● The J. Crew brand faces challenges while Madewell shines.

BY DAVID MOIN

J. Crew Group has a way to go before it’s out of the woods, but executives on Thurs-day cited product improvements at the trou-bled J. Crew brand, strength at the rapidly growing Madewell division and a narrower fourth-quarter loss.

The company is working hard to turn

around the J. Crew brand through a “revital-ization of iconic, classic-with-a-twist items.” Executives told WWD that they are seeing consumers respond better to an updating of J. Crew’s classic blazers, dresses, shirts and pants, among other products.

Madewell continues to get a strong response “across the board,” with denim and dresses leading the way, and seems to be offsetting results at J. Crew, which had been experiencing tepid response to its collections amid the intensely promotional

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● The 5,000-square-foot store features the full activewear collection.

BY LISA LOCKWOOD

NEW YORK — Tory Burch is developing a serious athletic side.

Tory Sport, her activewear brand, will open its first permanent home today at 129 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District

here. Joining activewear neighbors such as Bandier, Nike, Athleta, Lululemon and New Balance, Tory Sport has moved into a 5,000-square-foot space that features the full activewear collection, including high-performance clothing, bags, shoes and accessories for running, studio, ten-nis, swim, golf and “Coming & Going.” The collection, which will also begin wholesaling next month at Barneys New York, is geared to a woman who actively participates in sports (or wants to look that way), but wants a strong fashion edge.

In the last few years, the Flatiron District has become home to numerous exercise studios, ranging from SoulCycle and Flywheel to CityRow, Pure Barre, Shadowbox, Tone House, SLT, and Y7

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Tory Sport Opens First Location in Flatiron District

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Fashion. Beauty. Business.

DAILY EDITION 18 MARCH 2016 1

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Star Over MiamiSerene on the surface, Dior’s new flagship, opening today in Miami’s Design District, pulsates inside with floor-to-ceiling video screens, mirrors and iridescent art — a stimulating stage set for its women’s wear and accessories.For more on the store, see pages 4 and 5.

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

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● A smartwatch is the first product in the label’s accessories line.

BY MAGHAN MCDOWELL

Michael Kors is hoping that “wearables” start living up to their hype. The designer today intro-duced his first in a line of wearable technology accessories with the Michael Kors Access display smartwatch.

The watch was made using Google’s Android Wear smartwatch platform, and was shared at Baselworld 2016, among other smartwatches from Fossil, which has this year introduced a number of styles, and Nixon (another first-timer).

The men’s and women’s watches, at $395, will be available this fall and work with both Android and iPhone smartphones. Its “smart” function-ality is geared toward the social media-savvy,

fashion-focused consumer. Users can swipe to change watch faces, which range from a digital chronograph to an animated pave. The watch also comes with interchangeable leather and silicon wristbands.

“I’m in the business of making people’s lives easier through fashion,” Kors said. “I thought, ‘Why can’t tech accessories be chic and glam-orous?’ Technology is impacting life more and more. It should reflect your personal taste as much as anything else.”

The watches have a touchscreen display that provides social media, text and e-mail alerts; app notifications; fitness tracking; and, from Google, “smart help” and voice-activated Google.

Also from Android Wear at Baselworld this year, Fossil introduced two slimmer devices – the watch face is less bulky and thick on the wrist — called the Q Wander and the Q Marshall, and Nixon yesterday brought The Mission, a rugged smartwatch designed for action sports that

provides live surf and snow condition alerts.Android Wear has partnered with 12 brands so

far. David Singleton, vice president of engineer-ing, said since starting with devices from LG, Samsung and Motorola 360, he’s seeing interest “maturing in the ecosystem,” meaning a number of brands have developed Android Wear smart-watches and are more differentiated in design, including the first round offering.

“I really feel like this year, wearables are com-ing into their own as a category,” Singleton said. “There is huge interest from consumers in smart accessories.”

He said, thus far, the partnerships have been mutual — “in many cases, we are seeking each other out at same time. It’s important to feel like together we can produce an experience that will resonate, and that we work together to design a concept.”

Going forward, he said he expects even more watches designed with women in mind, mainly due to the ability to create them in smaller sizes. And, he said, “we will continue to see these get better over time.”

ACCESSORIES

Michael Kors Taps Into Wearables Market

They Are Wearing: Tokyo Fashion Week, Fall 2016● The fashion-week frenzy continues, with the latest stop in Tokyo. WWD captured the best street style of the ever-creative city.

● IMG Models Introduces Men’s Plus-Size Division

● They Are Wearing: Paris Fashion Week, Fall 2016

● The Color Disconnect: Why Runway Hues Are Not in Consumers’ Closets

● Writtenafterawards RTW Fall 2016

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● The beginning of the year was “not particularly good,” according to ceo Michele Norsa.

BY GORDON SORLINI

MILAN — Salvatore Ferragamo SpA is cautious about the year ahead even as it comes off another strong year of profits and sales growth in 2015.

On a conference call with analysts, chief exec-utive officer Michele Norsa commented that the beginning of the year was “not particularly good,” in part because of continued volatility in financial markets, the different timing of the Chinese new year and tourist flows that were not captured as tourists traveled to “unusual locations.”

He confirmed that Ferragamo — like many other luxury brands — is facing a complex situation in China, but remained optimistic, pointing out that the government has reaffirmed its commitment to grow domestic consumption. “We are seeing better performance and I would say the general mood on the domestic market is improving.”

Hong Kong — which Norsa termed “consis-tently negative” — and Macau are still suffering, also due to a drop in travel from Mainland tourists, while Japan and Korea are attract-ing more Mainland shoppers. With regard to Europe, he said France had been penalized after the November terrorist attacks but that Italy — especially Milan and Florence — “have been over performing.”

The improving U.S. economy was boosting consumer confidence, Norsa said, but he pointed out that the strength of the dollar compared to the Canadian dollar and Mexican peso “has probably diverted some tourism to different desti-nations. We’ve seen strong increases in tourism in countries bordering the U.S.”

For Ferragamo, Norsa said Mexico, Australia and Canada have been fast-growing markets.

The ceo said travel retail has continued grow-ing with January sales in the channel accelerat-ing by 7.1 percent, compared to 5.4 percent in December, and with some markets — like Dubai — putting in double-digit growth. Travel retail growth has given a boost to wholesale revenues, he said.

Travel flows have changed, Norsa pointed out later in the call, with more Chinese traveling to Canada, for example, because it is easier to get visas. Consequently, Vancouver and Toronto have seen large inflows of Asians. Mexico is enjoying a resurgence of U.S. tourism as many Americans have been turned off by the high cost and per-ceived security risks of traveling to Europe.

For the year, net profit increased 6.7 percent on the back of strong sales of leather goods and a solid performance in Europe even as operating costs increased on the year before.

In a statement after the close of trading in Milan, where Ferragamo is listed, the company said its bottom line reached 174.5 million euros, or $190.6 million, while revenues rose 7.4 percent to 1.43 billion euros, or $1.58 billion. This included a negative hedging effect of 51 million euros, or $56.6 million. At constant exchange rates, sales grew 1.4 percent, the Florence-based company said.

Net financial debt was slashed in the year to 10 million euros, or $11 million, from 49 million euros, or $65 million, helped by an almost 40 percent jump in net operating cash flow, the company said.

The top line was helped by a 7.3 percent

increase in sales in Europe, which rose 6 percent at constant exchange. This is the group’s sec-ond-largest market, representing 27 percent of revenues. European sales rose 6 percent. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region — Ferragamo’s largest sin-gle market at 36 percent of turnover — increased by 4 percent, although at constant currencies they were down 3.2 percent. North America, accounting for 23 percent of group revenues, grew 9.5 percent, but declined 1.6 percent, while Japan — which accounts for about 9 percent of group sales — increased turnover 14.2 percent and rose 15 percent. All were reported at constant exchange.

Footwear sales, which make up nearly half of group turnover, increased 5.7 percent at current exchange, but dropped 1 percent at constant cur-rencies, while leather goods, which make up just over one-third of group turnover, grew 12 percent and rose 6.4 percent at constant currencies.

Responding to an analyst who pointed out that shoe sales were weak last year, Norsa said the group had been focusing on leather goods and small leather goods, which produce good margins. While men’s and women’s shoes had been performing well over the past five years, Norsa said, the problem is that Ferragamo “probably lost some volume in men’s shoes in the U.S.,” where a large part of the shoe business is wholesale and “department stores have not been performing very well.” He said the group has already taken action on shoes, including launch-ing kids’ collections — mostly aimed at young girls — and sneakers, “where we have extremely good turnover now and have sold out in most stores.”

Asked about Ferragamo’s retail development plans, Norsa said the focus would be on travel retail, with about five or six locations (but not directly operated) planned for airports. “In terms of DOS, we opened more than 15 last year,” Norsa said. “I would expect the number this year to be smaller,” he said, pointing out that some projects would reach into 2017.

ACCESSORIES

Ferragamo Still Cautious on 2016 as Headwinds Remain

● Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has signed up with the CFDA to handle the first live telecast of the CFDA Fashion Awards.

BY ROSEMARY FEITELBERG AND LISA LOCKWOOD

NEW YORK — The camera-shy might think twice about plunking down the $10,000 needed for a ticket to the CFDA Awards this year — they are about to become a Harvey Weinstein production.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America on Thursday said it has formed a partnership with The Weinstein Co. for a television broad-cast of the red-carpet arrivals and the annual awards show, which will take place June 6 at the

Hammerstein Ballroom.Other details — like which national television

(or cable) outlet will broadcast the show and who will be the emcee — will be revealed at a later date. The Weinstein Co. will be in charge of all aspects of the production, including who will have the distribution rights.

The Weinstein Co.’s Harvey Weinstein and Pat-rick Reardon, along with the CFDA’s chief exec-utive officer Steven Kolb will serve as executive producers. Eclipse Television’s Sergio Alfaro has signed up as producer of the broadcast. KCD will handle producing the event and Laird + Partners will once again oversee the annual journal, as well as art direction for the nominee packages.

While the decision to show the awards live was approved by the CFDA’s board, it immediately stirred numerous questions. Not exactly known for their brevity, the show presumably will have to operate to an even tighter timetable this year.

The show this year also will be a sit-down dinner rather than simply a cocktail — so viewers and attendees perhaps should think more Golden Globes-type event than Academy Awards. Then there’s the issue of what the attendees will be doing during all those commercial breaks — apart from eating, drinking, schmoozing and going to the restroom.

Recruiting Weinstein isn’t exactly a surprise, though, given his long connection to fashion. In addition to being married to Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, he has served as executive producer of “Project Runway” since 2004. But some of his other designer ventures have been received with more mixed reviews. Weinstein and Sarah Jessica Parker couldn’t muster momentum for Halston Heritage and he pulled up stakes in 2011. And his much-talked-about plans to revive the Charles James fashion label haven’t been realized.

FASHION

CFDA Awards to Go Live on TV With Harvey Weinstein

4 18 MARCH 2016

● The store in South Florida is part of a North American expansion that includes a San Francisco flagship opening in April.

BY REBECCA KLEINMAN MIAMI — Dior’s flagship for women’s wear and accessories, which opens today at 162 Northeast 39th Street, is the latest square in the Miami Design District’s patchwork quilt of white sculp-tural facades. Though it could easily reference the nearby ocean waves or sails, the French firm Barbarito Bancel Architectes came up with the idea from the house’s custom of starting with its fashion archives — a Japanese-inspired dress from the spring 2007 couture collection in this instance.

“We always show the architects dresses when we do the facade,” said Sidney Toledano, president and chief executive officer of Dior Couture.

He said the specially treated concrete for the exterior was developed in Italy. Huge samples were delivered to the street in front of Dior’s Avenue Mon-taigne building in Paris and Toledano himself checked the slabs for their

quality and look. “It took several models to get the white color we wanted and to test it,” he recalled.

Following Tokyo and Seoul, this is only the third location crowned with a five-pointed star (whose northwest position captures the orange and hot pink glow of Miami’s signature sunset). The good-luck symbol guided Christian Dior himself in making a major business decision: Upon finding a brass star on the ground in front of a building on Avenue Montaigne, he saw it as a sign and opened his house there. The Dior museum in Granville, France, displays the original, and being superstitious, the late designer always carried a smaller replica in his pocket. Coming full-circle, the house has secured another superb location, according to Toledano.

“Our neighbors are Vuitton, Cartier and Hermès. You see the cross, and you have those four brands,” he said, regarding Dior’s first street address here for women’s wear and accessories — Dior Homme opened a block away in 2012. The brand has a presence in local malls, from in-store shops at Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s to its former boutique in Bal Harbour Shops. “We were doing well, except we needed more room for different classifications,”

the ceo said.Indeed, they brought the goods in

every way. Whereas the exterior soothes like a reflection pond, which becomes more pronounced at night through strategically placed lighting, the interior explodes with stimulation. A floor-to-ceiling, 42-screen video wall projects artist Oyoram’s mash-up of couture, campaign and jewelry images to hyp-notic effect, especially as they ricochet off the mirrored ceiling and staircase’s glass-panel railing. Other Dior stores incorporate his video walls but few to this magnitude. Terence Main’s five-seat aluminum bench, among 13 commis-sioned works by 12 artists and designers, circles a glorious spray of delphiniums, a link to the spring runway show. The founding designer adored gardens, a consistent expression in the house’s stores, so nature is celebrated in real and faux forms as the subject of back-lit photo walls and a rooftop terrace landscaped with lush tropical plants. Its white sofas and umbrellas borrow from South Beach’s boutique hotel phenome-non. It adjoins a VIP salon, a gray gossa-mer cocoon of velvet sofas and a cushy, silver metallic-threaded carpet, with a room divider to accommodate various fittings and groups.

Five works of art, including Larry Bell’s iridescent Mylar hanging sculpture and Roland Mellan’s cocktail table in a trippy pattern — more examples of the idea of movement — further demarcate the interior of the VIP salon.

“Having good days in Florida, the terrace is for serving drinks and to enjoy and entertain,” said Toledano, describ-ing clients’ habit of spending time to see and experience products. “This is why we’ve developed those VIP rooms where we get some privacy, and the terrace adds to that.”

The second floor’s homey, open-loft layout for ready-to-wear and shoes takes after Peter Marino’s concept for the SoHo store in New York. A huge seating area with organically shaped love seats flanking Sebastian Brajkovic’s vor-tex-topped cocktail table occupies the center. Once the eyes adjust to multitextured surfaces of mirror, mottled paint treatments and pale paillettes grounded by white oak floors, natural light seeps through narrow, rib-bonlike windows tucked behind curved walls. It filters through a candy-striped organza gown, an elegant version of a caftan, the cut of choice in this resort city. White dresses — mini, shirt and pleated drop-waist — with traditional and reversed scalloped edges and paired with cropped knits also work for the climate.

Rather than isolate categories, Dior is testing a full lifestyle wall for wardrobing. Clients can be led seam-lessly from rtw to the shoe salon, where a mannequin poses among the shelves to advertise the season’s pointy pump with an ankle bow strap.

The same flow occurs on the first floor between bags and small accesso-ries and the fine-jewelry salon, where

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Dior Christens Flagship in Miami

A seating area in the ready-to-wear department on the second floor.

18 MARCH 2016 5

Dior Christens Flagship in Miami CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

a grand piano in a miniature vignette of Christian Dior’s apartment cradles a one-off Archi Dior Bar en Corolle cuff of emeralds and pink and purple sapphires.

Handbags favor Miami-friendly exotic skins, metallics and shocking colors. Diorever bags in sunny gold and “fuchsia fluo” — a fluorescent pink — pop in the gray textured setting, while Lady Dior styles come in pink python, micro-cannage and embellish-ments such as silver palladium waves. Displays focus on looks for the locale. One vignette suggests several combi-nations for Diorama bags, So Real sun-glasses and Fusion sequined sneakers for “get in and get out” ease without ever leaving the ground floor.

Intensely focused on North Ameri-can expansion, Dior will open its San Francisco flagship at 185 Post Street in Union Square in April — its fifth in the U.S. It had operated a Dior Homme boutique in the city since 2011, but closed it in January to highlight women’s wear exclusively and build on wholesale businesses at Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s.

“Having a freestanding store, a big space, is the best way to express the brand. It’s a commitment to the U.S. market,” said Toledano, adding that both new stores follow the same basic inventory plan, though merchandisers adapt to different customer bases. “Miami has a lot of South Americans. In San Francisco, there are more peo-ple visiting from Asia.”

Oyoram’s video wall and India Mahdavi’s Bishop stools will cross over to San Francisco’s two selling floors with about half the amount of art as in Miami. The shoe salon will house Rob Wynne’s mirrored glass installation titled “Dots.” Toledano said a third level will serve as more exhibition space.

An internal design team met the challenge of layering marble touches to an existing masonry structure that had already been preserved with a glass overlay for a sustainable modern makeover. Interiors are inspired by Marino’s Avenue Montaigne concept and its evolution for the 57th Street store in New York.

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The floor-to-ceiling video wall by Oyoram is one of Dior’s largest.

The first floor’s fine-jewelry salon with a miniature version of Christian Dior’s apartment.

Mannequins at the base of the staircase

on the first level.

The rooftop terrace connects to a VIP salon.

6 18 MARCH 2016

● Nike revealed new products, designer collaborations and technology at its Innovation for Everybody conference in New York in anticipation of the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.

BY JESSICA IREDALE WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JEAN E. PALMIERI

Is it possible to get personal with “Every-body?” Nike plans to do so on its own terms — literally. The brand has a language and “Everybody” is just one of its new words.

Over the course of two days and four events held in New York on Wednesday and Thursday, Nike unveiled a slew of new prod-ucts, collaborations and technology during its Nike Innovation for Everybody event, an Olympic-sized marketing “experience” timed to an Olympic year — Rio 2016.

The last time the company held a sympo-sium of this sort was October 2014 and the subject was women, specifically the brand’s renewed devotion to its female consumer on the backs of whom it planned to increase its business by 40 percent at the time. This week’s event focused on innovation and technology used to deliver personalization. “We’re at the dawn of a new era in sport,” said Nike Inc. president and chief executive officer Mark Parker, addressing the audience of global media at the event Wednesday afternoon at Moynihan Station. “It’s the era of personalized performance.”

It’s also the era of $50 billion in revenues by 2020.

Down the Nike rabbit hole we went. In a grand-scale production by Bureau Betak, Moynihan Station was set up with 11 product station/installations, some featuring the new — Nike Air VaporMax and Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 — others the improved — Nike Flyknit, which Parker noted has grown into a $1 billion franchise since it launched in 2012. The pre-sentation was slick, impressive with the atmo-sphere of a concert venue, but one where they were serving Portland, Oregon’s top shelf Kool-Aid. The headliners were Parker and Kevin Hart, who introduced the event and is a spokesman for Nike’s cross-training program and recently got his own sneaker, the Hustle Hart.

It was a lot to digest for those with less than Nike acolyte status, but the biggest impressions were left by the HyperAdapt 1.0, a sneaker with an “adaptive lacing” system — meaning it laces by itself — technology that is sure to send techy sneaker-heads into delirium. When you step into it, your heel hits a sensor and the sneaker tightens on its own. There are two buttons to make it looser or tighter. For now, the buttons are manual, but going forward, Nike sees the technology becoming completely automated, so it senses when the shoe needs to be tightened or loos-ened; for example, as a runner’s feet swell over the course of a long run.

Then there was the Nike Air VaporMax, an evolution of the Nike Air Max, which launched in 1987. The newest iteration has a Flyknit upper attached to a new, pillow-y sole. The advanced technology has eliminated the need for a traditional foam midsole, resulting in what John R. Hoke 3rd, Nike’s vice president of global design, called “the purest expression of air we’ve ever met.”

There was plenty for gear aficionados to geek out over. Nike Anti-Clog Traction was introduced on football cleats. It features a special polymer that prevents mud from adhering to the soles. There were new itera-tions galore of the Flyknit, including the Free RN Motion Flyknit, with an auxetic sole; the Air Force 1 Ultra Flyknit; the Hyperdunk 2016

with a Flyknit upper, and Kevin Durant’s Air Zoom KD, which also features Flyknit. There were also a series of new kits for football and track and field with Aeroswift technology, which is basically a coordinating system of apparel that works together to create a faster, more aerodynamic performance outfit. The shoes and apparel on display indicated that new performance silhouettes are even more streamlined with less excess material, a focus on texture and Flyknit techniques, which have transferred to apparel and play a huge part in the overall aesthetics of where Nike is going, as well as a color scheme dominated by black with blue, purple and orange accents. The look was coolly industrial.

Nike does not stage events on this scale annually. In addition to capitalizing on the momentum of an Olympic year (Nike is outfitting TK), an event of this size and type is timed to the number and scale of products ready to launch as well as a new message. “We try to look at the innovation pipeline — is there enough that we feel comfortable to make a fundamental shift,” said Hoke. “This time around a fundamental shift is brought by the idea of personalized performance. We believe that this is the future of athletics and sports. We think we have enough ammuni-tion and enough ambitious agenda to come to New York and announce via products and platforms where we’re taking the world of sports.”

Perhaps the biggest example of Nike inno-vation in the name of personal experience for its athletes is the new Nike+ app, which launches in June, at which time its existing apps, including Nike+ Training Club, Nike+ Running and Nike+ Snkrs will get substantial updates. Nike+ is a data-driven app that asks

the user to upload information about his or her sport interests, shoe and apparel sizes, which is used to generate a personalized feed of training content, a store of products the app thinks the user will be most inclined to buy, invitations to local Nike+ events and “Golden Tickets,” which include special offers on merchandise. For example, Nike+ users will be able to reserve merchandise in his or her size and purchase it before it’s available to the public. Nike+ users can also make reservations for Training Club sessions via the app and access his or her Training Club and Running apps. Previously Training Club was only available for women; with the launch of

the Nike+ app, it will also be offered to men.“This app is brand new; it didn’t exist

before. It’s your all access pass and manages your entire relationship with Nike,” said Nikki Neuburger, vice president, global brand Nike+ and Nike. “Athletes are looking for more than data and a dashboard. They’re looking for coaching and guidance and a relationship.” Nike declined to break out numbers on their app user, but Neuburger said it’s “a com-munity of millions with over a billion touch points worldwide.”

To illustrate what exactly the Nike+ offers beyond the iPhone screen, after the Moyni-han Station presentation, everyone was bussed down to Skylight Clarkson Sq. where they could either participate in a Running or Training Club workout session led by Hart, Victor Cruz and Sanya Richards-Ross or do a NikeiD design session. The setup was undeni-ably impressive. Anyone who was exercising was directed to a personal locker/mini dress-ing room where head-to-toe workout gear in his or her size awaited, as well as toiletries so one could leave the event presentably (alas, even Nike has its limitations: There were no showers on site). Those who signed up for the NikeiD session had a desk installed with a computer screen and a bunch of tools that looked like the adult equivalent of a deluxe, creative kindergarten art class led by Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, the man responsible for several Air Jordans, among other Nike icons.

If consumer behavior is increasingly driven by experiences over possessions, Nike made a great case for its ability to fuse the two. The amount of information, product, Nike silos and corporate language was dizzying, and it went on.

On Thursday morning at 9, the fashion press was invited to Nike’s media space at 45 Grand Street, where the next installment of Riccardo Tisci’s collaboration with the brand was disclosed as the start to what the company is billing as “The Summer of Sport.” What that will entail is mostly still under wraps, but NikeLab senior design director Jarrett Reynolds indicated that more fashion-driven designer collaborations would be launched in the lead-up to the Olympic Summer Games.

Tisci previously collaborated with NikeLab, which houses the brand’s designer projects, on two sneakers, a Nike Dunk and an Air Force 1. Beginning in July, his first men’s and women’s apparel collections — completely performance-based — for Nike will launch. NikeLab x RT: Training Redefined features two capsule collections, the first done in black-and-white, the second in floral kaleido-scopic prints that incorporate floral motifs from Nike’s home in Oregon, Tisci’s home in Taranto, Italy, and Brazil, where the Olympics will take place. It’s a fashion-forward look for performance gear that utilizes Nike’s Dri-Fit and Flyknit technologies and has been wear-tested by athletes. Two of the key silhouettes include a one-piece short and tights garment for men and a skirt for women. Reynolds swore these complied with Nike’s “training” standards, which are defined corporately by six movements — lunges, squats, dips, etc. Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin shot the collection on decathlete Ashton Eaton and track and field athlete Richards-Ross.

To wrap up on Thursday, the company made the big reveal of its Olympic uni-forms for Team USA and a number of other countries. Ken Black, creative director for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, said the kits for the athletes it will outfit in more than 30 sports at the Games offer technical superiority in materials and construction. He pointed in particular to the Nike Vapor track and field uniforms that feature AeroBlades, a bladelike accent that is designed to reduce drag and create lift.

Black said all the athletes Nike outfits will have access to the technology, not just the Americans. “We haven’t saved anything,” he said.

The games are just beginning.

ACCESSORIES

Nike’s Personal Challenge

Athletes from the USA and various other countries pose wearing new jersey and footwear made by Nike for the 2016 Olympic Games.

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Nike Inc. president and ceo Mark Parker at the Nike Innovation for Everybody event.

Kevin Hart at the Nike Innovation for Everybody event.

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● The singer and artist visits South by Southwest to introduce the relaunch of her ecommerce shop through Saint Heron.

BY MAGHAN MCDOWELL

Singer, stylist and artist Solange Knowles is bringing all of her passions to the relaunch of her e-commerce shop.

The Texas native visited South by Southwest to reintroduce the e-com-merce shop on Saint Heron, a Web site and community she created that sup-ports culture and innovation through a range of artists.

“It was actually a birth out of a frustration for me creatively and artis-tically and culturally as a young black creative,” Knowles said before leaving for Austin. “I felt like a lot of time, our voices were left out of the conversation of art, culture, music and fashion.”

The Saint Heron project began a few years ago with a compilation album created with 12 artists who Knowles felt were redefining R&B. After an “over-whelming” response, she expanded Saint Heron to include a multimedia Web site to “continue the conversation.”

The revamped e-commerce shop at store.saintheron.com was created with BigCommerce. Knowles considers it a natural evolution for the site, which features exclusive pieces from emerging designers in fashion and other areas who align with her mission of diver-sification. The items on offer include ceramics, accessories and beauty

products. Featured brands and design-ers include James Phlemuns, Bloom and Plume, Tactile Matter, Yvonne Koné, Morgan Parish, Cameo and Folie.

“Saint Heron is a community that we have been able to connect with globally,” she said. “We have readers in South Africa, readers in Japan — these are people coming together and are really excited about the next generation focusing on diversifying.”

Color is a major source of inspira-tion for Knowles and she specifically requested pieces that fit within certain colorways. “Color is an incredible tool to emote moods and self-expression,” she said.

“Solange is very creative and thinks about how to create connections with whoever is online,” said Andrea

Wagner, BigCommerce’s head of design. “She’s really thinking about how to get that connection with people.”

That Knowles is combining the relaunch with a performance and party at SxSW is fitting, as the festival has evolved to encompass a breadth of industries and performances. The party is organized by BigCommerce, of which Knowles has become an ambassa-dor, and will include pieces from Saint Heron’s online collection and live music from Sun Ra Arkestra.

“We thought that South by Southwest was an incredible place to launch based on what I’ve noticed as a performer — you are actually up close and personal with your supporters and music-lovers,” said Knowles. “And that’s important, because it’s all about the conversation.”

EYE

Solange Reintroduces E-Shop on Saint Heron

Solange Knowles worked with BigCommerce on the new Saint Heron e-commerce store design.

● The Nasty Gal founder opened up about her book, upcoming TV show and brands she admires.

BY RACHEL STRUGATZ

“A freak is a compliment and an insult and an endearing term,” said Sophia Amoruso when asked what her favorite word was that begins with “F” by Story founder Rachel Shechtman. “We all aspire to be freaks at some level.”

The Nasty Gal founder stopped by for a conversation with Shechtman at her New York concept store, which takes the “view-point of a magazine” and changes themes every four to eight weeks. March’s “Story” is feminism and explores the way culture approaches the term. Mindy Grossman, Ashley Graham and Kim Barker will partake in similar events at the space this month.

During the one-hour Q&A, Shechtman asked Amoruso about what’s coming down the pipeline (a second book and a Netflix series), what she misses about the early days about starting a business and which brands she admires. Below, some highlights:

On her first book:“I didn’t want to write a book that was

the Nasty Gal history book and call it ‘Nasty Gal.’ #GirlBoss in many ways is a much broader idea. The ethos of #GirlBoss is the ethos of Nasty Gal. Writing a finite piece of work and publishing it is different from sustaining the never-ending stream of content a brand produces on social media

and online. There is a lot of opportunity for Nasty Gal to connect what #GirlBoss has created back to the brand — but it also exists as its own thing.”

On failure:“Success and failure are such binary

terms. There is so much room in between those things, and it’s the ones who under-stand that who can look at their success and figure out what they did wrong.

“On the flip side, if you don’t set out to do what you wanted to achieve, you can find yourself failing at one thing and succeeding on a path you didn’t even plan on.…Seeking advice is an endless pursuit of mine.”

On brands she admires:“Redbull, GoPro and Nike. There’s no

women-specific brands that have ever bro-ken through to be more than just fashion. In a perfect world, that would be someday what Nasty Gal represents. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

On leaving Nasty Gal as chief execu-tive officer:

“While I’m not ceo, I still own most of the company. I’m the executive chairman. I’m involved at the brand level. I’m in the office four to five days a week, but I might step out to write a book here or there. Being able to do that is so amazing.”

On opening a store in New York:“From what I’ve been told, to open a

store in New York you really need to have your s–t together. I don’t know if it would be the third store, but it would be in the next few.”

MEDIA

Sophia Amoruso Talks Success And Branding at Story

● No timetable has been set for the strategic review.

BY VICKI M. YOUNG

Aéropostale Inc. will explore its strategic and financial options, which could include a sale of the company or a restructuring.

The teen retailer made the disclosure as it posted fourth-quarter results. Shares plummeted 41.7 percent to 28 cents follow-ing the report and the board’s decision to authorize management to consider strate-gic options.

Chief executive officer Julian Geiger said while the business trend has improved, short-term visibility is limited by its current vendor dispute. That dispute is with MGF Sourcing US LLC, an affiliate of private equity firm Sycamore Partners. Aéropost-ale said it believes MGF is in violation of a sourcing agreement, and that the violation is “causing disruption in the supply of some merchandise, which, if unresolved, could cause a liquidity constraint.”

A spokesman for MGF Sourcing said, “MGF Sourcing is not in violation of its sourcing agreement with Aéropostale. In fact, MGF has taken action to protect itself by reducing payment terms as permitted under the agreement.”

Sycamore in 2014 provided Aéropostale with a $150 million credit facility, and in exchange the private equity firm received convertible preferred stock in the retailer. Sycamore’s managing director Stefan Kaluzny joined the teen chain’s board, but he elected not to stand for reelection to the board last year.

For the three months ended Jan. 30, the net loss widened to $21.7 million, or 27 cents a diluted share, from a loss of $13.5 million, or 17 cents, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the net loss was $10.8 million, or 14 cents a diluted share, against adjusted net income of $400,000, or 1 cent, a year ago. Net sales dropped 16.1 per-cent to $498 million from $593.8 million. Comparable-store sales, including e-com-merce, declined 6.7 percent.

The company provided first-quarter guidance, which estimated a net loss in the range of 35 to 42 cents a diluted share.

Aéropostale said there has not been any timetable set for the strategic review pro-cess, and that there can be no assurance that the process will result in any specific action. The company has hired Stifel and other advisers to help with the review process.

RETAIL

Aéropostale To Explore Strategic Options

An Aeropostale store front.

Sophia Amoruso and Rachel Shechtman

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Studio.Giving a tour of the new store on

Thursday, Tory Burch, chairman, co-chief executive officer and designer, cited Tory Sport’s potential. “For me, I feel it’s not a trend, but a shift in the way women are dressing.” An avid tennis player, runner and exerciser, Burch was dressed in Tory Sport’s blue Neoprene skirt and tech knit ribbed polo from the “Coming & Going” category.

Roger Farah, co-ceo, believes Burch brings a feminine side to her active line, which is different from what’s already out there.

“Many of the major athletic brands have origins in men’s performance wear and later did women’s. They don’t start out with a women’s point of view, a feminine point of view, a fashion and design point of view, and I think Tory does,” Farah said. He said the brand has always been colorful, which lends itself to activewear. “It’s a natural extension. She’s also per-sonally active. She’s living the lifestyle and she speaks to that woman,” Farah said.

He sees enormous potential in Tory Sport, which was launched last Septem-ber. “We think it could be huge. We think it can be a billion dollar business. I think it can go in more places than Tory Burch can go. There are communities, there are neighborhoods and markets with the way this lifestyle is expanding. I was in Asia recently and so many of the big depart-ment stores there are incredibly produc-tive and are staples of the community, but have no active or sports base, and they’re all scrambling to figure out how to create whole floors of it and dedicated space.”

He said over the long term, they will have freestanding Tory Sport stores and shops-in-shop in Asia.

New York is just the starting point in the U.S. “We are aggressively looking and talking to real estate developers right now. We’re not dabbling,” Farah said. “It’s interesting, on the Web site, 60 percent of the customers that we’re getting are new, 40 percent are crossing over from the Tory Burch Web site. For us, that’s all additive. We can say that this is another part of the Tory Burch lifestyle and her wardrobe, but to be getting 60 percent new customers is great.”

In addition to the new Flatiron shop, Tory Sport is available online at torysport.com and in a pop-up shop at 257 Eliz-abeth Street that will continue for the time being. The Tory Burch store in East Hampton will convert to a permanent Tory Sport store in May. In addition, Bar-neys New York will become the exclusive retailer of Tory Sport beginning next month, carrying the collection online and in its Beverly Hills, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas and two New York — Madison Avenue and Chelsea — locations. Burch said they’re contemplating what future distribution will look like but want to keep it “tight and lean.” Expanded wholesale distribution will likely begin in 2017, Farah said.

The Fifth Avenue boutique, with 3,900 square feet of selling space, gives a nod to sports throughout the decor, such as striped floors that resemble pool lap lines; a diamond pattern etched into nickel wall panels referencing a net; blue awnings and large screens with videos and images that highlight athletes, and leather handrails that evoke the grips of old-school tennis rackets. Vintage Sports Illustrated maga-zines and paintings of women wearing the

collection, commissioned from artist Kelly Beeman, adorn the walls.

The store features white-washed oak pegboards on modular walls and adjust-able display units to maximize flexibility. Right now, the store’s entrance features “Coming & Going,” clothing that can be worn to and from workouts and then to lunch or errands, and swimwear. At the center of the store is tennis apparel and at the rear is golf and studio (yoga apparel

and exercise wear). “It’s Seventies surf lodge meets Scandinavia and a ski lodge,” Burch said. The store was designed by the company’s in-house store design team led by Renée Viola, vice president, global store design, planning and construction, with O’Neil Langan Architects, led by Steve O’Neil.

In the rear of the store is a seating area anchored by a minimalist fireplace, four Jean Royère chairs with indigo linen cushions and a concrete and nickel table, that is flanked by two Royère sconces. An interactive tennis game with a light-up scoreboard that once the game is done becomes a look book is featured in the middle of the tennis area. While there is no apparel geared to children, Burch predicts this will be a popular amusement for the younger set.

Tory Sport, which became a reality after three years in development, “is starting to pick up traction,” Burch said. She pointed out items such as a performance cashmere crew neck sweater ($285); reflective run-ning jacket ($325); chevron leggings ($125); splash leggings ($150), tech ponte cropped flare pants ($185); block-striped rash guard ($195); printed hipster bikini bottom ($85), and a tennis warm-up jacket ($225). Tory Sport also has a tennis bag ($395) that has sold out twice online.

“The challenge is to have natural fibers and mix them with performance features,” said Kerstin Dorst, senior director of design development, who was previously at Adidas. “We had to do a lot of testing,” she said. Among the

fabric’s features are quick dry, wicking, waterproof and SPF. In many of the items, high performance yarns are blended with CoolMax. The collection is manufactured in Asia.

Asked whether she would sign an athlete to wear Tory Sport, Burch replied, “We would, but it’s more complex than it used to be. We have brand ambassadors who are young girls who wear it and give us feedback.”

The store will have fresh deliveries every six weeks, and about 30 percent of the merchandise will be bestsellers that carry over season to season. All of the salespeople will have iPads and mobile point-of-sale.

Burch said she hopes that the space can be used for yoga classes, lectures, Tory Burch Foundation activities and other events. Tory Sport trunk shows are planned at Southern Methodist Universi-ty’s Theta House in Dallas — Burch was a Theta at University of Pennsylvania — on April 11, and Burch will make an appear-ance at a store called Market at Highland Park Village in Dallas on April 13. A trunk show is also planned at the Greenwich Country Club on May 12.

Brigitte Kleine, president of Tory Burch, said the next step will be working on inter-national distribution plans. Burch said she would eventually like to open Tory Sport stores in Dallas and Los Angeles and would consider Japan. Other categories they’re looking at adding would be out-erwear, and possibly ski. “That would be fun,” the designer said.

Tory Sport Opens First Location in Flatiron District CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

A rendering of Tory Sport’s window display for the opening.

Inside the Tory Sport boutique in the Flatiron District.

Tory Burch

18 MARCH 2016 9

● Apparel and footwear executives highlight the importance of TPP and global sourcing, while discussing Made in the USA on the sidelines of the annual AAFA summit.

BY KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — The American Apparel & Footwear Association is doubling down on building support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the heat of a contentious presidential election campaign steeped in antitrade rheto-ric, while helping executives navigate through other challenges such as coun-terfeiting and cyber security.

“If you are a politician, it is fash-ionable to say trade takes jobs away,” said Rick Helfenbein, president and chief executive officer at the AAFA at the group’s executive summit, themed “Disruption, Innovation, Transforma-tion,” that wrapped up here on Thurs-day. “What we need to do…is we need to explain that trade creates jobs. It’s just that the jobs [trade does create] are different and they are often higher-pay-ing jobs.”

A priority for AAFA will be boost-ing efforts to support the TPP, which involves the U.S., Australia, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, Chile, Brunei and New Zealand. The industry has a big stake in the TPP, but a drawn-out presiden-tial primary campaign that has seen

Democratic and Republican candidates rail against the negative impact of trade deals on U.S. jobs, along with a rising unease in the American public about trade, has cast a shadow over TPP this year.

“No trade deal is perfect. They’re just not. But what is going on now is politi-cians exploiting the potential of short- term loss without selling the longer-term gains,” Helfenbein added. “This is just wrong. It is not good for America and

somebody needs to stand up to it.”If TPP is delayed by even a year,

AAFA’s members could collectively lose more than $1 billion in duty savings that would not be realized, he noted.

On a positive note, Helfenbein said there has been a “noticeable uptick in the urgency” of getting TPP cued up for Congressional consideration this year, adding, “Some of that reflects the politi-cal uncertainty of the moment, suggest-ing of course that it would be easier to do it now than next year.”

Rob DeMartini, president and ceo of New Balance Athletics Inc. and the AAFA’s new chairman, outlined the asso-ciation’s three-year strategic plan that will be focused on providing expertise in three areas: brand protection, supply chain management and trade.

Industry veteran Paul Charron said the prospects for TPP are “very good” and that the Obama administration is pushing it hard.

“I think the majority of Republicans will see that it is the right thing to do,” he said. “All of the tension in the country, or anger and frustration [about trade] will raise a lot of questions, but when all is said and done, I think it will be approved. It’s a great trade program.”

Tom Glaser, vice president and presi-dent of global supply chain at VF Corp., said Vietnam represents a “robust” busi-ness for VF and the entire industry.

Glaser said there is also still momen-tum behind Made in America and West-ern Hemisphere production.

“We have significant printing

operations here. We make uniforms here and we make some jeans in the U.S.,” he said. “I think there is a real opportunity to do more in this hemi-sphere and we are constantly doing that.”

VF also has a large footprint in Mex-ico, which uses a lot of U.S. yarns and fabrics. He said the Mexican peso has “changed substantially over the last 24 months and that has made it a little more competitive than it was in the past.”

Levi Strauss & Co., which has a small percentage of premium denim produc-tion in the U.S., is also considering ways to expand here, said Chip Bergh, presi-dent and ceo of Levi Strauss.

“When it comes to Made in America, I read the consumer letters that come to the company and there are a lot of [peo-ple] that want to see us bring produc-tion back to the U.S.,” Bergh said.

The company does have some pre-mium denim products that are made in the U.S., Bergh noted.

“So at the price points that can sup-port it, we want to do more of it [in the U.S.],” Bergh said. “In fact, the meeting I just had here was talking to a supplier that makes product here in the U.S. So we’re trying to do the right thing. We are looking at if we can expand beyond what we are doing today, but it’s not going to be a big part of our business because the majority of our business in the U.S. is selling at $40 a pair roughly and you can’t make money-making product in the U.S. [at] that kind of selling price.”

BUSINESS

Trade, Fakes and Made in USA Key Topics at AAFA Summit

Rick Helfenbein

● The leadership transition occurs alongside significant growth for the Institute, including a record number of product certifications.

BY ARTHUR FRIEDMAN Lewis Perkins, who has been instru-mental in raising the profile of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, including in the fashion world, has been named president of the organization after serving as interim president since October.

Perkins’ appointment comes at a time of strong momentum for Cradle to Cradle, which recently surpassed 3,300 certifica-tions from more than 200 manufacturers. This includes a 35 percent growth in certifications in 2015 and 9 percent in the first two months of 2016.

The Institute is embarking on several key initiatives in 2016 aimed at continuing to increase demand for Cradle to Cradle certified products and aimed at ensuring their ability to have meaningful and posi-tive impact on the planet.

“As we continue rethinking the way we make and consume products, Cradle to Cradle design and certification is more

relevant than ever before,” said Perkins. “I am committed to carrying forward the momentum established by the Institute over the past six years. I also look forward to working closely with the Institute’s board of directors and staff, along with all our organizational stakeholders, to further elevate the profile of Cradle to Cradle and build the value of the circular economy.”

Perkins joined Cradle to Cradle as senior vice president in 2012. During his first four years with the organization, he developed the C2C Product Symposium, a well-attended annual gathering repre-senting the group’s breadth of coverage, and launched Fashion Positive in 2014, creating a dedicated program within the organization to address and recognize the particular intricacies of the industry.

Perkins has also worked with former president Bridgett Luther and the board on fund-raising, institutional strategy and organizational growth. Prior to joining the Institute, Perkins was director of sustain-able strategies for The Mohawk Group, a leading carpet manufacturer and the com-mercial division of Mohawk Industries.

“The board and I are enthusiastic about Lewis’ keen vision, energy and collabora-tive spirit,” said Warner Philips, chairman of Cradle to Cradle. “He is positioning

the organization to take the philosophy and practice of Cradle to Cradle, and the circular economy, to a whole new level.”

Perkins holds a master of business administration in marketing and strategy with a focus on social responsibility from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and a bachelor of arts from Wash-ington & Lee University.

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innova-tion Institute is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco and focused on transforming the making and consump-tion of things into a regenerative force for the planet. The Institute’s mission is to use design, based on laws of nature, to help commerce create products that are safe for people and the environment.

THE MARKETS

Perkins Elevated to President of Cradle to Cradle

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● The singer and actress will release V. by Vanessa Williams on Saturday.

BY VICKI M. YOUNG

Multiplatinum recording artist and actress Vanessa Williams’ new fashion col-lection, V. by Vanessa Williams, will be avail-able starting Saturday on digital commerce firm Evine Live.

Evine has been expanding its exclusive fashion offerings for the last two years. The first collection includes 18 styles comprised of jackets, dresses, tops and bottoms that are inspired by Williams’ personal wardrobe and style. Fifteen new styles will become available in April, followed by 14 more in May. Retail price points range from $39 to $100.

The collection is the first apparel line for Williams, who years ago had dabbled with the idea of a handbag line. “I had a bunch of inquiries while playing Wilhelmina Slater in ‘Ugly Betty,’ but if it’s not the right fit or partnership, it’s not worth pursuing,” Williams said. She added this time around, “the time was right, with a great team.” Evine first reached out to Williams about two years ago.

In putting together the first selection of product, Williams said she has been meeting regularly with the manufacturing firm in New York, “dragging in a bunch of my stuff that I love.”

That typically sets the stage for discus-sions about color, styling and drape. “They also get a chance to see what I live in, and what I wear every time I come in. I have a signature color palette that I tend to wear a lot,” she said. Williams has a preference for greens, grays and blues, while black and white, with a touch of red, are the easy choice for when she’s traveling. She also favors loose-fitting, flowing fabrics and sil-houettes that combine a touch of elegance, such as a gray chiffon tunic with a small amount of smokey black beading at the neckline for a bit of shimmer.

“I love animal prints, but python more than leopard, boho chic and jeans leggings with a strappy sandal. A jacket with a really great shoulder is a great staple to have. I would love to add more shoulder pads within my collection — it’s a clean way to look sharp and give a great shape on top,” she said.

“Everything I build I want to be able to wear a bra with. I am 52 years old. I want to be sure that when wearing [a top or dress

with] spaghetti straps, that there’s enough material [for support]. A lot of women my age, plus a little younger, want to wear a bra,” the singer-actress said.

She said someone once described her look as very Westchester-ish, as in Northern Westchester and Bedford, which is one-part “horsey-set with jodhpurs and riding boots for going to lunch” and another part “arty and bohemianlike,” because many residents are creative professionals who live in the city and commute in on the weekends. Williams lives in the county, which is outside of New York City.

Williams has been experimenting with fashion since she was a young girl. Her mom taught her to sew, so while she got the “generic version of what was sold at higher-end stores, I would embroider my name or put patches on the clothes to make it my own.” Her experiences from working in television and theater have also made her more aware of color, and how draping can change through use of different fabrications, she said.

David Miller, vice president of fashion for Evine, said of the growth of propri-etary brands at the firm: “We’re giving the customer what she wants….She’s very current and we want to provide a relevant

assortment of product. She’s not trend-first, but is very trend aware.”

Miller said the customer profile at Evine is a woman who is in “her 40s and up, who wants to dress and act ten years younger than she is, which is what everyone is doing.” And she’s looking for wardrobe staples for a polished lifestyle from work to the weekend, he said.

While Williams would like to eventually add handbags and accessories such as scarves, Miller said the “cues will come from the customer.”

Adding celebrity lines is what Miller described as the “white space” in fashion. Other lines Evine recently added were Nancy O’Dell and Karen Fairchild.

RETAIL

Vanessa Williams Partners With Evine Live

Vanessa Williams, with a look from her fashion line.

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retail landscape.J. Crew Group narrowed its net loss for the

fourth quarter ended Jan. 30 to $7 million, from the year-ago’s $30.6 million, which largely reflected a non-cash impairment charge.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 4 percent to $44 million, from $42.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Total revenues increased 1 percent to $711 million. Comparable company sales decreased 4 percent following a decrease of 3 percent in the fourth quarter a year ago.

“The fourth quarter represented a posi-tive ending to a difficult year,” said Millard “Mickey” Drexler, chairman and chief execu-tive officer, on Thursday when the company reported its fourth quarter and 2015 results. “We believe we are better positioned having made important changes in our product and marketing and through the careful manage-ment of expenses and inventory. Looking ahead, our team is focused on delivering further improvements in the business by executing on our strategic initiatives to deliver long-term, sustained growth for our brands.”

By brand, J. Crew sales decreased 3 per-cent to $604.5 million, and 5 percent on a comparable basis, following a decrease of 5 percent in the year-ago quarter.

Madewell, continuing its upward trajec-tory, posted a 26 percent sales increase to $92.5 million. Comparable sales increased 12 percent following an increase of 14 percent in the fourth quarter last year.

Gross margin was 33.3 percent, compared to 34.5 percent in the fourth quarter last year. Selling, general and administrative expenses were $228.8 million, or 32.2

percent of revenues, compared to $236.2 million, or 33.5 percent of revenues in the fourth quarter last year.

Operating income was $6.3 million com-pared with an operating loss of $18.7 million in the fourth quarter last year. Last year reflects the impact of a pre-tax, non-cash impairment charge of $260 million.

For all of 2015, the net loss swelled to $1.24 billion from the $657.8 million in 2014, which reflected the impact of non-cash impairment charges and a charge for severance and related costs. Last year reflects the impact of the loss on refinancing and non-cash impair-ment charges.

Total revenues decreased 3 percent to $2.5 billion. Comparable sales decreased 8 percent following a decrease of 1 percent the year before.

By brand, J. Crew sales decreased 7 percent to $2.15 billion and comparable sales decreased 10 percent following a decrease of 2 percent the year before.

Madewell sales increased 23 percent to $301 million. Comparable sales increased 8 percent following an increase of 14 percent the year before.

Gross margin was 35.7 percent compared to 37.6 percent the year before.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $834.1 million, or 33.3

percent of revenues, compared to $846 million, or 32.8 percent of revenues the year before.

The operating loss was $1.32 billion com-pared to $585 million the year before. This year includes pre-tax, non-cash impairment charges of $1.38 billion and a charge of $4.8 million for severance and related costs. Last year includes pre-tax, non-cash impairment charges of $710 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $203.4 million compared to $255.2 million the year before.

In a conference call, Drexler cited sequen-tial improvement in comp sales last year “largely due to our strengthened women’s assortment which reflected more of who we are….Our women’s business has been a key area of focus for us and we remain committed to getting the product where it needs to be. In Q4, we saw strength in women’s jackets, pants and shirts and the improvement in the sales trend for sweaters and knits. Additionally, our men’s business was also highlighted by strength in pants and jackets and an improved trend in sweaters and knits.”

Drexler said Madewell “continued its strong performance, with double-digit sales growth in the fourth quarter. We ended the year with a total of 103 locations and plan to open approximately 10 additional stores in

2016.”He also said J. Crew Mercantile has 19

locations and the group plans to open about 20 more this year “making our value goods more accessible to a broader universe of customers and offering the classic J. Crew level of style.”

“While the retail apparel environment remains challenging, we believe we are bet-ter positioned in 2016 having made import-ant changes in our product and marketing, along with the careful management of our expenses and inventory while investing in our key initiatives,” Drexler said.

He also cited several key management changes in recent months, including naming Mike Nicholson its president, chief operat-ing officer and chief financial officer, and Somsack Sikhounmuong as head of women’s design at J. Crew. Also recently hired were a new head of sourcing and a chief informa-tion officer.

For Nicholson, formerly of Ann Inc., it was his first conference call for J. Crew Group. “We ended the year in a healthy position from an expense, inventory and liquidity standpoint,” he said.

Outlining this year’s priorities, Nicholson cited:

• Achieving increased sales productivity and margin improvement at the J. Crew brand, with fewer stockkeeping units and styles and sharper pricing.

• Challenging the supply chain on speed to market and costs, with “no sacrifice to quality” to benefit gross margins and better align buys with customer demand.

• Continuing to invest in Madewell with new stores and initiatives such as mobile, a loyalty program and expanded wholesale. Madewell is sold at Nordstrom.

• Opening 20 additional J. Crew Mercantile value stores, to end the year with 40.

“Overall, across all of our brands and geographies, we will maintain a conservative posture with respect to new unit growth, with plans to increase net square footage by 5 percent in 2016, driven primarily by Madewell and J. Crew Mercantile,” Nichol-son said.

Drexler Cites StridesAs J. Crew GroupNarrows Q4 Loss CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Inside the men’s section at J. Crew on Madison Avenue.

18 MARCH 2016 11

“I’m having trouble breath-ing,” Ryan McGinley said as he accepted his honor from the Art Production Fund at the organization’s seventh annual gala on Wednes-day night, this year held at the Paramount Hotel’s basement club, Diamond Horseshoe. McGinley then clarified what he meant. “But not because I’m ner-vous. Because I’m uptown.”

The venue may not be uptown — it’s on West 46th Street — but he was speak-ing to a very below-14th-Street type of crowd: Chloë Sevigny and boyfriend Ricky Saiz; Rachel Feinstein and John Currin; Marilyn Minter; Cindy Sherman; Nate Lowman; Aaron Young; Zani Gugelmann; Fabiola Beracasa; Allison Sarofim; Hope Atherton; Stacey Bendet; Cynthia Rowley; Mia Moretti; Arden Wohl; Jane Holzer, and the night’s emcee, Fab 5 Freddy.

McGinley went on to thank his mother — who sat in the audience and who McGinley admitted is sometimes shocked by the graphic nature of his work — as well as New York City, where he’s lived longer

than his hometown of Ramsey, N.J. “As a gay guy, it’s a city where I can hold my boyfriend’s hand and nobody gives me s--t, so that’s why I love it,” he said of Manhattan. “Whenever people ask me where I live, I always say I live downtown because that’s where my heart is and that’s where my people are.”

Sponsored by Gucci and themed “Concrete Jungle,” the event also honored Jane Kaplowitz Rosenblum, whose son Theo created the sculptural centerpieces on each table to be raffled off for $100 each. For the guests not wearing Ales-sandro Michele’s latest frothy designs for Gucci, Art Production Fund cofound-ers Yvonne Force Villareal and Doreen Remen, and executive director Casey Fremont called for a rather nebulous dress code: “Tooth & Nail.” Fremont did her best to explain: “We sort of intentionally give dress codes that are open to in-terpretation,” she said. “We like a theme but we don’t want it to be costume-y. And ‘Concrete Jungle’ [lends itself] to animal prints and

jungle influences, but peo-ple can do what they want with it.” Amy Sacco decided on a simple black dress and diamond skull face earrings. “I’m just a concrete blonde,” she said.

Aside from the peo-ple-watching, the evening offered its fair share of entertainment, from tem-porary tattoos created by Joyce Pensato to portrait sessions with Steven Klein in a darkly lit room filled with masks and props. (The catch: Each photograph cost $1,000, with proceeds going to the fund.)

Near the club’s entrance, guests were greeted with a performance art piece called “Not Your Art Baby” by Petra Collins and Madelyne Beckles, who sat behind a glass wall sucking pacifiers and clutching teddy bears. “We wanted to make a critique on how the art world sees us as young female artists,” Collins explained. “So we turned ourselves into exactly what we feel like the art world perceives us as: art babies.” Last month, the 23-year-old artist was cast as a model for Gucci’s fall runway show

in Milan. “I love to perform, so I wasn’t nervous [to walk the runway], but I have really bad knees — my knee-caps always dislocate. So I was scared that my knees would f--k up,” she said, lifting up her Gucci gown to reveal her bandaged kneecap.

A live auction led by Gabriela Palmieri garnered about $100,000 for the fund, with a custom furni-ture piece by Kenny Scharf selling for $11,000 and a Peter Halley painting going for $40,000, before Jillian Hervey, better known as Lion Babe, serenaded the room with a sultry perfor-mance. On his way out, McGinley, known for his epic cross-country road trips, admitted he was a little tired: “I’ve been doing this project at nighttime, shooting at 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. four nights a week. I slept till noon today,” he said. “Expect an exhibition of New York photographs soon.” In their goodie bags, each guest received a beach towel decorated with one of the artist’s cheeky prints. — KRISTI GARCED

Gucci Sponsors Art Production Fund GalaThe annual event honored Ryan McGinley and Jane Kaplowitz Rosenblum.

When Nadia Hilker was 17 years old, she and her moth-er flew from Munich to Berlin to meet with a potential act-ing agent, despite the fact that Hilker had never acted a day in her life. “I walked into the office and the agent just looked at me and said, ‘you’re an actor, I want you,’” Hilker says. “I thought she was cuckoo!”

Ten years later, Hilker, now 27, can fully wear the title of “actress,” as she sits in the lobby of the Ritz Carlton in New York the day of her very first film premiere. And it’s no small premiere at that; she joins Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Naomi Watts, Miles Teller, Zoë Kravitz, Ansel El-gort in the latest installment of young adult mega-fran-chise “Divergent,” which releases its third installment, “Allegiant,” on March 18.

Prior to the pseudo-au-dition in Berlin, Hilker spent her childhood “playing in the woods with my dog and my brother,” in the countryside of Munich, she says. “It was perfect.”

Things were more complicated when she went to school. “I got bullied quite a lot when I was younger, because I was different, I guess,” she says. “I dressed in a very weird way — there was one year where I thought I was Erykah Badu, and I was wearing things on my head.”

Though it would become her greatest outlet, acting was never even a thought early on. “My mom works for Lufthansa and my dad and my brother work in IT,” she says. “No one is into acting. Watching movies was never even something we did as a family.” She found her way to that casting agent’s door through ballet, after a scout visited her dance school and she was referred to the acting agent.

After meeting with the agent, Hilker still wasn’t con-vinced and returned home to study economics. But after a year of that — topped with a breakup — she felt ready for a change. “I was telling my parents that I wanted to quit school, and my dad was like, ‘well, how about you quit school and call this woman and tell her you want to be an actor’,” she says. “She had been calling me every two months for like two years. So I called her and I was like, ‘OK, let’s do this’.”

She booked her first role, a lead in a German TV movie, on her first audition. After a couple of years, though, she couldn’t quite find her place in film anymore. “I played a lot of rebellious young girls, and then I got older and we don’t really have a lot of ‘not a girl, not yet a woman’ parts in Germany, especially not for me as I’m very exotic-looking for Germans,” she says. “I

Nadia Hilker, the Breakout Star of ‘Divergent’The series’ newest cast member on her long, unintentional road to acting success.

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kind of stopped working, and it was really bad. I was broke, my parents had to support me, and I spent years in my apartment just staring at the ceiling.”

Her father was once again the one to pull her to acting. “I was thinking about becoming a stewardess,” she says, “and my dad, who is very German in terms of being pragmatic and re-alistic, just said ‘no, you’re going to give it one more year. And if nothing happens you can quit.’” In that year, she was cast as the lead in an independent film called “Spring.” “I stood in front of a camera again and realized how much I love it and need it and want it.”

It’s safe to say she feels scoring a role in the remaining two “Divergent” movies is just as

“cuckoo” as she found that first agent meeting. “It was horri-fying,” she says of joining the cast, most of whom had already filmed the first two movies to-gether. “You’re like the new kid at school.” Her character, Nita, is on the other side of the wall in the dystopian society, and is “a very fierce, strong, confident, badass woman,” Hilker says.

She’s going at the whole act-ing thing full-force. In addition to the final “Divergent” movie, out in 2017, she’s set to join the cast of The CW’s “The Hundred,” playing “a character they’ve been talking about so much in the previous seasons.” Her ambitions don’t stop there. “I want to play a bird, and a crocodile, and a man,” she says. “I want to play whatever I can do.” — LEIGH NORDSTROM

Sarah Sophie Flicker, Eva Amurri, Stacey Bendet, Cleo Wade, Amirah Kassem, and Margot.

Nadia Hilker as Nita in “Divergent: Allegiance.”

Theo James as Four with Hilker.

Ryan McGinley in Gucci.Hope Atherton and Elise Overl

Women’s

Issue: April 13 / Close: March 30 / Materials: April 4

THE RUNWAYS · THE ROUNDUPS · THE REVIEWS ·

Collections

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

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A ‘Blue Bird’ BeautySotheby’s will auction a 9.54-carat fancy deep blue diamond ring that once belonged to Shirley Temple.

The “Little Princess” star’s father purchased the bauble to mark her 12th birthday in 1940, the same year that she starred in the film “The Blue Bird.” At the time, George Francis Temple paid just $7,210, approximately $122,000 with current inflation, for the stone. When the ring is auctioned on April 19 at Sotheby’s spring Magnificent Jewels sale in New York, it is expected to command between $25 million and $35 million.

“She acquired it at the age of 12 and had it her whole life. This was a treasured

piece of jewelry, she wore time and time again — we have pictures of her wearing it when sworn in as ambassador, when she was presenting an Oscar,” Sotheby’s New York jewelry sales director Frank Everett told WWD of the lot, which will lead Sothe-by’s spring jewelry roster here.

The ring’s blue stone is “potentially internally flawless,” according to So-theby’s analysis. It boasts VVS2 clarity and is being auctioned in its original Art Deco-style setting. In 1972, Temple commissioned Tiffany & Co. to create a yellow-gold setting for the stone, which will also be included in the lot.

“It was a bargain, even if you translate dollars at the time because colored diamonds in general were just not as

understood or sought-after as they are today,” Everett said of the stone. “With the low estimate of $25 million, honestly between the rare color and quality of diamond, it’s well-priced. These pieces are just not coming along in the way they once did. Then quality of the stone stands apart on its own and then you have the provenance.”

In November 2015, Sotheby’s set a world record for gemstone sales with a 12.03-carat fancy vivid blue diamond that realized $48.5 million in Geneva.

The Shirley Temple Blue Diamond will travel for exhibition to Los Angeles and Hong Kong, before being mounted for Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels spring pre-view in New York — opening to the public

for a four-day run beginning April 15.. — MISTY WHITE SIDELL

Digital DrawMichelle Phan is embracing her graphic side. The digital beauty entrepreneur has expanded her repertoire to the graphic novel realm with the launch of her first comic, “Helios : Femina.” The illustrated series is available on the online publishing platform Line Webtoon, which utilizes a vertical scroll format, and features a female lead character. To coincide with the comic’s launch today, Phan will also appear as a panelist at the platform’s SxSW “Women in Digital Comics” event.

Phan has been developing the con-cept for “Helios : Femina” since she was 11. “The setting of the story is based on a not-too-distant future when the world has under gone a massive global change,” she explained. While Phan sketched the majority of the comic herself, she worked with several artists to refine the details. “I had to learn to let go of control,” Phan

remarked on the collaborative process. “As a creator — especially an online con-tent creator — I’m so used to just doing it myself. I had to almost train myself to let go of that control and trust in the team that could help me do it.”

She compared her interest in creating beauty content to developing the comic. “Just like how I uploaded my first video in 2007, I didn’t expect anyone else to watch it. I was really just doing it because I wanted to make something and share my passion for makeup,” she said. “In this case, I’m doing the same thing: I’m creating something, and I don’t have any expectations. I just want to tell a story.”

Phan also found some personal beauty inspiration from the comic: she recently dyed her hair in the style of the comic’s main character. “The makeup looks I’m creating in the comic, hopefully I can inspire people to do them in real life,” she said. — KRISTEN TAUER

On the Fast TrackMango is about to get cheaper.

The Barcelona-based retailer said on Thursday it was slashing prices of its casual collection to attract a younger consumer. Named #NewPrices, the selection of ready-to-wear pieces and accessories will carry price tags 15 percent lower than the rest of the offering and come with a look book inspired by Coachella, the annual music and arts festival held in California.

The line is slated to hit stores this month.

With both Mango’s competitors, Span-ish Zara and Swedish H&M, stepping up expansion, Mango in December present-ed a strategy to make its fast-fashion business even faster. Stores now receive new products every two weeks, while the company is also launching advertising campaigns each month featuring the latest trend represented by the “face” that best defines it.

As reported, Kendall Jenner made the start in February with a photo series lensed by David Sims. — PAULINA SZMYDKE

Fashion Scoops

The Shirley Temple blue diamond: A 9.54-carat fancy

deep blue, potentially internally flawless, VVS2

clarity diamond ring.

Michelle Phan

Moving UpGlamour executive digital director Anne Sachs is moving to a new role at parent company Condé Nast, WWD has learned.

Sachs’ role at Glamour will be absorbed: Digital editorial director Laurel Pinson, as well as new hire, senior executive digital director Annie Fox will steer the ship. A former head of publishing product for Chartbeat and director of pro-gramming at Hearst Digital, Fox will join Glamour on Monday and will likely bring in her own recruits. Fox will report to both Glamour editor in chief Cindi Leive and Santarpia.

Although Sachs’ title is still being determined, as well as the finer points of her new job, it is said that she will work across the digital operations of all of Condé’s titles, liaising with their site directors. A handful of site directors report to both Santarpia and their title’s edi-tor in chief. They include Self, Allure and now Glamour, but it is believed

that this structure will extend to all Condé titles, as the company is looking to build a centralized news-room akin to that of rival Hearst. (Hearst digital editors report to Troy Young, while print editors report to their editors in chief.) For Hearst, a centralized newsroom permits it to share viral or breaking stories across a publisher’s multiple sites.

At Condé, some of the publica-tions have already begun sharing stories across titles; the addition of a point person like Sachs would likely facilitate those efforts.

While there is no clear indica-tion that the Hearst model is the blueprint for Condé, the restruc-turing of the digital group is top of the agenda for Condé. Earlier this month, the company said it opened a digital outpost in Austin, Tex., in order to provide additional engi-neering and product development capabilities, for example. — ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

Vogue Meets MillennialsVogue Me, the new bimonthly magazine targeting China’s “post-Nineties generation” unveiled its cover online today.

Hitting newsstands on March 28, a picture of the 260-page new glossy by Vogue China was posted on the magazine’s social media accounts and Vogue Mini app on Friday morning. WWD has also been given exclusive access to images of the first issue, featur-ing Chinese singer and actor Lu Han, Japanese-American model and designer Kiko Mizuhara and

American actress and musician Pyper America Smith posing on the cover. The cover was shot by Boo George.

On Monday, the magazine will be available for pre-sale on Tmall, JD, Amazon and Chinese chat app, WeChat. The e-commerce sites will also offer a separate, exclusive limited-edition cover of Han, who is a former member of South Kore-an-Chinese boy band, Exo. Editor in chief Angelica Cheung declined to disclose how many Han covers will be available for purchase.

Cheung said Vogue Me is the first fashion magazine in China to tap the post-Nineties crowd. It was partly inspired by its Vogue Mini app that launched last year, reach-ing out to China’s young and “cool” generation who are, on average, 24 years old. Unlike other gener-ations, post-Nineties kids march to the beat of their own drum and have been mostly sheltered from hardships experienced by previous generations.

“At that time, I thought, why should I do an app? [Other] maga-zine apps were very similar to the magazines, why bother? [Then] I thought, who would use these apps? Young people,” Cheung said, adding how her target readers were not traditional Vogue readers. The app has been downloaded by 1.7 million users and Cheung pon-dered the possibility of launching a separate magazine for a younger, Millennial crowd. To test, Cheung put Chinese-Canadian actor and singer Kris Wu and American mod-el Kendall Jenner on the cover of Vogue China’s July issue last year, photographed by Mario Testino.

“The reaction [to the July issue] was really good…[we received] so many young followers. I got really encouraged,” Cheung said. Vogue

China has a readership of 1.8 million and has 3.7 million followers on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. Cheung predicts Vogue Me will attract even more readers. Twenty percent of the first issue is ad pages and the cover price is 20 renminbi, or $3.09 at current exchange.

The youthful change on the July cover was not welcomed by all Vogue China readers, Cheung said, explaining how she received comments from loyal readers who didn’t understand why the maga-zine was tapping into a younger crowd.

“That’s when I decided, you

cannot put two people in one body. Like a mother and daughter — they came from the same system but at the end of the day, daughter is daughter. Mother is mother,” Cheung said.

Speaking of the cover models, all born in the Nineties, Cheung said the three stars have a major fan base online and are dynamic in their own right, wearing many hats and dabbling in different platforms, from singing to acting to fashion design. Mizuhara made her acting debut in 2010 in the movie “Norwe-gian Wood” and also moonlights as a fashion designer, collabo-rating with Opening Ceremony in

Japan, where singers Rihanna and Beyoncé have worn her designs. In a similar vein, Smith also plays in a band called The Atomics with her three model siblings. The first issue of Vogue Me also features a number of Chinese stars, including Taiwanese actress and singer Guo Caijie, also known as Amber Guo, best known for her role in the tele-vision series “The Happy Times of That Year”; actor Liu Haoran from the film “Beijing Love Story,” and ac-tor Jiang Jinfu from the television series “The Legend of Qin.”

“A lot of people ask me: What do you think of these Chinese young idols? Are they shallow or are they kind of mindless? [I say]: ‘We don’t work with people who are not good role models. [They’re] talented, hard-working and possess positive energy. For me, that’s very import-ant,” Cheung said, adding how she’d want to support celebrities who would be good role models for her eight-year-old daughter, Hayley.

Han is an example of that. “[Lu’s] quite talented, professional and hard-working. He’s got ambition but in a quiet, humorous way. He doesn’t go all gung ho and say things like, ‘I’m a hero.’ He’s ap-proachable….When he talks, he’s quite conscious. He realizes and knows that he should be a good role model,” Cheung said.

As for Vogue Me’s new readers, Cheung said they are China’s target consumers.

“[Post-Nineties consumers] are quite educated and grew up in a wealthy and affluent time of China. By and large, their parents are affluent and many have traveled everywhere. They’re confident. That’s why they have opinions and are more international and sophis-ticated,” Cheung said. — AMY CHUNG

Memo Pad

Cover for Vogue Me featuring Lu Han, Kiko Mizuhara & Pyper

America Smith.

Anne Sachs

Women’s

Issue: April 13 / Close: March 30 / Materials: April 4

THE RUNWAYS · THE ROUNDUPS · THE REVIEWS ·

Collections

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