Daily EDition november 11, 2016 1

Fashion. Beauty. Business.

Color TestDior Beauty has opened its first Makeup Concept Store in Westfield World Trade Center.

Page 9

Larger in LondonErmenegildo Zegna expands its London flagship, unveiling a bespoke shoe range.

Page 12

Trump EffectSecurity on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower is disrupting nearby retailers.

Page 10

● The retailer intends to elevate shareholder value and shopping experiences through its new alliance with the real estate investment firm.

by DaviD Moin

Macy’s Inc. sees better times ahead — par-tially because of a new real estate deal.

The department store retailer reported declines in profits and sales for the third quarter but expects business to improve in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, it aims to boost shareholder value rising long term via a new real estate alliance with Brookfield Asset Management.

Under the alliance disclosed Thursday, Brookfield will have an exclusive right for up to 24 months to create a “pre-develop-ment plan” for about 50 Macy’s properties. Macy’s could add assets into the alliance. They primarily include owned and ground-leased stores and associated land, mostly in malls not owned by major mall owners. Macy’s and Brookfield will work together to redevelop the stores as well as properties on land adjacent to stores.

“This is a big thing,” Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s chairman and chief executive officer, told WWD. “These guys are way bigger than just retail and shopping-center develop-ment. They have $250 billion of assets under their management. They have expertise in so many different categories. They are very creative. We’ll look at the land first and imagine what could be there. That’s very different from selling or just renovating. We have a much broader view of the longer term. These 50 locations that we’re looking at is just a goldmine for development.”

Lundgren cited a variety of potential sce-narios for the 50 properties, such as adding other stores or restaurants onto exteriors, transforming parking lots or adjacent land into different uses like office parks and hotels, as well as renovations.

Macy’s did not disclose the 50 sites. “We are not prepared to announce any yet. Defi-nitely, there are some very good locations,” said Lundgren.

“This is very different from what Hudson’s Bay Co. and Sears have done. We formed an alliance, not a joint venture,” added Karen Hoguet, Macy’s ceo.

“Macy’s and Brookfield will develop

● Last year, the company recorded $1 billion in transactions within the day’s first eight minutes.

by Lara Farrar

SHENZHEN — Alibaba smashed through Singles’ Day records, recording $1 billion in sales in the first five min-utes of the Chinese e-commerce giant’s annual 24-hour shopping bonanza.

In 2015, the company recorded $1 billion in transactions within eight minutes of the start of the mega shop-ping holiday.

Within half an hour, Alibaba tallied around $4 billion in merchandise sold on its online platforms, which include Taobao.com and Tmall.com. More than 150 million purchases were made during this period, 90 percent via mobile phones, the company said. Within the first two hours, total sales reached $7.2 billion.

Some of the top performing brands included Nike, Adidas, Zara, the Gap

and Uniqlo — that brand’s sales topped $4.7 million in less than three minutes from the start of the holiday at midnight on Friday in China’s timezone.

In 2015, Alibaba sold more than $14.3 billion worth of merchandise, a 60 percent increase from a year earlier. Alibaba takes a percentage of the sales and also generates revenue from adver-tising. About 100,000 merchants and brands take part.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company has come under scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its accounting practices surrounding Singles’ Day operating data. It’s also been under continued scrutiny from retail associations and fashion brands that say the group does not do enough to remove counterfeit items from its platforms.

Over the past several years, Alibaba has taken Singles’ Day, a relatively obscure concept surrounding the notion that single people deserve a day to celebrate, well, being single, and turned

business

Macy’s to Redevelop Stores With Brookfield

business

Alibaba ShattersSingles’ Day Record

Continued on page 8Continued on page 13phot

ogra

ph b

y Ja

mes

mas

on/J

ab

Stella McCartney didn’t have to look far for inspiration for her first men’s collection: her Beatle father, Sir Paul. And the designer tapped further into the story by launching the line — and showing her pre-spring collection — at none other than Abbey Road Studios. Even the models walked the famous crosswalk, like the quartet seen here. For more on the event, see pages 5 and 6.

Stella’s Fellas

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

An Advertising Opportunity

TRADESHOWS

ISSUE

A comprehensive list of the must-attends of the season and what to expect when you hit

the trade show floor.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L & D O M E S T I C

Ad Close: November 16 / Materials: November 21

November 30

november 11, 2016 3

Nike Set To Release LunarCharge Sneaker ● The shoe will be

released on Nov. 18 at select boutiques.

● Agent Provocateur to Downsize Stores, Staff

● Nike Opens Massive SoHo Store

● Hillary Clinton’s Choice of Purple Seen Symbol for Unity

● Burberry’s Bitter Medicine Has Started Taking Effect, Analysts Say

Top 5TReNdiNgON WWD.COM

NEWSMAKERSThis Week’s Most Talked About Names In Our Industry

Stella McCartney

John Idol

Michael Kors

François Nars

● The action came despite the company besting Wall Street’s EPS expectations by 7 cents in Q2.

by vicki M. Young

Shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. fell nearly 4 percent in after-market trading following the company’s lowering of fiscal 2017 guidance.

The company now expects diluted earnings per share in the range of $4.37 to $4.43 on a non-GAAP basis, exclud-ing onetime costs, and $4.32 to $4.38 on a GAAP basis. That’s lower than the non-GAAP range of $4.56 to $4.64, or $4.51 to $4.59 on a GAAP basis, projected in August when the company reported first-quarter results.

John Idol, chairman and chief execu-tive officer, said results “continued to be impacted by the declines in mall traffic and tourism in certain major cities, as well as our strategic decision to reduce sell-in of inventory to the U.S. wholesale channel.”

The reduction in guidance caused investors to send shares down to the $49.79 range in after-market trading. Shares had closed up 3.2 percent to $51.76 Thursday in Big Board trading. The company reported second-quarter results after trading closed for the day.

Despite the lowered guidance, sec-ond-quarter results were good, with the company besting Wall Street’s EPS estimate by 7 cents, although it only just met revenue expectations.

For the three months ended Oct. 1, net income fell 16.7 percent to $160.9 million, or 95 cents a diluted share, from $193.1 million, or $1.01, a year ago. Total reve-nues slipped 3.7 percent to $1.09 billion from $1.13 billion, which included a 3.4 percent decrease in net sales to $1.05 billion from $1.09 billion. The balance of revenue was from licensing income.

Wall Street was expecting EPS of 88

cents on revenues of $1.09 billion.In the quarter, wholesale net sales fell

18.4 percent to $452.2 million. The com-pany said retail net sales rose 12.1 percent to $597.2 million, driven mostly by 198 net new store openings since the end of fiscal 2016, including the 137 stores connected with the firm’s acquisition of operations in Greater China and South Korea. Compara-ble sales fell 5.4 percent in the period.

For the six months, net income fell 16.2 percent to $308 million, or $1.78 a diluted share, from $367.5 million, or $1.88, a year ago. Total revenues slipped 1.9 per-cent to $2.08 billion from $2.12 billion.

Idol told Wall Street analysts during a conference call, “Our results exceeded our expectations in the second quarter. We continued to deliver innovative luxury fashion product and expanded our brand footprint worldwide.”

He added that the company was “extremely pleased” with the launch of its Michael Kors Access wearable line of watches and fitness trackers, although the fashion watch category continued to remain soft in the quarter, and said that consumer reaction to the new fall hand-bag collections, citing the new iconic Mer-cer line, had “exceeded expectations.”

The digital flagship in North America continued to deliver double-digit sales increases, while the company has also made available digital flagships in many of its European businesses. The company added digital flagships in the U.K. and Ger-many at the end of the quarter, and since then has added sites in France, Switzer-land, Spain and Italy. He said the company plans additional digital sites in 16 other European countries in spring 2017.

Idol also noted that traffic in Europe continued to decline in certain markets and said “we believe the softness in this business was due to continued consumer uncertainty related to Brexit” as well as other geopolitical issues. As for Asia, he said the company still expects the conti-nent to represent a “significant growth opportunity for the company and will ultimately reach $1 billion in revenue.”

Another growth area remains its men’s business, which Idol said includes 244 sportswear and leather goods shop-in-shops within its wholesale doors globally.

Idol said the company continues to rebalance its business to increase the average transaction value in it stores, and to reduce the number of units sold through the wholesale channels. “While these actions will result in short-term revenue declines, we believe they will enhance our brand equity over the long term. We will use this rebalancing as an opportunity to emphasize and extend our categories in our lifestyle portfolio of products as well as to expand our busi-ness internationally,” Idol said.

For the third quarter, the company said it expects revenue in the range of $1.37 billion to $1.38 billion, with comps decreasing in the midsingle-digit range. Diluted EPS guidance was estimated at between $1.61 and $1.65.

Canaccord Genuity consumer analyst Camilo Lyon said the company is facing challenging macro-industry headwinds domestically and internationally. He has a “hold” rating on shares of Kors due to the uncertainty around consumer response to the planned reductions in promotions at the wholesale channels and the com-pany’s reliance on secondary category growth initiatives — wearable line of watches, fragrance, men’s and interna-tional — to overcome the challenges facing the core business.

business

Michael Kors Lowers Fiscal 2017 Guidance

Henrik Lundqvist Roland Mouret

Sophia Amoruso Lou Doillon

● The company trimmed its financial estimates for the full year.

by Evan cLark

Hudson’s Bay Co. backed off its sales and profit targets for the year after navi-gating rough waters in the third quarter.

The sprawling department store opera-tor said its third-quarter comparable sales fell 3.6 percent in constant currencies, including a 4.6 percent drop at Saks Fifth Avenue, a 2.2 percent drop in its Euro-pean division and an 8.4 percent decline in its off-price unit.

Hudson’s Bay’s outlook for the year was based on improved comp sales. Since that has not happened, and given the uncer-tainty in the environment, management trimmed its sales and adjusted earnings outlooks for the year.

The firm is now looking for sales of 14.5 billion Canadian dollars ($10.8

billion at current exchange) to 14.9 billion Canadian dollars ($11.1 billion), instead of 14.9 billion Canadian dollars to 15.9 billion Canadian dollars ($11.8 billion). And adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amorti-zation and restructuring charges are now slated to range from 1.44 billion Cana-dian dollars ($1.07 billion) to 1.53 billion

Canadian dollars ($1.14 billion), instead of 1.56 billion Canadian dollars ($1.6 billion) to 1.71 billion Canadian dollars ($1.3 billion).

Jerry Storch, chief executive officer, said: “The apparel retail environment continued to be challenging through the third quarter. We remain optimistic about this year’s upcoming extended holiday season following last year’s tough fourth quarter which was impacted by warm weather, and are focused on executing our all channel strategy for long-term growth and increased profitability.”

He noted the company continues to invest in its operations and recently finished a robotic fulfillment system in its our Toronto distribution center to sup-port the growing Canadian business.

“Our investments in technology are continuing to pay off, with digital sales up across all of our department store banners,” Storch said. “We believe that HBC is well positioned heading into the holiday season and we are excited about the offerings we have for our customers across all our banners and geographies.”

The firm’s banners include: Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Gilt and Saks Off 5th, Galeria Kaufhof in Germany, Galeria Inno in Belgium and Sportarena.

business

Rough Environment Hits Hudson’s Bay Comps

Jerry Storch

An image from the fall campaign.

Sto

rch

phot

ogra

ph b

y pa

tric

k m

acLe

od; n

ike

by b

rian

tobi

n; m

cCar

tney

by

Katie

Jon

es/W

Wd

/reX

/Shu

tter

stoc

k; K

ors

by C

urtis

/Sta

rpix

/reX

/Shu

tter

stoc

k; L

undq

vist

by

rebe

cca

tayl

or/m

Sg

pho

tos;

mou

ret b

y C

an n

guye

n/r

eX/S

hutt

erst

ock;

doi

llon

by S

téph

ane

Feug

ère

november 11, 2016 4

● The company maintained guidance for fiscal 2017.

by vicki M. Young

The Way Forward Plan has been good so far for Ralph Lauren Corp.

The company on Thursday posted a 19-cent beat on Wall Street’s adjusted earn-ings per share projections for the second quarter. That sent Lauren’s shares up 6.5 percent shortly after the opening of the day’s trading session to $108.75, and at the end of the day they finished up 4 percent to $106.26.

For the quarter ended Oct. 1, net income was $45 million, or 55 cents a diluted share, down from $160 million, or $1.86, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, excluding restructuring and other charges connected with the turnaround plan, EPS was $1.90.

Total net revenues slipped 7.6 percent to $1.82 billion from $1.97 billion, which included a 10.4 percent decrease in wholesale net sales to $831 million and a 5.4 percent slip in retail net sales to $942 million. Consolidated comparable-store sales were down 8 percent. The balance was from licensing income, which rose 2.1 percent to $48 million.

Wall Street was expecting adjusted EPS of $1.71 on revenues of $1.82 billion.

Ralph Lauren, executive chairman and chief creative officer, said, “We are changing with the consumer, as we demonstrated in September with our first ‘see-now-buy-now’ runway show at our flagship on Madison Avenue.” He added that he was “confident that [the] industry-leading endeavor in com-bination with our other elements of the Way Forward Plan are strengthening our brand to support future profitable growth.”

Stefan Larsson, president and chief executive officer, said in the conference call to Wall Street analysts, “Our revenue in the quarter declined in line with our plan, down 8 percent versus the prior year. We’ve continued [to expect] and expected larger declines in wholesale than retail. Consistent with our Way Forward Plan, we continue to drive the quality of our sales up by moderating discount rates, tightening

inventory buys and closing another seven underperforming stores in the quarter. These initiatives successfully reduced inventories which were down 15 percent to last year at the end of the quarter.”

By geography, international net revenue rose 2 percent, which was offset by a 12 percent decline in North America. Larsson said North America continued to be “our most challenged market,” noting that executing a plan to get back to winning in North America is “one of our biggest priorities.” In Asia, the company closed 72 points of distribution and opened 159 new, high-quality points of sale, the ceo said.

Larsson added: “We continue to see the positive impact of our initiatives on profit-ability. Over the past nine months our aver-age unit retail prices are up 10 percent in constant currency and our gross profit mar-gin continues to expand. In Europe, growth remains solid in the second quarter and our team centered on tighter inventory manage-ment [and] strengthening the assortment, resulting in improved margins.”

Larsson reiterated that the plan is built on two key parts: The first is consum-er-facing, based on what products to focus on and how to evolve that core, while the second is evolving the operat-ing model, such as stronger assortment,

demand-driven supply chain and multi-channel global expansion.

For fall, he said the company reduced stockkeeping units across its apparel brands by 10 percent, and is on track to achieve more than a 20 percent reduction for spring. For fall 2017, there will be addi-tional sku reductions.

“The style and sku reduction frees up time resources,” Larsson said, to allow for a focus on creativity and the evolution of the core iconic products. “Our improved discipline in the assortment creation enables us to buy closer to market and reduce early commitments. We continue to expect to be halfway to our goal of a nine-month lead time by the end of this fiscal year and 90 percent there by the end of next fiscal year.”

Larsson noted that the key unlock for its shorter lead times is the fabric platforming for its core styles, with the majority to be completed by the end of this month. “This enables us to increase the quality of our fabric, secure better prices and decrease our lead times and increase our flexibility to react to selling season. We can now for the first time work in partnership with our big customers, and move from buying blind before their advice to buying our inventory based on their buys,” he explained.

As for its largest market, Larsson said past mistakes in its North American whole-sale business was mostly due to buying too much inventory and then letting that overflow to the value channels, as well as buying too early before customers have bought and not creating room to chase in-season. To correct those mistakes, Lars-son said the company will work closer with its wholesale customers to reduce overall buys to better match demand, focus on the core assortment and cut supplier lead times so customers can buy closer to sea-son and allow for flexibility to chase sales in season, among other initiatives.

The company said it is on track to deliver against fiscal 2017 guidance. For fiscal 2017, the company said it is maintain-ing guidance. Consolidated net revenue is expected to decrease at a low-double-digit rate consistent with the Way Forward plan.

For the third quarter, the company said it expects consolidated net revenues to be down low-double digits to down low-teens on a reported basis, with continued execu-tion of quality of sales initiatives, inventory receipt reductions and fleet optimization according to the Way Forward plan.

The company also said it expects fiscal 2017 restructuring activities to result in about $180 million to $220 million of annualized expense savings connected with its turnaround initiatives. Restruc-turing charges are expected to total $400 million, plus $150 million in an inventory charge connected with the Way Forward plan. The company said the charges are expected to be substantially realized by the end of fiscal 2017.

Wells Fargo Securities analyst Ike Boruchow kept his “market perform” rating on shares of the company. “We continue to be impressed with Ralph Lauren’s ability to drive improved operating profit despite plan pullbacks, sku reductions and brand consolidation. However, until we see a sta-bilization in top line, we remain on the side-lines absent a more compelling valuation.”

Credit Suisse’s Christian Buss has a “neutral” rating on the stock, noting ini-tiatives such as the “decision to eliminate the bottom 20 to 25 percent of wholesale distribution and the trimming of clearance and made-for distribution into the off-price channels as appropriate long-term moves. As a result, we have increasing conviction that Ralph Lauren will be able to return to top-line growth and recover margins over time.” The concern centered on timing, with Buss noting that top-line growth was more likely delayed into late fiscal year 2018.

● The company files motion asking court to tap money to make immediate payments.

by kari HaManaka

Attorneys for Los Angeles-based Nasty Gal Inc. have asked for a hearing to weigh in on multiple emergency motions filed in court Thursday as the digital e-tailer’s bankruptcy case begins.

The company, which filed its petition for bankruptcy in Central District Court in California on Wednesday, wants court approval to tap a loan from Hercules Tech-nology Growth Capital Inc. — a Palo Alto lender to venture-backed firms — in order to keep the business running and, at least in the short term, be able to make its next payroll Nov. 25. The payroll expense totals $512,000 across 189 workers, and there’s

also the roughly $400,000 it spends weekly on merchandise to stock its online store and two physical shops on Melrose Avenue and Third Street Promenade.

Without court approval for use of the funds, the company would be unable to continue operations, forcing a liquida-tion that would likely generate about $10 million, according to a declaration filed in court by president and chief restructuring officer Joe Scirocco. The executive was tapped in September of this year to help Nasty Gal with a possible recapitalization, merger or sale.

Scirocco valued the business, if allowed to continue operations, at about $25 million.

The company’s first day set of motions provided a glimpse into the privately held business, which had given little details on the state of its operations in more recent years.

Nasty Gal capped the 12 months through Jan. 31, 2015, with $85 million in revenue and an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization loss of $6.3

million, according to court documents. Challenges keeping pace with Nasty Gal’s growth, along with a drop off in interna-tional sales were cited for the declines. The following 12-month period ended Jan. 30, 2016 saw net revenue fall to $77.1 million and negative EBITDA of $15.4 million.

Projections for the current fiscal year ending Jan. 27 call for net revenue of $77 million and negative EBITDA of $1.4 million.

The company, which has raised $65 mil-lion to date, began actively searching for a buyer in May 2015 with the help of Peter J. Solomon but its declining business was a tough sell. November of last year saw a $15 million loan from Hercules followed by a $5 million bridge in April of this year from Stamos Capital, but the money did little to solve Nasty Gal’s troubles.

Efforts to sell the business have been hampered by what Scirocco said in his declaration was a “complex capital structure, significant aging of Nasty Gal’s existing accounts payable, strained vendor relationships that have disrupted the nor-mal flow of merchandise and the need to further right-size its staff and facilities.”

business

Ralph Lauren Shares Jump on Earnings Beat

business

Nasty Gal Seeks Loan Approval

Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso.

Ralph Lauren Beverly Hills

november 11, 2016 5

● The designer unveils her collection at co-ed happening at Abbey Road Studios in London.

by MiLEs socHa and saMantHa conti

LONDON — It wasn’t Twiggy’s first time at Abbey Road Studios when she arrived Thursday night for a Stella McCartney fashion happening.

“I’ve known Paul since I was 17, and I came here a few times when The Beatles were recording. This place is legendary,” said the model.

But it was a first for the musician’s designing daughter, who channeled the free spirit of the Sixties and Seventies into her debut men’s wear, which she unveiled at a lively party alongside her spring 2017 women’s collection, her first foray into see-now-buy-now.

The younger McCartney grew up surrounded by mod and bohemian styles — for both sexes. She said her father used to wear a fancy embroidered tunic, which became a family fashion heirloom and fodder for the Stella label.

“We did it in women’s wear first…and we thought it was a blouse of my mum’s, and then we saw a picture of my dad in it and we went, ‘Oh my God, it’s Dad’s,’” the designer squealed Thursday, during a preview.

A version of that tunic figures in her col-lection, telegraphing the designer’s wish to bring more “attitude” and “life” to the men’s fashion arena — along with all of her ecological and ethical convictions.

“We feel like we’re launching a brand-within-a-brand with men’s,” said McCa-rtney, who chose to unveil the women’s spring 2017 pre-collection on Thursday alongside her men’s 2017 offer. Orders were taken for both collections in the

June-July period, with the languid women’s collection arriving in stores now, and the men’s in early January. A little see-now-buy now and a little see-now-buy-very-soon.

McCartney, who launched her fashion house in 2001 as a joint venture with Gucci Group, now part of Kering, confessed she was “out of her comfort zone” with the men’s foray.

WWD broke the news about the new product volley on Feb. 16.

“It’s funny because I’m a woman

designing for women and it’s been at the heart of everything we do. Something like 80 percent of our employees are women. It feels so right, genuine and effortless and modern — and relevant. And I do think there’s some merit to doing that same thing for men,” she said.

According to McCartney, whose husband Alasdhair Willis test-drove a double-breasted, peak-lapel blazer at her Paris Fashion Week show last September, men “have the same problems in their

wardrobe as women and approach their wardrobe in a similar way to the women that come to my house already.”

“I think they possibly require more atten-tion to detail, more attention to how some-thing fits and how it’s made,” she added.

As models strode around during a pre-view wearing boxy jackets and macs paired with sleek cargo pants and sandals worn with socks, McCartney explained she aims to dress many different kinds of men, as she does many kinds of women.

“There’s definitely a kind of street, sport, youthful vibe to this collection, and then there’s definitely the heritage that I have in Savile Row tailoring. It’s sort of unavoidable for me,” she said, pointing to a rack of women’s wear showing a similar breadth of products. “Look, there’s a nylon puffer jacket next to a lace dress.”

The venue for the party, which featured such performers as Neneh Cherry, Beth Ditto, Paul Simonon and Mike D from Beastie Boys, highlighted that musicians, from The Beatles era through to the London rave scene, “heavily inspired” the collection — more so in freewheeling spirit than in literal interpretations of the Seventies or Nineties.

“It seemed like there was a moment when men were allowed to be a little bit looser in how they wore clothes…liberated in a sense,” McCartney mused. “So we have to bring something to the table.”

Cue swallows printed on the front of a navy shirt or a beige Harrington jacket, and a color palette that favors quirky shades of blue or rust over navy and gray.

Positioned at the approachable end of designer collections, the men’s wear is to be showcased in about 15 of Stella McCartney’s 42 stores and at about 200 wholesale doors worldwide, including such retailers as Selfridges in London and Manchester; Saks Fifth Avenue in the U.S.; I.T. in China; Apropos in Germany; Restir in Tokyo, and Matchesfashion.com and

Continued on page 6

fashion

Stella’s Fellas: McCartney Shows First Men’s Collection

Kate Moss, Francois Henri-Pinault, Salma Hayek, Orlando Bloom and Stella McCartney.

Looks from the Stella McCartney spring collection.ph

otog

raph

s by

Jam

es m

ason

/Ja

b

november 11, 2016 6

Ssense.com for online.Retail prices range from 220 pounds,

or $273, for a T-shirt and 350 pounds, or $435, for pants to 1,250 pounds, or $1,553, for suits. Accessories include jewelry, handbags and shoes, the latter category spanning “cool vegan sneakers” to non-leather dress shoes.

“It was a real sacrifice for men, a vegan shoe,” McCartney confessed, which is why her father and Morrissey imposed on her in recent years to make them bespoke Chelsea boots and brogues.

The designer noted that almost half of her debut men’s wear is made with sustainable raw materials, including organic cotton and denim, recycled nylon and polyester, and Ultrasuede, true to her antifur and antileather convictions and in keeping with her annual environmental profit and loss account, which measures the company’s impact on nature.

“Our point of difference has always been that we’re sustainably minded,” she said. “And that is something we’re delivering with men’s from the outset.”

She also plans a wardrobe-building approach. “We’re very trendless in what we do. There’s the thing of the moment, but we tend to respect that time contin-ues,” she said.

The event, which sprawled across two studios, one for men’s wear and the other for the women’s collection, underlined McCartney’s sense of fun and unconventionality.

“It’s delicious,” Salma Hayek said as she entered the party with her husband, Kering honcho, François-Henri Pinault and

grabbed a slice of Stella branded pizza.Orlando Bloom, M.I.A., Ellie Goulding,

Twiggy, Lucie de la Falaise and Camilla Al-Fayed were among guests who swilled orange margaritas and shuttled between the two-party rooms, Basement Jaxx here, John Cooper Clarke there.

M.I.A. said she’s working on videos for singles from her latest album, “AIM,” but won’t be touring extensively until next spring. “I have one show in China soon,” she said.

Bloom was just back from China where he was filming “Smart Chase,” in which he plays “a British expat sending valuable art objects of out the country.” But his blonde hair was for final scenes of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

Twiggy noted she launched her first beauty range — including an eau de toi-lette, body cream and candle — with Marks & Spencer this week.

Other guests were also taking a break from busy times: Next week, Stella’s photographer sister Mary McCartney will be launching a book with the British actor Mark Rylance that’s a behind-the-scenes look at his latest production of “Twelfth Night,” while Al-Fayed has switched gears and moved from fashion into food. “It’s amazing – if I had only known this 10 years ago,” said Al Fayed, whose Not-ting Hill restaurant Farmacy is vegan — although it does serve eggs. The Brits call that “veggan.”

McCartney is the latest London designer

to close the gap between showing and selling her collections, although she said she remains committed to the traditional twice-a-year Paris runway show calendar for her main line. It also marks the first time she’s shown her women’s pre-collec-tion in London.

“You’ve got to keep mixing it up,” said the designer of her decision to unveil spring closer to the delivery time. “As a house we want to keep alive, fresh, in the moment. We take pride in delivering something that’s relevant for the time frame, and we’ve always used the pre-season collections to express a less rigid side to the industry.”

Her pre-spring collection was full of drapey, loose shapes and gossamer fabrics, with nature-inspired prints and motifs. A waterfall print spilled over a long layered dress with a dramatic pleated collar, while elegant dogs came dotted across a long, lightweight shirtdress and flower embroidered adorned tops. A navy all-in-one with white polka dots and a ruf-fle running down the front was a standout. McCartney said she was going for effort-less dressing, with pieces that could segue from day to evening.

Texture came in the form of smocking on the bodices of long, organic denim dresses; roomy trousers that gathered at around the ankle — and then flared out again, and a cream lace caftan with deep V-neck that would have suited Talitha Getty. The designer worked rhinestones and country-and western-inspired embroi-dery onto jeans and tops, and added a dash of zebra patterned knitwear to the mix. She wasn’t going for a matchy-matchy look. “We want to talk through what we’re wearing — and we’re not apologizing for it,” she said.

New accessories for spring include boxy versions of her best-selling chain-edged Falabella bag, including one with handles and cross body chain. “Falabella needed a friend,” McCartney said with a smile.

Stella’s Fellas: McCartney Shows First Men’s Collection CONtiNued FROM PAGe 5

Looks from the Stella McCartney resort collection.

twiggyM.i.A. and

Stella McCartneyphot

ogra

phs

by J

ames

mas

on/J

ab

november 11, 2016 7

● Operations during the third quarter improved, with sales rising 7.2 percent from the same period in FY15.

by DaviD Moin

Nordstrom Inc.’s operations during the third quarter exceeded expectations, though there was a net loss of $10 million compared with net earnings of $81 million in the year-ago period.

Earnings before interest and taxes was $55 million, compared with the year-ago EBIT of $155 million.

Net sales for the third quarter ended Oct. 29 increased 7.2 percent and com-parable sales increased 2.4 percent. This included a favorable comparison resulting from one week of the Anniversary Sale, the retailer’s largest event of the year, shifting into the third quarter. Combined sec-ond- and third-quarter comparable sales, which removes the impact of the event shift, increased 0.4 percent compared with the same period last year. Nordstrom executives see the combined second-third quarter sales trend as reflective of what’s currently happening.

Total sales of $3.5 billion for the third quarter increased 7.2 percent compared with net sales of $3.2 billion during the same period in fiscal 2015.

“We’ve made considerable changes in the way we operate to improve the customer experience while increasing our produc-tivity,” said copresident Blake Nordstrom. “We are particularly proud of our team’s efforts to align inventories and improve our operating efficiencies. These outcomes have positively impacted our operating results.”

Third-quarter results included a non-cash goodwill impairment of $197 million related to Trunk Club, which Nordstrom

acquired in 2014. According to the com-pany, Trunk Club “continues to deliver outsized top-line growth, [but] current expectations for future growth and profit-ability are lower than initial estimates. To further improve the customer experience and better position Trunk Club’s business for profitable growth, the company is mak-ing a number of operational changes.”

Blake Nordstrom said in a conference call that Trunk Club “has not performed to the expectations we had when we acquired

it,” though he added the company remains committed to the strategy.

Copresident Erik Nordstrom added, “While we are taking the write-down as needed, we are actually very encouraged about what we have learned and how to make the model better. The focus is on making the model better for customers. Two areas I would call out, we think we have opportunity in better connecting with our customers on a more consistent basis and we can be more accurate in what

we are putting in the trunks and sending out to customers.”

Nordstrom’s U.S. and Canada full-line stores and nordstrom.com, net sales when combined with Trunk Club, increased 2.4 percent and comparable sales increased 0.9 percent.

The top-performing merchandise cate-gories were women’s and men’s apparel. Nordstrom said younger departments in women’s apparel continued to outperform, reflecting strength in denim and collab-orations with new and emerging limited distribution brands.

At Nordstrom Rack stores and nord-stromrack.com/hautelook, net sales increased 10.1 percent and comparable sales increased 3.9 percent.

During the quarter, Nordstrom recog-nized about $10 million in tax benefits related to the resolution of certain federal income tax issues.

Copresident Pete Nordstrom said the company’s top 20 fastest-growing brands grew 20 percent in the third quarter. Also, overall sales growth outpaced inventory growth.

“The inventory levels are as current as we have seen in a long time,” Blake Nord-strom said. He characterized inventories as fluid, and with good open to buy. “The customer is responding.”

According to Pete Nordstrom, “Our beauty business has been strong relative to other categories for a couple of years now, beauty performed above the average of all our product categories. He also cited boots, including fashion-oriented short booties to over-the-knee boots as a good classification, as well as the sneaker business.

“The women’s apparel business has been pretty good for us,” he added. “Where we have the best success is the young cus-tomer stuff, including Topshop. “The chal-lenges have been in accessory categories” though designer businesses across shoes and handbags have been strong.

He said the company has been taking “a lot of initiates that maybe speak to a bit of a younger customer.”

● The department store retailer’s brass expressed optimism about the holiday season, while the Arkansas-based chain’s ceo cited a “tough time.”

by Evan cLark

Kohl’s Corp. and Dillard’s Inc. headed in opposite directions in the third quarter.

Kohl’s appeared to be getting itself back on its feet and Kevin Mansell, chairman, chief executive officer and president, expressed optimism headed into the holi-day season. On the other hand, Dillard’s ceo William Dillard 2nd acknowledged the com-pany was working through a “tough time.”

Kohl’s third-quarter net income increased 21.7 percent to $146 million, or 83 cents a diluted share, with adjusted earnings of 83 cents a share coming in well ahead of the 70 cents analysts projected. Sales for the three months ended Oct. 29 slipped 2.3 percent to $4.33 billion.

Men’s was the company’s strongest busi-ness category, with strength in active and tailored looks.

Mansell said: “We’re very well-posi-tioned for the upcoming holiday season. We have momentum coming out of October. We have considerable newness in

our stores and online assortments. Given our much lower inventory position, we’ve created a more appealing selling environ-ment in our stores and we can deliver a substantial amount of new transitional product across the company as we move through the holiday season.”

Investors liked what they heard and pushed the stock up 11.5 percent to $50.97, making Kohl’s one of the leading stocks as Wall Street continued to climb as investors accepted the notion of Donald Trump as president.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 218.19 points, or 1.2 percent, to 18,807.88, having set a new all-time high of 18,873.66 in midday trading.

Dillard’s also benefited from that rush up, rising 9.9 percent in regular trading only to sink 4.9 percent to $67 after the company weighed in with third-quarter results.

The department store’s third-quarter net profits fell 50 percent to $22.8 million, or 67 cents a diluted share, from $45.7 million, or $1.19, a year earlier, when the sale of three stores produced a tax credit that boosted income to the tune of 16 cents share. Expenses rose over the quarter, totaling 30.1 percent of sales, or $410.5 million, up from 28.8 percent of sales a year earlier.

Sales for the three months ended Oct. 29 declined 4.8 percent to $1.37 billion with a 4 percent comparable-store drop.

The department store said that all of its

product categories posted declines.Dillard, the ceo, said: “Our sales decline

continued to weigh heavily on profitabil-ity during the third quarter. As we work through this tough time, we are focused on improving customer experience

through attracting and maintaining pre-mium brands while providing exceptional service. Shareholder return remains a pri-ority, and we returned $55 million of cash to shareholders through share repurchase and dividends.”

business

Kohl’s, Dillard’s Take Different Paths in 3rd Qtr.

business

Nordstrom Posts Q3 Net Loss

Kohl’s executives are feeling good headed into the holiday selling season.

nor

dstr

om p

hoto

grap

h by

mic

hael

Hur

com

b; K

ohl’s

by

ap

Nordstrom managed a net sales gain in the third quarter of 7.2 percent.

november 11, 2016 8

ideas for how to utilize the assets,” she told WWD. “In most cases, it won’t mean closing a store.”

Hypothetically, “We could on an 8-acre property demolish a stand-alone furni-ture store, create 100,000 square feet of retail, parking garage and possibly a residential tower and move the furniture operation back to a Macy’s mall loca-tion,” Hoguet said.

“Step one is to develop the idea to which [Macy’s] can either say we like or we don’t,” she added. “If we don’t like it, we pay [Brookfield] a fee. More likely we will like it, and we’ll move to the next phase, a feasibility study.”

After a property redevelopment, Macy’s could decide to pull out of it and get paid by Brookfield, or could be a part-ner in the project. Though in a few cases, Macy’s could end up paying rent on a property it didn’t before, Hoguet stressed, “We are not going to add leverage to our company as a result of this. We are not putting properties into a joint venture to leverage. It’s really about partnering up and creating value.”

“We believe that partnering with a leading global real estate investor like Brookfield is the best way to unlock the potential of those assets,” said Lundgren. “The Brookfield alliance strengthens our ability to improve the customer shopping experience by giving us greater flexibility to invest in our most productive and high-est-potential locations, and to make the most of our real estate assets, or portions of them.”

Brian Kingston, ceo of Brookfield Prop-erty Group, said, “The Macy’s portfolio includes some of the highest-quality real estate in the United States and we look forward to working closely with them to unlock value for their shareholders and enhance the shopping experience for

their customers.”Separately, Macy’s is working on plans

for redeveloping its giant flagships in Herald Square, N.Y.; State Street in Chi-cago; downtown Minneapolis, and Union Square in San Francisco. None are part of Brookfield arrangement. In other real estate maneuvers, Macy’s is downsizing and redeveloping its flagship on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn and selling its men’s wear store in San Francisco.

Many of these plans have been hatched in the last 18 months, ever since Macy’s felt pressure from activist shareholders to monetize its real estate assets. The activists wanted the retailer to spin those assets off into a separately listed company, but Macy’s has resisted that idea, saying it would not maximize shareholder value.

Results at the $27 billion department store chain in the third quarter were brought down by store closings, charges and the generally weak retail environment. Net earnings were $17 million in the third quarter ended Oct. 29, compared to $118 million in the year-ago quarter.

Diluted earnings per share were 5 cents last quarter. Excluding noncash retirement plan settlement charges of $62 million, or 12 cents a share, third-quarter earnings were 17 cents.

That compares to the year-ago’s 36 cents a diluted share, or 56 cents a diluted share excluding asset impairment and other charges of $111 million, or 20 cents a diluted share, primarily related to store closings.

Macy’s closed 41 underperforming stores at the end of fiscal 2015, and is on

track to close around 100 stores early next year. Streamlinings are affecting results as total sales in the third quarter fell 4.2 per-cent to $5.63 billion, compared to $5.87 billion a year ago. Comparable sales were down 2.7 percent.

Still, seeing some improving selling trends, the company reaffirmed its earn-ings guidance and raised sales guidance for full-year 2016. Macy’s expects 2016 com-parable sales to decrease in the range of 2.5 to 3 percent, compared with previous guidance of a decrease of 3 to 4 percent. Diluted EPS (excluding asset impair-ment charges and retirement settlement charges) in fiscal 2016 is expected to be in a range of $3.15 to $3.40.

Last quarter, the business was paced by shoes, soft home, fine jewelry, fra-grances as well as women’s, men’s and kids’ apparel, including denim, active and dresses. That helped offset weakness in handbags, cosmetics and fashion watches.

Asked why Macy’s is optimistic about business this quarter, Lundgren pointed to third-quarter trends meeting expectations, and to consumers being in good shape with their savings. He also said that after an extended period of auto sale surges, consumer spending could shift back to fashion and that the unemployment rate has been declining. “All of these reasons point to an opportunity for consumers to spend in our category,” Lundgren said.

Asked if consumers might be more prone to shop now that the next president has been decided, he said, “It’s been a day and a half. It’s too soon to tell.”

“Our third-quarter top-line results were better than the first half of the year and our sales-driving initiatives continue to gain traction,” Lundgren said. “Addition-ally, the strengthening trend across the apparel businesses, coupled with new initiatives like tech watches from Apple, Michael Kors and others, are good indica-tors for an improved performance in the fourth quarter. Our customers tell us we are their holiday shopping destination, and we are excited about our gift assortments, marketing strategies and digital enhance-ments, all of which should set us up for a stronger finish to the year and position us well for an improved performance in 2017 and beyond.”

In other good news, Macy’s executives said the international tourist business stabilized last quarter, but still represented a headwind at Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s stores that are major tourist destinations.

Up against strong competition from Sephora and Ulta, Macy’s is developing plans for enhancing its cosmetic depart-ments. Macy’s has already been rolling out enhanced jewelry and footwear depart-ments, and some of the same concepts could be applied to cosmetics. In shoes, for example, there is greater editing of the assortment, the area is merchandised more by category than vendor, and there’s greater use of technology and staffing in the stockrooms.

In addition, Macy’s is testing Backstage off-price apparel pop-ups in 40 doors, adjacent to Last Act clearance areas. Macy’s operates a handful of Backstage stores, though Backstage inside regular Macy’s stores is the current focus.

Last year, Macy’s formed Macy’s China Ltd., a venture with Fung Retailing Ltd., launching online selling on Alibaba’s Tmall. “We’re developing a potentionally large high-growth business there,” Hoguet said in a conference call with analysts. Through its China venture, Macy’s is also learning how to improve its digital business in the U.S. and how to assort stores to better serve Chinese consumers, Hoguet said.

Macy’s was among the stocks gaining ground in the post-election rally.

phot

ogra

ph b

y C

lint S

paul

ding

Macy’s to Redevelop Stores With Brookfield CONtiNued FROM PAGe 1

“The strengthening trend across the apparel businesses, coupled with new initiatives like tech watches from Apple, Michael Kors and others, are good indicators for an improved performance in the fourth quarter.”

— Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s Inc.

november 11, 2016 9

● The brand built its first cosmetics concept store in the Westfield World Trade Center.

by PEtE Born

NEW YORK — Dior Beauty is breaking new ground today with the opening of its first boutique focused on makeup in a bid to recruit Millennials and garner more of the red-hot cosmetics market. It is housed in a striking building, the Oculus of the Westfield World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.

Renaud de Lesquen, president of North America of Christian Dior Couture and Par-fums Christian Dior, said one of the reasons New York was picked as the site of this first makeup concept store was the design of the center. “This Oculus is just amazing,” he continued. “It’s something that doesn’t happen overnight and so we are very proud and very happy to have this new landmark for Parfum Christian Dior, with this new, one-of-a-kind concept boutique.”

The 650-square-foot shop was designed to exude an ambiance of backstage in a fashion show with a large floor-to-ceiling video screen, flashy photographs and six work stations where a staff of six makeup artists offered customers professional services like lash and brow styling, as well as facial makeup.

De Lesquen said, “This is very much getting back to our DNA — the idea that all Dior makeup is inspired and directly developed from backstage.”

The opening of the boutique comes on the heels of the publication of a Dior makeup book featuring the work of the beauty brand’s three current and former artistic directors — the current leader, Peter Philips; Tyen, and Serge Lutens.

The makeup brands include a major focus on lips, including the recently launched Rouge Dior with its 50 shades in three finishes and five more colors expected next spring. Then there is the Backstage Pros line, professional products developed by Philips. The star product is the best-sell-ing Lip Glow, which has the shine of a gloss

and the thickness of a lipstick.De Lesquen added, “There will be a lot

of digital activities inside and outside the boutique; the clients have a chance to expe-rience a lot of new digital innovations.”

One example is Mix & Match, a video table where a customer can change colors on the hands and lips of a model pictured on a screen by laying down a lipstick or nail enamel.

Roughly 80 to 85 percent of the space is dedicated to makeup, with a storewide assortment of 631 total stockkeeping units. There is also a perfume bar focusing mainly on J’adore, Miss Dior, Sauvage and Dior Homme, plus other scents.

The new boutique is the fourth that Dior has opened in the U.S. following the first in Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas fol-lowed by others in Highland Park Village in Dallas and Valley Fair Mall in San Jose, Calif. But the others have assortments that are more equally balanced between Dior’s other product pillars, including fragrance, its number one category.

“We want to bring this boutique as our number-one beauty point of sale, number one in makeup,” he said, referring to New York.

He declined to break out numbers when asked for a sales projection. But industry sources estimate that the target for the new boutique could be as high as $2 million to $3 million in first year retail sales. Experts estimate that the cost of the gleaming boutique could be approaching $1 million.

The New York boutique is the first to focus squarely on makeup and color — for a reason. “We have been less dynamic in the makeup category,” De Lesquen said, pointing that color cosmetics is the most dynamic category in the market. “New brands, and in particular new indie brands, are coming and bringing a lot of innovation and we believe Dior has its role to play to speak to attract and to elevate the desire of a younger clientele. There are several projects that are in the kitchen that are cooking as we speak in terms of product innovation.”

beauty

Dior Opens First Makeup Boutique in New Yorkthe dior Beauty shop in Westfield trade Center.

phot

ogra

phs

by J

oshu

a S

cott

november 11, 2016 10

● Blocked streets and sidewalks make shoppers work to get to the store door.

by sHaron EDELson WitH ContributionS From kari HaManaka and

JEan E. PaLMiEri

Retailers on the prime stretch of Fifth Avenue pay a hefty price — as much as $4,000 per square foot — for imposing flagships that attract American and foreign tourists and locals. What they don’t pay for is protests, demonstrations, street closures and police officers brandishing weapons, but that is what they’ve been getting for the last two days following the election of Donald Trump as president.

And the stringent security and potential chaos are expected to continue throughout Trump’s term given that his primary res-ident is at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets.

Protests against Trump’s victory contin-ued Thursday in Manhattan, including at Union Square and Columbus Circle. They followed a massive protest in New York on Wednesday — as well as in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Additional protests reportedly are being planned throughout the U.S. over the weekend.

For the upscale retailers near Trump Tower, which include Tiffany, Gucci, Prada, Bulgari, Bergdorf Goodman and other designer stores, the Trump cam-paign has been a headache at times. But his victory is only increasing their pain as consumers head into the key shopping season. Fifth Avenue around Trump Tower has been restricted by the New York Police Department and other security services.

On Thursday, streets were lined with sand trucks and there were metal barri-cades on the sidewalks. Asked how long the barricades would remain in place, Mike Dugan, a community affairs officer at the Midtown North precinct of the NYPD, said, “Four years. That’s his [Trump’s] place. He said he’s coming back every weekend.”

A manager at the Trump Store in Trump Tower sounded blasé about obstacles to entering the building. “The building is open to the public,” she said. “You just have to tell the police and security where you’re going.” Yet the entrance to Trump Tower can look foreboding with security details and police officers massed out front.

Trump’s own store is the last retailer in the center, which once featured Asprey & Garrard, Charles Jourdan, Loewe and Lina Lee.

“We’ve been dealing with this since last year,” said a luxury jeweler who requested anonymity. “They close the street off every time he [Trump] comes to town.” Referring to the Wednesday night protests, during which 65 people were arrested, the executive said, “Last night was completely different. We worried there would be vio-lence and smashing of windows.”

“Today and yesterday, the foot traffic has been nonexistent,” the jeweler said. “There’s no end in sight. We’ll see how things progress. The most eerie part was this past Saturday when people were walk-ing around with Trump-Pence banners. We’re in a holding pattern. We hope every-thing goes back to normal.”

Gucci seems to be bearing the brunt of the “Trump effect.” Gucci in 2006 signed a lease for the 45,000-square-foot space at Trump Tower, on the corner of 56th Street. Now the block is always free of pedestri-ans, which was evident in the sparsely populated store.

An employee at Massimo Dutti said the protesters on Wednesday night were

name-calling and accusing him of voting for Trump. “Of course, it prevented customers from coming into the store,” said Xhulio Xhaterraj. “By 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. protesters blocked the doors. They were spewing racial slurs. Nonetheless, it was peaceful. It was just a very emotional outpouring. We had to close the store 30 minutes early.“

A sales associate at Dolce & Gabbana said, “There were about 25 people in the store last night. It was insane. It’s some-thing we’ve never seen. The concrete barricades went up at 5 p.m. and the street was blocked off.”

Tiffany customers were directed to the store’s 57th Street entrance. The main Fifth Avenue entrance was not in use. On Thurs-day afternoon, sales associates outnum-bered shoppers by about four to one.

“Tiffany is in frequent communication with the New York Police Department and U.S. Secret Service regarding safety and security along the perimeter of our Fifth Avenue flagship,” a spokesman said. “We remain open for business with regular hours and welcome customers to enter the store via our 57th Street entrance while any barricades along Fifth Avenue are in place.

“Due to post-election-related activity along Fifth Avenue between 56th Street and 57th Streets, our holiday window spec-tacular will be canceled,” the spokesman added. “We remain open for business via our 57th Street entrance, and look forward to welcoming [shoppers] to experience the magic of our holiday windows, as well as to see our illuminated facade, on display throughout the season.”

“It got intense after we closed at 7 p.m.,” said Jeremy Leiss, a watch and jewelry expert at Piaget, referring to the anti-Trump protest on Wednesday. “People were climbing on the Bulgari hoarding.

“This has impacted our business,” Leiss added. “[Trump] has been here on different days and there have been many days with protests or rallies or police trucks. We’ve had different foot traffic. I hope going forward that it will return to a normal thoroughfare, but I don’t think it will. People have a right to do what they’re

doing. Just not in front of our store.”Across from Trump Tower a small group

of protesters had gathered, including Geor-gia McCann and Maggie McKelvy, students from Bronxville High School. “We have a four-day weekend,” they said, vowing to return on Nov. 10. Others held signs that read, “Not My President” and “Obama Climate Policy.” Robert Burck, who is bet-ter known as the Naked Cowboy, worked his way through the crowd, picking at his guitar and turning to show Trump’s name on his underwear.

Henri Bendel, which is opposite Trump Tower, months ago decided the holiday theme should be all about love. “With everything difficult going on in the world right now, including the election, we thought that was something everyone could use a bit more of now more than ever,” a spokeswoman said.

James Goldcrown, the artist who created the Love Wall at Bendel’s, arrived at the store on Wednesday moments before pro-testers swarmed Fifth Avenue.

Downtown on Thursday, a small con-tingent of a few hundred people, mainly young, turned out at lunchtime in Union Square to protest the election. Chants centered around “not our president” and “black lives matter,” but one man with a megaphone was speaking of rights for the LGBT community as well.

The protest was peaceful and did not

disrupt business in the area. In fact, a Vibram footwear event went off as planned on the north end of the park, and the set-up of a holiday market in the park was ongoing.

On the West Coast, Thursday morning was relatively quiet after protesters in downtown Los Angeles the evening before marched onto and then blocked traffic on the 101 Freeway, while others gathered in front of City Hall. Things picked back up as the day wore on with protests by what appeared to be predominantly students.

An activist organization called Union del Barrio Los Angeles has a protest planned in the city on Nov. 11 with some 7,500 people checked in to attend on the group’s Facebook page. Participants are expected to meet at MacArthur Park and walk nearly three miles to the Edward Roybal Federal Building in downtown to protest the president-elect.

Some retail centers in downtown could see increased congestion if protests are held in already traffic-heavy areas.

The two shopping centers closest to what is expected to be the marchers’ route are Ratkovich Company’s Macy’s-an-chored The Bloc mixed-use project and Brookfield Properties’ nearby Figat7th with Target, H&M, Zara, L’Occitane and others making up the outdoor retail center. Spokeswomen for Brookfield and Ratkovich did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

business

Trump Protests Disrupt 5th Ave. Retailers

the scene outside trump tower.

phot

ogra

phs

by d

on S

tahl

november 11, 2016 11

● Growth in all distribution channels around the world boosted the company’s performance.

by Luisa Zargani

MILAN — Trust Brunello Cucinelli to speak of being “humanists, artisans of the web.” During a conference call with analysts to comment about his namesake compa-ny’s revenues in the first nine months, the Italian entrepreneur emphasized the relevance of the brand’s new online store, which will be unveiled in January.

“The new web site will on the one hand tell our story and describe what happens in our hamlet [Solomeo, in central Italy, where the company is based] because it is very important to communicate in a special way,” Cucinelli said. In terms of e-commerce, after working with the Yoox Net-a-porter Group, Cucinelli is bringing its online store in-house.

“We want to focus on special packaging, handwritten notes, show you the dress we are sewing for you, how to combine a jacket with pants for men, for example, or send a bottle of our oil because we know one another, but this will all be very arti-sanal. We devised at the end of 2014 the expression that we are humanists, artisans of the web.”

The collections will continue to be available on Net-a-porter and Mr Porter, “the most beautiful online boutiques in the world, with which we have a beautiful relationship,” Cucinelli said. Online sales with YNAP represented 0.7 percent of sales for his company, he added.

Discussing the performance of the com-pany in the nine months ended Sept. 30, Cucinelli took the time to thank all those that had expressed their concern following

the deadly earthquake that hit central Italy at the end of August and the ongoing aftershocks. Referring to the company’s business in the period, Cucinelli said he was “very, very happy.”

All markets and distribution channels helped Brunello Cucinelli SpA report a 9.7 percent gain in revenues in the first nine months of the year. In the period ended Sept. 30, sales totaled 348.4 million euros, or $386.7 million, compared to 317.6 mil-lion euros, or $352.5 million, in the same period last year.

“Having reached November, we can already say that we expect another particularly positive full year in terms of both revenues and profit,” Cucinelli said. During the call, he said he expected a 10 percent gain in sales in 2016, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization “more than proportional,” and a net financial position of between 56 million and 58 million euros, or $62.1 million and $64.4 million.

By the end of the year, the company will have invested between 33 million and 34 million euros, or $36.6 and $37.7 million. “This is the end of a great project,” he said about the investments, including the expansion of the company’s manufactur-ing plant, over the past three years for a total of 160 million euros, or $177.6 million.

For the period 2017 to 2019, Cuci-nelli said he forecast investments of 80 million euros, or $88.8 million, mainly earmarked for “commercial purposes,” as the company is expected to generate cash. Quoting his friend Andrea Guerra, former chief executive officer of Luxottica Group, Cucinelli said “even in normal times, companies should invest between 4 and 5 percent of sales to remain bril-liant and contemporary.”

Dividends at the end of the next three

years are expected to be distributed in the range of between 35 and 40 percent with a negative financial position of between 25 million and 30 million euros, or $27.7 million and $33.3 million, or 4 to 5 percent of sales, Cucinelli said.

“Moreover, we are very satisfied with the spring 2017 sales campaign; the unanimous excellent feedback received from both the buyers and the press spe-cializing in product style, craftsmanship and quality, together with the more than positive sellout rate of this winter season, prompt us to envisage a very positive 2017 with a healthy growth in terms of revenues and profitability,” Cucinelli said. “Balance and soundness must keep representing the future development of our company, with extreme focus both on product quality — as always, the result of a balance between style and contemporary features — and on a very careful choice of distribution channels, aiming for a fair bal-ance between ‘selected multibrand’ and ‘monobrand’ boutiques located in prime and prestigious locations. All this enables us to work serenely and in harmony with the creation.”

In the nine months, sales in Italy grew 7.3 percent to 64.3 million euros, or $71.3 million, representing 18.4 percent of total revenues. “I am particularly happy about this performance in Italy because it means our product is contemporary,” Cucinelli said.

Sales in Europe rose 7.1 percent to 105.2 million euros, or $116.7 million, accounting for 30.2 percent of total.

North America was up 7.2 percent to 122.5 million euros, or $136 million, repre-senting 35.2 percent of total.

Sales in Greater China increased 18.4 percent to 21.4 million euros, or $23.7 mil-lion, representing 6.1 percent of total. While

noting the market is still small, Cucinelli was very positive about the spending trend, said Hong Kong had also reported a sound per-formance and that there has been growth of prestigious multibrand venues in China.

Sales in the Rest of the World area climbed 29.1 percent to 35.1 million euros, or $39 million, representing 10.1 percent of total. In particular, the company flagged two boutiques opened in Japan in the past 12 months, extended floor space in that country in luxury department stores, and high-end tourists from China, a strong performance in South Korea, and a new boutique in Dubai that opened in April.

The company’s monobrand channel was up 15.1 percent to 156.4 million euros, or $173.6 million, representing 44.9 percent of total. As of the end of October, like-for-like sales had risen 3.8 percent. The whole-sale monobrand channel grew 4.2 percent to 29.4 million euros, or $32.6 million, representing 8.4 percent of total. Over the past 12 months, the number of boutiques in the monobrand channel network rose to 122 from 116 at the end of September 2015. Cucinelli said the idea is to continue to open between three and five stores a year around the world.

The multibrand sales channel grew 5.9 percent to 162.6 million euros, or $180.4 million, representing 46.7 percent of total.

Asked about prices, Cucinelli said they should be “balanced” and without “strong differentials.” “We cannot pro-duce at low cost. That would be detri-mental to the brand. I bought a beautiful Bentley for 220,000 euros [$244,200], I always look at it and wonder who made it so beautiful. I would be disappointed if Bentley or the same with Ferrari, would go and make a low-cost [model]. In fashion, it’s the same, everything must generate desirability and exclusivity.”

business

Brunello Cucinelli on Humanizing the Web

● The center has opened 40 new stores and has been refurbished as part of an investment.

by nataLiE tHEoDosi

LONDON — McArthurGlen’s Serravalle out-let is the largest in Europe, and this week it just got bigger.

Following extensive renovation works, it has added 135,000 square feet of new retail space and opened 40 new stores.

In addition to the store openings, the renovation has also focused on improving customer service and incorporating art into the facilities to enhance the con-sumer experience.

The opening of the renovated space on Thursday saw an influx of up to 31,500 consumers visiting the outlet, a 450 percent increase compared to last year in terms of footfall.

The new stores range from high-street labels such as Pepe Jeans, Gap and L’Autre Chose, to sportswear brands such as Freddy and Columbia, to jewelry labels including Morellato, following Pandora’s successful launch in the outlet.

Other additions include the first outlets in Italy for the contemporary labels Sandro, Empresa and ATPCO, and the Italian vintage retailer Angelo. The latter

has unveiled a pop-up store with a curated selection of vintage products by the likes of Chanel, Fendi, Christian Dior, Balen-ciaga and Givenchy.

The new names join a hub of big brands, including Burberry, Gucci, Erme-negildo Zegna and Roberto Cavalli, that sell discounted, off-season product.

McArthurGlen has also worked on improving the customer experience, launching new information services for guests, lounges and Wi-Fi services across the outlet center. A tourism desk will pro-mote the surrounding regions of Liguria, Piedmont and Lombardy and a string of new bars and restaurants.

The new space is part of a 115 million euros, or $127 million, investment from a

joint venture between the European Outlet Mall Fund, which owns the Serravalle, and the real estate company Aedes SIIQ. The European Outlet Mall Fund acquired Ser-ravalle in 2004, while the McArthurGlen Group, which opened the center in 2000, continues to work as its development, leasing and management agent.

Incorporating art into its retail spaces has been another focus for the McArthurGlen Group. The renovated Serravalle outlet will feature an installation by Mario Airo called “Twist,” which captures the changing landscapes of Milan through sculpture. The work was unveiled during this year’s Salone Del Mobile in Milan, and is on display at the city’s Triennale Design Museum.

“This demonstrates our commitment to

the continued union between art and retail within all of our centers, our mission to ensure that our customers — who travel an average of 90 minutes to their nearest cen-ter and spend an average of four hours with us — receive the finest designer outlet expe-rience in the world,” said Sharen McKenzie, group marketing director of McArthurGlen.

The expansion will give rise to 550 new jobs, and more are expected to be created indirectly due to the uplift in local tourism the renovated center is expected to bring. Alberto Carbone, mayor of Serravalle Scrivia, said the outlet has been a key contributor to the local economy, both in terms of employment and tourism.

Tourism has long driven McArthur-Glen’s business. The group works with up to 100 partners from airlines to hotel and tour operators for all of its outlets in Europe. It has seen a particular increase in its tax-free sales, which have increased 370 percent over the last five years.

Sales to Chinese shoppers in particular rose by 92 percent last year, with South Korean, Malaysian and Indonesian shop-pers also among the big spenders.

The group has a number of outlets across Italy, including Venice, Florence, Naples and Rome. It also plans to invest in expanding the Noventa di Piave outlet located near Venice, with an additional 65,000 square meters of retail space.

business

McArthurGlen Group Expands Italian Outlet

the Serravalle designer outlet.

november 11, 2016 12

● The brand is putting a focus on personalization and the environment.

by saMantHa conti

LONDON — Just like the large collage tapestry by William Kentridge that hangs on an upstairs wall, Ermenegildo Zegna’s newly refurbished store on New Bond Street here is a mix of texture, quirk — and individuality.

The store spans 6,512 square feet, dwarfing the original one that opened in 1987 on the same site. Known as a global concept store, it is the only unit to carry the brand’s new Bespoke Shoe Collection, Alessandro Sartori’s first project as artistic director for the brand.

The shoes are made by Gaziano and Girling, the decade-old British shoemakers that have a shop on nearby Savile Row. The Zegna shoes, which take more than six months to make, cost about 5,000 pounds, or $6,210, a pair and come in nine styles, including a double monk, a dress oxford and a jodhpur boot.

The new space consists of two separate buildings that have been knocked together over four floors, with interiors designed by Peter Marino. The textured chalk walls recall pinstripes or corduroy ridges. The warm, masculine space has touches of Italian marble, leather for handrails and table surfaces and a big bale of wool that doubles as a shoe display. A Fifties wood bar with marquetry details and teal leather stools has been installed upstairs, as has the tapestry.

Kentridge’s work, “Dare/Avere” (2016), features large-scale images of mill owner and company founder Ermenegildo Zegna’s hand-written order books, maps of 18th-century Italy and the mountain-ous Piedmont region that’s home to the billion-euros-plus company.

Superimposed on them are black silhouettes of Zegna — one with a sewing machine instead of a head — while the overall work is decorated with yarns from Zegna’s Mohair Trophy threads.

During a walk-through of the store, Anna Zegna said she loves how her grand-father has been depicted. “The weaver has been woven,” said Zegna, president of the Zegna Foundation and a company principal.

No ordinary refurbishment, the unit at 37-38 New Bond Street was two years in the making and has been rebuilt with an eye to the environment, in keeping with the brand’s ethos. There are solar panels on the roof and LED lighting that doesn’t give off any heat. All of the wood — mahog-any, oak, rose and ash — has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

The building’s facade has been done in red and gray marble and red brick, a nod to the original 19th-century design. Metal strands have been used in the two front windows representing the warp and weft of fabric, while architectural sheep heads adorn the windows.

The Zegnas have long run a green-fo-cused business, undertaking environmental projects with organizations including WWF China, Italy’s FAI, Oceana and ICRAM, the Italian maritime research center. The com-pany also has its own nature park, L’Oasi Zegna, in Piedmont near the original mill.

The new unit carries the brand’s full range, including sportswear and accesso-ries, formalwear, couture and made-to-measure. The bespoke shoes have their own separate area downstairs.

“It’s the best leather in the world,” said Sartori, showing off the models’ Goodyear welts and describing the various fittings and leather mock-ups that go into creating the finished product.

He said bespoke shoes were missing from the Zegna offer and there was no better moment to launch them than during the London store opening. Due to the fact that all of the fittings take place in London, the service is only being offered at the New Bond Street store.

Sartori, formerly of the French shoe and men’s brand Berluti and Z Zegna, also said that while his native Italy may be famous for “prêt-à-porter shoes,” it’s the Brits who are the specialists in handmade styles.

He created nine models based on different types of men: There’s Alexander, the bartender, whose style is a casual shoe with a sprinkle of brogue; David, an art dealer who favors a loafer with long laces instead of tassels, and Adam, a guitarist who likes a derby model. Customers can choose from materials including leather, suede, ostrich and crocodile.

Gildo Zegna, the company’s chief exec-utive officer, who was sporting a slip-on pair of Gaziano and Girling shoes and a dark pinstripe suit on opening day, said he wanted to respect “Britain’s tradition of local craftsmanship and culture” with the introduction of the bespoke collection.

He said the bespoke shoe offer is also part of a new, wider strategy that puts an absolute focus on personalization and ser-vice, a “global vision, local focus” approach.

As tourist patterns become ever more unpredictable and as currencies fluctuate, Zegna — like other luxury brands such as Burberry — is keen to cultivate the local customer. The ceo said he plans to do that through personalizing the offer as much as possible and ensuring the service works, “even if that means going to people’s homes, anything to make their lives easier.”

He’s also opening up the offer with

lounge and travel wear, which he said can be unisex, with women fitting into the smaller sizes. The brand is also returning to Pitti Uomo in January.

Although he declined to say how much money was spent on the London refur-bishment, Zegna said it was one of the company’s “bigger investments” and that he would be doing something similar in another dynamic market, Dubai. The brand will relaunch its store at the Dubai Mall in mid-2017.

Zegna said he considers this year to be a transitional one in terms of business as he cleaned house and began enacting his new strategy. He’s also dealing with all of the macro changes that will no doubt impact the business.

Asked about Donald Trump’s elec-tion as U.S. president, Zegna said he’s hoping for the best but it’s still too early to comment. He said he stands by Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi ahead of the December referendum on constitutional reform, which is aimed at downgrading the power of the Senate. Renzi has said he will resign if he loses.

“He is the right person to lead the country for the future — with or without the referendum,” said Zegna. “He’s made a bold decision by calling the referendum and I fully support what he’s doing.”

Asked about business in China, Zegna said Hong Kong remains challenging while there are signs of improvement in main-land China and he’s expecting a positive 2017 in the region. “Everyone had to adjust to the new normal there. It’s been two years of rough market conditions, but we’ve already seen a small improvement since the summer,” he said.

He said his key to a successful busi-ness is a “back to basics” approach, and remaining close to the customer. “It’s hard work, but you have to be there for them, tell them about what’s new, where you’re going, and offer them the right value. And you have to offer collections that per-form, that are comfortable, fun to wear and long-lasting. It’s a more emotional approach to business.”

business

Zegna Opens Larger London Store, Launches Bespoke Shoe Collection

● Richard Barry of Toys ‘R’ Us and Marc Heller of CIT Commercial Services were the evening’s honorees.

by Lisa LockwooD

More than 700 people came out Wednesday night for the K.I.D.S./Fash-ion Delivers annual gala, which raised more than $1.7 million to help children and families challenged by poverty and natural disaster.

While the cocktail chatter at the American Museum of Natural History focused on the stunning defeat of Hillary Clinton, inside the Whale Room the message was about thank-ing companies for giving millions of dollars

in products to help people in need.Global Brands Group, PVH Corp. and

Skechers were honored for being out-standing product donors, while Richard Barry, executive vice president, global chief merchandising officer of Toys ‘R’ Us Inc., and Mark Heller, president, CIT Commercial Services and K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers executive board member were the night’s honorees.

“We feel we have to say thank you to the companies who have given millions of dollars of product,” said Lisa Gurwitch, president and chief executive officer of K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers, during the cock-tail hour. She said not only do companies contribute their products, but their asso-ciates make a big commitment as well to

the organization, such as a recent trip the Skechers personnel made to Baton Rouge to deliver 10,800 pairs of sneakers for those impacted by the floods.

“In the midst of uncertainty of the future, there’s a certainty here from people who care about other people,” she said.

Allan Ellinger, co-chairman of K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers, told the group that $150 million worth of product were donated this year, ranging from sheets, comforters and toys to new apparel. He noted that $106,000 was raised in 15 minutes during the evening’s auction.

Dascha Polanco, actress and activist, was one of the evening’s honorees. The Dominican American actress stars as Dayanara in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New

Black,” and will be appearing in a play at the Atlantic Theater Co. in New York called “Tell Hector I Miss Him.” She said she was pleased to be acknowledged for the work she does “on behalf of women and children.”

Asked her opinion of the election, she replied, “You have to deal with the cards you’re dealt. I’m optimistic.”

By the time Heller got up to speak, he said he was afraid the room would be emptied out and he’d be “speaking to the whale.”

Industry executives in attendance included Stephen Sadove, Abbey Doneger, Rick Darling, Morris Goldfarb, Steven M. Sall, Tom Nastos, Michael Warner, Michael Setola, Haresh Tharani, Jill Doneger, Gary Wassner, and John J. Pomerantz. In addition, Geoffrey the Giraffe, the Toy’s “R” Us mascot, roamed the lobby of the museum. Pomerantz kept getting texts from his wife, Laura, who was trying to get up to the museum. She was completely gridlocked in traffic com-ing up Sixth Avenue due to the protests over the election of Donald Trump.

fashion

K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers Raises More Than $1.7 Million at Gala

K.i.d

.S. p

hoto

grap

h by

Clin

t Spa

uldi

ng

inside Zegna’s new store on Bond

Street, London.

november 11, 2016 13

● Domestic and other foreign producers would fill the China gap but final consumer prices in the U.S. are likely to rise, Daiwa predicts.

by tiFFanY aP WitH ContributionS From nYiMa PrattEn

HONG KONG — Trade cheat, currency manipulator, jobs thief — those are just some of the many criticisms Trump has lobbed at China over the last 18 months on the campaign trail. But out of all of those threats made against the rival Asian world power, experts believe implementing a tar-iff seems to be the most likely and credible.

Although Trump’s actual trade policies will be made more clear as inauguration day nears on January 20, Daiwa Capital Markets economists Kevin Lai and Olivia Xia worked out what would happen if the president-elect makes good on his campaign pledge to implement a tariff

of 45 percent on Chinese goods. The increase from an existing 4.2 percent tax would propel a 4.8 percent drop in GDP for China, the firm predicted, a loss that “would be staggering.” For comparison, Beijing reported third quarter national GDP growth of 6.7 percent.

Lai and Xia explained: “Our analysis shows that imposing a 45 percent tariff on China would lead to a $420 billion, or 87 percent, decline in exports from China to the U.S. on an annual basis. Domestic

content for each unit of exports is about 67.8 percent, based on the OECD-WTO’s estimates for 2011. This would translate into a $285 billion, or 2.62 percent, loss of GDP.”

But because of its multiplier effect — about 1.84 times — on jobs, consumption and investment, they estimate the ultimate impact of a tariff would be a 4.8 percent drop in GDP.

China could retaliate with a similar levy but the U.S. exports only $116 billion to China a year, which is about a quarter of what the Asian nation exports to the U.S.

The report also predicts that under a 45 percent tariff, China’s total exports would decline by 18 percent.

Trump may not be able to get such dramatic legislation through Congress but even a lower tariff at 15 percent or 30 per-cent would mean a GDP drop for China of 1.75 percent and 3.81 percent respectively, Daiwa said.

“If Trump follows through on his cam-paign talk of a 45 percent tariff on goods

from China, Beijing is likely to hit back,” said Jonathan Fenby, cofounder of Trusted Sources, an Emerging Markets Research and Consulting Firm. “U.S. companies manufacturing and assembling in China would be hit. Exports to the U.S. from China are only half as big a contributor to Chinese GDP as they were 10 years ago, however, so the impact would be more limited.

“For those reasons, it seems unlikely Trump will push his campaign rhetoric but he may have to do something for his electoral base. China would probably like to participate in infrastructure projects through materials or finance. A strong dollar would suit Beijing as it depreciates its currency.”

Benjamin Cavender, principal at China Market Research Group, said, “It will be interesting to see what the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency brings. My guess is that it will have less of an impact than one might think on economic conditions and ties between the two countries. That said, I do think we will see a move by the commerce department to become more aggressive pursuing things like anti-dumping claims against various Chinese industries, as well as a closer look at the Trans-Pacific Partnership and how it could be manipulated by China. The sense I get, talking with business owners here, is that right now there is a lot of uncertainty about what Trump’s presidency will mean for China, but no one is panicking yet.”

business

Trump-Promised Tariff Could Lead to 5% Drop in China GDP

A Chinese newspaper announcing donald trump’s presidential election win.

it into arguably the world’s first holiday cen-tered solely on consumerism. The event has become so big that other online retailers have had no choice but to take part, and, with 195 countries and 13,000 global brands participating this year, Alibaba has been ramping up efforts to engage shoppers and brands outside of Chinese borders.

Every year, it gets bigger.The company is making a concerted

effort to pair buying products online with entertainment, producing an annual Global Shopping Festival Countdown Gala. Pop star Katy Perry canceled at the last minute due to a family emergency, Alibaba said.

There were plenty of other celebrities for the pre-sale gala on Thursday evening. David and Victoria Beckham promoted product lines. Los Angeles Laker legend Kobe Bryant made an appearance. Actress Scarlett Johansson made a surprise show-ing alongside Jack Ma, the founder and chairman of the group who is a celebrity in his own right in China. The media spec-tacle was broadcast on television and on Youku.com, an online video site owned by the e-commerce group.

In 2015, the gala was in Beijing, and featured a number of local and interna-tional celebrities, including British actor Daniel Craig.

“Here in China, shopping is entertain-ment,” Joe Tsai, Alibaba’s vice chairman, said during a media briefing on Thursday. “Young people want to share the expe-rience with their friends. They want to share [what they’re buying]. That’s an interesting phenomenon.”

Alibaba uses the shopping holiday to showcase the growing power of Chinese consumers — bolstering domestic con-sumption underpins Chinese government economic reforms aimed at fostering more stable growth and boosting the country’s GDP expansion that has been slowing in recent years.

On Thursday, executives also used

the event to voice their concerns over antitrade rhetoric directed at China from president-elect Donald Trump. Daiwa Capital Markets economists predicted that, if implemented, Trump’s proposal to slap a 45 percent tax on Chinese goods could cause a 4.8 percent drop in GDP for China.

“The best solution for America is to engage with the rest of the world because we live in a global marketplace,” Tsai said. “We think the relationship between the U.S. and China is crucial to the well-being of everyone. If they disengage that will disappoint people who are looking to [the U.S.] for economic leadership.”

He added: “China is going to be and already is the source of consumer demand and capital for America. If you’re the American president, you must pay atten-tion to that. Your job is to create jobs. If you don’t have engaged Chinese consum-ers and investors investing to create those

jobs, you’ll be in trouble.”A key theme of this year’s Singles’ Day is

the engagement with Chinese consumers, particularly via new technologies bridg-ing bricks-and-mortar retail with online shopping, or O20. Showcasing innovation is arguably one of the drivers to hold the gala in Shenzhen, a city that is known for entrepreneurship, has long been one of the country’s major tech hubs and also is the first region where China opened its doors to integration into global trade back in the late Seventies.

The city is also home to the headquar-ters of Tencent, one of Alibaba’s biggest rivals, that operates WeChat, a mobile chat application that is increasingly used for brand promotion and mobile shopping.

Alibaba is piloting a virtual reality platform called Buy+ where shoppers use special goggles to have a virtual shop-ping experience in retail stores globally.

Participants included Macy’s and Target. In late October, Alibaba held a fashion show in Shanghai where consumers could pre-order items in real-time as they appeared on the catwalk. Viewers of the gala on Youku can also instantly order certain items worn by celebrities.

The e-tailer launched a game similar to Pokémon Go where users follow a virtual Alibaba cat mascot through shopping malls as part of an effort to drum up business between off-line and online retail environments.

During the early hours of Singles’ Day, Alibaba showcased the evolution of its big data use, illustrating how it can increas-ingly pinpoint the demographics and shop-ping habits of consumers down to a specific neighborhood — if not apartment complex.

“This is the future of retail,” Tsai said. “The future of retail is in China, not any-where else. And it’s here today.”

Alibaba ShattersSingles’ Day Record CONtiNued FROM PAGe 1

david and Victoria Beckham made an appearance, with Victoria promoting her fashion line and david touting his new whiskey brand.

trum

p ph

otog

raph

by

and

y W

ong/

ap/

reX

/Shu

tter

stoc

k

november 11, 2016 14

Rolling With the PunchesIconic American brands Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren hosted parties in L.A. the night after the presidential election.

Donna Karan capped off her latest Los Angeles sojourn with a dinner party at her newly re-opened Urban Zen store in West Hollywood, Calif., on Wednesday. Like many of her guests who were still reeling from the unexpected outcome of the presidential elec-tion, the outspoken designer — a staunch Hillary Clinton supporter — voiced her opinion loud and clear.

“It is truly unacceptable what’s going on. I can’t accept it. I hear New York is a mess,” she said, adding, “I was thinking about not doing this tonight because I had not slept one wink. But I said, ‘You know what? It’s time for us to come together to find the calm in the chaos to realize that we are a community and we can create the change that’s needed.’”

That sentiment was the driving philosophy behind her Urban Zen concept, and it appeared to have a tonic-like effect on guests like Demi Moore, Maria Bello, Richard Perry, Martyn Lawrence Bullard and Tamara Gregory, who noshed on passed plates of salmon and lentil salad in the outdoor court-yard and chatted animatedly on Balinese sofas inside.

While many Hollywood liberals were still processing the results of the presidential election, Ralph Lauren made its presence known on the West Coast with a cocktail party to celebrate the reopening of its Rodeo Drive flagship. Tapping a Millennial set of hostesses in Emmy Rossum, Camilla Belle, Dylan Penn, Bella Heathcote, Langley Fox Heming-

way and Alexandra Richards, the house channeled the optimism of a younger generation on what could have been a bleak night.

“It was definitely tough getting up this morning. I was hoping to enter the new year with our first female president, so I’m definitely disappointed, but I have to respect the process and the system and know that the sun came up today,” Rossum said.

Belle agreed, “We have to be positive and hope for the best. Enough of this negativity. We’re lucky to be American so you have to find the silver lining in some-thing. This is such an iconic Amer-ican brand and to be celebrating someone like Ralph, who is such a wonderful human and pioneer, that makes me happy.”

Hemingway said the house’s timeless Americana vibe was apropos. “Hopefully we stick with that instead of being sad. I think there’s a lot of love right now in a scary realization that was not expected. A lot of people, instead of sitting and waiting, are taking control of their beliefs and it’s an exciting time because it’s so shocking. It’s time to change.”

Underneath the store’s grand staircase, Richards spun Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” to keep the crowd’s spirits up. Hav-ing arrived the night before as the votes were being counted, she said, “It is what it is. Work is work and you gotta stay busy. ‘Keep moving forward,’ that’s my motto. You gotta roll with the punches.” — Marcy Medina

Charlotte Ronson

dylan Penn, Camilla Belle, Bella Heathcote, Langley Fox Hemingway and emmy Rossum.

donna Karan and demi Moore

Jennifer Fisher

Alexandra von Furstenberg Rachel Roy

Kara

n an

d La

uren

pho

togr

aphs

by

Katie

Jon

es a

nd a

ndre

as b

ranc

h/W

Wd

/reX

/Shu

tter

stoc

k; v

alen

tino

and

mS

K by

and

rew

Industry Heals at Valentino, Society of MSK Fall PartyThe presidential election results were on guests’ minds at the annual fund-raiser.

“it’s a wake up call to all of us, to be more responsible socially and active in what we believe in,” said Jennifer Fisher on Wednesday evening from the lobby of the Metropolitan Club. The city — not to mention most of the fashion industry — was very much reeling from the previous night’s election results, but the show carried on for Valentino and the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s annual fall din-ner, benefiting pediatric cancer research. That’s not to say that the political outcome was not on everyone's minds — far from it.

As the dinner bell rang, several place cards remained unclaimed on the tables, as it ap-peared a few guests were home processing the election results, or were deterred by the protests outside Trump Tower only a few blocks over. The event had sold out, though, meaning that money had already been raised

for the work MSK does. Guests including Tabitha Simmons, Wes Gordon, Olivia Chantecaille, Chelsea Leyland, Kate Foley, Amory McAndrew and more turned out for the cause.

Fisher pent election night watching with her kids. “It was really hard, but as a parent, you have a responsibility to your child to make them feel safe and to not instill them with fear of the unknown,” she said. “So my hus-band and I really made sure that we were there to talk to them and made sure that they felt OK — because when they went to bed it was very early and it was still very much unknown. And when we woke up this morning the first question out of their mouths was ‘Who won?’ And when I said Trump, my son’s face…but then I felt that I had the responsibility to them to make them feel every-thing is going to be OK, when you yourself don’t even know.”

Earlier in the evening, her kids had come home from school assigned to write a letter to president-elect Trump on what they’d like him to do as president — and what not to do. “One of my kids goes to a very progressive public school downtown, and one goes to a very conservative school uptown, and they came home with similar pieces of homework which was really interesting,” she said. “I think most kids are asking the same question today: ‘What’s going to happen?’ What’s amazing is how resilient children are — and we all are.”

Charlotte Ronson said she wavered about attending but was happy to be supporting the cause. “Well, it wasn’t a toss-up in some ways as I’d already committed, but I sort of wished I could stay home — my sister was heavily involved with the Hillary campaign, so yeah,” she

said. “It’s just crazy and it’s hard to put to words. I watched at home with my boyfriend and then a friend was going to come over, but it was too stressful for her to leave her house. It was hard to watch.”

Lavinia Branca Snyder, president of the society, offered words of uplift and positivity when surveying the room, fol-lowing a live auction and dinner. “I couldn’t be more thankful — what an extraordinary country that we’re part of,” she said. “Having the election last night, and realizing that the cross-cur-rents of this country seems to head…but at the end, this is the American spirit, the extraordi-nary generosity of its people, of its ladies. It really is a shining example to the rest of the world. And this young generation, they really know how to do it with an extraordinary sense of grace.” — Leigh nordstroM

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

ATTEND: SLEE@WWD.COM, 646.356.4730 SPONSOR: ACOYLE@WWD.COM, 646.356.4719

summits.wwd.com

DIGITAL FORUM LOS ANGELES

NOVEMBER 15, 2016

• LOS ANGELES

CREATED BY WWD, BUILT FOR YOU

FAIRCHILDSUMMITSANNUALPARTNERS

Kate FosterNYDJ APPAREL LLC

Sarah LeeGLOW RECIPE

Mary Alice HaneyHANEY

Gregg RenfrewBEAUTYCOUNTER

EVENT SPONSORS

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER

november 11, 2016 16

Fashion ScoopsNew Shade of Brownsafter more than 40 years, London retail-er Browns is re-branding under its new owner and chief executive officer with a revamp of the logo, packaging, web site and stores on South Molton Street and Sloane Street.

The original Browns logo has been re-fined, cut in half, and abstracted thanks to Robin Derrick, executive creative director at Spring in London and the former creative director of British Vogue. The new branding will appear across the store and web site as well as on packag-ing, stationery and swing tags.

Holli Rogers, the ceo, has described the new branding as “a nod to the past but still looking forward.” Rogers, the for-mer fashion director of Net-a-porter.com, took up her role last year while Joan Burstein, who founded the store with her husband Sidney and son Simon 46 years ago, remains honorary chairman.

Browns was acquired by Farfetch.com last year and is meant to be a labo-ratory for new experiments in omnichan-nel retailing.

On Nov. 14, alongside the revamped logo and packaging, the retailer will also unveil its new web site, which Rogers has

given a lighter and more fun tone, with content and layout inspired by social media rather than a magazine.

Next week, Browns will also unveil an interactive window display and invite customers and members of the press to play a scratch card-inspired game, rubbing out the old branding in order to win items such as a Balenciaga tote or a Kenzo bag.

The windows will reflect the new branding, until the middle of next week when Christmas theme takes over.

The re-branding comes on the heels of other changes to the business, includ-ing the opening of an off-site warehouse and a photo studio, and new hires to its online buying team. Rogers has said the web site and the store need each other, and both needed a serious revamp. — LoreLei MarFiL

Swooshing ThroughWas scheduling a store party the day after the presidential election a good idea? It didn’t stop droves of sneaker and sport die-hards from turning out to fill the five-story behemoth of a new Nike store in SoHo Wednesday evening. The place was pretty packed and that’s saying

something since it has 55,000 square feet to fill. It was a lot of ground to cover.

“I’ve only seen half of it,” said Tinker Hatfield, one of Nike’s most well-known sneaker designers, hanging out some-where on the third floor. But he liked what he saw so far. “It’s the best reflection of Nike and our culture that I’ve seen yet,” he said. “The architecture is kind of secondary to the product and the way we want to present our storytelling. It’s quite different from [Niketown] on 57th Street. The architecture is heavy and kind of gets in the way.”

Men’s wear designer John Elliot, who was just in from Los Angeles, was also working his way up the escalators. “I’m walking through right now. I’m on the second-and-a-half floor and it’s sensory overload,” said Elliott, whose design collaboration with LeBron James will be adding to the experience. Elliot’s new LeBron Soldier X sneaker will be exclu-sive to the SoHo store beginning Nov. 10 when it opens to the public.

The place was so big, it was hard to spot the VIPs, including Nike athletes such as Victor Cruz, Ashton Eaton, Sanya Richards-Ross, Eugenie Bouchard,

Matt Harvey and Vashti Cunningham, and fashion/art people like Tom Sachs, Shayne Oliver, Chanel Iman and Theophi-lus London. — Jessica iredaLe

going BlueBloomingdale’s has created its own par-ticular take on the idea of the “green room.”

The department store has taken ownership of the waiting room at the Music Box Theatre on 45th Street and transformed the space into a cozy spot for the performers and their high-profile guests to hang out before and after the performance.

But instead of green, the space is now blue, which is the signature color of the show, “Dear Evan Hansen,” which opens with previews next week.

Working with the home furnishings firm of Mitchell Williams + Bob Gold, Blooming-dale’s tapped Lisa Contreras, its store design director, to revamp the space. “It’s small and intimate and more residential” than a massive department store, she said, which was a refreshing change.

The 20-by-15-foot space features comfortable couches, cowhide otto-mans, oversize pillows that mimic the stripe on the polo shirt worn in the play by the lead, Ben Platt, and graphic art pieces of Bloomingdale’s signature shopping bag, this time fashioned in blue. There’s also a Twitter mirror where guests can take photos and use the pre-loaded hashtags for their posts. — Jean e. PaLMieri

the new logo and packaging for Browns.

Victor Cruz

the blue room at the Music Box theatre.

● Gold is the store’s signature color, in honor of its tony new neighborhood.

by JEssica irEDaLE

Acne Studios, the Swedish brand with downtown cool-kid associations, is mov-ing on up to the Upper East Side of New York with a Madison Avenue store that opened Thursday.

“We have realized in the last couple of years that we have the cool downtown girl, but we also have her uptown mother, to a big extent,” said Mikael Schiller, Acne Studio’s executive chairman. “We have the 22-year-old girl and we have the 50-year-old woman. Therefore, it felt quite natural for us open uptown.”

Located at 926 Madison Avenue on the corner of 74th Street, the store is Acne’s third in New York — there are locations in SoHo and the West Village — and fourth in the U.S.

An Acne store on Madison isn’t as coun-terintuitive as one might think. Schiller pointed out that Jonny Johansson, the brand’s creative director, got married at

the Carlyle Hotel, the epitome of old world uptown, last year. Taking a 2,000-square-foot space where Clyde’s pharmacy, which downsized, was a big financial commit-ment. Schiller and Johansson also wanted to make a design statement worthy of the new, posh neighborhood.

“If we were going to do it, we wanted to do it properly,” said Schiller. “We didn’t want to build a mansion. We wanted to elevate our neighborhood store and put it on the global stage.”

The store is the only one in Acne Studios’ retail network to use gold as the

signature tone, with aluminum metal inte-rior walls and fixtures done with a gold fin-ish. The shelving is gold, the racks are gold and the benches and tables and display cases are gold. The floor and pillars are done in black asphalt sprinkled with semi-precious colored stones. Max Lamb, who has a long relationship with Acne, designed the interiors, softening the bronze and asphalt effects with custom hand-dyed rugs done in Scandinavian patterns that were tufted at Kasthall in Sweden.

The store carries women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, denim, bags and accessories.

Schiller said the U.S. is the brand’s biggest market. A San Francisco store is planned for next year, as well as Milan and Sydney. Interestingly, the brand is looking to lower its store count in Scandinavia.

“What we’re doing is not suitable for as many doors and as many stores as we opened 10 years ago in Sweden and Norway,” said Schiller. Still, he said the company experienced double-digit growth last year, declining to get specific, though he did say the size of Acne Studios’s global business is 200 million euros.

Like many brands, Acne Studios has felt the struggle of wholesale. Schiller said e-commerce has the highest sales volume, followed by its own retail, then wholesale. “What we feel in wholesale is basically that we want to work with fewer stores, but we want to work deeper and closer,” said Schiller. “I think actually, we’ll decrease our number of stores from an all-time high, maybe five years ago, of 1,400 and now we’re talking about 700 globally.”

Two-thirds of their business, of which Schiller and Johansson are the majority owners, is women’s. Knitwear and denim are important categories for men and women. And Acne has started to gain trac-tion on its small leather goods and hand-bags. Schiller said the Musubi bag range is beginning to perform quite well.

He declined to cite sales projections for the Madison Avenue store, but asked what it means for the brand to be on Madison, Schiller said, “Ask me that in one year’s time, please.”

Acne Studios’ Madison Avenue store.

business

Acne Studios Goes Uptown With Madison Avenue Store

Cru

z ph

otog

raph

by

Love

kin/

WW

d/r

eX/S

hutt

erst

ock