Vince Camuto Adds Sportswear/4EXCLUSIVE: The powerhouse footwear brand signs a deal with Chaus to expand into sportswear as a step toward turning the brand into a lifestyle label.

Pre-fall Arrives/6Fashion: Looks from Armani Collezioni, Etro, Just Cavalli and Escada.

Hermés’ Surprise Guest/2News: At the opening of the brand’s store on the Left Bank in Paris, Salma Hayek, wife of PPR chief François-Henri Pinault, makes an appearance, stirring speculation about Hermés’ battle with Bernard Arnault.

The Mobs Turn Out for Lanvin/3Retail: As Lanvin launches its collection for H&M, masses turn out throughout the U.S. to snap up the line.

TODAY

Dolce, Gabbana Indicted in Probe

By Luisa ZarganiMILAN — In the latest go-round between fashion designers and crusading Italian authorities, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce have been indicted for alleged tax evasion, sources said.

The designers now may have to face a court trial, which would be the latest step in a case that began in 2008 and which could result in the designers, if they are found guilty, being personally liable for more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes and fines. Dolce and Gabbana have always denied any wrongdoing.

The designers are charged with tax evasion and abuse of rights relating to the 2004 sale of the Dolce & Gabbana and D&G brands to the designers’ Luxembourg-based holding company Gado Srl. A spokeswoman for the company could not be reached at press time.

According to a legal source, the ball is now in the hands of the designers’ lawyers and in those of the judge who will preside over preliminary hearings. The latter will evaluate the evidence provided by Milan-based prosecutor Laura Pedio and has the option to dismiss the case if the evidence doesn’t justify moving forward. /3

WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • Monday, November 22, 2010 • $3.00

Tax Evasion Alleged

STYL

ED B

Y SH

OSHA

NNA

FISC

HHOF

F

See the Leight

PHOTO BY ROBERT MITRA

People say that creativity runs in the family, and it seems the same is true for eyewear. After opening a successful vintage eyewear store in Venice Beach, Calif., Garrett Leight is launching a self-named collection of optical and sunglasses. His last name in association with eyewear should ring a bell, since his father, Larry Leight, co-founded Oliver Peoples back in 1986. Six styles, available in both optical and sun, including a clip-on option, will debut this spring and will wholesale from $80 to $150.

For more, see WWD.com/fashion-news.

Armani Collezioni

Josephine Chaus and Vince Camuto

• EYESCOOP: Extra images from the AMNH and

Apollo Circuit events at WWD.com/eyescoop. • FASHION: See more

pre-fall looks from Armani Collezioni, Etro,

Just Cavalli, Salvatore Ferragamo and Escada, plus

more from Garrett Leight’s new eyewear collection at WWD.com/fashion-news.

• MORE FASHION: See Fashion Rehab: Mini Messes; Spring Trend: A Slip of a Thing and more

from Lanvin (Hearts) H&M at WWD.com/fashion-news.

• INNERWEAR: Additional coverage

from the HUG Awards at WWD.com/markets-news.

Cecil Beaton was a multihyphenate guy — photographer, set designer and Academy Award-winning costumer. But the Englishman was also quite the avid scrapbooker, as evidenced by the release of Assouline’s “Beaton: The Art of the Scrapbook,” which will bow at a party on Monday at The Pierre hotel. Forty-two of his scrapbooks, archived by Sotheby’s London, have been condensed into an impressively rich 392-page monograph. “The con-nection between his own work and what he picked out in the scrapbooks,” says James Danziger, who published his own Beaton biography in 1977 and wrote the introduction, “is that they’re both really about the impact of the subject on you.”

Make that “subjects,” plural, because his scrapbooks featured a mis-cellany of material, clipped from glossy magazines, playbills and daily newspapers from the Thirties to the Sixties. There are images of Gloria

Swanson and Sophia Loren mixed in with Christmas cards from the royal family and anatomical illustrations of blood vessels. A photograph of Frida Kahlo faces a scene from the 1937 fi lm “Conquest.” News of the Kennedy assassination follows shots of the Beatles. Unlike Beaton’s dia-ries, which were published in 2003, the author notes that these scrap-books reveal a more fl attering side of the man. “The diaries were more acerbic; Beaton could be sharp-tongued,” he explains. “But in the scrapbooks, we see all the positive attributes of someone who was a visual person. It’s all about admiring art, style and people. It’s about pleasant recollections.”

And as for these once-personal and private scrapbooks going public, what would Beaton have thought? “Anybody who takes the time and trou-ble to make scrapbooks like those would be happy that they lived on after them,” Danziger continues. “At some point, you expect them to make their way out.” — Venessa Lau

WWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 20102

By Joelle Diderich

PARIS — Hermès International has opened its second-largest unit worldwide in a former swimming pool — and welcomed a surprising guest to its opening cocktail party: actress Salma Hayek, aka the wife of PPR chief François-Henri Pinault.

Her arrival at the event Thursday night caused ripples not only because of her short red Gucci bustier dress, but because of the context: Hermès has become embroiled in a media battle with luxury mogul Bernard Arnault since

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton last month revealed its surprise acquisition of 17.1 percent of its shares.

Everyone knows the Pinault family emerged as the white knight that thwarted Arnault’s takeover bid for Gucci in 1999, but Hayek just shrugged her bare shoul-ders. “I don’t know about investment; I know about shopping,” she said, fl ashing a big smile.

Hermès chief executive offi cer Patrick Thomas posed gamely for photos with the Mexico-born beauty, yet downplayed the signifi cance of her attendance.

“No, no, there is no message,” Thomas said. “We have always had a very good relationship with the Pinault family, for a long time. It is nothing new. They have always come to

all our openings and they often invite us to theirs.”A PPR spokeswoman confi rmed that Pinault was in-

vited to the party and has been at several Hermès events in the past. The executive was in Rennes, France, on Thursday night for the opening of a new location of Fnac, PPR’s chain of book, music and electronics stores.

Hayek said she attended the Hermès event on his behalf.Bertrand Puech, executive chairman of Emile

Hermès SARL, which represents the family sharehold-ers, echoed Thomas’s comments.

“She is a guest,” he deadpanned, adding the late

Jean-Louis and Rena Dumas, the former Hermès ceo and his interior architect wife, were both close to François-Henri Pinault’s father, François Pinault.

Earlier that day, the two executives led tours of the 15,800-square-foot store at 17 Rue de Sèvres and tried to de-fl ect attention from the LVMH saga and trumpet the unique character of the store: its fi rst big splash on the Left Bank after 173 years on the other shore of the French capital.

Housed in a listed building from 1935, the multilevel unit houses everything from saddles to silk scarves, in addi-tion to a fl orist, a small bookstore and a tearoom seating 30.

Creative director Pierre-Alexis Dumas said preserv-ing the historic building’s Art Deco mosaics and iron-

work balconies was a challenge, but a welcome one. “I have always thought that when creating something, the more restrictions you face, the stronger the creative re-sponse,” he said.

To fi ll the cavernous former pool section, interior archi-tect Denis Montel came up with three soaring huts made from curved slats of ash wood, reminiscent of nomad tents, housing women’s accessories and home wares, the latter representing 40 percent of the store’s offer.

This includes brand-new wallpaper, furnishing fabric and carpet ranges, in addition to reeditions of furniture designed by Jean-Michel Frank for Hermès in the Thirties.

Hermès had operated a temporary space on nearby Rue de Grenelle since 2009, which recently closed to make way for the new store.

Thomas revealed that going forward, the luxury fi rm will open fewer stores but opt for larger spaces in order to showcase the full range of its offer.

He was confi dent about prospects for 2011 after what promises to be a record year for the company, both in terms of sales and profi tability. Hermès posted a 30 percent increase in sales in the third quarter, fueled by strong demand for silk scarves, leather bags and watch-es, particularly in Asia.

“We won’t be able to maintain the same growth rate next year, but we should see double-digit growth none-theless,” he predicted.

Thomas and Puech added that the Hermès clan had not yet decided whether to take additional measures to protect itself from their unwelcome suitor.

The family holds 73.4 percent of the capital in a structure they have described as immune to any hostile takeover, but they are reportedly mulling whether to group their shares into a nonlisted holding.

“The family is serene. There is nothing to add,” said Thomas. “No additional measure has been decided.”

However, he underlined that the new store was the boldest embodiment yet of the spirit of the house, which fi ercely clings to its independence.

“The timing is perfect, because everything that as-serts the singularity and difference of Hermès is wel-come,” the executive said. “I don’t think a house like Hermès is capable of surviving in a universe controlled by money. This house has proved again and again that poetry is not incompatible with business.”

WWD.COM

MONDAY: Citi Trends Inc. and Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. report third-quarter sales and earnings.

TUESDAY: The U.S. Commerce Department releases the third-quarter Gross Domestic Product report.• Delia’s Inc., Guess Inc., J. Crew Group Inc. and Signet Jewelers Ltd. report third-quarter sales and earnings.• Zale Corp. reports first-quarter sales and earnings.

WEDNESDAY: Tiffany & Co. reports third-quarter sales and earnings.

THURSDAY: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, New York.

SATURDAY: ModaPrima, Milan (through Dec. 29). PHOT

O BY

SCO

TT R

UDD

TO E-MAIL REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS FIRSTNAME.LASTNAME@FAIRCHILDPUB.COM, USING THE INDIVIDUAL’S NAME. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2010 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.VOLUME 200, NO. 109. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in January, May, June and December, two additional issues in March, April, August, September, October and November, and three additional issues in February) 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: S.I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, Chief Executive Offi cer; Robert A. Sauerberg Jr., President; John W. Bellando, Chief Operating Offi cer & Chief Financial Offi cer; Jill Bright, Chief Administrative Offi cer. 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. Subscribers: If the Post Offi ce alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If during your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfi ed with your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions requests, please call 212-630-5656 or fax the request to 212-630-5883. For reprints of articles, please contact Scoop ReprintSource at 800-767-3263 or via e-mail at sales@scoopreprintsource.com. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild Fashion Group 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.

“This is an opportunity for us to

fully clothe the woman from head to toe.”

— Vince Camuto, creative director and

chief executive offi cer, Camuto Group,

on launching women’s sportswear. Page 4.

QUOTEDAILYCOMING THIS WEEK

Tom Brokaw

Patrick Thomas, Salma Hayek and Bertrand Puech.

A display in the store.

A look at the new

book.

A Bigger Splash for Hermès on the Left Bank

TODAY ON

.COMWWD

acerbic; Beaton could be sharp-tongued,”

TO E-MAIL REPORTERS AND EDITORS AT WWD, THE ADDRESS IS

THE BEATON GOES ON

STOR

E PH

OTO

BY D

OMIN

IQUE

MAI

TRE

WWD.COMWWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

Continued from page oneIf the judge decides to proceed, Dolce

and Gabbana’s lawyers may decide to ne-gotiate, pay a fine and avoid a drawn-out and costly court trial. In addition, their criminal record would remain clear. However, as the designers have claimed their innocence, they may not be willing to take that route, and an ordinary trial would take place over the coming years.

A third alternative is a shortened and speedier trial, based on a reduced number of documents and witnesses, which results in a penalty that is discounted by one third. The designers’ alleged evasion of national income tax carries up to a three-year pris-on sentence or a fine up to 1 million euros, or $1.3 million at current exchange.

Dolce’s brother Alfonso, a sharehold-er, and board member Cristiana Ruella are among others believed to have been indicted, but this could not be verified at press time. The investigations were initi-ated by the Guardia di Finanza, an Italian police force under the authority of the na-tional Minister of Economy and Finance.

Upon receiving news of the accusa-tions in May 2009, Dolce and Gabbana is-sued a vehement denial of the allegations.

“It’s a paradox! Since when does one have to pay taxes on money one never actu-ally collected,” the designers said in a per-sonal statement. “It’s an absurd demand based on a completely abstract calculation. This higher taxable sum…is a virtual figure we have never received, the result of a the-oretical accounting exercise.”

According to Dolce and Gabbana, the po-lice claims are based on “the mistaken in-terpretation” of a regulation which enables the tax authorities to replace the sum actu-ally paid with a hypothetical market value.

“This claim, far from offering an opin-ion of the actual facts, describes only the interpretation of a guideline,” the state-ment read. “[The] said allegation consti-tutes only an invitation to the [tax office] to examine the legal basis of that thesis, and will translate in a payment request for Mr. Dolce and Mr. Gabbana only in case [the] said thesis is proven. If this happened, [the designers] would be facing

a blatant violation of the principle of con-tributory capacity…as the request would then be for taxation of unearned income.”

Dolce and Gabbana explained they had “only actually received 360 million euros,” or $447.8 million, from the transaction and had declared and paid everything that was owed to the fiscal authorities. They said that if the police’s calculations were cor-rect, their brands would have been worth 1.1 billion euros, or $1.37 billion, in 2004.

“We wish!” the designers scoffed. The personal allegations follow a sep-

arate criminal probe into supposed tax irregularities at the Dolce & Gabbana group, As reported in 2008, fiscal authori-ties alleged the firm owed more than 125 million euros, or $175 million, in unpaid taxes and fines relating to Gado. The po-lice are understood to consider Gado es-sentially a legal entity, allegedly used to avoid higher corporate taxes in Italy. The designers allegedly did not declare earn-ings of around 260 million euros, or almost $400 million at current exchange, at a sat-ellite company between 2004 and 2006.

Dolce and Gabbana are the latest in a string of fashion designers and execu-tives who have had a brush with Italy’s tax authorities — which have resulted in everything from acquittal to the design-ers deciding to pay a fine simply to make the situation go away. Sources speculated that, despite Dolce and Gabbana’s claims of innocence, they too, in the end, might just pay a fine to end the matter.

In July, an inquiry by the Guardia di Finanza resulted in allegations that Belgian designer Dirk Bikkembergs evaded tax payments of 111 million euros, or $151.7 million. Bikkembergs rebutted the allegations, calling them “shameful towards a foreign investor” that has “at-tempted to set up a part of its business in Italy, not to mention the damage to the reputation of a designer who has done much to contribute to the local economy.”

The investigation is focusing on two companies, 22 Srl, which produces cloth-ing in Fossombrone, Italy, for Bikkembergs’ brand, and Luxembourg-based IFF Sarl, the distributor of the brand’s products.

The authorities alleged that the design-er’s organization is in Italy and that rev-enues were redirected to Luxembourg in-stead of being declared and taxed in Italy. The designer’s lawyer, Francesco Giuliani, said at the time: “Our position is that the authorities have not taken into account the real situation: IFF does not have a structured organization in Italy, and they [the tax authorities] did not correctly cal-culate the turnover of IFF, as they did not take into account the company’s costs.”

Last year, the Lazio, Italy, regional tax office hit Valentino Garavani and his longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, with a 33 million euro, or $45.1 million at current exchange, fine for allegedly evading tax payments. The fine was levied in relation to possible undeclared earnings. According to the tax office, the couturier and Giammetti avoided declaring their incomes in Italy by moving their residence outside the country, while effectively keeping their business operations here. However, their lawyer, Marino Bastianini, stated that both parties have been residents in the U.K. for almost a decade and have “in that period always declared and been subject to tax in the United Kingdom, which included taxation of the consultancy income received from the Valentino company. The dispute with the Italian authorities is in essence not about tax evasion but related to the in-terpretation of facts and circumstances concerning tax residency. The issue has been [the] subject of a previous investi-gation in Italy and the U.K. and on both occasions the U.K. residency has been considered in full compliance with the Italian and U.K. tax regime, thus ac-knowledging the legitimacy of their U.K. residency.” Bastianini said the issue “dis-regarded some elements which were pre-viously taken into consideration.”

Two years ago, Roberto Cavalli was cleared by Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation of a tax evasion indictment, after the designer was accused in 2002 of evad-ing fiscal responsibilities by booking costs to remodel his villa on the hills surround-

ing Florence as company expenses for the fiscal years 1996 through 2000. Cristiana Cavalli, daughter of the designer and president of the company, told WWD at the time that they had proved “there were never fictitious activities or expenses.”

Salvatore Ferragamo SpA was also accused of tax fraud, reportedly to the tune of more than 20 million euros, or $31 million, in unpaid monies related to the group’s Netherlands-based holding company. However, the fashion compa-ny was cleared of the charges on appeal two years ago. Ferragamo proved on ap-peal that its holding company, Ferragamo International BV, was a fully consolidated part of the group and not, as fiscal authori-ties had alleged, little more than legal en-tity, which the fashion house used to avoid paying higher corporate taxes in Italy.

Gianfranco Ferré, Santo Versace, Mariuccia Mandelli of Krizia and their busi-ness associates were indicted in July 1995 on charges of corruption and bribing tax po-lice in return for swift, trouble-free audits. While they were originally found guilty, a higher court overturned the verdicts and found they were victims of extortion.

At that time, Giorgio Armani, Gerolamo Etro and Krizia chairman Aldo Pinto were indicted on similar charges, but pleaded guilty in May 1996 before the trial began. They, too, said they were victims of extor-tion, but took plea bargains to end their cases as soon as possible to save them-selves and their businesses from the im-pact of a long judicial process.

3

Shoppers Flock to H&M for Lanvin Line

Dolce, Gabbana Said Indicted in Tax Case

By Sharon Edelson and Rachel Brown

JUST BEFORE 8 A.M. ON SATURDAy, A BLACK TOWN Car slid up to the curb across from the H&M flagship at 640 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Alber Elbaz was sit-ting in the back seat marveling at the line of customers who came for the launch his Lanvin (Hearts) H&M collec-tion. “We stayed in New york one more night so we could see this,” said Elbaz. Surveying the scene, he said, “I don’t dare go in,” explaining that he didn’t want to cause a riot. “I can’t believe it. I was sure there would be no one. I was a bit panicked. This is a once in a lifetime experience.”

The launch of Lanvin (Hearts) H&M brought more than 300 customers to the store. Customers at the front of the line received gift bags consisting of an organic Lanvin (Hearts) H&M tote, a scarf and a lipstick.

Peter Park of Flushing, N.y., waited 13 hours to get into the store.

The retailer used a system of colored bracelets. Rather than let customers rush into the store all at once, which has been a recipe for chaos at previous introductions, H&M allowed 16 groups of 20 people each, who entered the store in a block with the same bracelet color, to shop for women’s merchandise, which was blocked off, for 15 minutes. The store also limited purchases to two pieces per style. There were no restrictions for men’s wear.

Margareta van den Bosch, the former head of design for H&M and now a creative consultant, and her suc-cessor, Ann-Sofie Johansson, who are based in Sweden, were at the store sizing up the launch.

Daniel Kulle, president of H&M North America, was replenishing merchandise and assisting customers. “I’m restocking to get feedback,” he said. “We want them to have a good shopping experience. We’re keeping it in control so the rest of the store can work.” He predicted that the collection would “sell out today or tomorrow.’’ Jewelry and shoes went very quickly. I can’t find any.”

“Lanvin is my favorite designer partnership so far,”

said Virgil Sparks, a freelance designer. “The only thing that was disappointing is that it’s all taken from what [Alber Elbaz] has done before. It’s not his vision of a lower price point of view.”

“The quality is the best I’ve seen of any H&M collec-tion or even Target,” said Nathalia Powell, who just fin-ished an internship at Net-a-porter.

Nicole McCrery, who works in marketing, was buying the whimsical T-shirts: “The dresses aren’t as good as I expected. The material is stiff.”

Caitlin, who declined to give her last name, said the quality was good, but the sizes “itsy bitsy.” She still man-aged to spend $1,800.

An H&M spokeswoman said Lanvin (Heart) H&M is in 24 U.S. stores, twice the number of stores than previ-ous collections.

In Los Angeles and Orange counties, the Lanvin (Hearts) H&M collection was available at H&M stores in the shopping centers Beverly Center, Americana at Brand, Westfield Century City and South Coast Plaza,

and on Sunset Boulevard. At the eighth-floor Beverly Center location, about 300 people lined up before doors swung open at 8 a.m., two hours before the store usually opens on Saturdays.

Kiki Wang, a 35-year-old office manager, arrived at the Beverly Center at 9:30 p.m. on Friday night and scored the first position in the line. “I was here last year for Jimmy Choo at 11, and there were seven people in front of me, and I wanted to be the first person in line,” said Wang.

Prohibited by the Beverly Center to stay in the shel-tered mall overnight, those who came late Friday or in the early Saturday morning hours mostly huddled in the elevator banks flanking the outside of the mall, at Macy’s valet parking or under what awnings they could find.

Hannah Chang, a 23-year-old student, was among the initial people to ring up her Lanvin (Hearts) H&M pur-chases. “The dresses were too expensive,” said Chang. “you don’t get to wear them much.”

The Lanvin (Hearts) H&M dresses ranged from $199 to $249. A dress coat with fake fur was $349.

Most shoppers didn’t hold back. Wensen Ho, a 30-year-old who works in advertising, spent around $3,000 buying virtually every item from the women’s assortment for his wife. “She is pregnant and can’t be here, so I am doing a run,” he said.

Amanda Nguyen, a 22-year-old graduate student, felt that the collection’s quality justified higher prices. “[Alber Elbaz] said he wanted to maintain the look,” she said. “Sometimes these collaborations are cheaper, and it [Lanvin (Hearts) H&M] is a direct representation of the runway.”

Among the shoppers at the H&M in Beverly Center, awareness of Lanvin varied.

Nicole Eng, a 27-year-old graphic designer, said, “It was this collection that really introduced me to Lanvin.” Eng ended up spending $1,700 on Lanvin (Hearts) H&M. She said it was ‘’the most I’ve ever spent in my life.’’

Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce

Phot

o by

Kyl

e er

icKs

en

The long line outside H&M’s Madison Avenue flagship.

For more images, see WWD.com/fashion-news.For more images, see WWD.com/fashion-news.

WWD.COM4 WWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

By Lisa Lockwood

NEW YORK — Vince Camuto is well versed in building power brands such as Tory Burch, Jessica Simpson and Nine West. Now he’s out to turn his own name into the next big thing.

Five years after successfully introducing Vince Camuto footwear, the Camuto Group has signed a li-censing agreement with Bernard Chaus Inc. to launch a women’s sportswear collection for fall under the Vince Camuto label.

“This is an opportunity for us to fully clothe the woman from head to toe,” said Vince Camuto, creative director and chief executive officer of Camuto Group, a leading footwear manufacturer. For Chaus, the Vince Camuto brand will replace the Kenneth Cole business, whose li-cense was terminated five months early. Kenneth Cole had accounted for more than half of the $101.2 million in vol-ume generated by Chaus in the year ended July 3.

The Greenwich, Conn.-based Camuto Group is known for its ability to build women’s lifestyle brands on a global scale. The master licensee for the Jessica Simpson Collection, Camuto develops and manages sev-eral exclusive brands for Dillard’s and holds the foot-wear licenses for BCBGeneration, BCBG Max Azria, Lucky Brand, KensieGirl and Banana Republic. The company, which sells its products in more than 5,400 doors, also designs and sources footwear for Tory Burch and has a partnership with Sanctuary. Vince Camuto was also the co-founder, with Jerome Fisher, of Nine West, which they sold to Jones Apparel Group in 1999.

In an interview with Camuto; Bob Galvin, president of the Camuto Group; Josephine Chaus, chief executive of-ficer of Bernard Chaus Inc., and her son, Ariel Chaus, vice president of business develop-ment, the executives shared their de-sire to create a total lifestyle brand under the Vince Camuto moniker.

“We are a shoe guy,” acknowl-edged Camuto, “but we have been involved in ready-to-wear also. As you know, we took the Jessica Simpson [business] in 2005 and we said we wanted to build a $1 billion brand, and we’re three-quarters of the way this year.” Simpson’s ready-to-wear will be launched next fall with Jones Apparel Group, which already has the license for Jessica Simpson jeanswear. Camuto manu-factures the Simpson footwear.

In addition to Chaus, Camuto has signed a host of licenses to expand the Vince Camuto brand. Among the products are belts and cold-weather accessories (Cipriani/Max Leather); eye-wear (Colors in Optics); fragrance (Parlux); jewelry (Trebbianno); handbags (Betesh), and outerwear (Fleet Street). Handbags were introduced for spring 2010; out-erwear and belts made their debut in fall 2010; eyewear and jewelry will launch in spring 2011, and fragrance hits stores in summer 2011, followed by cold-weather ac-cessories in fall 2011. With the exception of Chaus, all these companies are also licensees for Jessica Simpson.

Other categories under consideration for the brand are jeanswear, swimwear, watches and home, said Galvin.

The footwear, known for its on-trend styling at moderate price points, is sourced through Camuto. Manufactured in China, boots are roughly $150 to $250 and shoes range from $89 to $140. While Galvin declined to reveal how big the Vince Camuto footwear line has become, he noted the brand’s sales increased 550 per-cent this year. Camuto plans to open 10 freestanding stores in the New York area for its footwear and acces-sories lines in 2011 and 60 stores internationally, said Galvin. In a deal with G-III Apparel Group Ltd., 150 Vince Camuto outlet stores [which carry all the Camuto footwear brands] will open over the next three years, with 15 slated to open in 2011.

Taking into account the footwear and licensees, indus-try sources estimate the Vince Camuto brand overall will drum up more than $250 million at retail in the next year.

Frank Doroff, vice chairman and general mer-chandise manager of Bloomingdale’s, is optimistic about the Vince Camuto sportswear line. He noted Bloomingdale’s is doing well with Cynthia Steffe, which is owned by Chaus, and Kenneth Cole was selling strongly. Although he hasn’t seen the Camuto line yet, he’s excited about the potential for the better depart-ment. “I think it can do well,” said Doroff.

Camuto’s licensees have experienced good results so far.“The product was incredibly received,” said Evan

Mittman, ceo of Cipriani Accessories, describing the Vince Camuto belt launch this fall. “We expect this to be a great business concentrating on the upper-tier stores such as Nordstrom, Saks and Bloomingdale’s.” He said

the Camuto belts are feminine and have an understated elegance. “What we do

is utilize a lot of the same techniques as the shoes. We mirror some of their signa-

ture hardware pieces and use similar mate-rials,” said Mittman, who has known Camuto

for more than 25 years through their business relationship with Nine West.

Manny Haber, ceo of Fleet Street, had a soft launch with Vince Camuto outerwear this fall and will have a full-fledged collection for fall 2011. “We’re just getting into the stores, and the reaction is extremely favorable. The name is impactful, and we’re very excited about Vince as a partner.” Fleet Street’s line runs the gamut from cloth and wool coats to down jackets, leather and rainwear, wholesaling from $75 to $200.

“We’re a good student of watching trends,” said Camuto, pointing to several knee-high boots and open-toe leather lace-up booties dis-played in the showroom and on the models. Asked why he’s selected this moment to make the plunge into ready-to-wear, he replied, “Because we can’t find beautiful design at reasonable pric-es, with a concept that’s reasonable.”

The sportswear, which goes from day to evening, is a collaboration between Chaus and Camuto and is geared to women between 25 and 45 years old. The collection will whole-sale from $25 to $200, and includes long riding skirts, stylish oversize sweaters, ponchos, fine-gauge knits, military jackets, side-ruched dresses and shearling jackets.

Camuto described the sportswear collection, which will launch in March, as more feminine than what’s out there for the better customer, without being overly sexy. “Nothing is froufrou or overdone. It’s more classic with an edge.” Much of the line will carry the Camuto crest insignia on the inside label or discreetly on the buttons. The strategy is to open in-store shops in the flagships.

Josephine Chaus said the collection will be housed in “the modern zone” of sportswear departments, near Michael Michael Kors. Ariel Chaus added that they’re targeting stores such as Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor and Belk.

Discussing how the two companies came together, Camuto said, “We’ve known Josephine for a number of years and had talked about doing a deal with Jessica

Simpson. We’re in the marketplace all the time,” he said, and he has spoken to many different companies about assorted deals. “What Josephine brought was a great sen-sibility of design and phenomenal sourcing,” said Galvin. Chaus explained that the company has a joint venture with a factory in China, which greatly impressed Camuto. “Both Bob and I met with them in China, spent a week there and toured all their factories. Today, it’s not just the idea, but it’s also the execution,” said Camuto.

Further, Galvin added: “The Chaus organization also has tremendous department store relationships, so when we talked to management about launching an important brand, the Chaus name came up constantly.”

Chaus has struggled the past several years, and last year suffered a net loss of $6 million versus $9.6 million the prior year, but appears poised for an upturn. Its stock is currently trading over-the-counter at 9 cents. In light of the

Camuto negotiations, the company filed notice with the SEC that it would miss the Nov. 16 deadline to file quarterly fig-ures for the period ended Oct. 2, 2010, because it was involved in contractual discussions that would “materially af-fect” the information presented in its quarterly report. Separately, Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. is negotiating to sell its 16 percent equity stake in Bernard Chaus Inc. back to Chaus by yearend, as reported. Camuto doesn’t plan to make an equity investment in Chaus at this time.

Camuto said he preferred to go with a company like Chaus, which would be able to totally focus on it, rather than go to a conglomerate where it was just another brand. “We were looking at people who can execute. This was the right place at the right time, and they

want to concentrate on this brand,” said Camuto.The Vince Camuto collection will be based at 550

Seventh Avenue, and Terri Speiser will handle sales. It will be marketed through an aggressive print campaign, trunk shows, personal appearances, billboards and an online program. The company plans to add e-commerce in July. Judith Leech, who’s been with Chaus for 15 years, and most recently designed the Kenneth Cole line, is creative director of Vince Camuto and oversees the design team.

“Stores are so receptive to have Vince Camuto ap-parel,” summed up Josephine Chaus. “They’re eager to have the fashion he’s known for in his shoes and boots.”

Vince Camuto Taps Chaus for Sportswear Some looks

from the fall 2011 Vince

Camuto collection.

Josephine Chaus

and Vince Camuto

phot

os b

y jo

hn a

quin

o

ExCluSiVE

WWD 100 Years | 100 Designers Adolfo Azzedine Alaia Giorgio Armani Christopher

Bailey Cristóbal Balenciaga Pierre Balmain Geoffrey Beene Bill Blass Marc Bohan Callot Soeurs Pierre Cardin Hattie

Carnegie Bonnie Cashin Oleg Cassini Roberto Cavalli Hussein Chalayan Gabrielle Chanel Liz Claiborne Francisco

Costa André Courrèges Oscar de la Renta Christian Dior Dolce & Gabbana Alber Elbaz Perry Ellis Jacques Fath

Gianfranco Ferré Tom Ford James Galanos John Galliano Jean Paul Gaultier Nicolas Ghesquière Frida Giannini

Hubert de Givenchy Madame Grès Halston Carolina Herrera Tommy Hilfiger Marc Jacobs Charles James Betsey

Johnson Norma Kamali Donna Karan Rei Kawakubo Anne Klein Calvin Klein Michael Kors Christian Lacroix Karl

Lagerfeld Helmut Lang Jeanne Lanvin Ralph Lauren Mainbocher Martin Margiela Claire McCardell Stella McCartney

Alexander McQueen Tai and Rosita Missoni Isaac Mizrahi Captain Edward Molyneux Claude Montana Thierry Mugler

Norman Norell Rick Owens Thakoon Panichgul Jean Patou Phoebe Philo Stefano Pilati Paul Poiret Zac Posen

Miuccia Prada Proenza Schouler Emilio Pucci Paco Rabanne Rodarte Narciso Rodriguez Sonia Rykiel Yves Saint

Laurent Jil Sander Giorgio di Sant’Angelo Arnold Scaasi Elsa Schiaparelli Raf Simons Willi Smith Steven Sprouse

Anna Sui Olivier Theyskens Riccardo Tisci Emanuel Ungaro Valentino Dries Van Noten Donatella Versace Gianni

Versace Madeleine Vionnet Diane von Furstenberg Alexander Wang Vera Wang Vivienne Westwood Jason Wu Yohji

Yamamoto Adolfo Azzedine Alaia Giorgio Armani Christopher Bailey Cristóbal Balenciaga Pierre Balmain Geoffrey

Beene Bill Blass Marc Bohan Callot Soeurs Pierre Cardin Hattie Carnegie Bonnie Cashin Oleg Cassini Roberto Cavalli

Hussein Chalayan Gabrielle Chanel Liz Claiborne Francisco Costa André Courrèges Oscar de la Renta Christian

Dior Dolce & Gabbana Alber Elbaz Perry Ellis Jacques Fath Gianfranco Ferré Tom Ford James Galanos John

Galliano Jean Paul Gaultier Nicolas Ghesquière Frida Giannini Hubert de Givenchy Madame Grès Halston Carolina

Herrera Tommy Hilfiger Marc Jacobs Charles James Betsey Johnson Norma Kamali Donna Karan Rei Kawakubo

Anne Klein Calvin Klein Michael Kors Christian Lacroix Karl Lagerfeld Helmut Lang Jeanne Lanvin Ralph Lauren

Mainbocher Martin Margiela Claire McCardell Stella McCartney Alexander McQueen Tai and Rosita Missoni Isaac

Mizrahi Captain Edward Molyneux Claude Montana Thierry Mugler Norman Norell Rick Owens Thakoon Panichgul

Jean Patou Phoebe Philo Stefano Pilati Paul Poiret Zac Posen Miuccia Prada Proenza Schouler Emilio Pucci Paco

Rabanne Rodarte Narciso Rodriguez Sonia Rykiel Yves Saint Laurent Jil Sander Giorgio di Sant’Angelo Arnold Scaasi

Elsa Schiaparelli Raf Simons Willi Smith Steven Sprouse Anna Sui Olivier Theyskens Riccardo Tisci Emanuel Ungaro

Valentino Dries Van Noten Donatella Versace Gianni Versace Madeleine Vionnet Diane von Furstenberg Alexander

Wang Vera Wang Vivienne Westwood Jason Wu Yohji Yamamoto Adolfo Azzedine Alaia Giorgio Armani Christopher

Bailey Cristóbal Balenciaga Pierre Balmain Geoffrey Beene Bill Blass Marc Bohan Callot Soeurs Pierre Cardin Hattie

Carnegie Bonnie Cashin Oleg Cassini Roberto Cavalli Hussein Chalayan Gabrielle Chanel Liz Claiborne Francisco

Costa André Courrèges Oscar de la Renta Christian Dior Dolce & Gabbana Alber Elbaz Perry Ellis Jacques Fath

Gianfranco Ferré Tom Ford James Galanos John Galliano Jean Paul Gaultier Nicolas Ghesquière Frida Giannini

Hubert de Givenchy Madame Grès Halston Carolina Herrera Tommy Hilfiger Marc Jacobs Charles James Betsey

Johnson Norma Kamali Donna Karan Rei Kawakubo Anne Klein Calvin Klein Michael Kors Christian Lacroix Karl

Lagerfeld Helmut Lang Jeanne Lanvin Ralph Lauren Mainbocher Martin Margiela Claire McCardell Stella McCartney

Alexander McQueen Tai and Rosita Missoni Isaac Mizrahi Captain Edward Molyneux Claude Montana Thierry Mugler

Norman Norell Rick Owens Thakoon Panichgul Jean Patou Phoebe Philo Stefano Pilati Paul Poiret Zac Posen Miuccia

Prada Proenza Schouler Emilio Pucci Paco Rabanne Rodarte Narciso Rodriguez Sonia Rykiel Yves Saint Laurent

Jil Sander Giorgio di Sant’Angelo Arnold Scaasi Elsa Schiaparelli Raf Simons Willi Smith Steven Sprouse Anna Sui

Olivier Theyskens Riccardo Tisci Emanuel Ungaro Valentino Dries Van Noten Donatella Versace Gianni Versace

Madeleine Vionnet Diane von Furstenberg Alexander Wang Vera Wang Vivienne Westwood Jason Wu Yohji Yamamoto

Available in hard cover at Bergdorf Goodman & amazon.com

100 Reasons to Love Fashion.

6 WWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

Warming Trend

PHOTOS BY JOHN AQUINO, GEORGE CHINSEE, GIOVANNI GIANNONI AND GIOVANNA PAVESI

Designers know just how to keep their girls warm, as they pile on cozy layers and chic outerwear for pre-fall. While Giorgio Armani opts for a rabbit-fur vest over his classic pin-striped suit for his Armani Collezioni collection, Veronica Etro sticks to the house’s signature prints and adds a boyfriend cardigan over a feminine Etro dress that can take her customer to the offi ce, then out to dinner.

Just Cavalli

Salvatore Ferragamo

WWD.COM7WWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

For more pre-fall reviews, see WWD.com/fashion-show-reviews.

Escada

Etro

Armani Collezioni

By Miles Socha

PARIS — Christian Dior’s upscaling drive has reached another zenith at the global epicenter of fine jewelry re-tailing: Place Vendôme.

At its nine-year-old boutique here at No. 8, just given an overhaul by ar-chitect Peter Marino, customers can gaze up at a silvery, diamond-studded Damien Hirst butterfly painting or a monumental Lee Bul chandelier while standing atop a plush, custom carpet hand-woven in 23 shades of gray silk.

But Dior also expects them to spend, given that a similar Marino makeover at the brand’s fine jewelry boutique in Geneva yielded a triple-digit sales bump, Sidney Toledano, Dior’s chief executive officer, said dur-ing a walk-through of the 1,350-square-foot boutique, which opens to the pub-lic Tuesday after a day of VIP selling.

“This will be one of the top-five stores for fine jewelry,” he said. “It’s not a just-looking store. It’s a real shopping experience.”

Toledano highlighted the unit’s residential proportions, 18th-century French detailing and expensive ma-terials, artworks, fixtures — and, of course, jewels.

“We see clients from all over the world, from Paris to Moscow to Shanghai, demanding more and more excellence in the products and the way we service our clients,” he said. “This is pure Parisian savoir-faire.”

Marino created a series of small salons around a two-story atrium, in-cluding one devoted to watches tucked under a grand staircase that leads up to a VIP area. Unifying the decor are countless gradations of gray and mul-tiple couture touches.

“Modern exquisiteness” is how Marino described the atmosphere, marveling at how far luxury retailing has come. “Everything is hand-wo-ven, hand-embroidered. It can’t get more special,” he said, gesturing to a faux window set with a sepia photo of a French garden. “Who would have thought 10 years ago we would have Lesage-embroidered curtains in a boutique?”

Dotted throughout the store are in-wall niches — some panoramic and set

with miniature replica couture salons, others small boxes framed in gold — displaying the creations of Victoire de Castellane, Dior’s fine jewelry design-er since 1999.

Incorporated in some cases are ex-otic taxidermy birds, colorful butter-flies or spectacular minerals. One dis-play case features signed sketches by de Castellane of jewels yet to be real-ized, scattered with exceptional stones.

Prices in the boutique range from about 1,300 euros, or $1,770 at current exchange, for a small Bagatelle ring up into the seven figures for exceptional watches and high jewelry pieces. An eight-piece range of rose-themed jew-elry is exclusive to the store.

Toledano said the Marino concept, already applied in Moscow, Dubai and Shanghai, will roll out further, includ-ing on Peking Road in Hong Kong and at Dior’s revamped New York flagship, opening next month.

Dior sells fine jewelry in about 60 boutiques, and is devoting more space to the category with more freestand-ing units, or spaces adjacent to its fashion locations with separate en-trances, he added.

WWD.COM8 WWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

Biatta Takes a Look Back for New Line

HUG Awards Gala Raises $300K

Innerwear Report

By Alexandra Steigrad

SALES OF ANNTAYLOR STORES Corp.’s upscale merchandise swelled in the third quarter, helping its profits climb and lifting the women’s apparel retailer’s stock 8.5 percent to $25.77 at the end of trading Friday.

“At the Ann Taylor division, we have done a lot of things internally, and we have a lot of wind at our backs exter-nally,” president and chief executive officer Kay Krill told WWD. “The aspi-rational-luxury and luxury consumers are spending again, but the middle-in-come consumer is holding back.”

The newly updated, “modernized” and “chic” “ready-to-work” collection at the firm’s upscale namesake chain fueled business last quarter, said Krill, who noted that last year the company’s value-priced Loft division benefited from strong demand for casualwear. Now, however, shoppers are reevaluating their closets and buying higher-priced appar-el, as well as fashion accessories such as jewelry, a category that “majorly contrib-uted” to the company’s sales, Krill said.

For the quarter ended Oct. 30, the re-tailer reported profits of $24.2 million, or 41 cents a diluted share, compared with profits of $2.1 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 42

cents a share, comfortably beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of 34 cents.

Net sales grew 9.3 percent to $505.3 million from $462.4 million in 2009, as quarterly comparable-store sales rose 11.7 percent. Analysts polled by Yahoo were expecting EPS of 34 cents on sales of $492.8 million.

At Ann Taylor, revenue gained 14.5 percent to $223.2 million as comps jumped 21.9 percent. Sales at Loft dipped 5.7 percent to $282.1 million, and its comps gained 4.5 percent.

Gross margin slipped to 57.2 percent of sales from 57.3 percent a year earlier. An increase in promotions going forward could impact margins at Loft, Krill said, which is expected to be “highly promo-tional.” But this pressure should be offset by more full-priced selling at Ann Taylor, which the ceo expects to be less promo-tional than last year.

The retailer forecast net sales in the fourth quarter would approach $500 mil-lion, with comps increasing in the mid- to high-single-digit percentage range. This includes double-digit growth at Ann Taylor and low-single-digit comps at Loft.

For the year, the retailer anticipates net sales of about $1.97 billion and positive comps at both divisions. Wall Street is looking for fourth-quarter sales of $495 million and annual sales of $1.95 billion.

By Marcy Medina

LOS ANGELES — Intimates resource Biatta is launching a vintage-inspired contempo-rary-priced line called Bella Noire by Biatta for fall 2011. The collection, which will retail for $20 to $120, is positioned for the higher end of department stores and the opening price point for specialty stores.

Bella Noire comprises innerwear pieces that can be layered under sportswear and items that can be worn outside of the house. Silhouettes include bras, panties, bloom-ers, rompers, leggings, cropped, wrap or blouson tube tops and kimonos.

Fabrications feature a variety of silks, including stretch silk, chiffon and georgette, Modal, stretch lace, and bamboo-blend jersey. Colors range from contrasting solids such as dark gray chiffon with yellow stretch lace trim, to paint-splatter prints and feath-er motifs.

There are eight groups in the first collection comprising eight pieces each. The first de-livery is scheduled for June 25.

“We’re reacting to our demographic, seeing inter-est pique with other options, and we’re trying to provide what’s missing,” said Amy Berliner, chief operating of-ficer of Biatta. Pieces such as the stretch lace leggings, tops and kimonos are a first for the company, which is known for its mesh and stretch lace bras and panties.

The 16-year-old Los Angeles-based firm, which has annual sales volume of $20 million, also has two brands under its umbrella — its open-ing price point collection called Biatta Intimates, which includes a junior and a plus-size line, and B Sexy by Biatta, a line of novelty items such as corsets for specialty stores. Biatta Bridal is in the works for fall 2011, and next year the company also plans to launch an activewear line called B Active.

“A lot of people wonder why launch a line when the economy is down, but our de-mographic has always been a moderate or mass price point, and if you are going to do something new, it should be affordable,” said Berliner, who projects first-year sales for Bella Noire will be $2 million.

NEW YORK — A Sixties-inspired theme replete with “Mad Men” designer Janie Bryant and background music of The Mamas and the Papas and The Temptations set a festive mood at the 12th annual HUG (Help Us Give) Awards cock-tail and dinner this month.

The gala at 230 Fifth Avenue pulled in 300 guests and raised $300,000 for the pediatric wing of The Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. Sponsored by the Intimate Apparel Square Club, a

55-year-old industry organiza-tion, the HUG fund-raiser is part of the IASC’s $6 million initiative for the medical fa-cility. The organization has raised $2.3 million for the institute since 1999, said Norma Reinhardt, president of the IASC.

The evening’s honorees were Maurice Reznik, presi-dent and chief executive officer of Maidenform Brands Inc., and Dr.

Mathew H.M. Lee, chairman emeritus of The Rusk Institute, who served as medical director of the institute and chairman of the department of rehabilitative medicine.

Reznik, a veteran of the innerwear in-dustry who has been Maidenform’s ceo since July 2008, said he was “extremely honored to have this award bestowed upon me…it means a lot to me.”

During the event, four Barbie dolls by Mattel from Bryant’s personal collection, representing “Mad Men” characters from

the Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning AMC television series, were auctioned for $800 to a Maidenform executive. A licensing partnership between Barbie, Lionsgate and AMC, the doll line, which began distribu-tion in July, features key char-acters from the series: Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency cre-ative director and leading man Don Draper; his former wife, Betty Draper; partner Roger Sterling, and office manager Joan Holloway.

“The costumes for all of the Barbies were specifi-

cally based on the char-acters in the show,”

said Bryant, who is a Maidenform spokes-woman. “Joan has a bra and girdle un-derneath her cos-tume that gives her a great hourglass figure….I don’t think

I ever took off Don’s pants, but he does

have trenchcoat.” — Karyn Monget

Ann Taylor Shares Spike on Earnings

For more images, see WWD.com/market-news.

PHOT

OS B

Y DO

NATO

SAR

DELL

A

PHOT

OS B

Y GE

ORGE

CHI

NSEE

Layered looks by Bella Noire by Biatta.

Janie Bryant

Dior Overhauls Jewelry Boutique

Maurice Reznik

Looking down at the revamped store.

PHOT

O BY

DOm

INIq

uE m

AITR

E

WWD.COMWWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010 9

By Samantha Conti

LONDON — Celia Weinstock’s debut collection of jewelry is a clash of worlds: East and West, el-egant and bohemian, historical and high tech.

The collection made its U.S. debut this month at Mallett on Madison Avenue. It is called Lyme Fine Jewelry and is named for Lyme Park, the estate of her mother’s family in Cheshire, England, which is now owned by the National Trust. The New York show is called “First Cut: New Jewelry by Celia Weinstock.”

Weinstock, 24, said her mother — a jewelry collector — got her hooked on gems.

“As I child, I can remem-ber reading the Sotheby’s and Christie’s jewelry cata-logues she had at home,” said Weinstock, whose family is part owner of Mallett, the antique fur-niture dealers.

She majored in modern history at Oxford, and studied jewelry de-sign at the Gemological Institute of America. Not surprisingly, the historical ref-erences are many.

“I’m inspired by the jewelry of the European courts and spend a lot of time at the jewelry gal-leries at the Victoria and Albert,” Weinstock, who is quiet and reflective, said during an interview at Mallett on Bond Street.

Among the pieces in the show is a brace-let of rose cut diamonds and pearls, inspired by a choker worn by the last Czarina of Russia, Empress Alexandra. Other pieces take their in-

spiration from Edwardian heirlooms, including a cluster ring of sapphires surrounded by dia-monds and a choker of rose cut diamonds and baby rice pearls.

Weinstock, however, doesn’t linger too long among Europe’s aristos. The collection also features Far Eastern inspired pieces, such as a bracelet made of diamonds and carved jade but-terflies, which are a romantic symbol in China.

A pair of earrings takes its shape from the lotus flower and is made from textured

pink gold, pink sapphires, and yellow diamonds, while a yellow and white dia-

mond ring takes its shape from the cherry blossom.

Weinstock, whose pieces are delicate, colorful, and often in-spired by the organic world, said her major inspirations are Joel

Arthur Rosenthal, the jeweler be-hind JAR, and vintage Cartier.

Although much of this collec-tion channels the past, its crafts-manship is all about the future. Weinstock uses workshops in

Taiwan that offer an array of colored gold, includ-ing black, gray, and brown, which appear in her collection. She uses gray gold to mimic the oxi-dized silver of heirloom pieces, and black gold, too, for a mirror effect. “Next time, I’m using blue gold — it’s a dark, intense blue,” Weinstock said.

First Cut will run until Wednesday, and prices range from 3,055 pounds, or $4,918, for a graphic, jade, and diamond ring to 32,900 pounds, or $52,969, for the white pearl and dia-mond Czarina bracelet.

Accessories Report

By Alex Wynne

PARIS — Le Buisson is a new French jewelry brand that describes itself as “badly brought-up.”

Created by a team of designers — Michèle Monory; industrial designer Matali Crasset and her husband and partner, Francis Fichot, and interior-design duo Stéphane Arriubergé and Massimiliano Iorio, founders of the Domestic wall sticker brand — the line launched this month at Parisian concept store Colette after a year in development.

It was not really a lack of manners that brought the designers together but their abil-ity to think outside the box in regard to creating fine jewelry.

“We asked the designers to change the codes of jewelry, to make something that is a talisman, for oneself,” Monory said. “In traditional jew-elry, the stone is always facing the outside, to be seen. We wanted to bring the stone back to the wearer.”

The result is a collection of some 20 pen-dants, including Crasset’s torch-inspired neck-lace, in which the stone faces downward, illumi-nating the décolletage as it catches the light.

Crasset said the brand is working on a collec-tion of rings to add to the offer.

The collection ranges in price from 470 euros, or $656 at current exchange, for a pendant in 18-

karat black or yellow gold and white diamonds to 8,000 euros, or $11,166, for Crasset’s equalizer necklace in 18-karat yel-low gold with quartz, peridot, citrine and garnet.

Each product is made in Thailand from ethically sourced gold, pre-cious and semiprecious stones.

The line will remain exclusive to Colette for a year, although in-ternational openings in similar locations are possible eventually, Monory said.

She would not predict first-year sales, only saying: “We have brought together enough creative talent and skills to make this work. It takes time to implant a new brand, but we are not doing it to lose money.”

By Marcy Medina

JUDITh RIPkA IS DIVERSIFYING INTO BAGS ON QVC. The designer, who has sold her jewelry on QVC for almost 14 years,

introduced her first bags, six leather styles manufactured by Tiger J LLC, on the shopping network Sunday night, with more styles to be unveiled Dec. 10 and Dec. 18.

“I have always loved handbags,” said Ripka, founder of The Judith Ripka Companies Inc. “Like jewelry, a handbag is a great accessory. I have had a great time cre-ating my new handbag col-lection, especially because I collaborated with my daugh-ter-in-law, Allison Ripka.

Both women share a love of color, so the leather and jacquard bags are avail-able in bold hues including amethyst and turquoise. Leather textures include python and crocodile, as well as quilted, metal-lic, sueded and canvas-like treatments. The bags, which sell for $129 to $350, feature Ripka’s signature Southampton texturing on the hardware and closures, as well as the fleur-de-lis design in the silk linings.

Ripka seized the chance to work with longtime friend Mark Locks, owner of Tiger J, which manufactures apparel, faux fur and bags for video retailers QVC, hSN, ShopNBC and Canada’s The Shopping Channel. Locks estimated the company’s bag business, which launched in May with bags for Isaac Mizrahi and Rachel Zoe, would be $15 million by the end of 2010.

“Given Judith’s attention to detail and keeping her brand consis-tent, it has been a more involved process to produce this line than any other because she is so hands-on,” Locks said.

QVC declined to make sales projections for the Ripka bags. Ronald Berk, chief executive officer of the Judith Ripka company, said, “We expect the bags will resonate with customers as well as the jewelry.”

QVC is also betting on Ripka. “Judith has a very strong customer base at QVC, and we focused on her because it was the brand most likely to have a natural extension into handbags and her customers have been asking for them for years,” said Diane Paccione, QVC’s vice president of merchandising for beauty and jewelry. Paccione predict-ed black would be the most popular color, and that clutches, totes and hobos would be the most popular styles.

Celia Weinstock Makes Eclectic Debut

Will Royals’ Sales Bounce Last?Ripka Bags Hit QVC

French Team Launches Brand

A torch pendant for Le Buisson.

By Lauren Benet Stephenson

ThE ROYAL WEDDING FRENZY IS UNDER way, but will the rush to buy all things kate have legs?

With the 2011 nuptials of Prince William and kate Middleton many months away, jewelers and retailers are banking on her style — from the oval blue sapphire engagement ring that be-longed to Princess Diana to the blue Issa London dress she wore to meet the press — to generate copycat sales.

“There’s definitely a connection between this type of high-profile moment and sales,” said Greg kwiat, chief executive officer of Fred Leighton, where blue sapphires account for 10 to 15 per-cent of inventory. There has been “a notable increase in interest in sapphires as engage-ment stones.”

Sweeping advance-ments in technology in the 30 years since Diana and Prince Charles’ wed-ding can have an impact on the public’s appetite. The instantaneous dis-semination of informa-tion on the Internet — along with expanding social media and bloggers and the 24-hour cycle of broadcast news — all feed a seemingly endless dissection of what celeb-rities wear and how and when they wear it.

Not even the strug-gles of the global economy to rebound from the recession seem to have dulled the desire of some to emulate the royals.

The Natural Sapphire Co., which sold out of its Princess Diana Replica Ring, priced at $1,000, within 24 hours of the engagement an-nouncement, sees a long-term bounce.

“I’m being a little bit bullish, but I project this one engagement is going to double our business in terms of sale, in terms of our staff…in six months to a year....This ring is going to be photographed a zillion times and burned into consumers’ minds,” said company president Michael Arnstein.

Online jeweler Blue Nile sells 20 styles of blue sapphire rings, from $380 to $28,000.

“It’s fair to say there is a blue sapphire trend that is developing, and I expect that to continue for the foreseeable future as we get closer and closer to the wedding,” said John Baird, direc-tor of corporate communications. “As far as Americans are concerned, British royalty is the last true example of a living fairy tale...[and] we want to obtain a piece of that fairy tale.

“Across the board we have seen a significant increase in interest for blue sapphires, and

blue sapphire rings, in particular,” Baird said, adding that Google searches for terms related to blue sapphires and Middleton’s

ring have all registered a big jump. Though Blue Nile’s business consists pri-

marily of diamond jewelry, the company is making decisions based partly on the Middleton effect. “In the short term, we’re trying to understand, for the holiday season, do we increase our supply of blue sapphires? If yes, then by how much?” Baird said.

he speculated the impact might last until holiday 2011.

On the more affordable end, television and online retailer QVC launched a kenneth Jay Lane-designed replica on Saturday, priced at $34.95. Lisa Morrissey, vice president of mer-chandising for QVC, said, “Our Web searches for sapphire rings have more than doubled in the past few days.”

For more on kate Middleton, see page 10.

mid

dlet

on p

hoto

by

ARth

UR e

dWAR

dS/A

Fp/G

etty

imAG

eS

phot

o by

mAn

UelA

boe

hme

Kate Middleton’s engagement ring.

Blue Nile’s Sapphire and Micropavé Diamond Ring.

A Judith Ripka bag.

A style from Lyme Fine Jewelry.

WWD.COMWWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 201010

By Rachel Brown

Caroline WozniaCki dethroned Serena WilliamS last month as the world’s number-one female tennis player and now is following in her footsteps off the court by be-coming a spokeswoman for direct-response giant Guthy-renker’s Proactiv Solution.

although Wozniacki’s just 20 years old, Guthy-renker is banking on her appeal to a sophisticated, older, tennis-lov-ing demographic after Proactiv energized young skin care consumers by signing pop stars katy Perry, avril lavigne and Justin Bieber for its television spots, digital media and consumer magazine ads. the two-year deal with the denmark native, who lives in monaco, will pay her sever-al-million dollars, according to Guthy-renker co-founder and co-chairman Greg renker, who declined to disclose an exact dollar amount.

Wozniacki, who also fronts adidas by Stella mcCartney and has been tapped by danish hair and body care com-pany allison, said she tried many skin care products before becoming a Proactiv devotee a few years ago. “i really use the product and am happy and enthusiastic about the prod-uct,” she said, after being asked why Guthy-renker opted to work with her.

although she’s grown accustomed to media scrutiny, Wozniacki admitted maintaining impeccable skin keeps her confident to brave the cameras. “When you are in the spotlight, there are thousands of pictures taken of you. i am really happy now that i have good skin so there is one less thing to worry about,” she said.

Guthy-renker linked arms with Wozniacki before she as-sumed the top ranking in women’s tennis, but it’s not lost on Greg renker that the company selected her for Proactiv as the brand is trying to maintain its standing as the world’s number-one acne treatment system. more recent skin care infomercial players, including maxClarity by Stiefel labs and Skin id by neutrogena, have swarmed the airwaves to attempt to knock Proactiv from its leadership position.

the Proactiv campaign with Wozniacki, which will break today in times Square with a spot running twice an hour on mtV’s high-definition screen on 7th avenue and ramp up in January to coincide with the australian open, “is going to emphasize that she is number one. We are number one, and we are number one for a reason. We realize that we need to remind people of that. We are going to leverage that with Caroline,” said renker.

Partly as a result of the increased competition and the rise of the internet, Proactiv’s television presentation has evolved considerably since Williams was one of the faces of the brand starting about four years ago. the line between Proactiv’s advertising and traditional advertising has blurred, as Guthy-renker seeks to raise brand awareness that leads to Web pur-chasing rather than merely solicit phone calls.

renker said Wozniacki’s Proactiv appearance, which was shot in monaco and shows what he described as color-ful romantic scenes, “is almost like a mainstream beauty ad. it doesn’t look like direct response, and she does not look like direct response.” Proactiv, which has been re-sponsible for more than half of Guthy-renker’s estimated yearly pull of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, is expected to gen-erate around $850 million in revenues this year. earlier this year, the company said it would spend $200 million globally on the brand’s spots. “Proactiv has improved steadily; 2010 is definitely better than 2009,” said renker.

as for Wozniacki, she is concentrating on staying at the helm of women’s tennis. “i would love to keep this rank-ing,” she said. “So my next goal is to try to win a grand slam.” renker is convinced she can do it — and become a worldwide marketing phenomenon the likes of maria Sharapova. “Caroline has got the goods,” he said.

By Marc Karimzadeh

NEW YORK — those who won’t get to the South of France anytime soon can head to the meatpacking district for the closest thing to the Côte d’azur.

on Friday, Chanel opened a pop-up store at Jeffrey new York, re-creating the feel of Saint-tropez and its iconic Café Sénéquier, where Chanel staged its cruise show last may. the 1,000-square-foot shop-in-shop, located in an area usually reserved for men’s wear, features the café’s signature red lacquer tables and umbrellas, red Chanel awnings, dress-ing rooms that resemble beach cabins and stands stocked with postcards of Chanel’s cruise campaign featuring Georgia may Jagger.

“We loved the experience of the show, and we thought, how can we create the kind of a moment in new York,” said Barbara Cirkva, division president of fashion, watches and fine jewelry at Chanel inc. “i don’t think of it as a pop-up shop, but almost as an installation that recreates the magic of Saint-tropez in new York, and gets everyone in the mood as they are thinking about going away for the holiday.”

the decor is a suitable backdrop for the cruise collection on offer at the specialty store, from print-ed chiffon blouses to cage dresses, frilled bikinis and patchwork bags. the shop also sells Chanel’s popular J12 watches and a selection of men’s ties.

“Creating a new way for people to see, understand and appreciate Chanel in a different way than they may have before, outside of our own boutique con-cept, is always exciting,” Cirkva said.

the boutique will be feted with a party on nov. 30 and remain open through Jan. 4. Store founder Jeffrey kalinsky said it was natural for him to jump at the opportunity.

“our business with Chanel is incredible across all classifications,” said kalinsky, who declined to disclose sales projec-tions. “the idea of having a Chanel pop-up shop in the store for that six-week period seemed like an amazing opportunity. For a retailer like myself, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportu-nity.”

kalinsky didn’t attend the show in Saint-tropez, so he was all the more sup-portive of bringing the en-ergy to his new York store. “i think it will do amazing-ly well,” kalinsky said.

Wozniacki Signs OnAs Face of Proactiv

Caroline Wozniacki recently overtook Serena Williams as the world’s number-one female tennis player.

KATE MIDDLETON, COVER GIRL: Move over, teen moms from middle America, it looks like Kate Middleton will be the new queen of celebrity weeklies for a while. After an eight-year courtship, it was announced last week that Middleton will wed Prince William in a ceremony that will take place in London as soon as March or April, although most speculation centers on July. Magazine editors are practically salivating at the possibilities.

“This engagement was a long time coming,” said People managing editor Larry Hackett, who put the couple on his cover a few weeks ago, and, by outside accounts, the issue sold exceedingly well at the newsstand. “This story involves an incredibly attractive girl who is young and going to be a princess. I sure hope she does well. I mean, all this story is lacking is a dragon.”

Expect to see Middleton on Hackett’s next cover, out today or Tuesday.

“If she does well on this cover — and she should — Kate will be the new Angelina Jolie for the weeklies,” predicted PopEater’s Rob Shuter. Jolie, for those not familiar, almost always results in a payday in single-copy sales (she was the biggest seller so far this year for Vanity Fair).

Months before they were engaged, Middleton and Prince William were featured on the July 5 cover of Life & Style, and the issue did “very well,” noted one source. Executive editor Jared Shapiro declined to discuss numbers, but he agreed the wedding will dominate the weeklies. “Americans remember Princess Diana as an international icon, and now her son, who we’ve watched grow up in front of our eyes, has met his princess and is getting married,” said Shapiro. “Readers love the glitz and glam of a wedding and will want to read about every little detail leading up to the big day.”

With every detail being published by the weeklies, will there be anything left for U.S. monthlies such as Vanity Fair or Vogue? “I’m sure [Harper’s Bazaar editor in chief] Glenda Bailey has already placed a call,” said one source. Shuter noted that for American editors, this wedding presents a bit of a role reversal. “Editors in America are used to sharing their photos of, say, Jennifer Aniston,” with their counterparts in other countries, but now they will need to play especially nice for access to Middleton, who will undoubtedly want to be in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire in the U.K.” — Amy Wicks

JONES EMPOWERMENT: Jones New York is building the second phase of its “Empowering Your Confidence” advertising campaign in the nation’s capital on Friday, staging a photo shoot of five influential women by Norman Jean Roy. The group includes Dee Dee Myers, Jones’ brand ambassador, who was the first female White House press secretary, serving during the Clinton administration; Nellie Robinson, executive vice president of Patient Care Services for the Children’s National Medical Center; Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne, co-founders of Georgetown Cupcakes, and Sheila Brooks, president and chief executive officer of SRB Communications.

The women were chosen because they exemplify empowerment through their accomplishments and philanthropic efforts, according to Stacy Lastrina, chief marketing officer, marketing and creative services, for The Jones Group. Jones developed the campaign with Raul Martinez, founder and chief creative officer of AR New York. The second campaign will break in March in Capitol File Magazine, DC Magazine, The Washington Post and Washingtonian Magazine, as well as on billboards, bus shelters and digital online, Lastrina said. — Kristi Ellis

Phot

o by

KAR

IM J

AAFA

R/AF

P/Ge

tty

IMAG

es

BEAUTY BEAT

MEMO PAD

Phot

os b

y Ky

Le e

RICK

seN

Chanel Brings Saint-Tropez to Jeffrey New York

Chanel’s beachy feel at Jeffrey.

WWD.COMWWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010 11

NEW STAR: Has Donatella Versace, who loves American television and often has DVDs of shows shipped to her in Milan, gone mad for “Mad Men”? It appears so. Late last week, word started to spread that January Jones is the face of Versace’s spring campaign, and was shot by Mario Testino.

A Versace spokesman confirmed that Jones was in the campaign but wouldn’t comment further.

FROM ONLINE TO RUNWAY: Starting today, a collaboration between Rebecca Minkoff and Polyvore.com will allow users of the online fashion community to design work of their own. They will get the chance to redesign Minkoff’s Morning After Clutch on the site. The winning bag will be unveiled on Dec. 9 and will make its debut at Minkoff’s New York Fashion Week runway show in February. The handbag will be named after the user, and sold and produced through rebeccaminkoff.com.

MIDDLETON’S STYLE AT A SNIP: After QVC announced last week that it’s selling a replica of Kate Middleton’s sapphire engagement ring, now British supermarket chain Tesco is getting in on the copycat act. From Monday, Tesco will carry a 16 pounds, or $26, short-sleeved version of the navy Issa dress Middleton wore when her engagement to Prince William was announced last week. Jan Marchant, buying director at Tesco Clothing, said on the retailer’s blog: “Kate Middleton looked extremely elegant in her choice of outfit and many women will want to find a high-street replica of this now iconic dress. It’s very versatile — a classic design and perfect for many special occasions. We expect it to sell out fast,” she said.

Meanwhile, Middleton and Prince William are proving just as popular with the British public as her fashion choices. According to a survey by The Sunday Times newspaper and YouGov published Sunday, 44 percent of those polled believe that when Queen Elizabeth II dies, Prince Charles should step aside and allow William to take up the throne.

HEY, DUDE: Passersby unaware of Waves, a series of limited edition images by surf photographer and film director Steven Lippman and apparel pieces by Lippman and Ron Herman, might have confused the Ron Herman store in Malibu Thursday night for a gallery during an opening. If they stepped into the store, though, the soulful guitarist playing and the male-dominated crowd, dressed mostly in jeans, T-shirts and

baseball caps or beanies atypical for a gallery opening, would have provided hints that something a bit different was going on. One presumably single female guest definitely endorsed the scene. “There are really good pickings. It’s shocking,” she whispered to a girlfriend. Herman and Lippman cooked up the idea for the event, which combined art and fashion, to benefit Save the Waves Coalition, a nonprofit organization that works to preserve the coastline. “There are more and more people that care about the things that bind us together,” said Herman. “We want something more meaningful. We care about the environment.”

MOVIE MADNESS: “Tron: Legacy”-mania was in full effect Thursday night, when a six-week pop-up shop launched at Royal/T in Culver City, Calif., dedicated to a slew of limited edition merchandise associated with the movie from the likes of Oakley, Hurley, Adidas, TomTom and shoe designer Jerome Rousseau. James Frain had a long shopping list. “I want the ‘Tron’ mouse. I want the ski boots — not that I ski. They are just fantastic. I’ll put them on a shelf. I’ll probably get the backpack for my son,” said the actor, who plays henchman Jarvis in the film. Rousseau, who described himself as a massive “Tron” fan, had a little difficulty settling on a shoe design that melded the movie’s aesthetic with his own. At first, he said, “Everything I did looked like a sneaker. I felt my label needed something really sexy and not gimmicky.” Olivia Wilde approved of the final result: architectural seven-inch platform heels sculpted out of silver specchio leather, priced at $795 and named for her “Tron: Legacy” character, Quorra. Touching one of the heels, she said, “It is an accurate representation of Quorra, and I’m honored to have it named after her.” Upon hearing those words, Rousseau said he almost fainted.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: Early on Friday, Burberry broke the 3-million-fan barrier on Facebook — with designer Christopher Bailey posting a personal thank-you card for his fans. Burberry is now the most widely followed fashion brand on the social networking site, according to Joanna Shields, vice president for Facebook EMEA. It took Burberry about a year to have 1 million Facebook fans, six months to double that figure and just another month to add another 1 million to its fan base. “Burberry is no longer just a fashion company — today

they are a thriving media enterprise,” Shields said. “[Burberry is] successful not just because it makes great clothes, but because it understands the importance of sparking interest in the community and using social media to engage and delight their consumers.”

MORE ABOUT THE OCEAN: Bloomingdale’s is doing its part to preserve the world’s oceans. After a successful collaboration that benefited the Surfrider Foundation earlier this year, the retailer is planning to expand its support in 2011. Kevin Harter, men’s fashion director, revealed that the retailer will open pop-up shops in 13 stores in April, with exclusive merchandise from its vendor partners and a portion of the sales earmarked to the preservation organization. “We partnered with Loomstate for our New York Nights spring event,” Harter said, “and we wanted to do something bigger next year. So we went to our resources and asked them to create exclusive merchandise for us.” Among the vendors who answered the call were Sea Bags, which created totes made from recycled sails; Bobble water bottles, which will produce a special model and packaging for the store; Engineered Garments, which produced a camp shirt from organic fabrics; organic Ts from Paul Smith; tank tops from Altru; sunglasses from Marc by Marc Jacobs; bow ties from Gitman; denim from Edun; swim trunks from Saturdays, and biodegradable espadrilles from Industry of All Nations. Polo Ralph Lauren’s RLX brand was a big proponent of the project, producing logoed sweatshirts, boardshorts and a barracuda jacket for the initiative. The RLX product will be sold in all stores, Harter said. An event is planned at the New York flagship for April 13, and the windows of the store will also be devoted to Surfrider product.

FASHION SCOOPS

Christopher Bailey’s online thank-you card.

WWD.COM/CLASSIFIEDS

For more career opportunities log on to WWDCareers.com.

To place an “ONLINE ONLY” classified ad, log into WWDCAREERS.com

and place your ad any timeCall 1-800-289-0273

Question about your Subscription?

Showrooms & LoftsBWAY 7TH AVE SIDE STREETS

Great ’New’ Office Space AvailADAMS & CO. 212-679-5500

FOR LEASEHIGH END RETAIL

IN BEST CTR.MALIBU, CA

Join 165,000 SF of retail: JohnVarvatos, Ralph Lauren, Vince,Missoni, Perricone MD, Chrome

Hearts, Oliver Peoples, Earnest Sewn,Maxfield, James Perse, La Perla, 7 ForAll Mankind, Morgane Le Fay, Nobu

Koss Real Estate310.826.5636 x229

PATTERNS, SAMPLES,PRODUCTIONS

Full service shop to the trade.Fine fast work. 212-869-2699

SALES PROFESSIONALLooking for a company that wants togrow with majors only, and that willfinancially support long term saleseffort. Call: 609 519 1399

TECHNICAL DESIGNERExperienced in Tailored wovens,especially Jackets. Patternmakingknowledge and experience. Goodcommunicator, organized, able todrive process to meet deadlines.Must have 5+ years of experience.

Fax resume to: 646-674-9353

Jewelry DesignerJr. to Associate level Sterling JewelryDesigner to work closely with DesignDirector. Bridge Jewelry Exp a Plus.Compensation Commensurate w/ Ex-

perience. Fulltime or Freelance.Resume & Salary Req:

TFGaccessories@gmail.com

SALES MANAGERNY- based Women’s Contemporarymulti-line Showroom seeks sales man-ager. Must have exp w dept stores.hr.multilinesr@gmail.com

SALES /MERCHANDISING TO $190KDaywear Department Stores.

Daywearposition @yahoo.com

SALES /MERCHANDISING TO $200K Children’s Regional Department Stores Allen Platt SRI Search 212 465 8300

allen@srisearch.com

ATTENTION CLASSIFIEDADVERTISERS!

Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday,deadline for issue of

Monday, 11/29 will be

WEDNESDAY, 11/24 at 11am.

WWD will not publish11/25 or 11/26, and Fairchild

offices will be closed those days.

Thank you for your cooperation!

WWD.COM12 WWD, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010

Carolina and Reinaldo Herrera.

Natural Causes

Fred Armisen with Kristen Wiig in Martin Grant; Amanda Hearst in Carolina Herrera; Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon; Veronica Webb in Sophie Theallet; Alec Baldwin with Meg Ryan in The Row.

Whether it Was an after-hours trip to the museum or the scores of very funny people in the audience — care of co-chair Lorne Michaels’ rolodex — the prevailing mood at the american museum of natural history’s annual gala on thursday night was a near-childlike glee. maybe it was the glow sticks.

“i have to remind the audience to not only break the glow sticks but shake them at the same time,” instructed emcee Tom Brokaw to a room that included Meg Ryan, Steve Martin, Anne Hathaway and a large swath of the current “saturday night Live” lineup.

“i think, tom, that they have to be reminded they’re not suppositories,” joked auctioneer Jamie Niven, on loan from sotheby’s for the evening. niven had a vested interest in the wands’ proper usage, as they had taken the place of auction paddles in the museum’s dimly lit hall of ocean Life.

“i’m honored to be here on such a special occasion in such an amazingly cool place,” said Jimmy Fallon before presenting the night’s entertainment, a performance by Elton John. “i mean, it’s just awesome to walk around, look at all the dinosaurs and fossils…and watch them donate their money to the museum. it’s just really inspiring.”

even sir elton couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of place. “thank you very much,” he said taking the stage to applause. “i’ve never played a

natural history museum before, and i feel quite at home.”John pushed the level of abandon in the room to its breaking point as guests

swayed along to a mini set that included “rocket man” and “Don’t Let the sun Go Down on me.” By the time he reached “tiny Dancer,” the glow sticks were back out.

“this is for you, Jimmy,” John said to fallon as he launched into “Benny and the Jets.” the comedian, never one to contain his boyish exuberance, pumped his fist right along.

• • •thursday evening, the young set — with a sprinkling of more mature types for good

measure — got a taste of eden when the metropolitan museum of art hosted its annual apollo circle Benefit, sponsored for the fourth year in a row by carolina herrera, and this year entitled “return to paradise.” for a select few, the night started with a pre-party at the Georgian suites hosted by Patricia Lansing, where Amanda Hearst, Veronica Swanson Beard, Allison Aston and Elisa Sednaoui sipped champagne and nibbled on mini grilled cheese and pigs in a blanket before heading to the temple of Dendur for the main event.

“i’m like cinderella,” said Lansing, who lives in noLita. “i go downtown after this and the dress comes off at midnight — except i get to keep the dress. perks!”

too bad mom didn’t get to see her in it. With seeming limitless energy, Carolina Herrera arrived from an earlier engagement, with husband Reinaldo, after Lansing and many others had already left. and despite the scene’s heady air, herrera is still holding out for her own version of the party’s theme.

“i don’t know [what paradise is],” said the designer. “i haven’t been in paradise yet.”

Anne Hathaway in Miu Miu. t

new yorkers living in Los angeles love to lament the city’s lack of authentic east coast-style pizza. (nancy silverton and mario Batali’s pizzeria mozza doesn’t count.) But with the arrival of toddy G’s, they can lament no more.

new york native todd Giordanella, owner of fratelli Brick pizza in Williamsburg, and his southern california buddy, former pro skateboarder salman agah, opened the pizza joint in the downtown arts District last month, and judging by the lines that start forming out the door every night at around 9 p.m., they’ve hit a nerve.

on thursday, malibu, Beverly hills and West hollywood dwellers Liane Weintraub, amanda Goldberg and china chow traveled west toward the desolate strip of 7th street, where the only other structures that aren’t warehouses are a mexican wrestling bar and a recently rehabbed dive called tony’s cocktails. in contrast, toddy G’s clean white sign, open window counter and warm light bulbs beckoned to hipsters and model types as the smell of freshly baked dough wafted out. (Giordanella’s

uncle charlie came from Brooklyn to train the staff and make sure the secret ingredients in the crust were just so.)

upping the cool factor was that maximillian chow, brother of china, was in the kitchen, part of a rotation of guest chefs the owners have invited in to mix up the classic italian menu. chow, 33, is not formally trained but has spent many years working in the kitchen at his father’s restaurant, mr. chow, in Beverly hills. thursday’s two chow specials were a pulled pork, pickled onion and cilantro pizza — he’d roasted the pork and pickled the onions the day before — and a ricotta and mushroom pie with freshly shaved black truffles on top. Last week, chow’s carbonara pizza sold as soon as each pie came out of the oven. the flavors are unconventional, even by trendy pizza topping standards, but chow considers each dish personally. “i just think about what i’d like to eat on a pizza,” he says. “the parameters are small. it cooks in a short amount of time, so you have to think about what you can cook fast enough, how long to crisp it, all that stuff.”

chow eventually wants to open a private, invite-only supper club, but for now, he’s content helping out his friends once a week. “it’s like all the benefits of a relationship without the commitment,” he says. “i get to be creative and use whatever the freshest ingredients are that day, but at the end of the day i’m not cleaning out the oven.” — Marcy Medinaho

t tod

dy’s

Apol

lo im

Ages

by

Kris

ten

som

ody

WhA

len;

Am

nh b

y sc

ott

rudd

; mAx

cho

W b

y m

Arcy

med

inA

Maximillian Chow in the kitchen at Toddy G’s.