FURLA’S NEW CEO/2 VAL’S GALS PACK FOR ROME/4Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • July 3, 2007 • $2.00

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WWDTUESDAY Ready-to-Wear/Textiles

Harlequin RomanceHarlequin RomanceVERSAILLES — John Galliano gave

new meaning to the term artsy with a

breathtaking Christian Dior fall couture

collection inspired by painters, illustrators

and photographers. Picasso’s harlequins,

for instance, sparked this romantic

diamond-motif pantsuit, replete with a

ruff and sweeping hat. It was shown at

Versailles on Monday, where a lavish fete

to celebrate the house’s 60th anniversary

also took place. For more on the evening,

see pages 6 to 9.

VERSAILLES — John Galliano gave

new meaning to the term artsy with a

breathtaking Christian Dior fall couture

collection inspired by painters, illustrators

and photographers. Picasso’s harlequins,

for instance, sparked this romantic

diamond-motif pantsuit, replete with a

ruff and sweeping hat. It was shown at

Versailles on Monday, where a lavish fete

to celebrate the house’s 60th anniversary

also took place. For more on the evening,

see pages 6 to 9.

WWD.COM2 WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

WWDTUESDAYReady-to-Wear/Textiles

FASHIONChristian Dior took over Versailles on Monday to show John Galliano’s fall Dior couture collection and celebrate the house’s 60th anniversary.

GENERALSeizing on customers’ desire to be different in an age of global brands, a crop of women’s wear designers is cultivating a personalized fashion experience.

Deb Shops Inc., a 75-year-old junior apparel chain based in Phila delphia, appears to be on the selling block.

Furla has named Paolo Fontanelli, formerly chief fi nancial offi cer of Giorgio Armani SpA, chief executive offi cer.

Private equity group Permira Holdings is fi nalizing the terms of its summer takeover bid for Valentino Fashion Group SpA.

As part of a 35,000-square-foot expansion of Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta, both Zara and Calvin Klein white label will open stores.

It’s still unclear what impact China’s new national labor law will have on rising wages and costs for international businesses operating there.

Hubert de Givenchy lives up to every inch of his reputation as the picture of the aristocratic couturier.

RTW: A look at what 10 fashion insiders plan to stow away as they slip out of town for the Fourth of July holiday.

TEXTILES: The American Apparel & Footwear Association unveiled its fi rst restricted substance list during a conference in New York last week.

6

● DE BEERS PICKS TOP EXEC: Hamida Belkadi has been pro-moted to chief operating officer of De Beers North America. Belkadi has been acting chief executive officer of De Beers North America since the March departure of ceo Alyce Alston, who joined Reader’s Digest Association as president of Home & Garden and Health & Wellness. Belkadi began working for De Beers in 2005 as vice president of sales and marketing. She was previously at Cartier for 18 years.

● MERCHANDISE MART MOVE: Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. has promoted Susan Glick to vice president of women’s apparel. Glick had been fashion director for more than 20 years, and managing director of fashion and marketing since 2004. Before joining Merchandise Mart Properties in 1983, she was vice president of the fashion show production company Dorothy Fuller Productions. The Chicago native is a member of Fashion Group International and is the regional board liai-son to the New York Board of Directors. She is on the Mayor’s Fashion Advisory Board in Chicago and the Apparel Industry Board. Glick will continue to oversee Stylemax, the National Bridal Market Chicago and Mart Fashion Productions.

In Brief

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WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2007 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

VOLUME 194, NO. 2. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in January and November, two additional issues in March, May, June, August and December, and three additional issues in February, April, September and October) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance

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By Amanda Kaiser

MILAN — Private equity group Permira is fi nal-izing the terms of its summer takeover bid for Valentino Fashion Group SpA.

On Monday, Permira’s new company Red & Black Lux Sarl sent a detailed summary of its takeover offer to Consob, Italy’s stock market reg-ulator. Pending regulatory approval, the tender offer could start as early as the last week of July and fi nish in the fi rst week of September, Red & Black said in the document.

Permira already has secured majority control of VFG through a series of deals with members of the Marzotto family. Now the private equity fund is looking to buy out minority shareholders and ulti-mately delist VFG from the Milan stock exchange.

Red & Black is offering 35 euros per VFG share, or $47.41 at current exchange. The docu-ment specifi es that the price represents a premi-um of 23.1 percent on the share’s average closing price over a 12-month period ending June 1, the date Permira announced its offer.

In May, Permira’s Red & Black bought 29.62 percent of VFG from Marzotto family holding company International Capital Growth Sarl. In June, Red & Black struck two more deals to buy more shares from other members of the Marzotto

family. Those shares haven’t changed hands yet because the deal has not yet received regulatory approval, a Permira spokeswoman said Monday. Once those transactions are complete, Permira will hold nearly 54 percent of VFG.

Red & Black’s total price tag for VFG, should all shareholders accept its offer, will be about 2.6 billion euros, or $3.52 billion. But the expenses won’t stop there. As reported, Red & Black will also launch a cascading bid for all outstanding shares in Hugo Boss AG. VFG owns 50.9 percent of Hugo Boss, which is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Monday’s document did not list the terms or timing of the Hugo Boss tender. On June 1, Red & Black said its price for Hugo Boss would equal the shares’ average trading prices over a three-month period. At current market prices, buying out all minority shareholders in Hugo Boss would cost Permira about 1.6 billion euros, or $2.2 billion.

Permira has yet to outline its business plan for VFG and the fund’s executives are declin-ing requests for interviews. Meanwhile, Canova Partecipazioni Srl, the holding company of VFG chairman Antonio Favrin, still owns nearly 20 per-cent of VFG, and hasn’t said whether or not it would sell its stake. On Monday, a Canova spokeswoman said the company was weighing its options.

By Luisa Zargani

MILAN — Furla said Monday it has appointed Paolo Fontanelli, formerly chief financial officer of Giorgio Armani SpA, as its chief executive officer.

Furla’s ceo post was previous-ly held by Giovanna Furlanetto, who will remain chairman of the company. Furlanetto, daugh-ter of founder Aldo Furlanetto, said in June that, by 2011, she plans to double the company’s sales, and open or update 56 di-rectly owned boutiques and 60 franchised stores. Sales in 2007 at the accessories company are expected to grow 16 percent compared with last year, reach-ing 150 million euros, or $202.8 million at current exchange.

Furla will mark its 80th an-niversary this year with an ex-hibition at Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary Art, or MOT, in the fall, and a project, Retail Design Hub, that Furlanetto hopes will help her add innova-tive design content to the compa-ny’s collections of handbags and shoes. In particular, Furlanetto hopes to boost the footwear di-vision, which currently accounts for 8 percent of sales, with more fashion-oriented collections. Furlanetto said she expects the division to account for 20 per-cent of revenues in two seasons

and that she has already iden-tifi ed three designers who will help her achieve this goal: two Americans and one Russian. The designers were spotted

by the talent contest “Who Is on Next?” supported by Vogue Italia and Alta Roma, which or-ganizes couture shows in Rome.

Furlanetto declined to re-veal the names of the design-ers, as they will be featured in Vogue Italia in September and products will be shown during Milan Fashion Week that month. According to sources, however,

the Russian designer is Max Kibardin, a former model and architect, and the Americans are Nicole Brundage and Courtney Crawford. Brundage has worked with Giorgio Armani and Manolo Blahnik, while Crawford already counts celeb-rities such as Mariah Carey and Kate Moss as his customers. The designers have their own foot-wear lines but will expand into handbags for Furla.

“We allow these designers to have more visibility through our retail network and they add innovative designs to our products. We are so enthusias-tic about this project, which we hope will open our products to multibrand points of sale and high-end department stores,” said Furlanetto.

Furla has 225 stores world-wide. The labels will feature the name of the designer for Furla. The collaborations will last “at least two seasons, but hopefully longer,” said Furlanetto.

There is no set length for the collaborations, nor is there a set number of designers eventually to be selected under the pro-gram. “We wanted a fresh, inter-national take on our products,” said Furlanetto, adding she was working on a new design con-cept for the 15 to 20 stores that will carry these products.

Furla Taps Paolo Fontanelli as CEO

Nordstrom paid a total consideration of $169 million for Façonnable. This figure was incorrect in story on page 16, Monday.

● ● ●Shoe company Maloles was misspelled in a story on page 11, Wednesday.

Corrections

Permira Details Valentino Takeover Plan

By David Moin

Deb Shops Inc., the 75-year-old junior apparel chain, appears to be up for sale.

Reacting to industry speculation Thursday that the teen retailer had put itself on the block, chief fi nancial offi cer Barry J. Susson re-plied: “I would never comment on any question like that.”

Yet a sale at this time makes sense. The Philadelphia-based retailer is 66 percent owned by insiders, including several senior executives who have been with the store for years and are of retirement age. They could be looking to bow out with a windfall. Marvin Rounick, who is 67, joined Deb Shops in 1961 and has been presi-dent and chief executive offi cer since 1979. Allan Laufgraben, 68, is senior vice president of mer-

chandising and has been employed by the com-pany since December 1995. Susson is 44.

The 330-unit chain posted $327 million in sales last year. The stock on Thursday closed at $28.12, down 31 cents on Nasdaq, and has been trading on the high side of its 52-week range of $21.34 to $29.97.

Deb Shops was originally known as Joy Hosiery, a retailer of foundation garments. The company’s stores operate under the names DEB, CSO and Tops ’N Bottoms. It survived the Nineties, when several specialty chains, includ-ing Edison Brothers and Merry-Go-Round, went bankrupt.

The company has a strong balance sheet, is known for its high-low pricing, and has recently boosted plus-size merchandise so that it’s sold in about one-third of the stores.

Deb Shops Said to Be on Block

Giovanna Furlanetto

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WWD.COM3WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

By Georgia Lee

ATLANTA — A 35,000-square-foot expan-sion of Lenox Square mall, set to open in the fall, will feature Zara’s first store here.

Other new tenants of the $12 million project, which comes as anchor Neiman Marcus grows by 52,000 square feet, in-clude Calvin Klein’s better-priced white label retail concept, along with Diesel, Miss Sixty, Puma and True Religion. All are making their fi rst foray into the Atlanta market, one of the fastest growing in the U.S. Neiman’s new space is to be complet-ed in spring 2008.

The $12 million expansion adds a sec-ond fl oor to the Neiman Marcus wing of Lenox Square, Simon Properties’ 1.5-mil-lion-square-foot luxury mall in Buckhead, located about 10 miles north of downtown Atlanta.

The 10,000-square-foot Zara unit will be the company’s fi rst in the Southeast out-side Florida, where Zara has fi ve stores. The 8,800-square-foot Calvin Klein store is one of fi ve new full-line stores that Calvin Klein Inc. announced in June.

Calvin Klein Inc., a division of Phillips-Van Heusen, also will open stores open this fall in Los Angeles; Denver; Natick, Mass., and Bloomfi eld Hills, Mich., and feature a full assortment of product, including li-censed categories such as dresses, outer-wear and suit separates.

Several Lenox Square stores are reno-vating, expanding or relocating to the new wing, including Nicole Miller, Nine West, Sephora, Steve Madden and St. John Boutique.

Bud Konheim, chief executive offi cer of Nicole Miller, said the Lenox Square store generated more than $2.3 million in annual sales, or $1,500 to $1,600 per square foot.

“It’s our number-one store, bigger than Madison Avenue,” he said, attributing brisk sales to a good store manager and the hot Atlanta market. “Atlanta in general is so strong. The store draws customers from North Carolina, South Carolina and north Florida and all over the South.”

Lenox Square, also anchored by Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, is one of Simon’s top fi ve properties. Combined with Phipps Plaza, its sister luxury mall across the street, Lenox Square brings in slightly less than $1 billion in annual sales, said Tisha Maley, Simon’s assistant vice presi-dent of leasing.

Lenox SquareAttracts Zara In Expansion

DELAYED AGAIN: On Monday, American Media Operations Inc. fi led yet another notifi cation of late fi ling with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company noted that because of the restated fi nancial statements made earlier this year, it has been delayed in preparing and fi ling the subsequent periodic reports required. AMI has yet to fi le a report for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, and its annual report for the fi scal year ended March 31, 2007, will be delayed. The company also will incur a signifi cant non-cash impairment charge during the third quarter of fi scal 2007 related to its goodwill, trade names and other identifi ed intangibles. In the second quarter, AMI took a charge of $147 million relating to the impairment of trade names and goodwill of National Enquirer, Star, Weekly World News, Country Weekly, National Examiner, Sun and MiniMag. — Amy Wicks

BACK ON: The contract tug-of-war is offi cially over and Charlotte Ronson is now “100 percent committed” to the upcoming

Soapnet show, “The Fashionista Diaries.” A few weeks ago, the designer’s role on the show came into question after an executive producer at Go Go Luckey Productions said Ronson was off the program and another “big-name designer” was in. The producer said that “we just couldn’t get a contract that worked” with Ronson. But a Soapnet spokeswoman confi rmed to WWD on Monday that the designer will be on the show, which originally was described as following six assistants from Jane magazine, Flirt Cosmetics and Seventh House PR as they produce Ronson’s fashion show and after party for New York Fashion Week in September. The spokeswoman added that more designers will also be featured, but declined to provide more details. “The Fashionista Diaries” will begin airing on Aug. 1. — A.W.

NOT SO FAST, BUT STEADY: Six months into the tenure of Robert Safi an as Fast Company editor in chief, the magazine has moved into new digs and made a few moves at the top. Will Bourne has been promoted to executive editor from deputy editor, with outgoing executive editor Keith Hammonds moving to the role of contributing editor. Charles Fishman, formerly a senior writer

who won his second Loeb Award for a Fast Company story last month, will now be editor at large. (Safi an, who has been working to raise the magazine’s profi le, surrendered to media awards-show cliché when he called the Loebs “the Oscars of business journalism” in a press release.)

Along with sister publication Inc., the magazine has moved to new offi ces in 7 World Trade Center, whose sleek and green-certifi ed accoutrements can be seen in a slide show on the Fast Company Web site entitled “Welcome to the Future.” Safi an’s editor’s letter in the June issue, his fi rst, noted that “some staffers at our company chose not to move with us; the memories were too harsh. But I feel differently. For a magazine like Fast Company, there is no more fi tting location for our headquarters: a place that is all about rebirth and potential and the promise of tomorrow.”

Under Mansueto Ventures LLC, the magazine has been slowly regrouping from its previous struggles: despite the business category’s well-covered travails, Fast Company’s ad pages were up 9.1 percent from January through March compared with 2006, and its newsstand sales rose 37.4 percent in the second half of 2006,

to 22,134. (Of course, picking a magazine back up lends itself to big percentages; in the fl usher days of the dot-com era, the newsstand average could triple that fi gure. But that was then — at the time of Mansueto Ventures’ purchase, in June 2005, newsstand sales had shrunk to the mid-teens.) Total circulation was fl at at 736,458. — Irin Carmon

NEW RECRUITS: Two recent media acquisitions by private equity fi rms — that of Dennis Publishing and Reader’s Digest Association — continue to make executive waves. Carolyn Kremins, who was named publisher of Cookie in March, has looked back to her old home of Dennis for one of her associate publishers: Amy Newman, who was associate publisher of marketing and creative services for Maxim, will now serve in a similar capacity at Cookie. Heddy Sams, who was the associate publisher for advertising at Cookie, followed former Cookie publisher Eva Dillon to Reader’s Digest, also in March.

Separately, Blair Hecht Schlumbom was named associate publisher for advertising of Gourmet magazine last week, succeeding Tom Hartman, who was promoted to publisher. — I.C.

MEMO PAD

By Kathleen E. McLaughlin

BEIJING — China’s newly approved national labor law may improve conditions for millions of work-ers, experts agree, but it’s as yet unclear what im-pact it might have on rising wages and other costs for international businesses operating here.

After a decade of drafting, months of late-stage negotiations and some 190,000 public comments, the Chinese legislature last week approved the fi rst update to the country’s national labor contract law in nearly two decades. The new law, which takes ef-fect Jan. 1, will standardize previously gray areas in the country’s employer-employee relations.

Among other provisions, the law prohibits the use of rolling temporary contracts, which business-es used to hire long-term workers on probationary terms with little or no benefi ts. It also beefs up work-ing standards for China’s 200-million-strong domes-tic migrant workforce and mandates documentation of proper employee compensation and benefi ts.

The law also includes a provision specifi cally banning and proscribing punishment for forced labor, which was added following a recent scandal where work-ers were found toiling under slave conditions in brick kilns in Shanxi Province.

On the employee side, the law mandates that workers pro-tect the intellectual property rights of their companies, and says they must abide by contract terms to get their benefi ts. If no contract is signed, the national labor contract takes over.

Business groups reacted with guarded optimism. The American Chamber of Commerce in China said it hoped the law would help workers and businesses alike by setting forth legal terms for employment.

“We look forward to further dialogue with the government on this and other laws, and hope to see the law applied con-sistently to both foreign-invested and local companies,” said James Zimmerman, chairman of the business group.

The chamber’s Shanghai branch last year got into hot water over a lengthy series of written comments it submitted to the Chinese government about the law, saying some of its provisions were too strict and too costly. Labor unions in both the United States and China said the Shanghai group was out of line for arguing against better working conditions in China. In its latest white paper, the Shanghai offi ce softened its stance, but said it “remains concerned” about the law’s lack of distinction between different categories of workers and about widespread attempts by Chinese labor unions to unionize large foreign fi rms.

The European Union also objected to parts of the law, and in its commentary expressed the fear that strict labor standards would force international business to move elsewhere. In a state-ment after the new law’s passage, the EU changed its tune and said it hoped the Chinese government would enforce the law.

“There is no doubt that the passing of the law and its strict implementation will drastically improve the working condi-tions in China,” the statement said.

The EU added that it does not believe businesses will leave China if labor costs increase because of the new law.

Guo Jun, legal director for the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, who helped write the new law, said the concerns of multinational companies were included and he doesn’t be-lieve the labor law should be made into a political fl ash point.

“We shouldn’t think of this as a political issue or foresee some economic crisis,” Guo said in an interview.

Guo said he believes foreign companies upset over the law

should realize that without Chinese laborers they’d have no operation here. The country is developing quickly, costs are rising, he said, and workers need to keep pace with rising liv-ing standards.

Additionally, he said, the Chinese unions and government believe a standardized law about contracts will remove vast uncertainty on both sides by codifying and clarifying areas that were previously unregulated.

Cost Impact of China Labor Law Tough to Assess

The new labor law, which takes

effect Jan. 1, will standardize

previously gray areas in China’s employer-employee relations.

Lauren DavisTraveling with: I am coming from Paris with my boyfriend’s family. Transportation: Well, we aren’t taking a train.

Luggage: Vuitton.In her suitcase: I am going to obey the dress code as indi-cated on the invitation. For the Friday night dinner, I am quite sure a vintage Valentino

leopard sequin strapless will be sufficiently “glamour.”Reading material: I am reading “Five Sisters: The Langhornes

of Virginia,” “Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution” and “The Diana Chronicles.” Please don’t psycho-analyze my reading choices.Most eager to see: The Valentino exhibit.

Olivia ChantecailleLuggage: Blue T. Anthony, so I am always sure to see it at baggage claim.In her suitcase: All Valentino clothes. Reading material: “Evening” by Susan Minot.Side trips: After the Val-entino party, I am going to Capri to join some friends for a little vacation and some inspiration. I love the color of the emerald-green water there.Most eager to see: Mr. Valentino!

Cornelia GuestTraveling with: Me, myself and I.Transportation: On an airplane — Delta.Luggage: T. Anthony.In her suitcase: Lots of Valentino. For Friday, I’m taking a white sleeve-less, high-necked gown with a side slit that’s laced up one side, and for Saturday, a vintage couture one-shoulder dress that goes from bright orange to bright red with little ro-settes.Reading material: Scripts. I’m also reading “The Heart Has Its Reasons,” the biography of the Duchess of Windsor.Side trips: I am taking the train from Rome to Naples and then going to Capri on the hydrofoil. After that, I’m going to Madrid, and then to Ibiza for the Mango show.Most eager to see: Apart from Valentino, Capri, where I’ve never been. I am really looking forward to seeing Tiberius’ villa there. I’ve also never been to Ibiza, so I’m looking forward to that.

Allison Sarofi mTraveling with: My boyfriend, Stuart Parr.Transportation: Alitalia — unfortunately, Teterboro is not involved.Luggage: Chocolate brown Globe-Trotter suitcase.In her suitcase: As much vintage Valentino as I can find. I have been storming my mother’s closet. Also some jeans and Lanvin and Chanel ballerina flats.Reading material: “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert and “A Much Married Man” by Nicholas Coleridge.Side trips: I am going to Greece and then to Portofino.Most eager to see: I can’t wait to see Nati Abascal, one of Valentino’s original models, who is so full of life and has so many wonder-ful stories about Mr. Valentino. Santa Sabina is one of my favor-ite places in Rome. You can see the church through the keyhole. Pretty magical.

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WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

Fabiola BeracasaTraveling with: My mother. Couture has been a long-standing mother-daughter trip for us, and we are both very excited.Transportation: By plane, ’nuf said. In her suitcase: I’m packing some light summer dresses and lots of strappy flats and heels (I

hear it’s 105 in the shade) — Lanvin, Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel, Phillip Lim, Thakoon, Proenza, Alessandro, Valentino. I always pack way too much as it’s such a busy time, and I

never know what I’m going to feel like wearing until I’m there. Oh, and also I always snag some couture from my moth-er’s closet to wear to some of the events.Reading material: Gore Vidal’s “Empire.”Side trips: My mother and I are planning to go to a spa in Europe, after Rome, for five days together, but I’m not sure yet if it will happen.Most eager to see: The collections. I’m always so moved by them. They are such works of art and becoming more and more rare. I’m lucky to be part of an era that still has couture as part of its culture.

This summer, the biggest ticket of the New York social calendar is not some barefoot, beachside gala in the Hamptons, but rather a trip to Rome for Valentino’s 45th anniversary blowout. The festivities kick off Friday with a dinner for those arriving from abroad at the Richard Meier-designed

Ara Pacis Museum, where a retrospective of the designer is being staged. Saturday brings the main event: a couture show, followed by a ball in the Parco dei Daini of Villa Borghese. Needless to say, an invitation to said affairs didn’t come easy (in fact, word is that one or two were rescinded), so those attending are determined to dress to impress. Lest anything is left at home, Valentino’s go-to gal Annelise Peterson stands at the ready. “I carried 35 dresses (20 of them red), 15 pairs of shoes, 10 evening bags and as much undereye cream and concealer as I could legally carry through baggage claim,” she says. Here, a few of Val’s pals share their own packing lists.

Roman Holiday

WWD.COM4

DATE

WWDDNRCEOSUMMIT

OCT29–302007For more information call 212.630.4947 or email ceoapparel@fairchildpub.com

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6 WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

The Magnifi cent Madness oThe Magnifi cent Madness oJOHN GALLIANO DOESN’T COTTON TO being trumped by another’s grandeur — not even the Sun King’s. So it was inevitable that, for Christian Dior’s double anniversary bash — celebrating the house’s 60th birthday and, perhaps even more signifi cant to Galliano, his own 10th year at its artistic helm — he would stage an extraordinary event, one dazzling enough to stand up to its backdrop, Versailles, the very name of which pulses with beauty, opulence and boundless indulgence.

Though royal life at Versailles did not end well, anyone who attended the Dior show on Monday night can attest that, in fashion at least, the exquisite lavishness it stood for is alive and breathtaking. Galliano’s Bal des Artistes proved an epic spectacle that riffed on the masked-ball motif, while providing a giddy feast for devotees of anything-goes haute and a big royal “take that” to those who have ever doubted the designer in any way. This was an especially emotional show for Galliano, his fi rst since the sudden death in April of Steven Robinson, head of the Dior and Galliano Studios, to whom the collection was dedicated. “He was friend, family. There’s a very big hole,” Galliano said the day before his show. “But I have a guiding star up there. I’m feeling him.”

The designer more than wowed his thousand guests with every move, including the Surrealist improvements he made to the endless L’Orangerie corridor where he installed his runway — it takes beaucoup moxie du mode to plop Cocteau-esque animalia masks on baroque statuary. There was his musical fusion of string quartet, gospel and fl amenco, and a post-show party on the grounds that wisely featured not a sit-down dinner but myriad tents, some with food stations and others, sumptuous seating arrangements done up with plush upholstered faux Louis this-and-that. Most importantly, the clothes were magnifi cent. No, they weren’t for any real-life end use, at least not this side of crazed billionaire weddings or the Met Costume Institute gala; (as with ready-to-wear, the “commercial” collection is back in the atelier). These gems wouldn’t even suit a major-release period costume drama; they’d break the most indulgent fi lm budget.

Just like the Hall of Mirrors, they exist because someone had an over-the-top thought and the wherewithal to realize it, the latter comprised not only of talent and resources but guts galore. Consider Galliano’s account of fi nding the inner mettle to produce so audacious a spectacle. After a trip to Seville, the designer determined that the show would have some type of Spanish component. (Hello, Goya and El Greco.) He then spent time with famed matador Miguel Abellán, who invited him to a pré-corrida dressing ceremony. Galliano explained the experience in dramatic mien, quoting Abellán as confi ding, “If I could escape, I would,” and, when fully dressed, “Now, John, there is no escape.” “He’s a kid, “ Galliano said, “and the courage.” Just before the corrida, the two had prayed together. “I have never felt closer to God,” Galliano proclaimed with Shakespearean tension, “than when I came out of that chapel.”

A performance? Perhaps, but a captivating one to which Galliano managed to relate his own ability to turn out a stunning show that celebrated art through the prism of the New Look and vice versa, with homages to artists as diverse as Christian Berard, Watteau and Rembrandt. First out: Gisele-as-an-Irving Penn, the fi rst of a stellar multigenerational cast of supers that included Amber, Shalom, Linda, Helena and Naomi along with today’s current runway girls. Gisele’s seriously peplumed and embroidered gray wool suit and a divine René Gruau sheath punctuated with an enormous 3-D hip rose were about as simple as the clothes got, as Galliano proceeded through heady Symbolists, moody Spaniards and endless poufed, bustled and bedazzled neo-romantics, often punctuating his own wonders with glorious Stephen Jones chapeaux. It was awesome in the extreme, just like Versailles itself.

Channeling Cocteau.

A statue à la Dior.

WWD.COM7WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

of King Johnof King John

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8 WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

Magnifi cent MadnessMagnifi cent Madness

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Fancifully decorated statues.

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Christian Dior had no trouble fi lling its front row with stars at its 60th anniversary couture show Monday night — even if it did stretch the length of the Orangerie at Versailles.

Hearing there would be a Spanish theme, Charlize Theron waxed poetic about the Gaudí architecture that’s “beautiful and intriguing.” For Zhang Ziyi “it’s the fl ower markets and the ocean” that are Spain’s main draw. Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, meanwhile, said he was relishing the chance to be in France.

“When I come to Paris I feel like a foreigner in the best sense of the term,” he said. “I love Paris and I especially love its chocolates and macaroons. That’s my weakness.”

Almodóvar said he’s writing a fi lm the title of which translates roughly as “The Skin I Live In” and has already decided Penélope Cruz would be perfect in the lead role. However, his dream is to do theater, especially a musical, for which he would naturally tap John Galliano for the costumes. “For me he’s a perfect example of a fashion designer who is also an artist.”

Monica Bellucci couldn’t agree more, praising Galliano for “his sensual and glamorous fashions,” while waving away torrents of paparazzi with the rebuke, “Basta, basta!”

Eva Green, on the other hand, was relishing the fashion ambience as she prepares to play a student at famed fashion school Central Saint Martins. “Just like John,” she joked. “It’s going to be quite fun.”

Kate Hudson has gone one step further and is dabbling in the beauty business, revealing she’s concocted, with her hairstylist, a natural hair product with the proceeds going to charity. “Women need natural products. It was very fun for me, very creative,” said the actress, who is just fi nishing a fi lm called “Fool’s Gold” opposite Matthew McConaughey.

Before the show, model Audrey Marney was already applauding the return of supermodels like Linda Evangelista and Amber Valletta on the Dior runway, who were fretting backstage about the prospect of traversing a catwalk that was longer than a football fi eld. “Pray for me. When you see my shoes, you’ll know why,” Gisele Bündchen said, showing off her 16-centimeter (that’s a little over 6 inches) heels. “It’s like 150 meters [about 163 yards] of pure Pilates workout,” said Helena Christensen. “It’s really intense. Now I know why I’ve been boxing for two years.”

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who took in the show, said he’s been working out during his Paris stay — when he’s not parked in restaurants, that is. “I need to for all the food I’ve been eating,” he said.

Stylist Patricia Field said she’s about to start work on a new series called “Cashmere Mafi a,” about four top-of-the-game female executives, starring Lucy Liu, among others. “It’s going to be hot fashion-wise if I have my way,” she vowed.

There were also a lot of bookworms in the room. Stylist Rachel Zoe said she’s working on a book called “Style: A to Zoe”; Dita Von Teese said hers will be about extreme beauty, while Victoire de Castellane is compiling Dior’s fi rst book on fi ne jewelry, a coffee table tome out this fall. Another person who could certainly write a book about the Dior anniversary is Pierre Cardin. “I started at Dior 60 years ago. I didn’t want to miss this,” he said.

Toreador Miguel Abellán spent some time with Galliano recently in Seville, Spain, during the sacred ceremony of getting dressed before a bullfi ght. “I’ve never shared that moment — even with my father. Then we went to the chapel to pray,” Abellán said.

Fiesta Wear

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WWD.COM

By Robert Murphy

PARIS — Seated in the stately salon of his hôtel particulier here, surrounded with artwork by Matisse, Picasso, Miró, Nicolas de Staël and Kurt Schwitters, Hubert de Givenchy lives up to every inch of his rep-utation as the epitome of the aristocratic couturier.

Coffee is served on a silver tray, the books on the table are arranged just so, and Givenchy, 80, a gray sweater draped over his shoulders, talks about his plans for vacation, which this summer include two months sequestered in his château, followed by a jaunt to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia and a yacht excursion in Turkey.

Even though the couturier retired in 1995, his agenda remains full.

“The good Lord doesn’t want me yet,” he joked, adding that he feels better after a couple of health issues earlier in the year.

Still energetic, Givenchy recent-ly agreed to sit on a committee at the Château de Versailles that oversees ac-quisitions. He also joined a board at the Louvre museum to lend his eye to the renovation of its rooms for 18th-century furniture, a subject about which he has extensive knowledge, having built up his own collection of pieces, which he later sold at Christie’s.

The project closest to Givenchy’s heart, however, remains the Cristóbal Balenciaga Foundation, currently being built in Getaria, Spain, which he is overseeing, although a construction setback last year has delayed the opening.

“Balenciaga was my religion,” offered Givenchy, explaining that he has assembled more than 1,000 dresses for the collection. “Since I’m a believer, for me there’s Balenciaga and the good Lord.

“Balenciaga had a sense of the construction of clothes,” continued Givenchy. “He did things that were intelligent, which isn’t the case today. People are interested in glitz.

“Fashion’s over. There are bags and shoes that are more and more ugly. That’s all. There are perfumes and everyone talks of luxury. But for me, luxury is, in part, to be well dressed.”

Though Givenchy protested several times that he didn’t want to talk about fashion — “I’m too old for that” — he gravitated naturally to the subject, opining on everything from the accessories boom to the state of his former house, now owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

“I suffer,” he lamented. “What is happening [at Givenchy] doesn’t make me happy. After all, one is proud of one’s name.”

Since he retired in 1995, Givenchy, who dressed style icons like Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall and Jackie Kennedy, said he felt his former house had failed to crystallize his style into a modern reality. John Galliano, who is now at Dior, was the fi rst of a long line of designers who have attempted to bring Givenchy modern verve. Alexander McQueen, Julien Macdonald and, now, Italian Riccardo Tisci have followed.

“The error they’ve made at Givenchy?” mused Givenchy. “When the Wertheimers hired Karl Lagerfeld, for example, they asked him to do Chanel, and he did Chanel. There is always some-thing of the Chanel spirit in what he does. That’s why it worked.

“If at Givenchy, in the beginning, [management] would have told the designers to look into the archives, which are formidable — there are dresses for Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy. There’s an enormous choice. Designers could take them and readapt them to today.

“But when the management tells a designer nothing, he wants to try to show his talent. He thinks he’s going to become a great couturier and he ends up doing junk.”

Givenchy said he recently met Tisci, whom he found charming as a person.“The house asked if I would see him. It’s a delicate position to be in. It’s not for me to tell him

[what to do]. He asked questions. I told him there are documents, fi lms. Then when I see in the press what he does, there’s no feeling of the house. I ask myself, ‘What end does a conversation like that serve?’”

Even if he bemoans the direction the house has taken, Givenchy is wise enough to chalk it up to the changing world. “The era is different,” he conceded. “There has been a general rupture.

“I was lucky enough to have worked when there were truly great couturiers: Madame Grès, Mr. Dior, Mr. Balmain, Mr. Balenciaga. Dresses were meant to make women beautiful.

“There used to be wonderful dresses in the windows at Dior. Now you see bathing suits and bags. How many bags can people buy? Maybe women don’t want to get dressed up anymore.”

Despite the distance he feels from the fashion operation of his old house, Givenchy said he entertains closer relations when it comes to the fragrance business. The division was built up by the designer and his elder brother, Jean-Claude, who served as president of Parfums Givenchy and whose son, James Taffi n de Givenchy, is a jewelry designer in New York.

Alain Lorenzo, the current president and chief executive of Parfums Givenchy, meets regularly with Givenchy to solicit his opinion. “Alain Lorenzo wants my advice. I tell him, he listens, and then he does what he wants. It’s a friendly relationship. I think there are nice things, and others that aren’t so much my taste.”

He admitted at times he considers how he would approach fashion today. “I’d do really chic separates,” he said. “Clothes that women could wear, that is like a really luxurious ready-to-wear. But no one is asking me.

“I’m not preaching how to dress,” he continued. “I just see that things are different. It hurts me because fashion is such a beautiful thing. One can do so many things to make a woman even more beautiful.”

10 WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

Sitting Down With Givenchy

“I was lucky enough to have worked when there were truly great couturiers: Madame Grès, Mr. Dior, Mr. Balmain, Mr. Balenciaga. Dresses were meant to make women beautiful.”— Hubert de Givenchy

Hubert de Givenchy at home in Paris.

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Fluid and FeminineAnne Valerie Hash: After several years of crashing the couture schedule with her ready-to-wear collections, this season Anne Valerie Hash edged into the haute arena with a tightly edited group

of 14 handmade creations. Though it’s impossible to judge the full measure of a designer’s talent for the genre in so few pieces, Hash came up with some very pretty fare — a sunburst strapless gown in gray silk with satin insets, for instance, and the short citrine satin dress with geometric pleating. Throughout, she ratcheted up her favored masculine-feminine theme, here with the emphasis decidedly on the latter with huge sleeves, pleated details and more intricate construction. While these were lovely, one

wonders about the future of small independent designers in this era of megahaute grandeur backed by megahaute bucks.

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Laura Mulleavyof RodarteThe Loot: “One of my mom’s necklaces.”A purse. “I have to bring a purse because [my sister] Kate won’t carry one.”A cardigan of some sort.Sundries: A good book and “a lot of music, because I am always changing what I listen to.”The Skinny: “Kate and I like traveling to places we have never been before. When we can’t do that, we spend all our free time in the San Francisco Bay Area where we grew up. We’ll go to all the nearby beach towns like Monterey, Carmel and Capitola. This summer we’re just working on our collection. If we go anywhere, it will be last-minute.”

June AmbroseThe Loot: Louis Vuitton tote.Marc Jacobs sunglasses. Cole Haan and Mui Mui lightweight tunics and caftans.Sundries: “I take a break from my heels, relaxing on the sandy beaches at the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Spa in my Jimmy Choo thong sandals. The Skinny: “My husband and I often escape to St. Thomas, it’s close and not as crowded as South Beach [Miami]. This is the destination for good food, such as Hervé Chassin’s French cuisine, and for relaxation and amazing recreation.”

Doo-Ri ChungThe Loot: Scuba gear.Black Calvin Klein string bikini and a purple Body Glove one.Her oldest pair of Levi’s cutoffs.Unis cotton dresses.Sundries: “I shouldn’t, but I bring my computer — just in case.” The Skinny: “I want it to be relaxing, so I like to dive or snorkel wherever I go.”

Tina ChaiThe Loot: APC ballerina fl ats.Thakoon cream-striped jacquard dress with two straps.Comme des Garçons fuchsia watercolor fl oral printed skirt.“Striped T-shirt I got from Okura in Tokyo.”APC blue plaid Madras collection dress.Isabel Marant gray sweatshirt and J. Crew chinos.The Skinny: “I love going to all the different ponds in Truro [Mass., on Cape Cod], playing tennis and eating fried clams.”

Nicole Miller The Loot: Calypso sarong. Billabong Camo surf shorts. Gogo Ferguson turquoise and silver jewelry. Nicole Miller linen and snake beach bag. Sundries: Archipelago botanical soy lotion milk skin moisturizer. The Skinny: Away from her showroom and the party circuit, the designer keeps the dress code casual. “I waterski and cook. I love to have friends over when I am at the beach.”

Vera WangThe Loot: Leggings.“My collection of cashmere knits.”“And T-shirts — let’s be really honest here.” Summer shift dresses. “I take a few cues from my fat years.”The Skinny: “It’s the way I like to dress in the summer and when I’m in Palm Beach [Fla.]. I have lived a resort life for a long time, although I won’t be any more. I won’t be going anywhere for years with everything that is going on [at work].”

11WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

Ready-to-Wear Report

Packing for the Great Summer EscapeWith the Fourth of July hours away, many city dwellers are packing up — or have already — for seaside sojourns. More often than not, such summer jaunts call for casual clothes, but 10 design insiders won’t leave behind their personal style. Here’s a look at what they plan to stow away as they slip out of town. By Rosemary Feitelberg

Maria CornejoThe Loot: “Three are members of my family.”One of her bubble dresses in linen.Orange double-layered shorts.Marni bikini.Sundries: Flip-fl ops and sun protection.The Skinny: “We like going to Shelter Island [off New York’s Long Island]. The water is instant meditation for me. There is something very soothing about the water — whether it is being near a racing river or by the sea — just contemplating what it’s about.”

Amanda BrooksThe Loot: Seventies surfer-style rainbow fl ip-fl ops.Black Eres one-piece bathing suit with boy-short bottoms.Seventies, hippy paisley wrap skirts. Sundries: “I always take a book. Right now I’m reading ‘Inherited Risk: Errol and Sean Flynn in Hollywood and Vietnam.’ And ‘24’ DVDs — I’m obsessed.”The Skinny: “We go to the North Fork of Long Island. It’s easy.”

Stefani Greenfi eld, owner of Scoop

The Loot: A pareo.A set of gold bangle bracelets.Scoop velvet fl ip-fl ops.Tracy Feith slipdress.Tom Ford “Jennifer” sunglasses.The Skinny: Nantucket, St. Barths, Harbor Island and Shelter Island top her list for weekend getaways. “I like to have absolutely no structure or plans — to be able to wear no makeup, a pareo, and relax with my husband, my baby and family and friends.”

Sara Albrecht, owner of Ultimo

The Loot: Giambattista Valli dress. “A dress is an entire outfi t.”“The perfect shoe — Manolos. It’s always a heel. I don’t care if I’m going to the pool or for a walk.” A small, square metallic Kotur evening bag. “It’s tiny, but it fi ts a lot of stuff.”Big hoop earrings.Sundries: “Of course, sexy lingerie from La Perla.”The Skinny: “I keep a bag of stuff that I only travel with and I decide at the last minute which dress to take. You get a formula. Now I need to go somewhere.”

APC blue plaid Madras dress.

A Jimmy Choo sandal.

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GENEVA — Textiles jobs have been a victim of the quickening pace of globalization.

Most of the declines in manufacturing employ-ment in the last three decades in the world’s seven richest economies have taken place in just two indus-try sectors, textiles and metals, an expert economic report said.

In areas like food products, chemicals, motor ve-hicles and other manufacturing, employment in G7 nations has been relatively stable, concluded the study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The G7 consists of the U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and Canada.

Between 1970 and 2001, the number of manufac-turing workers in textiles in G7 nations declined from around 10 million in 1970 to about four million in 2001, noted the OECD report on the changing na-ture of manufacturing.

But the report highlighted that manufacturing em-ployment has also declined in large emerging econo-mies such as Brazil, China and Russia.

Separately, the National Council of Textile Organizations has estimated that 65,600 jobs have been lost since the end of the global quota regime on Jan. 1, 2005.

The major cause for the fall in manufacturing jobs everywhere, said the OECD, is “rapid productivity growth, whether by restructuring ineffi cient plants, or deploying skills, knowledge, technology and new processes to boost effi ciency.”

— J.Z.

By Ross Tucker

NEW YORK — The American Apparel & Footwear Association unveiled its first re-stricted substances list during its Environmental Issues Seminar here last week.

“AAFA continues to proactively take a leadership role in ensuring that textile, ap-parel and footwear fi rms have the resources to learn about and put in place a sound chemical management system,” Kevin Burke, president and chief executive offi cer of the AAFA, said in a statement. “This new, annual effort will become an invaluable resource for everyone in the industries.”

Companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. and Nike Inc. have had restricted substanc-es lists, or RSLs — which inform manufacturers what chemicals can be used in small amounts or not used at all — for more than seven years. However, the lists, like other documents and policies that seek to defi ne corporate responsibility, can vary by com-pany. The AAFA spent two years developing its RSL, adding chemicals and substances based on federal regulations from the world’s developed countries. The list is expect-

ed to be updated in coming years to include chemicals that may not be regulated by governments but are still restricted in their use by the industry.

John Eapen, vice president of environmental health and safety for yarn manufac-turer American & Efi rd, opened the conference by urging attendees to use the list to make improvements in their operations.

“Our goal is to give you all the information to go back to your company and imple-ment your own RSL,” said Eapen.

Sean Cady, a senior manager for environment, health and safety for Levi Strauss, said an RSL provided a range of benefi ts to companies. By prohibiting or restricting chemi-cals used in production, a company can assure the safety of the product being sold.

“Nobody in here wants our products to harm the consumer,” said Cady. “That’s what an RSL is.”

The RSL can give employees of the company and consumers confi dence in the product, help prevent organizations such as Greenpeace from targeting a company, and allow fi rms to quickly respond with evidence to counter any accusations.

Cady acknowledged the apparel industry, and the denim industry in particular, was chemically intensive. Bleach, soap, enzymes, resins and dyes are commonly used. Brand owners, retailers and manufacturers need to consider the impact of each of those substances.

“Think about this: If you use a chemical, where does it end up?” asked Cady. There are only three answers — on the garment, in the air or in the water. “We have to think holistically around chemical management,” said Cady.

Tommy Thompson, manager of environmental health and property conservation for Hanesbrands, said implementing an RSL could be a diffi cult transition for em-ployees unaccustomed to considering such issues. When Thompson instituted a policy that required all substances used in production to be cleared with him fi rst, he didn’t always get a warm reception.

“Any restrictions you try to put on [product developers’] processes, they are going to view as a barrier to doing their jobs,” warned Thompson. The challenge comes in educating the company about the importance of having the RSL. At companies the size of Hanesbrands, that is a particularly daunting task.

“We have more facilities than I can name in more countries than I can possibly name,” said Thompson.

The cost of not having the RSL can be considerable. Andy Chen, director of RSL and Asia communications for Nike, discussed several incidents involving the compa-ny’s products that dealt directly with restricted substances.

In one case during the last World Cup soccer tournament, the shiny outer coating of a Nike soccer ball was found to be “loaded” with cadmium, a banned substance. Because Nike had an RSL and testing in place, the activewear giant was able to catch it early. The company developed a new coating that didn’t dramatically affect pro-duction costs. Ultimately, Nike spent an extra 900,000 euros, or approximately $1.2 million at current exchange, to make the product safe. Chen noted that had the balls made it to the public and been discovered by a non-governmental organization, the fi nancial impact could have been exponentially larger.

“I can tell you this is a very risky issue because there are a lot of eyes watching,” said Chen.

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“Nobody in here wants our products to harm

the consumer. ” — Sean Cady, Levi Strauss

WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

Textiles, Metals Suffer MostJob Losses in 30-Year Period By John Zarocostas

GENEVA — Global fabric pro-duction rose by 3.6 percent dur-ing the fourth quarter of 2006, boosted by strong gains in Europe and Asia, according to a report from the International Textile Manufacturers Federation.

Zurich-based ITMF is an um-brella group for national textile associations in more than 30 major textile-producing nations.

Conditions for the textile in-dustry are still proving diffi cult in the Western Hemisphere, how-ever. Plant closings and on-going restructuring hampered produc-tion in the U.S. and Brazil, which posted declines of 15.9 percent and 16.6 percent respectively, ac-cording to an industry survey.

Industry analysts were sur-prised at the sharp decline in U.S. output given the weak dollar, and attributed the weakness of the Brazilian industry to the apprecia-tion of the country’s currency.

However, refl ecting the robust state of the global economy, fab-ric production edged upwards by 6.7 percent in Europe, with Italy notching significant increases in quality fabric destined for the high end of the fashion industry, said Christian Schindler, director

general of the ITMF.Despite the setbacks in the U.S.

and Brazil, Schindler said the out-look is “looking good” for fabric production this year.

Schindler said major gains were also achieved by Asia, with output up 10.8 percent. India, Pakistan and Vietnam also achieved gains.

On an annual basis, Asia’s fabric production jumped by 32 percent. Output in the U.S. con-tracted by 40.8 percent, in Brazil by 8.2 percent and in Europe by 4.6 percent.

China, the world’s largest pro-ducer and exporter of textiles, is not

a member of the ITMF grouping.Fourth-quarter results for world

yarn production were down by 1.4 percent, with the U.S. and Brazil registering the biggest declines in production of 12.3 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. In contrast, Asia managed an increase in yarn output of 0.3 percent, and Europe an increase of 4 percent.

Reflecting the recovery in Europe, yarn orders on the conti-nent in the fourth quarter rose 3 percent, while orders in Brazil de-clined by 12.9 percent, ITMF said.Global fabric production posts gains, but U.S, and Brazil, buck tend with sharp declines

Europe and Asia Drive Fabric Production

AAFA Unveils Restricted Substances ListTextile & Trade Report

Substances such as bleach, soap and dyes end up in garments, in

the air or in the water supply.

Global fabric production increased 3.6 percent during the fourth quarter.

Substances such as bleach, soap and dyes end up in garments, in

the air or in the water supply.

13

Catering to Demanding Clients With Custom MadeBy Katya Foreman

PARIS — Tom Ford may have pondered where a 21st-century Cary Grant would shop to create the blueprint for his new boutique concept. But what about a modern-day Audrey Hepburn?

Seizing on customers’ desire to be different in an age of global brands, a crop of women’s wear designers is cultivating a personalized fashion experience, offering tailor-made services and old-school trunk shows, as well as on-site ateliers and private dressing salons.

Charvet, the storied Parisian shirtmaker that counts George Sand and Coco Chanel among its past custom-ers, has noted younger female clients are seeking their own take on bespoke tailoring. “Many are requesting for mannish garments — shirts and pajamas in particular — to be adapted to the female form,” said the store’s director, Anne-Marie Colban, adding that certain clients even insist on keeping buttons running down the right hand side of shirts.

The house’s production of women’s bespoke shirts, she estimated, had risen 20 percent annually over the last three years. Each garment takes around four weeks to make, complete with fi ttings in a muslin mock-up, and costs roughly $600.

“These ladies could shop anywhere; it’s not a ques-tion of physical constraints,” continued Colban. “It’s the idea that a garment that carries a personal stamp ex-ceeds any other form of luxury.”

“Our ideal would be one dress, one customer,” said Paris designer Jonathan Riss, who opened his boutique, Jay Ahr, fi tted with an on-site atelier and salon, a year and a half ago. Riss plans to open a private salon on New York’s Madison Avenue this fall. “Contact with the client is what it’s about, and I love the idea of doing regular private trunk shows to propose one-off pieces,” he said, adding he will decorate his New York suite to resemble a French apartment, replete with an old bed to drape dresses across.

Custom-made creations come with a price. Pieces from Riss’ main collection cost between $700 and $7,000, but one-of-a-kind creations can run up to $30,000 and sometimes take up to 500 hours to craft. One recent commission, for example, involved the application of 700 crystals, by hand, he said.

Rather than buying couture outfi ts created from the ground up, clients often request that garments be made to measure, or for functional tweaks to be made on existing items, designers say. A customer from Japan or the Middle East, for example, may prefer a piece to be more covered up. Elsewhere, decorative whimsies, such as a fringe added

to a dress, are popular among young clients who want to put their personal stamp on a style, designers said.

However, custom-made orders are generally limited to the privileged few.

“I tend to only make one-off pieces for that extra spe-cial client who needs a ballgown made, say, or a jacket,” said Paris designer Andrew Gn, who compares the pro-cess with couture in terms of the extra manual labor, handiwork and fabric sourcing that’s involved. “It’s ex-tremely costly, so the price point kind of limits itself,” he said, characterizing custom-made designs as a new way for the “super, super elite” to differentiate themselves from the fashion pack.

Many designers herald such extracurricular endeavors as a return to fashion’s roots, and perhaps a reaction to the glut of fast-fashion and overexposed international brands.

“There’s a new group of women who are getting back to couture codes, and I adore [the exchange] I have with them,” said Giambattista Valli. “They push me to make special pieces, not banal commercial clothes.”

Citing a demand for exclusive products, Valli is ready to launch in stores this month his nascent Tailoring collec-tion of Neapolitan tailored basics. The collection, which opened the designer’s ready-to-wear show in March, has luxury details. Each piece is embroidered with Valli’s monogram and comes with handmade linings.

Even emerging designers are banking on personal-ized designs to polish their image. London designer fi rm Poltock & Walsh, which will show during New York Fashion Week in September, are crafting fi ve made-to-measure “star pieces” for house muse Anouck Lepère to model.

“It’s defi nitely a direction we’re going in as it’s about bringing design to another level,” said Katie Walsh, explaining that she and her design partner, Fiamma Poltock, recently moved their facilities from Hong Kong to London to improve production control.

For spring, the brand will launch a made-to-mea-sure shoe line in collaboration with shoemaker Simon Bolzoni and Britain’s oldest bespoke shoemaking fi rm, Henry Maxwell & Co., which makes footwear for Queen Elizabeth II. Under the new venture, customers will be able to order made-to-measure versions of the brand’s shoe collection for around $4,000. A new style will be in-troduced each season. Bolzoni will make appointments with clients internationally to take measurements.

Like individual clients, retailers are also demanding more specialized products and customized options, de-signers said.

“In the last two years, retailers have been expect-ing the mini, mid-thigh and below-the-knee options on dresses, as well as sleeve variations,” said Gn.

They’re also after one-off exclusives for their stores. Valli has designed a little black dress for Isetan in Tokyo for fall, for example, and online fashion boutique Net-a-porter has commissioned an embroidered white dress from Jay Ahr for the holiday season.

And following a sell-through of an exclusive mink-cuffed wool crepe coat by Andrew Gn last year, Bergdorf Goodman has requested a black-and-white feathered gown by the designer for fall.

“[One-off creations] can come out 20 to 100 percent more expensive, depending on quantity, but price is not an issue for this customer,” said Gn.

Not that women shy away from accessible ways to get a unique garment. A new initiative by furrier J. Mendel, dubbed “Metamorphose,” allows clients to have their old furs customized for a snip of what the reworked de-signs would cost off the rack. The service is available in the house’s boutiques in the U.S., and the fi rm is in talks to develop the service for a major department store in New York. Compared with investing in a new fur, the cost of having an old one customized is relatively low. Reworking a used mink coat, say, costs around $5,000, compared with $20,000 for a new style.

“Modifi cations can range from replacing a collar to entirely resculpting coats,” said 84-year-old Jacques Mendel, master furrier of the fi rm’s Paris atelier. The service, Mendel believes, will attract new customers to the store. “I’m a bit of a romantic and I hope we’ll get so much demand that I’ll have to train legions of young-sters to become furriers — a dying art,” he said.

Made-to-measure orders on new coats account for around 25 percent of the house’s business, 70 percent of it for export. But more and more women, said Mendel, are choosing to customize fur coats, both new and old.

“Our franchise in Moscow has had ladies come in carrying chains of diamonds that they want attached to their furs,” said Mendel, adding that these precious belts cost fi ve times the price of the coat.

Clients, in particular from emerging fur markets such as Russia and the United Arab Emirates, are hungry for tailor-made luxury, said Mendel, recalling a recent visit from a Russian customer who rolled up in her limo wielding a giant sable blanket. “It was one of the most beautiful furs I had ever seen,” said Mendel. “And her dream was to have it transformed into a coat made es-pecially for her.”

PHOT

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REThe Jay Ahr atelier in Paris.

The Jay Ahr showroom in Paris.

Jacques Mendel

Furs before and after their transformation.

WWD.COMWWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

WWD.COM

By Bambina Wise

JOHANNESBURG — Belinda Seper, the woman behind the Belinda boutique, is the Australian equivalent of Joyce Ma, Ikram Goldman and Joan Burstein.

She does not advertise, yet in the last 15 years, Seper has built a fashion business that trades on the careful selection of merchandise from the hottest labels, the creation of a unique retail environment in a specifi cally defi ned location and her instinctive understanding of her market.

Today, Belinda has 10 stores in Australia with sales last year of $10 million and 70 employees. And in May, the Belinda multibrand boutique concept made its debut here, its fi rst foreign outpost.

Like her boutiques in Australia, Belinda in South Africa is housed in a converted home on the main avenue of a leafy suburb, Parkhurst, fast becom-ing Johannesburg’s answer to Manhattan’s Chelsea. Inside, the 2,000-square-foot space has four separate retail areas: the Corner Shop for jeans and T-shirts by Sass & Bide, Lover and Citizens of Humanity; a shoes and bags boutique; a high-fashion salon featuring la-bels such as Lanvin and Missoni; and an “international chic” shop that carries Miu Miu, Marni, Stella McCartney, Chloé and Vanessa Bruno.

Seper decided quickly and instinc-tively that a Belinda boutique in South Africa would work. “I’d been to visit my brother and his part-ner, who’d been living here for a few years now,” she recounted. “This was back in July 2006. I instantly fell in love with the coun-try.” The economy was booming and consum-er luxury spending was at an all-time high. But it surprised her that some of her favorite labels weren’t available.

Seper investigated Johannesburg and Cape Town. “I felt that the market was ready for it. It was time to go in and do something different.”

She returned last September to scout locations for a Johannesburg store; by November, the deal on the Parkhurst house was fi nal. Construction began in ear-nest in January. Realizing that she was going against conventional wisdom in setting her store in a house, she said, “I know that in Johannesburg, a mall mental-ity exists. I also know it results from security issues; malls were considered safe places in the context of so much crime. However, my sense is that people here are a lot more relaxed now, and ready for the regeneration of a more independent-minded retail environment.”

Belinda will offer the same standard of service the Australian boutiques are known for. The staff is trained to welcome clients “as they would a guest in their own home.” And the idea of “home,” for Seper, translates into an experience that engages all the senses. She is meticulous about detail, from the music to the room fra-grance to the size of the changing rooms and the plush-ness of the sofa in the shoe salon.

As owner and buyer for Belinda — she averages at least six international buying trips a year — Seper sees her role as essentially that of a curator. “Fashion to me is nothing more than a range of possibilities,” she said. “I’m the one that edits and assembles these possibilities — the international fashion trends and brands — in a unique environment.”

In fact, Seper considers this to be her best talent. Her years in the business have served her well. “Most people,” she said, “have rear-vision technique. I’m the opposite. I’m forward-looking. I can see the way ahead, and I can judge whether to go with a brand or collection this season and not the next. It might be too early for my market.”

It was this foresight that spurred her into starting her business in 1992. Long a champion of Australian design-ers, she opened her store with brands such as Colette Dinnigan at a time when the words “Australian fash-ion” didn’t quite exist. Sensing a gap in the market, she sought to bring European labels to Australia. She still seeks out Australian talent; Sass & Bide, Willow and Josh Groot are among the local labels she carries. She also is on the board of Australian Fashion Week. She intends to include Australian designers in her merchan-dise mix for South Africa.

While excited by this new South African ven-ture, Seper is aware of the challenges she faces in this market. Despite the encouraging comments from friends, she stressed she was “under no illusion that Belinda means any-thing in this market. I am an unknown quantity here, which can be a positive, in the sense that there won’t be any preconceived pres-sure. But retail at this level is all about relationships. We have to win that trust from the clients.” What she is banking on is the appeal of the brands she is bring-ing into the market, like Marni, Miu Miu and Chloé. “These are the ones that I know will appeal across the board,” she said.

There are a handful of small multibrand boutiques catering to that market in South Africa. A limited se-lection of labels such as Etro, Bottega Veneta, Issa, Diane von Furstenberg, Dries Van Noten, Dosa and Day Birger & Mikkelsen are available and are often found in ex-clusive upmarket malls. Gucci and Louis Vuitton also have freestanding boutiques in the massive Sandton City/Nelson Mandela Square shopping complex.

In setting up Belinda in South Africa, Seper was careful not to tread on anyone’s toes and “steal” brands already being car-

ried by other stores. She wondered, initially, why some of her favorite brands were not represented in the coun-try. She asked the suppliers in Europe and the U.S. why.

“They said they would love to, but the high level of crime was a deterrent. And when I asked if they would sell to me for South Africa, they said yes immediately.” She added that “as in Australia, we will be stocking cur-rent seasons as in Europe and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere.”

Price could be an issue, because of the high import duties on clothing in South Africa (40 percent plus 14 percent value-added tax). “We are obliged to work with lower margins,” she admitted, although the prices will be pretty much on a par with Australian prices, “only very slightly higher.” Import duties in Australia are 22 percent. However, she said that at this level, the clien-tele is more concerned with quality and value.

And if all goes well in Johannesburg, Belinda will open a Cape Town store in the next 12 months. Already, her decision to set up shop in Parkhurst — known for interior decorating showrooms, antiquaries and quirky home décor — is proving prescient. In October, Paul Smith is opening down the road, and Burberry is report-edly considering a location nearby.

14 WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

LONDON — Milbar Laboratories has set its sights on the luxury treatment market.

The East Haven, Conn., manufacturer, which pro-duces cosmeceuticals for dermatologists and plastic surgeons, introduced its own antiaging line, dubbed M Lab, in February.

Carried exclusively at Harrods department store here, the fi ve-unit line sits at the higher end of the prestige segment, with a 30-ml. serum retailing for 250 pounds, or $502 at current exchange.

“It was a private research project to fi nd out what we could formulate if we had no limitations,” explained Truitt Bell, Milbar Laboratories’ president and chief ex-ecutive offi cer. “We didn’t interfere [with the research work] for two years and then we were staggered by the results.”

Milbar’s research and development labs came up with blends featuring high levels of active ingredients held in an antiaging matrix formula.

Sixty-eight percent of the brand’s Anti-aging Treatment Cream formula is made up of clini-cally active ingredients, for example.

The decision to commercialize the line came about when Harrods fashion and beauty director, Marigay McKee, heard Milbar executives speak-ing about their research at a cos-meceuticals conference.

“I kept asking questions,” said McKee, adding she tried lab samples of the products, which were sent to her. “After four to fi ve days, my skin was rosy.

“I have kids and dalmatians and a 70-hour-per-week job,” she added with a smile. “I want

some of that.”McKee offered to sell the brand in

Harrods’ Knightsbridge flagship starting Feb. 1. In its fi rst week, M Lab generated re-tail sales of 20,000 pounds, or $40,134, and turnover has since leveled off to about half that fi gure.

“The good news is, trade is now regular and it has return customers,” she said.

In addition to the brand’s current line-up, which comprises Anti-aging Treatment Cream, Anti-aging Treatment Serum, Anti-aging Day Treatment SPF 15, Anti-aging Cleanser and Anti-aging Toner, additional products, including an eye product and a body treatment cream, will bow later this year.

Bell said Milbar currently doesn’t have plans to roll the line out elsewhere.

— Brid Costello

BEAUTY BEATM Lab’s Anti-aging Treatment Serum.

M Lab Line Goes High-End With Harrods

Belinda Ups the Designer Stakes in South AfricaBelinda Seper

Inside a Belinda boutique in Australia.

A rendering of the Johannesburg boutique.

WWD.COM15WWD, TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2007

HAPPY HOUR: Leave it to Miuccia Prada to mix up something unexpected. Rumor has it the designer is in talks with Belgian artist Carsten Höller to codesign a bar in London. Höller, whose winding aluminum slides were the talk of the Tate Modern earlier this year, already has his foot in the door at the Italian fashion house: One of his slides runs from Miuccia Prada’s Milan offi ce directly into the courtyard.

PILLOW CASE: Industry veteran Alexander Vreeland, who joined D. Porthault last year as chief executive offi cer, has exited the luxury linens fi rm, according to a Paris source. Vreeland could not be reached for comment and his next move could not be learned. A spokeswoman for D. Porthault declined all comment Monday. However, it is understood owners Joan and Bernard Carl will assume management of the fi rm. Vreeland is perhaps best known for his long career at Giorgio Armani Corp. Before joining D. Porthault, he was a partner in the manufacturer G.A.V.

COCO NUTS: Expect an eclectic mix of VIPs at Chanel’s show today. Among those expected in the front row are the singers Fergie, Ayo and Vanessa Paradis; the artists Jake and Dinos Chapman, and director David Lynch, along with actresses Charlotte Gainsbourg and Virginie Ledoyen, plus, just for kicks, Japanese footballer Nakata.

MONKEY BUSINESS: Today marks the opening of Comme des Garçons’ 27th guerrilla store, this time in Beirut, Lebanon. The store, which is being run by two local jewelry designers, Dalila Barkache and Selim Mouzannar, is situated in a three-story, early-20th-century villa in the city center. The ground fl oor will house vintage Comme des Garçons stock, and there is a fashion and art space for local artists on the second fl oor.

CHANGE OF PLANS: Due to an unforeseen scheduling confl ict, Bottega Veneta is bowing out of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin, July 12 to 15. Bottega Veneta had been tapped

to stage the grand fi nale July 15 during the German capital’s debut fashion week. However, an event honoring Gianni Versace on the 10th anniversary of his murder has been scheduled in Milan for the same night. A spokeswoman for the Italian fashion brand and its creative director, Tomas Maier, said, “Out of respect for Versace, we will not be showing. There is not another time available during that week, so Bottega Veneta will have to pass on 2007 Berlin Fashion Week altogether.”

Massimo Redaelli, senior vice president of IMG Fashion Europe, organizer of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin, said IMG was in talks with another international designer to close the Berlin shows. An announcement is expected later this week.

CATCH A TIGER: Roberto Cavalli is swinging into Paris this week, but for fast, not high, fashion. On Wednesday, in the middle of couture week, he will lift a veil on the collection he did for H&M — for editors of long-lead publications, at least. He and H&M’s Margareta van den Bosch are cohosting the breakfast event to show off the collection, which will be launched Nov. 8 in about 200 H&M locations around the world.

HEATHER’S FIXES: It’s hard to imagine Heather Graham, with her blonde bombshell beauty, fi ghting some demons, but everyone, it seems, can have a bad day. Graham, who was in Chicago last Tuesday promoting her indie fi lm “Broken” at the fi rst GenArt Chicago Film Festival, said her role as a diner waitress trying to bounce back from drug addiction and a dangerous

relationship struck home.“I related to the self-destruction,” she said. “In my own

ways, I’ve done that, but not with heroin.” Graham, who was clad in a teal minidress with English

lace detailing from L.A. designer Michelle Jonas and tall Versace camel boots, said she lifts herself out of any diffi cult times with help. “I go to therapy; I do yoga,” she said. “And it’s deciding to have good self-esteem.”

The actress is also taking work matters into her own hands, venturing into producing to create more fi lms about determined women. “I don’t fi nd a lot of movies I can relate to,” she said. “There is too much from the male perspective. I want to create more material for myself that’s inspiring.”

MUM’S THE WORD: Berliners packed the trendy Clemens Tissi gallery last week for the opening of an exhibition of Hedi Slimane’s “F System” furniture — and to catch a glimpse of the former Dior Homme designer himself. When asked about his future plans, Slimane’s comments were about as minimal as his furniture. “I’d rather not talk about it,” he said, surrounded by cameras. A fan and former resident of Berlin, Slimane popped up again over the weekend to launch a group art show called “Sweet Bird of Youth,” featuring his own art, at Arndt & Partner. “I feel at home in Berlin,” he said. “It’s a very creative city and very inspirational. You see so many different types of people on the street.” On Sunday, Slimane was slated to record a conversation with graphic designer Peter Saville and artist Thomas Demand, which will be assembled into a book.

WEDDING BELLE: Eva Longoria has chosen Chanel couture for the civil ceremony of her upcoming nuptials to French dribbler Tony Parker in Paris on July 7, according to a source, but an American designer will dress her for the church. Odds are that the dress, which is said to be valued at $75,000 and to feature a “unique embroidery” made by a team of 20 seamstresses, is by Vera Wang. The American designer declined to comment. Parker, meanwhile, is likely to go with the off-the-radar French men’s brand he represents in ads: De Fursac. Guests expected to the event include Victoria Beckham, Jessica Simpson, the “Desperate Housewives” gang and Jessica Alba, who has fl own into town early for couture.

Fashion Scoops

Heather Graham

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