It s accessible. There s this opportunity to be this place of excitement, a place that it is accessible. R.M.B.: How do you know when it s time to leave a job? M.G.: Sometimes, someone tells you it s time. I went to Giorgio and someone told me it was time. As far as I am concerned, 59th Street is a mall It is a store, but it s a mall. It just happens to be under the name Bloomingdale s. MICHAEL GOULD It was very hard leaving Giorgio. It was a culture and it was all about people. I think I stopped growing. I had this incredible team. I did the same thing. What could be bad with this incredible team? Why would you want to leave. I stopped growing. I also knew the person I hired four years before, Linda LoRe, she was ready to be president. After 22 years running Bloomingdale s, Could I have stayed until they dragged me out feet first? Probably yes. It wasn t about someone coming in and cleaning out 14 out of 17 people. Things will be different. Whatever the team wants to do, the team will want to do. At 5:40 that Friday afternoon, I did what I did every Friday afternoon. Sara [his girlfriend] came to the door. I walked out the door and went to Central Synagogue and that was it. I never looked back. It was their business to run. Some people said I should have left at 64. I would have had different opportunities. But nothing else, Gould, 71, added, could have given me as much pleasure in those five to seven years.

4 4 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 Hatch s cotton top and Ace & Jig s cotton reversible wrap skirt. Gottex by Physician Endorsed hat; Zoë Chicco gold and diamond rings; Natalie Frigo large brass ring and bangles; Workhorse cage ring. Christine Alcalay s silk top and skirt. Eugenia Kim turban; Zoë Chicco earrings; Stuart Weitzman espadrilles. Objects Without Meaning s Cupro jumpsuit. Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses; Sam Edelman sandals. Gentle Woman DESIGNERS CHANNELED A CERTAIN SENSIBILITY THIS RESORT SEASON WITH CLOTHES THAT ARE SUBTLE YET BEAUTIFUL, FEMININE YET MODEST. PHOTOS BY GEORGE CHINSEE STYLED BY KIM FRIDAY

5 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, WWD.COM Bazaar 28 s linen blazer, Nili Lotan s cotton voile tunic and Loup Charmant s cotton gauze dress. Eugenia Kim turban; Karen Walker sunglasses; Samudra pouch. Nili Lotan s cashmere sweater and Surf Bazaar s cotton gauze pants. Missoni turban; Natalie Frigo ring and bangles. MODEL: LETICIA O./ONE MANAGEMENT; HAIR BY MARCOS DIAZ; MAKEUP BY MISUZU MIYAKE FOR ARTMIX USING NARS

6 6 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 Spike Lee Talks New Era, Fashion By DAVID YI NEW YORK I m not going to walk in here wearing Boston s--t! exclaimed Spike Lee in front of a packed audience inside the Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side here. The director was alongside Chris Koch, chief executive officer of New Era, speaking about his ongoing collaboration with the headwear brand and its newest launch, the Heritage Series, as well as his take on fashion. People these days don t care what team they re for, they only care about the color of the hat [they are wearing]; that s not me, Lee said. I started the whole matching of colors, he added, referring to a monochromatic head-to-toe palette he made popular in the Nineties. [In retrospect] what did I create? I m Dr. Frankenstein here with the whole matching thing; I did it on a whim, but I think the matchy-match has gone too far. The collaboration now in its third and final iteration and hitting New Era stores and online July 24 celebrates the turning point for the company in 1996, when it began collaborating with Lee. As Koch explained it, Lee reached out to him directly that year, requesting the brand create a customized red Yankees cap especially for him. I needed to match my red down jacket or something, Lee recalled. After Koch agreed, Lee said he felt it was only right that he receive consent from the Yankees. He proceeded to make a nervous call to late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. It was crazy that he granted my wish, especially with the history between the Red Sox and the Yankees it s almost blasphemous, he recalled. Koch described the deal with Lee as a major turning point for the brand. Before the collaboration, the traditional headwear brand, founded in 1920 by Ehrhardt Koch, was exclusively for professional athletes. Before Spike did that, there was no fashion side of the business, said Koch. It truly changed our business model. After Lee wore the red Yankees cap to the 1997 World Series, the hat became a consumer hit. Today, the brand has stores worldwide and makes exclusive versions to cater to the Japanese market. Outside of fitted caps, Lee has been a longtime hip-hop trendsetter and admitted that he deliberately placed specific products into his movies. I did it all on purpose, whether it was Air Jordans, or a Brooklyn bicycle hat, medallions, those love-hate knuckle rings, he said to the crowd. With so much fascination with fashion in his films, which was his sartorial favorite? Mo Better Blues is about jazz musicians and those guys are always sharp, he told WWD. And Malcolm X just had EVERY THURSDAY IN WWD those Zoot suits we wore. Speaking of suits, Lee said that these days he is most impressed with the ones worn by Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I like the fact that he likes colors, he said of the athlete, who recently signed a two-year partnership with I m Dr. Frankenstein here with the whole matching thing; I did it on a whim, but I think the matchy-match has gone too far. TAILORED FOR THE MEN S WEAR EXECUTIVES WHO MATTER SPIKE LEE Barneys New York to do a range of products. He s not afraid to wear anything, so I like him for that. Though the director was promoting New Era on Wednesday, he has been riding the wave of headlines in the past few days thanks to the Obamas, who congratulated him on the 25th anniversary of his film Do the Right Thing. [The movie] was actually the first movie we saw together on our first official date, First Lady Michelle Obama said in a video played at a commemorative screening of the classic earlier this week at the Los Angeles County By JOELLE DIDERICH PARIS I think there are so many 21st-century things, so many exceptional cultural spaces being built, that there is a kind of fatigue setting in certainly on my part, said Rem Koolhaas, standing in front of a scale model of the future Galeries Lafayette Foundation headquarters in central Paris. When you see the gigantic scale of art institutions worldwide, I am happy that we are minuscule in comparison. I think this modesty of scale gives a better chance of success, he said. Koolhaas and Guillaume Houzé, director of image and patronage of Groupe Galeries Lafayette and its department store branch, on Wednesday unveiled the project conceived by the Dutch architect s OMA agency at a press conference held inside the building that will house it. Construction is to begin this summer and the foundation is due to open to the public in late The project comes on the heels of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, a new museum on the leafy fringes of Paris designed by Frank Gehry and due to open in October. The Galeries Lafayette Foundation will occupy a five-story industrial building on Rue du Plâtre, a few streets behind the retail group s BHV department store opposite Paris City Hall. Built in 1891, it was used as a warehouse for BHV and most recently served as a school. Because of strict conservation laws governing the historic center of Paris, the shell of the building will remain intact, but its inner courtyard will be transformed into a steel-and-glass exhibition tower with four mobile platforms that can be raised or lowered to create performance and exhibition spaces. We see it as a new institution built on the basis of numerous exchanges, which aims to function in a collaborative and extremely convivial way a building, as you can see, on a human and modest scale, said Houzé, who is president of the foundation. The real nerve center of the project Museum of Art. Spike, thank you for helping me impress Michelle, Obama continued in the video. Asked about the public congratulatory note, Lee responded: Well, I said to Barack, I m glad you didn t take Michelle to see Driving Miss Daisy, or that would have been cursed. Galeries Unveils Foundation HQ will be invisible to the public and totally dedicated to and centered on the needs of the artists, he added. Koolhaas, whose recent projects include the loop-shaped CCTV tower in Beijing, said he was happy to work around the existing building. I am not a destroyer, in principle. If I can avoid it, I prefer to, he explained. It is a real conviction, and I am not always convinced that building something totally new makes sense today. The ground floor, which will be open to the public for free, will become a passage linking Rue du Plâtre and Rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie. In addition to hosting exhibitions, the 2,700-square-foot building will house basement workshops for artists, a teaching space and offices. Since October, the raw space has hosted a series of cultural events. The latest of these, Venir Voir Venir ( Come See Come ), is open to the public from Thursday to Sunday. It includes a presentation of the architectural project, works by resident artists and performances. Houzé said the foundation had a budget of 21 million euros, or $28.7 million at current exchange, over five years and forecast it would attract some 100,000 visitors a year. He noted it is geographically close to the Centre Pompidou and numerous art galleries, but it aims to have a global reputation. We want to have absolutely international standards in the conception of our projects, he said. We would like the foundation to establish a concrete network of relationships with other institutions throughout the world. Houzé is a descendant of the store s founder and, together with his grandmother, Ginette Moulin, has established a large private collection from which items are regularly displayed at the Galerie des Galeries, an exhibition space inside the Galeries Lafayette flagship on Boulevard Haussmann. He is also the driving force behind the retailer s annual Windows on Art project, under which its stores across France display works on loan from leading art institutions. PHOTO BY JOHN AQUINO

7 FASHION SCOOPS EVERMORE OSCAR: If one is good, two is better. Oscar de la Renta s fashion will feature in its second presidential library exhibition opening July 19 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. This being Texas, it will be bigger 60-plus mannequins than last year s retrospective at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Ark., which presented about half as many looks. Oscar de la Renta: Five Decades of Style will showcase day and evening ensembles worn by First Ladies Laura Bush, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Nancy Reagan, Bush daughters Barbara and Jenna, including Jenna s wedding dress, Texas fashion plates Mercedes Bass and Lynn Wyatt and various celebrities, according to the Bush Center. A black-tie gala is set for Sept. 18, when the socials are back from summer vacation, and the show runs through Oct. 5. HOLLY HABER DESTINATION MATERNITY WANTS MOTHERCARE: Destination Maternity Corp. confirmed today that it is interested in merging with British firm Mothercare plc. The Philadelphia-based company said it has made two non-binding offers, the first on May 27 and the second on June 1, that were each rejected by Mothercare s board. Destination Maternity said it was making the disclosure per a requirement under the U.K. Takeover Code. The code also requires the American firm to disclose by 5 p.m. on July 30 whether it intends to make an offer, which must be within the guidelines of the code requirements or announce that it does not intend to make an offer. Destination Maternity said it continues to evaluate its options in connection with a possible combination of the firms. Executives at Mothercare could not be reached for comment. The total value of the latest offer would value a transaction at $453 million, and the proposal called for the two companies to be owned by a U.K. holding company that would be listed in the U.S. VICKI M. YOUNG SEEING RED: Vivienne Westwood and Virgin Atlantic marked the redesign of the airline company s red uniforms in London earlier this week with a party during which Debbie Harry performed wearing one of the new red Virgin Atlantic blazers. Westwood has created eco-friendly outfits for more than 7,500 staff, and said she designed with input from the Virgin Atlantic employees. Some of the new looks were developed using a polyester yarn derived from used plastic bottles. The women s uniform includes a red fitted jacket with a Vivienne Westwood and Lily Cole nipped waist and an asymmetric frill blouse, pencil skirt, red pumps with an hourglass heel and a red leather bag with diamond-shaped handles. The men s uniform a threepiece suit made from burgundy wool FOR MORE SCOOPS, SEE WWD.com. Debbie Harry accessorized with oxford shoes took its inspiration from Savile Row and Forties French couture. Westwood has also developed eco-conscious bags that will be produced for Virgin Atlantic using recycled canvas, brass, leather and reused roadside banners. My clothes have always got a very strong dynamic rapport with the body, said Westwood. They are very body conscious, they help you to look glamorous, more hourglass, more woman. I design things to help people to hopefully express their personality. I am always trying to find fabrics that are more friendly to the environment working with Virgin Atlantic, they managed to research into this and find more eco fabrics. The party was held at the Village Underground in London s Shoreditch on Tuesday night, with guests including Eliza Doolittle, Alice Eve, Jack Guinness, Douglas Booth, Luke Evans, Joséphine de La Baume and Mark Ronson. LORELEI MARFIL WIMBLEDON WHITES: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their first public appearance at Wimbledon to watch Andy Murray s ultimately unsuccessful bid to beat opponent Grigor Dimitrov in the men s quarterfinal match on Wednesday. The royal couple The Duchess of Cambridge in Zimmermann. cheered the Wimbledon title-holder Murray, who has now been knocked out of the competition. Kate wore the same Zimmermann white broderie anglaise dress that she donned during the royals official trip to Australia and New Zealand in April. L.M. PHOTO BY JONATHAN BRADY/PA WIRE/PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, WWD.COM 1H Global M&A Value: $1.57T By VICKI M. YOUNG GLOBAL DEAL VALUE in mergers and acquisitions totaled $1.57 trillion for the first half of 2014, with the U.S. leading the way at $694.6 billion. According to Mergermarket, Europe was second at $453.6 billion, followed by Asia at $286.7 billion to round out the top three major markets. The global deal value at $1.57 trillion is the highest since 2007, and reflected a 56.3 percent rise from $1.01 trillion for the first half of According to Mergermarket, there were 109 more global private equity buyouts in the first half of 2014 compared with the same year-ago period, which boosted values to a postcrisis high of $182.9 billion, or a 9 percent increase, from the first half of Among the top deals in the U.S. during the first half was Comcast Corp. s $68.5 billion planned purchase of Time Warner Cable Inc., and AT&T Inc. s $65.5 billion announced acquisition of DirectTV. In the U.S., the first-half deal value at $694.6 billion represented the most active half year for M&A activity since the first half of 2007, which was also up 98.3 percent from the first half of Deal value in the second quarter at $405.2 billion was up percent, or more than double, the year-ago second-quarter deal value at $172 billion. Mergermarket noted that the average size of European deals jumped 54.9 percent to $520.2 million in the second quarter of 2014 from $335.9 million in the first quarter. Moreover, European bidders are also more active in pursuing foreign targets, with outbound M&A valued at $132.9 billion in the first half, the highest level for any half year since the second half of In the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, Mergermarket s data noted that for the second time since 2001, European firms targeting companies in Asia have registered double-digit values for the last two consecutive quarters. China remains the most targeted country in Asia with deals valued at $128.1 billion, or up 67.4 percent from the year-ago deal value of $76.5 billion. In Japan, Mergermarket said subdued activity in the first half for M&A resulted in deal values falling to $11.7 billion, or down 50.1 percent compared with the year-ago period. The study noted the reason for the decline was due to caution among foreign investors. M&A deal values in Africa and the Middle East fell to $21.3 billion, for the first half, or 38 percent, from $34.3 billion a year ago. Emerging markets had a strong first half, with deal value totaling $279.9 billion, or a 23.4 percent jump, from $226.8 billion a year ago. Frankfort s Coach Role Shifts to Part-time By ARNOLD J. KARR NEW YORK Lew Frankfort s role as executive chairman of Coach Inc. is moving to part-time from full-time and his salary to $500,000 from $1.5 million. In a disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, Coach said Frankfort, who also served as the company s chief executive officer from 1995 until earlier this year, began working in a part-time capacity on Tuesday. As amended, the revised contract will be in force until Coach s annual stockholders meeting, scheduled for Nov. 6. Under the terms of the amended agreement, Frankfort won t be eligible for either bonus or equity compensation. The changes, according to the filing, don t imply a change in Frankfort s role as chairman. They were described as voluntary and not in any way implying a termination without cause or [resignation for] a good reason as defined by the original contract signed in For more career opportunities log on to WWDCareers.com. Spaces COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE 33rd-57th St West-All Sizes Menswear Showrooms D. Levy Adams & Co High quality service Pattern, sampling, duplicates and small production. MK Fashion mkfashionny@gmail.com PATTERNS, SAMPLES, PRODUCTIONS Full service shop to the trade. Fine fast work Under terms of his new deal, Frankfort is expected to provide a level of bonafide services...that is more than 20 percent of the average level provided over the last 36 months. The filing s only reference to his retirement is that it is to come at a to-be-agreed upon date. The former Coach ceo, who was succeeded by Victor Luis in January, is unlikely to have difficulty keeping busy. He made a strategic investment in spin club operator Flywheel Sports in 2012 and also has had investments in J Brand, BodyArmor sports drinks and, according to reports, Tequila Avión. Meanwhile, Luis has had a challenging first year as ceo. At an investor conference last month, the New York-based accessories firm revealed plans to close 70 full-price stores and revamp its outlet business as it confronts double-digit declines in revenues and same-store sales this year. In the nine months through March 29, net income fell 13.2 percent to $706.1 million, while sales were down 4.7 percent to $3.67 billion. MANUFACTURER REPS WANTED Current reps make $100k+. Our fashion earbuds, iphone cases sell in stores. If you sell to fashion accessory buyers, reps@theankit.com. DRESS COMPANY SEEKING A FIRST SAMPLE PATTERN MAKER. FULL TIME OR PART TIME POSTION, MUST HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF DRAPING AND PATTERN MAKING SKILLS. EXP. 5 YRS. RESUME TO KATE@JEMMAAPPAREL.COM (800) , or classified@fairchildfashion.com

8 8 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 Bangladesh Fails to Meet Safety Criteria {Continued from page one} Among the issues cited by the Obama administration were that Bangladesh is behind on safety inspections of garment factories and has also been slow to respond to allegations of violence against labor activists. The Obama administration has been engaging the Bangladesh government and stakeholders over the past year to press for changes to address the worker rights and worker safety issues that led to the President s decision to suspend GSP trade benefits, said USTR Michael Froman. We are seeing some improvements that move us closer to our shared goal of protecting workers from another workplace tragedy such as the April 2013 Rana Plaza building collapse, including a significant increase in the registration of unions. However, we remain concerned about the large number of factories that have yet to be inspected, the lack of progress on needed labor law reforms and continuing reports of harassment of and violence against labor activists who are attempting to exercise their rights. While the punitive action by the administration has affected as much as $34.7 million in Bangladeshi imports into the U.S. under GSP, the hit to the country s economy was considered modest since its largest export apparel is not covered by the U.S. trade preference program and remains unaffected. The top GSP imports from Bangladesh included tobacco, sports equipment, porcelain china and plastic products. But the suspension of preferences has widely been seen as a move to bring about broader labor reforms in Bangladesh. As part of the review, the administration also concluded that the Bangladeshi government needs to develop a credible and effective mechanism for responding to and addressing allegations of unfair labor practices. It also said Bangladesh has not met its commitment of hiring additional safety inspectors and has not advanced important labor law reforms called for in the action plan, including changes to ensure workers rights to collectively bargain and unionize in Export Processing Zones. The review cited several instances where the government of Bangladesh has made progress including: the registration of about 120 new unions in the garment sector, the withdrawal of criminal charges against some labor activists, collaboration with the retailers and apparel brands inspecting thousands of garment factories and the suspension of operations at 20 garment factories found to be in imminent danger of structural failure or other catastrophic incident. The decision by the Obama administration was a blow to Bangladesh but the entire GSP program expired on July 31, 2013, and has not been renewed by Congress. The Bangladeshi government, as part of a National Tripartite Plan of Action led by the International Labor Organization, is inspecting a portion of the country s estimated 4,000 garment factories. The remaining factories are being inspected by two separate initiatives. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, led by IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union and more than 180 brands and retailers, has inspected about 800 of the 1,500 factories its member companies We remain concerned about the large number of factories that have yet to be inspected and continuing reports of harassment of and violence against labor activists who are attempting to exercise their rights. use. A second industry initiative known as the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety has inspected more than 500 of a total of 600 factories. In a separate action on Capitol Hill Wednesday, several top House Democrats made public a letter to Bangladesh s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, citing serious concerns that the nation s commerce minister and the head of the country s main garment association are acting against a labor leader that shared information about antiunion violence with U.S. lawmakers. Reps. George Miller (D., Calif.), Sander Levin (D., Mich.) and four other lawmakers alleged in the letter that Tofail Ahmed, Bangladesh s Commerce Minister, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL FROMAN and Atiqul Islam, the president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, or BGMEA, are targeting the labor leader. Ahmed and Islam were both part of a 10-person delegation that visited the U.S., including a stop in Washington, in mid-june. The delegation met with Levin, Froman and officials from the Labor and State departments as well as several retail and brand trade associations to discuss the industry s progress. The lawmakers said they shared information with the delegation about antilabor violence and were assured that the government would promptly address the claims and resolve them. But instead of trying to resolve the antiunion claims, Tofail and Islam allegedly called for the criminal prosecution of the union leader who imparted the information to the U.S. lawmakers, the lawmakers claimed, citing local Bangladeshi news reports. You might imagine our shock when we saw several accounts in the press last week reporting that your commerce minister and the BGMEA president, rather than calling for the authorities to investigate intimidation, engaged in intimidation of labor activists themselves, the lawmakers wrote. As you are likely aware, a key element of the GSP action plan is to ensure protection of unions and their members from antiunion discrimination and reprisal. What is especially troubling in this specific case is that the allegations of violence cited by the minister and BGMEA president were those we passed along to them, per their request. They asked Hasina to give her personal assurances that government authorities will properly investigate and respond to the allegations brought forward by the National Garment Workers Federation. MEMO PAD TEAM WORK: Gucci has recruited seven top models for its fall advertising campaign. Natasha Poly, Raquel Zimmermann, Anja Rubik, Nadja Bender, Karmen Pedaru, Joan Smalls and Suvi Koponen all appear in the Florentine fashion house s images. Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott took individual portraits of each model, along with a group shot showing the seven women wearing the sparkling minidresses embellished with crystals that Gucci creative director Frida Giannini showed on the brand s fall catwalk. With this campaign, I wanted to create modern, evocative portraits that epitomize the essence of the Gucci woman individual, strong, sensual and glamorous, Giannini said. The advertising campaign will break in the August issues of international fashion magazines, while the group shot will appear on Gucci s billboard on Los Angeles Sunset Boulevard later this month. ALESSANDRA TURRA GROUP DYNAMICS: Olivier Rousteing is feeling political. His fall campaign for Balmain, slated to break in a range of July issues starting with Love and American Vogue, makes a statement about diversity. Mario Sorrenti photographed models Ysaunny Brito, Cara Delevingne, Jourdan Dunn, Issa Lish, Binx Walton and Ford newcomer Kayla Scott Balmain s fall campaign was shot by Mario Sorrenti and stars a diverse cast of models. lounging around in Rousteing s intricate designs as if at some ultraglamorous pajama party. Katie Grand did the art direction and styling; Paul Hanlon the hair, and Lucia Pieroni the makeup. The advertising marks a change from spring, when Rousteing went the celebrity route with his friend Rihanna. Insistent about speaking to his generation, the designer, 28, said showing the beauty of different ethnicities An image from Gucci s fall campaign, photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott. reflects the reality of modern cities like Paris and his own boundary-breaking situation: being a black boy in a really important French house. MILES SOCHA SCREEN GEM: Asprey, the British jeweler and luxury accessories brand, is hitting small screens this week as the subject of a lighthearted, fly-on-the-wall documentary that proves just how much money is sloshing around London s Bond Street. The one-hour segment, Inside Asprey: Luxury by Royal Appointment, was produced by Plum Pictures and is narrated by Jim Carter, who plays Mr. Carson on Downton Abbey. It will be broadcast by ITV in England on Thursday. Filmed last year over the course of six months, the show highlights the brand s flush and famous clientele, and underlines the talents and dedication of Asprey s onsite craftsmen and staff. Samuel L. Jackson has a cameo performance, along with a lineup of Middle and Far Eastern luxury goods mavens. For those wondering how Jackson spends his pocket money, look no further than the Asprey safe that s shaped like a sitting gorilla and costs 55,000 pounds, or $93,780 at current exchange. I think there s a natural fascination about how these luxury companies work, and the show shines a light on Asprey s craftsmanship, creativity, customer service and production quality, Paddy Byng, Asprey s managing director, told WWD. Highlights include an unassuming Texan woman who drops upward of 6,000 pounds, or $10,230, on a pair of salt-andpepper shakers inspired by the poem The Owl and the Pussycat ; the man who defies his fear of heights to clean the big glass skylights that overlook the store s central atrium, and the conscientious craftsman under pressure to complete a new jewelry collection. The jewelry designer breathes down his neck and asks: Are you linked? Are you soldered? And while there may be tiaras, there are no tears: Most of the tension comes from a glittering pile of 41 one-off bejeweled handbags with 18-karat-gold fittings that cost an average of 33,000 pounds, or $56,270, each. At first, they re not the most popular items, but then a Saudi royal sweeps in and has them loaded onto her private jet. The Private Handbag Collection, as it s known, is going strong and Asprey will launch the third one later this year, Byng said. Lest anyone assume that Asprey is solely about five- and six-figure items, it s PHOTO BY DUSAN RELJIN not. If you re making a documentary, it s not terribly interesting to film someone buying a wallet or a key ring, said Byng, adding that Asprey is still balancing its very high-end jewelry and accessories business with its gift-giving one. S.C. Angela Lindvall for Nic + Zoe. LINDVALL FRONTS NIC + ZOE: Nic + Zoe, the Natick, Mass.-based knitwear firm, has tapped Air Paris as its lead creative agency. Their first collaboration will be a fall campaign featuring Angela Lindvall. Angela s personal passions around empowering women and maintaining a balanced and environmentally aware lifestyle are perfectly aligned with our brand and our company values, said Susie Mulder, chief executive officer of Nic + Zoe, which generates $50 million in wholesale volume. The ads featuring the 35-year-old Lindvall were shot by Dusan Reljin and styled by Sarah Gore Reeves. The campaign is set against the autumn hues of a rich cranberry color, which features prominently in the fall collection, and highlights the brand s neutrals, textures and patterns. Unlike previous campaigns that were shot in black-and-white, this one is in color. Ads will break in the September issues of publications such as Elle, Harper s Bazaar and Lucky, and be featured across digital properties. The firm also has revamped its Web site, which was designed by Air Paris. The company s campaign and media budget for fall is $1 million, said a spokeswoman. LISA LOCKWOOD

9 July 3, 2014 RUNWAY DENIM Junya Watanabe STREETWEAR LAYERS Casely-Hayford LUXE LOUNGEWEAR Paul Smith FLUID TAILORING Giorgio Armani STRIPES Dior Homme Blend of Trends The European spring runways were awash with luxe loungewear, the return of denim and a wintry summer. For more, see pages MW2 and MW3. WINTRY SPRING Neil Barrett PHOTOS BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI

10 MW2 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 Men s Week Trending Fast The return of runway denim, graphic summer stripes and a loungewear lifestyle are some of the trends that dominated the European runways for spring. ALEX BADIA RUNWAY DENIM Christophe Lemaire Prada Yohji Yamamoto Tom Ford Burberry Prorsum Miharayasuhiro FLUID TAILORING Corneliani Ports 1961 Ann Demeulemeester SUMMER STRIPES Jonathan Saunders Gucci Juun.J Kolor Y-3 Marni Lanvin Emporio Armani Ermenegildo Zegna Couture ZEGNA, KLEIN, MONCLER GAMME BLEU, CANALI AND PORTS 1961 PHOTOS BY DAVIDE MAESTRI; Y-3 BY DOMINIQUE MAÎTRE; SAUNDERS BY GASPAR RUITZ; WANG AND FORD COURTESY; ALL OTHERS BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI

11 Men s Week WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 MW3 LUXE LOUNGEWEAR Haider Ackermann Astrid Andersen Valentino Dries Van Noten J.W. Anderson Bottega Veneta STREETWEAR LAYERING Nicomede Talavera for Man Calvin Klein Collection Givenchy by James Riccardo Tisci No. 21 Long KTZ WINTRY SPRING Alexander Wang Sacai Louis Vuitton Kris Van Assche Canali FOR MORE TRENDS, SEE WWD.com/ menswear-news. Moncler Gamme Bleu

12 MW4 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2014 Paris Buyers Praise Creativity {Continued from page one} Accordingly, the concept of seasons is blurring. Many of the shows did not look particularly springy, and we ve noticed that for our designer customer, it is not about dressing for a specific season, said Jeffrey Kalinsky, vice president and designer fashion director at Nordstrom. The designer customer will buy the best, most special pieces year-round regardless of when they deliver. Shows that garnered plaudits included Valentino, Dries Van Noten, Junya Watanabe, Rick Owens, Saint Laurent and Raf Simons. Key trends for the season included fuller proportions and fluid shapes; lightweight outerwear; bomber jackets; pleated and wideleg pants; Bermuda shorts; sneakers, and elements of athletic apparel. In terms of silhouettes, shirts are getting longer, pants shorter. The looks are fuller and there are stronger synergies between tailoring and sportswear, only now it s becoming one complete look. Guys can mix and match more, said Josh Peskowitz, men s fashion director at Bloomingdale s. Stephen Ayres, head of fashion buying and merchandising at Liberty in London, said the more relaxed approach to dressing seen on the catwalks mirrors the way the store s male customers are shopping. We planned our blazers and tailoring categories down and they have performed in line with this. For us, the bomber in smarter fabrics has replaced the blazer for a more casual sartorial aesthetic. We will take this approach again for next season FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE WWD.com/ menswear-news. and will be backing softer pieces across all categories, he said. Bruce Pask, men s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, Dries Van Noten singled out collections by Van Noten, Watanabe and Alessandro Sartori at Berluti. The new sneaker collection he introduced showcased the artisanal details of their expertly crafted shoes and was the perfect match for the casual atmosphere of the collection, Pask said of Berluti. Ken Downing, senior vice president and fashion director at Neiman Marcus, was upbeat about Saint Laurent, Valentino, Berluti and newcomer Cifonelli. The key trends for him were summer trenches; a spice palette with saffron and dark sages; suede jackets, and pleated pants. Finally, footwear, footwear, footwear. Sneakers continue to be an explosive category, there is real growth opportunity there and designers feed into that. Sneakers had cleaner profiles this season and fewer embellishments. But we also loved the luxe version of espadrilles, in suede for instance, he commented. Adrian Ward-Rees, men s wear gmm and fashion director for Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, said he increased his budgets for Paris and is excited about the emergence of new brands such as Song for the Mute and Devoa. There is an elegance to the underground in Paris, which is just not found in any other market, Ward-Rees said, referring to emerging talent from Japan and brands beyond the runways. The new talent gets represented in such an elevated way that it transforms the perception of what fashion should be about. Tiziana Cardini, fashion director at La Rinascente in Milan, singled out Gosha Rubchinskiy, an artistskater and Comme des Garçons protégé with a polished, refined street-inspired look. Overall, the season was more about individuality of vision than trends, she noted. [There s] an interesting morphing of the technical into the tailored, the sporty into the military, the activewear into the sartorial, Cardini said. Karen Vernet, gmm of men s apparel, homewares and private label at Printemps in Paris, said she would be stocking up on bomber jackets, sneakers, backpacks, T-shirts and Bermuda shorts. She noted that Jonathan Anderson s first collection for Loewe was something very new with its luxury androgynous silhouette. Jennifer Cuvillier, style director at Le Bon Marché in Paris, noted an abundance of style influences ranging from rock music to art, street style, surfing and homewares. The pastel color palette and touches of blossom prints or appliqué bring a freshness into the collections. We feel very confident about this season, she said. Like many buyers, Darren Skey, buying and merchandising manager for men s wear at Harvey Nichols in London, had high praise for Van Noten, the subject of a retrospective at Les Arts Décoratifs that has been extended until November. Dries Van Noten produced a stunning collection, said Skey, who noted its fluid, flowing shapes and beautifully embroidered jackets, including an amazing silk bomber embroidered with an eagle and rising sun on the back. The fuller silhouette we have been seeing in both Milan and Paris is looking very fresh and modern. Wooyoungmi had a beautiful show that encapsulated this very well, said Steven Cook, senior vice president, buying and merchandising at Toronto-based Holt Renfrew. The footwear category, and sneakers in particular, is looking very good, he added, PHOTOS BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI Men s Week Saint Laurent singling out Buscemi as a standout. Cook also cited a wealth of advanced sportswear. There was plenty to choose from in graphic sweatshirts, T-shirts, bomber jackets and sport-inspired trousers. Toronto Men s Week Set by CONSTANCE DROGANES TORONTO Toronto is about to host the eighth fashion week in the world devoted exclusively to men s wear. Following in the footsteps of London, Paris, Milan, Florence, Los Angeles, Singapore and Vancouver, Toronto Official Men s Fashion Week or TOM as it has been dubbed by organizers will make its debut at the city s Evergreen Brick Works from Aug. 12 to 14. The launch comes after a year of planning and years of watching men s wear designers struggle to fit into Toronto s World MasterCard Fashion Week, which spotlights the latest spring and fall collections for women. The time had come for men s wear to have its own spotlight in this city, said TOM founder and executive director Jeff Rustia. Toronto is such an international city. Frankly, its surprising that Toronto didn t have a stand-alone men s wear event up and running years ago, Rustia said. Twenty-five established and emerging designers will display their spring 2015 collections at the inaugural event from the nonprofit organization, including Torontobased Christopher Bates, Farley Chatto and Sons of Ódin and Montreal s Pedram Karimi. TOM s lineup includes an international spotlight on men s wear designers, the latest in suit design and an Avant Garde series highlighting designers who are redefining the industry. Five finalists will also vie for TOM s $10,000 Emerging Menswear Designer Award. Their collections will be shown in the event finale on Aug. 14. I want TOM to become part of Canada s fashion landscape and the world scene, said Rustia. Look at London. In just three years, London s men s fashion week has attracted the interest of hundreds of department stores. It involves art exhibits and other peripheral events that support the city. That s what I want to achieve in Toronto with TOM. TOM s launch comes at a time when stores like Holt Renfrew are fine-tuning their business to address the needs of male consumers particularly Millennial men, the next burgeoning market for retailers. Indeed, in March, Holt Renfrew confirmed that it will create a stand-alone luxury men s shop located at 100 Bloor Street West, down the street from its flagship. Globally speaking, the men s wear industry generated $400 billion in That boom has a lot to do with the emergence of the Millennial man on the shopping scene, said Rustia. This new consumer cares about how he looks. We believe TOM can play a vital role in helping Millennials access the fashion they want and in giving men s wear designers and male models from across North and South America the attention they deserve. Man of THE WEEK The Fifties pompadour style works well with his features by elongating the face and also giving him a rockabilly sensibility. The flat cross earrings work well; they are edgy enough without adding anything else. The pajama-inspired shirt is right on trend for spring British pop singer Sam Smith might have a best-selling album, but his young Boy George looks could easily open the door to more creative fashion choices. He definitely should go for more risks than the mid-nineties Oasis fashion look he s been channeling lately. Boringgg... SAM SMITH: B For men, plucking eyebrows is like playing with fire stay away from it. He could benefit from a five o clock shadow to harden his jawline and hide the double chin. Although the Baracuta jacket is an iconic British garment, here it looks too sporty. A navy silky bomber would look more glam. A pair of black skinny jeans can be a man s best friend and also are the sleeker choice. The beaten-up monk-strap shoes add heritage and the sensitive touch his songs are known for. PHOTO BY SHIRLAINE FORREST/WIREIMAGE