WWD

PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI

By AMANDA KAISER and KELLY WETHERILLE

TOKYO — Japanese designers coming off of Tokyo Fashion Week are expected to benefit from the weak yen at home and abroad with collections that drew plaudits from domestic and international buyers.

Showcasing a variety of looks including statement coats, elaborate knitwear, tweed items and tailored pant-suits, designers showing during the six days of Tokyo Fashion Week offered up plenty of commercially viable merchandise, buyers said. The weak yen gives the coun-try’s designers an added boost as it makes their goods cheaper for foreign buyers, while the currency impact also stands to give them an edge at home with Japanese retailers since it makes imported goods from Europe and the United States that much more expensive.

International buyer registrations for the Tokyo shows grew to 239, compared with 221 in October and 212 in March 2014. The three largest geographic regions were China, with 50 registrations, and the United States and Hong Kong with 38 and 27, respec-tively, organizers said.

As is the case with every season, registrations may or may not correspond to actual attendance at the shows. This was a tricky season for some. A couple Japanese buyers lamented that Tokyo’s proximity to Paris made it a challenge to cover both cites thoroughly.

Despite the challenges of the event dates, show organizers and the government-run Japan External Trade Organization managed to lure some promi-nent names to Tokyo with free trips. This season’s

By MILES SOCHA

PARIS — Could Lanvin’s majority owner Shaw-Lan Wang be mulling a sale of the company?

According to market sources, the Taiwanese pub-lishing magnate recently made an informal approach to a high-powered family in Asia about possibly sell-ing her stake. It is understood no formal talks ensued.

Separately, a number of investment banks, seiz-ing on market speculation about a possible owner-ship change, have also made unoffi cial overtures to some of the usual serial acquirers, believed to in-clude Valentino owner Mayhoola for Investments SPC, French luxury groups Kering and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and Chinese companies that have invested in fashion.

No formal sale mandate has been granted and no due diligence has been conducted, these sources cau-tion, characterizing Wang as a reluctant seller likely to handpick the best possible suitor.

An additional hurdle to any deal could be the high valuation Wang is likely to seek for her control-ling stake in one of France’s oldest and most revered fashion houses.

Asked for comment about the latest sale rumors, Lanvin said, “Madame Wang has received expressions of interest to acquire Lanvin, as in the past years, but she didn’t respond.”

The intensely private 73-year-old has in the past described Lanvin as a long-term investment, having recruited acclaimed Israeli designer Alber Elbaz in 2001 to rejuvenate the brand and taking a hands-on approach to its development in Asia.

Yet the executive has been spending less time in Paris recently, leaving the operational management to Michèle Huiban, who was named chief executive offi cer in 2013. Huiban, who joined Lanvin in 2008, had been deputy general manager of the company since 2011. She is a graduate of French business

SEE PAGE 6

FASHION HOUSE IN PLAY?

Lanvin’s Owner WangCould Be Eyeing Sale

Japan’s Designers GainFrom Weakening of Yen

SEE PAGE 6

With this bold, texture-rich look for fall, Facetasm designer Hiromichi Ochiai closed out Tokyo Fashion Week on a high note. Known for manipulating textiles into complex clothes, he paired wide-leg pants in a trio of pleated fabrics with a cropped cable-knit turtleneck and a variation on a bolero secured by chic horizontal straps. For more from Tokyo, see pages 4 and 5.

TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY

TWO’S COMPANY

TOKYOFALL 2015

COLLECTIONS

TOKYOFALL 2015

COLLECTIONS

Buckle Up

POPSUGAR AND ITS SHOPSTYLE SITE ARE DRIVING

MORE THAN $1 BILLION IN REVENUES FOR

FASHION BRANDS. PAGE 7

GAINING GROUND

THE EUROPEAN UNION IS SET TO BECOME MYANMAR’S LARGEST EXPORT

MARKET FOR APPAREL. PAGE 8

THE NEW LAZY POINT BAR IN TRIBECA AIMS TO BRING A TOUCH OF THE BEACH TO

DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN. PAGE 10

’TAILS OF THE SEA

WWD.COM2

By EVAN CLARK

PERMIRA’S ON THE prowl in fashion and using its experience at Hugo Boss as a calling card.

The private equity fi rm picked up Boss as part of its 2007 purchase of Valentino Group, ultimate-ly investing a combined 1.1 billion euros, or $1.2 billion at current exchange, in the companies. Valentino was sold off fi ve years later and the in-vestment in Boss was fi nally unwound last week. All told, Permira turned its investment into 2.5 billion euros, netting a profi t of 1.4 billion euros, or $1.51 billion a current exchange.

Now the international investment house wants to repeat that trick and is looking at companies val-ued at as little as $200 million and as much as $2 billion and more. The fi rm is working off a fund of 5 billion euros, or $5.41 billion, and at the upper end could put about 500 million euros, or $541 million, to work on a fash-ion company.

Multiple sources said the in-vestor was working hard to buy shoemaker Stuart Weitzman, but ultimately lost out to Coach Inc.

The firm also reportedly was among those chasing a ma-jority stake in Roberto Cavalli.

John Coyle, partner and head of Permira’s New York offi ce, said there are plenty of targets in fashion.

“Our pipeline’s never been better,” he said. “We see a couple of interesting situations at the upper end of the valuation levels and these are public companies. We’re busy.”

Permira’s candidates generally fit into two broad categories: ■ Another Boss, or a company with an interna-tional presence that isn’t performing as well as it could and is in the midst of a transition (i.e. con-verting from a wholesale business model to more omnichannel approach).■ A brand that is “considerably bigger than the business” that is closely held and needs capital to get onto a bigger stage.

Many of the possibilities are companies with a European business that might have a store in New York or sell to a few department stores, but have yet to really expand in the U.S.

“We’re focused in on ‘A’ malls, premier loca-tions in the United States,” Coyle said. “So we want somebody playing in that market and the equiva-lent of that online and in catalogue.

“There are different levels of fashion,” he said. “The very highest levels, haute couture, that’s a hard place to play sometimes because it’s as much about art as it is about commerce. One step down from there, there’s this nice intersection of beauty and art and cap-italism and we’ve done well in those situations.”

Permira’s willing to pay up to play in fashion. “In most scenarios, you’re going to pay a double-dig-

it EBITDA multiple,” he said. “The closer to 10 [times] the better. For the right situation, we’re not shy about

paying what’s required.” He said the investment fi rm

is careful to not load too much debt onto a company while ex-pecting big growth.

When a private equity in-vestment in fashion fl ops, typi-cally it’s because the investor takes too much money out and leaves the company struggling to pay off debt instead of focus-ing on expansion.

Boss has fared well under Permira, and since 2007, the company’s earnings more than doubled while sales grew by nearly 1 billion euros to 2.57 billion euros, or $3.42 billion, last year.

Martin Weckwerth, a partner in Permira’s Frankfurt offi ce, said much of that was owed to the brand’s switch to a more balanced distribu-tion. Retail sales have grown from 25 percent of the total, to 51 percent. Boss’ store fl eet grew from around 200 to more than 1,000 during the private equity fi rm’s tenure.

“Fashion retail today is the presentation of looks, it’s the presentation of lifestyle, it’s the pre-sentation of the story behind the product, behind the look,” Weckwerth said. “And in order to make that true for the customer, you have to basically control the presentation of the product.”

WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

Could Lanvin’s majority owner Shaw-Lan Wang be mulling a sale of the company? The Taiwanese publishing magnate reportedly is considering selling her stake. PAGE 1

Japanese designers coming off of Tokyo Fashion Week are expected to benefi t from the weak yen at home and abroad with collections that drew plaudits from buyers. PAGE 1

PopSugar’s chasing celebrities and sales — and driving more than a billion dollars in revenues for fashion brands through its ShopStyle site. PAGE 7

Saban Brands Lifestyle Group has added Australian surf brand Piping Hot to its portfolio. The transaction, for an undisclosed amount, is its second acquisition in three months. PAGE 7

The EU could become the largest export market for “Made in Myanmar” apparel, three years after the group of nations lifted sanctions against the Southeast Asian country. PAGE 8

Executives attending the AAFA summit in D.C. last week stressed the importance of intensifying the pressure on Congress to approve several trade measures this year. PAGE 9

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper were yucking it up before the Cinema Society-hosted and Dior-sponsored premiere of “Serena” at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema. PAGE 10

Saint Laurent is going back to its roots — the Left Bank of the Seine river, where the Paris fashion house was originally founded by Yves Saint Laurent in 1961. PAGE 11

At this year’s Coachella, there’s been a turnover among some of the major fashion companies that have used the three-day weekend as one long branding showcase. PAGE 11

Fifteen-year-old streetwear e-tailer Karmaloop Inc. on Monday fi led a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection in Delaware. PAGE 11

ON WWD.COM

MODEL CALL: Emily Van Raay, the 21-year-old model and certifi ed health coach from a small Southwestern Ontario town, is more than a pretty face. For more, see WWD.com/eye.

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 FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. COPYRIGHT ©2014 FAIRCHILD PUBLISHING, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. VOLUME 209, NO. 60. TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015. WWD (ISSN 0149-5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in March, June, August, September, October, November and December, and two additional issues in April and three additional issues in February) by Fairchild Media, LLC, which is a division of Penske Business Media, LLC. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 11175 Santa Monica Blvd., 9th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90025. Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA, and at additional mailing offi ces. 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 WWD, P.O. Box 6356, Harlan, IA, 51593. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 6356, Harlan, IA, 51593, call 866-401-7801, or e-mail customer service at wwdPrint@cdsfulfi llment.com. Please include 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 Offi ce 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 dissatisfi ed 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. We reserve the right to change the number of issues contained in a subscription term and/or the way the product is delivered. Address all editorial, business and production correspondence to WWD, 475 Fifth Ave., 15th Floor, New York, NY 10017. For permissions requests, please call 212-630-5656, or fax request to 212-630-5883. For reprints, please e-mail FFM_Reprints@pmc.com or call Wright’s Media 877-652-5295. For reuse permissions, please e-mail FFM_Contenlicensing@pmc.com or call 800-897-8666. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Media, LLC magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.wwd.com/subscriptions. WWD 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 WWD IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

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Permira Looks for Next Investment

Jurors Named for ANDAM THE BRIEFING BOXIN TODAY’S WWD

Emily Van Raay is the subject of Model Call. For more, see WWD.com.

PHOT

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WOM

EN/3

60 M

ANAG

EMEN

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By MILES SOCHA

PARIS — Haider Ackermann and Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel fashion, are among the new ju-rors for the 2015 ANDAM award.

The 29-member jury is to reveal fi nalists on May 18, with deliberations and the announcement of winners scheduled for July 3.

Other new members of the jury include: Floriane de Saint Pierre, who runs a namesake recruit-ment and consult-ing firm in Paris; Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman; Olivia Kim, direc-tor of creative proj-ects at Nordstrom; Françoise-Marie Santucci, editor in chief of French Elle; Laurent Vallet, chief executive of-ficer of L’IFCIC, which funds cinema and other cultural industries; and Lyne Cohen-Solal, charged with creat-ing a report on the fashion industry for the Ministry of Culture and Communication and the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs.

Returning for jury duty are numerous high-powered executives, including Yves Saint Laurent foundation boss Pierre Bergé, Kering’s François-Henri Pinault, LVMH Fashion Group’s Pierre-Yves Roussel, OTB boss Renzo Rosso, Estée Lauder Cos. Inc.’s John Demsey, Puig fashion division’s Ralph Toledano and Saint Laurent’s Francesca Bellettini — along with a number of editors, government of-fi cials and assorted fashion fi gures.

Now in its 26th edition, ANDAM has added a prize for accessories design valued at 30,000 euros, or $31,445 at current exchange rates, and increased its First Collections Prize to 90,000 euros, or $94,330, from 75,000 euros, or $78,610. Introduced in 2011, the latter grant goes to a young French company, along with coaching and an exclusive space at Galeries Lafayette’s fl ag-ship in Paris.

The grand prize delivers an endowment of 250,000 euros, or $262,025, and is open to design-

ers of any nation-ality willing to establish a busi-ness in France. The winner also receives guidance on matters includ-ing fi nancial, legal, marketing, commu-nications and pro-duction. Pavlovsky is to mentor the victor over a two-year period.

Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, who catapulted 3-D printing to the fashion fore-front with her sculptural dress-es, was the 2014

ANDAM victor, and is receiving creative and strategic advice from Pinault, the 2014 mentor.

The French acronym for the National Association for the Development of the Fashion Arts, ANDAM was founded in 1989 by Nathalie Dufour, with the support of the French government and with Bergé as president.

ANDAM has been a springboard for an array of designers who would go on to achieve international recognition, including Martin Margiela, Viktor & Rolf, Christophe Lemaire and Jeremy Scott.

ued at as little as $200 million and as much as $2 billion and more. The fi rm is working off a fund of 5 billion euros, or $5.41 billion, and at the upper end could put about 500 million euros, or $541 million, to work on a fash-

Multiple sources said the in-vestor was working hard to buy shoemaker Stuart Weitzman, but ultimately lost out to Coach Inc.

The firm also reportedly was among those chasing a ma-jority stake in Roberto Cavalli.

John Coyle, partner and head of Permira’s New York offi ce, said there are

it EBITDA multiple,” he said. “The closer to 10 [times] the better. For the right situation, we’re not shy about

paying what’s required.”

is careful to not load too much debt onto a company while ex-pecting big growth.

vestment in fashion fl ops, typi-cally it’s because the investor takes too much money out and leaves the company struggling to pay off debt instead of focus-ing on expansion.

Permira, and since 2007, the company’s earnings more than doubled while sales grew by nearly 1 billion euros

$1.51BPROFITS PERMIRA REALIZED

ON ITS VALENTINO INVESTMENT, INCLUDING BOSS.

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4 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

Facetasm: Closing Tokyo Fashion Week, Facetasm delivered a high-energy show that featured creative takes on tailoring and construction. Beneath the glare of powerful fluorescent lighting, Hiromichi Ochiai sent out complex clothes with a heavy emphasis on fabric manipulation. Ochiai’s signature techniques can risk overload at times, but he exercised a bit more restraint for fall. That was a good thing.

Large bustles of ruffl es jutted out from pants, skirts and jackets, creating voluminous silhouettes with a dramatic runway impact. They might not be the most wearable pieces in the world, but they certainly looked cool. More approachable offerings included the colorful outerwear: a roomy poncho and a motorcycle jacket, both in bright pink, and a navy peacoat with origami-like sleeves and punchy lime-green pockets. The designer also emphasized outerwear for men, showing tough leather jackets and a duffl e coat with leather sleeves as well as an extralong suit jacket à la David Byrne. — AMANDA KAISER

Sulvam: This relatively new men’s wear label (it was established in 2013) was one of six selected as winners of the inaugural Tokyo Fashion Award, which aims to support brands that have the “potential to grow in the international market.” Designer Teppei Fujita, formerly of Yohji Yamamoto, offered a collection of suitlike separates and knitwear. While there was a lot of repetition in the textiles and styles, there was also just enough creativity to keep things interesting.

A thick, pin-striped black wool fabric was used in easy, elastic-waist pants, jackets with asymmetric hems and a variety of coats. Fujita took the styles beyond basic with little details such as a single studded sweater sleeve or a skirtlike panel of fabric attached to the back of trousers. A series of shirts in contrasting patterns and colors — orange and white stripes with blue windowpane plaid, for example — added a pop of color to the largely black and gray collection. And asymmetric, cable-knit pullovers showed added dimension when layered under similarly knit zippered sweater corsets. — KELLY WETHERILLE

Factotum: A projected panorama of a sheep-dotted countryside greeted Factotum showgoers — setting the stage for Koji Udo’s fall men’s wear outing, inspired by Haruki Murakami’s novel “A Wild Sheep Chase.” One of the Japanese author’s breakout works, the story traces the journey of an unnamed man who embarks on an adventure to the northern island of Hokkaido to fi nd a rare sheep with a star on its body.

Appropriately, shearling opened the show, used as trim on jeans and a denim jacket, and later on several sharp-looking coats and jackets, giving the collection a modern, country feel. In a none-too-subtle nod to Murakami’s book, sweaters were emblazoned with large stars, while a few pieces in a striped woven fabric — including a long top layered under a vest and an apron worn over pants — had a shepherd-like vibe. Other highlights included outdoorsy fi eld jackets and a cool gray coat lined in tartan. Despite the theme, this polished lineup delivered some sound choices for city-dwellers as well as their rural counterparts.

— A.K.

Tokyo CollectionsCollectionsFall 2015

Facetasm Facetasm

Sulvam Factotum

FACE

TASM

PHO

TOS

BY G

IOVA

NNI G

IANN

ONI;

SULV

AM B

Y YU

KIE

MIY

AZAK

I; FA

CTOT

UM B

Y YU

KIE

MIY

AZAK

I

FOR MORE FALL 2015 COVERAGE, SEE

WWD.com/runway.

4 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

Facetasm: Closing Tokyo Fashion Week, Facetasm delivered a high-energy show that featured creative takes on tailoring and construction. Beneath the glare of powerful fluorescent lighting, Hiromichi Ochiai sent out complex clothes with a heavy emphasis on fabric manipulation. Ochiai’s signature techniques can risk overload at times, but he exercised a bit more restraint for fall. That was a good thing.

Large bustles of ruffl es jutted out from pants, skirts and jackets, creating voluminous silhouettes with a dramatic runway impact. They might not be the most wearable pieces in the world, but they certainly looked cool. More approachable offerings included the colorful outerwear: a roomy poncho and a motorcycle jacket, both in bright pink, and a navy peacoat with origami-like sleeves and punchy lime-green pockets. The designer also emphasized outerwear for men, showing tough leather jackets and a duffl e coat with leather sleeves as well as an extralong suit jacket à la David Byrne. — AMANDA KAISER

Sulvam: This relatively new men’s wear label (it was established in 2013) was one of six selected as winners of the inaugural Tokyo Fashion Award, which aims to support brands that have the “potential to grow in the international market.” Designer Teppei Fujita, formerly of Yohji Yamamoto, offered a collection of suitlike separates and knitwear. While there was a lot of repetition in the textiles and styles, there was also just enough creativity to keep things interesting.

A thick, pin-striped black wool fabric was used in easy, elastic-waist pants, jackets with asymmetric hems and a variety of coats. Fujita took the styles beyond basic with little details such as a single studded sweater sleeve or a skirtlike panel of fabric attached to the back of trousers. A series of shirts in contrasting patterns and colors — orange and white stripes with blue windowpane plaid, for example — added a pop of color to the largely black and gray collection. And asymmetric, cable-knit pullovers showed added dimension when layered under similarly knit zippered sweater corsets. — KELLY WETHERILLE

Factotum: A projected panorama of a sheep-dotted countryside greeted Factotum showgoers — setting the stage for Koji Udo’s fall men’s wear outing, inspired by Haruki Murakami’s novel “A Wild Sheep Chase.” One of the Japanese author’s breakout works, the story traces the journey of an unnamed man who embarks on an adventure to the northern island of Hokkaido to fi nd a rare sheep with a star on its body.

Appropriately, shearling opened the show, used as trim on jeans and a denim jacket, and later on several sharp-looking coats and jackets, giving the collection a modern, country feel. In a none-too-subtle nod to Murakami’s book, sweaters were emblazoned with large stars, while a few pieces in a striped woven fabric — including a long top layered under a vest and an apron worn over pants — had a shepherd-like vibe. Other highlights included outdoorsy fi eld jackets and a cool gray coat lined in tartan. Despite the theme, this polished lineup delivered some sound choices for city-dwellers as well as their rural counterparts.

— A.K.

Tokyo CollectionsCollectionsFall 2015

Facetasm Facetasm

Sulvam Factotum

FACE

TASM

PHO

TOS

BY G

IOVA

NNI G

IANN

ONI;

SULV

AM B

Y YU

KIE

MIY

AZAK

I; FA

CTOT

UM B

Y YU

KIE

MIY

AZAK

I

FOR MORE FALL 2015 COVERAGE, SEE

WWD.com/runway.

WWD.COM5WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

PHOTOS BY ONNIE A. KOSKI

Shibuya Street Style THEY ARE WEARING®

Half the fun of Tokyo Fashion Week happens on the street, where style-obsessed attendees dress with a creative intensity that could give any other fashion-week crowd a run for its money. While looks ranged from avant-garde grunge to animé-inspired kitsch, the overriding aesthetic was individualism — as these photos taken around the offi cial venue, Shibuya Hikarie, attest. — AMANDA KAISER

PHOTOS BY ONNIE A. KOSKI

FOR MORE THEY ARE WEARING, SEE

WWD.com/fashion-news.

6 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

batch of invited buyers included Colette creative director Sarah Andelman and Excelsior and Antonia women’s buying direc-tor Massimiliano Nardiello. Eric Jennings, vice president and fashion director for men’s wear, home and beauty at Saks Fifth Avenue, also came to Tokyo.

Japanese buyers, perhaps those best placed to view the evolution of local brands over time, gave positive feedback of the season.

Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe, se-nior creative director at Beams,

said his picks for the season included Facetasm, Beautiful People and Mint Designs. Overall, he said he liked Tokyo and thought it offered a variety of different brands.

Minamimagoe said he expects Beams’ budget for Japanese brands to increase this fall. In his view, New York Fashion Week was lacking this season, so part of that budget may be shifted to local brands.

“I think sales of domestic brands have increased over the past few years. I think for the past three or four years [Japanese] consumers have been more interested in Japanese brands,” he said.

“Until about fi ve years ago, there was a boom of interna-tional brands [in Japan] and things by young New York de-signers were selling very well. Then after that, brands like Carven from Paris were popu-lar until about two years ago, but recently that has tapered off,” Minamimagoe said. “Part of it has to do with price and the weak yen, but [Japanese brands] are also seen by customers as being more ‘real.’ Until now, Tokyo Fashion Week design-ers have been mostly just doing things to please themselves, but

now there is a strong conscious-ness of the market, and I think they all are trying hard to fi t their own originality into that.”

Akiko Kitaya, a buyer at Sogo & Seibu Co. Ltd., found a lot of “easy-to-sell” items this season. She said she is maintaining her current budget for Tokyo brands.

“With its carefully selected natural materials and easy sil-houettes, Beautiful People cap-tured current trends very well,” she said. “Yasutoshi Ezumi’s architecture-themed collection was expressed very well in coats and other outerwear with sharp lines. I also felt that, because of the different materials he used and many different details on

the backs of garments, there was a newness to the collection.”

Aya Ota, a women’s buyer for Isetan’s Shinjuku store in Tokyo, said she liked Written by Writtenafterwards and John Lawrence Sullivan. She said she is planning to visit a lot of pre-sentations this week in Tokyo and her budget for Japanese brands has increased for fall. Ota said other brands on her radar include Akira Naka, Akane Utsunomiya, Hyke and Cleana, which makes only skirts.

Colette’s Andelman said she liked the overall quality of the

shows. Her favorites included Discovered and Yoshio Kubo. She added that she liked the fi rst part of the Dresscamp show. The store already has plans to do a window with Writtenafterwards in June or July.

“I know in Japan that for ev-erything — food, design, clothing — it’s only good quality. I mean, even if it’s the most simple or the most weird thing, it will be well made. But I thought the shows themselves were very good [in terms of] production,” Andelman said. “I didn’t see everything, because I looked at all the Web sites before to do my selection. I looked at all the profi les, and I felt many were too simple, too

commercial. So I don’t want to come to Tokyo to see a collection [that is] too commercial, I know there is a customer for them, I know there is a place for them, but I want something special.”

Nardiello, of Excelsior and Antonia, said the Japanese brands he saw on his showroom visits were impressive. His stores were not that enthusias-tic about the pre-fall and fall collections coming out of New York and Europe, which to him seemed fl at with few new ideas, so he came to Tokyo looking to enliven his product assortment.

Nardiello viewed about 24 brands on his visit to Tokyo and placed orders at about half of them for a total of about 100,000 euros, or $108,000 at current exchange. His favorites included Mame, Avie Yumiko Fukuda and Coohem. Although buying from Japan has its challenges, including signifi cant import tariffs and advance pay-ments, he said it’s worth it.

“I am willing to make this effort because it changes the whole image of my buying, it makes my buying very cool, fresh [and] international,” Nardiello said, adding that he found Japanese brands more original and less trend-driven than many others elsewhere.

That said, Nardiello was also forthcoming about a few brands he didn’t like. He said Adeam, which staged a Tokyo recap show of the fall collection it showed in New York in February, looked too similar to other things he had already seen. And he was less than enthusiastic about Matohu, which showed a Kyoto-inspired collection heavy on me-tallic fabrications.

“It seemed a bit like an Asian Giorgio Armani,” he said.

Saks’ Jennings said he found a “well-rounded” offering of men’s wear in Tokyo with a good balance of various influences including skate/street culture, classic Americana preppy heri-tage and British and Italian tai-loring traditions.

“There’s really something for everybody here,” he said, adding that some of his favorite fi nds included Liberum Arbitrium, 03 by Knitt03, Takka and Ones Stroke. Saks has fi nished its buy-ing for fall, but Jennings said he was making contacts and collect-ing look books to share with the retailer’s buyers in New York. But he stressed that it’s hard for small brands to compete on the fl oor with more established names if they don’t have New York-based showroom represen-tation or agents to help manage the business.

“The challenge is fi nding in-teresting brands that are ready to do business with a big company like Saks,” Jennings said. “I’ve seen this happen many times. We fall in love with a unique ar-tisanal brand and without that support and representation, they face a lot of challenges.”

Jutta Heidt-Hansel, manag-ing director for Frankfurt bou-tique Fifty Eights and another guest of Tokyo Fashion Week or-ganizers, was pleased with her fi ndings in Tokyo. She viewed about 30 brands through ap-pointments and placed orders for two: men’s denim brand Kuro and women’s knitwear label Il by Saori Komatsu. She is taking contacts for another eight to 10 brands back home with her. She said she liked the look of Rivora and Ones Stroke.

“The men’s is better to sell to Europe, to Germany, than the la-dies’ [brands],” she said, explain-ing that some of the women’s brands in Tokyo skew too ladylike and girly for European women.

While sizing is often an issue when it comes to selling Japanese brands to European customers, Heidt-Hansel said this is becom-ing less of a problem.

“People already know about this problem and they are work-ing on it. So they try to be fl ex-ible,” she said.

school ESSEC and worked mainly in the media before joining Lanvin.

According to sources, Wang has been reluctant to invest heavily in developing the French house’s retail network and brand profi le, crimping its traction in the face of larger and more robustly funded brands such as Saint Laurent, Chanel and Givenchy.

A family trust associated with the Bartel family acquired 25 percent of Lanvin parent Arpège SAS in separate trans-actions in 2009 and 2012, and is said to hold certain preemptive rights should Wang wish to ex-plore a sale of any of her shares.

Elbaz is said to also own a minority stake in Lanvin indi-rectly via a holding company.

“It’s a very fl uid situation. My guess is something will happen this year,” said one

source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Wang bought Lanvin from L’Oréal in 2001, and left Elbaz a free hand to reinvent the busi-ness with his soigné cocktail dresses, chunky costume jewel-ry, ballerina fl ats, dressy sneak-ers and modernist men’s wear.

In 2007, Wang sold Lanvin’s fragrance and cosmetics busi-ness to Inter Parfums SA for 22 million euros, or $32.1 mil-lion at average exchange rates

for the period, saying the com-pany needed the funds to de-velop its ready-to-wear and accessories businesses.

It is understood Lanvin gen-erates sales of slightly less than 250 million euros, or $262.5 million at current exchange rates. Last year the brand marked its 125th anniversary, with a “Jean Lanvin” retrospec-tive currently on display at the Palais Galliera — a spillover of its birthday festivities.

Lanvin Majority Owner Wang Said Considering Sale

Yen Seen Boosting Japanese Designers

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WWD.COM7WWD Tuesday, March 24, 2015

By Vicki M. Young

Saban brandS Lifestyle group has added australian surf brand Piping Hot to its portfolio.

The transaction, for an undisclosed amount, represents its second acquisi-tion in three months. and while Piping Hot is the second acquisition this year that’s also based in australia — the first was the skate- and surf-inspired brand Mambo in January — the two deals also have helped so-lidify the new creative hub for SbLg that will be located in australia. The corporate head-quarters of the lifestyle group remain based in new York.

daniel castle, managing director of strategic business development at Saban brands, said, “The creative hub for all of the brands under Saban’s Lifestyle group’s umbrella will be in Sydney and Melbourne. That team will work with the u.S.-based team. So far we’ve added 25 percent more staff to both our australia operations and the company is putting more marketing dollars there, investing in the business.”

castle said the acquisition of a sec-ond australian brand was a coinci-dence, driven by the interests of him-self and that of Elie dekel, president of Saban brands, who also heads up Saban brands Entertainment group, which is based in Los angeles.

“We’re not targeting australian brands, but we just happen to find two that we felt would be perfect for our

growing portfolio. Elie is an avid surf-er, and i’m in love with the country. We’re looking at brands in every coun-try that we think can be grown and can flourish outside of their home base. as long as we think a brand has authen-ticity and a passionate consumer fol-lowing, and we think the rest of the world can benefit from it, we will look to add it to our portfolio,” castle said.

as for moving the creative base to australia, castle said that was es-

sentially a no-brainer: “We wanted to showcase what that country can offer around the world. designers around the world are already routinely visit-ing australia to find out what the next trends are, from color to silhouettes and to see the aesthetic. Saban is no different. We were traveling there for inspiration for Paul Frank and Power rangers. now we have an office there

with all these talented people who will share their authentic vision for the SbLg brands.”

castle believes australia’s weather is one reason why the continent is a destination for the creative industry. “australia is about being outside and ex-periencing nature and water. That spurs creativity and the elements are provid-ing a lot of inspiration for design talent. another reason is that they are at least six months ahead of us. When we are de-

signing winter, they are already working on summer.”

Piping Hot was established in 1975 in Torquay, on Victoria’s surf coast. For the past 18 years, the brand has had an exclusive retail partnership with Target australia, which has helped expand product categories beyond surfboards to include swimwear, footwear, beach towels and headwear, to name a few.

although Mark Johannsen, the former managing director of Piping Hot, is taking a step back from heading up the op-eration, he and his children still will be involved with the company, working with Saban in different capacities.

castle said Saban has already started to invest in and work on the design di-rection of the brand, as well as putting together a strategy for marketing and expansion overseas. “We have the trade-mark registered in every country…[and] are investing a lot more money into the brand. over the next 12 to 24 months, you will begin to see Piping Hot in other countries,” he said.

By arnoLd J. karr

MarVin ELLiSon, president and chief ex-ecutive officer-designee of J.c. Penney co. inc., received stock awards valued at $15 mil-lion for signing on with the Plano, Tex.-based midtier retailer, making up the bulk of his $19.6 million pay package.

according to the definitive proxy released to the Securities and Exchange commission Monday, the awards vest in three equal parts beginning on nov. 17, just after his one-year anniversary with the retailer, and on the same date in 2016 and 2017.

Ellison also received a prorated portion of his $1.3 million annual salary, or $325,000, and a $4.14 million sign-on bonus, as reported soon after he was named to the post on nov. 1.

Ellison, who will succeed Myron “Mike” ullman 3rd as ceo on aug. 1, also received other payments of $142,000, including legal ex-penses of $25,000 to cover negotiations for his offer letter; relocation benefits of about $17,000, and just over $100,000 to cover personal use of the company aircraft. He and ullman are re-quired to use the company aircraft for both professional and personal travel as part of Penney’s key associate protection program.

The stock awards were reported at grant date fair market value, although the amounts ultimately received could vary based on fluc-tuating stock prices and other factors.

ullman’s total pay was $9.7 million, includ-ing $1.5 million in salary, nearly $4.9 million in stock and option awards, $1.6 million in his cash bonus and $1.7 million in other compensation.

Like ullman, Ellison, who joined Penney’s from The Home depot inc. and earlier worked for Target corp., will work without an employment contract.

By racHEL STrugaTz

PoPSugar’S cHaSing celebri-ties and sales — and driving more than a billion dollars in revenues for fashion brands through its ShopStyle site.

The San Francisco-based company is something of a digi-tal hybrid, chasing clicks with its PopSugar site and funneling shoppers to other e-commerce sites at ShopStyle while working with brands on both ends.

acquired in 2007, ShopStyle is both a fashion search engine and social shopping Web site with a performance marketing affiliate model. it drove $1.2 billion in sales for retail part-ners last year and more than one billion clicks to these sites. The site has 10 million products from more than 1,000 retailers.

While not directly linked with the company’s celebrity-obsessed Web site, they benefit from one another.

“These are two brands and two properties serving one audi-ence,” Jen Wong, chief business officer, told WWd.

While ShopStyle is a very dif-ferent business from its parent company, the two definitely have synergies. For instance, Levi’s product listed on ShopStyle drives to levis.com, but the brand also has partnered with PopSugar in various ways, from traditional advertising to a video series featuring the site’s editors in Levi’s jeans and a program that had influencers interacting with the brand.

PopSugar was founded al-most nine years ago by Lisa

Sugar and has turned into a celebrity hub, an anti-TMz with sections devoted to fash-ion, fitness and beauty. Sugar described the site’s content as “fun, friendly and relatable.” a recent post asked readers, “are You ansel Elgort’s Soul Mate?” and supplied a test to find out.

Even if the site’s “don’t hate on my happy” motto might prompt an eye roll or two from its snarkier competitors, PopSugar is pulling in plenty of page views. The site commands 600 million monthly page views and 3.3 mil-lion daily visits. Traffic increased 55 percent last year. Sixty percent of the site’s traffic comes from the combination of a mobile Web site and the PopSugar app.

Popsugar.com has 65 editors

who post from four to 10 stories a day. all told, the group publishes 200 to 300 pieces of original con-tent daily, which includes about 10 videos spanning food, fashion, entertainment, fitness and beau-ty. The brand formerly operated each different vertical as its own site — Fabsugar.com for fashion or Fitsugar.com for fitness — but consolidated the dozen sites over the past 18 months to build a uni-fied brand that exists under the Popsugar.com domain.

Sources estimate the com-bined businesses drove rev-enues of about $120 million last year. Executives from the company declined to break out sales numbers for PopSugar and ShopStyle, but contend that the businesses are pretty

evenly split. Half of revenue comes from a combination of advertising, sponsored posts and partnerships on PopSugar, which worked with 500 brands last year — Hilton, Fruit Water, Levi’s and unilever among them — and the rest comes from a cut of all sales fueled by ShopStyle.

The company expects rev-enue from partnerships to in-crease in the mid-double digits this year. Last year, a consum-er activation with unilever’s Simple Skincare brand during the second quarter brought in more than $1 million, and Fruit Water sponsored a scripted, 10-part series that aired in october.

The team credits this growth to an evolution from banner to na-tive advertising, which has seen 150 percent growth year over year.

When PopSugar began to shift towards the sponsored post route, the brands were producing the content. This has changed and PopSugar’s editorial team is now responsible for the creation of all native advertising content. Video is also a significant growth engine for revenue — and all video is produced in-house. of the 10 vid-eos posted per day, close to half are sponsored.

“Video and native are grow-ing a lot faster than display,”

said anna Fieler, PopSugar’s executive vice president of mar-keting. “[Video and native is] one third of our business and growing to half. We don’t know if it will happen within the year, but it’s a goal of ours.”

another source of revenue for PopSugar, albeit smaller than the company’s two main money drivers, are its monthly Must Have boxes. Each box is $40 per month — considerably more expensive than other sub-scription box services — but tens of thousands of subscribers have signed up. rather than fo-cusing one vertical, PopSugar’s boxes contain product that spans food, fashion, beauty, fit-ness and home. next month, a special-edition Must Have box will launch, created in part-

nership with the council of Fashion designers of america. Several special-edition boxes are released per year, in addi-tion to the monthly subscription ones, that retail for more than the standard $40 (a box created with neiman Marcus last year retailed for $250 and sold out on Popsugar.com). developed by Sugar and cFda members, 50 percent of the proceeds from the $195 boxes will go to benefit the cFda.

PopSugar, ShopStyle Help Drive Fashion Sales

$15M Stock Package Bulk of Ellison’s Pay

Saban Acquires Surfwear Brand Piping Hot

An article on PopSugar’s Web site highlights festival fashions.

Surfwear from the Piping Hot collection.

ShopStyle drove $1.2 billion in sales for retail partners last year and more than one billion clicks to these sites.

8 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

By TIM MCLAUGHLIN

THE EUROPEAN UNION is poised to become the largest export market for “Made in Myanmar” apparel this year, three years after the group of na-tions lifted economic and trade sanctions against the Southeast Asian country.

The surge in exports to the EU and overall growth in the sector comes despite con-tinued concerns over labor conditions and a lack of clar-ity regarding Myanmar’s wage regulations that have resulted in a spate of strikes at factories around Yangon, the country’s largest city.

Apparel export revenue for 2014 reached an estimat-ed $1.5 billion, up about $300 million from 2013, accord-ing to the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association. The MGMA said an average of one factory a week opened over the course of 2014. Apparel exports to the EU showed particularly strong growth in 2014, with about $400 million worth of goods reach-ing the market, more than dou-bling 2013 shipments.

Around a dozen factories in Myanmar now produce primar-ily for the EU. Japan and South Korea, the two biggest export markets for Myanmar-made gar-ments, are forecast to be sur-passed this year by the EU, the MGMA said.

The growth in the sector is part of a larger trend since reformist Thein Sein became president in 2011, which has resulted in foreign and domes-tic investment shifting from power and natural resources to the wider manufacturing sector. From February 2013 to January 2014, 42 percent of foreign direct investment in

Myanmar went into manufac-turing, up from 5 percent from 1990 until January 2013, ac-cording to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Domestic invest-ment in manufacturing over the same period jumped to 28 percent from 24 percent.

Aung Naing Oo, director gen-eral at the Myanmar Investment Commission, said the government was taking steps to promote the apparel manufacturing industry.

“We have streamlined the procedure [for investment] in this particular sector for easier access, and training programs are in progress to produce skilled labor in this sector in collaboration with the Garment Producers Association and concerned ministries such as Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Labor,” he said.

Major European compa-nies sourcing from Myanmar include Sweden’s Hennes & Mauritz, which works with three factories and one pro-cessing facility, and has an office in Yangon. In early January, German sportswear manufacturer Adidas said one of its suppliers had begun pro-

ducing footwear at a factory near Yangon.

Firms have been drawn to Myanmar for its cheap and abundant labor force, as wages rise in countries like neigh-boring China. U.K.-based risk analysis fi rm Verisk Maplecroft ranked Myanmar as having one of the lowest labor costs in the world. The group said Myanmar was one of the “key sourcing destinations” replacing Chinese manufacturers, along with Bangladesh and Cambodia.

The MGMA puts sewing op-erator wages at $40 to $200 a month. The reinstatement of the Generalized System of Preferences by the EU has also played a major role in boost-ing EU interest. In contrast, apparel exports to the U.S. have remained “miniscule,” MGMA said. Exports to the U.S. climbed to $20 million last year since a ban was lifted in 2012. In 2002, prior to the lev-eling of strict sanctions against Myanmar, apparel exports to the U.S. accounted for more than 20 percent of the country’s nation-al export revenue.

Few major U.S. brands have established a presence in

Myanmar since the easing of sanctions in 2012. Most notably, Gap Inc. began producing for its Banana Republic and Old Navy chains in June through two South Korean-owned factories.

Win Ei Khine, executive di-rector of apparel manufacturer Maple Trading Co. and a cen-tral executive committee mem-ber of the MGMA, said offi cials from companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Columbia Sportswear Co. had visited Myanmar last year, but no or-ders have been placed. A chief concern for foreign fi rms, she said, remains labor standards, particularly the use of child workers in many factories, an issue she said her company it-self had faced.

“We discussed a lot about it with customers and major stake-holders last year,” Win Ei Khine said. “We all know that child labor is a major issue for the EU and Western markets.”

Under Myanmar law, mini-mum working age varies across

sectors, but children as young as 13 are allowed to work up to four hours a day if they have a cer-tifi cate of fi tness and as adults at the age of 15. The MGMA drafted a code of conduct in February to address this issue, among others, with the aim of bringing manu-facturing practices up to Western standards. The voluntary code calls for factory owners to ad-here to a minimum working age of 15 and for workers’ ages to be

confi rmed prior to them begin-ning work.

Vicky Bowman, director of the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business, said the code of conduct showed the industry was aware it needed further development. However, she cautioned that extensive due diligence was still required by investors.

Myanmar’s main draw, its cheap labor, has also been the source of recent unrest in the apparel sector. The government passed a minimum wage law in 2013, but it has yet to be put into effect, as a pay rate has not been determined. A survey was launched in late January to de-termine living costs and condi-tions of the country’s most vul-nerable workers.

Maung Maung, president of the Federation of Trade Unions of Myanmar, said the survey had been completed and collected data were being collated by the Ministry of Labor. He declined to comment on the potential

minimum-wage levels, saying speculation at this stage would be unhelpful to the process.

A series of wage-related strikes starting in late January hit fi ve factories at two indus-trial zones outside Yangon. The walkouts were the latest labor disruptions since the country passed a labor organization law in 2011 that allows workers to form some unions and strike if prior notice is given.

’’’’

We all know that child labor is a major issue for the EU

and Western markets.— WIN EI KHINE, MAPLE TRADING CO.

SOURCING HORIZONS

Myanmar Production Comes in From the Cold

By ARTHUR FRIEDMAN

NEW YORK — CLASS complet-ed its “World Class Tour” here this month with two days of pre-sentations at the Italian Trade Commission offices.

CLASS, or Creativity Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy, is a multiplatform global network that showcases fashion, textiles and materials created using smarter sustain-able technology.

Giusy Bettoni, chief executive offi cer and cofounder of Milan-based CLASS, said, “The objec-tive is to provide a platform for inspirational materials that are fashionable and have a low envi-ronmental impact. We work with companies and fabrics and yarns that add value by having some special quality that’s good for the environment, but still have the highest degree of fashion be-cause without that, the custom-ers — whether it’s a brand, a re-tailer or a consumer — won’t be interested.”

Bettoni said CLASS and the sector of sustainable materials have grown and evolved since

the organization was formed in 2007, thanks in large part to tech-nological advancements, such as machinery that can repurpose scrap yarns and fabrics. The tour included similar presentations in Milan, Copenhagen, London and Madrid featuring the latest in sus-tainable fabrics for spring 2016.

In the area of recycled and re-purposed fabrics, Italian brand Green Fiber has created a range of yarns, fabrics and knitwear made from material that has been upcycled from waste product from the spinning process. The spring collection is Ecolabel certified and comes from wool, cashmere, mohair and silk yarns found in Italy’s Biella region. Similarly, the Reverso group of companies from

Italy’s Prato region features re-en-gineered wool and cashmere yarn and fabric remnants.

Bacx by Centro Seta uses GOTS-certifi ed organic silk and silk blended with New Life re-cycled polyester for jersey fabric and silk blended with Greenfi ber insulation for outerwear.

Among a group representing organic and natural material makers were Lanifi cio Zignone’s selection of GOTS-certifi ed or-ganic wool fabrics and Swiss company Hausammann & Moos’ organic cotton knits and wovens that are certifi ed by GOTS and Oeko-Tex Standard, which signi-fi es transparent and responsible production methods. Also in this area was Japan’s Shinnaigai Textile, which has a collection of organic cotton and Tencel in mélange dyes created from nat-ural materials such as fl owers, fruits and tea leaves.

There were also fabrics made from biopolymers such as Ingeo, as well as milk protein, soy, sea-weed, regenerated cellulosics and Crabyon’s crab’s carapace fi ber.

“Step by step, sustainable ma-terials are becoming part of the supply chain,” Bettoni added.

CLASS Brings Sustainability Act to U.S.

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WWD.COM9

buying stuff that is made here,” Dillard said. “Again, they are not paying you double for it, but it has a good promo-tional connotation.

“The issue is you can’t fi nd the stuff made here; it’s not an issue of wanting to [sell it],” he added. “You can’t fi nd suits or dress shirts here. We love it when we can do it, but it is easier said than done. We don’t have the clout of a Wal-Mart to force the issue on the industry. We can’t buy enough to go, ‘OK, you go buy a bunch and set up a factory’…We don’t have quite a big position or leverage in that. I do think customers like it. I hear them talk about it. They do respond when they can do it.”

Duggan said AAFA’s mission is to give its members the “flexibility” to make it here or abroad. To that end, AAFA plans to press lawmakers to ap-prove several smaller measures that have expired or will expire this year, including a preferential trade program for apparel with Nicaragua that ex-pired in January, the African Growth and Opportunity Act set to expire Sept. 30 and the Generalized System of Preferences that expired in July 2013.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), chair-man of the Senate Finance Committee, who laid out his agenda at the summit, said he is trying to get a presidential Trade Promotion Authority bill through committee and to the Senate fl oor in April. TPA is seen as vital to complet-ing several trade deals because with it, Congress can only vote up or down on a trade agreement, which gives the administration leverage with trading partners. But he said it will be an up-hill battle, pointing to opposition from Democrats. Hatch also said he has other

priorities, including extension of AGOA and renewal of GSP.

“The Obama administration is cur-rently negotiating some of the most ambitious trade agreements in our nation’s history,” Hatch said, point-ing to the TPP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership be-tween the U.S. and European Union. “Together, these two trade agreements cover more than 60 percent of global trade and have the potential to dra-

matically change the world economic landscape…but without TPA, I’m afraid neither of these agreements will ever reach the fi nish line.”

“We are very supportive of TPA, while also not letting the smaller trade bills lag if TPA doesn’t make it across the finish line,” Duggan said. “What I hear from [Hatch] is that these smaller bills are costing people money and we can’t let TPA hold them hostage. I have full confidence he is going to make a go of it.”

WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

’’

’’confi rmed prior to them begin-ning work.

Vicky Bowman, director of the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business, said the code of conduct showed the industry was aware it needed further development. However, she cautioned that extensive due diligence was still required by investors.

Myanmar’s main draw, its cheap labor, has also been the source of recent unrest in the apparel sector. The government passed a minimum wage law in 2013, but it has yet to be put into effect, as a pay rate has not been determined. A survey was launched in late January to de-termine living costs and condi-tions of the country’s most vul-nerable workers.

Maung Maung, president of the Federation of Trade Unions of Myanmar, said the survey had been completed and collected data were being collated by the Ministry of Labor. He declined to comment on the potential

minimum-wage levels, saying speculation at this stage would be unhelpful to the process.

A series of wage-related strikes starting in late January hit fi ve factories at two indus-trial zones outside Yangon. The walkouts were the latest labor disruptions since the country passed a labor organization law in 2011 that allows workers to form some unions and strike if prior notice is given.

’’

SOURCING HORIZONS

Myanmar Production Comes in From the Cold

Italy’s Prato region features re-en-gineered wool and cashmere yarn and fabric remnants.

Bacx by Centro Seta uses GOTS-certifi ed organic silk and silk blended with New Life re-cycled polyester for jersey fabric and silk blended with Greenfi ber insulation for outerwear.

Among a group representing organic and natural material makers were Lanifi cio Zignone’s selection of GOTS-certifi ed or-ganic wool fabrics and Swiss company Hausammann & Moos’ organic cotton knits and wovens that are certifi ed by GOTS and Oeko-Tex Standard, which signi-fi es transparent and responsible production methods. Also in this area was Japan’s Shinnaigai Textile, which has a collection of organic cotton and Tencel in mélange dyes created from nat-ural materials such as fl owers, fruits and tea leaves.

There were also fabrics made from biopolymers such as Ingeo, as well as milk protein, soy, sea-weed, regenerated cellulosics and Crabyon’s crab’s carapace fi ber.

“Step by step, sustainable ma-terials are becoming part of the supply chain,” Bettoni added.

CLASS Brings Sustainability Act to U.S.

Shifts in Global Trade Talk of AAFA SummitBy KRISTI ELLIS

WASHINGTON — In a climate of high ex-pectations for an Asia-Pacific trade deal this year, fashion executives are cali-brating their sourcing strategies to take advantage of new market-opening op-portunities, while still investing in new production in the Western Hemisphere.

Executives attending the American Apparel & Footwear Association’s sum-mit here last week stressed the impor-tance of intensifying the pressure on Congress to approve several trade mea-sures this year that will have a major impact on their sourcing strategies. The industry has a big stake in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, being negotiated between the U.S. and 11 other countries, particularly because it includes Vietnam, the second-largest supplier of apparel to the U.S.

Tom Glaser, vice president and presi-dent of global supply chain at VF Corp., said in an interview that TPP could have a big impact on sourcing, depending on how it is structured and implemented.

“It has a potential to impact our trade on what we do around [production in the countries of the North American and Central American Free Trade Agreements],” Glaser said. “We want to make sure that is managed well. It also has potential in businesses where we source a signifi cant amount. Vietnam has the potential to be a big benefi t.”

Glaser also noted that although China represents the largest amount of sourc-ing for VF, with 21 percent of sourced and owned production, the paradigm has shifted.

“The growth for certain businesses is tending to grow in other locations because of the expense structure,” Glaser said. “We’re not necessarily see-ing absolute reductions, but we are not seeing the same level of growth we saw there before.”

He said VF is making goods in the Dominican Republic and Vietnam and selling them in China.

“I think the whole notion of China for the U.S. trade is an old paradigm,” Glaser said. “It’s a very different world today.”

Rick Helfenbein, who was reappointed chair-man of the AAFA for a second year and who is also president of Luen Thai USA, said, “The big battle is really between how much China will erode and how much Vietnam will grow.”

Helfenbein said the remaining top five countries — Indonesia, Bangladesh and Honduras — are expected to stay the same. He noted that textile mills are al-ready staging them-selves in Vietnam to get ready for TPP.

“This isn’t a short-term thing for them because they believe Vietnam will be success-ful with or without TPP, so they are will-ing to make the investment,” he said.

Luen Thai plans to continue to grow its business in the Philippines and is also “stable” now in China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, he said.

The Western Hemisphere is also ex-pected to see more growth in production this year.

Eric Wiseman, chairman, president and chief executive offi cer at VF Corp. said in an interview with WWD that the company — the maker of brands such as The North Face, Vans, Timberland and Wrangler — has made a defi nite shift in

production to the Western Hemisphere, although it has a diversifi ed sourcing base, producing jeans, for example, in Egypt, Mexico and Asia.

“If there has been a shift in the last 24 months, I would say that shift has been towards this hemisphere,” Wiseman said. “I didn’t say into this country, al-though we do produce some of our goods in this country, but by defi nition, what we do is not a big percentage of our pro-duction. It’s about 5 percent in the U.S., which is about 25 million units, so it’s not a small number.”

Wiseman said the company’s shift from Asia to the Western Hemisphere will be a “couple of percentage points,” adding “most of what we own is in this hemisphere.”

VF’s Western Hemisphere produc-tion represents about 37 percent of overall output. Glaser of VF said the company plans to expand a plant in the Dominican Republic it acquired through the acquisition of Timberland by “mil-lions of units” and triple production

in the next fi ve to six years.

He also said VF has shif ted some North Face business to Honduras and El Salvador from Asia.

“So, there is a shift back from production that is generally made in Asia to this hemi-sphere and we are making it in our own plants,” Glaser added.

Juanita Duggan, president and ceo of AAFA, said there is momentum behind the Made in America move-ment.

“There are numbers pointing to growth, showing that people are committed to it,” said Duggan, pointing to her association’s own latest statistics that show a 6.2 percent increase in U.S. ap-

parel production in 2013, marking the third year in a row of growth, as well as an 8.5 percent increase in U.S. foot-wear production.

Bill Dillard 3rd, vice president of Dillard’s Inc., who gave a keynote speech at the AAFA conference on the history and rise of his family’s business, said in an interview on the sidelines that the company strongly supports Made in the USA and recently started up with a new brand of jewelry made by Texas-based James Avery Jewelry, which oper-ates fi ve manufacturing plants in Texas.

“People defi nitely feel good about

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I think the whole notion of China for

the U.S. trade is an old paradigm. It’s a very

different world today.— TOM GLASER, VF CORP.

Juanita Duggan and Bill Dillard 3rd

Eric Wiseman

July 21−23, 2015Javits Convention Center

New York, NY

10 WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

“IT’S BASICALLY A small sand spit on Gardiners Bay,” Jason LaGarenne says on a recent afternoon. He’s describing Lazy Point, N.Y., his hometown, a hamlet between East Hampton and Montauk on the southern tip of Long Island that serves as the inspiration for his new cocktail bar. “It’s very unspoiled in terms of the nature, very authentic, which is rather un-Hamptonslike.”

LaGarenne’s new spot, named after said sand spit, also seems to differ from its surroundings. Located on the corner of Spring and Greenwich Streets in TriBeCa, Lazy Point’s white picnic tables, surfi ng photos and vintage scuba gear are a departure from the sleek multimillion dollar apartments and cobblestone streets skirting it. “We wanted to just hint at the coastal décor and create an overall happy feeling,” LaGarenne says. “[Lazy Point] is a very relaxing place, and we wanted to bring a little of that into the city.”

The concept is a strategic shift from the former venue at that address, The Anchor, which started its seven-year run with parties by Doug Aitken and Bill Murray and ended with Lindsay Lohan reportedly doing cocaine in the bathroom (and then being fl own directly to rehab).

“I feel like most of the young people now eat and drink in Brooklyn — there’s not that really young crowd that’s going out fi ve nights a week in Manhattan anymore,” says LaGarenne. “Nightclubs in general are dwindling. People don’t want to come out after their workweek and be hassled by a doorman or the bottle service thing which is kind of passé. We wanted to close [The Anchor] on our own terms before we got to that point, and build the place we wanted to build instead.”

The Anchor closed on Labor Day, and LaGarenne, along with co-owner Gunther Bilali, head mixologist Jeremy Strawn, and 19-year-old chef (and former “Chopped” competitor) Greg Grossman, soft opened Lazy Point during New York Fashion Week with an after party for Proenza Schouler. Its offi cial opening is on Thursday, when Strawn will start serving drinks like the Pistachio Mule and the Beets by Dre, made with gin, fresh beets, rosemary and lime. “We wanted to have cocktails that are interesting and complex but at the same time, there’s not 30 ingredients in them,” says LaGarenne. “As someone who’s worked in this industry for a decade, even I go out to those places and don’t know half the ingredients in the drinks. There’s a sort of smugness to

that, and we wanted to get away from the self-seriousness of it all.”

The food also takes its cues from simple coastal fare, though it’s certainly more elevated than your average beach bar food. Fried oysters are served with whipped potato chip mousse and black truffl e marmalade and the grilled cheese includes white truffl e honey mustard and kimchi. The raw bar features signature proprietary oysters crossbred by a “mad scientist, seafaring man” in Napeague Bay. “It’s a high-minded take on stuff you would fi nd at a beach bar, but still enough to sustain you while you’re hopefully drinking many cocktails,” says LaGarenne.

Which is to say that even though Lohan isn’t likely to stop by any time soon, that doesn’t mean the general revelry will fall by the wayside. Like at

The Anchor, DJs will still be spinning on Friday and Saturday nights, and there’s plenty of open fl oor space for impromptu dance parties. “If you go to a club, you might have a great time dancing but you get a terrible drink,” says LaGarenne. “And if you go to a cocktail place you get a great drink but you might not be having as much fun because you can’t stand up. So we wanted to kind of bridge the gap.”

Most of all for LaGarenne, Lazy Point is the antithesis to New York’s over-the-top craft food and cocktail scene. “You’ll fi nd stuff like a one-table restaurant serving only food foraged in Red Hook and it’s built out of reclaimed wheelbarrow parts from the 18th century,” he quips. “It goes too far. We wanted to bring it back to just being about fun and quality drinks.”

— ALLY BETKER

“I DIDN’T KNOW what ‘VOD’ was! I thought it was a sort of disease.”

It was Saturday night and Jennifer Lawrence was doing what she does best: the incredulous strain of self-deprecation that she’s done to charm the pants off America since she started. She was yucking it up on the red carpet of her latest fi lm “Serena,” before its Cinema Society-hosted and Dior-sponsored premiere at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema, answering the only real question worth asking: how did this critically panned, straight-to-on-demand bomb of a movie happen?

Everything Lawrence has touched — along with costar and repeat on-screen love interest Bradley Cooper — has turned to gold (or more accurately, green at the box offi ce): “Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle,” along with their recent solo victories, “The Hunger Games” franchise and

“American Sniper.” But clearly having Lawrence and Cooper’s names attached wasn’t enough insurance for “Serena” — which was adapted from the best-selling Twenties period novel of the same name — to avoid the pitfall of video on demand (the fi lm will have a very limited theatrical release as well). “Oh, it’s great,” said Cooper, trying to cull excitement about the fi lm’s fate into his voice.

Cooper was working on “Silver Linings” when the project’s script found its way to Lawrence, who then

took on the role of casting director. “I forced him to come onto the movie,” Lawrence admitted. “Any male role is going to make me think of Bradley because, in my opinion, he’s the best. I love working with

him.” Cooper was quick to echo the sentiment. “I respect her so much as a professional, as an actor, and I think that she’s the best there is,” he said. “You always want to work with people who are better than you.”

Producer Todd Wagner summed it up quite nicely: “Let’s face it, they like to work together.” — KRISTEN TAUER

Surf on Turf

Brad-Law

FOR MORE PHOTOS, SEE

WWD.com/eye.

Bradley Cooper with Jennifer Lawrence in Dior Haute Couture.

Jason LaGarenne

The bar’s entrance.

A selection of cocktails: Beets by Dre, Bramble Rose, The Volstead and Underhill’s Tab.

Vintage scuba gear lining the back bar.

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WWD.COM11WWD TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

MAKE A LEFT: Saint Laurent is going back to its roots — the Left Bank of the Seine river, where the Paris fashion house was originally founded by Yves Saint Laurent in 1961. Following the relocation last year of the brand’s couture salons and Parisian ateliers to the Hôtel de Sénecterre, a 17th-century Parisian town house set at 24 Rue de l’Université, the company said it was now planning to transfer its head office and showrooms from Avenue George V to the Penthémont Cistercian Abbey, located at 37 Rue de Bellechasse. Dating back to 1671, the 9,900-square-foot architectural complex has most recently been used by the Ministry of French Armed Forces. Restoration works, overseen by Saint Laurent’s artistic director Hedi Slimane, are slated to be complete by 2018.

Anchoring the house on the Left Bank was driven by the idea of paying “homage to the French house’s creators, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, within the Rue Babylone and Rue Bonaparte tradition,” the brand said Monday.

— PAULINA SZMYDKE

COACHELLA’S FASHION PLAYLIST: At this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which starts Weekend One on April 10, there’s been a turnover among some of the major fashion companies that have used the three-day weekend as one long branding showcase. Guess and Lacoste have exited the scene this year, while Pandora jewelry is arriving at the Parker Palm Springs resort with the “Pandora Jewelry Fashion Experience,” four runway shows over three days featuring Siwy Denim, Plenty by Tracy Reese, Nanette Lepore and Whit. The designers, who are creating

limited edition Pandora pieces to be worn with their collections, most of which will be shoppable right from the runway, will be on hand for meet-and-greets with the invite-only crowd.

H&M, a six-year sponsor of the festival, will have a pop-up shop/experiential tent for its H&M Loves Coachella collection at the Indio, Calif., fairgrounds, but is skipping a big off-site bash this year in favor of a more intimate gathering at the Parker on Friday evening.

Saturday, April 11, will be a day of dueling fashion events in Palm Springs. The Council of Fashion Designers of

America will partner with PopSugar Inc. and guest Mara Hoffman for a brunch to celebrate the April 15 launch of its “Must Have Box,” a collection of items from CFDA members, of which a portion

of sales benefi t the CFDA Foundation. The event is part of the media company and its retail portal ShopStyle’s three-day takeover at the Avalon (formerly Viceroy) Palm Springs hotel, dubbed PopSugar + ShopStyle Cabana Club. Then in the hotel’s Presidio courtyard, People Stylewatch and Revolve will throw a lunchtime shindig, hosted by Nikki Reed, to celebrate its festival merchandise. Soho House, as part of its Soho Desert House takeover of a private estate, will host a Harper’s Bazaar and Coach brunch within the same time frame.

Rachel Zoe is also planning to attend the festival with her own event, details of which are yet to be revealed, and fashion will also go higher-end, as Etro plans to make a celebrity dressing splash in the desert this year.

— MARCY MEDINA

EXPANDING HORIZONS: Fashion public relations agency Krupp Group is expanding its services with Krupp Brand Development, a new wing of the firm to focus on merchandising and product development, brokering collaborations, licensing, endorsement and sponsorship deals and multimedia development. To head the new venture, Cindy Krupp hired Cole Wassner, former senior vice president of advertising and representation agency DMA United. Wassner is a mentor for the NYC Economic Development Corp. — Fashion Fellows and his family business is the Hilldun Corp. The firm plans to work with its current p.r. clients — Jennifer Fisher, Kaufman Franco, Loeffler Randall and Eva Fehren are already signed on — as well as outside clients. — JESSICA IREDALE

NEIMAN’S WRAPS SXSW: Neiman Marcus fused fashion and female empowerment on Friday at the South by Southwest Festival, ending its three-day platform with a Rosario Dawson question-and-answer during which the actress discussed her career trajectory and women’s rights issues. “This is a very engaged, interested population,” she told

WWD afterward. “What I’m really loving is the creativity with which people are approaching the issues of our time. This is where you can get that really important feedback that you might need for your product or your music or whatever,” she said, referring to the myriad other panels doling out tips to musicians and entrepreneurs, such as the preceding event with Rebecca Minkoff, MSMR singer and Neon Records founder Lizzy Plapinger and Food Network host Katie Lee, who

polled the audience for dining recommendations. “I’m dying for good barbecue. Where should I go?” she asked.

Dawson, wearing a blouse from her Studio 189 line, hopes for more collaborations with the retailer. “How amazing would that be?” she wondered aloud of the hope that her line, which will be in Opening

Ceremony in April, would get picked up by the department store. Her next project is the upcoming Netfl ix series, “Daredevil,” based on the Marvel comic, though she joked, “I’m sure there’s a sniper near here,” as a way to avoid divulging any plot details. — JENNY SUNDEL

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FASHION SCOOPS

Karmaloop in Chapter 11By VICKI M. YOUNG

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD streetwear e-tailer Karmaloop Inc. on Monday filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bank-ruptcy court protection in Delaware.

The company said it has a $3 million investment from Comvest Partners, along with co-lender CapX Partners, to support the restructuring. The current plan is for the investment, in the form of debtor-in-possession fi nancing, to be converted into equity upon the company’s exit from bankruptcy provided there are no better offers forthcoming in the auction process.

Karmaloop founder and chief ex-ecutive offi cer Greg Selkoe said in a telephone interview, “This really is not about a problem with the core business. The [bankruptcy] fi ling is related to debt from overexpansion in some areas.”

Selkoe emphasized that the core busi-ness continues to do well and “is profi t-able.” He also admitted to having been a “little overambitious” on some of the

ventures that didn’t pan out.According to Selkoe, the company

still has its venture with Xiu.com, al-though fulfi llment is still being done out of the U.S. instead of out of a ware-house in China, as once was planned. “The business hasn’t grown into what we thought it would,” Selkoe said.

As for the court auction of the busi-ness, Selkoe said there is interest from a few potential buyers.

Karmaloop’s Web site will continue full operations during the bankruptcy, as will its wholly-owned European Web site StreetAmmo, its PLNDR division, the off-price members-only sale section and its Kazbah division.

The site targets young men and women between ages 18 to 35.

The company listed total assets be-tween $10 million to $50 million, and total liabilities between $100 million to $500 million. The top two unsecured creditors are Insight Venture Partners VI and Silicon Valley Bank, with each one being owed $8 million.

FOR MORE SCOOPS, SEE

WWD.com.

A MEMORIAL SERVICE has been scheduled for Ralph Erardy, former publisher of WWD.

The memorial will take place at 2 p.m. on April 25 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church, 10 County Road, Tenafl y, N.J.

Erardy died Feb. 27 at the age of 67 after a long battle with cancer. He spent the better part of two decades with WWD, the last six as senior vice president and group publisher of the paper, driving re-cord revenues and profi ts before leaving in 2008. — ARTHUR FRIEDMAN

Ralph Erardy Memorial SetA view of the Penthémont

Cistercian Abbey.

Rosario Dawson

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