Accessories were in full bloom this resort. Designers embraced a floral theme in various

ways, including some with ample drama. Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci channeled the dark

side of Holly Hobbie’s calico cuteness for his edgy leather booties. Meanwhile, Dior’s Raf Simons went artfully graphic with this leather and python clutch. For more on the blossoming of resort, see pages 4 and 5.

MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013 $3.00 WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY

WWDPetal Power

PHOTO BY KYLE ERICKSEN; STYLED BY ROXANNE ROBINSON

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FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE

WWD.com/accessories-news.

FIERCE INVESTMENT

TYRA BANKS HAS BOUGHT INTO THEHUNT.COM

THROUGH HER FIERCE CAPITAL UNIT. PAGE 12

LOOKING TO GARNER ATTENTION

MAX MARA MAKES ACCESSORIES PUSH AND TAPS JENNIFER

GARNER FOR CAMPAIGN. PAGE 6

MICHAEL KORS FILES “BAIT-AND-SWITCH” SUIT AGAINST THE WAREHOUSE CLUB.

PAGE 2

KORS V. COSTCO

WWD.COM2 WWD MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013

TO E-MAIL REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME@FAIRCHILDFASHION.COM, USING THE INDIVIDUAL’S NAME. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2013 FAIRCHILD FASHION MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 206, NO. 9. MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in March, May, June, August, October and December, and two additional issues in February, April, September and November) by Fairchild Fashion Media, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast: S.I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, Chief Executive Officer; Robert A. Sauerberg Jr., President; John W. Bellando, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer; Jill Bright, Chief Administrative Officer. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615 5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289-0273, or visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. For New York Hand Delivery Service address changes or inquiries, please contact Mitchell’s NY at 1-800-662-2275, option 7. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions requests, please call 212-630-5656 or fax the request to 212-630-5883. For all request for reprints of articles please contact The YGS Group at condenast@theygsgroup.com, or call 800-501-9571. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Fashion Media magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

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ON WWD.COM

THE BRIEFING BOXIN TODAY’S WWD

Max Mara is accelerating its investment in the handbag category, launching the JBag, and has tapped Jennifer Garner to front its first advertising campaign in the arena. PAGE 6 Switzerland’s competition regulator announced on Friday it had rejected an agreement struck between its Secretariat and Swatch Group AG. PAGE 7 Puma has named Torsten Hochstetter to the newly created position of global creative director. PAGE 7 The British Fashion Council has released its schedule for London Fashion Week’s spring 2014 season. PAGE 7 Mara Hoffman has won the title of Mercedes-Benz Presents designer this season in the swimwear category. PAGE 7 With a string of roles in buzzed-about indies this year — including “Fruitvale Station” — Ahna O’Reilly’s star and red-carpet presence are both on the rise. PAGE 9 Michael Kors’ fall advertising campaign features models Karmen Pedaru and Simon Nessman photographed in Los Angeles with a helicopter. PAGE 9 Interior design firm Yabu Pushelberg is pushing into home design via furniture and its first tabletop collection. PAGE 10 Tom Ford is expanding its retail footprint, with new flagships in Chicago and Dallas. PAGE 11 Shoemaker Joseph “Joe” Famolare Jr. died Thursday of cancer at the age of 82. PAGE 11 Tyra Banks has joined actor Ashton Kutcher as an investor in shopping start-up TheHunt.com. PAGE 12 With next year’s debut of her new reality show, “Mad Men” costume designer Janie Bryant said she will flaunt her passions — film, costume design and fashion. PAGE 12

Looks from Twin-Set Simona Barbieri, which showed at Mode City. For more, see WWD.com.

MARKETS: Lingerie and swimwear trade show Mode City celebrated its 30th anniversary with a well-being theme and an outdoor area open to the public — the first time the event has been open to nontrade visitors. For more, see WWD.com.

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By KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — The chief trade negotiators from the U.S. and European Union said Friday they had made progress in ini-tial discussions covering a wide range of areas, including textiles, and outlined areas of “diver-gence and convergence,” as the two sides wrapped up the first round of negotiations here on a trans-Atlantic trade accord.

The U.S. and EU hope to sig-nificantly boost trade with the free-trade agreement that has major implications for U.S. im-ports and exports of apparel, tex-tiles, footwear and accessories.

“All engagement this week has been very positive and… substan-tive,” chief U.S. negotiator Dan Mullaney said at a press confer-ence Friday.

Mullaney said several areas were covered by negotiators this week. In addition to textiles and the rule of origin, topics that were discussed included investment, intellectual property rights, mar-ket access for industrial goods, regulatory coherence and coop-eration and technical barriers.

Some of the thorny trade is-sues facing negotiators include France’s concerns over audio-visual controls, agricultural subsidies on both sides of the Atlantic, “Buy America” rules in the U.S. pertaining to govern-ment procurement and Europe’s opposition to the use of geneti-cally modified foods. Another outstanding issue directly im-pacts the fashion industry: In April, the EU tripled the tariff on U.S.-made women’s and girls’ cotton denim jeans to 38 per-

cent, as part of a World Trade Organization case the trading bloc won against the U.S. in 2005, and industry groups are pressing for a resolution.

“Because this has been our first direct, substantive engage-ment in these negotiations, the goal of the first round was to walk through, cover all of the areas that may be addressed in this negotia-tion, share initial thoughts about how to approach each issue, dis-cuss our priorities, discuss our objectives and set up solid work streams [that lead] to increased substantive engagement in the second round,” Mullaney said.

The officials said the sec-ond round of negotiations on the accord, dubbed the Trans-atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, will be held in Brussels in October.

“Both of us see this agree-ment as having the potential to deliver something transforma-tive to our economies, in terms of market access, in terms of regulatory compatibility and in terms of rule making,” said EU chief negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero. “We have identified certain areas of convergence.…And in areas of divergence, we have begun to explore how such divergences can be reconciled. In short, we have paved the way for a substantive second round of negotiation in Brussels.”

Asked how close or far apart the two sides were on a textile rule of origin and whether a yarn-forward rule that requires the accords’ signatory countries to use fabric and yarns produced within the trade area to receive duty-free benefits was being con-sidered, Garcia-Bercero said

product-specific rules of origin were not discussed in the first round. But he noted that on “protocols we have found there are quite a few areas where we have convergence on what the U.S. provides for and what the European Union provides for.”

Although none of the EU member countries are top appar-el suppliers to the U.S., there are well-established relationships. Apparel imports to the U.S. from Italy were $1.1 billion in 2012, while imports from France were $151 million, followed by the U.K., with $98 million. Textile imports to the U.S. from the EU are also important. For example, Italy is the third-largest supplier of wool imports to the U.S., fol-lowed by the U.K. as the fifth-largest supplier and Germany, which is ranked 10th.

Retailers and brands are also interested in seeing the two sides streamline regulations, remove burdensome technical barriers and eliminate redundancies in areas from Customs procedures and product safety testing and certification to environmental and privacy policies.

“It is very important that there is a clear understanding of what we aim to do and what we do not aim to do on the regula-tory field,” said Garcia-Bercero. “We are working on the basic concept that both [the] U.S. and European Union should be able maintain a level of protection that they consider to be appro-priate, but there are many things that can be done…that would avoid unnecessary duplication and unnecessary regulatory bar-riers. That is what we are trying to explore.”

1st Round of U.S.-EU Trade Talks Ends

By ALEXANDRA STEIGRAD

MICHAEL KORS HOLDINGS LTD. is taking Costco Wholesale Corp. to a familiar place — court.

The New York-based clothing and accessories brand slapped the wholesale club with a lawsuit, claiming Costco falsely advertised that it sold Kors handbags.

Filed on Thursday in the Southern District of New York, the suit pointed to e-mail blasts that Costco sent out on April 16 of this year in advance of Mother’s Day.

Those e-mails, which Kors called “bait-and-switch” e-mails, advertised a selection of “designer handbags starting at $99.99 delivered.” Next to that text, the Issaquah, Wash.-based chain showcased three handbags, one of which was a monogrammed Kors bag, bearing the “MK” trademark. Several other photos of Kors bags were also featured in the ad, which prominently displayed Kors’ signature “MK” circular gold-toned hangtag.

Costco did not return calls seeking comment. According to the complaint, Costco’s ads were

meant to “lure unsuspecting consumers away from bona fide Michael Kors retailers and into Costco stores.”

Prior to filing the lawsuit, Kors checked Costco’s Web site and sent representatives to 19 Costco re-tail stores. The company claims it was unable to find any proof that Costco sold its bags.

“To this date, consumers who arrive at Costco’s Web site through the bait-and-switch ad, or via Costco’s main Web site, will not find any Michael Kors handbags available for sale,” court papers said.

Lawyers for Kors added that: “Costco is not, and never has been, an authorized dealer of Michael Kors handbags, and upon information and belief, Costco does not currently sell Michael Kors handbags.”

Although the lawsuit deals with false advertis-ing, Costco has run into trouble before over allega-tions that it sold merchandise that it wasn’t autho-rized to offer.

In February, luxe jeweler Tiffany & Co. sued the wholesaler, claiming it sold engagement rings that it passed off as Tiffany-branded rings in select stores. Also filed in New York federal court, that suit accused Costco of trademark infringement, and underscored that the wholesaler is not an au-thorized dealer of its wares.

The larger issue for Tiffany, and for Kors, if in fact Costco did possess its bags, is whether the mer-chandise it advertised was counterfeit or obtained from the gray market.

Over the last six years, Costco has been sued by Yves Saint Laurent for both selling counterfeit per-fume and for repackaging and selling actual YSL cosmetic and beauty products.

In a case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court, Omega SA also sued Costco, challenging the wholesaler’s right to sell “authentic” Omega watch-es it obtained on the gray market. Omega won that case in a narrow ruling that said Costco infringed upon Omega’s trademark. But a subsequent ruling in March from the Supreme Court on a different matter upheld a retailer’s right to buy authentic products from middlemen or distributors abroad and resell them at lower prices in the U.S. The legal community refers to this as the “first-sale doctrine.”

“Michael Kors is smart to police his brand integ-rity and to support his authorized retailers, though U.S. law has some limits,” said Susan Scafidi, direc-tor of Fordham Fashion Law Institute. “While lux-ury labels will never love discounters like Costco, the first-sale doctrine means that discounters have the right to sell designer goods if they can get them through third parties — provided that the goods are legitimate.”

In the Kors case, the fashion brand was unable to find any evidence that Costco sold its bags, and as a result, it is looking for an injunction barring the wholesaler from advertising its products.

The company is also seeking the destruction of any infringing goods, including advertising materi-als, as well as punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other costs.

Michael Kors Sues Costco

4 WWD MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013

Valentino Garavani’s leather bag with plastic embellishments.

Aperlai’s suede peep-toe pump with silk floral netting details.

Photos by Kyle Ericksen

PetalPower

Nina Ricci’s silk satin and leather wedge sandal.

Edie Parker’s acrylic clutch.

FOR MORE IMAGES, SEE

WWD.com/accessories-news.

Resort isn’t only about the clothes. Accessories are more important than ever — and more dynamic, as designers pack their lineups with fashion. Two major inspirations this season: flowers and art, often together. Case in point, Paul Andrew was inspired by Andrew Zuckerman’s “Flowers”

photographs, while Reed Krakoff used Robert Motherwell’s work as a jumping

point for his floral embellishments. — Roxanne Robinson

WWD.COM5WWD MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013

Tory Burch’s leather, wood and cotton canvas tote.

Eugenia Kim’s paper-flower, gold-plated headband.

Paul Andrew’s silk print and suede sandal.

Reed Krakoff’s canvas, leather and raffia clutch.

Walter Steiger’s printed linen pump.

Nancy Gonzalez’s crocodile clutch with hand-stitched flowers.

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By LUISA ZARGANI

MILAN — Max Mara is accel-erating its investment in the handbag category, launching the JBag, and has tapped Hollywood A-lister Jennifer Garner to front its first advertising campaign in the arena.

This is the first time that Max Mara has associated its products with a celebrity and the first time Garner has been the face of a fashion brand. The project confirms a WWD report in April.

“Jennifer Garner is a real woman, not a cover girl, not a starlet, and she has different interests, a family and values,” said chairman Luigi Maramotti in an exclusive interview. “She is a real woman and embodies the Max Mara woman, she perfectly re-flects our image.”

Garner, who is married to actor and director Ben Affleck and is a mother of three, has several sophis-ticated red-carpet ap-pearances under her belt, which have made her a favorite for many design-ers to dress. “Max Mara is perfect for my lifestyle,” she said. “The brand pos-sesses a classic, timeless elegance and a quality of craftsmanship that is luxe and yet so easy to wear. And the cashmere coat is delicious,” mused Garner, referring to the Italian fashion brand’s staple, which she dons in the images.

“The claim is: Timeless is now,” said Giorgio Guidotti, worldwide president of public relations and communications for Max Mara Group. “A timeless woman, and she is wrapped in a timeless cashmere camel coat. We were looking for a way to un-derscore that the world of Max Mara is not only coats, but now also accessories.”

Garner was photographed in May in New York by the group’s longtime go-to lensman, Mario Sorrenti, in his studio. There are five images — three for fall 2013 and two for spring 2014.

The campaign will make its debut in September in maga-zines such as Vogue, Harper’s

Bazar, Elle, W, InStyle and WSJ. Magazine, and in The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. Guidotti said the company has upped its com-munications budget by more than 10 percent.

Max Mara will be holding a dinner event on Thursday in New York with Garner, Sorrenti, Maramotti, and Maria Giulia Prezioso Maramotti, retail man-ager U.S. market. The New York boutique will dedicate a window to the JBag starting that night.

Maramotti is not improvis-ing with his plans and has qui-etly invested in building the group’s accessories division for years. The company took control of leather goods manu-

facturing firms, in Tuscany for bags and in the Veneto region for shoes, about 10 years ago. “This was a more marginal con-text until 15 years ago, and we wanted to better understand the sector, as it is a complex and specialized business,” said Maramotti. “Now we are ready to accelerate.”

Max Mara is tapping into a lucrative segment. The luxury goods market is expected to grow 4 to 5 percent globally in 2013 and 5 to 6 percent on a

yearly average through 2015, according to consultancy Bain & Co., and despite some recov-ery of spending on apparel, the main drivers remain leather goods and other accessories, es-pecially absolute luxury items.

At Max Mara, accessories have been growing about 20 percent on a yearly basis, said Maramotti. He also pointed to travel retail as gaining traction. “At our boutique in the Beijing airport, 50 percent of sales de-rive from accessories,” he noted. “Even more than ready-to-wear, they are an object of desire.”

With a Sixties inspiration, the JBag is functional and features sophisticated hides and hand-crafted details such as a new fastening mechanism and small metal cylinders that decorate the shoulder strap buckle and handle. It will be carried in Max

Mara stores and retail at $1,390. The bag is available in smooth calfskin, ponyskin, ostrich and deer, and in different versions, including color-block, mono-color and animal print. Hues span from red to tan, covering all main winter colors. “Our stores are physically evolving as more room is devoted to the accesso-ries category,” noted Maramotti.

Group sales last year totaled 1.3 billion euros, or $1.6 bil-lion, compared with 1.26 billion euros, or $ 1.75 billion. Dollar amounts have been converted at average exchange rates for the periods to which they refer.

Maramotti, who heads a group that counts 5,500 em-ployees, defined 2013 as chiar-oscuro, with a weaker Italy com-pared with the growing markets of Russia and the U.S., which he called “central” for Max Mara.

6 WWD MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013

Max Mara Puts Focus on Accessories

Jennifer Garner with Mario Sorrenti at the shoot for the Max Mara campaign.

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An image from the campaign.

Bags for fall from Max Mara.

Max Mara is perfect for my lifestyle. The brand possesses a classic, timeless elegance and a quality of

craftsmanship that is luxe and yet so easy to wear. — JENNIFER GARNER

New handbags from Max Mara.

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By Joelle DiDerich

PAriS — in a surprise ruling, Switzerland’s competition regulator an-nounced on Friday it had rejected an agreement struck between its Secretariat and Swatch Group AG, which temporari-ly allowed the world’s biggest watchmak-er to reduce deliveries of components to rival watchmakers.

The Swiss Federal competition com-mission, or comco, said it was sending both parties back to the negotiation table because it considers it “premature” for Swatch Group to phase out the supply of essential regulating mechanisms like high-tech hairsprings.

“The comco has not approved the amicable agreement signed in spring 2013 between the Secretariat and Swatch Group and has sent it back to the Secretariat so that it may be renegoti-ated,” the regulatory body said.

Swatch Group chief executive officer Nick hayek deplored the ruling. “We re-gret that comco has not taken a definite decision and rejected the common agree-ment, suggesting to renegotiate it,” he said.

hayek has stated repeatedly his inten-tion to wean other brands from their de-pendence on eTA, the Swatch Group sub-sidiary that supplies watch movements to most of the industry, and Nivarox, the division that produces oscillating and escapement parts, in order to stimulate research and development.

Biel-based Swatch Group, whose 19 brands run the gamut from luxury Breguet timepieces to affordable plas-tic Swatch watches, had been given the green light to reduce the supply of me-chanical movements in 2012 and 2013 to 85 percent of 2010 levels, and deliver-ies of assortments to 95 percent of the 2010 quantities. rivals like lVMh Moët hennessy louis Vuitton and compagnie

Financière richemont SA have been snapping up suppliers of movements, cases and dials to secure greater inde-pendence, but they remain mostly de-pendent on third parties for the assort-ments, which are technically complex to manufacture.

The comco said it agreed in principle that Swatch Group should be able to re-duce the delivery of mechanical move-ments in a gradual way and under cer-tain conditions. it approved a further 10 percent reduction for 2014.

“regarding the essential components of mechanical movements [the assort-ments], the comco considers that a reduc-tion in deliveries would be premature, considering the situation currently facing the market, as well as the unpredictable developments in this field,” it said.

“it would like to wait to see what de-velopments emerge on this market in the next few years before agreeing to a reduction in deliveries,” it added. This means that in 2014, Swatch Group will

have to revert to delivering 100 percent of the quantities of assortments it sup-plied in 2010.

officials at lVMh, Kering and the Federation of the Swiss Watch industry declined to comment on the ruling. richemont did not return calls request-ing a comment.

The comco had launched a probe in June 2011 into whether shutting off sup-ply to third parties would constitute an abuse of Swatch Group’s dominant posi-tion, in violation of competition law.

Supply shortages are one of the main challenges facing the group, which posted a 14 percent increase in sales last year, breaking the barrier of 8 billion Swiss francs, or $8.5 billion, for the first time.

At the Baselworld watch and jewelry fair in April, Swatch made a splash with the launch of its Sistem51, billed as the first mechanical watch for the masses.

The company, which is credited with saving Switzerland’s mechanical watch industry in the early eighties, has de-veloped a revolutionary movement consisting of only 51 parts and a single screw, meaning it can be automatically assembled.

hayek has contended the easy avail-ability of his group’s components has made rivals disinclined to invest in their own production capacity, and al-lowed them to divert spending to mar-keting and store networks instead. he sees the Sistem51 as proof that it is pos-sible to produce mechanical watches in Switzerland at a low cost.

on Friday, he said he was surprised that practically nothing had changed in the 10 years since Swatch announced its inten-tion of phasing out the supply of parts.

“The lack of interest of the players in the Swiss watch industry to create novelties or to become more indepen-dent from Swatch Group is amazing,” hayek said.

loNDoN — Puma has named Torsten hochstetter to the newly created position of global cre-ative director. he will take up the job today, and report to the brand’s chief executive officer Björn Gulden.

hochstetter, a German native, will be based at Puma’s headquarters in herzogenaurach, Germany, and will be responsible for design-ing, creating and developing the performance and lifestyle col-lections of the brand.

his job will touch on all prod-uct categories, including foot-wear, apparel and accessories, and he will work hands-on with all of Puma’s respective design

teams worldwide.Gulden called hochstetter

“a proven expert in the sport-ing goods and fashion design industry. i am pleased that with Torsten we have a long-standing design expert coming onboard Puma bringing extensive experi-ence and know-how to our com-pany,” he said.

Before joining Puma, hochstetter served as creative director at the surfwear com-pany o’Neill. Prior to that, he worked for Adidas in Germany, the U.S. and Japan. he started his professional career at the German fashion company S. oliver in 1993.

� —�SAMANTHA�CONTI

MArA hoFFMAN, the ready-to-wear and swimwear designer known for her innova-tive design and fearless approach to print and color, has won the title of Mercedes-Benz Presents designer this season in the swimwear category. hoffman will showcase her collec-tion alongside more than 30 of the industry’s most influential swimwear designers during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim at The raleigh hotel in Miami Beach.

The Mercedes-Benz Presents program rec-ognizes designers who demonstrate dedication to the use of quality materials, unique style and original design within their collections. hoffman joins a prestigious list of past hon-orees including Vitamin A, red carter, Trina Turk and luxe by lisa Vogel.

As part of the award festivities, hoffman will introduce a print design from her collec-tion as the paint finish on a 2014 Mercedes-Benz e-class cabriolet. The convertible will

drive by South Beach hot spots to give out invi-tations to pedestrians to attend fashion shows.

Stephanie Zimmer, manager of brand ex-perience marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA, said, “Mara’s unique prints are unmistakable and evoke a very spirited, playful attitude much like our 2014 e-class cabriolet debuting this season.”

hoffman, who launched her swim line in 2008, described her brand philosophy as “about trends, enthusiasm for color and prints and a Bohemian lifestyle. The print for the convertible is called Astro Dreamer, and it has a bit of a tribal vibe, a sort of cosmic projection with snakes. color is our huge go-to. We never do less than 10 colors.”

The one-of-a-kind print will also debut on a limited-edition convertible top and bag for women designed by hoffman, which will be sold at the trendy Alchemist boutique in Miami.

� —�KAryN�MONgeT

Puma Taps Hochstetter

Swiss Regulator Rejects Swatch Agreement

’’’’

We regret that Comco has not taken a

definite decision and rejected the common

agreement.— Nick Hayek, SwatcH group

By JUliA Neel

loNDoN — The British Fashion council has released its schedule for london Fashion Week’s spring 2014 season, spreading the city’s better-known designers across the five-day event, which runs from Sept. 13 to 17.

christopher raeburn, Moschino cheap & chic and Todd lynn will show on Friday, Sept. 13. Sister by Sibling, J.W. Anderson and richard Nicoll are set for Saturday, Sept. 14.

l’Wren Scott and Tom Ford both remain on the billing, while

Mulberry’s show on Sunday, Sept. 15, will be emma hill’s last for the brand.

Absent from the schedule is issa, which will not show for a couple of seasons as the brand redefines itself following the departure of founder Daniella helayel as creative director. Meanwhile, Kinder Aggugini is said to be taking a creative sab-batical and louise Gray will have a two-season break from showing to concentrate on design and consultancy projects.

New to the lineup is Barbara casasola. Pearce Fionda and Stella Mccartney for Adidas will stage presentations.

BFC Releases Show Schedule

Hoffman Wins Mercedes-Benz Award Mara Hoffman poses with the custom-print 2014 E-Class Cabriolet.

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By Alex Wynne

PARIS — lingerie and swimwear trade show Mode City celebrated its 30th an-niversary with a well-being theme and an outdoor area open to the public — the first time the event has been open to non-trade visitors.

Despite this, visitor numbers at Mode City, which ran from July 6 to 9 here, were flat at 15,330, while figures at sister Interfilière textile fair, fell 3.3 percent to 11,054, according to show or-ganizer eurovet.

even though there was a 7 percent increase in French visitors, many ex-hibitors bemoaned a lack of traffic at the show, and buyers admitted that business continues to be difficult.

“We’re focusing on trends rather than looking for new brands,” said nicky Clayton, senior buyer for lingerie, ho-siery, beach boutique and sleepwear at House of Fraser.

“We’re in the process of streamlin-ing our offer,” she continued. “In the U.K., at the moment, ladies are looking for value for money and sticking to the brands they know. It’s a difficult time for emerging brands.”

Kristiina norppa-Porkola, category manager at Finnish department store chain Sokos, mirrored that sentiment.

“We are not taking so many risks, and concentrating on brands and articles that are sure. The standard has to be much higher for new brands,” she said.

“It’s been a pretty dismal, sad sum-mer,” noted Inna Gerchikov, brands di-rector at Whiskey & Soda, which distrib-

utes U.S. lingerie label Hanky Panky in select european markets. “It’s been a storm, between the european economic climate and the weather.”

nevertheless, many brands were using the show as a launch platform.

new exhibitors accounted for 140 of the 500 at Mode City, while at Interfilière, 40 new companies were present.

“The offer has never been so rich,” Interfilière show director laurence nérée said.

Highlights at Interfilière included a lace forum presenting the techniques available for Calais lace, as well as forum presenting various finishing techniques.

The former is intended to help re-tailers “understand the interest of paying a little more for fabrics, so that they can communicate this to consum-

ers,” said Marie-laure Bellon-Homps, eurovet’s chief executive officer.

She announced the creation of a new event, Riviera by Mode City, to be held in Cannes, France, Sept. 8 and 9 in order to allow retailers from the South of France, which represent 50 percent of the coun-try’s swimwear market, to place orders later in the year.

In terms of trends, many brands were offering larger bra cup sizes, particularly in designs targeting younger consumers, like Chantelle’s reinforced cup Mutine model, which starts in a D cup and re-tails at 65 euros, or $83.47. It’s lower than the brand’s typical price point.

Coral was a strong theme for spring 2014 and was visible in many brand se-lections across lingerie, swimwear and loungewear.

These included Swiss company Zimmerli, which was presenting its new brand identity and whose offer for spring included coral washed silk pants. Suggested retail is 345 euros, or $443.

French brand Chantelle expanded its swimwear label, which sells at an aver-age retail price of 110 euros, or $141. The brand previously offered only a short swimwear collection in Orcanta stores, also owned by Groupe Chantelle.

Meanwhile, the fetish trend high-lighted as part of Mode City’s forum was a key theme in Chantal Thomass’ spring 2014 collection, inspired by the napoleonic period. These included a quirky Cachotière shirt-topped bra with capped sleeves, retailing at about 200 euros, or $256.

The brand will be putting an in-creased focus on the U.S. market starting with its spring 2014 collections, accord-ing to a spokeswoman. Chantal Thomass was acquired by Groupe Chantelle two years ago.

Supplier Invista Inc. announced the expansion of its lycra Beauty label to two new categories — lace and natural fabrics.

“The new applications in lace and natural fabrics like cotton will allow us to expand lycra Beauty,” said Invista’s global segment leader for lingerie and bodywear Arnaud Ruffin.

lycra Beauty doubled its presence last year, and is targeting 10 percent growth in 2013, said Ruffin.

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Visitor Numbers Flat at Mode CityA look from Gossard.

A look from Twin-Set Simona Barbieri.

A look from Silent Assembly.

A look from JenniPie.

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Ahna Belle

PHOTO BY STEFANIE KEENAN

LOS ANGELES — With a string of roles in buzzed-about indies this year — including a small but pivotal part in the much-lauded

“Fruitvale Station” — Ahna O’Reilly’s star and red-carpet presence are both on the rise. For more, see page 10.

GOOD LIFE: A jet-set spirit seems to be the recurring theme in Michael Kors’ advertising campaigns.

Shot by Mario Testino, who is marking 10 years with the brand, the fall campaign features models Karmen Pedaru and Simon Nessman photographed in Los Angeles with a helicopter. “It conveys an attitude of speed, endurance and glamour in sporty-chic silhouettes and electric colors,” Kors said.

The campaign will launch globally next month and run in 38 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Placement will include international editions of Vogue, Vanity Fair and Harper’s Bazaar, as well as digital outlets and social media platforms. There is also an outdoor media element to the ad buy.

— MARC KARIMZADEH

GIVHAN TO CUT: New York magazine hired the fashion critic Robin Givhan, formerly of The Washington Post and the Daily Beast/Newsweek, to review the New York and Paris collections for its fashion blog, The Cut. Givhan is notable for winning a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2006.

A veteran of the Washington Post, Givhan was one of the more high-profile contributors Tina Brown recruited in 2010 for her reinvention of Newsweek. She was also among the most established, alongside Post alumnus Blake Gopnik, to be let go in the spate of layoffs that hit the newsweekly last December.

In happier days, Givhan was the chief contributor to the Daily Beast’s fashion vertical, FashionBeast, which launched last July and in some ways mirrored the format of New York’s The Cut, which has expanded in the last year to include original reporting and long-form commentary. Givhan will be writing mainly for the Web, serving as The Cut’s de facto fashion critic during the Paris and New York collections. The fashion writer Lynn Yaeger, who had been reviewing shows for the site, is also expected to continue as an online contributor.

— ERIK MAZA

GLUG, GLUG, GLUG: Some might argue that the state of publishing is reason enough to belly up to the bar, but Forbes is giving readers another reason to raise a glass. The Forbes Wine Club officially launches Thursday with a cocktail party in the magazine’s galleries in its Fifth Avenue headquarters. So much for idle chatter — subscribers will make up the bulk of the crowd.

Forbes is keeping a tight lid on the particulars until Thursday. But the magazine has tapped this vat before. In the summer of 2005, the Forbes.com/Morrell Wine Club was led by Peter Morrell and Nikos Antonakeas. At that time, wine lovers could splurge for the $120 Killer Cabernets or any of the other eight monthly memberships.

— ROSEMARY FEITELBERG

GO WEST: PR Consulting is expanding on the West Coast. The PR Consulting Los Angeles office is opening at 550 N. Larchmont Boulevard this month. Laurence Goldberg will serve as a partner in the Los Angeles endeavor with Pierre Rougier and Sylvie Picquet-Damesme. Previously, Goldberg had been Balenciaga’s West Coast publicist for six years.

“Los Angeles is definitely a world of its own, fascinating to our industry, and a stronger and stronger fashion scene,” Rougier said. “We have been waiting for the right time and opportunity to open.” He called Goldberg, who was his first employee when he founded PR Consulting in 1997, “a longtime friend. We share the same values and interests, so it became obvious to open PR Consulting in Los Angeles together when she decided she could come on board,” he said. New York-based PR Consulting also has an office in Paris.

— M.K.

A look at the Michael Kors fall campaign.

10 WWD MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013

LIKE MANY of their counterparts in the fashion world, interior designers George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg have a specific woman in mind when conceiving a new project — although the imagined muse changes from client to client.

“We created a whole story line about this girl named Chloë. She’s from the Upper East Side and then went to NYU. She got married and went back uptown, but she still has this downtown attitude,” explains Pushelberg of the inspiration for their new restaurant in Manhattan’s Peninsula hotel, which is set to open in September. “We always come up with a script for clarity — both for ourselves and to keep clients on track.”

That all-encompassing lifestyle approach has translated to the duo’s extracurricular work for their growing design firm, Yabu Pushelberg. Apart from designing luxury interiors for retailers, hotels, restaurants and even a private Airbus jet, the firm has translated its sleekly elegant aesthetic into furniture

and home decor.For the well-traveled consumer with a fondness for

the good life, it’s hard to be far from a Yabu Pushelberg project these days. Its client roster includes Louis Vuitton, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co., Carolina Herrera, David Yurman, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Mandarin Oriental, the Viceroy Maldives, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Daniel Boulud and a slew of ritzy condo developments, to name a few.

Retail has served as a cornerstone for Yabu Pushelberg’s growth over the years. Founded in Toronto in 1980 by the two partners, who met as students at Canada’s Ryerson University, one of the firm’s first big projects was designing Club Monaco stores during that chain’s first years. The duo also struck up a romance at that time and remain life partners.

Today their firm employs 72 people in Toronto and 36 in New York, with Yabu and Pushelberg splitting their time between the two cities.

The segue into a home line came naturally, as the designers often create custom furniture, fixtures, lighting and even carpets for their jobs.

This holiday, Yabu Pushelberg will launch its first tabletop collection in partnership with Florence-based Pampaloni.

The creations, done in silver, are in two distinct configurations. The first group is based on sea creatures, as in a starfish candle stand, crab ashtray and jellyfish salt-and-pepper shakers in fluid, undulating silhouettes. The second group strikes a graceful aesthetic counterpoint and is based on man-made nautical objects, such as candlestick holders in the form of anchors and decanters with silver stops resembling buoys.

“There’s a duality to it, as in much of our work, with the organic, liquid shapes contrasting with the more rational and formal ideas,” points out Yabu.

The tabletop offerings add a new dimension to the furniture

line Yabu Pushelberg deals out of its Avenue Road showrooms in New York and Toronto. The firm introduced seven new designs in May at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York. Among them was the Rua Ipanema lounge chair, inspired by Brazil, with inviting rounded edges on a swiveling base of walnut wood. The Berkeley Square chair is more angular, with a flat bar base in polished nickel and a taut leather seat. All of the home pieces mirror Yabu Pushelberg’s sophisticated interior design work that is exactingly modern and more than a bit glamorous — but also inviting and familiar.

“I like to think our work is very livable. You can keep coming back, and you’re not irritated,” says Yabu.

It’s an ethos the firm has distilled in its recent work reimagining several floors of the Barneys flagship in New York, particularly the vast, luminous unisex shoe

floor. Mark Lee, chief executive officer of Barneys New York, called Yabu Pushelberg’s involvement with the ambitious renovations “essential to bringing our vision to life,” noting, “our goal was to create an open, modern envelope for our mix of the strongest product in the world from great brands and designers — I am confident we achieved this.”

Across the Atlantic, Yabu Pushelberg is immersed in the rejuvenation of another storied retailer, the department store Printemps, on the recommendation of former Louis Vuitton chairman and ceo Yves Carcelle. Last year, the firm helped complete a revamp of three floors of the main Printemps building on Boulevard Haussmann, which housed the women’s handbags, accessories, watches and jewelry categories. This fall, they’ll begin renovations on an

adjacent building, including the ground and lower levels that currently house cosmetics,

fragrances and lingerie.In China, the firm has a long relationship with

Lane Crawford and last fall designed a new unit in the Yintai Centre in Beijing — largely at the behest of a single cosseted customer, according to Pushelberg. “There’s a woman named Tiffany Chen, who is the second-highest-spending shopper at Lane Crawford,

and she wanted a store in that location,” he says. Yabu Pushelberg was happy to oblige.

— DAVID LIPKE

Luxe for Life

FOR AHNA O’REILLY, going to the Cannes Film Festival in May was more than a career highlight — it was a homecoming. It turns out the actress spent much of her childhood crisscrossing France in a Volkswagen van with her parents and her two younger sisters, following the work of her father, a freelance travel publisher.

“We settled in this tiny little mountain town and went to the public school there,” O’Reilly recalls as she sips a green tea on the terrace of Hugo’s restaurant in West Hollywood, Calif., on a slightly overcast late June morning.

“When you’re six years old, you do not appreciate that you’re living in the Alps. My sisters and I, all we wanted was to go to Disneyland. We were very upset about not being with our friends. And now, it’s like: Our parents gave us the greatest gift, which is to travel and experience other countries,” she says.

Best known for her role as Elizabeth Leefolt in “The Help,” O’Reilly should gain wider exposure next month in “Jobs,” starring as Chris-Ann Brennan, the first girlfriend of Apple founder Steve Jobs, played by Ashton Kutcher.

She may not have had culture shock in Cannes, but the actress nonetheless qualifies the experience as “surreal.”

The 28-year-old appeared in two movies — “Fruitvale Station,” with her close friend Octavia Spencer, and “As I Lay Dying,” directed by her ex-boyfriend James Franco — and was feted as the guest of honor at a party cohosted by the charity Art of Elysium.

“It just felt like a real celebration and coming-out party for these two films,” she says, noting both films got 10-minute standing ovations.

“Fruitvale Station,” which went on limited U.S. release Friday, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, winning director Ryan Coogler the award for best first film. It had previously scooped up the grand jury prize and audience award for U.S. dramatic feature at the Sundance Film Festival.

The independent drama, which boasts a stellar ensemble cast, is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, a young man who was killed by a police officer at the Fruitvale Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland, Calif., as he was returning home in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 2009.

O’Reilly plays a small but crucial part in the film, as her character involuntarily sets off a fatal chain of events. Pondering the role of serendipity in her own life brings

her back to Spencer, who plays Grant’s mother in the film.“Really, what changed my life was meeting Octavia,

because if it hadn’t been for Octavia, I would not have had the opportunity to audition for ‘The Help,’ and if I hadn’t done ‘The Help,’ I don’t know where I would be,” she says.

“She and I met years ago doing the tiniest little independent film. We didn’t have any scenes together. Who knew that that would turn into one of the most important friendships of my life?”

O’Reilly has also remained close with Franco since their breakup in 2011, following a five-year relationship. She says their history was actually a plus on the set of “As I Lay Dying,” an ambitious adaptation of the William Faulkner novel, in which she plays the tragic character of Dewey Dell.

“When you know someone for so long and you have a great respect for one another, there’s just a level of trust,” she explains. “He’s so collaborative by nature, and it gave me confidence in what I was doing, knowing that he was the one overseeing everything.”

While the movie allowed O’Reilly to display her acting chops, the petite, porcelain-skinned actress also scored points for her red-carpet choices in Cannes. O’Reilly worked with her stylist and friend Caley Lawson on her outfits, which included a red lace Monique Lhuillier gown with matching pants.

She also squeezed in a side trip to neighboring Monaco to take in the Dior resort show. “I have always loved fashion and clothes. I mean, I was Grace Kelly for Halloween in fifth grade, which is why going to Monaco was so incredible — I’ve always kind of been obsessed with her,” she says.

O’Reilly recalls catching the acting bug at a young age, during summer holidays with her grandmother in Washington State. When she was eight, she and her sisters auditioned for a regional theater production of “The Sound of Music.”

“The three of us ended up being the three youngest Von Trapp children, and we did that for four summers in a row. And I mean, that was it for me,” she recalls.

Now, there is practically nothing she’s not willing to tackle — from musical theater to independent features or big-budget productions.

“I do want to make powerful works of art with people, but I also just want to have fun. I’ve never done a romantic comedy — I’m sure it would be a blast,” she says.

“There is something really, really powerful about being in a movie like ‘The Help,’ knowing that so many people saw it and heard that message, hopefully.”

O’Reilly has an extra ace in her deck: She is bilingual, and hopes to follow in the footsteps of Kristin Scott Thomas by eventually working with French directors. “That, for me, would be the ultimate,” she sighs, reeling off Gallic film references ranging from François Truffaut to Jacques Audiard.

It all comes back to those formative years overseas.“In a way, it set me up perfectly for the life of an

actor, which is kind of a nomadic life,” she explains. “I love shooting on location and going somewhere new.”

— JOELLE DIDERICH

The O’Reilly Factor

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Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu

A candlestick from the pair's new tabletop collection.

WWD.COM

By ARNOLD J. KARR

JOSEPH PHILIP “Joe” Famolare Jr., who combined a heritage in shoemaking with the instincts of an entertainer to pro-duce a number of the signature footwear trends in the Seventies and Eighties as the president of Famolare Inc., has died at the age of 82.

He died of cancer at his home in Putney, Vt., on Thursday.

His Italian-made, molded wavy-sole platform shoes, dubbed the Get There, were a staple of the era, forever associ-ated with the hip-hugging bell-bottom jeans that frequently sat just above them. Yet Famolare was as focused on function as he was on fashion. This came as much from his background as a patternmaker working for his father’s shoe business in Boston as from subsequent tenures at Capezio, where he designed shoes for Broadway dancers, members of the Bolshoi Ballet and Twyla Tharp’s dance company, and at Bandolino.

“With a wife and two daughters, he never accepted the idea that a wom-an’s feet should hurt because she was wearing a high heel,” said his daughter Bibiana Famolare Heymann. “And he knew how to go into a factory and make sure that the shoes that came out of it looked right, fit right and wore right. He knew how to get the foot and the shoe working together properly.”

Famolare received a Coty award in 1973 for shoes which were “ergonomi-cally designed and quite ahead of their time,” said Diane Forden, the editor in chief of Bridal Guide magazine, who first saw them during an early editorial stint at Seventeen magazine.

Famolare deviated from standard op-erating procedure not only in the style and construction of the shoes that bore the family name but also in their promo-tion. A brief hiatus from his father’s busi-ness as a nightclub singer had provided him with confidence as a public speaker as well as an appreciation of the value of theater.

“He was sort of the Barnum & Bailey of footwear,” said his younger daughter, Hilary Famolare. “He could promote and sell anything.”

Initially looking to avoid imagery that focused on women’s legs and might be viewed as sexist, Famolare became the

face of his company’s campaigns, which were devised by Jane Trahey and shot on several occasions by Richard Avedon. He was often surrounded by his own shoes in the ads, but Trahey saw him as an enormous asset.

“Why should I get a model when I have Joe?” Trahey told People maga-zine. “He is extremely photogenic and radiates friendliness. Joe’s teeth are so beautiful, his dentist should pay him.”

His promotional toolbox included a crowded calendar of personal appear-ances. Hilary noted that her father sold Nordstrom Inc.’s Bruce Nordstrom on the viability of his efforts with in-store events “where people just went nuts. He brought cultural and social meaning to the shoes and broadened the audience with shoes for older women, for men and for kids.”

As sales moved past $100 million, his patented styles were not only imitated but often litigated as footwear makers sought to capitalize on his popular looks.

Indulging a lifelong love of flying, he received his pilot’s license in his early 60s and frequently flew in and out of his home in Vermont, where he founded the Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center, a renovated farm that served as an education site bringing together busi-ness, government and agriculture, in Brattleboro. He continued to work at VABEC until just before his death.

A memorial service will be held at VABEC from 1 to 3 p.m. on Aug. 4.

In addition to his daughters, he is survived by Sandra, his wife of 55 years; his brother, Leo; two grandsons, and two granddaughters.

TOM TOM CLUB: Tom Ford is expanding its retail footprint, with new flagships in Chicago and Dallas, bringing its U.S. store count to five. The 4,700-square-foot Chicago unit, slated to open in August, is located on two floors of the old Esquire Theatre building on Oak Street, which has been transformed into a luxury shopping complex. The store’s ground floor features 15-foot ceilings and marble floors, with VIP rooms enveloped in ivory ultrasuede situated upstairs.

The Dallas store will open in September, as reported, and will occupy about 5,000 square feet in Highland Park Village. The design scheme includes Newport white marble floors, mirrored walls, an Alexander Calder mobile and Makassar ebony fixtures. “As a Texan, it is extremely meaningful for me to open a flagship store in Dallas,” said Tom Ford, who was born in Austin.

The two new units join existing Tom Ford stores in New York, Las Vegas and Beverly Hills. With these openings, there will be 95 Tom Ford locations globally, including directly operated stores, partner-operated units and shops-in-shop. That store count is slated to reach 99 by the end of the year. — DAVID LIPKE

THREE’S COMPANY: Los Angeles clothing label Wren has teamed with stylist and Lula editor in chief Leith Clark to create a limited-edition capsule collection for fall using prints by artists Mercedes Helnwein and Fanny Gentle. It’s the second collaboration between Wren designer Melissa Coker and Clark, who partnered on two Wren films, “Beware of Young Girls” starring Tavi Gevinson and “What’s Up?” directed by Gia Coppola.

The collection, comprising dresses, coats and separates, combines Wren’s signature usage of bold prints with Clark’s Sixties-inspired style. Clark’s friend and client Kirsten Dunst appears in the look book, which was shot at her Los Angeles home by her boyfriend, actor Garrett Hedlund. — MARCY MEDINA

AL-FAYED’S FAREWELL: First, there was Harrods, now it’s London’s Fulham Football Club: Mohamed Al-Fayed is slowly divesting of his long-held properties in a bid to spend more time with his family, he said. The tycoon confirmed over the weekend that he has sold the soccer team to the U.S. automotive billionaire Shahid Khan, owner of the National Football League’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Al-Fayed had owned Fulham for 16 years.

“My time of serving as the custodian of Fulham Football Club would one day come to an end, and I feel that time has now arrived,” Al-Fayed said on the club’s Web site. “The time is right because I have found a very good man in Shahid Khan to accept the responsibility and privilege that I have enjoyed at Fulham since 1997. Fulham will be in very good hands with Shahid, whose success in business and passion for sport is very evident.”

On his personal Web site, Al-Fayed said it was time for him “to retire and spend time playing football [soccer] with my grandchildren.” Khan has purchased 100 percent of the club. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

In April, Al-Fayed squelched speculation in France that he had sold his Paris jewel, the Ritz hotel, to Qatari investors. At the time, a spokesman for the Ritz said the hotel was not for sale.

In 2010, Al-Fayed ended his 25-year rein at Harrods by selling the landmark British retailer to Qatar Holding, an

investment company linked to the royal family of the Gulf state, for 1.5 billion pounds, or $2.27 billion at current exchange, including about 600 million pounds, or $906 million, in property-backed debt. — SAMANTHA CONTI

FASHION’S NIGHT IN MILAN: The next edition of Milan Fashion’s Night Out will take place on Sept. 17, inaugurating Milan Women’s Fashion Week, slated for Sept. 18 to 23, according to Vogue Italia editor in chief Franca Sozzani.

“The Fashion’s Night Out will take place the day before the opening of the fashion week because we wanted to give access to the event to a larger number of people,” Sozzani said.

Sozzani added that during FNO the public will be able to get in touch with the upcoming designers who Vogue Italia selected to showcase their collections at the “Vogue Talents”

exhibition, opening that night at Palazzo Morando.

Among the initiatives supporting new talents, a temporary store sponsored by Visa will allow the three winners of a talent contest organized by vogue.it to sell

their collections during the FNO. “On Sept. 18 we will start with a

tight schedule of events especially dedicated to young designers, to make them feel part of the fashion industry,” said Sozzani, highlighting the “common effort of everybody [the different players of the Italian fashion industry, as well as Milan’s municipality] to team up not only to realize great events, but also to communicate them in a proper way.”

As part of the efforts to revamp Milan Fashion Week, on Sept. 18 the city’s municipality, along with the Italian Chamber of Fashion and Vogue Italia, will host a gala event at the La Scala theater, where the guests will be entertained with an opera concert. — ALESSANDRA TURRA

BELK GIVES BACK: For 10,000 Belk Inc. associates, back-to-school has new meaning. They descended on more than 300 Title 1 elementary schools in the South, giving makeovers to

both school facilities and many of the principals. They painted classrooms, built bookcases, renovated playgrounds, organized book drives and brought murals, picnic tables and landscaping to the school grounds. About 175 principals received cosmetics and clothes for makeovers.

“We can’t begin to express how grateful we are that you came to Frederick Douglass and donated your time and efforts for our school. The bookcases, picnic table, painted canvases and floor mats will be enjoyed by all,” said Stephanie Downey, principal of the Frederick Douglass Elementary School in Winchester, Va. “The experience also taught our students how wonderful it is to reach out and help others in our community.”

Belk said its associates put in 21,000 volunteer hours benefiting 131,000 students in more than 300 Title 1 elementary schools serving low-income, at-risk students in communities throughout Belk’s 16-state Southern footprint. The campaign began March 11 and lasted 125 days in honor of Belk’s 125th anniversary celebrated this year. Belk partnered with Points of Light, an organization dedicated to volunteer service, in the school campaign. According to Jessica Graham, Belk’s vice president of communications and community relations, the school campaign was a first for Belk and would lead to further support for schools in the future. — DAVID MOIN

11WWD MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013

Fashion scoops

For more scoops, see

WWD.com

Obituary

Joseph “Joe” Famolare Jr., 82

Kirsten Dunst

Joseph Philip Famolare Jr.

w15a011a.indd 11 7/14/13 2:23 PM07142013142842

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By RosemaRy FeitelbeRg

WitH NeXt yeaR’s DebUt of her new reality show, “mad men” costume designer Janie bryant said she will flaunt her passions — film, costume de-sign and fashion.

Having had to keep the news under wraps for months, bryant said in an interview Friday that she was “so ex-cited” to finally be able to talk about it. Developed with “Fashion star” cocre-ators e.J. Johnston and James Deutch, “Janie bryant’s Hollywood” will put eight to 10 contestants to the test. there will also be a retail tie-in so that view-ers can be among the first to buy what is created on-air.

“For the past few years, we have real-ly been seeing how fashion is influenced by film and tV,” the tennessee native said. “and people want to know and buy what characters are wearing. those two worlds are moving closer together.”

approaching the seventh and final season of the amC drama, the emmy-winning bryant has racked up her own accolades along the way. she designed the mad men collection for banana Republic and a signature line for QVC, as well as ambassadorships with such brands as maidenform and Downy Wrinkle Releaser. the designer also penned “the Fashion File: advice, tips and inspiration from the Costume

Designer of mad men.”it has not yet been determined where

her reality show will be filmed and who will serve as judges. the los angeles-based bryant knows New york well, hav-ing started her career working for the designer John scher on seventh avenue. after getting to know some costume designers who worked in film, she switched tracks and eventually moved to los angeles. Recalling her nine-year run in the Nineties, bryant said, “When i was a starving artist in New york, i lived on 48th between eighth and Ninth where i liter-ally had a shower in my kitchen. but i really treasure those days be-cause it was about hav-ing the full New york City experience.”

since that time, she has learned how to hold a crowd. a sell-out 2,000-person audience turned up for the “to Catch a thief ” screening she hosted at the orpheum theater in los angeles last month. and she also helped headline the panel discussion “From Canvas to Costume: Painting at the intersection of Fashion and Film,” a discussion at the metropolitan museum

of art in april. but the idea of a multi-media, multitasking costume designer is not a new one. “if you look back, edith Head wrote ‘the Dress Doctor’ and she

appeared in shows and in films. i only mention her because she did so many things,” bryant said. “Pat Field, too.”

With “mad men,” bryant puts her garment District days to good use, designing most of the suits for Jon Hamm’s Don Draper character as well as the dresses for Christina Hendricks’ Joan Harris and elisabeth moss’ Peggy olson. Her own work uni-form is pretty much a pair of J brand jeans, an american apparel or vin-tage rock ’n’ roll t-shirt and a pair of black knee-length Valentino boots with a huge buckle encrusted with swarovski elements. “that is my work boot. i

have had them for seven years, but they really are the perfect boot with the perfect heel,” she said.

soon off on a trip to spain and the south of France with her husband Peter yozell, bryant hopes to be able to put up her feet long enough to read more than scripts and her iPhone.

By ViCki m. yoUNg

sUPeRmoDel and businesswoman tyra banks has joined actor ashton kutcher as an investor in the com-munity-driven shopping start-up theHunt.com.

terms of the investment were not disclosed. it was made through Fierce Capital, the investment arm of the tyra banks Co. the Hunt is the first fashion investment for banks through Fierce Capital, which was set up as a vehicle to provide seed funding to early-stage start-up firms.

“i created Fierce Capital llC be-cause supporting female owned, led and targeted businesses is extreme-ly important to me. We are excited about the Hunt, our first fashion investment, because it truly sucks to discover a great style item but not be able to find and buy it. the Hunt solves that fashion dilemma in a fun and innovative way,” said banks.

the Hunt makes it easier for shoppers to find out where to buy items featured in photos — wheth-er sent directly to theHunt.com or seen on photo-sharing sites such as Pinterest, Facebook, instagram and tumblr — through the help of the Hunt community. Users who recog-nize items tell others where they can buy the product.

banks said, “What i love about the Hunt is that women help other women find their perfect outfit [head-to-toe]. i am excited to be part of this new approach to collective retail and styling.”

the Hunt was cofounded by tech en-trepreneurs tim Weingarten and simon Peck. the site launched in January, fol-lowing beta testing last year.

earlier this year, the site raised an aggregate of $2.7 million in seed fund-ing, led by the sole institutional inves-tor Javelin Venture Partners, that also included 25 angel investors. among those who invested are: actor ashton kutcher and partner guy oseary (madonna’s manager), cofounders of

a-grade investments; Rohan oza, for-mer chief marketing officer of Coca-Cola Co.’s still coke brands and founder of idea merchants Capital; keli lee, executive vice president of casting for abC entertainment group; Redone, the grammy-winning producer behind lady gaga and Jennifer lopez, and anjula acharia-bath, chief executive officer of a-series entertainment.

according to Weingarten, the compa-ny is in the midst of conversations with other potential investors for another round of financing.

the funding raised so far has been used to hire more engineers and design-

ers to build out the “fun experience” of the community site, Weingarten said.

it’s no surprise that he also sought inves-tors with fashion, beau-ty and entertainment expertise.

Having celebrities and entertainment in-fluencers who have a certain following helps bring those individuals to the community shop-ping site, which has helped the site’s busi-ness model. it collects fees using an affiliate program when there is an actual conversion on purchases through the

Hunt. because users also have a specific in-

tent, that places them deeper into the purchase channel, which helps boost con-version rates.

many of these high-profile angel inves-tors also bring something else to the site: their ideas on how to better the platform. kutcher, an experienced start-up investor in firms such as Fashion gPs, styleseat and Fab.com, has already suggested im-provements to the design-user interface, with some ideas being implemented. Weingarten expects banks to do the same.

“she intends to be extremely active and in no way a passive investor. From her acumen in style and fashion to her intuitive and innate sense on how the

community should be guided over time, she has lots of ideas,” the ceo said.

banks can also provide some thoughts on nurturing early-stage ventures as well as managing disruptive innova-tion. those were topics that were part of coursework at the owner/President

management Program at Harvard business school. last year, banks earned her certificate in the program after com-pleting a curriculum presented in three-week sessions over three years.

according to Weingarten, the site has “hundreds of thousands of active mem-bers” and one million monthly unique visitors. the average time spent on each visit to the site is 16 minutes, whether starting hunts, solving them or both. about 95 percent of users are female between ages 16 and 35, with 70 percent of users from the U.s. of the 30 percent on the international front, users from australia, Canada and the U.k. make up the top three markets followed by their counterparts from germany and France.

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Tyra Banks Invests in The Hunt

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It truly sucks to discover a great style item but not be able to find and buy it. The Hunt solves that fashion

dilemma in a fun and innovative way.— TYRA BANKS

‘Mad Men’ Costume Designer Janie Bryant Talks Reality

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We have really been seeing how fashion is

influenced by film and TV. Those two worlds

are moving closer together.

— JANIE BRYANT

TheHunt.com is the first fashion investment for Fierce Capital.

Elizabeth Moss as Peggy Olson.

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