BLUESTAR BUYS LIZ LANGE/2 MAGS 2007 AD PAGE NUMBERS/13Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • November 16, 2007 • $2.00

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Young at HeartWith its new patent-pending “youth

molecule,” Estée Lauder has come up with

the latest weapon in the battle against

aging. The new ingredient, Resveratrate,

powers Ultimate Youth Creme, the most

recent addition to Lauder’s venerable

Re-Nutriv franchise. Sources estimate that

it could do $7 million at retail in its fi rst

year on counter. For more, see page 6.

WWDFRIDAYBeauty

By Arthur Zaczkiewicz

Macroeconomic forces are taking a big toll on

consumers, with J.C. Penney and Kohl’s being the latest victims of a weaker spending environment.

Hampered by softer sales and

gross margin rates, J.C. Penney Co. Inc. posted a 9.1 percent decline in third-quarter earnings on softer sales, while Kohl’s Corp. delivered third-quarter profits that fell 13.6 percent, but on higher sales.

Due to the lackluster sales

trends, J.C. Penney lowered its fourth-quarter earnings outlook and Kohl’s dropped its full-year earnings per share estimate. This followed prior warnings from Macy’s Inc., Polo Ralph Lauren

More Warning Bells: Penney’s, Kohl’s Add to Holiday Anxiety

See Penney’s, Page 12

WWD.COM2 WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

WWDFRIDAYBeauty

GENERALMacroeconomic forces are taking their toll on consumer spending, with J.C. Penney and Kohl’s the latest victims of a weaker spending environment.

Nike has signed a defi nitive agreement to sell Starter, its licensed league apparel division, to Iconix Brand Group for $60 million in cash.

Jennifer Lopez and Yamamay have forged a licensing pact to launch a high-end intimates line.

BEAUTY: Kate Winslet talks openly about her role as the face of Lancôme’s venerable Trésor franchise.

My Voyage for Her, Nautica’s new fragrance, sets sail at Dillard’s, with other stores to follow in January.

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● PANEL WARNS ON CHINA TRADE: The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a congressional advisory panel, said in a report Thursday that China’s trade relationship with the U.S. is “severely out of balance.” Among the 42 recommendations: Congress should enact legislation imposing punitive duties on Chinese imports through U.S. trade remedy law; the Bush administration should bring a World Trade Organization case against China for manipulat-ing its currency, and requiring U.S. companies to report to the Commerce Department their receipt of any economic subsidy from China.

● KELLWOOD PROMOTES POWERS: Kellwood Co. has named Stephen F. Powers, president and chief executive offi cer of the Koret division, as chief customer offi cer of its Lifestyle Alliance. This is a new position for the new division of the $1.6 billion vendor’s mainstream brands that includes Sag Harbor, Koret and Briggs New York. In addition to working with re-tailers, Powers will be responsible for Koret and Sag Harbor stores. Before joining Kellwood in 2005, Powers served as exec-utive vice president of women’s apparel for May Merchandising Corp., and served in various senior management positions in the women’s business within May Co. from 1980 to 2003. Based in Oakland, Calif., Powers will report to Patrick J. Burns, group president of the Lifestyle Alliance.

● CHEAP CHIC GAINS: Hennes & Mauritz reported sales in October accelerated 15 percent as the company opened more stores. The Swedish fast-fashion giant said same-store sales in the month gained 3 percent. H&M is banking on a one-off col-laboration with Roberto Cavalli, which it launched Nov. 8, to boost sales this month.

In Brief

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WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2007 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

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“For 45 years, everyone thinks I love parties and to go out. It’s all wrong. I love to stay home.’’

— Valentino

Quote of the Week

CFDA Fund Awards Rogan Gregory Top Prize

By Vicki M. Young

and Lisa Lockwood

NEW YORK — Liz Lange, the 10-year-old designer maternity company, has a new parent.

The company was sold Thursday night to Bluestar Alliance for an estimated $50 to $60 million, industry sources said.

Bluestar, led by Ralph Gindi and Joey Gabbay, recently pur-chased Ron Chereskin, the men’s apparel brand. Bluestar also owns Wellington Capital Group, where Gabbay is president. Wellington last year acquired the Harvé Benard brand.

Neither Liz Lange nor Bluestar executives could be reached for comment.

Lange, who started her fi rm in 1997 offering stylish, well-made maternity clothes, struck a chord with celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as regu-lar moms. The company oper-ates three freestanding stores on Madison Avenue here, North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills and in Greenvale, N.Y. It also has an e-commerce Web site.

In 2001, Lange joined with Nike to produce an exclusive line of maternity athletic wear.

The next year, she signed an ex-clusive agreement with Target Corp. for a less-expensive ma-ternity line while continuing upscale distribution of her de-

signer maternity line.Industry sources estimate

Lange’s business generates $200 million in revenues, includ-ing licensees. The designer has been eager to strike a deal with a private equity fi rm for several years to aggressively expand both her product line and free-standing stores. Sources said Lange plans to close her existing stores in the fi rst half of 2008, and re-open in new locations later in the year and in 2009 with expanded product assort-ments for mothers and babies. She also expects to branch into women’s ready-to-wear.

The author of “Liz Lange’s Maternity Style: How to Look Fabulous During the Most Fashion-Challenged Time,” Lange also has collaborated with Nikon on a limited edition Liz Lange camera.

In a speech last year to the fashion industry, Lange recalled that she faced opposition from retailers in launching her busi-ness. One told her women didn’t care about their appearance during pregnancy because it only lasted nine months.

“No matter what anyone says, if you think you have a good idea, you probably do…don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done,” she told the group.

Liz Lange Sold to Bluestar

By Marc Karimzadeh

NEW YORK — Three up-and-coming designers just got a sub-stantial boost.

Rogan Gregory of Rogan has received the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, pocketing $200,000 and a year of mentoring from an industry executive. The runners-up were Phillip Lim of 3.1 Phillip Lim and jewelry de-signer Philip Crangi, who each will receive $50,000, as well as

business mentors.The winners were announced

Thursday at the 7th on Sale gala in the 69th Regiment Armory here, which benefi ted the CFDA/Vogue Initiative for HIV/AIDS. This is the fourth edition of the fund, which has grown to be-come a key facilitator of careers in fashion design.

The previous winners are Doo-Ri Chung, Trovata and Proenza Schouler’s Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough.

Runners-up include Derek Lam and Thom Browne, Rodarte’s Laura and Kate Mulleavy and Thakoon Panichgul for Thakoon.

The finalists, whittled down from 101 applica-tions, were: Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders, Erin Fetherston, Gabriel Asfour, Angela Donhauser and Adi Gil of Threeasfour, Nunthirat Koi Suwannagate of Koi, Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai of Vena Cava, Michael Bastian and Victoria Bartlett of VPL.

The selection committee con-sisted of CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg, executive di-rector Steven Kolb and associ-ate director Lisa Smilor; Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour and fashion news director Sally Singer; Barneys New York vice president and fashion direc-tor Julie Gilhart; Jeffrey presi-dent Jeffrey Kalinsky; Theory president and founder Andrew Rosen; Coach president and ex-ecutive creative director Reed Krakoff, and Gap executive vice president of design Patrick Robinson.

Starting this year, the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund’s Business Advisory Committee will pro-vide mentorship and support to all fi nalists. The committee includes Calvin Klein Inc. presi-dent and chief operating offi cer Tom Murry, NRDC president Richard Baker, Cole Haan chief executive offi cer James Seuss, Diane von Furstenberg chief fi -nancial offi cer Paul Aberasturi and Liz Claiborne Inc. execu-tive vice president of partnered brands David McTague.

The fund is underwritten by Barneys New York, Coach, Juicy Couture, Kellwood Co., Nordstrom, Theory and Vogue.

An inside glimpse of the 10 finalists can be viewed on ShopVogue.com, beginning today.

Liz Lange

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This little brown bottle holds the future of your skin.

Advanced Night RepairProtective Recovery Complex

Women around the world can attest to the remarkable powers of this patented* formula. Now, with just a few drops applied every night, you really can help repair the appearance of skin damaged by daily exposure to our aging environment.

For every woman, every night, it significantly heightens skin’s natural repair response – critical for its well-being. Neutralizes up to 90% of environmental irritantsbefore they can cause your skin to look prematurely aged. Soothes daily visible irritation and builds a rich reserve of anti-oxidants and lipids to help replenish skin’s natural protectants.

Think of it as “insurance” for skin that stands the test of time.

*U.S. patented. International patents pending.

NOTICE

WWD.COM4 WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

By Nina Jones

LONDON — Agent Provocateur is planning an international retail rollout concen-trated in the U.S. and Asia with a fresh cash injection from new investors 3i.

On Thursday, 3i said it had acquired a majority stake in the high-end lin-gerie company for an estimated 60 million pounds, or $123 million at current exchange.

“The company has a fantastic reputation and is already well established in Europe…[and] we believe there is enormous potential for the business to grow,” said Jennifer Dunstan, of 3i partner buyouts.

Joseph Corre and Serena Rees, who founded the racy lingerie brand 13 years ago, will continue to hold minority stakes in the company. Corre, who is Vivienne Westwood’s son, will stay on as creative director of Agent Provocateur. A spokes-woman for the company said Rees will leave “to pursue new opportunities.” The two founded the company when they were married, but have since split.

The investment fund has appointed Stuart Rose, chairman of The Hamleys Group and a former deputy chairman of The Body Shop, as chairman of the brand. (He is not related to Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks & Spencer plc). Garry Hogarth, a former consultant at the fi rm, has been named ceo.

“For the past 14 years, we’ve grown very organically,” Corre told WWD. “We then got to the size and scale where we needed to springboard. Because of 3i’s size,

they’re able to have more fl exibility with their in-vestments, and they have a strong [international] network, that can help us in a practical way.”

Corre added that ter-ritories such as Japan were high on the compa-ny’s expansion agenda. “The whole psyche has changed there in the past 14 years — lingerie used to be sold there by peo-ple doing private home sales,” he said.

Since Agent Provocateur opened its first boudoir-inspired store in London’s

Soho in 1994, fi lled with silk and lace lingerie, garter belts and silk stockings, it’s become a byword for risqué glamour. Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Catherine Bailey have all appeared in its advertising campaigns. The company currently has 35 stand-alone stores and shop-in-shop units in the U.K., the U.S., Asia, Europe and the Middle East. According to industry sources, the brand’s sales in its latest fi scal year to 2007 were about 25 million pounds, or $51 million.

“It’s quite a small brand that’s been punch-ing above its weight,” said George Wallace, ceo of retail analysts MHE Retail. “In terms of the scale of the company, it’s not that big, but the image and awareness of the brand are massive. It’s a very valuable brand that’s a long way from realizing its potential.”

Wallace added that 3i’s “fi nancial re-sources and potential strategic input” made the two companies a good match.

Meanwhile, Maureen Hinton, lead ana-lyst at Verdict Research, said that Rees’ departure wouldn’t adversely affect the brand. “I don’t think it’s an issue,” said Hinton. “Apart from those in the know, the brand isn’t really associated with a designer.”

By Constance Haisma-Kwok

HONG KONG — Trading in shares of Joyce Boutique Holdings Ltd. was sus-pended Thursday pending announcement of a proposed privatization plan, according to documents filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The move came one day after the Ma family revealed their resignations from the company, effective Monday. The action, by Wheelock & Co. chairman Peter Woo, who controls 52 percent of the company (compared with the Ma family’s holding of 23 percent), has been directly linked to lackluster sales at the luxury retailer.

Joyce’s net profi t for the year to March dropped 31.1 percent to 51 million Hong Kong dollars, or $6.5 million, from 74 million Hong Kong dollars, or $9.5 million, last year. Sales grew 4.6 percent to 790.4 million Hong Kong dollars, or $101.5 million. The company has attributed its fi nancial diffi culties to ris-ing rents and the strong euro.

Shares of Joyce Boutique Holdings had risen 13.8 percent earlier in the year but dropped to 37 Hong Kong cents, or 5 cents, before trading was suspended.

In 1999 Woo took then loss-making Lane Crawford private in a similar move. At the time, Lane Crawford reported an operating loss of 54.5 million Hong Kong dollars, or $7 million, for the fi rst half of the year.

NEW YORK — After years of champion-ing fashion designers and artists, Nadja Swarovski and Frank Doroff were hon-ored Wednesday by the Museum of Arts & Design here with its Visionaries! Awards.

Dutch designer Marcel Wanders and entrepreneur Ella Fontanals-Cisneros also received awards at the museum’s 14th annual gala at Pier Sixty, which was attended by 750 people and raised $1.7 million.

The museum, formerly known as the American Craft Museum, is sprucing up its image and plans to move into a new home at 2 Columbus Circle here in September.

Swarovski, vice president of interna-tional communications for the crystal business that bears her family’s name, said that when she heard news of the award, “I thought, ‘My gosh, is it even deserved?’ I live vicariously through designers who are doing so much amazing work.”

The honoree, whose mother, Danna, and grandfather, Robert Strieter, at-tended the festivities, had some fun at one guest’s expense. With a baby due in March, Swarovski pulled a poker face and responded, “No,” when asked if she was pregnant.

In terms of business additions, Swarovski plans to continue with its de-signer collaborations.

Doroff, senior executive vice presi-dent and general merchandise manager of Bloomingdale’s, described himself as “more the guy who likes to stay in the back-ground.” He said the retailer will continue to fasten its ties to the art world — some-thing Bloomingdale’s did through its fall advertising — but declined to elaborate.

In general, the worlds of fashion and art will only get closer, he said. “I think

discovering talent inextricably links the fashion industry and the art industry.”

Wanders’ appearance in Gap’s fall ad-vertising campaign supported that idea. But the designer said he has not been swept away by the exposure. “We get requests regularly, but I’m trying to be a designer. This was really cool photog-raphy and of course I thought it would be great fun, so why not? But it is not my intention to become a model.”

He will, however, be the host of a new design-lifestyle program on the BBC set to make its debut next fall. Collaborations with “a very important jewelry company in the U.S. and a makeup company” are also in the works, he said.

“I’m in a serious business….To get a prize in New York from the American people is kind of important to me,” Wanders said.

— Rosemary Feitelberg

By Lisa Lockwood

NEW YORK — Iconix Brand Group is deepening its ties to Wal-Mart.On Thursday, the company said it had entered a defi nitive agreement to purchase

the Starter brand from Nike Inc. for $60 million in cash. The deal is expected to close next month.

Starter, which began in 1971, is known for its branded and licensed league ap-parel, and currently has licensed several manufacturers and wholesalers that sell primarily to Wal-Mart in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Nike bought the Starter properties in August 2004 for $43 million as part of a plan to tap into the mass channel. Starter became part of Nike’s Exeter Brands Group, which also includes Shaq/Dunkman and Tailwind, and generates about $40 million in wholesale and licensed revenues. Starter accounts for the bulk of the sales. In the past year, Nike pulled back its Starter footwear, and focused more on apparel.

Nike will continue to manage the Shaq business until the master license ex-pires in September, and Nike has mutually agreed with Payless not to continue the Tailwind business beyond spring, according to a Nike spokesman.

Nike said it decided to sell Starter since it had less growth prospects than its other subsidiaries, such as Converse, Cole Haan, Hurley and Nike Golf.

Iconix, which is headed by Neil Cole, chairman and chief executive offi cer, fore-casts that Starter’s 2008 royalty revenue will be about $18 million worldwide. Cole pointed out that the acquisition of Starter diversifi es Iconix’s portfolio into athletic apparel, team sports and athletic footwear. He said the company is working on a mul-tifaceted strategy, including signing several major professional sports fi gures.

Dottie Mattison, senior vice president and general merchandise manager for Wal-Mart, said in a statement, “Our customers have responded very positively to our athletic apparel and footwear brands at value price points. Starter is one of our most powerful brands, both in terms of its heritage and the range of different categories it covers.”

Among Iconix’s holdings are Danskin Now and OP, both of which are licensed to Wal-Mart.

Swarovski, Doroff Honored as Visionaries

3i Buys Agent Provocateur,Brand Gears Up for Growth

Joyce Shares on Hold After Filing

Iconix, Nike Cut $60M Deal for Starter

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Marcel Wanders and Nanine Linning with his work.

Nadja Swarovski fl anked by her grandfather, Robert Strieter, and mother, Danna.

Frank Doroff

Art Reiner and Michael Gould

Looks from Agent Provocateur.

WWD.COM5WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

By Emilie Marsh

PARIS — Carlos Miele hopes to attract many bees to his fashion hive here.

Miele, whose name translates from French or Italian as “honey,” inaugurated his debut European boutique at 380 Rue Saint-Honoré on Wednesday.

“Paris is the most important fashion capital in the world,” said the Brazilian designer, whose retail neighbors include John Galliano, Chanel and Audemars-Piguet. “It’s an anthropological adventure for a Brazilian designer to deepen his knowledge of such different cities as Paris and New York.”

For the Paris store, Miele called on architect Hani Rashid, whose de-sign of Miele’s store in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District won “store of the year” award from the International Biennial of Architecture and Design.

“The design of the new Paris fl agship was inspired by a combination of infl u-ences, including Brazilian Expressionist modern architecture, the French Baroque and Parisian Art Nouveau, all tempered by the precision inherent in new technological means of manufacture and design,” said Rashid.

“Hani Rashid and I worked together to devel-op more of an art space than a traditional retail

store,” added Miele.Spread over two fl oors and 750 square feet,

the boutique’s glossy white walls, ovular mir-rored pillars and organic sculptures create a liquid-like feel, which serves as backdrop for Miele’s creations. The brand’s signature collec-tion is housed on the ground fl oor, while a diffu-sion line is on display upstairs.

Miele, who said he had his eyes on London

and Milan for his next European openings, said he expects the store to register sales of about $2 million in its fi rst year. With the fl agship launch and 20 freestanding Miele store openings sched-uled for next year, the designer expects sales to more than triple to $25 million.

DIOR CRUISIN’: Dior made its annual Cruise stop in Los Angeles this week with back-to-back in-store events in its Rodeo Drive boutique. On Tuesday, along with C magazine, the company hosted a lunch for Step Up Women’s Network for which the unoffi cial dress code was white. “I didn’t get the memo,” one of the many black-clad guests remarked. But singletons Jamie Tisch and Shiva Rose McDermott did, most likely tipped off by white-clad Katherine Ross. The next night was a fete for Dior’s 60th Anniversary tome, hosted by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Costume Council. Instead of the usual fashion plates, photo-shy philanthropists like Rosalind and Hal Millstone mingled with models.

SCENT OF EVE: R&B star Eve was on hand at Thursday’s celebration for the MAC AIDS Foundation, which has raised $100 million to help fi ght HIV and AIDS around the world. Eve made a guest appearance at MAC’s Upper West Side store with fellow Viva Glam spokeswoman Dita Von Teese and said her own scent is in the works. “I can’t wait to do a fragrance. I’m sure it will happen soon,” said Eve. “I not only want to meet the nose, but I want to be the nose. I want to be that person who’s in there putting stuff in the little bottles. I’m obsessed with smells.” Although she doesn’t know quite yet the overall theme of her fi rst fragrance, she already has an idea what it will smell like: “I’m a fl oral person. I like something not too heavy, but something that lasts.” Von Teese isn’t working on a fragrance but has a new beauty book planned for release late next year. “I wanted a rule-breaking beauty book that’s about retro glamour and eccentric makeup — a book that teaches you how to put it on,” said Von Teese.

HEY BIG SPENDERS: Five individuals with bucks to burn peeled off a total of $2.7 million in three minutes fl at to buy fi ve of the fi rst-ever Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster convertibles. Their route? A holiday promotion staged at 2 p.m. on Wednesday by Saks Fifth Avenue, which offered the luxury cars for $542,000 apiece and donated $10,000 of the proceeds from each of the fi ve vehicles purchased to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. In addition to the limited edition Mercedes, the half-million or so dished out by the gift buyers will bring them a trip to

Monaco for the 2008 Formula One race, a helicopter ride from Monaco to Provence, France, for private lessons from the professionals at the Circuit Paul Ricard racetrack, plus accommodations and travel.

The fi ve cars, produced exclusively for Saks, feature a crystal palladium gray exterior, a copper, silver arrow leather interior and drew design inspiration for a race-car theme from an illustration by a child at St. Jude’s — one of several children’s pictures that prompted the offer of fi ve over-the-top gifts in the Saks catalogue “Snow or Never.”

“I was absolutely fl oored,” Terron Schaefer, group senior vice president of creative and marketing at Saks Fifth Avenue, said of the speed at which the Mercedes-Benz convertibles were snapped up. And they’re due to be delivered by Christmas Day.

McHUSBAND: Liz Claiborne Inc. executives met in Kate Spade’s SoHo store Thursday morning, welcoming Deborah Lloyd in as the power brand’s new creative director. But Claiborne chief executive offi cer William L. McComb couldn’t help mixing business with pleasure. “I can’t go to one of our stores without picking up gifts for my wife,” McComb said, nodding at the three giant Kate Spade shopping bags he toted out of the store.

WHAT’S IN A NAME: Tinsley Mortimer’s friends were represented in both body and bag at the Samantha Thavasa luncheon last week that celebrated the socialite-cum-designer’s fi rst year with the Japanese company. “I named all of my handbags after my friends,” said Mortimer, clad in a look from her upcoming ready-to-wear line with the fi rm. “I have the Eleanor, the Lauren, the Fabiola — and I am so nervous because all the girls are going to see their bags

for the fi rst time today and I hope they like them.” And for those afraid about looking like Ylvisaker or Beracasa, Mortimer added, “But I didn’t design the bags based on their individual style, I just used their names.”

Flanked by her fellow gals about town along with Samantha Thavasa director of business operations Tobias Buschmann, Mortimer hosted the affair and shopping event in the John Jacob Astor Library at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. And while some might think all she does is go out and party, she insisted she just fi nished a year of hard work. “I learned a lot this year,” she said. “I learned to be true to myself and try not to design based on the opinions of others. I learned to trust myself. You never know how something is going to turn out, but you have to stick to your instinct.”

PARIS — L’Oréal has inked a deal to acquire Turkish hair care com-pany Canan, the French beauty giant announced Thursday.

Istanbul-based Canan ranks fourth among mass market hair care brands in Turkey, generating sales of 26 million euros, or $32.6 mil-lion at average exchange, last year, mostly through its Ipek hair care brand, according to L’Oréal.

“The Turkish cosmetics market is expanding strongly and has a very large growth potential,” said Patrick Rabain, president of L’Oréal’s consumer products division, in a statement.

“The acquisition will bolster our positions in hair care products, the largest segment in the market,” Rabain continued. “With its commercial dynamism and its extensive presence in retailing chan-nels, Canan will also accelerate the development of the division’s other brands.”

The acquisition comprises Canan Kosmetik, which manufactures Ipek hair, body, skin and baby care products as well as Parmex nail polish remover; Canan Pazarlama, and Seda Plastik, an affi liate company that produces Canan’s plastic packaging.

Canan will be consolidated when the transaction becomes fi nal following customary governmental review, including anti-trust clearance.

— Ellen Groves

MILAN — Jennifer Lopez and inner-wear brand Yamamay have become intimate partners.

Through the celeb’s Sweetface Fashion Co., Lopez has signed a three-year licensing pact with Inticom Spa, an Italian lingerie and swimwear man-ufacturer, to launch a high-end inner-wear line called JLO for Yamamay.

Inticom is the parent company of Yamamay, an edgy and inexpensive brand that has grown exponentially since it was launched six years ago.

The collection was launched Thursday at Yamamay’s 500 stores worldwide and at 30 European out-posts of the JLO Lifestyle Store. It also will be available on the Web site yamamay.com.

Infused with Latino sensuality, the collection targets con-sumers with a lineup of matching sets, corsets and at-home wear. Some 350,000 pieces were produced for the fi rst col-lection. First-year sales are estimated at $10 million, said Gianluigi Cimmino, chief executive offi cer at Inticom.

“This is a dream come true for us. Many women identify themselves with Lopez because she is a more reachable role model compared to skinny models. This line was conceived for special occasions,” said Cimmino.

Most pieces feature intricate pleating, sensual cuts and rhine-stone and stone detailing on silk satin, silk georgette, tulle and che-nille. The color palette includes black, red, silver and electric blue. Retail prices range from $14 for a thong to $46 for bra-and-panty sets, and $86 for a chenille tracksuit with stone decorations.

Since Cimmino and Rita Garda di Samarate founded Inticom in 2001, the company has grown rapidly, with 2007 sales of $146 million, a 30 percent hike over last year.

— Alessandra Ilari

Fashion Scoops

MILAN — With a bash for 300 guests, Prince Albert II feted the launch of Montblanc’s limited edi-tion fountain pen in honor of his late father, Prince Rainier III.

At Monte Carlo’s Sporting Club on Thursday night, the prince welcomed guests including Sophie Dahl, Helena Christensen, actress Eva Green and actor Christopher Lee. Lyrical singer Katherine Jenkins performed to the notes of renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

“Without any doubt, my fa-ther would have appreciated this object of rare quality. By acquiring this unique creation, you share the values of the prin-cipality, where prosperity is combined with humanity,” said the prince.

Only 81 of the pens will be produced, in representation of the age reached by the sover-eign. The 18-karat white gold pen is stud-ded with eight carats worth of dia-

monds and rubies, assembled to replicate the red and white lozenges on the shield of the Grimaldi coat of arms.

The grid pattern was ob-tained with 996 diamonds and 92 rubies, while a mother-of-pearl Montblanc star crowns the cap.

The precious writing instru-ment costs $293,000. Five pens were snapped up at the party by deep-pocketed guests, none of whom were revealed. The re-maining 76 can be ordered at Montblanc boutiques worldwide.

Fifty-one percent of the sales will be channeled into the Princess Grace Foundation, which was established by the late princess in 1964 to sup-port cultural and hu-manitarian projects.

— A.I.

Miele Opens First Shop in Europe

J.Lo Enters Innerwear Market

L’Oréal Purchases Canan

Gala Fetes Montblanc Pen

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A view of the new Carlos Miele store in Paris.

Tinsley Mortimer

Jennifer Lopez

The Montblanc pen honoring Prince Rainier III.

Jennifer Lopez

By Matthew W. Evans

NEW YORK — As fragrance marketers gear up for the holiday season — when the in-dustry generates about 60 per-cent of its sales for the year — months of declining consumer confidence are creating a chal-lenging environment, panel-ists at a Fragrance Foundation state of the industry luncheon said Wednesday.

Still, there is a bright spot: While consumers’ “willingness to spend is somewhat off due to consumer confi dence numbers,” said panelist Lynn Franco, di-rector of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, their “ability to spend is still

intact” thanks to low unemploy-ment and the addition of jobs since the summer.

The Consumer Confi dence Index slipped to 95.6 — the lowest reading since hur-ricanes Katrina and Rita two years ago — from 99.5 in September. However, employ-ers added 166,000 jobs to pay-rolls in October, about double economists’ expectations, and the unemployment rate last month was unchanged from September at 4.7 percent.

“Personal income growth is the silver lining,” said Franco, who was joined on the panel by equity analyst Christopher Ferrara, who is senior direc-tor at Merrill Lynch; Gilbert

Harrison, chairman and chief executive offi cer of Financo Inc., and moderator Darby Dunn, who is a reporter with CNBC.

Harrison noted that unsea-sonably warm weather, which has been seen this fall, “affects results” and “retailers are cut-ting fourth-quarter forecasts due to the weather.”

Macy’s Inc., the nation’s largest department store chain, said Wednesday its same-store sales for the fourth quarter could range between a 2 per-cent decline and a 1 percent increase, totaling $8.7 billion to $8.9 billion. For the year, sales are projected to fall by between 0.3 percent and 1.3 percent, or $26.4 billion and $26.6 billion.

Despite the sobering data, Harrison is optimistic. “The National Retail Federation is talking about a 4 percent in-crease in sales, but I think it will be more,” he said. “The consumer is optimistic. They like to spend.”

Dunn pointed to a recent poll that said 72 percent of 1,000 consumers surveyed said they would spend the same this year as they did last year, or about $1,100. Furthermore, 42 percent of them said they would spend for a fragrance.

Harrison contended that “impulse purchases and hot products are critical to suc-cess,” adding that although people are looking for a unique product offering, the fragrance industry all too often comes up with the “same old stuff.”

In order to spur results, Harrison argued, the fragrance industry should decrease its dependence on department stores, its “lifeblood for many, many years,” by expanding across retail channels or by making acquisitions related to other channels.

According to Harrison, 60 percent of consumers plan to shop in the discount store channel, while 26 percent plan to shop in specialty stores and more than 30 percent plan to

shop in department stores.“The department store is not

where consumers are spend-ing their money today,” said Harrison, who added that “de-partment stores have lost tre-mendous traction” as specialty stores like Sephora and Ulta have expanded. Also, there has been a “shift toward mass fra-grances,” as prestige scents have ended up in the mass market.

Beauty sales in the mass market, which were flat in 2004, have seen growth of 4 percent more recently, accord-ing to Ferrara. In the prestige market, growth of 4 percent in the 2004 to 2005 period has tempered and is showing a fl at to 1 percent growth.

While department stores have held market share in color cosmetics, Ferrara said, market share in fragrance and skin care has declined by 6 percent-age points, dollars that have shifted to the mass market.

“Due to the launch of pres-tige fragrances in mass, women are changing the places they shop,” said Ferrara. On the skin care side, he said, mass brands like Procter & Gamble’s Olay have taken market share from the prestige market.

Ferrara said prestige play-ers have experienced a “higher cost of doing business” in the past fi ve years, as sales have been fl at or slightly up, while spending on advertising has risen 26 percent. He indicated the short-lived nature of celeb-rity scents hasn’t helped.

However, because there are higher gross margins in the beau-ty industry, Ferrara said, point-

ing to margins of up to 75 percent at Lauder, beauty fi rms “tend to weather the storm better.”

Harrison added that while celebrity scents account for 23 percent of the prestige fragrance business, their longevity is an issue. Designer scents, he said, such as those from Tom Ford and Vera Wang, “seem to have a bigger impact than celebrity.”

“The conundrum the [beau-ty] industry is facing,” said Harrison, is that it spends so much money on launching new fragrances. But “if you stop the launches, what happens to the existing [inventory]? The con-sumer wants something new.”

Ferrara contended that in-vestors are comparing house-hold manufacturers with beau-ty fi rms as companies like P&G, (which, he said, does about $2.5 billion in sales with its prestige fragrance brands) get deeper into the beauty business.

In the long term, according to Ferrara, investors will de-mand that such fi rms balance “process-driven, fi nancial dis-cipline” with the “art” of mak-ing aspirational products like prestige fragrances in order to maximize profi tability. He indi-cated that the Estée Lauder Cos. potentially took a step in this direction last week when it an-nounced Fabrizio Freda, a P&G executive, is in line to become Lauder’s ceo in two years.

“The greatest risk to the prestige [market], more than product effi cacy,” said Ferrara, is “a greater emphasis” on cost than on the excitement a prod-uct can create. “It’s up to the players to fi nd a balance.”

Estée Lauder has injected new blood into its most venerable antiaging franchise with what the com-

pany bills as a new “youth molecule.” The molecule, Resveratrate, is the key ingredient in

Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Creme, the latest addition to the brand’s iconic Re-Nutriv franchise.

“Spring 2008 marks the 50th year of Re-Nutriv, which was created by Mrs. Estée Lauder in 1958,” said Elana Drell-Szyfer, senior vice president of global marketing for Estée Lauder. “With every new skin care innovation, the brand has evolved, and with Resveratrate, we be-lieve that we’re offering a scientifi c breakthrough.”

The molecule was inspired at least in part by re-search done by David Sinclair, Ph.D., of Harvard Medical School, and Leonard Guarente, Ph.D., of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on sirtuin en-zymes in the skin and how they infl uence cell longevity, said Daniel Maes, vice president of global research and development for Estée Lauder.

“Resveratrate takes resveratrol to the next level,” said Maes. While resveratrol, a widely used antioxidant, is effective, it also has a number of limitations, said Maes, including limited solubility and instability in high concentra-tions. Where Lauder’s version — eight years in the making — differs is in its biomimetic (skin-friendly) quality, which allows the molecule to penetrate more deeply into the skin, creating a “reservoir” for the skin to draw upon throughout the day, explained Maes.

“If cells divide too fast, they die. If you slow down the cycle, you are making it pos-sible for the DNA to repair itself and increasing cell survival sixfold,” he said.

Another key ingredient is Re-Nutriv Protective Ferment, based on a deep-sea organism found in the Gulf of California. The organism is said to protect the skin’s detoxifying enzymes, allowing the skin to main-tain a youthful appearance.

The formula also includes a South Sea pearl-mica-silica combination for an immediate brightening ef-fect after application, as well as camelia sativa oil, said to improve skin’s elasticity.

Ultimate Youth Creme will retail for $250 for 1.7 oz. Its target market is a woman in her mid-30s.

Ultimate Youth Creme will be available in January in about 170 U.S. specialty store doors, including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman, and it will roll out globally beginning in February. National advertising, will break in February fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazines. The fi rst month’s advertising will be an advertorial featuring a product shot and an explanation of the molecule, and subsequent advertising will feature Carolyn Murphy, said Charisse

Ford, vice president of global skin care marketing for the Lauder brand. Online marketing also is planned, she noted, and more than 300,000 samples will be distributed at launch.

While none of the executives would discuss sales projections or advertising bud-gets, industry sources estimated that Ultimate Youth Creme would do at least $7 million at retail in its fi rst year on counter, and that about $2 million would be spent on advertising and promotion.

— Julie Naughton

6 WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

The Beauty Report

Estée Lauder’s New Prescription for Youth

Experts Say Scent Industry Faces Challenges

One of the Re-Nutriv Ultimate Youth Creme ads.

Gilbert Harrison, Darby Dunn, Lynn Franco, Rochelle Bloom, president of the Fragrance Foundation, and Christopher Ferrara.

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By Julie Naughton and Pete Born

Some actors draw the line at mixing art and com-merce, but Kate Winslet isn’t one of them. “In the last few years, there don’t seem to be any rules

around it anymore,” said Winslet during an interview about her role as the new face of Lancôme’s venerable Trésor franchise, her fi rst beauty deal. “I remember fi ve or six years ago, it was really a big deal to be the face of a campaign or a spokesperson for a particular brand name. Now, it just doesn’t seem to matter so much.”

Not that Winslet would particularly care if it did. Like many of the characters she has por-trayed, Winslet is fi ercely independent and marches to the beat of her own drummer — she has even recorded a duet with Weird Al Yankovic entitled “I Need a Nap.”

Still, she doesn’t take her status for grant-ed. “I do feel unbelievably privileged that I’m in a place where I get to choose,” she said. “It’s a position that people dream of being in, and I don’t take it lightly.”

What she cares most about: “As an indi-vidual, to hang on to some sense of mystery — which in this world that we live in now that is so obsessed with celebrity, I think it’s harder to hang on to who you really are,” she said.

And Winslet has a sensible way for avoid-ing that type of neurosis: She refuses to read anything written about her. “First of all, I don’t really know what’s written about me because I don’t look at any of it,” she said. “I don’t read reviews or other things. How would you sur-vive in this crazy world if you read everything that’s written about you? I’m blissfully un-aware. Maybe I’d be a different person if I did listen to what they were saying.”

That conviction has made it easy to say that a Kate Winslet-branded fragrance is highly unlikely. “I wouldn’t like to have a Kate Winslet fragrance, no. It’s just not my style. It’s not my thing,” she said.

“As an actor, it’s an enormous privilege to be asked to be a part of things like [the Trésor campaign], and I guess it just felt like the right time for me,” said Winslet. Print advertising began running in September books; a TV campaign will follow for the holiday season. Sources say Trésor’s busi-ness has risen 20 percent since Winslet’s ads began appearing. Trésor’s sales in the U.S. have been estimated at $40 million retail for this year. None of the executives would discuss what Winslet is being paid for the campaign or what Lancôme is spending to place it, but industry sources estimated that Winslet is being paid at least $5 million over three years for her work on the campaign, and that Lancôme is spending upward of $10 million to place it in the U.S. alone.

“Kate is an exquisite ambassador for Lancôme be-cause she truly embodies what Trésor is all about,” said Odile Roujol, global president of Lancôme. “She is romantic, feminine and modern. At the same time, we love that Kate is an accomplished woman with heart-felt convictions about beauty and appearance, about her family and about her work. There is a truthfulness

and a sincerity to Kate Winslet that women around the world fi nd immensely appealing.”

Adds Eric Lauzat, president of Lancôme in the U.S.: “Femininity, luxury, good taste — that’s what Kate brings to the brand. Kate plays a lot of romantic leads — and romance is what Trésor is all about.”

Like other celebrities — including Clive Owen, who is the face of Lancôme’s Hypnose Homme — Winslet approaches the Trésor campaign as she would any fi lm project.

“In a strange way, it felt like committing to a fi lm, as opposed to committing to a fragrance line. It’s such a

stylish project, in many ways. With Peter Lindbergh [who shot the Trésor campaign and with whom she’s worked on editorial shoots] and also fi lling the shoes of Isabella Rossellini, it’s a pretty big deal.”

Born into a family of actors — her father, Roger Winslet, is an actor, as are both of her sisters, Anna and Beth — Winslet said acting is “the only thing I felt like I ever wanted to do.” Her fi rst big job was in an Eighties-era Sugar Puffs cereal commercial; later, she landed a

role as an obsessive teenager in “Heavenly Creatures.” After winning the role of Marianne Dashwood in “Sense and Sensibility” (and racking up her fi rst Academy Award nomination) Winslet went on to star in 1997’s “Titanic,” the box-offi ce blockbuster (for which she earned another Academy Award nomination). Since then, Winslet’s fi lms have included “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (her favorite role to date), “Hideous Kinky,” “Romance and Cigarettes” and “Finding Neverland.”

During a recent visit to Manhattan’s Chelsea High School to speak to student members of the Epic Theatre Ensemble (which is partially fi nanced by Lancôme),

Winslet admitted to the classic actorly affl ic-tion of insecurity. “Every single thing I do, I always think ‘I could have done that better,’” she told the students. “I always try every idea I have and I always experiment with those things to see what works the best until I’ve exhausted all the alternatives. Then there’s that feeling of ‘Oh, that’s so obvious. Why did I forget that?’ And you’re kicking yourself for not having pushed yourself that little bit fur-ther. I feel that all the time.

“You learn on the job, as you go,” Winslet told the students. “You need more than any-thing to have the confi dence to take yourself to the very vulnerable places where you have to go to as an actor. Those emotions and life experiences are part of the tool-box. Take those experiences and keep them for later. There is no right or wrong, and you have to try everything. You have to be brave enough to stand up in front of other people, just rehearsing or running scenes. You can’t be afraid of what you sound like, what you’re looking like, what you’re walk-ing like. You have to get that self-conscious thing and get it gone because it’s only going to get in the way.”

Of all her roles, Winslet says the one spe-cifi c scene she’d choose to do over would be one at the end of 2006’s “Little Children.”

“There’s a scene at the end of that movie where my character thinks for a brief moment that she has lost her child,” Winslet remembered. “Her daughter was in a swing one moment and she turns around and [her daughter is] gone. And in this moment, my character has an enor-mous realization of what a useless mother she has been. She fi nds the child, but I realized later that there are so many dif-ferent ways I could have played this scene where she breaks down — she loves this child, and this moment of possibly losing her has changed her forever. Often, emo-tional scenes are the ones I would like to go back to.”

And there’s one other thing she’d like to make clear. Published reports have Winslet turn-ing down Gwyneth Paltrow’s Oscar-winning role in “Shakespeare in Love,” an allegation she denies.

“That isn’t my quote — I never said that,” she said fi rmly.

But she is quotable on her choice of a dream co-star.“My favorite actress in the world is Meryl Streep, and

I haven’t had a chance to work with her,” said Winslet, who added that she has met her. “She’s a goddess.”

Scents and Sensibility With Kate Winslet

MAC Cosmetics is expected to announce today that Guillaume Jesel has been named vice president of global marketing for the brand.

Jesel will replace Caroline Geerlings in the role. As reported, Geerlings was named senior vice president and general manager for Prescriptives Worldwide earlier this month.

Jesel’s appointment is effective Nov. 26; he will report to John Demsey, group president of the Estée Lauder Cos.

Most recently, Jesel served as vice president of global makeup marketing for the Estée Lauder brand, although he had previous-ly worked on the MAC Cosmetics brand. Before joining the Estée Lauder Cos. in 2000, Jesel served in several marketing capacities in the U.S. division of Lancôme.

In this role, Jesel will concentrate on global marketing for all of MAC’s product categories, and will also oversee makeup artistry, online marketing and new launches.

“Guillaume is an outstanding, talented global marketing execu-tive,” said Demsey in a statement. “His vast experience in fashion, L’Oréal, MAC and most recently at the Estée Lauder brand make him the perfect business partner for the dynamic MAC team to take the business forward.”

— J.N.

Jesel Named for MAC Role

Kate Winslet watches students performing

at Chelsea High School in Manhattan.

Paris Hilton’s one-month stint in jail ear-lier this year apparently has not dimmed

her salability. An estimated 500 people showed up at Macy’s at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y., on Tuesday, when Hilton made an appearance promoting the launch of her new Moulin Rouge-inspired fragrance Can Can Paris Hilton. Over the course of three hours, about 200 bottles were sold, add-ing up to roughly $25,000 in retail sales, ac-cording to sources.

The fragrance has even inspired some men to propose to Hilton. “They bring in rings and ask me if I’ll marry them,” joked Hilton.

Hilton will be making a total of fi ve in-store appearances at Macy’s. According to Neil Katz, chairman and chief executive of-fi cer of Parlux Fragrance Inc., Hilton’s over-all fragrance business is up about 30 percent

over the course of the last month and a half. “This is the fi rst time I got to do this kind

of themed campaign, and it was a lot of fun to play with the Parisian theme since it’s fl irty and sexy,” said Hilton during a tele-phone interview.

For her next themed fragrance, Hilton wants to do something that incorporates wings. “I like that fairy and Tinkerbell idea since that’s what perfume is all about.”

Hilton recently unveiled a jeans and ap-parel line and plans to launch shoes soon. She also has two movies coming out in the new year — “The Hottie and the Nottie,” slated for February release, and “Repo! The Genetic Opera” in March. She’s also hoping to get back in the studio next year to work on a new album.

— Michelle Edgar

Jail Time Aside, Paris Still Sells

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The Beauty Report

By Andrea Nagel

Cover Girl hinted at an image overhaul when it an-nounced in August that Drew Barrymore would

serve as co-creative director on print advertisements for a new mascara, LashBlast, due out in January. The starlet also appears in the ads: She was photographed in black-and-white, poised in a sultry pose next to the mascara’s bright orange cigar-shaped tube. For the es-timated $720 million brand, the ads are a departure from its usual “fresh and natural” aura.

And it seems the Barrymore LashBlast ads are just the tip of the iceberg for Cover Girl’s 2008 plans, too.

“I think Cover Girl has always been about clean, fresh and natural and we are now dimensionalizing how it’s about you. We are not correcting anything wrong but highlighting more of what women want, adding more liveliness, seeing a better ver-sion of yourself, not just clean, fresh and natural,” said Esi Eggleston-Bracey, gen-eral manager, Cosmetics North America, Procter & Gamble.

Executives said Cover Girl is overhaul-ing packaging and formulas on several key brands in its portfolio to broaden its appeal to women seeking an “individualized” beau-ty look. Long-lasting lipwear brand Outlast and face makeup brand TruBlend are two properties that will be reworked.

Outlast, the largest lip property in the Cover Girl portfolio, is slated to receive new packaging, new formulas and a bright-er color range for its 41 shades. Outlast’s lip color, said Eggleston-Bracey, can now be viewed better in its package due to changes to the glass containers housing the color portion of formulas.

“Not all glass is compatible with long-wear lip color,” said Eggleston-Bracey.

Shades were updated by in-house global design director for P&G Beauty Pat McGrath.

And, finally, changes were made to Outlast’s two-part lip system. Outlast’s base coat, which uses Permatone technology to allow the product’s color to stay on for up to 16 hours, now has green tea, jojoba and vita-min E to make the formula softer. Outlast’s clear top coat will now have aloe vera, shea butter, cocoa butter and vitamin E, as well as a vanilla fl avor and fragrance.

New ads for Outlast will feature Queen Latifah, who serves as one of the many faces for the brand.

TruBlend cosmetics are also being completely re-staged, with new additions, packaging and formulas. The face makeup, which launched in February 2004 with a liquid foundation, and expanded in 2005 with a pressed

powder and powder foundation, will now also have a blush and a concealer. The mainstay of the line, TruBlend Liquid, will utilize “multi-tonal pigments,” a coloring system that Sarah Vickery, M.D., senior scientist for Cover Girl Cosmetics, said “merges with the skin rather than matching it. It is more advanced technol-ogy to get us toward skin affi nity. We did that from a color standpoint and from a physical property standpoint.” Also, the liquid founda-tion has been taken out of its carton and will be merchandised only in its glass bottle.

TruBlend Pressed Mineral Foundation will become an addition to the TruBlend Minerals line, which is formulated with “ultrafi ne satinized particles.” The formula is talc-free, but it is of “a high purity and cos-metics grade,” said Vickery. The powder is packaged with a brush.

The TruBlend Pressed Powder, TruBlend Powder Foundation, TruConceal concealer, TruCheeks blush and TruBlend Pressed Mineral Foundation will fol-low a new color-coding system, which begins with the liquid foundation. Users are to choose from one of six numbered foundation shades and then select other TruBlend items corresponding to the foun-dation’s number.

The number-coded system is an aim at multiple transactions, said industry ob-server Allan Mottus.

“Women feel more confi dent buying more than one thing when products [are packaged in such as way.] Department stores are very good at doing that. If you are going in for one thing, you are wide open to buying more,” he said.

Advertising for TruBlend will also fea-ture Barrymore, in an effort to be more “real, refreshed and have more attitude,” said Eggleston-Bracey. Barrymore was co-creative director for these ads, too.

Mottus commented that the Barrymore effort is a way for the brand to cling to its number-two mass market cosmetics po-sition, which is behind Maybelline and in front of L’Oréal Paris. But he does not know if consumers will relate to the new confi dent message.

“It is not a beauty ad,” said Mottus. “It seems more of a MAC department store kind of thing. It is an ad that is going outside their normal culture and from a consumer standpoint, the orange brush, Barrymore’s face, her shoulders and the lack of copy, I don’t know if that is going to sell. There’s nothing more diffi cult [than getting] women to switch mascara.”

NEW YORK — Penhaligon’s, the U.K.-born perfumery, has drafted plans to revamp its Madison Avenue shop, according to the company’s real estate agency Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Plans call for the fi rm to refurbish its 200-square-foot Midtown store, located at 870 Madison Avenue. The up-dates to the eight-year-old store will mirror Penhaligon’s newly opened shops in Paris and London, said Brian Kurtz, Penhaligon’s director of sales and marketing. Construction is slated to begin after the holiday season, and is expected to be completed in the spring, said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s retail leasing and sales division.

The Madison Avenue store is Penhaligon’s sole stand-alone store in the U.S., although its products are sold in boutiques in Wynn Las Vegas, Fred Segal and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. The retailer, which is owned by the investment group Fox Paine, is looking to open two addi-tional U.S. stores in the next year. It previously operated a store in Beverly Hills.

Penhaligon’s, established in the U.K. in 1870, pro-duces fragrances, skin care products, home fragranc-es and gift items, including baby items, silver and leather goods.

— Molly Prior

Penhaligon’s Plans UpdateOf Madison Avenue Store

Cover Girl to Revamp Key Franchises in ’08

NEW YORK — Coty Inc.’s celeb-rity fragrance machine contin-ues to crank away.

The New York-based fra-grance company, which mar-kets upward of a dozen celeb-rity brands, has added to that assemblage with the signing of country music singer Tim McGraw, who is to develop and market a signature fragrance.

The yet-to-be-named men’s scent is due out in the summer. While Coty anticipates the fra-grance “will be widely distrib-uted in major retailers across North America,” according to a statement from the fi rm, retail-ers and distribution channels have not yet been established.

McGraw, 40, joins fellow country singer Shania Twain in marketing a scent with Coty, whose portfolio of recording artist scents also includes Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue, Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez.

Coty’s chief executive offi cer, Bernd Beetz, noted in the statement, “Tim has delivered 30 number-one hits and sold over 36 million albums

to date,” success that Beetz anticipates will translate into a “blockbuster fragrance for both his fans and the beauty industry.”

“Creating my own fragrance is an exciting new endeavor for me,” McGraw said in the state-ment. “Coty has a great cre-ative and marketing team, one of the best in the industry, and I’m looking forward to working with them.”

In addition to his musical exploits — which include a pop single with rapper Nelly called “Over and Over” — the Louisiana native has acted in fi lms such as “The Kingdom,” “Flicka,” “Friday Night Lights”

and “Black Cloud.”While this may be his fi rst foray into fragrance,

McGraw, along with wife Faith Hill, was appoint-ed an ambassador earlier this year to represent a charity for Cartier’s Love Charity bracelet. With the sale of every $475 bracelet — a silk cord strap with a rose gold charm — $100 went to charity.

— Matthew W. Evans

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“We are…highlighting more of what women want, adding more liveliness, seeing a better version of yourself. ”

— Esi Eggleston-Bracey, Procter & Gamble

New Cover Girl products.

An ad for LashBlast, a new Cover Girl mascara.

9WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

WWD.COM

MAYBELLINE MOVES: Steven Waldberg has been named director of global public relations for L’Oréal-owned Maybelline New York. Prior to this role, Waldberg, a Franco-American, had served as director of global special events for Lancôme in Paris. He has been with L’Oréal since 2001. In his new role, Waldberg replaces Denise Quattrochi, who was named assistant vice president of consumer promotions for Maybelline New York and Garnier USA. Waldberg reports to Cyril Chapuy, general manager of Maybelline New York Worldwide.

COIFFURE HONOR: Ann Mincey received the Intercoiffure America/Canada “Inspiration” Award last month for her service to the professional beauty industry. Mincey, vice president, global communications, Redken, has helped raise more than $575,000 for the American Heart Association.

BELLI BABY: The team behind Belli Cosmetics has expanded its focus from moms-to-be to babies. Belli Cosmetics founders Annette Rubin, a former Clinique executive, and physician Jason Rubin, a family practitioner, have designed four items for children, including a hair and body wash (Calm Me), a lotion (Nourish Me), a talc-free powder (Pamper Me) and a diaper rash cream (Protect Me). Belli Baby, as the line is called, is now sold in Mimi Maternity, A Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity. Products sell for between $18 for Calm Me and $19 for the Nourish Me. A $32 gift box is also available.

CURL JOY: Professional beauty brand Rusk has developed an in-salon service to take the curl out of hair. Rusk Radical Anticurl uses conditioners and a patented formula to deliver the temporary straightening service with prices ranging from $100

to $300, depending on the market. The straightening takes between 30 and 90 minutes to apply, depending on hair length, type, condition and desired results.

BEAUTY BUTLER: Luxury hairstyling brand GHD has partnered with the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel to offer the use of hair appliances to travelers in need of a bit of hair therapy. For a fee, guests can call up the concierge and order everything from the use of a GHD styling iron with a free mini thermal protector ($21), to GHD-prescribed shampoo, conditioner and treatment product with use of a styling iron ($157). All items are delivered on a silver tray.

ARTIST FOREVER: Kevin-James Bennett has been appointed director of artistry and development for Make Up For Ever LLC. Bennett will also serve as a product development adviser to Dany Sanz, creator and artistic director of the Make Up For Ever brand. Bennett reports to Gilles Kortzagadarian, general manager of Make Up For Ever, U.S.

IFF’S FAB FIVE: Fragrance supplier International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. last month promoted fi ve perfumers — Domitille Bertier, Sophie Chapuis, Tony Mills, Béatrice Piquet and Olivier Polge — elevating each to the post of senior perfumer. The fi ve are based at IFF’s creative center in Neuilly, France.

SEASON’S TREATMENTS: To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Salon AKS, Phyto has developed a multistep, 45-minute antiaging treatment. The procedure begins with Phytopolleine, a botanical pre-shampoo treatment to purify the scalp, which is followed by Huile D’Alès, to condition dry hair. Then, Phytoprogenium shampoo is applied, which is fortifi ed with oat milk and almond and marshmallow root extracts, and hair is conditioned with Phytobaume conditioner. Lastly, a Phytodensium serum is applied to the scalp for an antiaging boost. The service costs $85 and includes a blowout.

RARITAN, N.J. — The opening of a Five Below store here shows the challenges beau-ty faces as teens and tweens flock to other categories.

The store, the newest look for the 66-unit chain, has a tighter assortment of beauty than older designs. Co-founder Tom Vellios said that change was by design to make room for the hot items teens want, including iPod accessories, T-shirts and home decor.

Five Below isn’t alone in its move to trim beauty. Many other chains have also had to clear more space for more profi table categories, such as mini health clinics and skin care.

Vellios, however, said beauty sales are still strong at a double-digit gain and that he hopes to get aggressive in the category next year with a stepped-up effort. “We’re going to go after it next year,” he added.

Five Below opened 15 new stores this year with plans for another 15 next year.Even in its tinier space, Five Below

makes a statement with beauty. The stores are aimed at tweens and teens who fi nd items such as bath gel and lip gloss a must-have. Beauty items at this new location in central New Jersey are near the front of the store, but confi ned mostly to one major fi xture. In the original stores, beauty com-manded about twice as much space.

Among the beauty highlights are LA Colors eye and nail items, Funky Fingers neon nail polish, a gift bag of 25 lip glosses, a one-foot peg section of candy-themed lip products from Lotta Luv, Disney Princess sets from Townley and Hello Kitty bath sets. There was also a make-your-own lip gloss kit being snapped up by shoppers get-ting a head start on the holiday season. The opening fl yer promoted Gingerbread and Snowy Day gift sets at $5 each. Vellios said hot colors such as Funky Fingers have been fl ying out of the store. “We helped put Funky Fingers on the map,” he added. He said Five Below looks for opportunistic deals and also goes right to manufactur-ers for products that can be planogrammed.

Beauty products are also included in an easy-to-shop travel department with trial sizes perfect for air travel. Products getting more real estate at Five Below refl ect cur-rent youth shopping desires, including ballet fl at shoes, iPod accessories, games, home decor, candy, DVDs and gag items. The store was bustling on a recent afternoon visit with shoppers fi lling up on toys, games, candy, beauty and licensed products such as Hannah Montana hair accessories.

One of the advantages Five Below has is that it can react quickly to trends in

the market and up the footage as needed. The management team is quick to point out Five Below is not a typical dollar-type store, rather a value spot for trend mer-chandise. Five Below has a cadre of buyers prowling trade shows, such as Effi cient Collaborative Retail Marketing, in search of new items.

Two other New Jersey locations opened the same day as this site in Raritan. In less than fi ve years, Five Below has grown from its fi rst shop in the suburban Philadelphia market to locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Management targets strip shopping centers in heavily traveled areas and most stores average about 4,000 square feet. Rather than invest heavily in adver-tising, Five Below attempts to attract shoppers via word of mouth. By yearend Vellios said there will be 67 units up and running.

SNIPPETS

Five Below Aims for More Profi table Beauty AssortmentThe new Five Below store in Raritan, N.J.

Known for its facial skin care products for multicultural consumers, Ambi is extend-ing its product assortment with the launch of its first body care collection.

Designed to keep skin soft, smooth and moisturized, the new line is aimed at women with melanin-rich skin tones. The company found that consumers with melanin-rich skin tones were challenged by dry skin with an often ashy appear-ance, said Jon Miller, research and development manager at Ambi parent Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products.

According to Michael Marquis, group product director for Ambi, body care products was an area of skin care that was underserved for women of color since their needs are different. “General market areas are more focused on therapeutic itchy skin and general dryness, but women of color are looking more for items that help even out skin tone and solve problems such as hyperpigmentation and

reduce stretch marks. They are also looking for products that contain much more of an oil base since their skin suffers from intense drying,” said Marquis.

According to Information Resources Inc., the 52 weeks ended Oct. 7 showed Ambi dollar sales up about 195 percent to some $7.2 million, not in-cluding Wal-Mart. According to company execu-tives, the growth can be attributed to the launch of Ambi Even & Clear Facial Care line, in addi-tion to improved advertising and distribution.

With more than 12 items in the existing line-up, Ambi will launch its three new body care items in January, including an oil lotion, stretch mark diminishing oil and a moisturizing cream. Retailing for $7.99 each, the items will launch in major food, drug and mass retailers, followed by a national rollout two months later.

Designed to be a nongreasy two-in-one body oil and lotion, Ambi’s Soft & Even Creamy Oil Lotion is meant to make the skin softer and smoother. Shea butter helps restore the skin’s

elasticity by absorbing and retaining moisture.“The oil lotion forms a layer on the skin that helps traps in the moisture,” said

Miller. “It has the benefi t properties of an oil, but it uses it in a more consumer-friendly way that’s not so greasy.”

Ambi’s Soft & Even Stretch Mark Diminishing Oil locks in moisture and reduces the appearance of stretch marks in as little as four weeks. It is composed of soybean oil and almond oil, which helps retain moisture, while vitamin E helps soothe and condi-tion skin, improving the skin’s fi rmness and elasticity. According to Miller, the formula puts back the lipids that were lost, which helps increase the skin’s resiliency.

Ambi’s Soft & Even Skin Tone Enhancing Moisture Cream is designed to mois-turize the skin in addition to helping even out skin tone and texture. Miller said that the cream has been clinically tested to visibly reduce dark marks and hy-perpigmentation patches in discolored areas like knees and elbows in up to two weeks. Designed to be used twice a day, the formula is composed of soy, shea but-ter, olive oil, lipids and salicylic acid.

— Michelle Edgar

Ambi Expands Into Body Care

Ambi’s new body care items.

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10 WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

The HBA Report WWD.COM

Nautica is venturing into new waters with

the launch of My Voyage for Her, the first women’s fra-grance to be launched since Coty acquired the Nautica license from Unilever Cosmetics International three years ago.

My Voyage for Her is launching now in Dillard’s, and will roll out to the re-mainder of its U.S. distri-bution in January. When the scent is in full dis-tribution in the U.S., it will be available in some 2,000 doors. It will roll out globally over the next 12 months, and will be avail-able in Spain, France, Italy and Asia, among other markets.

“Coty is committed to creating global brands in fragrances, and we see Nautica as one with the greatest potential on that scale,” said Steve Mormoris, senior vice president of global marketing for Coty Beauty. “It has a universal appeal based on a fashion brand which has a great vi-sion globally. With this fragrance, we saw an opportunity to translate the values of the brand — fresh, clean, easy elegance — using the fashion house’s references.”

That synergy is no accident. “We’ve been work-ing with Denise [Seegal, president and chief execu-tive offi cer of VF Sportswear Inc., which owns the Nautica brand] and her team to make Nautica fash-ion and Nautica fragrances a seamless presentation,” said Mormoris. “There’s a modern, great confl uence between the two companies.” There’s also a synergy between the men’s and women’s Nautica fragrance brands, he points out: Island Voyage, Nautica’s last launch, is intended to be the men’s counterpart to My Voyage. Island Voyage’s advertising features Carter Oosterhouse of TLC’s “Trading Spaces.”

My Voyage for Her, concocted by Givaudan’s Ellen Molner, has top notes of sparkling grapefruit, bergamot, key lime, bitter orange and aquatic notes; a heart of dewy

peony, Nantucket lotus and muguet, and a drydown of musk, orris, golden amber and pink peppercorn. The bottle features pale blue juice and silver accents in-tended to reference yacht detailing.

Eaux de parfum in two sizes, 1.7 oz. for $47.50 and 3.4 oz. for $59.50, will be of-fered, as will a body lotion, $29, and a body wash, $26. Both ancillaries are 6.7 oz.

Actress Katherine Heigl is the face of My Voyage for Her. “Katherine is de-termined and hardwork-ing, and the visuals show that,” said Mary John Baumann, Coty’s group director of global mar-keting. Adds Mormoris: “Katherine grew up on the coast in Connecticut, and has a personal iden-tification with Nautica as a brand. She loves the brand in terms of its fashion, and has the look and style that is what I’d describe as Northeastern marine-like, yet feminine and sexy. That’s the bal-

ance we were going for with both the fragrance and the visuals.”

The campaign, shot by Enrique Badulescu, features two photos — one to be used for national advertising and a second to be used at counter in-store. National advertising will break in March fashion, beauty and lifestyle magazines, although Dillard’s is now running the bottle visual in its holiday scent advertising. The scent will also have a dedicated Web site, nauticafra-grance.com, said Baumann. Upward of 30 million scent-ed impressions are planned.

While none of the executives would comment on sales projections or advertising spending, industry sources estimated that My Voyage for Her would gener-ate sales of at least $20 million at retail in the U.S. in its fi rst year on counter, and that about $10 million would be spent on advertising and promotion.

— Julie Naughton

By Rachel Brown

The British retail invasion of the West Coast began last week when Tesco, the U.K.’s larg-

est and the world’s third largest retailer, opened six Fresh & Easy stores in Southern California.

This week, the expansion of Fresh & Easy moved to Nevada, when fi ve stores bowed in the Las Vegas area. In total, 30 stores are expected to open this year, but the company is on pace to seed California, Nevada and Arizona with around 200 stores by 2009 at a cost of more than $500 million a year.

When the doors swung upon at the Southern California units Nov. 8, crowds rushed in, match-ing those seen at the region’s H&M stores, where the Roberto Cavalli collection hit the racks the same day. Locals checked out Fresh & Easy’s prices — many compared them and the selection with Trader Joe’s with a mainstream supermarket spin — and competitors came in to size up their newest rival.

Stores measure around 10,000 square feet and contain approximately 3,500 products ranging from paper goods to prepared meals to personal care items. A nearly 1.5 million-square-foot dis-tribution center in Riverside, Calif., serves Fresh & Easy units.

Fresh & Easy’s layout, distinguished by bold signage, wide aisles and carefully spaced mer-chandise, was informed by Tesco’s extensive re-search of Americans’ shopping habits. Under the direction of Tim Mason, chief executive offi cer of Fresh & Easy, based in El Segundo, Calif., the re-search reportedly reached into consumers’ homes and stretched over a year.

“We’ve found customers piece together their weekly shopping trip by shopping many differ-ent stores, so we put together a format to simplify customer’s lives,” said Mason in a statement.

The personal care assortment at one Los Angeles location was housed in a long aisle rim-ming the side of the store close to cash registers. It contained staples from soaps to shampoos to toothpaste. Brands featured include VO5, Suave, Pantene, Neutrogena, Garnier Fructis, Jergens, Ultra Vital Care and Got2B. A private label natu-ral line called bnatural featured a hand cream for $3.89 and a scrub for $9.99.

Fresh & Easy hasn’t stepped onto Wal-Mart’s turf without facing controversies similar to this country’s largest retailer. Community organiza-tions have criticized Fresh & Easy for avoiding poor neighborhoods in search of wealthy consum-ers, and labor groups have dinged the retailer for not hiring union members. Outside its Los Angeles unit on opening day, a small gathering of protestors fl ashed a sign at cars passing by.

Fresh & Easy has tried to head off the opposi-tion in its marketing blitz by touting its environ-mental efforts — the roof at its distribution cen-ter has solar installation — and its fair treatment of workers. Entry-level employees start at $10 an hour and are eligible for medical coverage after 90 days, with Fresh & Easy paying 75 percent of the cost.

British Food Store Opens on West Coast

NEW YORK — A new skin care brand called Adorage, which was inspired by a skin cream made for Sixties-era French actress Delphine Vouler, has landed at doctor’s of-fices and spas in the U.S.

The nine-item Adorage line is based on a reformulated version of a recipe custom-ized for Vouler and her family by a pharma-cy in France’s Provence region, according to Yeleana Premyssleer, vice president of Adorage.

Development of Adorage began two years ago, when an acquaintance of Premyssleer came across the original formula, she said dur-ing a recent interview. Premyssleer, who also works as a nurse in the offi ce of Manhattan dermatologist Joel Kassimir, “wanted to create something for our clients,” she said, “to make their skin healthy, rejuvenate and improve their skin quality.”

Aside from Kassimir’s of-fice, Adorage is currently carried in a handful of other dermatologists’ of-fi ces as well as spas, in-cluding Renaissance Health Spa locations in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; Skin Perfection Spa & Wellness Studio here, and Luxury Spa in Miami.

Plans call for Adorage

to reach a total of 15 spas and doctors’ offi ces by the end of the year. Industry sources estimate the brand could generate fi rst-year sales volume of nearly $350,000.

Adorage includes three 1-oz. creams, called Moisturizing Cream, Retinol Cream and Antistress Cream, which are priced at $140, $150 and $155, respectively. There are four 0.5-oz. products, Hyaluronic Acid Serum, $155; Antistress Serum, $155; Eye Cream, $150, and Gel C, $150. There are also two 3.4-oz., $47 cleansing products, one for oily skin and one for normal to dry skin.

The antistress products, as well as the Gel C vitamin C serum, are designed to stimulate collagen production, while the eye cream is designed to smooth and elimi-nate dark circles, the retinol cream targets wrinkles and the Hyaluronic Acid Serum is designed to moisturize. The line uses ex-tracts of soybean, yam, mulberry, sunfl ower, rosemary, thyme, jojoba and shea tree.

Premyssleer noted that a two-week clinical study involving 250 women be-tween the ages of 30 and 65 found that after using Adorage products, a 50 per-cent reduction of fi ne lines was observed. There was also a 75 percent increase in skin hydration, a 72 percent improvement in skin smoothness and facial pigmenta-tion and a 75 percent decrease in dryness,

according to the brand.— Matthew W. Evans

Adorage Skin Care Reaches Dermatologists, Spas

Nautica Sets Sail With Heigl

The My Voyage for Her ad.

A Fresh & Easy storefront.

Adorage items.

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Honoring Pantenebenefi ting Cancer and Careers

WWD.COM12 WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

By Evan Clark

WASHINGTON — Last month’s re-tail prices for women’s apparel fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent from September with a 1.3 percent drop in dresses and a 0.1 percent dip for suits and separates.

Price promotions to move fall mer-chandise during unseasonably warm weather do not seem to have played a signifi cant role during the month.

“This October, the discounts were comparable to Octobers in the past,” said Malinda Harrell, an economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released its Consumer Price Index on Thursday.

Against a year earlier, prices on

women’ apparel fell 2 percent in October, with dresses up 0.8 percent and suits and separates off 2.2 percent.

Thanks to relaxed trade policies on apparel spurring more imports from low-cost countries, particularly China, and stiff retail competition from the likes of H&M, Target and others, the pricing trend in apparel has been defl ationary. Over the past fi ve years, women’s appar-el prices are off 4.2 percent with prices on all apparel down 3.9 percent.

October was generally seen as a tough month for stores, with apparel and accessories retailers managing just a 0.1 percent rise in sales, com-pared with the preceding month, and department stores down 0.5 percent, according to a Commerce Department

report Wednesday.Economists and retailers are keeping

a close eye on consumers, who are beset with a sluggish housing market, high gas prices and troubles on Wall Street.

Since consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of the economy, the Federal Reserve is also keeping shoppers in mind as it sets interest policy, trying to keep rates high enough to avoid price infl ation, but low enough to stimulate growth. Right now, the benchmark federal funds rate stands at 4.5 percent, down from 5.25 percent in early September.

Last week, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, said the weaker dollar and higher energy prices could push prices up.

Prices on all goods and services rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in October for the second straight month. The so-called core prices, which ex-clude food and energy goods, rose 0.2 percent for the fi fth straight month.

“The ‘low’ 0.2 percent core read-ing implies further deceleration in the three-month annualized change,” wrote Global Insight U.S. economist Kenneth Beauchemin in an analysis, adding that the retail price report would be encour-aging for the Fed.

“With little to fear in the way of ac-celerating labor costs, the Fed will keep a watchful eye for signs of pass-through to consumer prices from surging oil prices and a depreciating dollar,” he said. “So far, so good.”

Promotions Lead to Dip in Retail Apparel Prices in October

Penney’s, Kohl’s Latest to Trim ForecastsContinued from page oneCorp., Coach Inc. and Talbots Inc. of the negative impact of a consumer pullback and a more promotional holiday selling season. The consumer spending woes chilled Wall Street Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average declin-ing 0.9 percent to 13,110.05 and the S&P Retail Index falling 1.1 percent to 420.21.

On Thursday, citing current sales trends, Fitch Ratings issued a report forecasting softer retail sales in 2008 compared with this year. The ratings fi rm also sees trouble at the high end, with that segment’s aspirational buyer pulling back next year. Regarding the current holiday season, Fitch sees a heavy pro-motional environment aimed at clearing inventories. Most analysts are expect-ing shoppers to shop later in the season and to hunt for bargains, which will be plenty if current promotional activity is any clue. J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, Macy’s and a host of specialty stores are in the midst of planned promotions with markdowns of 30 to 50 percent off.

Still, one analyst, Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, expects holiday sales to show a gain of at least 5 percent over last year. His analysis, released Thursday, is based on shopping patterns over the past decade. Shoppers are resilient, and they will

spend, he said. That’s good news for J.C. Penney’s

Myron E. “Mike” Ullman 3rd, chairman and chief executive offi cer, who vowed Thursday to have trend-right merchandise this holiday season to draw in consumers.

For the quarter ended Nov. 3, J.C. Penney said net income dropped to $261 million, or $1.17 a diluted share, from $287 million, or $1.26, in the prior year on sales that slipped 1.1 percent to $4.73 bil-lion from $4.78 billion. Operating income fell 18.5 percent to $411 million. “After the completion of a strong back-to-school season and a favorable response to our early fall merchandise, we were disap-pointed to see sales weaken dramatically in September and October,” Ullman said in a statement.

On a conference call with analysts, Ullman said, “For the fi rst time, we really saw a change in consumer sentiment re-fl ecting the soft housing market, the sub-prime market and the psychological effect of fuel prices. Knowing that we took sig-nifi cant steps to best position ourselves, including laser focus on ensuring our operating expenses are in line with sales levels as well as managing our inventory through targeted promotions, [we will] consistently clear merchandise at appro-priate prices within the selling climate.”

Ullman said the aim is to have “an on-going fl ow of fresh, compelling merchan-dise going forward. This is particularly important, as we believe the consumers are ‘appointment shopping’ for the holi-day. We believe we are giving them great reasons with our gift assortments to shop at J.C. Penney.”

Ullman said, however, that the com-pany is being “realistic about our ex-pectations for the balance of the year to refl ect the realties [of the consumer en-vironment].” To that end, the company lowered its fourth-quarter EPS estimate to a range of $1.65 to $1.80 a share, which is down from prior guidance of $2.41. Full-year EPS estimates were lowered to a range of $4.63 to $4.78, which is down

from a prior estimate of $5.50 a share.On the conference call, Robert B.

Cavanaugh, executive vice president and chief fi nancial offi cer of J.C. Penney, said, “Sales trends indicate that consumers are cutting back on some spending, as particu-larly evident in sales of fall outerwear and

home furnishings.” The cfo said the suc-cessful back-to-school period bodes well for the retailer’s position this holiday season.

In regard to the Sephora store-within-a-store, Cavanaugh said: “There are now 47 Sephoras inside J.C. Penney locations and this business is exceeding plan. As we head into the fourth quarter — not-withstanding the overall factors impact-ing the consumer — we see some encour-aging signs. A return to more seasonal temperatures has led to increased traffi c and some pickup in the sales of seasonal merchandise. Early response to our holi-day assortments has been good as we set stores several days earlier.”

During the question-and-answer ses-sion on the call, Deborah Weinswig, Citigroup analyst, asked Ullman why women’s wear continues to perform well at J.C. Penney. “First of all, I think we are very trend-right, which we learned during July and August,” Ullman explained. “We had very, very good selling in juniors, jew-elry and casual missy, as well as dresses in our special size business. So I really feel that the combination of our merchandised action teams working together with the trend consultants and product develop-ment [offers] what the customer is looking for. Our issue is frankly that we need cus-tomers’ sentiment to be favorable and we need traffi c, particularly in the malls.”

After the stock market closed Thursday, Kohl’s Corp. said its third-quarter earn-ings dropped 13.6 percent to $194 million, or 61 cents a diluted share, from $224.5 million, or 68 cents a diluted share, in the prior year on sales that increased 4.8 per-cent to $3.8 billion from $3.7 billion.

“Our sales results refl ected a diffi cult overall environment. We continued to operate our business in a conservative manner, managing inventory investment as we continued our improvement in gross margin while reducing expenses where possible without hurting the cus-tomer’s in-store experience,” said Larry Montgomery, chairman and ceo of Kohl’s.

The results prompted the company

to lower full-year earnings estimates. Kohl’s predicts earnings of $3.52 to $3.58 a share, down from previous estimates of $3.77 to $3.87 a share.

Customer Growth Partner’s Johnson said he expects holiday sales to be “in line with average growth rates of the past decade. As we said after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when gasoline prices rose well above $3 per gallon, Americans are far more resilient than the experts expect. And just as sales rose 7 percent at holiday 2005 despite Wall Street expectations of a low-growth Christmas, 2007 will see over 5 percent holiday sales growth, held down only by a stubborn housing slump.”

Johnson said he expects that this year’s “It” items “are not handbags, but iPhones and Wii’s. Nobody stands in line to buy a handbag or a sweater. But they do stand in line at 5 a.m. at every Wal-Mart and Best Buy in the country on mornings Wii shipments are arriving.”

Fitch Ratings said in its report Thursday that “promotional activity is earlier and broader than last year as retailers seek to drive store traffi c and clear excess apparel inventory. While re-cent headlines about toy recalls could di-vert demand to U.S.- and European-made products, overall toy demand should re-main strong. In addition, sales in some categories, such as consumer electron-ics, should fare better than others, given the price accessibility and continued de-mand for popular products.”

The Fitch report said next year’s ex-pected high energy costs; weak housing and credit markets, and increased unem-ployment rates “will weigh on consumer confi dence and spending. While these factors will impact lower-income consum-ers more signifi cantly than those at high-er income levels, consumers at all but the highest income levels are expected to moderate discretionary spending with fewer aspirational purchases and more trading down among retail channels.”

— With contributions from Liza Casabona

“For the fi rst time, we really saw a change in consumer sentiment refl ecting the soft housing market, the subprime market and the psychological effect of fuel prices.”

— Myron E. Ullman 3rd, J.C. Penney Co. Inc.

Kohl’s third-quarter earnings dropped 13.6 percent on sales that increased 4.8 percent.

BIGGER AND BIGGER: Looks like most fashion magazine publishers can breathe a sigh of relief as 2007 comes to a close. Titles capped off a strong year as retail and apparel advertising helped lift revenues. But some magazines reported gains, thanks not only to their core books, but through corporate programs and special issues, as well. For example, Vogue retakes the top spot over its fashion competitors, besting In Style with a 2007 page count of 3,222 pages. However, Vogue had some corporate help— a handful of Condé Nast titles were boosted by either Fashion Rocks or new program Movies Rock. Meanwhile, Hearst Magazines spun off its own corporate efforts in 30 Days of Fashion and 30 Days of Beauty.

In Style publisher Lynette Harrison explained that the magazine’s 8.3 percent decline in ad pages, to 3,197, came in part because some special advertising units from retailers in 2006, such as Macy’s, Target, J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus, did not return this year. “We were expecting the fourth quarter to come back much more strongly, especially in the retail category,” she said, claiming retailers were not as optimistic about holiday spending this year as consumers became more concerned about the contracting housing market and increasing gas prices.

Nevertheless, core fashion titles managed to post strong gains despite consumer concerns. W posted an 11.7 percent gain in pages, to 2,216. Glamour, which saw a boost from not only corporate but also its own marketing programs, Reel Moments and Reel Music, increased pages 10.5 percent on top of a 7.5 percent gain last year. This year’s 2,089 ad pages is the most in Glamour’s history.

Elle posted a 6.2 percent gain this year to 2,510 pages. Harper’s Bazaar, which this year celebrated its 140th anniversary, grew pages 17 percent on top of a 9 percent gain last year, to 2,075 pages.

The big winners this year include More, which just lost its editor in chief, Peggy Northrop, to Reader’s Digest last week. Pages grew 19.1 percent on top of a 12.8 percent growth the year prior. Vanity Fair, which delivered several big issues, such as July’s Africa issue and May’s Green issue, grew pages 16.7 percent this year, to 2,262. Vice president and publisher Edward Menicheschi said having a publishing calendar of special issues signals to advertisers that “every issue is an event.” Additionally, most of the men’s category reported gains in paging. Maxim fi nished fl at at 930 pages. Details, Men’s Journal and Men’s Health all reported double-digit increases over the year prior.

Finally, the teen category had a rough go in 2007 — the category has shrunk over the past fi ve years and the three largest titles have posted fl at or declining ad page growth. Teen Vogue continues to dominate the subset, reporting 1,234 pages, roughly equal to last year’s fi gure. Seventeen reported a 4 percent contraction, while Cosmogirl’s pages declined 6.8 percent. Here, WWD charts the biggest fashion books’ ad page performance for 2007. Numbers are a combination of publishers’ best estimates and data from Publishers Information Bureau. — Stephanie D. Smith FAREWELL, ADIEU, AUF WIEDERSEHEN: The abruptness of magazine deaths can leave little time for goodbyes, but former House & Garden editor in chief Dominique Browning did get to say farewell a day after the title closed — on its Web site. (The

site will offi cially die in about a month, to honor advertiser agreements, said a spokeswoman for Condé Nast, which also owns WWD.) “Our magazine showed beautiful rooms, perfect in their design, and what I wanted to talk about was how things aren’t always perfect in those rooms,” Browning wrote on the site. “We wish and hope that we can make homes in which we can let in only the good, and keep the bad out. Well, we couldn’t keep the bad out this time around.”

Using her editor’s letter to write narrative columns, she wrote, began as “almost a political statement: All my friends were so surprised that I was going to ‘a magazine like House & Garden…’ with all the implications that it was somehow beneath me, coming as I did from a journalistic background with Newsweek, Texas Monthly, Esquire.”

Just over a week after Browning wrote her farewell, about 60 readers had posted, at the magazine’s invitation, their own goodbyes. “In a very real sense, I am in mourning,” wrote one. Several addressed Browning personally: “My dear Dominique, can it be that we won’t be having our monthly chat any longer? I feel like a wise friend of exceptional value is leaving town.” Many indicated they were far older than the typical bulletin board poster.

There were harsh words for House & Garden’s competitors: Architectural Digest is, in the words of one poster, the “conceited big sister.” One seemed keenly attuned to prevailing publishing industry rumors: “I can’t help but surmise that this decision has been made to give room for Vogue Living, which strikes me as sad and untimely and terribly unfortunate.”

The poster who wrote, “You were eaten by your younger sibling Domino — which has nothing smart to read but lots of glossy catalogue-style photo layouts,” might be dismayed to fi nd that clicking on the subscription tab on the House & Garden Web site bounces a user directly to Domino’s. The spokeswoman said several magazines, including Domino, would split the House & Garden subscription list, but said a fi nal decision on which ones has not yet been made. — Irin Carmon

ANOTHER ONE ON THE WEB: T: The New York Times Style Magazine will soon introduce a more polished Web site for readers and, more importantly, luxury advertisers, called T Online. The Web site, which has been in the works for more than six months and has had several million dollars poured into it, very closely mirrors each issue of the supplement. And, like the online Times itself, T Online will offer the supplement’s entire contents for free (saving those design/fashion/beauty/travel-mad readers the $4 the Sunday Times costs). Horacio Silva, features director/online director, said this was rule number one with the site, noting he can be frustrated over the limited content that some Web sites provide.

Of course, the site will introduce a new blog, including the musings of one celebrity per week. Silva said a “big American designer” has signed on for the fi rst week, although he declined to reveal the identity. A ticker will run at the bottom of the site, alerting readers to the most recent blog posts. “This will not be Chic Happens 2.0,” Silva said, comparing T Online to his old fashion column. Video coverage will be posted often, but Silva

promises it will not look similar to the “bad TV” that is shown on some competitors’ sites.

Seth Rogin, vice president of advertising, said Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale’s and the LVMH Group have signed on to advertise on the site. “This is not value-added, it’s paid,” he said. “We’ve created an environment that brands will feel at home advertising in.”

To kick off the site, Silva said it will have a presence at Art Basel Miami Beach. He intends to produce a daily newsletter, with a distribution of 10,000, that will include T Online blog postings. — Amy Wicks

ANYTHING TO BE PRETTY: That vanity knows no limits doesn’t usually surprise Allure, a magazine about beauty. In October, Allure published “Scared Straight,” examining a seemingly miraculous hair straightening solution from Brazil that has recently been enthusiastically adopted in the U.S. even as it has drawn regulatory scrutiny in Brazil. Allure’s laboratory tests of samples used in various salons found at least 10 times the amount of formaldehyde deemed safe by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Panel. The story also saw broad misinformation among many American stylists using it, and questioned the effi cacy of safety measures taken to protect them from repeated exposure.

But perhaps surprisingly, the story hasn’t killed the trend, nor has it had much of a negative effect on the three salons highlighted in the story.

“It gave us a huge plug,” said Harley DiNardo, owner of Shampoo Avenue B in New York, who said he has hired two extra staffers to help out at the salon to meet sudden demand for the treatment. Many of his new customers have reported fi nding the salon in Allure, he said. “We didn’t know if the article was going to help us or hurt us,” he said. “I felt like [writer Mary A. Fischer] was going to do a positive thing but she basically tried to scare everyone.

There are way worse smells and chemicals that you can put in your hair. It doesn’t damage your hair. There shouldn’t be any concern if the stylist knows what they’re doing. We’re very, very busy. The phone still rings off the hook.”

Business is so good, DiNardo said, that he and an employee are becoming the U.S. distributors of the solution, for which DiNardo traveled to Brazil. He plans to train other salons in its use.

The owner of the Argyle Salon & Spa in Los Angeles also said there had been a noticeable uptick in demand for the procedure, citing three walk-ins on Saturday alone, each mentioning the Allure story. (Mauricio Ribeiro, the Brazilian stylist at Argyle who pioneered the use of the solution, did not return calls.) The third salon mentioned in the magazine, Spalano Salon & Spa in Boca Raton, Fla., has stopped using the solution because of health concerns. “When we learned what it is, we stopped immediately,” said co-owner Emma Bezdek.

Allure editor in chief Linda Wells was fl ummoxed. “It’s so illogical that people would willfully pursue something that they know is dangerous,” she said. “But I do think that this is a part of the phenomenon of the power of vanity, and some women will just ignore the consequences.” She compared it to women afraid to quit smoking lest they gain weight. As to whether a jaded public had become skeptical of health risks reported in the media, she said, “We’re not talking about whether red wine raises or lowers cholesterol. We’re talking about formaldehyde, which is a known carcinogen.” — I.C.

WWD.COM13WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

Media/Advertising

MEMO PAD 2007 AD PAGE PERFORMANCE 2007 pages 2006 pages % change 2007 vs. 2006 % change 2006 vs. 2005

SOURCE: PUBLISHERS’ ESTIMATES PROVIDED TO AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS. *ADDED ONE MORE ISSUE IN 2007.**ADDED A HOLIDAY ISSUE.***WENT TO EIGHT ISSUES IN 2007 FROM THREE IN 2006.

FASHION Allure 1,735 1,560 11.2 9.2Cosmopolitan 1,822 1,739 4.8 -4.0Elle 2,510 2,364 6.2 14.4Essence 1,476 1,457 1.3 0.2Glamour 2,089 1,890 10.5 7.5Harper’s Bazaar 2,075 1,772 17.1 9.3In Style 3,197 3,487 -8.3 -0.5Lucky 1,908 1,850 3.2 -0.4Marie Claire 1,384 1,340 3.3 -0.5Self 1,364 1,255 8.6 4.2Shape 1,542 1,373 12.4 1.5Town & Country 1,739 1,777 -2.1 0.1Vanity Fair 2,262 1,939 16.7 -6.4Vogue 3,222 3,057 5.4 3.3W 2,216 1,984 11.7 1.1Women’s Health 646 435 48.3 113.6

TEEN Cosmogirl 740 794 -6.8 3.0Seventeen 895 936 -4.4 -3.7Teen Vogue 1,234 1,223 0.9 22.3 LIFESTYLE Martha Stewart Living 1,474 1,287 14.5 41.3More 1,302 1,093 19.1 12.8O, The Oprah Magazine 2,117 2,026 4.5 10.8Real Simple* 2,090 1,814 15.2 4.0Redbook 1,651 1,526 8.2 3.5

MEN Best Life 584 425 37.4 64.2Details** 1,369 1,242 10.2 5.5Esquire 1,163 1,188 -2.1 4.1GQ 1,874 1,766 6.2 6.0Maxim 930 931 0.0 -6.8Men’s Health 1,181 1,051 12.4 -5.9Men’s Journal 1,252 1,081 15.8 5.4Men’s Vogue*** 804 397 102.3 —

WWD.COM14 WWD, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007

By Robert Murphy

PARIS — Pierre Paulin, at 80, is one of the great old men of design, having influenced his trade with creations such as his Ribbon and Mushroom chairs. French presidents Georges Pompidou and François Mitterrand both enlisted him to decorate the Elysées Palace. As an exhibit of his furniture opens today and runs through Dec. 16 at Azzedine Alaïa’s gallery here, Paulin sat down with WWD to discuss the vagaries of design and pore over his storied career. He also re-vealed he’s starting to work again. “I started sketching again a few years ago,” he said. “I’m going to work with a new manufacturer soon. But it’s still top secret.”

WWD: What drew you to design?Pierre Paulin: I had two uncles I admired. One was a sculptor and the other an engineer. I started out want-ing to be like the fi rst one and I ended up being more like the second. I sculpted for three years and was forced to quit when I had an accident. In any case, I didn’t feel like an artist. I was too concerned with practical problems. WWD: Did starting out by sculpting infl uence your ap-proach to design?P.P.: Not at all. Art and de-sign are completely differ-ent. Art is a calling from God. But design is a career. You have contracts and engage-ments. You must respect your relationship to industry. It in-volves daily life. WWD: How did you get started?P.P.: France was in a state of de-struction after the war. I was part of a group of people who were devel-oping “reconstruction” products. Products that were more sober, somewhat in the manner of the Scandinavian look. WWD: Were you successful right away?P.P.: Not at all! My fi rst concern was sur-vival. No one in France was interested in the type of thing I was doing. There was a very small elite interested in similar things. France seemed so dusty and antique next to the Scandinavian countries, which were liv-ing in a totally new manner. It took France 30 years to get design. WWD: What was your fi rst big break?P.P.: A Dutch fi rm, Artifort, contacted me. That was 1958. Hans Knoll had arrived in France. I was crazy for Knoll. It was the fi rst time I’d seen a type of modernity that resonated with me. There was Herman Miller and Charles and Ray Eames, for whom I had the greatest admiration be-cause they were freer; Knoll was somewhat bourgeois. Ray and Charles Eames are the greatest designers of the 20th century in my estimation. WWD: People called your style Pop. Was it a refl ection of what was going on in the plas-tic arts? P.P.: It wasn’t derived from Pop Art. That arrived in France much later. I was Pop be-fore Pop! My aesthetic was determined by technical choices. It was a consequence. I did a chair that was covered with a swim-suit material. It was somewhat inspired by existing forms. But it led to me fi nding forms that were more personal. It wasn’t easy. For a long time, I was ashamed of the Ribbon chair because it was so provoca-tive. You have to understand, I’m part Swiss and German as well as Northern Italian and French. It took me a while to shake off my Puritanical

core and learn to please the public. WWD: How did your collaboration with Georges Pompidou come about?P.P.: Pompidou wanted something mod-ern that would inspire the French to em-brace the future. He thought the country was hemmed in by its traditions. His team looked in the foreign magazines and decid-ed on me because my name came up a lot. And Madame Pompidou loved my style. WWD: You decorated the presidential pal-ace like a spaceship. Was that your idea of the future?

P.P.: [The decoration] was the solution to the param-eters imposed on me. The restrictions dictated my choices. They told me I couldn’t touch the walls and they told me I couldn’t make any noise. So everything was created in a factory before it was installed. WWD: Did Pompidou like it?P.P.: I think the president was a traditionalist, some-one who loved modernity without really knowing what it was. Madame Pompidou told me the Queen of England and the ruler of Saudi Arabia loved it. As for the rest, I have no idea. WWD: The furniture you created for Mitterrand was completely different, not at all Space Age.

P.P.: Mitterrand was even more traditional than Pompidou. He wanted traditional things. When you are in the service of power, you try to express the needs of the leader.

WWD: Do you fi nd that design has changed a lot today?

P.P.: Not in industries like cars and air-craft. But in furniture it’s changed entire-ly. Before it was industrial, today it’s more artisanal. And designers take themselves for artists. That amuses me. An artist who develops furniture that is totally uncom-fortable and unusable — it’s astonishing. A designer isn’t an artist. We are in the service of the public. We are not meant to serve ourselves. WWD: What about the incredible prices being paid for design today?P.P.: I don’t understand why you’d collect things like that. It’s a self-contained mar-ket that I don’t understand. But maybe it’s something that will detach itself from the real métier in the future. WWD: Are there any contemporary design-ers you admire?P.P.: There’s a young German with a Yugoslavian name? WWD: Konstantin Grcic?P.P.: Yes, that’s right. He’s emblematic of the hope for a new generation. And there’s an Englishman. WWD: Jasper Morrison?P.P.: Exactly. He won’t transform the world. He’s classical, and he doesn’t try to astonish, which I often tried to do. But he searches, like I tried to do, to serve a public. That’s our function as designers.

NEW YORK — There are certain things that just go hand in hand: Lucy and Desi, billboards and Times Square, boeuf Bourguignon and pinot noir. France and fashion are another. So it’s not surprising that New York’s French Institute Alliance Française has named the month of November Fashion Month, with a roster of events dedicated to all things la mode. What is intriguing, though, is that this marks the first time the organization has embarked on such an endeavor. Even though FIAF has held the occasional fashion event here and there, in its 109 years, it has never before plunged into so large-scale a survey of style.

What got the party started? Less than a year ago, Lili Chopra, director of programming at the institute, invited Pamela Golbin, curator of the Musée de la Mode et du Textile, to give a talk on Cristobal Balenciaga. (Golbin had organized last year’s big Balenciaga retrospective in Paris and written the accompanying book.) The two soon struck up a friendship which led to brainstorms about other possible events at FIAF. “Then Pamela had this notion of doing [James Lipton’s] ‘Inside the Actors Studio’ but for fashion,” says Chopra. Enter this month’s “Fashion Talks with Pamela Golbin,” a series of conversations between the curator and a guest designer that take place on Fridays. “We want to establish a transatlantic conversation,” Golbin adds. Last week, she spoke to Véronique Nichanian, men’s wear designer at Hermès. Next up will be Bruno Frisoni of Roger Vivier on Nov. 30 and, on Dec. 7, Olivier Theyskens of Nina Ricci. “We wanted to choose someone representing women, one for men and one for accessories,” says Chopra, explaining how they decided on the final three. “They all offer different experiences. And Pamela has intimate relationships with these designers — she really knows in detail all their work and lives.”

Guests at FIAF are getting peeks at the lives of other designers, too. In addition to the lectures, the center’s weekly Cinéma Tuesdays screenings are taking on the theme of fashion icons; last week, for instance, the lineup included two back-to-back documentaries on Yves Saint Laurent. Other selections will include 1998’s “In & Out of Fashion,” on the life of photographer

William Klein, with appearances by Jean Paul Gaultier and agnès b.’s Agnès Troublé. And then, of course, there are fl icks like “Funny Face” and “And God Created Woman” starring, respectively, Audrey Hepburn and Brigitte Bardot. Chopra explains that she chose these to show “how cinema infl uences fashion,” adding with a laugh that the bikini wouldn’t be where it is without Bardot. Jean Seberg’s in there, too, for her pixie turn in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless.” “For us, she completely revolutionized the haircut,” Chopra notes.

If you can’t attend one of the above scheduled events, no matter. Fashion Month at FIAF also includes a daily (and free) exhibit, “A Woman’s Obsession,” by photographer Chantal Stoman. It’s the fi rst Stateside stop for the exhibition, which explores the Japanese fascination with luxury brands like Chanel, after gallery rounds in Tokyo and Paris. And Chopra promises that this won’t be the last time the series takes place; she hopes to make it an annual event. “There are so many different angles in which we can really talk about fashion,” she says. And she already has her eye on what she’d like to tackle next: “the relationship between fashion and performance,” she says.

— Venessa Lau

French Quarters

By John Zarocostas

GENEVA — Trade and agriculture ministers from developing nations, led by South Africa, India and Brazil, renewed their criticism on Thursday that the Bush administration is im-peding the Doha global trade talks over slashing farm subsidies, espe-cially on cotton.

“The U.S. is the biggest subsidizer of the cotton sector; it is very disturb-ing and worrying for us that the U.S. has rejected the draft text of the [agri-culture] chairman [Crawford Falconer of New Zealand] of addressing the dis-tortions in the cotton sector,” Lulama Xingwana, South Africa’s minister of agriculture, told reporters. “We have not seen any proposal or alternative that has come from the U.S. on how it will approach the cotton distortions. It is a matter of grave concern to us.”

The U.S. has rejected terms pro-posed in July that recommended an 82 percent cut in cotton subsidies. Kamal Nath, India’s minister for commerce and industry, said cotton is a make or break issue for the talks.

“Without a resolution on cotton,

there cannot be a resolution in ag-riculture,” Nath said at the end of a meeting of ministers and senior officials from the influential G20 group, which includes Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa.

“Any attempt to put the blame on the diffi culties in the negotiations on developing countries is mis-placed,” said Celso Amorim, Brazil’s foreign minister. “After all, this is an agricultural round, and we have to see what happens in agriculture in order to make our own moves in other areas.”

Ministers from the developing na-tions again stressed that what they are prepared to offer in lowering tariffs on industrial goods, which in-cludes textiles and apparel, would be proportionate to what they receive in agriculture from rich countries.

The group also chided Washington for its refusal to extend President Bush’s trade promotion authority, which gives him the power to negoti-ate trade deals without amendments from Congress. That authority expired in June.

Developing Nations Point to U.S. as Doha Roadblock

Pierre Paulin on the Function of Design

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Men’s Wear DesignerMen’s fashion retailer based in China isactively seeking an exp’d. Young Men’sFashion Head Designer/Merchandiser.Must be able to design full collection& lead merchandising/marketing teamin China. Frequent travel to China isreq’d. Fax resume to: 626-279-1398

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Chief Operating OfficerFast growing International Home Fragrance Company is looking for anenergetic and experienced COO to manage the daily operation of ourorganization while supporting the growth of the business to the next level.With direct reporting to the CEO/President, the COO will be responsible forplanning & directing all activities in the business operation and participatein the formulation of overall strategy, planning, and objectives for the company.REQUIREMENTS:Minimum of 5 years experience as a COO or VP of Operations in the consumerproduct industry. Design and Branding background is a plus.•Solid working knowledge of budgeting, sales, business development and strategic planning.•An established track record leading organizations to operational excellence. •Strong financial acumen with demonstrated success in project management to drive profitable growth

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