A NEW ERAAn expanded shoe wardrobe and a

multitude of jewelry options are part of what’s turning men’s accessories from a

sleepy category into the ultimate fashion statement. Pages MW4 and MW5

Pratt-Matic“Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt has little problem navigating the fashion world. Page MW9

MAN OF THE WEEK

BACK TO THE STREET

July 31, 2014

Streetwear SeesMajor Comeback

by DAVID YI

BACKPACKS. Bomber jackets. Bucket hats. It’s apparent that the Nineties have made a strong comeback — and with it, a wave of streetwear nostalgia.

Streetwear is in its fifth iteration with everyone from megabrands such as Nike, Adidas and Timberland, to traditional labels such as Brooks Brothers and up-and-coming design-ers like Off-White tapping into its aes-thetic. Its resurgence, both in terms of fashion influence and revenue, stems from a variety of factors, including the growing importance of Generation Z consumers; the boom in activewear as everyday apparel, and the expo-nential increase in online shopping, which enables even the smallest of labels to gain worldwide distribution.

The current market is saturated with hundreds, if not thousands, of streetwear brands, which is what sep-arates today’s movement from what it was two decades ago. So big is its potential that industry sources now estimate the category to have annual sales of $2 billion to $2.5 billion.

There also is increasing segmen-tation. No longer is there one look; instead, streetwear ranges from urban Goths to the skate and surfer market to new-era grunge and punk and, finally, hip-hop. Because of so-cial media and the Web, all of these underground subcultures are now accessible to the public.

“True independent streetwear was always a secret club,” said Bobby “Hundreds” Kim of Los Angeles-based brand The Hundreds. “But the Web cracked the mystery wide open. The biggest reason why the culture and style have become so

prevalent today is because of desktop publishing, the facility to print T-shirts and manufac-ture apparel, and the low-ered barrier to entry for a newcomer to participate in the market. Just a decade or so ago, kids wanted to grow up to be rappers, baseball players or movie stars. Today, the youth as-pire to own a brand and have a streetwear label. Even musicians and ath-letes and celebrities want in. With two clicks of a mouse, you can have a silk-screened T-shirt and a snap-back cap to stand behind and position your place in the world.”

The influence is being seen in the designer mar-ket as well, where trend-setting labels such as En Noir, Off-White by Virgil Abloh and others are show-casing streetwear influenc-es in their collections.

“These days I believe that you can judge a de-signer by a graphic T-shirt they make,” said Abloh, who also moonlights as Kanye West’s creative director. Abloh’s brand, rooted in street culture but influenced by de-signers like Riccardo Tisci and Raf Simons, is now sold at retail-ers such as Barneys New York.

“My clothes are created out of an atelier in Milan and the produc-tion is mainly in Europe,” he said. “It’s sold on a designer floor at Barneys but [has] streetwear sensibilities.”

From mass to designer, brands are keying into the youth sector.

{Continued on page MW6}

Pigalle’s polyester jacket, cotton hoodie,

cotton T-shirt and silk pants. Pigalle hat;

Stampd necklace.

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by SAMANTHA CONTI

LONDON — Gieves & Hawkes has its eye on international wholesale expansion, and will begin selling exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman in mid-August and Isetan in Tokyo in September. Earlier this week, the brand, which is located at No. 1 Savile Row, opened a shop-in-shop on the ground floor of Harrods.

“Harrods, Isetan, Bergdorf Goodman — these stores represent modern luxury for us, and what we are selling is extremely reflective of No. 1 Savile Row,” said Jason Basmajian, who was formerly the brand’s creative director and is now its chief cre-ative officer. He added that, going forward, wholesale rollout would be very controlled.

The deal with Bergdorf ’s marks the first time that Gieves is wholesaling its top collec-tion in the U.S., although at one time it did

have a licensing agreement in the market. The brand, which will be located on the

second floor at Bergdorf ’s, near Berluti, Tom Ford, Ralph Lauren Black Label and Giorgio Armani, will also offer made-to-measure. Gieves will be taking part in a storewide made-to-measure event that will run during the second half of September. Ready-to-wear suit prices will start at around $3,000, while made-to-measure will be around $4,000. Bergdorf ’s has a one-year exclusive with Gieves, and will stock most of the range, excluding shoes and bags. Later this year, Gieves also plans to introduce its bespoke service to Bergdorf ’s, and its tailors will travel from London to fulfill the orders.

“Gieves and Hawkes is a storied Savile Row brand with a rich, royal heritage and when I heard Jason Basmajian was brought on as creative director, I was immediately intrigued,” said Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman. “He has prov-en throughout his career to have an innate understanding of how to blend history with modernity in an incredibly luxurious way in both tailored clothing and sportswear. I pre-viewed the line when he was next in New York, and subsequently at their presentations during London Collections: Men, where he made it immediately clear that this brand has resonance today as an aspirational, wearable wardrobe perfect for the Goodman’s very af-fluent, discerning customer.”

In September, Gieves will break into the Japanese market with a space at Isetan in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood, and will also begin selling on Matchesfashion.com, and in Harvey Nichols in Baku, Azerbaijan. Come November, Mr Porter.com and Brown Thomas in Ireland will be stocking the pre-spring collection.

Harrods is home to Gieves’ first fully furnished shop that mirrors the interiors of its Savile Row flagship, the refurbishment of which will be complete in September. Basmajian worked with the interior de-

signer Teresa Hastings on the store’s new look that features smoked oak, bronze and brass details, gray stone, gray flannel fabric and navy rugs.

The designer said he is also at work on a bespoke scented candle for the brand, be-cause “the sensory experience is important as part of the total package” of the brand experience.

The shop-in-shop on Harrods’ ground floor is near Kiton, Brioni and Canali. It spans 370 square feet and sells the full life-style collection, including tailoring, outer-wear, weekend wear and accessories. It of-fers made-to-measure, but not bespoke. It has been fitted with a hand-woven carpet, gray flannel fabrics, bespoke iron rails with brass and bronze details and smoked oak

A digital window near the store’s Basil Street entrance will launch on Aug. 1.

Gieves has been up to more than whole-sale expansion. Basmajian said there is a

retail rollout plan for the medium term, but declined to give further details. The brand has 10 stores in the U.K., including the Savile Row flagship, 113 retail stores in Mainland China and one store in Hong Kong.

In late October, Gieves plans to pub-lish a book with Flammarion called “One Savile Row: The Invention of the English Gentleman,” that looks at the history of Gieves and its famous home. A year in the making, the book will feature a mix of archi-val and contemporary images, and underline the brand’s past and present work for the British military and royal court. The fore-word is by Harold Koda, curator-in-charge of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Basmajian said he sees history repeating itself all the time on Savile Row. “We see the son as well as the father coming in — and customers asking us to recut their grandfa-thers’ suits,” he said.

Men’s WeekMW2 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014

Harmont & Blaine Brand Gets Minority Partner

Gieves & Hawkes Expands Wholesale

Dior Homme Opens Hawaii Unit by JEAN E. PALMIERI

ALOHA, DIOR HOMME.After years of sharing space

with women’s wear in a nearby center, the Dior men’s collection has finally gotten its own home in Honolulu.

On Wednesday, Dior Homme opened its first freestanding boutique in Hawaii at the T Galleria by DFS Waikiki. The store is adjacent to a women’s boutique that opened in the center in January. There is also a dual-gender Christian Dior and Dior Homme store at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu.

Pamela Baxter, chief execu-tive officer of Christian Dior North America, said that while the men’s store is next door to women’s, it has its own distinct design and a separate entrance inside the Galleria. “We have a lot of shared clients,” she said.

The shop sells all catego-ries of merchandise including ready-to-wear, footwear, eye-wear, leather goods, watches, jewelry and fragrance. The made-to-measure “demi-mesure” service will be avail-able upon request.

This marks the sixth stand-alone men’s store in the U.S. for the luxury Paris-based brand. There are two in New York City, one on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, one in Union Square in San Francisco and one in the Design District in Miami.

“They do well,” Baxter said, and appeal to both a “fashion-

forward” and more-traditional customer. “More and more, we’re attracting a sartorial cli-ent with our demi-mesure ser-vice,” she said.

Baxter said the popularity of the tailored business — particu-larly suits and formalwear — has made that a larger percentage of overall sales in the last few years. “We see a lot of tuxedos during award season. They seem to be a favored look and cut” for male celebrities, Baxter noted.

In Hawaii, the mix will skew more toward casualwear. “Because it’s a vacation spot, we’re going to sell more buy-now, wear-now merchandise,” she said. “The store will be more ca-sual- and sportswear-driven.”

And she expects that a large percentage of the shoppers there will be from the Far East.

“The Waikiki market is very tourist-driven,” she said. “And very Japanese-based. But over the past three to four years, the Chinese client has also discov-ered Dior Homme. The brand is very big in Asia.” She estimated that about 65 percent of the tourists in Hawaii are of Asian descent, but there are also a lot of tourists from Australia, Canada and the U.S. mainland.

Looking ahead, Baxter said the company is still on target to open its first Canadian unit in Vancouver next year. The dual-gender store is expected to open in January, she said.

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The Savile Row flagship, here and left.

The Waikiki store is adjacent to a women’s unit.

by LUISA ZARGANI

MILAN — Italian private equity firm Clessidra SGR has inked an agree-ment to take a 35 percent stake in Harmont & Blaine SpA through a capital increase, with the goal of sup-porting the Italian fashion brand’s international growth. The two com-panies had entered into exclusive ne-gotiations in March.

Harmont & Blaine president Domenico Menniti said that, in accor-dance with his partners Enzo Menniti and Paolo and Massimo Montefusco, he believed Clessidra shared “a com-mon strategy to develop the company. With this agreement, we set the foun-dations for the start of an internation-al growth that will consolidate the Harmont & Blaine brand globally.”

The Menniti family intends to maintain control of the privately held fashion company. With the help of a partner, the plan is to invest about 80 million euros, or $111.2 million at current exchange, over the next three years, and reach sales of about 200 million euros, or $278.1 million, prior to an initial public offering in the first half of 2017.

Counting 69 stores in Italy and 70 monobrand boutiques outside Italy, Harmont & Blaine is available in 54 countries, with a strong foothold in the Middle East, Russia, Central America and Mediterranean Europe. The brand is carried in more than 1,500 stores worldwide. With the help of Clessidra, the goal is to grow in Asia, in continental Europe and in

North, Central and South America. In April, Clessidra tapped

Francesco Trapani as executive vice chairman; he also became a shareholder and operating partner. Previously he was chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s watch-es and jewelry division. Last year, Clessidra bought a 70 percent stake in Milanese jewelry firm Buccellati.

Harmont & Blaine’s strategy mirrors that of Versace, which in February sold a 20 percent stake to Blackstone Group with the goal to fully develop the brand around the world and publicly list the Milan-based firm in three to five years.

In 2013, Harmont & Blaine’s net profits more than doubled, reaching 4.9 million euros, or $6.4 million, up 157.8 percent from 1.9 million euros, or $2.4 million, in the previous year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 24.7 percent to 13.1 million euros, or $17.3 million.

Revenues climbed 17.7 percent to 71 million euros, or $93.7 million, compared with 60.3 million euros, or $77.2 million, in 2012.

Dollar amounts have been con-verted at average exchange for the periods to which they refer.

Men’s wear is the core business of the label, which is recognizable for its trademark dachshund logo and its stylish preppy looks.

Harmont & Blaine, which is based in Caivano, on the outskirts of Naples, has more than 500 direct employees and more than 1,000 indirect ones.

Men’s WeekWWD THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014MW4

An expanded shoe wardrobe; playful, brightly colored belts and bags, and a multitude of male jewelry options are some of the elements that are turning men’s accessories from a sleepy, classic category into the ultimate fashion statement. Here are some highlights of the spring season. — ALEX BADIA

FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE

WWD.com/menswear-news.

A New Era

Dior Homme Balmain Gucci

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci

Giuseppe Zanotti

Fendi

Berluti

Z Zegna

Bally

Duchamp London

Men’s Week WWD THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014 MW5

Alexander Wang

Michael Kors Loewe

Kenzo

Valentino

Etro

Superdry

Solange Azagury-Partridge

Nicholas Kirkwood

#BeenTrill# x Linda Farrow

Louis Vuitton

Church’sDunhill

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Men’s WeekWWD THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014MW6

Even as streetwear makes a comeback, traditional teen re-tailers such as American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch and Aéropostale have been struggling, as have traditional surf brands like Quiksilver and Billabong. Analysts believe there are a myriad of rea-sons as to why, but one thing is cer-tain: The Generation Z consumers (ages 12 to 17) have become highly informed shoppers, with 91 percent plugged into the Internet and social media. According to a study made by The Intelligence Group, a divi-sion of Creative Artists Agency, Gen-Zers are as discriminating as older consumers when shopping for the best products and deals.

“They’re on every platform now and they are constantly being fed new information — what’s cool, where to get it,” said Jamie Gutfreund, chief strategy officer at TIG.

Among the brands that are at-tracting these younger customers on social media are established streetwear labels such as Stüssy and Supreme; West Coast brands like The Hundreds, Black Scale,

Undefeated, Huf, Diamond Supply Co., and Crooks and Castles, and East Coast firms like 10.Deep, SSUR and Been Trill — many of which have their own freestand-ing stores and e-commerce capa-bilities. Diamond Supply Co., for instance, opened its second free-standing store in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in June. The brand plans to open a third store in New York City later this year at 268 Lafayette Street across from Supreme.

Nick Diamond, founder and designer, said he plans to open other stores internationally in Asia, Canada and Europe in the next few years in addition to ex-panding Stateside. “I like to think of our flagship stores as more of a great marketing tool and a retail showroom for our fans to experi-ence what the Diamond life is all about,” he said.

Despite its growing retail foot-print, Diamond Supply Co., along with other brands, maintains its “cool” factor by keeping a low pro-file and steering clear of produc-ing apparel in mass quantities.

To excel, they sell the notion that their items are not only exclusive, but difficult to find. While brands such as Stüssy and Been Trill sell at chains such as Urban Outfitters and Pacific Sunwear, it’s a controlled strategy to reach consumers in mar-kets where streetwear specialty stores are few and far between.

“All of our streetwear brands perform very well,” said Gary Schoenfeld, president and chief executive officer of Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., which also has seen its share of struggles in the past few years.

The retailer, Schoenfeld said, now views streetwear as integral to its survival. “PacSun works hard — whether [it’s because our] em-ployees are skating on the street, we’re getting feedback from social media or we’re at events — to keep up with the latest trends,” he said. “Some of this is knowing who the authentic players are and keeping a pulse on what they’re currently doing. We’re seeing new brands and trends every day. In the end, we evaluate who’s behind the brand and see if they are viable in

the streetwear industry.”Nor are only youth-oriented

chains tapping into the trend. Harvey Nichols partnered with Been Trill to create an exclusive collection that was unveiled in June. The collection included col-laborations with designers such as Kim Jones, Gareth Pugh, Linda Farrow and others.

As the style makes a comeback yet again — and more retailers and brands jump onto the bandwagon — the very term “streetwear” stirs more confusion than ever over what it exactly defines.

Take, for instance, men’s wear (and now women’s wear as well) label Public School, which recently won the CFDA’s Menswear Designer of the Year award. Started by Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, the line is New York-inspired with its oversize shapes and expensive fab-rics, but the designers decidedly do not consider it streetwear.

“People incorrectly refer to us as streetwear, but the brand isn’t streetwear at all,” Chow, who began his career at Sean Jean, said. “We aren’t chasing trends or

commenting on what’s going on in culture. Our DNA is in mixing high and low, mixing different worlds, referencing and creating fabric combinations, but making it with a versatility and practicality to it.”

Shayne Oliver of Hood by Air said that his collection, though in-spired by skaters, is not traditional streetwear either.

“Many people have their defini-tions of what we are, but I wouldn’t call it streetwear,” he said.

So what is streetwear? “You know it when you see it,”

said Aaron Levant, founder of the streetwear show Agenda. “It’s all about the independent spirit and an emulation of street culture. It’s about the design aesthetic, a mix of New York, skate culture, fashion, music, graphic design, art. It’s a re-flection of how the youth is today.”

Kim, who started his brand The Hundreds in 2003, said that streetwear to him is a mélange of youth culture.

“[My definition] sits somewhere between urban culture, skateboard-ing and high fashion,” he said. “The vital ingredient — what makes

Streetwear Brands Stay Small

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Off-White’s jacket, Rascals’

turtleneck and shirt, and

10.Deep’s pants, all in cotton.

SSUR’s leather vest and cotton denim jacket,

KNYEW’s cotton shirt, Off-White’s wool shirt

worn on waist and Entrée’s cotton pants.

Dr. Martens boots; Black Scale hat.

Staple Design’s nylon jacket and cotton pants,

and Mighty Healthy’s cotton T-shirt. Jordan

sneakers.

Stüssy’s nylon jacket, HUF’s cotton

shirt and Crooks & Castles’ cotton

denim jeans. Reason hat; HUF shoes.

Men’s Week WWD THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014 MW7

“It was tough for all of us and we didn’t know if we’d even make it through,” Sasso recalled.

As a result, according to Levant, the market has become fragmented.

“Many small brands control big amounts of dollars,” he said. “Not any one brand is controlling the market or becoming very huge in value or market share. There are around 50 to 100 brands now mak-ing significant brand value as op-posed to a handful in other years.”

Today, street-style blogs, Instagram and Tumblr are avail-able to everyone worldwide, which is fueling the democratization and globalization of the market.

“Kids who were in New York could see what kids in Paris were wearing and vice versa,” said Darryl “Curtains” Jackson, brand director of En Noir, who considers himself a product of streetwear. “You would see kids in Japan wearing super high fashion clothes but they were wearing only a T-shirt, they weren’t wearing the typical Gucci outfit. You could see it in Japanese streetwear and how Supreme and Bape were infiltrating high fashion. Japanese culture was a big influence with Neighborhood, Visvim and Wtaps — all what I consider high fashion streetwear.”

“The Japanese market is where streetwear traditionally went to be-come cool and gain its status — just look at Stüssy in the Nineties,” said Iveet Shiau, head of international con-tent at the Web site Hypebeast. “Now, foreign brands or American brands go there to incubate, then gain status, and expand. Then there are the Japanese brands like Neighborhood and Wtaps that have always been cool and are always influencing streetwear and where it’s headed.”

Shiau believes the next streetwear surge will come from Europe.

“It was America that led the way, then Japan, then America again, but now I see that Europe is where we will see the next wave,” he said.

Or back to American brands from yesteryear. This is the current goal for hot Nineties-era brands such as Ecko Unltd., Rocawear and even Fila, which are all re-brand-ing to become new players in the lucrative youth apparel business. According to a study conducted by TIG, Gen-Zers directly influence around $600 million in consumer spending every year.

“Every moment is a shopping moment,” said Gutfreund.

As they reinvent themselves, these Nineties-era brands face in-creasing challenges in appealing to the new digitally savvy customer.

“The consumer is more global than in the Nineties when these brands were very relevant,” said Elena Romero, adjunct assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology and a hip-hop apparel historian. “Today, kids who listen to hip-hop aren’t defined head-to-toe by the music they listen to. The consumer is transcultural and blurs lines of cultures as well. To make themselves relevant again they need to ask what their customers’ needs are, what are their concerns?”

To tackle this question, the foot-wear brand Fila is taking a “back to the basics” approach for its re-launch. The company, which was at the height of the streetwear move-ment in the Nineties through col-laborations with NBA stars such as Grant Hill, lost its hold on its core customer after being sold to Gene Yoon, who raised $450 mil-lion to purchase the company in 2007. Under its new ownership, the company became more focused on casual footwear with lower price points and was sold at midmarket retailers such as Kohl’s.

streetwear streetwear — is the lim-ited distribution, the specialty fac-tor and the response to a blown-out, corporatized industry. Streetwear is the underground to mainstream fashion. Music has garage bands. In every generation, the counter-cul-ture rises against the hegemony and then becomes it. Rinse and repeat.”

Arguably, the top-selling and old-est brand in the business is Stüssy.

The surf-based line has been privately owned since its inception in 1980 by surfer-turned-designer Shawn Stussy. The company oper-ates 16 stores — or “chapters,” as it likes to call them — across the world, and wholesales to around 250 accounts, ranging from Urban Outfitters and Active to Zumiez.

Its current owner, Frank Sinatra Jr. (no relation to the other Frank Sinatra), said the brand was sold at Macy’s and Nordstrom in the Eighties. But today, Sinatra said selling to department stores isn’t appealing to him mainly because “Macy’s customer isn’t necessarily as individual or fashionable.

“Where you sell and what you sell is key,” he said. “We are very

selective in where we sell and we are trying to be practically selec-tive about what we make.”

Sinatra said that, in streetwear, a controlled distribution model is essential to survival. Unlike tradi-tional business models, where more distribution equates to more rev-enue and is therefore considered “better,” streetwear brands take an opposite approach to guard against oversaturation that could impact their “cool factor.” Sinatra said that, today, Stüssy’s sweet spot is around $50 million in total revenues.

“We don’t try to hit it and we’ll take less, but [it’s a number] we want to control,” he said. “If the or-ders are too large, we’ll cut it back and we’ll take less.”

Sinatra said that in the Nineties, Stüssy was approached by some major mass-market retailers to carry the line but declined all offers.

“We could have sold $100 mil-lion but that would mean we were not in control,” he said.

Scott Sasso, founder and owner of the New York-based label 10.Deep, agreed that the limited-distribution business model is

what allows him to stay afloat.“I don’t want to see every other

person wearing my brand,” he said. “That would be my nightmare.”

Sasso, who developed his com-pany in the mid-Nineties, said he actually scales back production any time he needs to grow his brand.

“We’ve always produced appar-el in small quantities, not only be-cause we wanted to target a specif-ic customer, but because then the items are more sought out. Limited quantities equate to more people vying for it,” he said.

The Hundreds, which was founded by Kim and his law school classmate Ben Shenassafar, was built on the Web, which was in its infancy then.

“This was over 10 years ago, so the idea of interlacing fashion with the Internet was foreign — not how it is today where every designer has an Instagram following,” said Kim. “After a few years, some people knew us for our streetwear brand, others knew us for the blog and media platform. The Web site evolved into a morning newspaper for many in the industry and that trickled down to the consumers.”

In 2007, the company opened its first flagship in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, two years before the economy crashed, bringing many streetwear brands down with it.

Today, the company has given its American division the lead on brand strategy to once again grab a piece of the market.

“Fila is still around and is a 103-year-old brand,” said Louis Colon, director of heritage and life-style product at Fila. “We want to share with the consumers that we haven’t gone anywhere. At the same time, today’s focus is to reeducate and target our customers and the new Millennial kid who is looking for a product to differentiate themselves.”

For the past two years, Colon has been leading the re-branding strategy to focus on creating limit-ed-edition shoes and collaborating with specific brands, retailers and personalities.

“We understand that there’s a lot of competition in this space and we understand there are other brands people love,” he said. “There’s a guy’s closet filled with Jordans, Nike, Adidas, but we want to have the guy make room for Filas, too. You can’t take Fila out of the history of streetwear or footwear.”

Fila is beginning to heavily mar-ket its new direction. One campaign will launch later in August with the upcoming film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” which Fila partnered with as the official shoe sponsor.

“It’s a long game, it’s not a short one,” Colon said. “There was no one specific way to tell a story. We want to be authentic to who we are and know that kids are interested in rediscovering the past.”

Colon said that later in the year Fila will collaborate with the popular L.A.-based brand Joy Rich with a capsule collection.

Then there is the once-mega streetwear label Ecko Unltd., which was created by Marc Ecko, Seth Gerszberg and Marci Tapper and was fully acquired by Iconix Brand Group Inc. in May 2013. Ecko Unltd. is banking on the new fall collection to resonate with the Gen-Z market; it just released its fall campaign with hip-hop artist B.o.B., and is aggressively pushing a new, more streamlined image.

“We understand that there isn’t just one kind of guy anymore,” said James Ling, vice president of the men’s division at Iconix. “He likes hip-hop but watches action sports, likes to skate, he’s into a variety of things.”

Gone are the brand’s heavily emblazoned rhinoceros logo and XXL-size shirts so popular in the Nineties. Instead, the new fall col-lection — including button-ups, jog-ger pants and printed shirts — will hit J.C. Penney shelves this fall.

“It’s about tapping into what the new generation wants and under-standing that we can’t box them into one single demographic,” Ling said.

Rocawear is following suit and shedding its long-standing image of being heavily hip-hop focused in hopes of reaching a new demo-graphic. The brand — which was sold to Iconix in 2007 by Jay Z — tapped MTV star Nev Schulman to be the face of the fall ad campaign. Iconix declined to comment when asked about its long-term strategy with the brand.

“There’s definitely potential in reinventing these past brands,” said FIT’s Romero. “The brands just have to approach young peo-ple differently.”

Successful or not, streetwear — new and/or old — is a market that isn’t seen diminishing anytime soon.

“Because of social media, streetwear will never go away,” Levant said. “There’s an audience that never waivers and that are loyal consumers. And now with so much information out there [with the Web], the interest will never falter.”

to Stay Cool

Raised by Wolves’ nylon jacket, Aimé Leon Dore’s nylon

vest and cotton shirt, and Rascals’ wool pants. Aimé

Leon Dore hat; Amb Ambassadors

of minimalism sneakers.

En Noir’s leather T-shirt and Black

Scale’s cotton and polyester pants.

Amb Ambassadors of minimalism

sneakers.

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Men’s WeekWWD THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014MW8

WWD met with Ecko to talk about his past accomplishments, the cur-rent state of streetwear as the sec-tor sees a major revival, his strategy in tackling the designer market, and the future of Marc Ecko Cut & Sew.

WWD: What motivated you to start a streetwear brand like Ecko Unltd.?Marc Ecko: I remember in college in 1990 going to retail and seeing Stüssy. I was like, “Who the f--k is Stüssy? He’s not real.” I just wanted to torch them because they were commercially successful. I had my own competitive motivation. When I was starting, I was naïvely like, I’m trying to make it for myself, and said it like a mental patient. I started when I was 20 years old. I was try-ing to satisfy something that hadn’t been in the marketplace prior.

WWD: You grew up in New Jersey in the Eighties. Where did your in-terest in streetwear come about?M.E.: There was this genre being born in L.A. and organized in the Northeast around people inter-ested in hip-hop. That first wave of “urban” was productized to be clothing for African-Americans. My first exposure was all the success Karl Kani was having and all these articles in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal that my mother gave to me. She was like, “Son, you can do this.” My interest was a blend between wanting to build a real lifestyle brand like those guys were doing, and doing it in a way that positioned hip-hop and this convergence culture with graffiti art that I came up with in the Eighties from my lens and my vantage point.

WWD: You started your company with your twin sister, Marci, and friend Seth Gerszberg, who is now incubating a few streetwear brands under The Collective. Do you still talk to him?M.E.: No, not really. Marci speaks to him probably more than I do. We don’t have a professional connection. If we run into each other it’s nice and cordial. There’s no need to. Our dots aren’t connected any more. He’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine.

WWD: Has the definition of streetwear changed through the years?M.E.: [Initially,] it was a term for just black people or ghetto. I al-ways found that funny. Because from Day One of launching the

business and speaking to cross-over buyers or buyers with scale, they were always struggling with it. I wrote a whole book about it. People want these labeling taxono-mies to organize us so that you be-long in aisle four, you in aisle six, you in aisle nine, you in the fro-zen [food section]. But sometimes things have more nuance than that. I think that there was somewhat of a loaded conversation.

It’s interesting that we packaged streetwear in a cleaner veneer that it describes something different than it was 10 years ago. Now we see “contemporary streetwear” or “progressive streetwear,” but what the f--k does that mean?

WWD: So are these new “high end” streetwear labels any more unique than they were years ago?M.E.: I don’t think so. I look at brands now and 10 years ago — some brands are here, some not. There still are brands that are heavily graphic, fundamentally very strong provocative graphic design, printables and different prints.

When I was coming up there were a lot of high-end street brands. They were just selling to Japan at the time. There were plenty of Japanese imports. There wasn’t this fashion CNN that hip-hop has been in the past four years. Why is it that? Because it took a designer to take their streetwear labels to a higher price point — which, by the way, is hard-er to work as a successful business — to make streetwear OK? So sud-denly streetwear and men’s wear can play nice. And suddenly the CFDA and the traditional design institutions can see streetwear through a lens of more validity.

WWD: Today’s streetwear market is saturated with hundreds, if not thousands, of brands. How difficult is it for a new label to survive?M.E.: It’s hard. This industry is so ripe for massive structural overhaul. We’re still an industry dominated by paper and Excel spreadsheets. This creates mas-sive amounts of opportunities and also massive challenges. If you’re not thinking about some unfair advantage at the supply side of it, you’re going to have a really tough time winning on just the brand side alone. Too often people think that a brand is just the woven label or the business card — the kind of ge-stalt or framework that you’re in my booth, you’re in my brand. But real brand differentiation comes from the needle up. What can you do to create a technological advantage or a resource that would expedite your brand in the marketplace and how it’s positioned in the market-place? I think about “just in time” manufacturing and what’s going on there, and agile manufacturing. At scale, the import industry is ripe for a revolution. It’s going to come.

WWD: We’re seeing brands like the footwear brand The Greats suc-cessfully cut out retailers and go into a direct-to-consumer model. Is wholesaling necessary? M.E.: I think it’s a blend. I don’t

think there’s a one size fits all. And it’s way too early to determine the future. I think Warby Parker has created a lot of enthusiasm. I love the guys at Greats, they’re great guys, literally. Retail is like TV. If you want to talk about the power of branding, there’s still something about being in a duty-free shop and being in an array of brands around you, or a retail of choice, or an all-glass department store. There’s still that entertainment value of all the lights and space, wanting the recreational time of going to the movie and food court and going shopping. That’s what real people do in America. I think increasingly, you’re smart

and launching your brand, you’re thinking what is your core com-petency and thinking who’s the lead actor in your play. How do you really own that in a narrow and deep fashion and serve that to the consumer? From launch you should think that. From launch you should have an e-commerce solution, even if it’s just half of it at launch. That’s respectable.

WWD: What do you think went awry with the Ecko Unltd. business?M.E.: You want more demand than supply. There was more supply than there was demand. There was too much inventory. The inventory cycles were too frequent. It was too much. Period. It just wasn’t gov-erned in a way that took advantage of the diversity of distribution. I’ll also say that I wasn’t as opera-tionally involved. I would sit on the periphery, but you know, that had the greatest impact on the business, more so than trends or perception. What’s more material

is the lack of governance vis-a-vis making sure that if you’re my cli-ent or my partner that I was re-ally optimizing the business for you. It became, you know, every-thing for everyone and nothing for anyone. My grandma used to say “10 pounds of s--t in a five-pound bag.” Too much stuff and not enough space.

It was not governed properly. Period. End of story. It was schizo-phrenic. We were trying to take cues from how big retailers were doing their business. We got so big and we stopped looking at our heritage. Your top dollar is as big as Aéropostale so let’s see what Aéropostale is doing versus look-ing culturally at your roots and your feet. We should have done the latter. We didn’t do that. We started at the top line and looked at other people at our level.

WWD: In your opinion, did the brand sell out? M.E.: I don’t know. I think that you could build things that are really big at scale and have a massive business but not “sell out” from a cultural point of view. I don’t think the sell-out was the scale of the revenue but it was losing sight of its roots. It wasn’t being nourished to the point that it’s what got you out of the pickle. When it started to operationally, it was too late. To answer your question, I think

that it’s not about being the cool-est new brand but it’s about being Ecko Unltd. It’s a 20-plus-year-old brand that has a history. Will it be the next you know, hot s--t brand XYZ that’s crowded at Agenda? It needn’t be that. Vans doesn’t try to be that, neither does Levi’s.

WWD: What do you think it will take for Ecko Unltd. to make a comeback?M.E.: I think Neil Cole at Iconix wanted to clean house and have new people with fresh ideas. That’s a start. They were like, “We tried this long enough,” and want-ed to create new energy from an operational business. I do think it’s a function of new energy and new perspective on distribution and being confident. The brand could be marketable again.

WWD: Tell me about Marc Ecko Cut & Sew. Why did you want to re-launch it in a serious way?M.E.: I got involved with Marc Ecko Cut & Sew only because I always

felt like it was a failure to launch. It’s unfinished business for me creatively. The thing that was the worst for me in the six years or so was not being able to wake up when you get an idea, go in, get a sketch out, put it on the sample floor and get a prototype. That feedback was gone. I felt like it was just missing for me. It’s funny once you get your groove. It’s in-teresting. It’s good to connect to the community and industry, too.

WWD: You’re a nontraditional fash-ion designer. Is there any pressure to prove yourself?M.E.: Listen, I didn’t go to FIT. I didn’t go to traditional design school. It doesn’t make me any less valid. I didn’t need that to pass through rubrics to be deemed quali-fied of those skill sets. It doesn’t work that way in film, animation, code or programming, so why must it work that way in fashion? It needn’t.

I’m such the outsider guy from that cohort. It’s like me having to prove to myself. I’m not an exter-nally motivated guy like that. I have a thorny relationship with the fashion design industry. But that being said, I am learning and relearning. I’m speaking to people. Asking self-effacing questions. Asking buyers to vomit on my stuff. Be real. Meeting with multiline showrooms, sellers, other brands, editors, glean whatever I can.

WWD: What position will Marc Ecko Cut & Sew fill in the market?M.E.: Our brand will have the dress component, but a youthfulness to it. If you graduated from streetwear, here is what you wore on your first day. There will be more of an em-phasis in a denim collection. It will be back to the roots of being more simplified and less overly designed. I’ll be doing some things that are trendy now but not trend-driven. Our biggest partner is Dillard’s right now. I’m very, very grateful to them. We have a small team of about seven or eight of us. It’s a small start-up mentality and environment. We’re just trying to do our best.

WWD: What are the challenges you are now facing? M.E.: Where do we start? It’s re-learning the industry. There’s a new community of stylists, editors, designers, a new community of re-tailers and less of them. For one, I would say that some folks on the buy side have maybe selection bias

and a preconceived notion of what the brand is supposed to be. Me saying, “Marc is back” can be per-ceived as some optics thing like, “Where was he?” I need to restore a trust with the buy side and be like, “Do you see the difference? Do you see the evolution of this as-sortment in that? Wow, he is back?”

WWD: Is there a designer whose business you want to emulate?M.E.: There are so many designers I respect that are doing really good and important stuff. I look at the excitement of John Varvatos. I see that he serves a much older demo-graphic. He traffics in a very specif-ic period of rock ’n’ roll. I think I can build an American fashion brand that philosophically draws its influ-ence from a different period as well.

WWD: What would you want the industry to know about the Marc Ecko of today? M.E.: I’ve only been back in this less than a year and this is my second trade show. I’ll physically be on the floor meeting with and walking the trade show, selling my product. I don’t know anyone. If you’re read-ing this, hit me up. I’m down. I’m in the cut. I’m trying to be in this busi-ness. Put me in coach, that’s the vibe. I just want to constantly be learning and relearning and con-necting and reconnecting. And I’m humbled by it all.

LISTEN, I DIDN’T GO TO FIT. I DIDN’T GO TO TRADITIONAL DESIGN SCHOOL. IT DOESN’T MAKE ME ANY LESS VALID.” — MARC ECKO

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Marc Ecko

Marc Ecko on Streetwear and Culture{Continued from page one}

Men’s Week MW9WWD THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014

by PAULINA SZMYDKE

PARIS — J.M. Weston is going back to its roots.

The French luxury cobbler is launching a new, sportier line for fall called Country Gents based on de-signs from the Thirties and Forties by Eugène Blanchard, whose father Edouard founded the house in 1891.

“The idea was to revisit those styles, which are inspired by golf, hunting and horseback riding, all es-sentially aristocratic sports, but make them more outdoorsy,” explained the brand’s artistic director Michel Perry.

Perry reworked the traditional hunting derby in grained calf ’s leath-

er with six eyelets, and enforced the wing-tip golf shoe with double stitch-ing and artfully woven threads along the perforation lines. The latter also comes in a more robust ankle-boot version equipped with the house’s extra-resistant ridgeway sole.

Perry said he wanted “to stay in the aristo-chic theme, in keeping with the heaviness of the silhouette,” which was especially true for a hiking shoe with its oiled calf leather surface.

The five styles, retailing for be-tween 590 euros and 790 euros, or $796 and $1,066 at current exchange, are done in various shades of brown ranging from chocolate to camel, black and two shades of deep green. All

are available in customized versions through the brand’s special-order de-partment which, according to Perry, has experienced strong growth in 2013 and continues to grow this year.

J.M. Weston, which last fall launched a women’s line and opened its sixth Paris store on Rue Saint-Honoré with a new interior concept influenced by chic Parisian apart-ments, is in the midst of renovating other existing boutiques, with its Boulevard de la Madeleine location in Paris and Geneva to be completed this year, as well as its store on the Champs-Élysées in 2015.

The brand currently operates 40 points of sale, mostly in Europe and Asia.

by LORELEI MARFIL

LONDON — German accessories brand MCM is looking to Europe for growth, with stores planned for Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich in the fall, and recently opened units at Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in Paris and at Jelmoli in Zurich.

The accessories firm, which currently counts Asia as its strongest market, has also opened a shop-in-shop in Harrods here. The 1,130-square-foot space is located on the lower ground floor of Hall 1, and features natural wood and gold metal details. MCM has a flagship in London and is also stocked at Selfridges.

“Europe has always been a key market for MCM, and we continue to grow with a strong foundation [here],” said Sung-Joo Kim, chair-man and chief executive officer of the brand’s South Korean parent Sungjoo Group.

He told WWD the brand plans to develop its long-term partnerships with additional department stores, and invest further in European expansion.

“Asia overall is still the strongest mar-

ket for the brand, but Europe is catching up quickly with more than double-digit growth, especially in the more fashion-conscious urban areas such as London, Paris, Berlin and, of course, Munich,” he said.

Kim added that MCM is built on four pil-lars: “Quality and craftsmanship; design,

which allows mobility, and the German ori-gin, especially Munich, which is the birth-place of MCM.” MCM has two stand-alone stores in Germany, and 26 points of sale in department stores.

Kim said MCM’s backpack is a bestseller globally. “Our customers are global nomads,

and they appreciate stylish items that are comfortable to wear and practical.”

He said the company would be setting its sights on the U.S. later this year.

“In 2016, we will celebrate 40 years of MCM. Leading up to the 40th anniversary of MCM, we will assure a great presence of the brand globally,” he said.

Sungjoo Group acquired MCM Holding AG in 2005. The brand was founded in 1979 and is present in 35 countries with 300 retail units.

Man of THE WEEK

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CHRIS PRATT: A-

The star of “Guardians of the Galaxy” is not only an invincible Space Age pilot, but a sharp dresser with a newly chiseled body as well.

The gold watch with the black leather strap adds another element of sophistication and elegance.

It’s not made-to-measure, but it’s been altered to his body specs, and it shows.

The understated Prince of Wales pattern proves he really cares about style and what he’s wearing. Good choice.

The trim beard adds to his new action-hero,

sex-symbol status.

The soft wave and volume make him look

like he just got off the beach. But it still works

with the tailored look.

by JEAN E. PALMIERI

MICHAEL BASTIAN is getting into the wearable technology game.

The men’s wear designer has teamed with Hewlett-Packard and Gilt to create a luxury watch with smart technology. The Michael Bastian Smartwatch looks like a sleek, gentleman’s timepiece but it also can perform a range of functions. These include providing weather, stock updates and sports results; remote con-trol of music; calendar and appoint-ment reminders; e-mail and social media notifications, and texts.

It features a 44-mm. stainless steel case, inlaid button controls and three interchangeable watchbands: black rub-ber, perforated brown leather and olive green nylon. It has crown bezel bolts and a lighted chronograph, and was in-spired by the dashboards and trim de-tails of luxury cars. The watch is water-resistant and has a power reserve of up to seven days. It is compatible with both Android and iOS devices and syncs with an app that allows users to interact with the watch and customize its features.

Bastian has also designed a limited-edition version of the watch, which fea-tures an all-black design.

Bastian said the wearable technology pieces currently available in the market are geared more toward function than fashion. “We’re at the beginning of the wave, but the smart part comes before the visual part,” he said. “We felt there was a need for something that feels like a watch first.”

Rob Le Bras-Brown, senior vice pres-

ident of marketing, printing and per-sonal systems for HP, agrees. “Fashion has always been a fascinating area to explore,” he said. “And we’re revisiting how fashion and technology can come together.” He called the smart wear-ables market an “interesting platform to explore that idea,” and turned to Gilt to find a designer that would be amenable to the process. “We challenged them to find a designer to work with us as an en-gineer, not just the brand on the watch.”

The result was the Michael Bastian Smartwatch. “We’re the technology en-gine to enable the vision of the design-er,” Le Bras-Brown said.

The watch has yet to be priced, but will be launched on Gilt exclusively this fall. Tracey Weber, chief operating officer of Gilt, said the watch affords the online retailer “the perfect opportunity” to offer its customers “a gorgeous watch that em-bodies the ultimate in style and function.”

Le Bras-Brown said he hopes that the watch will be the first of several products offered by HP in partnership with Bastian or other fashion brands. “I think we’ve found a wonderful symbiosis to work with someone who has an eye for fashion,” he said. “We’ll be exploring further opportu-nities with other partners as well.”

MCM Focuses on European Growth

J.M. Weston double-sole toe-cap oxford

and laced ankle boot in smooth calf leather.

The MCM store in Printemps.

The MCM store in Zurich.

Bastian Creates Stylish Smartwatch

The watch will be sold on Gilt this fall.

The slim cut of the trouser hints at a European

designer and the clean break is just short enough

to be modern and chic.

The light blue shirt complements his eyes and the subtle print of

the suit. And even though it’s pulling a bit across

his buff pecs — we’ve seen the selfies on Instagram

— opening another button would be cheesy.

The cap-toe lace-up with a thin sole is the ideal summer shoe for an evening affair.

J.M. Weston Adds New Sporty Line