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NEWS:

Balenciaga inks Coty

deal for fragrance,

page 6.

FASHION:

30 Years of Diesel, pages 12-13.

▲ FINANCIAL: Louis Vuitton drives LVMH sales in quarter, page 2.

▲

BEAUTY: Ralph Lauren’s new Polo Modern

Reserve, page 7.

▲

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Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • October 10, 2008 • $2.00

Coming CleanRaf Simons has a deft hand at minimalism-gone-elegant. And in

his spring collection for Jil Sander, he tempered it with distinctive

detailing, including a tribal fringe motif and fl oating panels.

The result? Clean, lean silhouettes with a touch of gentle ease,

like the jacket here. For more simple looks, see pages 4 and 5.

WWDFRIDAYBeauty

See Retail, Page 11

An Unwanted Record: Retail Share Index In Biggest-Ever Drop By Evan Clark and Matthew LynchRetail shares fell a record 7.9 percent Thursday as investors continued to trade on economic and credit fears and the industry pondered how to adapt to the financial meltdown.

The Standard & Poor’s Retail Index plunged 23.89 points to 276.88. The top five declines since the index was recalibrated in mid-2002 have all occurred over the last three weeks as the credit crunch spread overseas and unprecedented steps to add liquidity to the market failed to sooth investor psychology.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 7.3 percent, or 678.91 points, to close at 8,579.19. Over the last 12 months, the Dow is down 39.4 percent and retail shares have lost 43.5 percent of their value. Some individual companies have posted even steeper declines

WWD.COM2 WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

By Robert Murphy

PARIS — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said “remarkable” sales at its workhorse Louis Vuitton brand helped lift revenues in the third quarter despite the turmoil engulfing finan-cial markets.

Nonetheless, the reported 6 percent organic revenue growth in the three months through September was well below the 15 percent organ-ic growth LVMH reported in the same quarter last year.

The positive results underscore the resilience of the European luxury sector, even as share prices continue to tumble and analysts warn of a looming economic pinch over the holiday sell-ing period.

The French luxury group, owner of brands from Fendi to Dom Perignon, did not provide a break-down of sales for the third quarter alone. It said sales in the nine-month period gained 4.5 percent to 11.96 billion euros, or $17.94 billion.

Based on calculations, sales in the three months improved 3 percent to 4.16 billion euros, or $6.24 billion, from 4.03 billion euros, or $6.05 billion, last year, broadly in line with analysts’ expectations. Dollar fi gures are converted at average exchange rates.

LVMH called the perfor-mance “even more noteworthy in view of the high comparative fi gures seen in the third quarter.” The fi rm confi rmed its goal for “a tangible increase in results in 2008.”

The luxury group, which will host a conference call to discuss the results today, said Vuitton scored double-digit organic growth in the period thanks to strong sales of its Damier Graphite and Monogram line, which LVMH said is “still en-joying exceptional momentum.”

The fi rm said accessories continued to “see strong progress” and that brands Fendi, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs and Givenchy sold well in the period.

For the nine months through September, sales of fashion and leather goods improved 5 percent to 4.24 billion euros, or $6.36 billion. Sales of perfumes and cosmetics in the period grew 6 percent to 2.08 billion euros, or $3.12 billion, spurred by Dior Homme Sport men’s fragrance and the continued success of Dior’s Escale a Portofi no scent. BeneFit and Guerlain performed equally well, LVMH said.

Watches and jewelry sales advanced 11 per-cent to 656 million euros, or $984 million, thanks to the move upmarket by the Tag Heuer brand. LVMH said Hublot grew strongly in all regions and that the Zenith brand recorded “particularly strong growth in the Middle East.”

“De Beers saw a high level of growth in reve-

nue, including in the U.S.,” the company added. Sales of wines and spirits declined 2 percent

to 2.04 billion euros, or $3.06 billion. LVMH high-lighted strong growth in emerging markets, par-ticularly China and Russia, but “a more contrast-ing situation” in the rest of the world.

In the selective retailing branch, sales in the nine months grew 5 percent to 3.01 billion euros, or $4.5 billion, thanks to growth in China, Macau and Abu Dhabi.

LVMH released the fi gures after the close of the market. The French fi rm’s shares closed down 1.8 percent to 51.03 euros, or $69.40. LVMH’s stock was trading above 70 euros, or $95, in early September.

Other French luxury and retail firms also continued to slide Thursday. PPR shares closed down 4.5 percent to 47.96 euros, or $65.22, while Carrefour SA shares fell 3 percent to 28.11 euros, or $38.23. Shares in Hermès International fell 3.5 percent to 98.55 euros, or $134.02.

Meanwhile, Italy followed the U.K. and Spain Thursday in offering funds to prop up

its banks, where necessary. But despite gov-ernment vows to prevent any lender

from failing, the S&P/MIB Index continued to fall, losing 1.8 per-cent. The bailout pledge offered little respite for Italian luxury stocks — with only IT Holding and Safi lo making up signifi cant ground — as the overall pessi-mism in the Italian economy

continued.Debt-laded IT Holding SpA re-

covered 6.4 percent to 0.24 euros, or 33 cents at current exchange, after losing 14 percent on Wednesday.

Eyewear manufacturer Safi lo Group SpA gained 6.3 percent to 0.65 euros, or 88 cents. Despite the government assurances, Bulgari SpA de-clined for the seventh day, falling 6 percent to 4.78 euros, or $6.52.

Swiss bank Vontobel said in a report: “European luxury goods companies underwent a partial correction from their negative perfor-mance since the beginning of the year thanks to solid fi rst-half results. However, share prices have tumbled since the beginning of September due to the growing uncertainty regarding con-sumer confi dence. We assume that nine-month sales fi gures will remain solid but that the eco-nomic pinch will be felt this Christmas season.”

The bank also assumed the fi nancial crisis and the related weakening in consumer senti-ment will continue to impact the fashion and luxury goods sector next year.

“Our assumptions are now based on zero growth in the U.S., Europe and Japan. For Asia, excluding Japan, we expect growth of about 10 percent,” Vontobel analysts Rene Weber and Claudia Lenz wrote.

— With contributions from Andrew Roberts, Milan

Vuitton Propels LVMH Sales Ahead

WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2008 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 196, NO. 77. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in January, October and December, two additional issues in March, April, May, June, August and November, and three additional issues in February and September) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast Publications: S. I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President/CEO; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice President/COO; Debi Chirichella Sabino, Senior Vice President/CFO; Jill Bright, Executive Vice President/Human Resources. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offi ces. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6 POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615–5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289-0273, or visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions and reprint requests, please call 212-630-4274 or fax requests to 212-630-4280. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE.

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4

FASHION

Designers went for a more relaxed, leaner and cleaner look for spring, in everything from softened-up blazers to prettily embellished vests.

GENERAL

Retail shares fell a record 7.9 percent Thursday as investors continued to trade on economic and credit fears and the industry pondered what the fi nancial meltdown means for them.

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton said“remarkable” sales at its workhorse Louis Vuitton brand helped lift revenues in the third quarter despite the turmoil engulfi ng fi nancial markets.

Balenciaga has signed a deal with Coty Inc.’s Coty Prestige division to create, develop and distribute fragrance lines under the Balenciaga nameplate.

1

2

6

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WWDFRIDAYBeauty

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“ This is a time to really rethink a model that will hold strong for the 21st century, to rethink

it in a way that isn’t about dumping inventory.” – Futurist Edie Wiener on how to adapt to the changing landscape. Page one.

QUOTEDAILY

TODAY ON

.COMWWD

MOST VIEWED• Facchinetti Exiting Valentino• Reaching for the Masses: Estée Lauder Cos. Scent to Launch at Wal-Mart• Target Revamps Ads... Quinceañera Magazine Launch... Bauer Sets Up Shop...• Energy Pill at Louis Vuitton.... Monkey Business at Colette... Stam in Flight...

MOST E-MAILED• Reaching for the Masses: Estée Lauder Cos. Scent to Launch at Wal-Mart• Fred Segal Beauty Shuttering• September Same-Store Sales Sag• Diane von Furstenberg’s Superheroines

• Featured images on accessories in Paris• Videos and slide shows of the spring season in Paris, Milan,

London and New York• Global breaking news

• Daily stock prices

Dolce & Gabbana

LVMH cited strong sales of its Damier Graphic and Monogram leather goods.

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4 WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

Lean StreetsDesigners went for a more relaxed, leaner and cleaner look for spring, in

everything from softened-up blazers to prettily embellished vests.

Donna Karan Derek Lam Akris

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WWD.COM5WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

Bottega Veneta Stella McCartney

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WWD.COM6 WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

The Beauty Report

MICHAEL GOULD, CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF executive officer of Bloomingdale’s, received the Fragrance Foundation’s Circle of Champions Award Tuesday evening amid a shower of praise that was professed by everyone but the honoree.

“The best of the best, the champion of us all” is how Gould was described by industry lead-er Leonard A. Lauder, chairman of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc.

Lauder, who presented Gould with his award during a dinner at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan, said Gould’s arrival at Bloomingdale’s in 1991 marked “the beginning of a renaissance of a great store.” The Lauder chairman summed up Gould as “not only a great man and a great re-tailer but a great philanthropist.”

Earlier, Rochelle Bloom, president of the foun-dation, recalled how their paths crossed when she was still at Lauder and Gould was running Bloomingdale’s: “He was tough, he was fair, he was a great partner and one of the great retailers of the industry.” Bloom noted that when she left her job, Gould was one of the fi rst people to call and ask what she intended to do. “‘I just want you to know that I’m here,’” she recalled him saying. “‘If you need anything, just pick up the phone.’” Bloom then remarked to the crowd, “I will add one more thing to that list. He is a mensch.”

So how did the object of all of this praise react? He spoke with characteristic humility and trademark eloquence, citing the contributions of a long list of past and present colleagues at J.W. Robinson’s in Los Angeles and Giorgio Beverly

Hills, as well as Bloomingdale’s. He said that dur-ing 40 years in the business, he noticed that it’s usu-ally the ceo taking the bow, whom he characterized as “the one who usually has done the least.” Gould then suggested that the credit should fall on those who manage to make the sale across the counter, among others. The colleagues whom he worked with in the past “are the reason I am here.”

Gould asserted that he has learned through the years that what matters is “a sense of what’s right, a sense of giving back, a sense of righteousness and a sense that no one ever remembers the numbers.” He concluded, “I am blessed with good people who were able to make me a little bit better. For that, I’m blessed.”

— Pete Born

By Julie Naughton

BALENCIAGA, ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL names in fashion, is back in beauty.

The design house has signed a deal with Coty Inc.’s Coty Prestige division to create, develop and distribute fragrance lines under the Balenciaga nameplate. The fi rst fragrance is tentatively slated for a spring 2010 launch.

The agreement will be unveiled today.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, with

Balenciaga’s revenues reportedly at upward of 100 mil-lion euros, or about $136 million at current exchange, at present, according to industry sources, and Coty’s global annual net sales said to top $4 billion, the deal is likely to have far-reaching results.

Founded in 1918 and purchased by PPR subsidiary Gucci Group in 2001, Balenciaga is now experiencing a strong resurgence under the creative direction of Nicolas Ghesquière and the business savvy of presi-dent and chief executive offi cer Isabelle Guichot.

“Fragrance is really something that was absolutely missing in the Balenciaga universe,” Guichot said Thursday. “Not only because it’s part of our history, but because it is part of the vitality of a fashion brand. It was always the most obvious missing category.”

While the house has been in fragrance before — its fi rst scent, an aldehydic scent called Le Dix, was launched in 1946 — Balenciaga quietly let its licensing deal with Groupe Jacques Bogart (a division of Cyprus-based fi rm C.A. Papaellinas & Co. Ltd.) expire at the end of last year.

While Guichot noted that “it’s too early to see how big fragrance [sales] will be,” her plan is to create an aspirational fragrance with broad appeal. “We think that we can have a different point of view, and extend the Balenciaga brand to a broader audience,” she said. “It is a delicate exercise — we are not there just to print our name on the bottle — but we think fragrance will strategically enlarge the aspirational side of the brand.” Distribution likely will include specialty stores worldwide as well as Balenciaga’s burgeoning number of company-owned freestanding boutiques.

Coty was chosen as the licensee because the bulk of the company’s business is done in fragrance, said Guichot. “Coty is an important choice because it is a fragrance house, and we plan to develop a portfolio of fragrances,” she said. “Women’s fragrances are obvi-ously a priority, but men’s fragrances are not out of the scope of possibility.”

While in the past YSL Beauté Holding handled the conglomerate’s fragrance licenses, PPR sold YSL Beauté Holding to L’Oréal in May. L’Oréal now has an exclusive and very long-term worldwide license for the YSL and Boucheron brands in the fragrance and color cosmetics categories, and took over YSL Beauté’s

Stella McCartney, Oscar de la Renta and Ermenegildo Zegna beauty licenses.

“We talked to different companies, but felt Coty was the best choice because of its fragrance heritage,” said Guichot, who added that Ghesquière will be an inte-gral part of the fragrance development process. “He is very excited about this possibility and about extending the reach of Balenciaga, and is already at work on con-cepts.” She declined to elaborate.

While Guichot did not rule out the possibility of color and skin care lines, she did note that fragrance is the number-one priority. In fact, the fi rst meeting between the Balenciaga and Coty teams took place in the Balenciaga archives. “We spent a full day in the ar-chives, reviewing our fragrance, advertising and ready-to-wear,” said Guichot, noting there was a special em-phasis on Balenciaga’s fi rst scent, Le Dix. “When you have a treasure like Dix in the archives, it makes sense to honor that heritage.”

For Coty Prestige — which, over the last seven years, has been building its fragrance portfolio in prestige through partnerships with celebrities such as Jennifer

Lopez, Gwen Stefani and Sarah Jessica Parker — this move represents a strengthening of the company’s de-signer lineup, which includes Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Cerruti, Karl Lagerfeld, Jil Sander, Joop, Chloé, Vivienne Westwood and Kenneth Cole. (Sister division Coty Beauty handles the Kate Moss, David and Victoria Beckham, Celine Dion and Tim McGraw scents, among others.)

Michele Scannavini, president of Coty Prestige, will oversee the Balenciaga business for Coty. “Balenciaga is prestigious, elegant and sophisticated — and a brand which fi ts very well with our other designer brands, such as Marc Jacobs and Chloé,” he said in a phone interview from Asia Thursday. “It particularly has a very great equi-ty in France and Spain, where we see the opportunity to grow our business, but we think it will sell well globally.”

And, while a spotlight has been shone on Coty’s ce-lebrity fragrance partnerships over the last seven years, Scannavini noted that they are primarily a U.S. and U.K. phenomenon. “While the celebrity pillar [of our business] is important, the designer pillar is larger,” he said. “Just 10 percent of Coty Prestige’s global business is done by celebrity fragrances — they are big in the U.S. and U.K., but not so strong in Europe, where cul-turally the main driver has always been designer fra-grances. The designer licenses are our core pillar, and this deal is accelerating the development of this area.”

— With contributions from Miles Socha, Paris

Balenciaga’s Beauty Renaissance: Signs Deal With Coty Prestige

Michael Gould Enters Circle of Champions

Looks from

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2009 line.

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7WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

WWD.COM

AS THE BRAND CELEBRATES ITS 30TH ANNIVERS-ary, Polo Ralph Lauren hopes its classic men’s fragrance will attract a new generation of users with Polo Modern Reserve, a scent designed to give an alternative to existing consumers while grooming their sons.

“We wanted to celebrate the timelessness, heritage and legacy of the brand,” said Guillaume de Lesquen, presi-dent, worldwide, of the Ralph Lauren Fragrances Division of L’Oréal. “In the men’s area, there isn’t another brand as iconic as the Polo fragrance in terms of its packaging, juice and story.”

As one of the oldest designer fragrances in the market, the Polo Ralph Lauren men’s fragrance still ranks in the top 15 men’s fragrances in the U.S., said de Lesquen citing NPD sales fi gures.

“With the launch of Modern Reserve, our goal is to have it land in the top 15 fragrances,” said de Lesquen.

Although company executives wouldn’t comment, indus-try sources expect the new fragrance to bring in $20 mil-lion in fi rst-year retail sales, with the Polo franchise worth about $300 million.

The company is hoping to target the existing Polo Ralph Lauren consumer, in addition to a younger Polo consumer in his mid-20s and 30s, said de Lesquen.

“We wanted our fragrance to bring back our loyal users as well as a new younger consumer — the sons of the Polo customer,” said de Lesquen.

Launching this month, Polo Modern Reserve will be available in 2,500 doors including Belk’s, Macy’s and Dillard’s. For the fragrance, the company looked to the original perfumer of Polo, Carlos Benaim of International Flavors and Fragrances to reinvent the classic men’s scent. The “woody and leather” fragrance is composed of top

notes of cardamom, fresh-cut basil, pimento berry; middle notes of vetyver-leather, liquid jasmine, myrrh incense; and bottom notes of humidor wood, patchouli and sueded leather. New ingredients used in the fragrance includes cardamom spice in place of chamomile in the top notes and vetyver-leather in-stead of tobacco in the middle notes.

“It’s a reinterpretation of the classic for today’s market that is a little stronger and more masculine but still has the same heritage,” said Leslie Marino, general manager of L’Oréal Designer Fragrance Division. “We’re using some of the same ingredients but using some of the latest technologies and using purer raw materials.”

Polo Modern Reserve is staying close to its origins by capturing its equestrian tradition with the polo player on the signature green glass, inspired by a fl ask.

“We wanted to celebrate the iconic bottle of the classic Polo fragrance, and pay tribute to its timeless appeal in a modern, luxurious way,” says Leena Jain, director of marketing for Ralph Lauren Fragrances.

The fragrance will be available in two sizes — a 4-oz. eau de toilette for $62.50 and a deluxe limited edition 8-oz. bottle for $200, which uses 24-karat gold and comes in a limited numbered leather box.

Instead of doing a traditional television and print advertising campaign, the company will support the Modern Reserve launch with an aggressive in store sampling effort along with visuals at the counter.

“We wanted to bring our customers back to the world of Polo by getting their attention at our stores,” said Marino.

— Michelle Edgar

IT’S EASY TO BE GREEN — AT LEAST that’s the theory of the founders of beau-ty site Beautorium.com.

Run by Boots veterans Ann Francke and Barry King, who moved to Charlotte, N.C., from London in fall 2007, the site features natural and organic products.

Both Francke and King feel strongly about sharing “real” organic and natural products with consumers. “We take the guesswork out of being green. Everyone uses the words natural and organic, but it can be hard for the consumer to truly know what is and what isn’t — and what

truly works,” said Francke, whose career has included stints as strategic marketing director for Boots plc and global general manager for new beauty care business at Procter & Gamble Co. She and King met on a skiing trip; while both worked at Boots in the U.K. in the past, they were at the company at different times.

King, a pharmacist who has also run health and beauty online operations for Boots in the U.K. and retail development manager at Thorntons plc, is handling the operations management side of the busi-ness, while Francke is doing the majority of marketing and product selection.

“I loved being at Boots because it is a beauty expert with a wide range of prod-ucts,” said Francke. “We wanted to bring that range to the natural and organic cat-egory, and act as a catalyst for other com-panies to look at their ingredients.”

King and Francke met with about 96 natural and organic brands before nar-rowing their choices down to 11 at launch. They now market 16 brands, including Dr. Hauschka, Juice Beauty, John Masters Organics, Trilogy Skincare, Saaf Skincare, Pangea Organics, Weleda, Afterglow Cosmetics, Martina Gebhardt, Rain Africa, Farfalla, Laboratoire Cattier, Logona and Naturopatch. All of the brands are certi-fi ed by global organizations (dependent upon country of origin) such as EcoCert, USDA and New Zealand Bio Grow.

Brands fall into three categories, Francke noted: “anchor brands” like German skin care brands Dr. Hauschka and Weleda; “insider brands” such as French organic baby care line Cattier and California-based skin care line Juice Beauty, and “hidden gems,” like British skin care brand Saaf and New Zealand-based skin and hair care brand Trilogy. To be selected for Beautorium.com, Francke noted, each brand must be nat-ural or organic; not tested on animals; contain effective ingredients with prov-en benefi ts; be professionally and beau-tifully presented, and have a compelling brand and company personality.

Categories run the gamut from antiag-ing skin care to color cosmetics, body to hair. There’s even a section for what the duo gently term as “beauty issues,” includ-ing dandruff, cellulite, stretch marks and blemishes. “We want to be the one-stop online beauty bazaar,” added Francke.

For the holidays, the company com-missioned a local family fi rm to create handmade organic twill Christmas stock-ings embroidered with the Beautorium logo. They will be given away with a $50 purchase as part of a Organic Beauty Booty promotion the site will run for the holidays, said Francke.

While neither Francke nor King would comment on projected sales, indus-try sources estimated that Beautorium would do just shy of $1 million in retail sales in 2008.

— J.N.

THE SAINT IS MARCHING into retail.

Saint Parfum, the brainchild of Spencer Krenke and Denise Estrada, aims to bring the art of fi ne perfumery back into the American marketplace via home fragrances — and has already per-suaded Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue and a number of independent retailers, including Cos Bar and Space NK, to take on the company’s high-end products. Barneys doors in Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Manhattan will get the line, beginning Oct. 15. Later, Saks Fifth Avenue and additional doors will roll out.

The point of the line? To create a resurgence of the art of custom-blended fragrances — fi rst through home products such as candles and diffusers, and perhaps eventually fine fragrances.

“The custom-blending as-pect is the reason we started this,” said Krenke, who founded and ran the beauty fi rm De-luxe with Estrada and Robert Schwai in 2000, and then sold it in 2006. “We made enough selling De-luxe so that we don’t necessarily have to work. We did this because it’s something we want to do, not something we have to do.”

The effort is similar to the fi ne fragrance world’s recent infl ux of custom-blend-ed fragrances, such as Memoire Liquide and Creed, and artisanal fragrances, such as Tom Ford’s Private Blend and Chanel’s Les Exclusifs de Chanel.

Just more than 100 ready-made Saint Parfum fragrance recipes are available to clients, although it’s the one-on-one custom-blended scents that Krenke is most passionate about. “First, customers visit one of our retailers to evaluate each of our fragrance notes and fi ll out a lifestyle questionnaire asking for information on lifestyle and notes that the customer favors or prefers to avoid,” he explained. “Then, we produce an initial sample, and with further input and revisions, the custom fragrance is produced.” Krenke also plans to do in-store events, where he will produce custom-blended fragrances for consumers on the spot, and said he looks forward to the input. “Having the client right in front of you can take the scent in a whole different direction,” he said. This service doesn’t come cheap — at $175 as a onetime custom fragrance fee and another $85 for Home Ambiance and $75 for candles. However, once the fragrance is set, consumers only pay for products going forward, noted Krenke.

The concept is specialized and so is the distribution strategy. “We don’t want to be everywhere,” Krenke said. “Indies are going to be our major focus.” In fact, Krenke — whose door count is already at 120 — will cap off stores at 300, a number he expects to hit by early next summer. “We can’t effectively service more than that globally,” he said. “We’re aiming to be in one outlet per market, and I am visiting each market personally to pick them out. I won’t sell to a store I haven’t visited.”

While Krenke declined to discuss sales projections, industry sources estimated that the Saint Parfum business would do upward of $10 million in retail sales in the next 12 months.

— J.N.

Polo Reaches for a New Generation With Modern Reserve

Beautorium’s Natural Beauty Approach Saint Parfum Heads Into Specialty StoresThe Modern Reserve ad.

Saint Parfum

diffusers.

Beautorium’s

organic Christmas

stocking.

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8 WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

The Beauty Report

By Andrea Nagel

HARD WORK CAN BRING REWARDS. Indeed, since 1999, when Lyn Kirby joined Ulta Salon,

Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. as chief executive offi cer, the beauty retailer has been working on keeping competitive — mainly in regard to its product mix — in an environ-ment that is ruled by Sephora, department stores, a nev-er-ending fl ow of boutiques and, of course, the mass mar-ket. But, despite the competition and an economy that is pulling no punches, Ulta is prevailing: The retailer even managed to pull off comparable-store sales growth of 3.7 percent in its most recent quarter ending Aug. 2, attrib-uted to both higher ticket sales and traffi c fl ow.

In a dramatic display of celebration — the 18-year-old company, which is headquartered in Romeoville, Ill., and operates 283 stores, is about to open an 18,000-square-foot unit on South State Street in Chicago, one that spans four floors, boasts a spi-ral staircase, new mass market merchandising, a 5,000-square-foot salon and new “boutiques” for popu-lar prestige brands. The store also marks Ulta’s fi rst urban location.

“We have price points for everyone, and we are not seeing a trade down,” said Kirby in a recent in-terview. “We like to be known as the category killer of beauty but with a specialty store experience.”

Ulta, which generated $912.1 million in fi scal 2007, an increase of 20.8 percent, is, according to Neely Tamminga, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, earning some of its success at the expense of other channels.

“Part of our thesis on Ulta as a company is tied to the fact that the department store is ceding share in multiple categories and beauty is no exception. Ulta is benefi tting not only by bringing in more prestige brands but by also being more customer centric…as Generation Y enters into its earning years. Specialty bou-tiques have catered to them.”

Ulta’s broad assortment (its product portfolio is fi lled with more than 500 brands across prestige and mass categories) offers it an opportunity to capture not only the prestige-brand customer but also the “masstige” consumer. And, it is continuing to pursue pres-tige deals.

In a Piper Jaffray note dis-closed on Oct. 7, Jaffray said that Ulta “is in the midst of growing its prestige brand portfolio through secur-ing new brands. Should this trend continue, we believe Ulta could likely benefi t from incremental average ticket gains.” Ulta remains Piper’s top unit-growth firm in its coverage, the note continued, with a projected outlook for a 25 percent unit year-over-year growth rate through fi scal year 2011. “We are encouraged that the company’s growth profi le remains intact despite the broader economic slow-down,” wrote Tamminga.

Kirby said she plans to close 2008 with 311 units, and that third-quarter estimates and goals have not been changed due to the recent economic plunge.

The new store, which has been under construction since January, is sure to let passers-by know what is going on inside 114 South State Street, most notably with a four-story image spanning the building’s facade that shows a glamorous woman inviting the public to check out the store.

“When you walk in on the fi rst fl oor, that is where the excitement is: prestige cosmetics,” said Lynn Buhler-Brandon, Ulta’s district manager in Chicago.

“Here, you will immediately see three boutiques,” she said, explaining that Bare Escentuals, Benefi t and Smashbox Studios each have their own store-in-store there, manned by brand-trained beauty advisers. “Each is also beautifully branded to portray the essence of

those brands,” said Buhler-Brandon. Additional pres-tige cosmetics brands, such as Lorac, Urban Decay and Too Faced are merchandised either on brand-specif-ic gondolas or on a wall surrounding the boutiques. Designer fragrances are also on the fi rst fl oor, such as Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and Estée Lauder. “In total we carry about 350 fragrances here. And, unique to this store are two exclusively branded fragrance boutiques, one for Ralph Lauren and one for Estée Lauder,” and within each is a place to highlight the lat-est, hottest fragrance. Currently, Notorious is featured in the Ralph Lauren boutique and Estée Lauder Sensuous is in the Lauder boutique.

An Advanced Skin Care department, men’s fra-grances and men’s skin care is also on this fl oor. The Advanced Skin Care section has an area specif-ically for the Dermalogica brand, as well as for skin mapping “to give advice on what suits a consumer’s

needs,” said Buhler-Brandon. The skin area also fea-tures Perricone, Murad, Kinerase and NeoStrata.

It should be noted that the “store is very brightly lit, very clean and has a branded feel to it, ” she said, add-ing that fi xtures feature brushed chrome for a sleek but “not cold” look. A natural section is here, too, but not a big one.

“She wants to look better fi rst. It has to be great products,” said Kirby.

The next fl oor is the mezzanine, a 2,000-square-foot area called the Color Library, that features mass mar-ket brands, including Revlon, Neutrogena, L’Oréal, Maybelline, as well as Ulta’s private label brand. Here, Ulta is merchandising products by usage (i.e., lip, eye, nail, face) rather than by brand, complete with testers. The mezzanine looks over the entire fi rst fl oor. This new merchandising system is now in about six Ulta stores.

“Mass is self service,” said Ulta’s Kirby in a recent

interview. “This will be a more fun experience.” She said the aim was to reinvent mass with the four “E’s”: esthetics, education, entertainment and escape.

The second fl oor is dedicated to professional hair care and appliances, such as Redken, Paul Mitchell, Matrix, Tigi, PureOlogy, T-3, Hot Tools and Conair. What Ulta refers to as “hair artistry” brands are also here

and include Frédéric Fekkai and Warren-Tricomi. Styling tools are displayed as testers so

guests can touch and feel them, and feel “the force of a blow-dryer,”

said Buhler-Brandon.The third, and top fl oor, is

where the salon is located compete with 12 chairs

and a spa. It is reached by a spiral staircase that allows a brief glimpse of the salon.

“We believe that if she can’t see what’s up the stairs, she won’t go,” said Kirby.

All types of treat-ments are available at the salon, including cut, color, facials and

waxing. Kirby is not arrogant

to believe Ulta will not be up against a challenging

holiday period. “Gas prices are playing into the shopping

trip,” she said. For the second quarter ended

Aug. 2, Ulta’s sales grew 24.3 per-cent to $249.1 million. Operating income grew 46.2 percent to $7.2 million, which includes incre-mental preopening expenses of $1.2 million. Net income in-creased 67.2 percent to $3.7 mil-lion. Income per diluted share was 6 cents, compared with a loss per diluted share of 23 cents in the second quarter of fi scal 2007. Ulta opened 18 new stores during the quarter.

Jason Gere, a senior analyst at Wachovia, views Ulta’s new South State Street store as a way for the chain to test out its suc-cessful merchandising strategy in a bigger box and to not be limited to its current 10,000-square-foot store average. It seems Ulta may need more real estate options as it embarks on opening 81 new stores next year and another 100 units in 2010.

“This is a way to see if they can make the model work with any size,” he said. “It also may represent more real estate op-portunities. I really think the success of the format has been what is in the store not the 10,000 square feet. It gives them more options to pick more real estate sites and to do more de-mographics research in their due diligence.”

Kirby admitted that she “wants to learn with this one,” referring to the store, which she

will not refer to as a fl agship since they “usually are expensive but don’t produce.”

Gere said that Ulta is not exempt from what the economy can do to a business, but it is well poised to tackle hardship: “They are not recession proof but they are recession resilient, like the beauty category. Having the one-stop shopping concept has been a help and also being away from the malls — the outlets that are closer to home as opposed to making separate trips help.”

Gere is also impressed by Ulta’s comps and he be-lieves the chain’s promotions are helping to drive sales.

In a recent proprietary survey of 25 retail locations (10 Ulta, 10 Sephora, and fi ve freestanding boutiques), Gere learned that the distribution of Bare Escentuals Getting Started kits “could modestly benefi t sales at Ulta locations more immediately” since most consul-tants there indicated that the sampling initiative has been very popular to date, with consumers rarely leav-ing the store “empty handed.”

Ulta Marks Gains With Chicago Store

“When you walk in on the fi rst fl oor, that is where the excitement is: prestige cosmetics. ”

— Lynn Buhler-Brandon, Ulta

Inside Ulta’s newly opened store on Chicago’s State Street. Inset: Ulta’s Color Library of mass makeup brands.

WWD.COM9WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

WWD.COM

NEW YORK — Jane & Company has deemed its Be Pure Mineral collection a smash hit. Now the cos-metics company hopes to repeat its success with an extension to the line, called AguaCeuticals, that features active natural ingredients.

There’s a rush of natural and organic cosmet-ics lines coming into the mass market. But Lisa Yarnell, chief executive offi cer of Jane, believes her line stands out because of its price points and use of hydrating ingredients in the formula.

Industry sources estimate AguaCeuticals could add $20 million in retail sales to Jane’s portfolio in one year.

The use of moisturizing ingredients combined with certifi ed organics goes way beyond a natural po-sitioning, said Yarnell. “This isn’t just about tree hug-gers. This is about water and hydration and at a price everyone feels is worth a try,” Yarnell explained. “It is for tree huggers and regular Jane hockey moms.”

She agreed there is much confusion in the market about what is and what is not natural or organic. Marketers are scurrying to be blessed with seals or proof that their ingredients are natural. But Yarnell said AguaCeuticals’ mes-sage stretched beyond the natural positioning to be effective. “What customers really want to see is results,” she said. To that end, there are some products that are not 100 percent organic such as mascaras and facial products where the company thought it was crucial to have SPF 30.

The majority of AguaCeuticals’ formulas are composed of active natural and cer-tifi ed organic ingredients, including white and green tea, olive oil, aloe and lemon balm, as well as a comfrey complex designed to hydrate and moisturize skin and reduce the appearance of fi ne lines.

The exterior packaging also refl ects a green positioning and each card notes what

percent comprises post-consumer recyclable materials. Ninety percent of AguaCeuticals packaging is 100 percent recyclable or made with post-con-sumer recycled materials, according to the company.

Jane’s entry will come onto the market in December with three launch prepacks featuring tinted moisturizers, bronzers, blushers and mousse eye shadows. The full 51-stockkeeping unit program will roll out for spring planograms with a goal of securing 1 foot of space next to Be Pure Mineral. The lineup includes Sheer Tinted Moisturizers, AguaGlow Bronzer, AguaMousse Eye Shadow, Cooling Eyestix, Agua Blushstix, Agua Lipstix

and Natural Mascara with Natural Olive Oil and Pro-Vitamin B. Prices range from $5 to $8.

There will be print advertising and spe-cial newspaper coupon inserts touting

AguaCeuticals debuting in March. In-store activity will include wing racks composed of recycled materials.

Much new product activity at mass is centered around natural cosmetics entries. First to market was Physicians Formula with OrganicWear, followed by Natural Beauty by

Carmindy and Almay’s Pure Blends, to name a few. Natural has become the next step after

minerals which helped lure shoppers from de-partment and specialty stores to mass. Jane’s Be

Pure is the number-one mineral brand in the mass channel based on equivalized point per distribution basis, according to ACNielsen data provided by Jane.

Under the guidance of Yarnell, Jane has been steadily redeveloping its distribution to national levels, which had diminished prior to the sale of the line from the Estée Lauder Cos. The company is in about 15,000 doors versus only about 4,000 in 2004 when the brand was divested by Lauder. As an added benefi t, research has revealed that Jane is gath-ering a big following with Hispanic consumers — a growing national market segment. Concluded Yarnell, “Consumers are very smart and immediately recognize great quality and value. That is why Jane is trending up 20 percent same-store sales every quarter.”

By Molly Prior

BOSTON — Beiersdorf AG wants consumers to know be-hind every feel-good lotion is a mountain of science.

The Hamburg, Germany-based beauty fi rm is now taking that message to the U.S., literally.

Last week, the company outfi tted a large confer-ence room at the Westin Copley Place hotel here with enough scientifi c instruments to make the eyes of NASA engineers widen in excitement.

The R&D exhibit was part of Beiersdorf ’s global leadership conference, an annual gathering of the fi rm’s senior management team and the heads of each business unit. The consumer products company ranks seventh among the world’s top beauty companies with a portfolio that in-cludes, but is not limited to, Nivea, Eucerin and luxury skin care brand La Prairie.

Beiersdorf ’s Nivea brand has spent the last two years working to better ingratiate itself with U.S. con-sumers, and shift its positioning from functional skin care to beauty prod-ucts with an emotional pull.

The brand is a staple in medicine cabinets and showers throughout Europe, and the company’s aim is to make Nivea a mainstay in U.S. con-sumers’ lives as well.

“We were very excited that this year’s meeting was happening in the U.S. It gave us an opportunity to showcase our progress here,” said Iain Holding, president of North America, noting the U.S. is one of the company’s key markets.

Nivea sells products across 14 categories globally, but to date its U.S. strategy has focused primarily on skin care. “At the heart of our strategy — alongside in-novation — is strengthening Nivea’s brand equity by connecting with U.S. consumers with a strong emotion-al message,” said Holding. To that end, its marketing efforts have centered on the concept of feeling beauti-ful. The brand ushered in this strategy in 2006 with the launch of its very sensuous “Touch and Be Touched” ad campaign for Smooth Sensation body lotion. In July, Nivea expanded its platform to lip care, adopting the tag line “Kiss and Be Kissed” for the purpose. Ad spots for Nivea Lip Care are equally intimate and feature a song by Welsh singer-songwriter Duffy.

“We’ve taken Touch and Be Touched to a new level,” said Holding. “Lip care in the U.S. is a category that’s

become about dry and chapped lips. We’re making it all about the emotional benefi t of kissing. We want to own kissing in the United States with the Nivea brand.” Holding said that lip care along with recent introduc-tion of products like Good-bye Cellulite Gel-Cream — backed by the Good-bye Cellulite, Hello Bikini Challenge — have helped broaden Nivea’s appeal to more consumer groups.

The tactic for Eucerin is to nurture the brand’s ther-apeutic skin care heritage. Describing the advertising efforts, Nicolas Maurer, vice president of marketing for Beiersdorf, said, “It’s emotionally engaging, but more from a problem-solution standpoint. It’s always a realistic message.” For

instance, he noted the tag line for Eucerin Everyday Protection, available in a body lotion with SPF 15 and a face lotion with SPF 30, is “You can’t always avoid the sun, but you can be ready for it.”

In the U.S., Nivea has fortifi ed its position in men’s care with its Nivea for Men franchise and in body care with a broadening offering. Lip care has rolled out to full distribution, and more categories are said to be on deck. Maurer acknowledged, “In an ideal world, we would want to see Nivea as strongly represented [in terms of categories] in the U.S. as it is in Europe. That’s

the ideal picture.” He added that the time line for this ambition is uncertain.

The current focus, Holding reminded, is on build-ing a number-one position in skin care. On that front, Nivea seems to be making long strides.

According to ACNielsen data provided by Beiersdorf, Nivea ranked second on the list of mass-market hand and body care products during the latest 13-week pe-riod ended Sept. 20, 2008.

ACNielsen data also indicates Nivea body care sales have gained 53.6 percent in the past two years for the period ended Sept. 20.

To develop the innovations behind that growth, Nivea’s 125-year-old parent company relies on a team of 800 scientists, all of whom are based in Hamburg, said Dr. Klaus-Peter Wittern, corporate vice president re-search and development for Beiersdorf. “Understanding

the skin is one of our core competencies, and making products is another core competency,” said Wittern,

adding the aim is to make products that are senso-rial with distinct profi les and to then prove the effi cacies of the formulas. “Before you can detect an effect, you need certain methods to investi-gate the structure of the skin to be able to de-termine the different actives and their primary effect on the skin. So our work starts with bioen-gineering to develop the techniques needed to

have a better look into the skin.”He noted that it generally takes seven to eight

years to identify an active ingredient, conduct pre-liminary experiments to prove its effi cacy and make

a product that substantiates all the claims involved. “That’s the same timeline for pharma-ceuticals, and the documentation pro-cess is the same,” said Wittern. To sub-stantiate its cosmetic claims, Beiersdorf has mined the automobile and the space industries for technology, which it then retools for its purposes. For instance, a laser body scanning machine in the R&D exhibit has been used in the fashion in-dustry for custom-made suits and in the car industry for seat design. Beiersdorf is the fi rst beauty company to use the machine, said a scientist on hand.

Other tools include an eye scanner than can track where a subject’s eyes

move when looking at a print ad or a new product label, and an age stimulator that based on thousands of imag-es will generate a computer image of how a brave test subject will look when she is 72 years old.

Wittern acknowledged that the R&D team works closely with the marketing arm to communicate these advancements and product claims to consumers.

“The scientifi c part is easy,” he said. “The most chal-lenging part is to build a bridge to transfer that scien-tifi c information to consumers.”

Jane Digs Deep Into Natural With AguaCeuticals

The Science Behind Beiersdorf

criticalmassFaye Brookman

by

upadding

beauty

Pre-pack display of AguaCeuticals eye products.

Nivea introduced Lip Care in July.

An ad visual for Nivea Lip Care.

10 WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

The HBA Report WWD.COM

Treatment Line Takes Cue from BalletEN POINTE SKIN SOLUTIONS, A NEW SKIN CARE line developed by plastic surgeon Christine Rodgers and named for the ballet dance step of standing on the tip of one’s toes, aims to address stress, hormone-related con-ditions, aging and cancer treatment and recovery.

“En Pointe is one step in a plan to empower women,” said Rodgers, who is herself a breast cancer survivor and wanted to create a skin care line to help women embrace their self-confi dence.

Billed as the fi rst skin care line created by a female plastic surgeon, En Pointe products employ a propri-etary ingredient called Bio-Energy Complex, which is derived in part from botanicals and is said to help re-store, replenish and revitalize the skin. Products also are designed to moisturize, exfoliate, fi ght acne and the appearance of aging, brighten and promote colla-gen synthesis.

The 11-item line uses ballet terms in the names of its products because Rodgers developed a love of ballet during her cancer treatment.

There’s the Adagio Gentle Cleanser, 6 oz. for $32, and Toner, 6.8 oz. for $35; Balancé Clarifying Cleanser, 6 oz.

for $32, and Toner, 6.8 oz. for $35, and three serums: Eclairci C, Encore Renewal and Precision A. Each serum comes in a 1-oz. pump and the Encore serum is priced at $85, while the remaining two are $75 each.

The line also includes Bravo Daytime Hydration with SPF 30, 1 oz. for $65; Fouette Firming Moisturizer, a 1-oz. antiaging night cream for $85; Pas de Trois Age Delay Eye Solution, 0.5 oz. for $75, and Pirouette Bamboo Microderm, 6 oz. for $45.

The products, which are made with plant extracts and oils, are free of soy and growth factors. Packaging aims for a feminine quality, with pink and silver letter-ing. On the front of each product is a stylized graphic depicting the Chinese symbol for dance, which pays homage to Rodgers’ adoptive daughter, who is Chinese.

En Pointe, which is to be launched this month at empoweryourskin.com, could generate $1.6 million in fi rst-year retail sales, according to industry sources.

The brand also is targeting distribution in selected department stores, apothecaries and beauty boutiques in the U.S.

— Alissa Cherry

By Andrea Nagel

SILHOUETTE INTERNATIONAL, THE AUSTRIAN eyeglass maker, is aiming to nudge its way into the beau-ty world by positioning its rimless glasses as an acces-sory for makeup lovers.

Arnold Schmied, the eldest son of the company’s founders, Anneliese and Arnold, explained that big, oversized frames are “so yesterday” and that his com-pany’s rimless designs stand to be the trend of the fu-ture. Schmied, who oversees the fam-ily’s 48-year-old, privately held fi rm, said the rimless look enables users to really showcase their eye makeup and well-groomed brows.

During a recent trip to Manhattan — the company’s U.S. headquarters are based in Albany, N.Y., where Schmied resides and runs American subsidiary Silhouette Optical Ltd. with his younger brother, Klaus, — Schmied explained that a business de-cision made last year led the company to move completely to rimless eye-wear. The design, known as the Titan Minimal Art, was started 10 years ago by Silhouette, he said, and has attract-ed the likes of international celebri-ties, such as Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky, and has even penetrated NASA by traveling in space over 20 times with NASA astronauts.

In a twist of public relations fate, rimless glasses have been spotlighted in recent months as they are the chosen eyewear of Republican vice presidential candi-date Sarah Palin. While Palin does not wear Silhouette glasses (according to several news reports she wears Kazuo Kawasaki frames), the company is eager to outfi t

Alaska’s governor with a special pair. “With Ms. Palin’s rigorous campaign schedule, career demands and growing family, [a pair of] beautifully styled, custom-tailored Silhouettes with limitless vision and perfect comfort would be a perfect pairing,” said Diana Marino, Silhouette’s brand manager.

In addition to the free p.r. boost Silhouette is gaining from Palin’s choice of glasses style, makeup artist Mary Greenwell attended the brand’s recent beauty press event to help promote Silhouette as a beauty junkie’s

best friend. There she discussed how rimless glasses “accentuate makeup” since there is no obstacle blocking lids or brows.

To make selecting a pair of glasses easy, there are three different collec-tions within Silhouette, referred to as Silhouette Lifestyle Worlds. There’s Essential, which showcases time-less, minimalist designs. Then there’s Extravagant, which features bold inter-plays of colors and materials. And, the Luxury collection aims to be elegant, with eyewear made specifi cally for spe-cial occasions. A renovated display sys-tem complete with a brand look book is expected to hit the market in January to help promote Silhouette in stores.

Silhouette offers both ophthalmo-logic glasses and sunglasses; the oph-thalmologic range wholesales from

$104.95 to $145.95. In addition to the Silhouette brand, the company also produces and markets worldwide models of the licensed brands Daniel Swarovski crystal eyewear and Adidas eyewear. Silhouette eyewear is sold in more than 100 countries. The company generates U.S. sales of about $100 million to $125 million, according to industry sources.

The En Pointe assortment.

FIRMENICH CHAIR: Vernon Sankey has been elected chairman of Firmenich’s board of directors. He replaces Jean-Marc Bruel, who will retire from the role after an eight-year tenure. Sankey, who took up the chairman role Thursday, joined Firmenich’s board in 2006. He is also a member of the boards of Zurich Financial Services AG and Atos Origin SA. Bruel joined Firmenich’s board in 1995 and was named chairman in 2000. He was the fi rm’s fi rst nonfamily chairman since Firmenich was founded in 1895. In other Firmenich news, the privately owned fi rm reported sales for the year ended June 30 hit 2.85 billion Swiss francs, or $2.52 billion at current exchange. That equates to a 13.5 percent increase in Swiss francs and an 18.4 percent hike in local currencies. Its perfumery division generated double-digit growth in the period. “In fi ne fragrance we achieved a robust sales progression and again posted the highest win rate for new market launches,” the fi rm stated.

LONG ROAD TO CVS: The battle for Longs Drug Stores may be fi nally over. Walgreen Co. chief executive Jeffrey A. Rein issued a letter to Longs Drug Stores stating it was withdrawing its takeover offer of about $2.8 billion. The letter states Longs refused to “engage in a constructive dialogue.” Last month, Longs decided to accept a lower bid from CVS Caremark.

REGIS UP: Salon operator Regis Corp. posted fi rst-quarter revenues of $680.2 million, a 1.9 percent increase from $667.5 million in the same period a year ago, as overall same-store sales slipped by 1.6 percent. Hair services accounted for the bulk of sales at the 13,500-unit chain, generating 70.3 percent of revenues, or $478.1 million, while product sales accounted for 28.1 percent of revenues, or $191.4 million. “Consumers are cutting back and as a result we are seeing a slowdown in spending and visitation patterns,” Paul D. Finkelstein, chairman and chief executive offi cer of Regis, said of effects of the economic environment on same store sales. He added that fi rst-quarter earnings from operations are now expected to be near or slightly below the low end of the fi rm’s guidance range of 41 to 47 cents a share.

PIER 1 VENTURE: Pier 1 Imports Inc. is taking a bigger stride into beauty. The 1,100-store retailer, which began carrying a spa product line from Thailand called Prann a year ago and added a body care line from Israel called Nature’s Minerals in July, is poised to launch no less than fi ve collections of bath and body care products and accessories for spring. The lines, which include monikers like Freesia, Seaside Mist and Pink Grapefruit, were unveiled during a press event at Gary’s Loft this week. Prices across the different lines range from $1.50 to $30, and the collections are slated to be launched during January, February and April.

L’OREAL MASTERS: L’Oréal is going back to school. The French beauty giant is sponsoring the law and business ethics masters degree at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, in France’s Val-d’Oise department. The program will begin in 2009. “It is the fi rst diploma of its kind in Europe,” said Emmanuel Lulin, L’Oréal’s director of ethics and sponsor of the law and business ethics masters class of 2009. “Business ethics is a complex subject, which needs to be addressed with humility and determination. The global leaders of tomorrow are those companies who have integrated ethics into their strategic planning but also [into] their everyday business practices.” L’Oréal also supports the university’s law and business ethics chair, which was created in July 2007.

RAMOS DEBUT: Hairstylist Robert Ramos launched his namesake hair care line at the Estilo Salon in Los Angeles Monday night. Ramos’ Hollywood client list includes Jessica Alba, who attended the launch event with husband Cash Warren and actress Jaime King, and Bette Midler, whose tresses Ramos handles for her Las Vegas shows. Robert Ramos Products includes four, 8-oz. items: Daily Moisture Shampoo for $23, Daily Moisture Conditioner for $23, Spray Leave-In Conditioner for $25 and Volumizer for $31. Ramos called the Volumizer, which contains hydrolyzed algae and rice protein, the star of the initial selection. “It was important to me to have something that would give you body and volume, but wouldn’t beat up your hair,” he said. “The algae really seals the hair and protects it from environmental assault, and the rice protein gives you the texture and the body.” The line is sold at Estilo and robertramos.com, and Ramos expects it to generate $250,000 in fi rst-year sales.

SNIPPETS

Silhouette Angle: Rimless Glasses Show Off Makeup

An image from Silhouette’s upcoming beauty campaign.

WWD.COM11WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

Continued from page oneover the past year, including: Chico’s FAS Inc., down 76 percent; Macy’s Inc., 65.6 percent; Saks Inc., 64.4 percent, and J. Crew Group Inc., 51.1 percent. Value mecca Wal-Mart Stores Inc., however, has bucked the trend, registering a 15.7 percent rise in its share price over the last 12 months.

The expected global recession and extremely limited ac-cess to credit might well spur further bankruptcies and hit the accelerator on an industry consolidation that was already reshap-ing the fashion landscape.

“I started in retailing at the end of the Great Depression, in 1938, and retailers were falling by the wayside one after another,” Ira Neimark, former Bergdorf Goodman chairman, said. “The small ones dropped out, but the ones who had the fi nancial backing were able to continue.”

That process could be repeating itself and the retail veteran suggested a cautious, survival-minded approach for stores.

“When a heck of a storm is coming up, just lower your sails and ride it out rather than try to fi ght it,” Neimark said.

The go-go days of store growth might make waiting out the fi nancial storm harder than it would have been otherwise, however.

“If nothing else, the stores realized they have all, without exception, overexpand-ed,” Neimark said.

Stores such as Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks and Macy’s will all suffer economically, but are strong enough to come back, he said, noting solo stores run by individual designers might also fl ourish when the consumer comes back.

In the markets on Thursday, the return of the consumer seemed to be the last thing on investors’ minds.

Department stores with double-digit losses to their market capitalizations includ-ed Macy’s, down 14.2 percent to $11.46; J.C. Penney Co. Inc., 14.1 percent to $23.42; Dillard’s Inc., 12 percent to $8.50; Sears Holdings Corp., 11.7 percent to $67.31, and Kohl’s Corp., 10.7 percent to $33.16.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co., which on Thursday posted a 14 percent drop in September comparable-store sales, saw its shares fall 14.8 percent to $27.69, while shares of Chico’s, which comped down 15.9 percent, fell 13.4 percent to $3.61. Other specialty stores with double-digit declines were Aéropostale Inc., down 11.4 percent to $24.16; The Cato Corp., 11.5 percent to $12.21, and New York & Company Inc., 10.6 percent to $6.70.

Among apparel vendors, Liz Claiborne Inc. fell 11 percent to $12.34; Jones Apparel Group Inc., 10 percent to $12.76; VF Corp., 8.8 percent to $57.76; Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., 7.5 percent to $47.55, and G-III Apparel Group Ltd., 6.9 percent to $13.69.

Also on Thursday, a fresh batch of retailers outlined just how the credit crunch and other macroeconomic woes strained consumer’s discretionary dollars and willingness to spend in September.

Though most retail fi rms reported comparable-store sales on Wednesday this month in observance of Yom Kippur, several stuck to the traditional Thursday release date. They did not fare any better than the early birds.

In perhaps the clearest sign of a slowdown in consumer spending, off-pricers, which had been comping up, showed they weren’t immune to the declines hurting other retailers.

Same-store sales fell 2 percent at Ross Stores Inc. and 1 percent at The TJX Cos. Inc. Executives at both companies said they expect comps to remain fl at through the end of the year. In light of the prediction, TJX lowered its third-quarter earnings-per-share guidance to 55 to 58 cents from the 59 cents to 62 predicted in August.

Weather patterns, which were unseasonably warm in some parts of the country and brought three hurricanes to the southeast, further weakened sales.

For TJX, business improved with the weather.“We were pleased to see sales trends in the U.S. dramatically improve at the end

of the month as the weather turned more seasonal in key regions,” Carol Meyrowitz, president and chief executive offi cer, said.

Abercrombie, for one, said it would not be restrained by its 14 percent comp drop for the month.

“During this time of extraordinary macroeconomic distress, it is important for us

to manage the business with a seasoned and disciplined approach that will protect our brands for the long term and better position them for an eventual turnaround in consumer spending,” Mike Jeffries, chairman and chief

executive offi cer at Abercrombie, said. “We will continue our planned investment in international growth opportuni-

ties and avoid promotional pricing.”The Gap Inc. umbrella staved off larger dives at two of its

three brands. The group reported a 3 percent slip at Gap stores and a 4 percent falloff at Banana Republic. Old Navy, however, post-

ed a 24 percent decline in comps.Mark Montagna, equity analyst at CL King & Associates, said stock

adjustments at Old Navy hindered the company as a whole.“It has been known that Old Navy would struggle and that by yearend its

inventory would be rebalanced with regard to fashion, fashion-basics and ba-sics,” Montagna wrote in a research note. “The Old Navy division merchandise

margins offset some of the progress in the other divisions.”Though specialty was the scene of some of the worst comp slides, the sector also

provided two bright spots. September sales at American Apparel Inc. increased 15 percent and The Buckle Inc. reported a 19.7 percent comps boost.

In the department store sector, comps fell 13.6 percent at Stage Stores Inc. and 11.8 percent at Gottschalks Inc.

Overall, comps at U.S. chain stores rose 1.0 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers Inc.

“This was the weakest sales growth of any September since 2001 when the industry was in a recession and facing the aftermath of 9/11,” Michael P. Niemira, chief econo-mist and director of research, said. “But even with all this gloom there were a few bright spots, such as wholesale clubs, which had underlying sales strength that was fi ve times the overall industry.”

Prior to the stock sell-off that began in earnest around 3 p.m., investors appeared to take some solace from reports that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. might use some of the $700 billion in funds authorized by Congress to invest directly in banks — a level of government involvement in markets that harkens back to the Thirties. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve moved in concert with six other central banks and lowered interest rates in hopes of freeing the fl ow of capital through the fi nancial system.

Despite these and other moves by policy makers, investor sentiment has gone from bad to worse. Some areas of the industry that are already in fl ux, such as the juncture between the vendors and the department stores, could be in for even more change.

“It is absolutely time for them to reinvent themselves and come up with a new model to, really survive,” Fritz Winans, former Liz Claiborne Inc. executive and presi-dent of sourcing specialist Loyaltex Apparel USA Inc., said.

Everything from lead times to development processes are going to have to change, he said.

“It’s a time to really break some glass and move into a new cycle,” Winans said. “New ideas are birthed from diffi cult times like this, I think that we’ll see new mod-els, new ideas.”

The fi nancial calamity could also be seen as the separation point between epochs. The turmoil could be an opportunity to “sever ourselves from the 20th century and

move forward into the 21st,” Edie Weiner, a principal at Weiner, Edrich, Brown Inc., a futurist consulting group, said. “It’s a serious growing pain.”

However the landscape changes, the consumer can be expected to keep her stripes, she said.

“From the beginning of time, we have been consumption animals,” Weiner said. “I don’t think we’ll ever see a time when people will want not to express themselves through their purchases somehow. This is a time to really rethink a model that will hold strong for the 21st century, to rethink it in a way that isn’t about dumping inventory.”

Going forward, Weiner said fashion should fi gure out how to deliver affordable luxu-ry, basics that can be built upon and used in several ways and long-wearing classics that outlive fads. She also said retailers can revolutionize the idea of recyclables, selling second-hand goods in their stores and reconsider their own employees as customers.

0.23 0.16 NexCen (NEXC) - 376454 0.23 52.32

0.48 0.30 Nitches (NICH) - 7131 0.41 16.64

288 247 Asos * (ASC:L) 38.8 1850423 269 14.10

1.8 1.65 Ashworth (ASHW) - 21088 1.80 11.11

0.25 0.23 IT Holding * (ITH:MI) - 1609055 0.23 6.39

0.66 0.62 Safi lo * (SFL:MI) 5.0 4926314 0.64 6.25

0.99 0.86 Hartmarx (HMX) - 57293 0.91 5.81

1.03 0.95 Birks & Mayors (BMJ) 2.2 75226 1.00 5.26

5.70 5.38 Benetton Group * (BEN:MI) 7.0 824581 5.60 4.61

0.45 0.40 Charles & Colvard (CTHR) - 11565 0.40 3.92

10 BEST PERFORMERS DAILY COMPANIES P/E VOLUME AMT

HIGH LOW LAST %CHANGE

5.5 5.00 Hampshire (HAMP) - 2500 5 -32.80

2.70 1.66 Stein Mart (SMRT) - 192317 1.72 -32.02

5.69 3.84 General Growth (GGP) 22.5 16585951 3.90 -27.78

21.40 16.00 Developers Diversifi ed (DDR) 20.2 5367138 16.00 -24.56

2.60 1.75 Crocs (CROX) 2.2 3649924 1.90 -22.45

22.73 16.76 Zale (ZLC) 91.8 1572767 18.01 -21.53

3.19 2.45 Casual Male (CMRG) - 123290 2.52 -19.75

13.58 11.25 Zumiez (ZUMZ) 16.4 658677 11.25 -18.60

0.58 0.22 Tarrant Apparel (TAGS) - 16132 0.49 -18.33

4.89 3.76 Coldwater Creek (CWTR) - 1505227 3.87 -17.48

10 WORST PERFORMERS DAILY COMPANIES P/E VOLUME AMT

HIGH LOW LAST %CHANGE

* Editor’s note: European stocks are quoted in the currency of their principal exchanges. Shares on the London Stock Exchange are quoted in pence, Richemont and The Swatch Group are quoted in Swiss francs and Hennes

& Mauritz is quoted in Swedish kronor. All other European stocks are in euros.

Retails Stocks Slammed as Economic Concerns GrowFinancial For full daily stock changes,

see WWD.com.

12 WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

“MOST OF THEM COULD STILL WORK TODAY,” RENZO ROSSO SAID OF DIESEL’S ADS from the last 30 years, which were in turns both groundbreaking and controversial.

Flipping through the book “XXX Years of Diesel Communication,” Rosso said he “relived the emotions” he felt at the time of each campaign. The tome is a compendium of the images that have shaped and refl ected the company’s path as it grew into a global lifestyle brand. Well aware of the impact the photos had, Rosso conceded that “when you start down a new road, the fi rst steps are hard and not many people understand you.”

Being misunderstood clearly never worried Rosso, though. Diesel’s ads have included photographs of two sailor men kissing passionately (spring 1995); one urging viewers to drink urine in the “Save Yourself” campaign for fall 2001, and showed an African-American man pinning down at least three Caucasian women — given the number of legs and boots embracing his naked body (fall 2005). “This one was criticized, but I felt I had to do it,” Rosso said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

“Diesel invented a new language to communicate, which was initially not connected to the product,” said Stefania Saviolo, co-director of the Master in Fashion, Experience and Design Management program at Milan’s Bocconi University. “It was a brave move, because they were the fi rst to approach the lifestyle message.”

Diesel focused each campaign on its motto: “For Successful Living,” “Eventually, clothing and accessories became more central, but Diesel maintained an

innovative message, in line with its style,” said Saviolo. “Diesel is constant in its mood, innovation and creativity,” said Luca Scaini, professor of

international communication and marketing at Polimoda Institute in Florence. In reference to the brand’s “Global Warming” campaign by Terry Richardson for spring 2007, where, for example, New York is shown submerged by water, Scaini underscored how Diesel adroitly brings forth the message: “Will Diesel save the world or will it last beyond the world we know? The truth is in the brand: Diesel lives on.” Scaini said the contradiction lies in the fact that the images are “extraordinarily relaxing and pleasing,” in contrast with the message they should be transmitting.

The anniversary book, published by Rizzoli, includes images by photographers such as David LaChapelle, Ellen von Unwerth, Terry Richardson, Finlay McKay and Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot. Although Rosso refrains from electing his favorite campaign, he easily dismisses “The Future” ads

By Alessandra Ilari

MOLVENA, Italy — Renzo Rosso doesn’t like to do things small scale. Proving the point: Rosso plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his Diesel brand by organizing 17 parties in eight time zones — from Tokyo to New York via the likes of Dubai, Zurich, Munich and Oslo — all on Saturday night.

Diesel challenged its operations in each city to create a unique concept, from the giant “Rock ’n’ Roll Circus” à la Mick Jagger in New York, where Rosso will be and which will feature concerts by the likes of N.E.R.D., M.I.A. and Hot Chip, to an “entertainment spaceship” crash landing on Tokyo. And the parties will reach far beyond the 40,000 people expected to attend: They’ll also be shown live on the company’s Web site.

To further mark the occasion, Rosso created a pair of premium jeans called Dirty Thirty, symbolically priced at 30 euros, or $41, that will be on sale today only. The 30,000 pairs produced will be available in 160 select Diesel stores worldwide and at store.diesel.com. The special jeans are treated with a side abrasion and handmade repair patches. They’re custom-ized with the Roman numerals xXx on the back patch and the side embroi-dered with 1978-2008, while the buttons will be etched with Diesel 1978.

Beyond Rosso’s showmanship, the anniversary festivities show that the curly haired entrepre-neur is still as passionate and unconventional as he was in 1978, when he set up shop with Adriano Goldschmied. Well aware of his contribution to the denim world, Rosso doesn’t lack modesty when he toots his horn and analyzes the current fashion scene from atop his $1.78 billion empire.

Diesel annually churns out seven million pairs of fi ve-pocket jeans, with the ability to create as many as 880 variations on any given style. Rosso will unfl inchingly pull out of production a winning style, much to the frustration of his sales department. “It keeps the buzz and interest alive,” he explained.

But the brand is now much more than fi ve-pocket denim, and is split into several different subbrands. There is the exclusive Black Gold line, Diesel Denim Gallery and the sportier 55DSL. Diesel also is now part of a much larger group, Only the Brave Srl, which owns Viktor & Rolf and Martin Margiela as well as production powerhouse Staff International.

The creative reins at Diesel remain in the hands of Wilbert Das, the fl axen-haired Dutch designer, who also masterminds the brand’s irrever-ent ad campaigns — with Rosso’s input, of course (see sidebar).

Throughout its history, Diesel has focused on fi t, details, treatments and high-quality manufacturing — constants that have enabled the brand to survive and thrive in a fashion world Rosso believes is increasingly populated by fl ash-in-the-pan names. “Brands that are launched on a whim or without a strong experience are short lived,” contended Rosso, rubbing his eyes after a late-night celebratory bash with his employees at company headquarters here.

Clad in black jeans and a gray cashmere V-neck, Rosso said he views historical names such as Levi’s, Wrangler and Lee as competitors, but has little patience for designer branded denim. Citing Armani and Prada as ex-amples, he described the category as one that “infl ated the market without

any authenticity, history or know-how, hence its decline.”Of course, the likes of Levi’s and Wrangler could have

made the same charge against Rosso when he broke into the denim business 30 years ago, especially with a fashion product priced sig-nifi cantly higher than their more commodity denim jeans. “In many ways, we broke new ground, but we also suffered for that because in the beginning the retailers didn’t understand our product or why it was so expensive,” he explained.

Thirty years ago, in fact, Americans didn’t understand near tri-ple-digit price tags for a pair of jeans long considered basics — espe-cially ones that came in styles inspired by the vintage market and had holes. Rosso recalled he launched in America at a time when the prici-est jeans were Ralph Lauren’s, at $54, and he was trying to convince buyers to buy ones that retailed for $89.

But consumers responded, especially as they recognized such details as nickel-free rivets, trims that cost six times the price of cheaper ones; double loops that can fi t both thick and skinny belts, and the fi t. Equally important are the washes, dyes and treatments, a Diesel specialty from the beginning. The company never uses chlorine to bleach

or fade denim, but only water and stones, which means pro-longing the cycle from 30 minutes for a chemical wash to three hours for stones. Blotches and wear are never mechani-cal, but are obtained manually using “bricolage” machines.

“This is why our jeans age and fade very well and look better when they’re worn out. We gained experience here by studying 19th-century Levi’s that were manufactured with artisanal tech-niques,” said Rosso.

About 80 percent of Diesel’s U.S. inventory is manufactured in Italy, but when there’s a dearth of skilled craftsmen, it’s out-sourced to North Africa.

And, while the global economic meltdown has many brands running for cover, especially in America, Rosso said the U.S. continues to be the most profi table market for the brand, with annual sales advancing 25 percent and a megastore on Fifth Avenue slated to open early next year (see sidebar).

At 53, Rosso obviously has witnessed change on many fronts — social, technological and cultural — and has always moved to adapt to them. “I think I modifi ed the way of doing business with a younger, fresher and more technologically driven for-mat,” he said. He insisted, though, that he remained focused on his core principles: “I’ve kept my feet on the ground

“I think I modifi ed the way of doing business with a younger, fresher and more technologically driven format.

” — Renzo Rosso

Pushing the Edge on Ads

Three Decades

▲

Renzo Rosso▲

▲

WWD.COM13WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

JUST AS HE WENT AGAINST THE GRAIN WITH HIS ADVERTISING AND marketing, Renzo Rosso broke ground in the Nineties with a distinctive retail strategy.

At a time when designers were meticulously planting their fl ags around the world with a web of boutiques that all looked the same, Rosso stood out with his Diesel stores, each one different. His pleasure in fi nding varied objects to differentiate his stores is refl ected in his sprawling yet unassuming offi ce here, where Andy Warhol Mao portraits coexist with an American Indian totem, plastic skulls embellished with Diesel glasses, family photographs and other memorabilia.

The brand’s Hong Kong fl agship, which opened in May, exemplifi es Rosso’s vision, with its mix of East-meets-West, modern and vintage, luxury and casual elements. A luminous copper facade is juxtaposed with mesh-lined black glass, while, inside, industrial style concrete walls contrast with antique wood panels and shelves, white geometric three-dimensional tiled walls and black crackled slate or herringbone-patterned wooden fl oors. Vintage chandeliers stand out against high-tech modern lighting.

Not only is each store’s decor different — Rosso adapts the merchandise offering to the store and the location. “We know our consumer in each market, right down to the street,” he said, noting that even stores as close as the ones on New York’s Greene Street and on Broadway don’t carry the same goods.

“We create a desire in our customers and they look out for our different stores,” he said.

Whatever the location or design style, the indispensable rule of thumb for Rosso is to “always start from the product.” Other guidelines include a focus on service, shipments and merchandising, and a change in Diesel’s product offering in each store every month.

Rosso is currently focused on two major openings, in Milan next month and in New York’s Fifth Avenue in spring 2009. Located in a prime spot near Tiffany & Co., Prada, Bergdorf Goodman and Louis Vuitton, the three-story, 19,440-square-foot New York fl agship is poised to be the company’s jewel in the crown.

Rosso passionately describes the Fifth Avenue store as “any entrepreneur’s dream” and the fulfi llment of a long-harbored desire. And it’s a costly dream at that: he’s already pumped $18 million in the project, including redoing the building’s foundations and creating new staircases. Rosso said he expects the store to generate revenues of about $50 million a year.

The facade will be covered by a black metal and dark copper structure, with a yellow light running around the perimeter, and Diesel’s trademark Indian head logo etched into it. Conversely, the city of Milan has not allowed Rosso to experiment with the facade of the company’s upcoming store there, given the fact it’s in a historical, Fascist-era building in the center of town.

Diesel’s opening on Fifth Avenue forms another cornerstone in the brand’s drive to conquer the U.S. market, and, in a way, brings it full circle: Diesel’s fi rst-ever freestanding store opened in New York’s Lexington Avenue in March 1996, opposite Bloomingdale’s and next to Levi’s. Rosso said that 15,120-square-foot store continues to be “very profi table,” with sales of about $17 million a year. Overall, Diesel’s sales in the U.S. have grown by 25 percent this year.

The company currently has 360 stores and 5,000 multibrand points of sale worldwide. Wholesale and retail sales each account for one-half of Diesel’s turnover. Defi ning moments in the brand’s retail expansion were the openings of fl agships in Rome in 1996, in Paris in 2001, in Milan in 2003, in London’s Bond Street and Osaka, Japan, in 2006, and in Tokyo’s Ginza district in April. The latter is the company’s largest store in Japan and contains a number of high-tech devices. For example, a touch screen, interactive mirror refl ects the customer’s image on the display and at the same time, captures the image, allowing a two-sided view or even comparisons between looks with different outfi ts side by side.

One of the latest developments for Rosso is the sale of vintage, non-Diesel merchandise recovered through the Red Cross from a smaller, recently opened Osaka store — a project he said he plans to replicate in the new Milan fl agship. At the Osaka store, Rosso has also ventured into yet more new territory, experimenting with a radio station.

— L.Z.

and concentrated on making beautiful and innovative things that still give us emotions. And it’s not for the money.”

But he’s clearly a much richer man compared with when he graduated from the Marconi Technical Institute in 1975 and was hired by a manufacturing company called Moltex, working for Adriano Goldschmied. “They hired me to control production. It was a small company, only 18 employees,” Rosso recalled.

Goldschmied and Rosso developed a few brands to-gether and, in 1978, changed the company’s name to Genius Group, which counted Diesel among its fi rst brands. That year, Rosso became a partner. He and Goldschmied hit the road to sell their wares and by 1980 were ready to expand outside of Italy. And the Genius Group added more labels, as Goldschmied and Rosso developed brands including Replay and Goldie.

Eventually, though, Rosso became frustrated with managing so many brands. So, in 1985, he decided to strike out on his own and asked Goldschmied if he could buy Diesel, the one to which he felt closest. But as Diesel grew, Rosso began to once again add to his corporate stable while keeping the operations separate under his Only the Brave umbrella. In 2000, Rosso bought cash-strapped Staff International, the high-end manufacturer that produced for him, and two years later acquired

Martin Margiela, a partnership that initially raised eyebrows as the fl amboy-ant Rosso and secretive Belgian designer

differed as day from night. “All our designers have very strong and dif-

ferent personalities, so it was important for me to approach them gradually and sweetly to build a posi-tive environment,” Rosso said of how he convinced fi rst Margiela, and then the idiosyncratic duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren to sell to his company.

Today, Staff International is the manufacturing arm for the holding company’s businesses, which also include Sophia Kokosalaki, and holds licenses for the production and distribution for Dsquared and Vivienne Westwood.

Rosso describes Only the Brave as a “complex group built on solid foundations.” But he never wants to be too far removed from the day-to-day operations of the company, nor the brand on which it was founded: Diesel. For example, he says he’s elated when consumers recognize him on the streets and want to shake hands.

“These 30 years have fl own. I may have changed my way of doing business, but not my sentiments, my stimuli,” said Rosso. “But the day I won’t be as passionate anymore, I will pass down the torch.”

of Diesel

for spring 2005 and the reasons afford a glimpse into his modus operandi: “Everyone is dancing on the streets, it’s too complex and busy. I don’t have a feeling for it,” he said.

Most of the campaigns are in color, except for the latest, for fall 2008, shot by John Scarisbrick. “We did colors in the Nineties, when everyone was doing black and white,” Rosso recalled.

There are also a number of previously unpublished photos, such as one portraying members of the Catholic, Jewish and Muslim faiths shot by Henrik Halvarsson for fall 2005 against the backdrop of what appears to be a desert. “It was just too sensitive an issue to tackle,” Rosso admitted.

And while some observers might disagree, given the outcry Diesel’s ads have generated over the years, Rosso said he draws the line at bad taste. “Irony yes, but never bad taste.”

That said, showing his inclination for controversy hasn’t waned, Rosso has just given the green light to a video clip he himself describes as “borderline,” which is currently airing on the company’s Web site. Playing on the triple X pun, the video is a revisited version of various porn clips, where colorful cartoon characters are superimposed on the original images. The result? One million viewers on the fi rst day, according to Diesel.

Rosso, who invests 7 percent of the company’s sales in advertising and communication, has recently explored other media, for example launching Diesel’s innerwear line last year with a fi ve-day reality show on the Internet held in a hotel room in Madrid. “The Internet allows a more direct dialogue with our customers,” said Rosso.

The company’s anniversary party will also be broadcast live on the site. Last year, Diesel also experimented with a runway show at Pitti Uomo, Florence’s international men’s wear exhibition, showing holograms on the catwalk rather than real-life models.

Next up? “My dream is to do a soap opera for the Internet, our very own ‘Dallas’ in the Diesel spirit, in a modern and fresh way,” said Rosso.

— Luisa Zargani

A Different Approach

Clockwise from left: Ads from spring 1995, spring 1992 and spring 2001.

The Hong Kong store.

Diesel in Ginza, Tokyo.

Rihanna

Kate Moss in Diesel Louvely.

▲ Rosario Dawson

WWD.COM14 WWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008

MEMO PAD

Media/Advertising

imageOF THE WEEKMILAN — After a two-year hiatus, Ruffo owner Giacomo Corsi is

relaunching the brand, as well as the Ruffo Research experimen-tal line.

With new management in place, Corsi is fi nalizing an agreement with a designer who will be in charge of the Ruffo Research line, while Ruffo will be designed by an in-house team. Corsi also plans to reopen the brand’s shuttered Milan boutique off Via Montenapoleone.

Ruffo in the past has supplied leatherwear to designers such as Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli, but was hit hard by low-cost competition and outsourcing.

Ruffo Research was introduced in 1998 and suspended in 2003 because of diffi cult market conditions. The collections were created by different designers every year. The last was Haider Ackermann, who followed Alexander Mathieu, Sophia Kokosalaki, Veronique Branquinho and Raf Simons. In spring 2004, Corsi said he was relaunching Ruffo Research with Riccardo Tisci, but the project fell through two months into the relationship when Corsi suspended the collection.

— Luisa Zargani

Corsi Bringing Back Ruffo

KARL’S BLACK BOOK: Fervent bookworm Karl Lagerfeld, whose personal library is the size of a ballroom, is the latest designer invited to reinvent the holiday edition of France’s “Le Petit Larousse Illustré” (“Larousse Small Illustrated Dictionary”). The cover of the limited edition, matte black tome, due for release Nov. 4, features a corner illustration by Lagerfeld of the famous Larousse “Semeuse,” or “Seed-Scatterer,” blowing a puff of dandelion seeds in her birthday suit and a pair of blue, elbow-length gloves. The book’s black case features a photo-cum-sketch, self-portrait of the designer, with the words “Habillé par Karl Lagerfeld” (“Dressed by Karl Lagerfeld”) scrawled in silver. Adding further pomp to the occasion, Lagerfeld has even made it into the dictionary’s proper nouns section for the fi rst time, along with the likes of Björk, Marion Cotillard and Brad Pitt.

MIAMI’S NEW HOT SPOT: Miami’s Design District is gaining some heavyweight fashion retailers. According to a spokeswoman for Dacra, a Miami-based real estate development fi rm that owns much of the neighborhood’s property, Marni plans to open its fi rst freestanding store in Florida in a 2,800-square-foot space near to Art Basel Miami Beach in early December. And following the fl ight of many independent businesses from South Beach to the Design District’s NE 40th Street, Tomas Maier plans to close his eponymous South Beach store and reopen at 170 NE 40th Street in November. The 6,000-square-foot, freestanding building, which formerly housed a Kartell showroom, more than doubles the size of his original store, which will enable Maier to display more accessories, home items and books. Another U.S. store is slated to open this spring, but Maier wouldn’t disclose the city. The only other fashion retailers currently in the Design District area are Y-3 and En Avance, a men’s and women’s designer boutique that relocated from South Beach’s Lincoln Road in 2008.

BEIJING FLASHBACK: Next Tuesday’s 29th annual Salute to Women in Sports Awards Dinner’s honorees will bring back memories from Beijing. The evening at the Waldorf-Astoria will honor gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, among other athletes.

GOING APE: Bloomingdale’s 59th Street windows went wild on Tuesday. Large photographs of an endangered gorilla named Miza were displayed next to Tory Burch’s new children’s T-shirts as part of the store’s “Gorilla Girls” event. Excited children, with their parents in tow, charged up to the eighth fl oor to hear author Craig Hatkoff read his new book, “Looking for Miza.” Hatkoff enlisted the help of his friend Burch, who created a limited edition children’s shirt selling exclusively at Bloomingdale’s for

$30. While Burch said she currently designs a few looks for little girls, this extracurricular venture doesn’t signal a separate children’s line is in the works. However, it has spurred a newfound interest in endangered wildlife. Burch said she’s planning a trip to Ethiopia next month. “I’m starting to be more interested about what’s really happening over there and how we can help,” she said.

FASHION SCOOPS

▲ The latest edition of the Larousse Illustrated Dictionary, designed by Karl Lagerfeld.

▲ Tory Burch, Craig Hatkoff and Isabella Hatkoff with kids at the “Looking for Miza” Bloomingdale’s event. PH

OTO

BY B

RYAN

SM

ITH

MIX A BOX OF RICE-A-RONI WITH…: In those fl ush times a year or so ago, food magazines often seemed to focus on recipes that required the most indulgent ingredients (remember Gourmet’s goat tacos that started with instructions on how to kill a goat?). No more. Budget-friendly recipes, as well as restaurant and wine recommendations, are rapidly becoming a larger part of the editorial mix as editors seek to cater to their readers’ new penny-pinching ways.

Take Bon Appétit, which will theme its entire January “Best of the Year” issue around Champagne taste on a beer budget (and not a microbrewery, either). “The overriding feel is it’s possible to eat well and have value and still feel indulged and well-fed without busting your bank account,” said editor in chief Barbara Fairchild. For example, in a story on stylish dinner parties, “instead of calling for osetra caviar, which costs $400 for less than 2 oz., we start out with American spoonfi sh caviar at $49 for 2 oz.” The story also includes a recipe for a mussel bisque instead of a lobster bisque. A wine story will cover “10 Reds and 10 Whites for Under $20,” and the magazine’s “Fast Easy Fresh” column will include a week of dinners for a total of $100 — seven entrées and a dessert included, with a shopping list (the popular column also is being turned into a cookbook, which will be released next week). As for those who can still afford to travel, the January issue will highlight Lima, Peru, as a food destination. “Your dollar goes a lot further in South America than in Europe,” Fairchild noted.

At Food & Wine, the November issue includes a story on “upcycling,” called “A Thrifty Cook’s Guide to (Almost) Free Ingredients.” The practice reuses food scraps in recipes, helping to eliminate waste. “The fantastic thing about the best restaurants is that they use everything. They would never toss a potato peel or a carrot top,” said editor in chief Dana Cowin. She believes Food & Wine attempts to feature budget-friendly recommendations in every issue, but said she made a conscious effort to review issues leading up to the holidays as the downturn in the economy dominated news headlines. For a story on theme parties, Cowin changed one of December’s “20 Super, Easy Holiday Parties” from a gift-wrapping party for presents for family and friends to one where the gifts would be for children in need. The magazine also will include a column by Lettie Teague on why Champagne is suitable in good times and in bad (to drink your sorrows away, perhaps?), with a sidebar recommending affordable bottles. Early next year, Cowin said the magazine is altering a popular column, “Chef’s Recipes Made Easy” to “Chef’s Recipes Made Cheap.” The column already has been amended on the magazine’s Web site.

Gourmet’s Ruth Reichl said the upscale food magazine has focused more on home cooking. “Lots of people who were spending time in restaurants are spending more time in their kitchens.” To wit, Gourmet’s November issue features four different types of Thanksgiving meals, one of which claims can be done in four hours, to court those who might normally have Thanksgiving dinner out. In January,

the magazine will launch a techniques column called “Cooking Class.”

— Stephanie D. Smith

A GUIDE TO FABULOSITY: Anyone who has seen an episode of TLC’s “What Not to Wear” knows co-host Clinton Kelly is serious about women wearing clothes that fi t properly and incorporating trends only when appropriate. As it turns out, he’s also a walking Mr. Manners guide on everything from grammar to hosting the perfect party. At the insistence of a friend who also happened to be a literary agent, Kelly came up with an idea for a book “about fabulousness,” pitched it to Simon & Schuster and then, about fi ve minutes later, had a book deal. “I know that’s probably really annoying,” he said. “I’ve been really lucky.”

In “Freakin’ Fabulous: How to Dress, Speak, Behave, Eat, Drink, Entertain, Decorate, and Generally Be Better Than

Everyone Else,” Kelly begins by taking the reader through his long journey toward “fabulousness,” which started prepuberty. “While other kids on the elementary school playground were trading baseball cards and playing kickball, I was silently debating whether to spend my fi rst paycheck on Italian suede driving shoes or on a cashmere coat,” he writes.

During a layover in LAX on his way to a Macy’s store appearance in San Diego, where he planned to lead a style seminar on dressing properly, Kelly said he wanted to write a book that was useful, funny and provided a comprehensive guide to “overall fabulousness.” Which means he basically has an opinion about everything, such as how to chop an onion, poach chicken breast, make mayonnaise, have a signature drink, choose the right music for a party, fi x a baggy shirt and avoid a dangling modifi er.

He plans to spread his message during his Macy’s appearances (he’s been working with the department store for three years), while fi tting in bookstore appearances when possible. “Going to Macy’s all over the country is one of the best parts of my job,” he said. “I mean, I’m there with 750 women who show up after work on a Thursday? It’s a lot of fun.” During his travels, he advises women on a budget to focus on classic pieces, with a mix of trendy items, only when appropriate. “The most important thing is that the clothing fi ts well. You could spend $5,000 on a Prada suit, but if it doesn’t fi t well, you still end up looking like a stuffed sausage,” he said.

Kelly is the self-proclaimed afi cionado of fabulousness but he has a hard time coming up with a celebrity that also fi ts the bill. “I know nothing about celebrities,” he said. “I’m over 40 — I really don’t care what Britney Spears is doing. All these people have personalities that are constructed — we have no idea who these people really are.” OK, so what about Sarah Palin? “Oh, I can’t comment on politics. I mean she’s — oh, I just better shut up.” — Amy Wicks

CLARIFICATION: Mis Quince is an insert that will run with the November issues of Seventeen and Cosmogirl and winter issue of Teen magazine. This was unclear in a Memo Pad item on page 15, Thursday.

Kylie Minogue sings “Happy Birthday” to Alexandre de Betak in Paris.

WWD.COMWWD, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008 15

By Kristi Ellis

WASHINGTON — House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel has asked a federal agency to begin monitoring Chinese apparel and tex-tile imports in a preemptive bid to pro-tect domestic textile industries when quotas are lifted at the end of the year.

In a letter to Shara L. Aranoff, chair-man of the U.S. International Trade Commission, Rangel asked that the ITC initiate an open-ended investigation to provide the committee with data on volume, value, unit value and import market share of 34 apparel and textile import categories from China, which were valued at $9.4 billion in 2007 and are currently restrained by quotas. The ITC will provide the committee with Customs data once every two weeks and fi nal census data once a month, in ad-dition to a historical analysis. The data will be published on the ITC Web site. An ITC spokeswoman confi rmed the agency would comply with the request.

U.S. textile producers have waged an intense lobbying campaign in favor of a monitoring program, arguing it could

prevent the kind of massive surges in ap-parel and textile imports that were seen in 2005 when global quotas were lifted.

In his letter, Rangel characterized the investigation and data collection as a new “textile import monitoring pro-gram” that is necessary due to a “con-cern about a potential surge of textile imports from China on Dec. 31.”

“Monitoring Chinese textile im-ports will help provide the committee with timely, accurate information to assess whether Chinese imports are causing or are threatening to cause market disruption in the United States and developing countries,” said Rangel. “While the administration does not appear to be taking this con-cern seriously, the Committee on Ways and Means has a clear interest in and a responsibility to address this issue and, if warranted after reviewing the data, prevent harm to American work-ers, industry and communities.”

Rangel stressed the committee is not requesting an analysis of the im-port data nor requesting the ITC to ini-tiate a general China safeguard case.

“I think the signifi cance of this is that

the Congressional branch, in addition to what the executive branch has done, is ratcheting up the attention and focus on this problem,” said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition. “Obviously, the Congressional branch is saying we are not only interested in the impact on U.S. workers, we are also interested in the impact as it relates to our preferential trading partners.”

Apparel importers and retailers, which shipped $32 billion worth of apparel, textile and home furnishings into the U.S. from China in the past year, were anticipating a quota-free environment with China next year. Although they anticipate the moni-toring to have minimal impact in the short term, how it plays out in the long term is now unclear.

“I think we have take it one step at a time,” said Kevin Burke, presi-dent and chief executive officer of the American Apparel & Footwear Association. “The fact that they haven’t laid down criteria [for initiating a safe-guard case based on an import surge] does raise some concern.”

Rangel Seeks Preemptive China Import MonitoringBy Koji Hirano

TOKYO — Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. saw double-digit profit and sales growth for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, bucking an otherwise negative trend for retailers in a sluggish Japanese economy.

Net profi ts for the year rose 37 percent to 43.53 billion yen, or $403 million, while the operating profi t increased 34.7 percent to 87.49 billion yen, or $810.1 million. Sales advanced 11.7 percent to 586.45 billion yen, or $5.43 billion.

Fast Retailing attributed the gains to the suc-cessful international expansion of its Uniqlo brand as well as the development of products like unique printed T-shirts and quick-dry garments. The compa-ny noted the international business generated its fi rst operating profi ts this year. Those operations include Uniqlo’s fl agships in New York, Paris and London as well as some of Fast Retailing’s other brands, such as Comptoir des Cotonniers.

Sales and operating profi t grew in key markets in-cluding China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the fi rm said. Sales outside Japan, 12.2 percent of Fast Retailing’s total, rose 33.2 percent.

Still, the company signaled growth in the current fi scal year, which ends Aug. 31, 2009, is likely to slow. Net profi t is forecast to grow 10.3 percent to 48 bil-lion yen, or $475.2 million, while revenues are seen rising 5.7 percent to 620 billion yen, or $6.2 billion.

Fast Retailing Net Gains

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WWD.COM/CLASSIFIEDS

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PATTERNMAKERHigh end women’s fashion house seeksskilled patternmaker with strong tailoringskills and knowledge of garmentconstruction. First sample throughproduction. Salary based on experience.

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PRODUCTION COORDINATOR 40-50kMjr. NYC apparel co. seeks Prod. Coord.for new ladies, men’s, kids, sportswearline. Must know Wal-Mart’s CTL testingreqs & ability to follow up on all ordersafter placed. Strong Excel & Englishskills. Chinese language knowl. pref’d.E-mail resume: cburke@ccburke.com(Fax) 917-591-252 (Tel) 914-337-3660

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Major NYC apparel co. has new positionfor a production sourcing manager formen’s, ladies, kids sportswear line.Must have expr. working w/WAL-MARTapproved factories and strength inknits and denim. Gd.. English comm.skills & Chinese language knowl. pref.E-mail resume: cburke@ccburke.com(Fax) 917-591-2521 (Tel) 914-337-3660

SENIOR DESIGNERCollaborate w/Creative Director of high-end RTW women’s designer brand indeveloping seasonal RTW & accessorycollections. Qualifications: 5-10 yrs de-sign exp w/global, high-end RTW wom-en’s brand, BA in Fashion Design(Masters pref’d), extensive knowledgeof design techniques incl. fabrication,silhouettes, color ways, construction, fin-ishing. Resume davidng@phicollection.com

COSMETICIANUpper West Side upscale Apothecaryhiring part time Cosmetician for eveningsand weekends. Please email resume:

contactpers@gmail.com

PHI Boutique SohoSeeks F/T sales associate. Self startermust have 3+ years previous designerretail experience. Must have workingclient book. Full benefits packageavailable. Fax/email resume attn:

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SALES EXECUTIVEEstablished Junior Novelty

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Luxury designer jewelry companyseeks experienced wholesalesalesperson for maintaining andbuilding specialty store accounts.Candidate will have good organi-zational skills and ability to multitask. Knowledge of computerand QB program.

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For information on advertising in WWD Beauty Biz, contact Christine Guilfoyle, publisher, at 212-630-4737, or your WWD representative.

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