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eDAILY EDITION 17 AUGUST 2016 1

Fashion. Beauty. Business.

Room to GrowTJX is aiming to increase its store base by 50 percent. PAGE 3

Nothing says luxury like a classic silk pajama set — and designers keep returning to the staple, which has withstood the test of time. Here, Yolke's silk and elastane top and pants. For more, see pages 4 and 5.

CONTINUED ON PG. 8

● Electronics and apparel are the top two back-to-school sales categories.

BY VICKI M. YOUNG

Distressed denim, tracksuits, retro and stretch are the fashion trends expected to boost back-to-school sales this year.

And while b-t-s sales are expected to tick up from year-ago levels, those firms expected to do well will be the ones who can capitalize on the resurgence of denim and on the wear-now-buy-now trend.

IHS Global Insight’s Chris G. Chris-topher Jr. is forecasting 4.2 percent growth in b-t-s sales. He also said he expects $1 out of every $5.40 b-t-s retail sales dollars to be spent online this year. That’s in line with the 3.9 percent growth in b-t-s spend — $675 total versus $650 in 2015 — predicted by Brand Keys, a New York-based brand loyalty and emotional engagement research consultancy. Fung Global Retail & Tech-nology’s managing director Deborah Weinswig is predicting a rise of 2 to 3 percent,

THE MARKETS

Fashion TrendsExpected to AidBack-to-School

● The beauty company is planning to revamp scents business to end up more luxury brands.

BY ALLISON COLLINS

Divesting some fragrance brands is likely to be in the cards for Coty Inc. as the company looks to focus on its larger licenses.

The company has a plan to divest or dis-continue brands representing 6 to 8 percent of its net revenue and “a chunk of this will be in the fragrance area,” chairman and chief executive officer Bart Becht told WWD. “The more premium end of the market is the fastest-growing part of the market, this is also where we’re increasingly focused behind licensed brands, which will also be a focus going forward,” Becht said.

As part of Coty’s deal to buy 41 P&G beauty brands, the company will take over Hugo Boss and Gucci, among other licenses. In terms of core brands between both Coty and P&G, Coty plans to “nurture those much bet-ter with key pipeline initiatives and in-store execution,” Becht said on the company’s

BEAUTY

Coty May Shed Fragrance Lines To Shift Its Focus

CONTINUED ON PG. 7

FASHION

Bedtime Story

Scent by DesignPhilippe Starck enters the fragrance arena. PAGE 6

First TimerNatalie Portman discusses her directorial debut. PAGE 12

http://www.landsend.com/canvas-by-lands-end/?brandCode=modern&cm_mmc=CA-_-Brand2016-_-WWD-_-Canvas&csdids=136474801_309006269_73402267_4248738

17 AUGUST 2016 3

● Ceo Ernie Herrman said the off-pricer could add 1,900 stores in its current operations.

BY EVAN CLARK

TJX Cos. Inc. is looking at a much bigger off-price footprint.

President and chief executive officer Ernie Herr-man outlined the company’s future growth drivers to Wall Street Tuesday, telling investors that the 3,675-door retailer could grow that brick-and-mortar base by more than 50 percent to 5,600 doors.

The company, which just reported a 7 percent gain in second-quarter sales and better-than-ex-pected profits (although its outlook for the year failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations), is looking to grow sales from $30.9 billion last year to over $40 billion, though it hasn't made clear a time frame on that milestone.

The new stores laid out by Herrman would include nearly 1,400 more North American locations and another 500 doors in Europe and Australia combined.

“This reflects the opportunity we see with just our current chains and just our current markets alone and that's before contemplating the potential

to expand into new countries or open new chains in existing markets,” Herrman said.

The ceo is also looking to drive growth by increas-ing customer traffic and comparable-store sales and through new ideas, which he said are regularly being tested throughout the company.

“We are convinced we are attracting new custom-ers, driving more frequent visits to our stores and gaining market share,” he said.

TJX gets its goods from other retailers looking to clear inventory and bring in fresh merchandise as well as directly from vendors, which see the retailer as a key buyer.

Herrman noted that the company has more than 1,000 people “seeking the first best merchandise from the universe of more than 18,000 vendors in other 100 countries.”

Stifel analyst Richard Jaffe said the wind remains at TJX’s back.

“In the current macroeconomic environment, we believe the consumer continues to turn to off price for her shopping needs attracted to the channel’s value priced, trend-right merchandise," Jaffe said. "Additionally, the company’s improved marketing campaign, growing loyalty program and store remodels are successfully driving comps and traffic in our opinion.”

He also said noted the off-pricer's business model “sufficiently insulates TJX from Amazon” — a trick that brands across the retail spectrum are trying to pull off.

For now, the off-pricer certainly seems to be hold-ing more than its own in a world where department stores, including Macy’s Inc., are trimming back their store bases in an effort to concentrate opera-tions and grow more profitable.

TJX’s second-quarter net income rose 2.3 percent to $562.2 million, or 84 cents a diluted share, from $549.3 million, or 80 cents, a year earlier. Sales for the three months ended July 30 rose 7 percent to $7.88 billion from $7.36 billion as comparable-store sales rose 4 percent.

Both the bottom and top lines topped expecta-tions, as Wall Street was looking for a slight decline in net profits, to $537.1 million, and a slower 6.5 percent gain in sales.

Scott Goldenberg, chief financial officer and executive vice president, said the company’s inter-national comps were up 2 percent — marking a slow-down from a year earlier, when comps expanded by 5 percent.

“While sales in the U.K. were slightly lower than we planned, our trends leading up to the Brexit vote were very strong,” he said. “In addition, we were pleased to perform much better than many major retailers in the U.K. as the Brexit vote weighed on consumers there. We believe we are gaining signifi-cant market share in this environment.”

For the full year, TJX raised its comp sales to an increased 3 percent to 4 percent and set earnings per share in the $3.39 to $3.43 range. TJX had previ-ously been looking for comp growth of 2 percent to 3 percent and EPS of $3.35 to $3.42.

RETAIL

TJX Sees 50% Expansion Of Retail Footprint

● Richard Hayne said the quarter saw “substantial improvement in merchandise margins.”

BY EVAN CLARK

Fashion is back.At least according to Urban Outfitters Inc.’s chief

executive officer Richard Hayne, who reported the company had a 15.1 percent gain in second-quarter profits late Tuesday.

The ceo recalled that he saw more fashion excite-ment in spring than he’d seen in years but wasn’t ready then to call the resurgence.

That’s changed and he told Wall Street analysts on a conference call: “I repeat those comments again as we move into fall, except I believe the change is now upon us. Our customers are adapting to new looks and silhouettes as we speak. As in all such cycles, some customers and brands adopt newness faster than others, but the fact is, there's currently an

abundance of exciting fashion happening and this is very good for our brands, for [our company] and for our industry as a whole.”

Questioned by analysts, Hayne doubled down and said, “This is a fashion change that's happen-ing. And my experience is once it starts to happen, there's not much that stops it.” The ceo also reaf-firmed his belief in brick-and-mortar and said the retail market was due for a downsizing.

“There's no question, there are too many stores in North America and we start to see some of those stores going away; some of our competitors are closing stores at a reasonable rate, and there was just Macy's announcement of closing stores,” he said. “So, I think that you will continue to see a lot of stores close and go away, I think that's a positive thing for the industry and positive thing for all the, all the people including the ones that are closing the stores.”

He said the concept of a store was still valid, but that there would ultimately be fewer, larger stores

that deliver more of an experience.Urban Outfitters might already be seeing some

lift, from the fashion changes in the market and the experiences it offers.

The company’s net income increased 15.1 percent to $76.9 million, or 66 cents a share, from $66.8 million, or 52 cents, a year earlier.

Earnings per share came in 10 cents ahead of the 56 cents analysts had the company pegged for, helping drive Urban’s stock up 10.1 percent to $34.40 in after-hours trading.

Revenues for the three months ended July 31 advanced 2.7 percent to $890.6 million from $867.5 million. Comparable sales rose 1 percent with a 5 percent gain at Urban Outfitters, a flat performance at Free People and a 3 percent fall at the company’s Anthropologie Group.

The results were driven by positive comp sales and what Hayne described as “substantial improve-ment in merchandise margins.”

The company said its gross profit margin improved 178 basis points, to 38.45 percent of sales, and improvement that was “primarily driven by improvement in the Urban Outfitters and Anthropol-ogie Group brands maintained margins, with both brands delivering higher initial margins and lower merchandise markdowns compared to the prior year.”

BUSINESS

Urban Outfitters’ CEO Calls the Return of Fashion

● The Chinese e-commerce giant plans to host its second-ever countdown gala.

BY AMANDA KAISER

It’s only August but Alibaba is already setting the stage for its Singles’ Day sales bonanza on Nov. 11.

The Chinese e-commerce giant said Tuesday it plans to host its second-ever countdown gala leading up to the start of the sale — when the clock strikes midnight on Nov. 10, the eve of Singles’ Day, or 11.11 as Alibaba refers to it.

The e-commerce giant, which said last year’s Singles’ Day generated more than $14.3 billion in gross merchandise volume through its Alipay pay-ment platform, will broadcast live this year’s gala on Zhejiang Satellite TV. Alibaba will also live-stream the event via its media assets like Youku Tudou, Tmall TV Box and UC Web. Alibaba also revealed that it has snagged chemicals company Shanghai Jahwa as a sponsor.

Alibaba said it is offering consumers, companies and non-profit organizations four free one-minute advertising slots during the gala broadcast based on creative merit. The company said it wants to “encourage innovation and originality.”

Last year’s Singles’ Day festivities included an appearance from British actor Daniel Craig and a promotional video starring Kevin Spacey in charac-ter as Frank Underwood in “House of Cards,” which is an incredibly popular show in China.

Alibaba said last week that its first-quarter net profit slid 75 percent as it reported one-off gains in the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, revenue for the quarter ending June 30 grew 59 percent, beating market expectations.

In May, it emerged that the United States Securi-ties Exchange Commission was investigating Aliba-ba’s accounting practices, including how it reports results for Singles’ Day.

RETAIL

Alibaba Readies for Singles’ Day

Spring! ● An M Collections special issue

devoted to the men’s season.

Hike Tech ● The spring collections favored

technical outerwear and bright colors.

The Americans ● New York designers stayed true to

their aesthetics for spring.

PLUS: ● On the Radar ● They Are Wearing ● Social Studies

OUT THIS WEEK IN

“The one thing that I think the luxury market needs to understand is that culture has changed.”

— VIRGIL ABLOH

TOP 5TRENDINGON WWD.COM

● Victoria Beckham to Launch Limited-Edition Color Cosmetics With Estée Lauder

● Katy Perry Launches Shoe Collection With Global Brands

● Bon Appétit Reveals 'Hot 10': America's Best New Restaurants

● Amber Rose, Donald Robertson Flirt With ELC

● Westfield World Trade Center Reveals Opening Day Events

4 17 AUGUST 2016

● A pastel palette of soft pajamas is the ultimate statement of feminine luxe and comfort.

BY MAYTE ALLENDE

FASHION

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Josie Natori’s silk jumpsuit. Dogeared necklace.

La Perla’s silk, polyester and nylon top and shorts. Darner socks.

Fleur du Mal’s silk top and shorts.

17 AUGUST 2016 5

Bedtime Story CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

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LFrank’s silk charmeuse robe; Araks’ silk shorts.

Oscar de la Renta’s satin polyester

dress and robe.

6 17 AUGUST 2016

● Starck’s first fragrances, a collection of three eaux de toilette based on abstract concepts, go on sale next week.

BY RACHEL STRUGATZ

Philippe Starck is taking the artisanal fragrance trend to another plane. It’s more concept than consumer product.

Introduced by his licensee, Perfumes y Diseño Group, or PYD, as being a revolu-tionary, Starck leaped to the challenge with a rapid-fire series of head-turning one-liners that seemed to redefine the most common notions associated with fragrance.

This was the takeaway from architect Philippe Starck’s preview of Starck Paris in May, his fragrance brand that makes its debut next week. The first in the Parfums Starck Paris range is a collection of three eaux de toilette that will be carried exclusively at Neiman Marcus and Neimanmarcus.com starting Aug. 21. According to the company, Neiman’s will have an 11-day exclusive before the fragrances roll out to retailers in Spain and France. Each scent retails for $100 for 40 ml. and $150 for 90 ml.

Starck unveiled the premiere set of eaux de toilette, his cerebral approach to fragrance. Starck inked a deal with PYD Group in Sep-tember 2013, and spent the better part of the last three years working on this project.

“I don’t want to be pretentious. But it’s a product for intelligent people,” Starck said of the three scents: Peau de Soie, Peau de Pierre and Peau D’Ailleurs. The first is suggested for women, the second for men and the third, is, well, somewhere else. These are merely suggestions, as nothing is black or white in Starck’s world.

While the first two are traditional women’s and men’s scents — or as traditional as Starck could muster — Peau D’Ailleurs is the design-er’s effort at the scent of “elsewhere.” It’s genderless, and to understand “the mental game we have created,” Starck mandated that intelligence is a necessity.

He’s taking fragrance into a different realm. He’s developed these three eaux de toilette based on his concept of what humans are; namely, what we have been, what we are and what we will be.

He’s rethinking skin. To him, skin is the “barrier to the soul” and fragrance is an inti-mate skin. Each one is named for a different type of “skin,” or “peau” in Starck’s native French. For instance, Peau de Soie translates to the “skin of silk.”

“The real perfume isn’t the perfume alone; it’s perfume and the skin. I make the connec-tion about skin,” Starck said.

The flamboyant artist demonstrated the path of his thinking, over and over again. It’s clear that his out-of-the-box approach, which helped propel him into becoming a world-famous designer, has been applied to this project.

“It’s absolutely not marketing,” he declared. “We don’t do it to please the market. We make what we want, but we do it with honesty. We are the opposite of marketing — perhaps we will see the opposite result,” he said with a laugh.

“I have no legitimacy to make my own per-fume, but I have very precise ideas and they [PYD Group] understand that,” Starck added. He’s an admitted control freak, comparing

himself to the late Steve Jobs. He referred to Jobs as the “number one” control freak, and now that Jobs has passed on, Starck proudly declared himself the “emperor of the control freaks.”

He explained his creative process, which has nothing to do with the notes or actual ingredients that make up each scent. For him, perfumery is a story.

Peau de Soie is billed as a women’s scent whose femininity “wraps around a man’s heart” and the second eau de toilette he cre-ated, the men’s Peau De Pierre, is a masculine fragrance that has a “woman” on the inside. They were created by master perfumers Dominique Ropion and Daphné Bugey, and according to Starck, the female perfume was made by a man and the male’s was made by a woman.

Starck takes a dim view of men. In fact, he said he believes the only thing that can save men is if they “recognize their femininity inside.”

And Starck is clearly a lover of women. He confessed that when growing up he never did anything “that boys do.” He attended his first soccer game this spring while visiting Portugal and was astonished at the 64,000 men “screaming with valiance.”

Starck continued on about his self-hatred of men. He admitted that in his 67 years, he’s never liked or respected men, and called

them “stupid” and “useless.” As a heterosex-ual man himself, he has a “beautiful wife” and five children. Starck professed that the only other male friends he has are “very feminine.”

As for the Elsewhere scent, he said creating it was nearly impossible.

“I’m a dreamer. Since I’m born, I’ve [felt like I’m] not in real life, [like] I’m flying non-stop without limit. It’s not very comfortable,” Starck said of the inspiration for the third fragrance in the trio, Peau D’Ailleurs, or the skin of “elsewhere.”

At the onset of the project, he wanted the remaining fragrance to embody “the smell of emptiness” — the result of spending the entirety of his life “nowhere” or “elsewhere.” He instructed Annick Ménardo, the master perfumer who worked on the scent, to create “the smell of gray, the smell of positive sad-ness, the smell of space.”

Imagine putting this in a bottle.Ménardo was panicked, but eventually

Starck’s vision came to fruition. She was able to mix the ingredients to accomplish Starck’s goal: an elusive scent or the perfume of a shadow.

The essence of fragrance is that it could transport the user to a certain period of time — and Starck is seeking to use his scents as a vehicle to take fragrance to its roots.

Starck’s eccentricities abound in

everything from concept to packaging to the fragrance juice and even marketing materials.

For the latter, Starck worked with GBG, an English graphic design studio, on a series of portraits with faces so blurry that it’s hard to discern the gender of the subject.

He said it took more than a year to select the people in the images and hundreds of people were shot to find the perfect “mask of mystery and emotion” he wanted. He also said that he worked with GBG for over six months to find the right level of blur — one that would “keep the level of emotion” but never let the consumer recognize who the subject was.

Ironically, even though the bottles are arguably one of the most attractive objects about the product — they are clear with flow-ing, pale colored inserts that seamlessly con-nect like a puzzle when all three are placed alongside one another — he insisted that the bottles were an afterthought. The inserts are concave and fluid, giving the feeling that each bottle flows into the next.

“I am not interested by the bottle but by what is inside,” he said, a startling claim from such a world famous designer of objects. He called bottles nowadays “gimmicky,” saying that brands use advertising to get people to buy into their brand via the bottle. It’s an easy and non-costly way to purchase a designer object to “have the bottle in your bathroom.”

He’s witnessed a trend in perfumery that skews more to fun and less than serious. He cited Moschino’s Fresh Couture — the kitschy eau de toilette from the brand that comes inside its version of a Windex bottle.

“It’s really fun. But it’s not me….I am not looking for fun in perfume. I am looking for emotion; I am looking for soul; I am looking for philosophy; I am looking for everything — but not fun. There is no humor in perfume.”

He’s most concerned with what’s inside the bottle — although beyond his ideations and gender concepts — he’s decidedly vague about what actual notes and ingredients the perfumers used in creating each fragrance. The company declined to list the fragrance notes in 19 pages of press materials. When queried, a spokeswoman said, “Mr. Starck does not wish to emphasize particular ingre-dients or notes.”

Starck maintained that the perfumers had total freedom and the highest quality ingredients were used. And for Elsewhere specifically — the most abstract — it contains a molecule that’s never been used in a scent, he claimed, while not bothering to identify the supersubstance.

“It was a molecule which didn’t exist before, nobody has smelled it before. We are really somewhere else,” he said. “It’s purely, purely chemical. It’s a creation from human intelligence and because nobody has smelled it, there’s no name.”

Although he is clearly passionate about his perfume, don’t expect to see Starck sharing his enthusiasm with the public as part of an in-store appearance.

For him, a good product speaks for itself, and potential customers have to discover and understand Starck Paris for themselves. “If I can avoid those [I will]….I think it’s counter-productive,” he said, referring to store visits.

Starck said he’s almost done with the next collection of three fragrances that will come out next year, and he’s working on another three that will come out in 2018. The next set will also be based on the idea of skin — but even more abstract.

BEAUTY

Philippe Starck Makes Fragrance Debut With Parfums Starck Paris

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17 AUGUST 2016 7

up from last year’s increase of 0.4 percent.National Retail Federation’s chief econo-

mist, Jack Kleinhenz, discussed NRF’s 2016’s b-t-s and back-to-college survey in a recent call hosted by Telsey Advisory Group. The survey estimated an 11.5 percent increase in combined spending for both groups to $75.8 billion, up from $68 billion last year, with the largest budget categories being electronics and apparel. About 73 percent are expected to shop between one to two months before school starts, up from 62 percent last year. Only 22 percent are expecting to wait until the last week or two, down from 30 percent last year. The expectation is that earlier b-t-s shopping should promote more full-ticket sales this season compared with 2015.

Kleinhenz also said helping with b-t-s sales is the cycle that he refers to as stock-up and make-do. That’s the cycle where spending increases one year as consumers stock up on supplies, and then sales drop off the following year as consumers get a second year of use out of longer-lasting items, such as backpacks and computers. By the third year, the cycle repeats as items need to be replaced.

Global strategy and management consult-ing firm A.T. Kearney completed a survey in which 49 percent of consumers said they plan to spend more this year for b-t-s than they did a year ago, but only 17 percent of those buying for older students said bigger-ticket purchases will include apparel.

Participants in the survey — 1,500 Ameri-can adults 18 and over who said they plan to make b-t-s purchases this year — were asked 14 questions.

According to the report, while 49 percent plan to spend more, 34 percent said they will spend the same and 18 percent said they plan to spend less this year. Of the 49 percent, 30 percent plan to spend a “little more” and 19 percent plan to spend a “lot more.” On average 66 percent said they plan to shop for b-t-s between the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekend time period, while 13 percent plan to shop over the Labor Day weekend. Another 17 percent plan to shop throughout the year and only 4 percent said they made a purchase before July 4.

For those shopping for post-secondary students, the average median price for a “big-ticket” item is $205, compared with $105 for middle school/junior high and secondary school students. That’s compared with $51 for students attending primary and elementary school and $70 for pre-K and kindergarten students. Among the top categories for big-ticket purchases, 24 percent said it would be in electronics. Rounding out the top catego-ries are footwear at 18 percent and apparel at 17 percent.

And while technology through mobile apps and personalized promotions are driving interest — 80 percent said they are likely to use personalized mobile offers from their favorite retailers and 61 percent have signed up or intend to sign up for mobile payment apps — most of the shoppers at 57 percent say they intend to do the bulk of their shopping in a physical store.

As for the key factors driving purchases, 91 percent said low prices, discounts and sales promotions were a top consideration. Store, online or mobile experience was second, at 85 percent. Rounding out the top three factors was free, expedited shipping, at 41 percent.

Jefferies analyst Randal J. Konik said a survey of more than 500 consumers to gauge b-t-s and back-to-college spending

indicated that 50.8 percent intend to spend that same as last year, with those planning to spend more down to 25.5 percent and those spending less down to 23.7 percent. “Over-all the outlook for back-to-school spending within apparel and accessories is positive with roughly half of respondents planning on spending more on apparel and accessories this back-to-school season….Kohl’s and J.C. Penney are the preferred department stores [and] Target and Wal-Mart are the preferred discounters, although Amazon is rapidly gaining pace,” Konik said.

Macy’s Inc., Kohl’s Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. sounded notes of b-t-s optimism last week as they weighed in with second-quar-ter results that showed some indication of strengthening in their apparel businesses.

Although there doesn’t appear to be a dominant fashion trend yet, multiple themes such as innovative denim and Nineties fashion — in the form of a Seventies redux through flared jeans, matching sets, platform shoes and choker necklaces — dominate the b-t-s looks. Key items in young men’s include destroyed denim and T-shirts, polo shirts and long-sleeve T-shirts. In juniors, the key items include bodysuits in different sleeve lengths, layered dresses, skater skirts in different prints and denim jackets in crop and longer lengths.

Gabriella Santaniello, founder of retail research firm A-Line Partners and former managing director for retail market research at Wedbush Securities, said, “Retro is hot, with vintage a subset of retro. Retro is a little older in look, the Eighties and Nineties, the silk bomber jacket over a slipdress. For the retro look in the denim jacket, think Grease — but more Rizzo, not Sandy.”

Other emerging trends are influenced by the ath-leisure lifestyle that’s been rocking apparel for the last few years. According to Santaniello, “Everybody is focused on denim, but what we’re seeing now is a lot of stretch. Stretch is in everything, even in men’s woven shirts. Mixing ath-leisure with denim means the fabric is now feeling a lot like a knit, pro-viding the same level of comfort and stretch.”

Also back on the rise is the reemergence of the tracksuit a lá Juicy Couture, or in modern-day parlance, the combination of a sweatshirt hoodie with a matching pant. Hol-lister’s offerings for both teen boys and girls are called Matchbacks, with some hoodies featuring the Hollister logo that pairs with a coordinating sweatpant that has the Hollister name down one side of the pant leg.

According to FBR & Co.’s Susan Anderson, ath-leisure and other activewear styles are

popular search terms. Activewear is still a key search term at more than 50 percent, and performance pants is the search term that has garnered the highest online interest from FBR’s survey pool.

For several analysts, American Eagle Outfit-ters is their standout b-t-s winner. Another is Urban Outfitters which beat expectations for sales and earnings in its latest report.

Cowen & Co.’s Oliver Chen said the teen chain “has established itself as the denim destination in the mall and continues to gain share at the expense of other teen retailers who are in the midst of fashion transi-tions.” In a recent mall tour with Marlene Marchewka from Façon Consulting at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in New Jersey earlier this month, she noted that consumers are shopping throughout the year — the new normal — instead of stock up for b-t-s. The new shopping pattern is due to the growth in mobile, which allows consumers to buy closer to need, rather than buy-now-wear-later items. She noted that the breadth of Amer-ican Eagle’s denim offering and innovation covered fit, fabric and washes.

Stifel’s Richard Jaffe hosted a conference call earlier this month with Romney Jacob, director of Mindset for North America at trend-analysis and research service firm WGSN, which reviewed apparel offerings from American Eagle, Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters.

According to Jacob, retailers are operating with a greater sense of purpose, which has translated into “offering the consumer with a clearer and more compelling reason for her to shop their brands.” That is reflected in increased innovation, on-brand messaging and a clearly presented and edited trend message, she said.

As for American Eagle, Jacob said the strong denim offering, combined with on-trend, buy-now-wear-now merchandise should help drive traffic and full price sales. One example she gave for buy-now-wear-now is plaid in fall colors but in lightweight fab-rications. But what’s distinguishing the teen chain is her call out as the distressed denim winner for b-t-s, an important theme in this fall’s fashion offerings. The retailer’s “Denim Revolution,” showcasing its next generation of fabric technologies via Flex/4 Denim and Denim X, a four-way stretch fabric, has been a merchandising success, Jacob said.

Jacob also said Hollister “should be a mar-ket share winner this back-to-school season.” She described the assortment as beachy, casual and festival looks that fit with the buy-now-wear-now trend that should drive

full-priced sales. Hollister has the best fabric compared with its competitors, and offer the consumer high quality items at prices that represent significant value, she concluded.

In contrast, the Hollister brand’s older sibling Abercrombie & Fitch didn’t fare as well, with Jacob believing that the assortment was too broad with too many trends and not enough editing. That said, the subdued preppy color palette and expensive looking denim at value pricing featuring patchwork and distressing should appeal to consumers. The problem was the watering down of some of the teen trends to appeal to the older shop-per, and Jacob not being sure of how well this would resonate with consumers.

At Urban Outfitters, Jacob said the offerings made it the leader in buy-now-wear-now, but found the stores uninspiring because the messaging didn’t show consumers in the store what to focus on or show clear-trend stories, even though Urban is likely the go-to place for vintage denim.

Separately on the denim front, NPD Group Inc. said Tuesday that after witnessing a decline in sales in the adult jeans category in recent years, that pattern finally might be shifting in the opposite direction. In the 12 months ended June 2016, U.S. sales of men’s and women’s jeans grew 2 percent to nearly $13 billion, with recent growth driven by a 4 percent increase in the number of pairs of women’s jeans sold. NPD said nearly 304 million pairs of women’s jeans were sold in the 12-month period ended June 2016.

Marshal Cohen, NPD’s chief industry analyst, said that the denim industry has the opportunity to turn the positive shift in volume “into momentum toward significant dollar growth.” He added that while it’s good to see that women are buying more jeans than they were a year ago, the problem is that the average spend isn’t growing. “The industry needs to embrace this opportunity, which means innovation and more inventory upfront to help perpetuate the consumer interest,” he said.

Certain components such as stretch have been a component in women’s denim, but are now finding their way to the men’s market, and in the teen sector. One difference is that the stretch is more advanced, such as American Eagle’s four-way stretch technology. And properties in the ath-leisure market, such as odor resistance, are finding their way into the denim market. It would be interesting to see how well denim sales trend for b-t-s, and whether any of the innovations in fabrica-tion could be translated back, or further advanced, for the adult denim market.

Fashion TrendsExpected to AidBack-to-School CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

earnings call. “We’ll be focusing on our top brands, which are the brands like Gucci, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, etc.,” he said.

When asked about potential interest in indie fragrances, Becht said: “Artisanal fragrance is an interesting niche, I’m not going to comment if this is something of interest to us.”

Becht’s thoughts on the fragrance cate-gory came as Coty reported a net revenue decline of 8 percent for its fragrances segment. Coty said 5 percent of that dip was negative impact of foreign currency, and 3 percent was from the underlying business, driven by declines in celebrity and mass fragrance brands, reflecting weakness in the mass fragrance market, and a lower level of new launch activity in select brands. Those losses were offset from growth at Marc Jacobs and a “strong launch” of the Miu Miu fragrance.

For the quarter, Coty reported a $31 million net loss, about a 100 percent year-over-year decline. Adjusted net income was $45.7 million for the quarter, a 6 percent gain. In its earnings report Coty notes that its adjusted performance mea-sures have changed since the prior-year period to exclude the expense and tax effects associates with “amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets.” Integration costs are in line with what was expected, according to the company.

Net revenues for the quarter were up 6 percent to about $1.08 billion. Loss per share was down 9 cents. Adjusted earnings per share were 13 cents, above

consensus of 6 cents.For the year ended June 30, Coty

posted $156.9 million in net income, a 33 percent year-over-year dip. For the 12-month period, net revenues dipped 1 percent, to $4.35 billion. Adjusted net income was up 19 percent for the year, to $485.2 million. Earnings per share were 44 cents, and adjusted earnings per share were $1.37.

The company is in the process of pre-paring to close the P&G deal — which is slated for October.

“What is good is that we are better positioned now from a capability point of view, now that we have largely decided how we want to structure the business,” Becht said, speaking about the P&G transaction. “We also have completed the staffing of the organization.”

After the deal closes, Camillo Pane will take over as ceo, Coty said in July.

“He has a very strong track record from a growth and a profit point of view,” Becht said, highlighting Pane’s time at Reckitt Benckiser before he joined Coty, heading up the global health care segment. “He’s strong, strategically good with people and a very strong operator,” Becht said.

Coty has appointed a handful of other

executives, including Wella U.K. and Ire-land managing director Daniel Minney as general manager for the consumer beauty division, and Alexis Vaganay from BIC as general manager of luxury. Andrew Kel-sall has also been named general manager of professional beauty. Coty is adding Shannon Curtin, who boasts experience at Wal-Mart and Walgreens, on board as senior vice president North America for Coty consumer beauty. Simona Cattaneo, who was Burberry’s head of beauty, has taken over as chief marketing officer.

Becht highlighted some of Coty’s previous acquisitions as successful and indicative of the company’s integration capabilities. “The acquisitions, both Bour-jois and Hypermarcas are doing very well, which is very encouraging,” he said. “It shows that we can integrate acquisitions properly and make it work.”

Bourjois was a highlight of Coty’s color cosmetics figures. The division reported a 7 percent increase in net revenues, driven by a 10 percent contribution from the Bourjois acquisition, a 5 percent negative impact from foreign currency translation and 2 percent growth in the underlying business, the company said. Rimmel and Sally Hansen had strong growth due to new launches and the international rollout of Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel, the company said.

“The Bourjois acquisition, which closed in April 2015, has now reached profitabil-ity levels exiting the fiscal year consistent with the rest of our color cosmetics seg-ment, while net revenues showed strong growth in the most recent quarter,” Becht said.

Skin- and body-care net sales dropped 10 percent for the quarter, with $693.4 million. Of that dip, 6 percent was foreign currency translation and 3 percent was from the business, driven by declines in Playboy and Philosophy, offset by growth at Adidas. Becht said that he expects Philosophy to have a better fiscal 2017, in part due to product innovations.

“I’m feeling good about the plan for Philosophy for this fiscal year,” Becht said.

Coty shares dipped about 4 percent to $28.42 in morning trading.

“Fiscal 2016 showed our continued progress in our strategy of building a healthier and better business,” Becht said in a statement. “In support of this strategy, we are actively preparing for the transformational merger with the P&G beauty brands business. During the year, reported revenues were positively impacted by our completed acquisitions, in line with our strategy, but negatively impacted by foreign currency. On a like-for-like basis, we drove net revenue growth in our power brands, on which we put disproportionate focus, outper-forming the overall business. Reported operating and net income were low-ered by acquisition-related costs. On an adjusted basis, we generated solid growth in profitability and margins, with growth in the full-year EPS.”

“Our acquisition of the digital market-ing platform, Beamly, is contributing to a step change in our capabilities to digitally engage with our consumers. The Brazil acquisition, which closed in February 2016, is also showing strong revenue and profit momentum in its first full-quarter results, with the integration with Coty’s Brazil business expected to be completed by September 2016.”

“While it is premature to comment on the outlook for the combined business as the transaction has not yet closed, we continue our work on building a healthier and better Coty stand-alone business,” Becht continued.

Future mergers or acquisitions could very likely be in the cards for Coty going forward. “M&A is fundamentally not inter-esting unless we can grow the business from an organic point of view,” Becht said on the call. “We will complement our organic growth strategy with M&A when appropriate.”

8 17 AUGUST 2016

Coty May Shed Fragrance Lines to Shift Its Focus CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

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● The beauty retailer is paying tribute to the city with its Westfield World Trade Center location.

BY ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

With Tuesday’s opening of its seventh New York store, located this time at the Westfield World Trade Center, Kiehl’s is paying tribute to the city where the company started more than a century ago.

The 900-square-foot shop is just a walk away for Kiehl’s USA president and TriBeCa resident Chris Salgardo. “As a 165-year-old company, without question we wanted to be part of the rebuilding of downtown. What better way to commemorate our heritage than with the rebuilding of downtown New York?” he said. “And I can tell you by today’s crowd — this is going to be a home run."

With more than 165 stores

worldwide, the company plans to broaden its reach with a new location in Austin in two months followed by a Disney Springs Orlando location later this year. The 2017 openings may include Palm Springs and Napa Valley, Calif., Phoenix and additional stores in Los Angeles. Expansion in freestanding stores and wholesale accounts — a total of about 450 doors — have the most potential for the brand, Salgardo said.

For its limited-edition holiday collec-tion, Kiehl’s is partnering with FAILE, a Brooklyn-based collaboration between artists Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller. Consumer culture, religious traditions and the urban environment are some of the subjects explored by blurring the boundaries between fine art, street art and popular culture. They will provide the illustrations for the retailer, which will in turn donate 100 percent of its net profits for the limited-edition items up to $100,000 to help provide 1.1 million meals through the hunger-relief charity Feeding America.

In another arena, Salgardo just wrapped the six-day 1,200-mile Kiehl's LifeRide for amfAR Saturday in Phila-delphia. In the past seven years, Kiehl’s involvement with this cause has cov-ered 11,000 miles and helped raise $1.6 million for eight research-related grants focused on trying to find a cure and a vaccine for both AIDS and HIV through amfAR. Noting that there are 40 million people worldwide living with HIV and one in six American is diagnosed with the disease every hour, Salgardo said there are a lot of interesting statistics that people don’t necessarily know about.

To launch this year’s ride, Salgardo helped ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange and he rode his motor-cycle through Saks Fifth Avenue’s his-toric New York store thanks to senior vice president and director of the New York flagship John Cruz. "I don’t know that I will ever get that chance to do that again. I have to really give it up to Saks. It was really an incredible moment for them to give up their store to us like that."

Whoopi Goldberg and Dita Von Teese helped to further the cause by appear-ing in Kiehl's first PSA titled "The Cure is in Your Hands" through a partnership with amfAR. Recalling how, at a Kiehl's event in West Farms, Conn., a 25-year-old woman introduced herself and her eight-month-old daughter — both of whom are HIV positive — Salgado said, "It was just a stark reminder of why we do this."

FASHION

Kiehl's Opens Seventh New York Store

Divine Decadence by Marc Jacobs

Chris Salgardo rides into Saks for Kiehl's LifeRide for amFar.

10 17 AUGUST 2016

● Panelists discussed what the Millennial male wants at retail and the importance of data.

BY ARIA HUGHES

LAS VEGAS — Project is expanding its scope.

Amidst the challenging retail environment, the men's trade show, which takes place this week in Las Vegas, has introduced Pivot, a new area dedicated to technology solutions for fashion brands and retailers.

To mark the new section, Project hosted a panel on Monday morning moderated by Deborah Weinswig, managing director of Fung Global Retail and Technology, that attempted to offer definitive answers surrounding the question that's top of mind for many trade show attendees: what do Millennial men want at retail?

According to panelist Nick Graham, the chief executive officer of the Nick Graham Organi-zation, the entrepreneurial Millennial male doesn't want to look like he works at IBM — Gra-ham cited a 75 percent decrease in neckwear over the last 20 years. Because of this, Graham is banking on a look he calls post-prep — he likened prep to a Prius and post-prep to a Tesla — which consists of affordable pieces that make the customer feel like an individual.

"Three years ago it was all about elevated basics, but now guys want those special pieces," said panelist Matthew Sebra, the digital style director at GQ who attributed some of this trend to NBA players who are dressing competitively.

Panelist Nelson Mui, vice president men's fashion director at Hudson's Bay, agreed with this sentiment.

"People are looking for differentiated prod-uct and customization," said Mui, who said Hudson's Bay has offered that with in-store acti-vations that enable customers to update their pieces with patches and embellishments. For holiday, Mui said the retailer's Lord & Taylor division will provide unique product with its "190 Ways To Shine," initiative, which will fea-ture exclusive pieces across all of its categories.

Lord & Taylor has also tried to speed up the process of bringing more trends to the floor with its private label that offers on-trend silhouettes at affordable prices. For example, a souvenir jacket retails for around $98.

"We are trying to create a shift and quickly respond to what the consumer is telling us because they are now the fashion director," said Mui.

On the technology side, panelists Greg Petro, the chief executive officer and founder of analytics firm First Insight; and Karthik Sridhar, chief executive officer of Supply.AI, a technology platform that helps retailers prevent returns by using artificial intelligence, both believe that retailers and brands need to focus on minimizing mistakes.

"Because of e-commerce, the propensity to return things becomes easier and constrains brands' cash flow," said Sridhar. "There needs to be more focus on what people aren't buying, which gives retailers the information they need to make better choices."

Petro agreed and added that because it will be hard for retailers to compete with fast-fash-ion manufacturers, they need to hone in on things they can control by using analytics.

"Retailers need to know what consumers want out of the products and how much they want to pay for it," said Petro. "They need to know what side of the table should we be on to get the highest return and how can we mini-mize the wrong."

MEN'S

Project Introduces Pivot Section

● The series features Amanda Steele, Cipriana Quann and Chriselle Lim.

BY LISA LOCKWOOD

Gemfields, a leading supplier of responsibly sourced colored gemstones, has teamed with Made to Measure, IMG’s proprietary channel, on a branded content series pre-miering Sept. 9 to coincide with NYFW: The Shows.

The Gemfields series features beauty blogger Amanda Steele, Cipriana Quann of Urban Bush Babes and international blogger Chriselle Lim.

Building off of Gemfields’ “Ruby-In-spired Stories” campaign and as part of the mining company’s overall strategy to build awareness of colored gemstones, the women are featured in three imagina-tive narratives discussing the importance of color as it relates to fashion and their own personal style. The films will launch at a VIP event on Sept. 9 during New York Fashion Week, and will live on M2M, as part of its In Conversation series, as well as Gemfields’ web site and social media platforms.

The In Conversation series will be shown in conjunction with the “Ruby-In-spired Stories” campaign, Gemfields’ own collection of short films that reveal the hidden meaning behind this gemstone. The “Ruby Inspired Stories” films were unveiled earlier this year at an event in London and will also appear in a global advertising and social media campaign slated for this fall.

Gemfields’ collaboration with NYFW is the latest initiative the company has

undertaken to promote colored gem-stones and highlight its connection to the fashion industry. Most recently, Gemfields partnered with Muse Showroom on a collection of fashion-forward ruby and emerald jewelry that was launched using the see-now-buy-now business model. Last year, Gemfields collaborated with 18 Bergdorf Goodman jewelry designers on a ruby and emerald collection created in celebration of the retailer’s new jewelry salon. The Gemfields In Conversation film will feature select pieces from both the Muse and Bergdorf’s collaborations, along with jewelry from Fabergé.

“At Gemfields, we’re always driven to find innovative ways to share our love of color. Through our partnership with New

York Fashion Week, we have found the perfect channel to connect with taste-makers who inspire and lead the culture, and through them celebrate color with a dynamic new audience,” said Sally Morrison, Gemfields’ director of sales and marketing — Americas.

The Gemfields series follows other M2M series such as Marc Jacobs’ “Off Book,” “Battle of Versailles,” (partnered with Maybelline) and “Valentino: Inside the Factory.”

M2M features original programming, classic fashion films and runways shows and covers the world of fashion and style through storytelling. The shows can be viewed on Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Android TV and Xbox.

FASHION

Gemfields Creates Films to Promote Color During NYFW

● The White House said the retail giant joined 70 other companies in a vow to ease job barriers.

BY KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has joined other companies in signing a pledge to help provide more opportunities and eliminate barriers to potential job applicants with criminal records, the White House said Tuesday.

The “Fair Chance Business Pledge,” launched by the Obama administration in April, urges the private sector to do its share in “creating a pathway for a second chance” for formerly incarcerated individuals.

“Since the president took office, this

administration has been committed to reforming America's criminal justice system and highlighting the importance of reducing barriers facing justice-involved individuals who are trying to put their lives back on track,” the White House said. “Over 2.2 million individuals are incarcer-ated in American prisons and jails, and the vast majority of them will return to their communities. Improving education and job opportunities for these individuals has a recognized effect of reducing crime and will make our communities safer.”

Wal-Mart was among a group of 70 new companies, colleges and other entities that have signed the pledge, bringing the total number of employers to 185, the White House said. By signing the pledge, the companies are “voicing strong support for economic opportunity for all, including

the approximately 70 million Americans who have some form of a criminal record,” according to an administration fact sheet.

In addition, companies make a commit-ment to reduce barriers, including institut-ing practices known as “banning the box,” where employers delay inquiries about a job applicant’s criminal records until later in the hiring process to better consider a candidate’s qualifications. Companies also commit to ensuring an applicant’s criminal record is “considered in proper context” and engage in hiring practices “that do not necessarily place jobs out of reach for those with criminal records.”

Companies involved in the first tranche of pledges in April included Under Armour/Plank Industries, Unilever, American Airlines, The Coca-Cola Co., Facebook, Georgia Pacific, Google, The Hershey Co., Koch Industries and Starbucks.

The administration said the U.S. accounts for 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of its inmates.

"Each year, more than 600,000 inmates are released from federal and state prisons, and another 11.4 million individuals cycle through local jails. Around 70 million Amer-icans have some sort of criminal record — almost one in three Americans of working age," the White House said. "Too often, that record disqualifies individuals from being a full participant in their communities — even if they’ve already paid their debt to society. As a result, millions of Americans have difficulty finding employment."

RETAIL

Wal-Mart Signs Pledge to Assist Former Criminals

Amanda Steele is featured in

Gemfields' film.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT PAMELA FIRESTONE, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER AT 212 256 8103 OR PFIRESTONE@WWD.COM

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An Advertising Opportunity

12 17 AUGUST 2016

"It was really wonderful to sort of be forced to make my opinion known all day long," said Natalie Portman, speaking from the carpet — quite literally a floor rug — in the basement of the Crosby Street Hotel on Monday night. The actress — and now, director — was discussing her latest project, "A Tale of Love and Darkness." The film is an adaptation of Israeli writer Amos Oz's best-selling 2002 memoir, and marks Portman's

feature directorial debut."I had always known I wanted

to direct, but of course that it had to be something incredibly personal and passionate for me," she said, ethereal in a white satin Dior gown. "And then when I read the book and I could visu-alize the film immediately I knew that was what I wanted to do."

Besides directing, Portman also wrote the script and stars in the movie as Oz's mother. "It sort of developed as a thing where I took on all of these

roles," she explained as an intimate crowd — consisting of America Olivo, Josh Bell, Molly Ringwald, Israeli Consul General Dani Dayan, among others — filed into the hotel to toast her project. "It was almost something I had to do in order to make the film. But it was wonderful too because I got into the film in such a deep way."

The film chronicles Oz's childhood during the Forties in Jerusalem, before and after the State of Israel was founded in

1948. It's a coming-of-age tale set against a turbulent political backdrop.

"Amos was a great, great guide and friend throughout it, and was very supportive and also really encouraged me to make my own piece, which was really liberating," Portman con-tinued, discussing her written adaptation of the book. "He kept saying the book already exists, don't just film the book. Make your own piece." — KRISTEN TAUER

Natalie Portman Debuts 'A Tale of Love and Darkness’The actor also wrote and stars in the film adaption of the book by Amos Oz.

Bringing Back the BandBand of Outsiders is about to make a comeback — but without founder Scott Sternberg.

The once-popular brand that shuttered its business last summer is on the fashion calendar to show a men's and women's spring collection during New York Fashion Week next month. The label is scheduled to host a runway show on Sunday, Sept. 11, according to an early listing on the calendar.

According to sources, the label's owner, Belgian fashion fund CLCC SA, has handed the brand to a team of designers who will present a spring collection of contempo-rary apparel and accessories which will be targeted to high-end retailers such as Barneys New York.

Last June, the 11-year-old, Los Ange-les-based fashion brand canceled all of its fall orders, laid off its staff and closed its New York City flagship. The brand was un-able to repay a $2.5 million credit line from CLCC. A public auction was held shortly after and although there were several bids, none were large enough to cover the debt so CLCC retained ownership of the brand. The fund said the plan was to restart the label.

CLCC could not be reached for com-ment to discuss its plans for the relaunch but according to published reports at the end of 2015, the brand will retain its South-ern California aesthetic. — JEAN E. PALMIERI

MoMA's New RainmakerMuji might have the foothold in the Museum of Modern Art’s Design Store, but another Japanese company, World Party, is making inroads.

World Party designer Keiichiro Kadoya has designed a foldable rain jacket exclu-sively for MoMA’s stores and e-commerce this fall. The museum’s retail division has provided an entry in the U.S. market for the Osaka-based wholesaler, importer and exporter. A $45 portable trenchcoat produced by World Party and designed by Misaki Shimahara is currently sold by MoMA Design Store.

Established 12 years ago, the company specializes in rainwear and umbrellas. Ninety percent of its distribution is in Japan, with the remaining 10 percent in China, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, England, Australia and Russia. World Party sells to “thou-sands” of stores, according to a company spokeswoman.

A buyer for MoMA’s Design stores dis-covered one of Keiichora’s designs during a buying trip to Japan and approached the company about a collaboration. Geared for travelers, the Keiichiro Kadoya $50 blue mid-thigh length jacket easily fits into an accompanying pouch. World Party expects to sell 2,000 units of this item, which is the same number of units that it has sold for the packable trenchcoat, the spokeswom-an said.

Keiichiro is not only a member of the product planning and design team, but he is also a salesman with many clients in Japan’s fashion industry. By working with individual companies, he is very intent about "reflecting his clients’ voices and thoughts in his design,” the World Party spokeswoman said.

MoMA has another packable exclusive ready for fall shoppers — the Issey Miyake Star Pleats bag that retails for $170 and uses a traditional star folding technique. Another transportable item is the Woolrich Seven Springs blanket, which has been made in the U.S. since 1830. MoMA will also have a $350 archival necklace and $198 neutron earrings from the Memphis Design Group. — ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

More Textile MonthThe New School and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, will launch New York Textile Month with “Talent,” an exhibition that showcases design students work.

The Sept. 1 opening will take place on Governors Island and it will remain there on weekends through Sept. 18. The show will feature the work of students from The New School's Parsons School of Design, Central Saint Martins, Kent State University, the Royal College of Art, the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Politecnico di Bari, Philadelphia University and Pratt Institute. Visitors will find the free exhibition at Nolan Park 4A and 4B.

Around that same time New York Textile Month’s magalog will be distributed to museums, designers and others. Started by trend forecaster and dean of Hybrid Studies at The New School Li Edelkoort with assistance from Willem Schenk, the 30-day event will include an array of events and exhibitions — all of which aim to drum up interest in textiles and to celebrate tex-tiles creativity. "This is being held at a time when there is a renewed interest in material processes and an urgency to understand what fabric is made of.” she said in a mani-festo printed on the event’s web site.

The citywide event will be staged in mu-

seums, galleries, showrooms, retailers and design studios for students and the general public. The calendar’s events, talks, walks, demonstrations and exhibitions are meant "to investigate and celebrate the survival of the different textile components and expressions NYTM and help the general public to better comprehend and embrace the textiles of life.” she said.

During the month of September, Issey Miyake's TriBeCa store will have site-spe-cific installations to highlight the materials within the collections. And Tomorrowland's founder Hiroyuki Sasaki is helping to introduce what NYTM organizers describe as a "new standard" of luxurious goods — a selection of silk scarves and hand design tote bags that are supposed to embody the spirit of New York Textile Month. — R.F.

What's In a Name?JustFab Inc. is turning a new leaf. The company has renamed itself TechStyle Fashion Group, in a change that had largely been expected out of the El Segundo, Calif.-based firm.

The rename is aimed at emphasizing the company’s roots in technology with a portfolio of brands that include JustFab, Fabletics, ShoeDazzle and Fabkids.

“When Don Ressler and I cofounded JustFab, we set out to change the way people shop by delivering on-trend fashion at an incredible value,” said Adam Golden-

berg, co-chief executive officer of the newly named company. “We’ve stayed true to that vision, but along the way the company has transformed into a powerful brand-build-ing platform that is driven by data and personalization. Our new corporate identity captures the essence of what JustFab has become — where Fashion Avenue meets Silicon Valley.”

The name was hinted at in the spring by Shawn Gold, who recently joined the com-pany as corporate marketing officer, a new position at the firm aimed at overseeing the marketing efforts of each of the portfolio brands and ensuring consistency of those aims with the corporate identity.

The effort had been long overdue, as Gold told WWD in May, with most of the fo-cus since the business’ founding in 2010 on building the business versus outward-fac-ing efforts.

“We just haven’t been telling the story,” Gold said at the time. “They’ve just been building this business. They weren’t focus-ing. A lot of companies in our category have been mostly a lot of sizzle and less steak. And these guys were quite the opposite where they’re almost no sizzle. There was no [business-to-business] marketing.”

TechStyle’s former self JustFab has raised about $300 million to date and is expected to end the year with $650 million in revenue. That’s up about 29 percent from the year-ago period. — KARI HAMANAKA

Fashion Scoops

Natalie Portman

Kookerville by Lexy Ho-Tai of Parsons School of Design.

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JustFab is now TechStyle Fashion

Group. Here, a photo inside JustFabs

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14 17 AUGUST 2016

● The brand is betting on its new style — which is already amassing a wait list — to help resuscitate its accessories business.

BY MISTY WHITE SIDELL

Miu Miu is betting on a new shoe style to help counter a languishing retail market.

The Prada Group-owned brand has built shops-in-shop within Bergdorf Goodman and Isetan dedicated to its new lace-up ballerina flats, offering exclusive product in each with the inten-tion to spur a sense of “retail tourism.”

The eccentric shoes, introduced on Miu Miu’s fall 2016 runway, comes fabricated in a rainbow of suede, satin and patent fabrications — each anchored with two black grommeted straps across the vamp, and gingham ribbons to lace up the ankle. Suede styles retail for $620.

Satin varietals of the ballerina flats were available for purchase at Miu Miu boutiques worldwide, but the company said they have sold out and are amassing a waiting list.

The last shoe design Miu Miu had hedged commercial bets on was its steel cap-toed, slip-on sneaker — introduced in 2014.

This April, the Prada Group, which is publicly listed in Hong Kong, reported a 26.6 percent drop in profits in the 12 months ended Jan. 31 to 330.9 million euros, or $364 million, compared with 450.7 million euros, or $590.4 million, in the same period in the previous year.

Miu Miu’s pointed ballerina strategy — notably aimed at a shoe style priced at under $1,000 — represents a push by the Prada Group to help resuscitate its numbers in the typically cash-cow market that is accessories. The category has stagnated in the last two years, with retailers pointing to a lack of design innovation as the culprit — prompting labels including Thom Browne, Proenza Schouler and now Miu Miu to revise

their assortments in an effort to invoke excitement amongst consumers.

Stefano Cantino, group strategic mar-keting director for the Prada Group said of the Miu Miu ballerina strategy: “With the ever-challenging landscape of retail-ing, we try to offer the customer varia-tion at different locations. Our customer is global and they find us wherever they are — so by carving out exclusive styles for different locations we are offering them the opportunity to collect on their travels and to purchase something that isn’t available everywhere.

“This goes back to a bigger strategy of offering the customer new and bespoke experiences around the world. The demand for this particular style has been great, offering specialty versions means that we do not over saturate the market place but instead build an offer-ing which understands it.”

At Bergdorf Goodman, the ballerinas are situated in what is perhaps the shoe floor’s most-coveted space: A rounded table just off its escalator, reserved for shoes that are thought to be a com-mercial boon. Prior occupants include Aquazurra’s best-selling — and widely emulated — Christy lace-up flat.

Dangling from wooden frames, the ballerinas are “selling out quickly” said a Miu Miu representative. The display, set up two weeks ago, exhibits suede colorways exclusive to the boutique.

At Isetan, the ballerinas have a more formalized boutique build-out on the second floor of the department store’s Shinjuku flagship. The boutique — lined in Miu Miu’s signature ice blue damask wallpaper — includes exclusive pat-ent-leather styles of the flat, some of which are lined in shearling. The shop is on view through Aug. 22.

ACCESSORIES

Miu Miu's Ballet Flat Generates Excitement

Crafting BurberryBurberry is planning a trip through time for its first straight-to-consumer collection and ad campaign, both of which were inspired by Virginia Woolf’s historical, gender-bending novel "Orlando."

Mario Testino shot the images, which will be released on Sept. 19, after Burberry's evening show, which will take place at a new venue in London's Soho, dubbed Makers House, by the brand.

This season, Burberry is collaborating with The New Craftsmen, a British brand that

promotes the work of "makers” — ceramicists; potters; leather, textile and jewelry designers; woodworkers; silversmiths, and illustrators.

Makers House will be open to visitors from Sept. 21 to 27, and will showcase original works by the makers, who will use the space to experiment and create, using Burberry's collection as their starting point, the company said.

The ad campaign features models Jean Campbell and Alex Dragulele, and the musician Cavan McCarthy from the band Swim Deep. All are wearing looks from the collection, inspired

by various historical periods.

There are more than a few ruffle-edged shirts and ruffs — including an abstracted one on a chain-handle shoulder bag and a python collar. One jacket from the campaign features silvery military braiding, while colored prints and patterns pop across clothing and accessories.

Shot inside the sculpture area of Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery, the campaign also shows a series of portraits of Burberry artisans from mills and factories across England, Scotland and Italy.

The Walker Art Gallery hous-es one of Britain’s best collec-tions of Victorian and Pre-Rapha-elite art as well as more recent paintings by David Hockney, Lucian Freud and Bridget Riley.

As part of the campaign

launch, Burberry has revealed a portrait of Piero Calosi, the pat-ternmaker of the brand's new-est bag, The Bridle, for men and women. It’s inspired by classic British equestrian designs and Burberry’s outdoor heritage, the company said.

The partnership with The New Craftsmen will launch on the night of the Burberry show, and see the makers take part in a daily changing program of activities and installations at the brand’s show venue, at No. 1 Manette Street.

Christopher Bailey, chief creative and chief executive officer, said the campaign and the collection both mirror "Or-lando," and the campaign also attempts to honor “the many skilled craftspeople” who work on Burberry's products.

“Just as Virginia Woolf's "Orlando" is both a love letter to the past and a work of pro-found modernity, this week-long exhibition aims to nod both to the design heritage that is so integral to Burberry's identity, and to some of Britain’s most exciting creators, and the inno-vation and inspiration behind their work,” Bailey said.

The change of showtime from the early afternoon to 7:30 p.m., and venue to Soho from a marquee in Hyde Park, is the latest in a series of Burber-ry transformations this season.

As reported, women’s and men’s in-season collections will be presented together, for the first time, at the brand’s inaugural straight-to-consumer show.

The campaign will be previewed in print publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Surface and online starting this month.

It will run from Sept. 19 until February 2017 across outdoor and print advertising, as well as on all social platforms and the brand’s web site.

As reported, in September the company will unveil a con-sumer app aimed at making the check-out process smooth-er, and also plans to relaunch Burberry.com in the autumn.

There are more digital changes to come as the brand seeks to streamline its business and merchandise offer and appeal to a younger generation of shoppers. — SAMANTHA CONTI

The Best From BonBon Appétit has crowned its 10 best new restaurants for the year in its September issue with Staplehouse, an Atlanta-based nonprofit New American restaurant taking the top spot. In New York, Wildair, the Lower East Side casual sister restaurant to hot spot Contra, has earned the eighth ranking.

The list, which the Condé Nast-owned glossy dubs its "Hot 10," has been edited down from 50 finalists from across the country, and includes a range of cuisines. BA editors crisscrossed the country, initially rounding up more than 400 new eateries.

“It’s a grind but a fun one,” said deputy editor Andrew Knowlton, who traveled with senior editor Julia Kramer more than 5,700 miles to 40-plus cities in search of the restaurants that are defin-ing the way we eat in 2016. “We had more real contenders this year than ever before,” he noted.

In its September issue, which hits newsstands today, BA devot-ed a 46-page spread to the Hot 10, which includes the backstory of the restaurants, photography of the food, recipes and a calorie count of some of its best dishes.

“The September issue is the one we look forward to the most,” says Bon Appétit editor in chief Adam Rapoport. “This year, we are adding a huge, immersive online element, which will notice-ably elevate the experience for our audience.” — ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

Memo PadBon Appétit's September cover.