Daily EDition march 22, 2017 1

Fashion. Beauty. Business.

Field of Dreams Henry Segerstrom’s South Coast Plaza turns 50.

Page 13 to 35

Expanding the FrameworkKering Eyewear inks Cartier deal, Richemont takes stake.

Page 12

● Sales continue to slip as the retailer wades through tough times.

By Evan Clark

J. Crew Group Inc. got a little good news on the bottom line in the fourth quarter, but it might not be enough to sustain the retailer for long.

That’s because J. Crew is fighting off all that ails retail — from distracted consum-ers to decreasing foot traffic — while also managing a heavy $1.5 billion debt burden and fighting with lenders in New York State court.

Operationally, the plan is to focus on the retail basics: Be mindful of expenses while giving shoppers what they want — a trick in the best of times.

“While the overall retail environment remains challenging, we continue our disciplined management of expenses and inventory and remain focused on deliv-ering the very best, iconic J. Crew and Madewell products our customers love across all channels,” said Millard “Mickey” Drexler, chairman and chief executive

● Shifts in the fashion calendar, a lack of support from the government — and from the industry — are taking a toll on young British designers as another label shutters.

By nataliE thEodosi

LONDON — Is London fashion going through another wane?

In a tough few weeks for young, inde-pendent London designers, WWD has learned that Alexander Lewis is the latest label to wind down operations.

The American-Brazilian designer based in London confirmed his company entered voluntary liquidation at the beginning of

business

J. Crew Losses Narrow For 2016

business

London’sPendulumSwingsAgain

continued on page 10

continued on page 11

Inspired by female empowerment, fall is all about power dressing, and this season it’s red hot, as seen in Kim

Shui’s velour cotton jersey hoodie under Homic’s felt cashmere coat. Cornelia Webb ring; Catbird rings.

For more on the trend, see pages 5 and 6.

Big Redphotograph By kinya

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march 22, 2017 3

Urban Outfitters Profits Sink Amid Retail Malaise● Strength in the firm’s web business was outweighed by retail weakness.

● Which Retailers Are Closing Stores in 2017

● Target to Take Manhattan’s 34th Street

● Wal-Mart’s Aggressive Fashion Push Continues With ModCloth Deal

● LVMH Acquires Maison Francis Kurkdjian

TOP 5TRendingon WWD.CoM

nEWSMAKERSThis Week’s Most Talked About names In our Industry

Mickey Drexler

Kevin Systrom

Tory Burch

Jessica Alba

● The annual event drew pop stars to TV stars, retailers to designers.

By WWd staff

NEW YORK — It was the first full day of spring on Tuesday and leading execu-tives, designers and other industry figures gathered at the One Hotel Brooklyn Bridge on the shores of the East River here for the annual WWD Men’s Wear Summit.

The day featured a breadth of speakers representing the industry, including one of the hottest online retailers around; a former New York Giant-turned-TV host; a major TV host-turned-designer; a leading pop star-turned-fashion entrepreneur; iconic American and French brands in the midst of turnarounds; America’s largest department store retailer, and an active-wear brand pushing harder into fashion.

Here, some highlights from the day:• Ulric Jerome, chief executive officer,

Matchesfashion.com, said, “I hate the word omnichannel. At the end of the day, it’s all just commerce,” pointing out the company now gets 50 percent of its sales via mobile with an average basket size of $850. “We have the biggest average basket among multibrand retailers. We take an order every seven seconds.” The retailer recently took a single order online worth $120,000 — and the cus-tomer came into one of its stores the next day and bought more.

• Stacia Anderson, brand president, Abercrombie & Fitch, outlined the brand’s strategy: “We want to go back to the Nineties in the sense that we want to make this brand part of the culture again but want it to be part of the customer who is twentysomething. Our customer has grown up.”

• Aaron Levine, senior vice president, design, Abercrombie & Fitch, on his goals: “We want to be the best brand on the planet. We have the opportunity to be the only American casual accessible luxury brand.”

• Joelle Grunberg, president and chief executive officer, Lacoste North Amer-ica, said, “The American market today is probably one of the toughest retail markets in the world. The customer is very digital in the U.S., doesn’t want to go

into a store and going to the mall isn’t the ultimate experience it used to be. So we will improve innovation and invest more in our stores.”

• Michael Strahan’s Hall of Fame football career as a member of the Giants allowed him to feel comfortable in front of the cameras — a skill he translated into a successful career as a talk show host and sports analyst. And his personal style in those high-profile roles led him to create a successful line of men’s wear with J.C. Penney that has expanded from suits and furnishings into ath-leisurewear and underwear. Next up? An expanded collection of formalwear.

• The fashion and retail market needs a new map. David J. Katz, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Randa Accessories, and Jim Shea, chief commercial officer of analytics firm First Insight Inc., said during their presenta-tion that the department store segment is suffering from underwhelming sameness. And much of it has to do with not offering shoppers a chance for “discovery and delight,” Katz said adding that today’s market also requires data-informed consumer insights. “You can’t navigate tomorrow’s landscape with yesterday’s maps,” Katz said. “We need new maps.”

• Tim Coppens, founder and creative director of his own brand and execu-tive creative director of UAS, or Under Armour Sportswear, is naturally shy — “I’m Belgian, we’re very small, countries run all over us” — but as he matures as a designer he has realized it’s necessary to keep a higher profile. “I’ve learned to give a little bit of myself,” he said. So whether it’s the Tim Coppens collection or his new UAS sportswear line, he has learned that to “get some engagement with the brand, I have to communicate what I’m about.” The messaging works more slowly with the Tim Coppens line and more quickly with the commercial UAS collection, but in both cases, it’s about creating experi-ences that foster a sense of community among customers.

• Go direct, or go home. Forget that Aaron Levant, founder of Agenda and senior vice president and head of fashion at Reed Exhibitions, works for a trade show event organizer. Traditional trade shows — and malls for that matter — are dead, Levant told attendees. “The only

metric that matters is energy,” Levant said. “And trade shows and malls have no energy.” Instead, Levant is finding success by going direct to consumers. His ComplexCon event was essentially a trade show for consumers where musi-cians, fans, foodies, techies and fashion influencers converged. “Fans paid $55 to go shopping,” Levant said of last year’s event, which generated $10 million in sales, on site, over a two-day period.

• TV/radio host Ryan Seacrest wasn’t always a style setter — he started out as a pudgy pre-teen with braces — but once he met Burberry’s creative director Christo-pher Bailey, his fashion sense changed. “I realize I wanted to create a uniform,” he said, adding that he ditched the profes-sional stylists who had outfitted him in ill-fitting suits and questionable color palettes in favor of the brand’s suits. That eventually led to the creation of the Ryan Seacrest Distinction label that started out as tailored clothing and furnishings and this fall will expand into casual sports-wear to complement the dressier looks. This new iteration of the line — and the addition of new creative director Matteo Gottardi — is intended to appeal to the modern man seeking comfortable yet sophisticated pieces for guys seeking alternatives to that tailored uniform that has served Seacrest so well over the course of his career.

• Experience is top of mind for Albin Johansson, the cofounder and chief executive officer for Axel Arigato, a men’s and women’s sneaker line that launched in 2014. For Johansson, who recently opened a shop in London, experiences translate to stores outfitted with Wi-Fi, charging stations, seating areas and bev-erages that can also second as commu-nity building spaces. • Karin Darmanin, Macy’s executive vice president of men’s and kids, said she’s been “impressed by this moment for fashion and for rein-vention in the men’s industry. What an exciting time to be a men’s merchant.” Part of the reason for that is that men are showing a greater interest in fashion. Asked about the future of department stores, she admitted, “It’s incumbent on all of us to make more traffic.”

• The new celebrity endorsement: Fashion brands partnering with celeb-rities is no new concept, but because Millennial customers can easily sniff out in-authenticity, it’s important that these collaborations are executed in a meaning-ful way. That’s what pop star Jason Derulo and designer Antonio Brown are hoping to achieve with LVL XIII, a brand started by Brown.

● The business has been backed by Tengram Capital since 2012.

By allison Collins

Nest Fragrances seems to be the latest beauty business to hit the auction block.

According to a handful of industry sources, Nest has hired investment bank Moelis to run a sale process. Moelis declined to comment for this story.

Nest has its roots in home fragrance — the fastest-growing subcategory in the prestige fragrance segment, according to the NPD Group (up 19 percent year-over-year at the end of February) — and

branched into fine fragrances in 2013.“There’s this real groundswell in home

fragrance,” said Nest chief executive officer Nancy McKay, comparing the cat-egory’s growth to that of masks or brows. Asked to comment on the sale process, she said, “we don’t comment on rumors.”

Nest is still primarily made up of home scents (sources estimate fine fragrances make up about 20 percent of overall sales), but the fine fragrances division is growing quickly — 90 percent year-over-year — because of its distribution through Sephora, sources indicated.

The business is drawing interest from strategic buyers and private equity firms, sources said, adding that Nest’s net sales for 2016 were about $33 million, and the

business is projected to hit at least $36 million in sales for 2017, and $40 million for 2018.

Nest’s latest launch in its fine fragrance segment is Black Tulip, something founder Laura Slatkin described to WWD as a “modern chypre.” Other 2017 devel-opments for the brand include the Liq-uidless Diffuser, which has scented sticks instead of reeds dipped in liquid, launch-ing in May, and two new home fragrances — White Camellia and Tarragon & Ivy.

Sephora also sells Nest’s $16 to $64 candles, which recently launched there, as well as reed diffusers, $44; hand soap, $22; hand lotion, $24, and body cream, $55. Nest’s fine fragrances are priced at $25 for a rollerball and $72 for 1.7 oz. The company’s products are also sold through Net-a-porter, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and its own web site. Nest is sold in Colom-bia through The Blush Bar, the Philippines at Art of Scent, and in Sephora Mexico and Australia. The company is considering a U.K. launch for later this year, McKay said.

business

Sources: Nest Fragrances toHire Moelis for Sale Process

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men’s

Takeaways From the WWD Men’s Wear Summit

4 march 22, 2017

Tory Sport Does anyone really want to walk around dressed like a tennis ball? Believe it or not, yes, in the hands of Tory Burch. She suc-cessfully turned a tennis ball into a delightful — and very bright — fluorescent green bomber jacket made from the scruffy scratchy stuff that covers tennis balls. “Apparently it’s never been used before for clothing,” said Burch, during a walk-through of her fall Tory Sport collection. “It’s not that itchy at all either, which I was worried about.”

CollectionsThe

New York

● Silvia Negri Firman, Libby Haan and Anne Fahey-Storment are partners in NFHF.

By JEssiCa irEdalE

Three veterans of fashion public relations are partnering to launch a new firm based in New York. NFHF Projects opens April 3 under the stewardship of Silvia Negri Firman, Libby Haan and Anne Fahey-Storment, all of whom have been working in fashion and design public rela-tions for 20-plus years with a combined former client list that includes power

brands such as Chanel, Calvin Klein, Prada, Jil Sander and Marni.

NFHF is headquartered at 110 Greene Street in SoHo in Negri Firman’s former offices. It was she who approached Haan about potentially coming on as a partner in the business and Haan subsequently introduced Negri Firman and Fahey-Stor-ment. Negri Firman had worked with Haan at Karla Otto before they both started their own boutique agencies, the former launching in 2008 in Milan and eventually New York in 2012, and the latter launching in 2010.

“I was coming to New York every month, but it wasn’t enough,” said Negri Firman. “I couldn’t see my venture in New

York growing as I wanted and Milan was getting bigger and bigger. Then, one day I thought, ‘Why don’t I look to do things in a different way? Why don’t I look for a partner instead of a manager?’ That’s why I reconnected with Libby.”

Negri Firman is merging her New York operation into NFHF and keeping her Milan business separate — the two offices had always been separate businesses — though some clients will be shared, such as Antonio Marras. Haan is bringing on her three main clients from Haan Proj-ects: Schiaparelli, The Frye Company and MSGM. Other clients will include Arthur Arbesser, Fabiana Filippi and Marchon. Fahey-Storment, who was most recently

fashion

A New P.R. Firm From Three Veteran Publicists

Silvia Negri Firman, Libby Haan and Anne Fahey-Storment.

at Nike Communications, and Haan will run the day-to-day in the New York office, while Negri Firman will split her time between New York and Milan.

NFHF will offer a full range of client services in the fashion, luxury and home furnishings spheres with an emphasis on tailor-made strategies. “We’ll do the whole gamut, from celebrity dressing and celeb-rity relations to store openings to shows and launches,” said Haan. “It’s such a fluid time right now where there’s so much that can and will happen.”

“We’ve been working so long in fashion and luxury,” said Negri Firman. “In the beginning, in the Eighties our business was completely disconnected. Image and communications were more services that brands and designers needed to protect themselves because their image was so new and difficult to understand. Thirty years later, it’s the opposite — a brand can survive without our help and the press’ help. There are so many brands and so many people and they want visibility in so few spaces. It needs to be done in a very strategic way.”

For example, the strategy that works for say, Jason Wu, where Fahey-Storment was in house for several years, is probably not the same as the game plan for the Dalai Lama, who is a current client of Negri Firman’s.

NFHF is intent on being a boutique oper-ation, keeping a tight client list, although they are open to expanding within fashion, design, art and architecture. “We’re really nimble, which allows us to react quickly,” said Fahey-Storment. “It’s about being able to move quickly in reaction to the econ-omy and digital and what’s going on in the market.”

All three partners want to maintain a very hands-on approach with their clients. “The human component is very import-ant; it’s not just a name on the door,” said Negri Firman. “I’ve been in house a long time and I’ve been the client of big agencies and often you sign because of the name and the person and then you never see them again.”

The bomber will stand out day or night, which was one of Burch’s big endeavors for the fall lineup. The general aesthetic remained consistent — bright sports gear, per-formance and “coming and going,” as the less athletic pieces are known internally, with a cheerful retro prep kick — but there was an uptick in reflective details on metallic Windbreakers and running shorts.

The chevron stripes that are signatures on Burch’s running tights were blown out on kitschy cool track suits, T-shirts and après ski sweaters.

Burch made hitting the lodge look very à présent with color-blocked quilted jackets, a great microfiber down parka with a fur-lined hood and quilted snow boots, good for the slopes and trekking through the sludge in the city.

In other Tory Sport news, the collection has newly launched at wholesale with select online part-ners, including Net-a-porter and Neiman Marcus. — Jessica Iredale

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march 22, 2017 5

Designers brought many political statements to the fall runways. Voluminous silhouettes

in power red, the season’s hottest color, with touches of pink made the strongest impact.

Here, Eckhaus Latta’s spandex turtleneck and Sara Battaglia’s crepe cadi pants. Paul Andrew

booties (worn throughout); Luz Ortiz ring (worn throughout); Diaboli Kill ring.

Big Red

StyLed By Emily mErCEr

photographS By kinya

TrendFall

2017

6 march 22, 2017

Ami’s cotton sweatshirt.

Iceberg’s wool and acrylic sweater under Kate Spade’s virgin wool coat and Libsa’s Italian double-faced crepe satin pants under Mane Mane’s wool shorts. Selima Optique sunglasses.

Jil Sander Navy’s mohair, virgin wool and Hairy Serge jacket and Landeros New York’s cashmere and wool trousers (worn throughout). Cornelia Webb ring.

Arias’ nylon and elastane mesh top (worn throughout) and Kate Spade’s polyester puffer under Assembly’s wool coat with Iceberg’s silk and acetate skirt under Eckhaus Latta’s wool crepe pants. Ana Khouri earring.

TrendFall

2017

photo aSSiStant kEisukE tsuJimoto

hair and makeup By hazuki matsushita for makEup forEvEr

modeL katya at marilyn modEl agEnCy

production Emily taylor

march 22, 2017 7

● The retailer’s ceo talked about the plan to invest in its stores to make them hybrid showrooms and logistics hubs.

By kari hamanaka

LAS VEGAS — Target Corp. is flipping the switch and turning its stores on — techno-logically speaking.

The retailer’s chief executive officer Brian Cornell was a keynote speaker at the second annual Shoptalk conference taking place through Wednesday in Vegas, where he spoke about how Target is looking at the future of retail. It’s placing its chips on a revamp of the existing fleet that makes them one part showrooms people can shop and one part logistics hubs to fulfill digital orders.

“In this new era of retail, stores need to be multidimensional showrooms,” Cornell said. “They have to be a destination for services. More and more we’re positioning our stores to be guest-facing hubs.”

Stores serving as fulfillment centers will mean shipping orders twice as fast as what can be done from a distribution center, Cornell pointed out. The retailer is currently testing same-day delivery in select markets this year.

“We also have some stores that today are really tired and if you look across the competitive landscape, those folks that deferred investments, well, they’re strug-gling,” Cornell said. “You just can’t be in the game; you have to invest. And at Target we’re doubling down and we’re fortunate enough to have the chips to do it.”

That investment, more specifically, is to the tune of some $7 billion set to be spent over the next three years to revitalize more than 600 stores.

Testing of innovations at Target stores in Houston and Los Angeles has been taking place for about a year. The best of the best of those technologies will now be rolled up into a first-generation prototype store set to open in Houston later this year.

Although technology is important, the company also realizes it’s up against a tick-ing clock. Target earlier this year scrapped plans for a high-tech store of the future that was set to be located in Silicon Valley.

“We made a tough choice and when we think about the future, innovation’s a

really important part of it,” Cornell said of the store. “Our focus on innovation has to be something we can realize over the next three to four years inside the core business.”

Keeping the merchandise mix relevant and interesting to consumers is also a

focus, with Target set to launch more than a dozen new brands over the next two years, which Cornell said amounted to about $10 billion worth of product.

Those lines will be supported with their own dedicated landing pages online and, at brick-and-mortar, the merchandising

strategy will be improved and comple-mented with marketing pushes.

While all of these tactics may not necessarily be earth-shattering on their own, Cornell said, it’s the aggregate that will help drive market share gains for the company.

Taking share was certainly a motivator for why the retailer decided to open up across from Macy’s with a store in Herald Square in news revealed Monday.

“We’re going after market share right now,” Cornell said. “We’re investing to win and winning — it’s all about taking market share over the years.”

business

Target Bets Big on Store of the Future

Target ceo Brian Cornell.

● The concept gets its name from an early store remembered by Sam Walton as an experiment.

By sharon EdElson

If not for its deep-pocketed parent, Store No. 8 might go unnoticed or get lumped together with the hundreds or thousands of other tech incubators. But Store No. 8 is backed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., so the stand-alone entity based in Silicon Valley is sure to get a lot of attention.

Some of that attention will be deserved if Store No. 8 accomplishes half of what it says it will. Store No. 8 is designed to incubate, invest in and partner with entrepreneurs, early-stage start-ups, venture capitalists and academics to innovate in areas such

as robotics, virtual and augmented reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence. These start-ups within Store No. 8 will be “ring-fenced from the broader [Wal-Mart] organization, so they have the room to grow and develop,” the retailer said.

Store No. 8, described as an innovation hub formed by the world’s largest retailer, was revealed by Marc Lore, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart global e-commerce, on Monday at Shoptalk’s conference in Las Vegas.

The Store No. 8 web site can sound lofty. For example, “We have created an innova-tion ecosystem where new ideas can thrive outside the existing definitions of retail. We have a unique vantage point that allows us a view into the heart of America to connect with what people want. The ideas we develop here are our big bets that have potential to change the world.”

It’s easy to see how Store No. 8 fits into Wal-Mart’s strategy. Executing at scale is one of the retailer’s strong suits. Wal-Mart, which has been amassing a portfolio of upscale e-commerce sites facilitated by its $3.3 billion Jet.com acquisition in August, also wants to learn how to optimize the customer experience in stores and online.

The retailer has a road map for its online business that is helping guide the innova-tions it will bring to market at scale for the next 18 months. Store No. 8 has a much longer outlook. It’s not looking into innova-tions and incubation opportunities for tech-nologies that will be deployed next quarter or next year. Rather, Store No. 8 has a three- to seven-year horizon, which will allow it to explore technology that’s nascent today, but “may fundamentally change the way we do e-commerce,” the company said.

Wal-Mart noted that it’s difficult to run

an operation of its size and scale, remain focused on all of the necessary elements of execution while at the same time be on the lookout for and invest in and incubate in a meaningful way the next generation of technologies.

Store No. 8 is being led by veteran retail entrepreneurs G. Seth Beal and Katie Finnegan, who are building a team “with the expertise to bring radical innovations to the physical, digital and virtual retail experiences, acting as a force driving commerce forward at a time when emerg-ing technologies influence all aspects of consumers’ lives,” the company said.

Beal is senior vice president, incubation and strategic partnerships for Wal-Mart U.S. e-commerce, which includes his role as principal for Store No. 8. Finnegan held merchandising positions at J. Crew and worked at Jet.com.

Other technology that could come out of Store No. 8 includes innovations in last-mile delivery, including drones and autonomous vehicles, and intense personalization.

business

Store No. 8 Is Wal-Mart’s Innovation Lab

“We’re going after market share right now. We’re investing to win and winning — it’s all about taking market share over the years.”

— Brian Cornell, Target

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8 march 22, 2017

● The company said after testing shopping, it will now expand to thousands of businesses.

By kari hamanaka

Instagram is stepping up its shopping functionality.

The company, which began testing shop-ping on its app with 20 brands in Novem-ber, said Tuesday it’s now ready to expand the program to thousands of brands in the apparel, jewelry and beauty spaces.

Jim Squires, Instagram’s director of product marketing, said more retailers want to sell on the platform.

“People are in this discovery mind-set [on Instagram] and they want to go further,” he said. “So what we’ve done is remove that friction and just allow you to, when you’re interested, to quickly go and explore further. We decided to start with apparel, jewelry and beauty because from a consumer perspective there’s a lot of interest in those categories.”

The program’s expansion also came with updates that make it easier for marketers

to tag shoppable products in their posts and also gauge just how well those posts are doing.

J. Crew, Warby Parker, Kate Spade, Macy’s and MVMT Watches were among the roughly 20 businesses selected to test shopping on Instagram last year.

“What we’ve seen and observed is that

people are very interested in engaging with these posts that have products tagged inside of them,” Squires said. “We’re see-ing very nice results with how people are engaging with the experience.”

The company reported that of those users who tapped on a product to learn more about something that’s been tagged, 19 percent then go on to click “shop now.” Tagged product posts also generally helped drive traffic to a company’s web site, Instagram also found.

“Instagram’s shopping capabilities per-fectly align with Macy’s strategy of creating a frictionless shopping experience for our customers,” said Macy’s director of social media Tessa Kavanaugh in a statement. “By allowing users the opportunity to purchase featured items they want via a seamless transition from the social plat-form to our e-commerce site, Instagram is helping us create better engagement with consumers. We’re encouraged by the results we saw during the holiday and gifting time frame this past year, particu-larly the double-digit increase in sessions on our e-commerce site directed from the platform.”

Ryan Dell, chief marketing officer at MVMT, also reported success with the shopping test. Dell said the company saw more than 30 percent click-through to shop the product on the MVMT site with the experience making it easier to find product along with learning key details such as cost and how to purchase.

Instagram currently counts 600 million active users monthly with about 80 per-cent of those people following a business on the app. Adding the shopping capability and now expanding it, gives marketers a much less clunky way of attempting to sell product to users and provides a more seamless alternative to the commonly used “see link in bio” directive many have been using. It will also arm marketers with more information on what people are tapping on and how often, which could assist them in creating content.

“Mobile has changed how we shop,” Squires said. “It’s changed how we think about shopping and currently on mobile it’s a very transactional process.”

The company thinks that critical middle step of window shopping is what’s missing currently and the shopping app seeks to fill that gap.

“That browsing and exploration is what we’re working on and what we’ve started to introduce,” Squires said.

The expansion announced at Shoptalk will occur over the coming weeks to U.S.-based businesses. An international rollout is in the plans over the coming months, but a specific timeline on that launch has not yet been set, Squires said.

business

Instagram Shopping Expands, Made Easier for Brands

The Instagram shopping functionality on the MVMT Instagram feed.

● Forty-one percent of brands surveyed have seen more success with an influencer-marketing campaign than traditional campaigns.

By lisa loCkWood

Marketers are placing increased empha-sis on influencer campaigns to raise aware-ness and reach new audiences, according to research from Bloglovin’, a company that connects influencers with brands and relevant audiences.

In fact, nearly one-third of marketers consider influencer campaigns an essential part of their marketing strategy and 41 per-cent have seen more success with an influ-encer-marketing campaign than traditional ones. Some 63 percent of brands surveyed increased their influencer-marketing bud-gets this year and 44 percent plan to do so by up to 24 percent.

Bloglovin’ surveyed 100 marketers from Feb. 9 to Feb. 20 to understand their atti-tudes toward influencer marketing.

It is no secret that influencers have become a key source of purchase deci-sions for consumers. The survey found that brands seek awareness over every-thing else. Some 76 percent of market-ers look to increase general awareness through influencer-marketing campaigns and 71 percent look to reach new audi-ences. The study also found that mar-keters find more success with influenc-er-marketing campaigns over traditional ad campaigns, and that 71 percent of mar-keters believe that influencer campaigns are an important way for them to boost

awareness on various social platforms.Some 61 percent of marketers like influ-

encer-marketing campaigns because of the original content creation and 67 percent of marketers believe that influencer-market-ing campaigns helped them reach a more targeted audience.

Due to the rise of micro-influencers (those with 100,000 or fewer followers), 36 percent of marketers report spending less that $5,000 on successful influencer campaigns. In fact, only 2 percent of marketers spent over $100,000 on a single campaign. The spending range is wide, but the majority of marketers are spending less on a single campaign and seeing successful results, leaving them more flexibility for

additional campaigns.Research showed that 24 percent spent

between $5,000 and $10,000 on a single campaign; 14 percent spent between $10,000 and $25,000 on one campaign; eight percent spent between $25,000 and $50,000, and another eight percent spent between $50,000 and $75,000. Only six percent spent between $75,000 and $100,000 on a single campaign.

When asked what marketers look for in influencers, 75 percent said quality and authenticity of content; 70 percent said size of audience and social following; 64 percent said engagement; 56 percent said cost of influencer, and 53 percent said aesthetic.

Further, marketers feel they are also

getting more bang for their buck with influ-encer campaigns. Eighty three percent of marketers repurpose influencer content after a campaign is over to use for social channels (74 percent), web site content (46 percent), paid social ads (36 percent), ads on other digital sites (20 percent) and programmatic advertising (14 percent).

As far as most effective platforms, the survey showed that Facebook and Instagram were the most frequently used channels. Ninety-one percent of market-ers reported using Instagram for influ-encer campaigns, while 80 percent used Facebook, 75 percent used Twitter and 73 percent used blogs. YouTube accounts for 54 percent of marketer’s interest. Pinterest and Snapchat still have room to grow with 33 and 32 percent of marketers, respectively, using the channels for influ-encer campaigns.

As for the number of platforms market-ers use, nearly 21 percent said they used two platforms, 37 percent used three, 25 percent used four, and 6 percent used five or more channels.

“Influencer marketing is still fairly new to many brands, and though more marketers are increasing their spend here this year than previously, there’s still a lot of unknowns, and room to innovate, when it comes to implementing successful influencer programs,” said Kamiu Lee, vice president of business development at Activate by Bloglovin’, the company’s influ-encer-marketing platform. “What’s most important as an influencer-marketing plat-form, is that we understand what brands want out of their programs. By paying close attention to the goals that marketers are looking to achieve, we can continue to advise our brand partners on influencer campaigns that provide the most overall value to their business.”

Bloglovin’, which connects 10 million users with their favorite influencers, part-ners with many brands on native adver-tising and influencer campaigns including Burberry, Gucci, H&M and Tom’s of Maine. The company has offices in New York and Stockholm.

business

Influencer Campaigns Becoming More Essential to Brand Marketing

The percentage of brands surveyed that use various social media platforms for their influencer marketing.

march 22, 2017 9

● The brand will enter 100 Sephora stores in China and triple overall distribution.

By raChEl strugatz

Nudestix would not comply with the animal testing regulations required when importing a beauty brand into China, so the two-year-old company took matters into its own hands.

The company spent the past 18 months building its own supply chain in the region so its products could be considered locally produced — and thus not subject to animal testing. On April 13, Nudestix’s first Chi-nese manufactured collection will enter 70 Sephora doors throughout China, to start, with a plan to launch in 30 addi-tional stores by the end of the year. The brand will also be sold on sephora.cn and Sephora, as well as on Tmall and Weibo.

This is no small feat, especially for an independent brand of this size.

Jenny Frankel, cofounder and president of Nudestix, said that the initial obstacles the company faced with respect to selling

in China were two-fold: duties were 47 percent but products could only be priced 15 percent higher than U.S. retail — along with the animal testing requirements.

“We’re now considered a locally pro-duced brand, as opposed to a brand that imports their product. It allows us to have duties that are far below 47 percent,” Fran-kel said, calling 2017 “The Year of China” for Nudestix.

In addition to setting up an entity in Hong Kong and opening bank accounts, the brand had to make sure that it was manufacturing in a province that has

been exempt from doing animal testing and that the products were categorized as “non-specialized cosmetics.” One of the manufacturers the company works with in Europe for global distribution has a facility in China that produced half of the prod-ucts, and Frankel said the team sourced a second European manufacturer with a facility in Shanghai to make the other half.

An edited assortment of the most popular stockkeeping units will initially be sold in China. But the color focus shifted since Frankel began the process of creating a product ecosystem in China in late 2015. Then, nudes were selling the slowest in China, with pinks and reds the fastest-growing segment of lipstick shades in the country and in Southeast Asia. Now, nudes and natural tones have been “all the rage” in the region.

“The data has changed so quickly. I really think it’s social media. Women in general who love beauty are getting inspi-ration from what they’re seeing on social. It’s not just domestic beauty influencers,” Frankel said.

Between April and the end of the year, Frankel projected that about 14 percent of 2017’s revenues will come from the region. She said Nudestix will more than double its global retail footprint this year, with about half of the company’s sales projected to take place outside of North America. By December, this will include 280 doors in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Scandinavia, Mexico, India, Indonesia

and the Middle East (up from 118 doors in January). Inclusive of North American and global doors, Nudestix will triple points of distribution this year, from 235 in January to over 750 by year’s end.

The brand is also ramping up its retail presence Stateside, starting with a signif-icant Ulta rollout this spring — its largest retail partnership to date. The range has hit ulta.com at the end of February and starting on May 5, will enter 250 doors. The retailer will carry almost the entire line, including six sku’s that are exclusive to Ulta.

“It gets us to markets where we cur-rently have no representation. Even though the Nudestix girl learns about our products first on digital, they still want that retail experience,” Frankel said.

She explained that the ulta.com launch was “very significant,” as it was timed to the release of an eight-shade Magnetic Matte Lip range. Because lips isn’t a loyalty category for Nudestix — it drives new client acquisition — the $24 lipsticks could help attract new Ulta customers trying the product first. Frankel noted that lip is the brand’s best-selling category, currently making up 35 percent of Nudestix’s sales.

The last week of February also saw the introduction of Nudies All Over Face Glow, a $30 dual-ended stick with matte color for eyes, cheeks and lips on one end and a brush for blending on the other. Nudies Mattes are exclusive to Macy’s through the end of April, and Nudies Glow to Sephora for the same time period.

● The addition of Jessica Alba’s brand could send “better-for-you” beauty sales into overdrive for the retailer.

By fayE Brookman

It appears Target customers truly like The Honest Company.

And now they can add Honest Beauty to their shopping carts along with the brand’s assortment in baby, personal care and household categories.

Target introduced The Honest Company into its mix in 2014 and since then the product assortment has nearly doubled. The retailer believes the time is right to add Honest Beauty, which hits 800 Target doors and target.com on Sunday March 26. With its positioning as a safe line with botanically derived ingredients producing effective results, the beauty range fits into Target’s quest to provide more “better for you” items.

The lineup includes 30 products (and 17 additional products, including shade extensions, on target.com) ranging from facial cleansers to crème blushes most priced under $35. Up until now, Honest Beauty, introduced in 2015, was sold online and at Ulta Beauty in the U.S.

Industry sources estimate Honest Beauty now has total sales of about $10 million, with the potential to double the brand’s volume by adding at least another $8 million to $10 million through Target exposure. Neither company would com-ment on projections.

But company founder Jessica Alba enthusiastically discussed her passion for the beauty category and her products, which she believes will attract shoppers

to the beauty display and build incremen-tal volume.

“Target has been one of my great partner-ships,” said Alba in a phone interview with WWD. “There are shoppers coming to Tar-get in the baby aisles or in fashion who don’t know they can find products they’d typically associate with a prestige environment. Tar-get has really elevated its experience.”

Mark Tritton, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, is equally confident about demand for Honest Beauty. “The Honest Brand has been tre-mendous since we launched [in baby and household]. Our guests really over index in [spending on] natural. It felt logical to expand into beauty since there is a huge amount of trust and love for the Honest brand,” Tritton explained.

The addition of Honest Beauty, which takes over space in premium skin care formerly occupied by Laniege (Target phased out of AmorePacific’s brand, which debuted in 2014, this month), comes on

the heels of a flood of new lines in Target’s beauty department. Just recently, the chain added several natural brands such as Little Seed Farm, Nubian Heritage, Thayers Natural and W3ll People, while expanding existing ones. And Target made a big push into K-beauty with items handpicked by Alicia Yoon of Peach & Lily. Sales in the natural skin-care business at Target grew double-digits last year, the company said. Hopes are Honest Beauty will keep the momentum going.

“Jessica is a major strength, she provides credibility at a time when our guests are gravitating to natural and better-for-you products and we like to have an array,” Tritton said.

Alba, who is highly involved in all aspects of her brand, sought to duplicate the experience of her pop-up shop at The Grove in Los Angeles. That store inspired the display, which bears her image. Additionally, Honest’s field team will train Target’s Beauty Concierges about The

Honest Beauty line. Alba plans to pop in unannounced at stores across the country to perform makeovers — potentially in tandem with her mom, she told WWD. The visits will be transmitted via Facebook Live feeds. “I love the idea that someone could just run into the store and wind up having their makeup done,” she added.

One of the key distinguishing factors of Honest Beauty, Alba said, is that although she eschews synthetic ingredients, the products are effective — something that hasn’t always been associated with “good-for-you” formulas. “It is my mission for everyone to have access to healthier, quality products — not just those in high tax brackets,” she said. She especially has her sights set on busy moms who frequent Target, a customer the mother of two daughters understands (she said she often makes trips to Target, most recently for ingredients to make slime). The brand was personal to her and was born out of Alba’s sensitive skin and longtime histories of allergic reactions to much of the skin care and makeup in the market.

“Jessica is hands-on and involved with the business day-to-day. She really under-stands the Target guest. She’s constantly thinking of natural extensions to meet the needs of our guests,” Tritton said.

Among Alba’s favorite items she believes will attract women are her Magic Balm, Truly Lush Mascara + Lash Primer and Truly Kissable Lip Crayon. She expects those will be gateway products enticing shoppers back for the full array including skin care. Through work and travel, Alba has tradi-tionally been ahead of the trends in beauty. She vows to deliver products that aren’t “gimmicky,” but rather provide a purpose.

“It’s going to be a great year. We have a new chief executive officer, Nick Vlahos [a Clorox veteran] who will help us grow,” she said as the company expands from e-com-merce to omnichannel. The Honest Beauty Company has widened distribution of its household and baby items in doors such as CVS, Babies ‘R’ Us and other major retailers.

Both Target and Alba’s Honest Beauty will help educate shoppers about the brand, which will also have its own landing page on target.com.

beauty

Target Adds Honest Beauty to Its Expanding Assortment

Honest Beauty debuts in Target and Target.com March 26.

beauty

Nudestix’s Year of China, Retail Expansion

Nudestix’s campaign image to support the launch of Nudies All Over Face Glow.

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officer. “As a team, we are taking import-ant steps to drive improved operational excellence across the company.”

That emphasis has helped the company pick itself up somewhat.

Fourth-quarter profits totaled $1.1 mil-lion and compared with year-ago losses of $7 million, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortiza-tion rose to $51.5 million from $44 million.

Total revenues for the three months ended Jan. 28 fell 2.2 percent to $694.9 million from $711 million, with a 5 percent decline in comparable-store sales.

The picture was more dour for the full year, when losses narrowed to $23.5 mil-lion from $1.2 billion and revenues slipped 3.2 percent to $2.4 billion from $2.5 billion — with a 7 percent comp-sales decline.

J. Crew has been working hard to do more with less. Inventory per square foot was down 18 percent from a year earlier at the close of 2016.

It was the Madewell division that contin-ued to deliver the growth, but it is not yet big enough to buoy the whole company — or fix its debt dynamic. Madewell’s sales increased 14 percent to $341.6 million last year as J. Crew’s fell 6 percent to $2 billion.

The trend has remained tough in the first seven weeks of this fiscal year, with total company comps down 11 percent, driven by a 14 percent drop at J. Crew, mitigated somewhat by a 7 percent gain at Madewell.

J. Crew, which Drexler took private with TPG and Leonard Green for $3 billion deal in 2011, paid $79.8 million in interest expense last year and expects to pay about the same this year.

The company has been looking for financing alternatives that would help it free up its balance sheet, arguing to a New York State judge that its lenders are trying to hold it “hostage.”

J. Crew is asking for the court to sign off on its restructuring late last year, which put 72 percent of the J. Crew U.S. trade-marks, valued at $250 million, into a sepa-rate subsidiary and out of reach of lenders.

That case is winding its way through the legal system now, but could be resolved between the parties.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, J. Crew detailed a proposed debt exchange with holders of the firm’s debt, who made a counter offer.

According to an analysis by Reorg Research: “In each case proposals con-template an exchange of the [payment in kind] notes for new ‘IPCo’ notes as well as other consideration. For the IPCo notes, the company contemplates $200 million of principal versus the noteholders’ $250 million, and the noteholder proposal

also considers exchange consideration including $200 million in preferred stock. The IPCo debt the company proposes is $200 million in IPCo notes bearing a 9 percent coupon versus the lenders pro-posal of $250 million in notes bearing a 15 percent coupon. The company proposes a 5 percent interest in [parent company] Chinos Holdings Inc. while the noteholders propose a 5 percent ‘equity’ interest in an unspecified entity. In both proposals, the IPCo notes are set to mature six months after the company’s term loan, which matures March 5, 2021. The company pro-poses that the notes be redeemable at par at any time while the noteholder proposal calls for no redemption prior to maturity. In both cases, the exchange offer is to have a 95 percent participation threshold.”

Michael Nicholson, president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, walked investors through the company’s fourth-quarter release on a brief conference call Tuesday that was largely routine and did not include a question-and-answer session.

“As a team, we are focused on con-trolling what we can control in what remains a dynamic retail consumer and macroeconomic environment,” Nicholson said. “We are continuing our thorough assessment of the business as we begin to scope several key strategic opportunities that we expect to positively impact our brands over time.”

He said J. Crew’s key priorities for 2017

focus on how it approaches design and product, marketing, real estate, sourcing and supply chain and expense management.

On the design front, he said: “We are focused on continuing to evolve our creative and design direction ensuring that we make even more integrated decisions that help drive the business going forward. Additionally, we will look for opportunities to design to value without compromising our quality or iconic style.”

Nicholson said the company’s stores are “a strategic part of our business and will remain an important component of our omnichannel business model.”

He said the firm would make “prudent decisions to close stores that do not meet profitability hurdles or detract from our focus and brand, and invest in locations that serve our customer with a personal-ized approach and convenience they are looking for.”

J. Crew ended the year with 575 stores, having added a total of 24 doors, which included the closure of seven J. Crew stores and two of its Factory doors. This year, the company expects to close at least 20 stores across its portfolio while adding others and ending with 567 doors.

For all of 2017, the firm is looking for J. Crew’s comps to fall by low- to mid-single digits, while Madewell is seen comping up in the low- to mid-single digits. Capital expenditures are expected to range from $190 million to $210 million.

J. Crew Losses Narrow for 2016 CONTINuEd FrOM pAGE 1

● The brand’s new leader is hoping for a turnaround, looking to “rejuvenate” business with new product assortments and a bigger focus on catalog and e-commerce.

By kali hays

Lands’ End is still struggling and saw sales and profits fall in the fourth quarter, as well as the full year, but the brand’s new chief executive officer is hoping to begin a turnaround.

The Wisconsin-based retailer posted net revenue for the fourth quarter of $458.8 million — a 3.2 percent drop from the $473.5 million during the same period last year — and posted a net loss of $94.8 million, up from last year’s fourth quarter loss of $39.5 million. Revenue from the direct sales segment dropped 2.6 percent and revenue from sales in retail stores also fell by 6.3 percent, in part due to closures of several Sears locations.

For 2016 as a whole, the Lands’ End financial picture was much the same. Net revenue came in at $1.34 billion, a 6 per-cent drop from last year’s $1.42 billion and the company ended the year with a net loss of $109.8 million, compared with a net loss of $19.5 million in 2015.

When excluding a $107.8 million impair-ment charge related to a value change for the Lands’ End trade name, the company said its net loss came in at $2.1 million.

Lands’ End’s new ceo, Jerome Griffith, admitted during a call with analysts that the brand has recently “lost traction” and

“lagged behind competitors,” but said work is being done to bring the company up to speed.

“I believe we have a tremendous opportunity to rejuvenate this business, as we address these issues and position the company to leverage its strength,” Griffith said. “This includes creating a relevant assortment that maintains our classic American heritage with an updated look, providing a clear brand identity to speak to today’s consumer, and better leveraging our existing distribution channels, while expanding into new channels.”

Griffith went on to say that growth for the company “lies in several key areas,” like products for the whole family includ-ing a renewed focus on outerwear and swimwear in “diverse fit and size ranges,” strengthening the Lands’ End brand message and catalog business, as well as focusing on its e-commerce business.

“Overall our goal is to be seen as an e-commerce-led company which sells a great lifestyle brand. We will work to become more agile on our online plat-forms, adopting a test-and-react culture, that will enable us to best meet our customer’s needs,” Griffith said. “We’ve already begun to take tactical improve-ments, but given the increasingly dynamic nature of our online business, we’ll need to be more diligent in improving our online experience.”

Griffith added that he wants the brand to become better known and more relevant outside of the Midwest and Northeast regions of the U.S.

The company did not offer an outlook for the current fiscal year or first quarter.

business

Lands’ End Sales Falling, Losses Growing but Hoping For Turnaround

● The athletic company posted revenue of $8.4 billion for the quarter and said net income rose by 20 percent.

By kali haysNike Inc. saw revenues and profits rise during the third quarter, thanks to increased consumer demand globally.

The athletic giant posted a 5 percent increase in net revenue to $8.4 billion for the quarter ended Feb. 28, driven by double-digit sales growth in West-ern Europe, China and other emerging markets, as well as the popularity of its sportswear and Michael Jordan brand categories.

Nike’s net income also increased by 20 percent to $1.1 billion for the quarter and diluted earnings per share increased 24 percent to $0.68, due in large part to sell-ing and administrative expense leverage and a lower effective tax rate, according to the company.

During the third quarter, Nike also repurchased nearly nine million shares for about $475 million.

Nike president and chief executive offi-cer Mark Parker said the positive quar-terly results were thanks to the brand’s “diverse global portfolio” and said Nike plans to “sustain positive momentum,” during a call with analysts.

Parker admitted that consumer shop-ping habits have changed “especially in North America,” including a significant shift to digital shopping, but said Nike plans to continue its “relentless flow of innovation” in several areas of the company.

As part of what Nike is calling its “triple double,” the company intends to double the “cadence and scale” of its performance and sports styles, double the speed of its product creation cycle

to a time frame to get new products to market “in weeks, not months,” as well has offering fewer products overall.

Parker pointed out that, at the moment, about 75 percent of Nike styles make up nearly all of the company’s sales, so cutting that underperforming 25 percent of merchandise will “amplify the productivity of both new innovations and the products consumers already love, while driving more growth and choice from fewer styles.”

Nike is also planning to expand its Nike+ personal shopping service to more stores and wholesalers. The program is available in larger markets like New York, and includes a membership program, invitations to training clubs as well as opportunities for customers to try the newest products.

Parker said Nike+ members who take part in personal shopping buy three times as much on average.

“The more directly Nike engages with the consumer, the greater the return,” Parker added. “More personal, more mobile, more distinctive — these are the dimensions that will drive growth. I’m convinced that now is the time to rewrite the playbook of retail.”

business

Nike Q3 Revenue, Profits Soar

detroit pistons’ Stanley Johnson

wears Nike shoes during game.

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the year and has ceased to operate.The news comes a little more than a

week after the London label, and knit-wear specialist, Sibling confirmed it is winding down operations due to factors including the depreciating pound, which is driving up sourcing costs and forcing some retailers to be more cautious in their spending.

Shifts in the ever-demanding fashion cal-endar, a lack of support from the govern-ment — and sometimes from the industry itself — have also been taking a toll on London’s young labels. Designers’ own circumstances, management challenges and a lack of funding have contributed to the changes.

None of these obstacles are new to British designers, who have faced hurdles ranging from funding to little overseas interest to lack of government support for decades. Even as the British Fashion Council has become more proactive in providing support for up-and-comers — and mega-brands like Burberry are now on the London Fashion Week calendar — the U.K. capital continues to trail cities such as Paris, Milan and New York when it comes to scale and success.

It’s a problem that has long plagued London, as the city has ridden a series of booms and busts in popularity ever since the Swinging Sixties and Seventies. That was followed by years of being off the radar before the rise of Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Hussein Chalayan and their peers helped create Cool Britannia, which then trailed off in the late Nineties until London surged once again with the new wave that saw J.W. Anderson, Christopher Kane, Simone Rocha and more.

Now London once again seems to be wobbling. As Tom Ford told WWD last week in explaining his decision to decamp from the British capital for New York Fashion Week and, personally, for Los Angeles: “London, I’ve tried and tried and tried, and honestly London Fashion Week is not the same. It doesn’t attract the inter-national press. So I needed to pick one. And the shows I’ve had in New York have worked very well.”

The latest spate of troubles are seeing some of the British capital’s most prom-ising names, from Sibling to Thomas Tait and Holly Fulton, quietly leaving the LFW calendar or winding down their busi-nesses altogether.

“After five years the company really wasn’t where I wanted it to be, and I didn’t really feel comfortable or happy with the way the industry is moving at the moment,” Lewis said in an interview.

“Generally speaking, I felt like how I wanted to work, and be, as a profes-sional was very different to what is maybe required of me. I wasn’t happy or really enjoying it anymore so I decided it was probably best to shut.”

Last September, Lewis launched his own e-commerce and shifted his business to a direct-to-consumer model, but admitted the timing was wrong.

He said that even though the decision to address his customer directly was right and his new site was generating a steady stream of sales, his decisions were made too late, and he said he wasted too much time trying to please retailers and take part in London Fashion Week.

“I spent a lot of time chasing people, saying, ‘I want to get into this store and that store,’” said Lewis, adding that he would often adjust his designs according to retailers’ feedback in order to secure a partnership.

“It might not have been exactly what I wanted to do, but I would give it a go just to see if it would work out for me. Then the store maybe picks you up for one sea-son and drops you soon after.”

Lewis is not alone in expressing his discontent in keeping up with retailers’ demands.

The London-based jeweler Sabine Getty shifted her business to a direct-to-con-sumer model at the same time as Lewis and also centralized her sales in her Berke-ley Square showroom.

Although she’s selling high-end jewelry, rather than clothing, she believes small brands often have more to lose by whole-saling their collections.

“I think there’s a big disappointment all round, because small brands like me invested a lot into wholesale in the beginning, putting a lot of our own stock into stores. I started by having more than 18 stockists, but most of it was consign-ment, which results in the jeweler being financially squeezed and cut out from the customer,” said Getty.

News of the closure of Lewis’ business comes only days after Sibling revealed that it is winding down operations.

The brand’s cofounder Cozette McCreery said that a number of canceled projects, increased business costs and the volatile economic situation that was mak-ing buyers more wary of placing orders led Sibling to the decision to shutter.

Other designers have had to rethink their company structures in order to ensure they can remain in business. Men’s wear designer Lou Dalton decided to swap the catwalk for more intimate and less costly presentations.

She has also scaled back her seasonal ranges to focus on brand signatures and moved production to local John Smedley factories in order to avoid increased costs, following the drop of the pound.

“The situation we are in because of Brexit is disgusting but I realized that I don’t want to walk away from this, it’s all I know, so I had to make a number of quick decisions. Leaving the catwalk was probably the best thing I could have done,” said Dalton.

A number of retail sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said designers often don’t receive the support they ask for from the BFC — or other organizations — because “it’s simply not physically possible”

due to the sheer number of designers.The ones who get the support, retailers

said, are those who are very clear about the areas they need help in. “You need to be quite put together as a company, check your expenses and plan in advance. A lot of young designers don’t understand that, and this is where the lack of support comes in,” said one showroom representative.

Other factors that retailers highlighted as impacting young labels’ success are their product offer, which can be innovative but niche; price points that are too steep; and a willingness to accept unfavorable sell-through guarantee terms from retail-ers without having the infrastructure to accommodate it.

Lewis also pointed to the letdown that can often come after successfully present-ing during fashion week.

“It’s a really exciting thing to do for a young brand,” said Lewis of showing on the official schedule. “But I found that other than me being listed on the fashion schedule and thereby getting a lot of ticket requests, it didn’t actually get me the sup-port that I was promised by the BFC,” or British Fashion Council.

Lewis contended that he found the BFC support “one-dimensional and not an even playing field at all.”

The designer said the majority of buyers are not interested in attending a design-er’s London presentation, and the focus remains on showroom appointments held in Paris.

“No one from the buyers’ outreach team at the BFC attended either of my presenta-tions or brought buyers to the show, which is complete nonsense especially when they put so much effort and time and money into encouraging sales in the U.K.,” said Lewis.

“The BFC are always asking how many sales we got in the U.K. or if we showed in the U.K., even though they know every-thing takes place in Paris.”

The BFC responded by highlighting the activities of its Designer Business Support initiative, which includes training and mentoring workshops and seminars cover-ing topics including financial management, manufacturing and investment.

“The BFC has a structured Growth Path which is tailored to different stages of designer businesses. Designers should focus on establishing business processes, from a very early stage, and seek business

that can guide them through the journey,” a spokeswoman said. “With regards to support on buyers and media, all the designers on the schedule receive the accreditation list of the buyers and press attending the shows, and can also attend seminars which take place each season.”

Lewis also pointed to a series of macro issues that have emerged, from the saturation of labels and product in the market to fashion’s love-hate relationship with Instagram. He noted some personal issues, too, such as prejudicial attitudes about designers. He recalls an editor once quizzing him about why he chose to locate his studio in Knightsbridge instead of East London, where many of the young brands have traditionally been located.

(Knightsbridge is a typically wealthy neighborhood while East London has, until recently, been far less affluent. The great irony now is that London’s design-ers are rapidly being priced out of East London as rents soar and neighborhoods become gentrified. Many young labels are being forced to push farther east or southeast, toward Greenwich).

Lewis flagged other challenges. He believes that as consumers become more and more “obsessed” with their Instagram personas, their attention has completely shifted to hot, of-the-moment pieces by luxury giants rather than new labels.

“People who maybe used to buy into young brands don’t really care about that anymore because what they want to wear is Gucci and Valentino, which means that small brands have less opportunity. It’s not just support from industry [that is import-ant], but support from customers, and one of the main reasons for the change has been Instagram. I think it’s one of those weird things — it’s both the love child of the fashion industry, but also its complete downfall,” Lewis added.

He started his business in 2013 only showing pre-collections in an effort to buck what he saw as a flawed fashion system.

“People shop for situations and not seasons. You can be in a polar vortex one day, and on Ipanema Beach the next. The world is flat,” he told WWD at the time, adding that 80 percent of buyers’ spend-ing was dedicated to pre-collections.

Lewis, a graduate of Harrow and the University of Southern California, had solid and varied industry experience before launching his own brand. He trained as a pattern cutter at Norton & Sons on Savile Row, and later worked for its sister company, the men’s ready-to-wear label E. Tautz on both the creative and business sides. He also worked in retail, for Cam-eron Silver at Decades and later at Harrods in personal shopping.

His collections, which stood out for their playful intarsia knitwear, romantic embroi-deries and sharp tailoring, were often favored by Lady Gaga, and were quickly picked up by retailers such as Avenue 32, Barneys New York and Club 21.

When he launched main, seasonal col-lections, he did so by collaborating with a series of artists. His spring 2016 collection created in partnership with the Lebanese artist Flavie Audi was one of his strongest, where the designer recreated Audi’s glass sculptures using iridescent fabrics and Swarovski crystal embroideries.

Lewis’ collections were mostly made in England, which meant that, unlike other designers, his sourcing costs were not affected by the dramatic drop in the pound following the European Union referendum last summer.

As for his future plans, Lewis said he’s still trying to identify the right path. “I think I just want to find a space where the creative and business sides of fashion interact with new technology. I just don’t know what it is yet. Other times, I think I might consider doing costume design, or go more towards art.”

London’s PendulumSwings Again CONTINuEd FrOM pAGE 1

Looks from the Alexander Lewis

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● Supporting the Venice Biennale, running May 13 to Nov. 26, is the latest step in Fendi’s patronage of the arts.

By luisa zargani

MILAN — Fendi is once again turning its attention to the arts.

The Rome-based company will support the Italian Pavilion and the exhibition “Il mondo magico [The magical world]” at the 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. The exhibit will be curated by Cecilia Alemani, who invited three Italian artists — Giorgio And-reotta Calò, Roberto Cuoghi and Adelita Husni-Bey — “to represent Italy through works and languages that are closely tied to Italian culture, but forge a dialogue with international art,” Fendi said. The Biennale will run May 13 to Nov. 26.

Pietro Beccari, president and chief executive officer of Fendi, expressed his pride in the project, defining the Venice Biennale as “one of the world’s most important and prestigious international showcases for contemporary art.” Beccari said the brand “increasingly feels that one of its guiding principles, as well as its duties, is to value and support Italian art around the world, with all its outstanding achievements and talent.”

“The magical world” draws its title from a book by Neapolitan anthropologist Ernesto de Martino, which studies how various cultures and populations employ

magic as a tool for responding to crises that undermine their power to grasp and shape the world around them.

The three artists, who are all fascinated by magic, will create three new projects specifically commissioned and produced for the Italian Pavilion.

“Their works reinvent reality, some-times through fantasy and play, sometimes through poetry and imagination; it is a

story woven from myths, rituals, beliefs and fairy tales,” Alemani said. “For the invited artists, these references are not an escape into the depths of irrationality, but rather a new way of experiencing reality: it is a tool for inhabiting the world in all its richness and multiplicity.”

“The choice to invite fewer artists than in the past is meant to align the Italian Pavilion with the other national pavilions

at the Biennale Arte 2017; rather than providing a full overview of the Italian art scene, the aim is to give the selected art-ists the space, time and resources to pres-ent an ambitious large-scale project that will stand as a milestone in their career, and give visitors an opportunity to explore their worlds in-depth,” Fendi said.

Dario Franceschini, Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, described the project as “inno-vative” bringing the Italian Pavilion in “step with the latest approaches to exhi-bition-making, spotlighting the important role of artists in today’s society. Italy has inherited an extraordinary cultural legacy from past centuries, but we can take pride in this while still aspiring to experiment, create new art, and harness the talent and creativity of our time.”

In January, Fendi unveiled the exhibi-tion “Matrice” on contemporary artist Giuseppe Penone at its Rome headquar-ters in the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana. The first floor of the palazzo is open to the public and is an exhibition space. This followed the announcement of an installation of an art work called “Foglie di Pietra [Leaves of Stone]” also by Penone commissioned by Fendi to be placed in Rome’s Largo Goldoni, in front of the brand’s flagship.

Fendi also supports the Istituto Superi-ore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro, the Italian Cultural Ministry’s technical arm specialized in the restoration and conservation of cultural heritage.

Fendi’s cultural patronage began with the restoration of the Trevi Fountain in 2015 and the Quattro Fontane complex, followed by restoration and maintenance work on the Gianicolo, Mosè, Ninfeo del Pincio and Pescheria fountains.

fashion

Fendi To Back Italian Pavilion

● The strategic partnership marks Kering Eyewear’s first license deal with a brand outside the group.

By JoEllE didEriCh

PARIS — Kering is flexing its muscle in the eyewear category.

In the latest twist in the fast-changing eyewear sector, the French group said on Tuesday its Kering Eyewear division will take over the development, produc-tion and distribution of Cartier eyewear, marking its first license deal with a brand outside the group.

As part of the strategic partnership, Cartier parent Compagnie Financière Richemont will buy a 30 percent stake in Kering Eyewear. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kering Eyewear will absorb the Manufac-ture Cartier Lunettes plant in Sucy-en-Brie, France. It is set to present its first collec-tion for Cartier, for spring 2018, at the Silmo trade show in Paris in October.

The aim of the partnership was “to create a stronger platform for the development, manufacturing and worldwide distribution of the Cartier eyewear collection,” Kering said in a statement. The project is subject to clearance by antitrust authorities.

“We believe this is a positive for Richemont because we understand that the Cartier eyewear business — and in particular their factory in France — was losing material amounts of money,” Luca Solca, managing director of equities and sector head of luxury goods at Exane BNP

Paribas, said in a research note.“We would reckon that Richemont

takes a stake in Kering Eyewear at no cash disbursement, but rather in exchange for committing the megabrand Cartier to the business. We expect Kering Eyewear will pay royalties to Cartier the same way as with their other licenses,” Solca added.

Officials at Cartier were not immediately available to comment. Roberto Vedovotto, chief executive officer of Kering Eyewear, likewise was not available to provide addi-tional details on the agreement.

Kering took back control of its eyewear activities in 2014 and launched its first collections the following year. The Padua, Italy-based division now covers 12 in-house brands: Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Lau-rent, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Christo-pher Kane, McQ, Stella McCartney, Tomas Maier, Boucheron, Pomellato and Puma.

Jean-François Palus, managing director of Kering, recently said gross margins were good and the division was on track to post revenues of 340 million euros, or $367 mil-lion at current exchange, this year, before the elimination of intra-group flows.

“We consider our strategy validated not only by the success of our launch, which will now start to bear fruit, but also by the recent changes that are reconfiguring the sector. Our growth prospects are consid-erable in a global market that continues to post double-digit growth,” Palus said.

At the time of the launch, Kering esti-mated its brands’ business at roughly 350 million euros, adding that this made it one of the top five players in the industry. Of the 11 Kering brands that were active in eyewear at the time, nine were managed through license agreements with five dif-ferent partners, generating consolidated

royalties of about 50 million euros.Speaking at Kering’s full-year results

press conference on Feb. 10, Palus said Kering Eyewear has produced 1,900 styles for a total of 8,500 references. Production is outsourced to some 20 partners, mainly in Italy and Japan, and the collections are distributed in a total of 85 countries.

The new business model gives Kering full control of the eyewear value chain, from design to product development and supply chain, and from branding and marketing to sales.

Bringing the eyewear collections in-house has resulted in more coherent collections and a better alignment of communications campaigns, with brands able to showcase their latest eyewear designs during their catwalk shows, the executive noted.

“Sales are much higher than under the licensing model. Bottega Veneta has already close to tripled its revenues, while Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney have more than doubled theirs,” Palus said. In addi-tion, orders for Gucci eyewear were largely above target at the end of 2016, he added.

As part of its strategic move into eye-wear, Kering terminated its Gucci license agreement with Safilo in December, two years earlier than planned. Safilo’s share price has fallen by more than 20 percent since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, eyewear companies Luxot-tica and Essilor revealed in January that they were merging to create a $16 billion eyewear colossus, while LVMH Moët Hen-nessy Louis Vuitton formed a joint venture with Marcolin that will give it the lion’s share of its eyewear business.

accessories

Kering Joins Richemont On Cartier Eyewear

Cartier pilot sunglasses.

Cecilia Alemani, curator of the Italian pavilion.

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march 22, 2017 13

Field oF dReams

Henry Segerstrom built South Coast Plaza in his family’s lima

bean field 50 years ago. Today, it’s one of the world’s top-grossing

luxury retail centers. In this special issue, WWD explores its

past, present and future. photograph By Zach Lipp

50South CoaSt

Plaza at

milestones

14 march 22, 2017

THE SHOPPINg CENTEr MAKES IT SEEM ALL-TOO EASy AS THE BrOADEr rETAIL INDuSTry STruggLES uNDEr SHIFTINg TIDES.By kari hamanaka photographS By katiE JonEs

Experiential retail without the gimmicks. That’s always been the key to success for South Coast Plaza.

That the luxury shopping center is celebrating it’s 50th year — and its best year to date in terms of sales — with a vacancy level hovering close to zero and sales for this year projected to be close to $2 billion is a testament to what has been a consistent approach managing a retail property: Stock it with the upper echelon of brands, keep it well maintained and the shoppers will come.

“We don’t aspire to be a mall,” said Anton Segerstrom, a partner at South Coast Plaza. “When I think of a mall, it evokes sameness and lack of differentiation, chain

stores. We have the luxury of being family owned and operated for 50 years so we’re able to take risks and do things that a lot of the REITs [real estate investment trusts] and larger companies can’t do. Our model has always been more to be the downtown of Orange County versus a mall.”

Segerstrom is the son of Henry Segerstrom, the Orange County farmer who took lima bean land and spun it into retail gold.

It’s a case study for an industry largely going through an identity crisis as the old ways of doing things cycles out to make way for the new. Bankruptcies, store closures and fire sales of brands once kings in the marketplace have made the headlines. Yet South Coast appears immune to the chaos in a bubble that envelops a county also known for Mickey Mouse and the gated, cookie-cutter communities idealized in the “Real Housewives” franchise. At South Coast Plaza, the “old ways” of doing things aren’t necessarily bad or worth tossing out.

“It’s very interesting times for retail,” Segerstrom said, addressing the pressures the industry faces in general. “I think you

could argue that we are over-stored and many of the brands have got too many units. There’s a severe pressure from online retailing. There’s been a lot of shift to that, so how do you survive that and how do you have a place in all of that? What we’ve done is we’ve created a desti-nation, an international destination.”

It’s a property whose leasing team deals in exclusives, whether that be exclusive to Orange County, Southern California or the West Coast. And that’s garnered the rep-utation the center commands. It doesn’t follow trends nor does it succumb to the noise of what’s of the moment, whether that be dedicated pop-up spaces, helping bring digital brands to life at brick-and-mortar or going high-tech.

“For us to increase our revenue, there are a finite number of people who can come to the center, so you have to trade up from a price-point perspective,” Segerstrom said. “A lot of the online con-cepts are not really attractive to us. We do not have a Tesla store or we don’t have a Warby Parker. We tend to deal with more exclusive brands that have destination

appeal that are hard to find in the market-place and that’s worked really well for us.”

South Coast also appears to be some-what immune from discussion around technology, that behemoth that’s creating paradigm shifts across industries. Sure, the center is present on the usual suspects for social media, including Weibo. There is free Wi-Fi throughout the center and it has more than 20 electric vehicle stations. It’s not exactly groundbreaking compared to Westfield Corp. testing Pepper the robot during the holidays or Rick Caruso creating a division at his development firm to act as a think tank for the latest and greatest in retail innovation. South Coast’s tech strategy is more measured.

“Well, we embrace technology and one has to be aware of what’s going on in the marketplace,” Segerstrom said. “I think that we have a great respect for our cus-tomer’s privacy, which is something that’s very important in the digital times we live in. I think that we observe and monitor different types of technology, and if we feel it brings better customer service or more convenience to our customer, we

south Coast Plaza’s seCRet sauCe

Inside South Coast Plaza.

https://us.burberry.com/

16 march 22, 2017

will embrace it, but most of our customers really enjoy what I would consider high-touch instead of high-tech.”

That’s the realm South Coast operates in and that’s where it thrives, Segerstrom said. It’s not business as usual, but it’s not about being trendy for the privately held, family-owned operation.

“We just want to continue to refine the center and do better and try and bring new things to this audience of Southern California,” Segerstrom said. “I don’t want to say business as usual because that’s not correct; it’s more about innovation and what is new and monitoring technology.”

No one’s resting on laurels. Certainly there’s an acknowledgement of the fierce competitive landscape. After all, 15 min-utes south of South Coast Plaza sits Orange County’s other retail crown jewel, Fashion Island, which celebrates its own 50th anni-versary this year. That, too, is an upscale center looking to appeal to both a regional and international visitor, boasting Orange County’s only Neiman Marcus.

While introductions to the leasing team are common as retailers at South Coast Plaza put in a good word to others in the industry, about 90 percent of those who are there are brands the leasing team sought out on its own.

South Coast Plaza today counts more than 250 stores and restaurants spread

across 128 acres. While retailers have come and gone, the common thread link-ing the center over the past 50 years has been and remains luxury and exclusivity.

south Coast Plaza thRough

the YeaRs

March 15, 1967 • The 70-store South Coast Plaza opens, with May Co. and Sears serving as anchors.

1973 • The center’s first expansion houses a new wing with Bullock’s and adds 60 stores.

1976 Halston and Mark Cross join South Coast Plaza as the center debuts a Concierge Program.

1978• Nordstrom expands for the first time outside the Pacific Northwest with a door at South Coast Plaza.

• The South Coast Repertory, built on land donated by the Segerstrom family, opens across from the center.

1975 • Luxury comes to South Coast Plaza with Courrèges.

1977 • I. Magnin arrives.

1988 • Tiffany & Co. brings its first Orange County location to South Coast.

1979 • Saks Fifth Avenue opens.

1982 • Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche arrives.

1986 • Another center expan-sion adds 60 stores.• Nordstrom expands to 235,000 square feet.• The Orange County Performing Arts Center

— later renamed the Segerstrom Center for the Arts — built on land donated by the Segerstroms, opens across from South Coast Plaza.

Anton Segerstrom

Gucci inside South Coast Plaza.

From a grand beginning

to a lasting legacy,

50 extraordinary years

of luxury and style

CONGRATULATIONS

SOUTH COAST PLAZA

18 march 22, 2017

“My father, during his lifetime, enjoyed nothing more than the discovery of a new boutique or a new designer and he would enthusiastically come home and challenge all of us,” Segerstrom said. “Like I say, it’s a lot of fun. Some people collect art. I think we collect retail here.”

The question of whether lightning strikes twice is particularly relevant as it begs the question of what retail development will even look like as the industry moves for-ward. Can another South Coast Plaza ever be duplicated and actually succeed in a market where it’s easier to click and buy and brand loyalty has the lifespan of a fruit fly?

“We’ve been approached and had many opportunities to build in Southern Califor-nia and, actually, around the world and the decision of the family has been that we know Southern California,” Segerstrom said. “We’ve been here almost 120 years. Our roots are here. We understand the community. We understand the dynamics. So we decided that it’s better to do a really good job here than to try to spread out and take our eye off the ball.”

“We just Want to continue to refine the center…and bring neW things to this audience.”anton sEgErstrom, South coaSt pLaza

Storefronts at South Coast Plaza.

• Tiffany & Co. brings its first Orange County location to South Coast.

1997 • Hermès opens its only Orange County location.

2000 • Crate & Barrel Home opens.• The country’s first Macy’s Home Furniture Store opens.

• The Bridge of Gardens and Garden Terrace, designed by landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson, connects the center’s two wings.

1988

1993 • South Coast partic-ipates in a tourism outreach program in col-laboration with California and Japan.

• Two million Coca-Co-la cans distributed throughout the state bear the South Coast Plaza logo.

2002 • South Coast Plaza marks 35 with annual sales exceeding $1 billion.

2007 • Bloomingdale’s bows a 300,000-square-foot Southern California flagship.

2008 • A new luxury level, called The Penthouse, opens with Christian Louboutin, Oscar de

la Renta, Marché Mod-erne and Canali.• Balenciaga, Rolex, Harry Winston and Piaget arrive.

2006 • Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall opens at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and hosts the North American premiere of

Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (“The Ring Cycle”) by the Kirov Opera.• A $35 million renovation brings new travertine flooring, teak seating and two glass elevators to the center.

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A window display inside

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CONGRATULATES SOUTH COAST PLAZA ON 50 YEARS

20 march 22, 2017

LEADErS FrOM SOME OF THE MOST STOrIED BrANDS rEFLECT ON WHAT MAKES THE CENTEr STAND OuT FrOM THE rEST OF THE PACK.By kari hamanaka

For some, getting into South Coast Plaza was about being part of an exclusive club. For others, South Coast Plaza and the Segerstrom family took a chance on an unknown brand. Retailers reflect on the Orange County shopping center as it marks its 50th year.

Pete Nordstrom, copresident Nordstrom:

“Even some 39 years after Nordstrom joined South Coast Plaza, that single event is perhaps the most pivotal in the history

of our company. Up until that time, Nord-strom was a small but successful regional department store in the Northwest. Going to Southern California to South Coast Plaza was the big time. Quite literally, our success or failure there would be the tipping point to our ability to expand and be a meaning-ful retailer on the national scene. Fortu-nately for us, it was a good decision and we did very well there…literally from Day One. As we have grown and are a part of all of the successful malls in the country now, South Coast Plaza continues to distinguish itself as one of the very best and most successful malls we are a part of. Henry Segerstrom and his team had confidence in Nordstrom and gave us a fantastic oppor-tunity. We are grateful to this day. Both my brother Erik and I have personally worked at our store at South Coast Plaza. Being a part of that operation on a daily basis made

a profound impact on us. The lessons of quality, attention to detail and trying to create a special shopping experience for customers every day were — and continue to be — completely aligned with what we try to do at Nordstrom. Congratulations, South Coast Plaza, on 50 years. Thanks for taking a chance on Nordstrom back in the late Seventies, we are proud to be part of your successful legacy.”

John Galantic, president and chief operating officer Chanel Inc.:

“The success of South Coast Plaza, 50 years from inception, is a true testament to the vision, foresight, determination and audacity of the Segerstrom family, who boldly envisioned the transformation of a former agricultural site into one of the country’s most unique and luxurious shopping centers. Through South Coast Plaza, the Segerstroms helped redefine the culture, experience and level of service cli-ents could expect from such a destination. This unwavering vision and commitment to excellence is synonymous with the val-ues of the House of Chanel, and was at the heart of our decision to join South Coast Plaza in 1990, and subsequently open an expanded boutique in 2015, which contin-ues to be one of our key U.S. locations.”

Cristian Notari, ceo Max Mara USA:“From one family-owned and operated

business to another, it is particularly meaningful to work with the Segerstrom family because Max Mara shares the same ingrained approach to business — an understanding that the brand’s heritage and core values lead profit, rather than vice versa. South Coast Plaza is one of the

top luxury shopping destinations in the country, so when faced with the decision as to where to expand our business within Southern California, the question was eas-ily answered. The Segerstrom family has managed to cultivate a space that radiates luxury but also embodies the California spirit while maintaining a global mind-set that is extremely welcoming and warm. We are honored to have both Max Mara and Weekend Max Mara flagship boutiques within South Coast Plaza, and are incredi-bly proud to be longstanding partners with the Segerstrom family, who are inspiring leaders within the ever-changing retail marketplace.”

Raymond G. Etzo, vice president, direct to consumer Cole Haan:

“Born in 1928, the values that built Cole Haan and the innovation that continue to drive us, are the same values and innova-tion that make South Coast Plaza a world-class global shopping destination. Since [the Cole Haan] reopening in October 2016, South Coast Plaza has been the per-fect setting to showcase our newest store design with our most elegantly innovative products to date. It has been an honor to work in partnership with Connie Harrison and the Segerstrom team.”

Laure Hériard Dubreuil, founder and ceo The Webster:

“From our very first meeting we received such a genuine, warm welcome that made us immediately feel a part of the Segerstrom family. It is a privilege to work in such partnership with an incredibly experienced and nurturing team that are so knowledge-able about the market. South Coast Plaza is and has been the West Coast destination for locals as well as those traveling to Southern California for nearly 50 years, and The Web-ster is honored to call it home.”

Bruce Fetter, ceo, president and chief operating officer, St. John:

“Henry Segerstrom was a man of extraordinary vision, leadership and generosity, who played an integral role in transforming Orange County into the nexus of culture and commerce that is today. Through his countless charitable efforts and the conception of South Coast Plaza, Mr. Segerstrom and his family were vital components in the development of the community. St. John is proud to be a part of his legacy and call South Coast Plaza home.”

Prosper Assouline, cofounder Assouline:

“Henry [Segerstrom] was my youngest friend. He always wanted your store to be number one. He had a smile of an 8-year-old child but always had perfectly shined shoes and I admired the love he had for Elizabeth.”

Ari Zlotkin, owner and president, Anne Fontaine:

“Anne and I have a special attachment to this mall, because it was one of the first stores we opened in the U.S., and we were really impressed by the simplicity and humility of Henry Segerstrom.

During the opening party, we felt very much a part of a family. My feeling is really that the tradition keeps going and it makes the success of this unique place.”

What the RetaileRs think: south Coast Plaza

2012 • Diane von Furstenberg opens.• The first West Coast flagship for Roger Vivier opens.

• Vacheron Constantin, IWC Schaffhausen and Jaeger-LeCoultre join South Coast.• The center notches $1.5 billion in annual sales.

2013 • Brioni opens its first Orange County location.• The first West Coast boutique for Berluti bows.• Diptyque’s Southern California store opens.

2014 • Famed dumpling house Din Tai Fung arrives.• Uniqlo, Sandro and Maje join South Coast

Plaza.• New Orange County flagships bow for Williams-Sonoma and Williams-Sonoma Home.

2016 • & Other Stories and The Webster tap South Coast for their first West Coast stores.• Water Grill expands to Orange County.• Weekend Max Mara opens

its first North America store.• Les Parfums Louis Vuitton debuts as the company’s first fragrance pop-up in the U.S.• Vaca, by “Top Chef” finalist Amar Santana, debuts.

2017 • Dior Homme opens.• Stella McCartney, Gianvito Rossi and

Aquazzura prepare for openings.• Gucci reopens with a new look.

2015 • Chanel expands and reopens with a boutique designed by Peter Marino.• Charlotte Olympia, Céline and Moncler bow exclusive Orange County locations.

• A. Lange & Söhne and Massimo Dutti open their first West Coast stores.• Ralph Lauren remodels.• Dolce & Gabbana opens.

2010 • Louis Vuitton’s private VIP atelier opens.

Consumers at South Coast Plaza.

22 march 22, 2017

THE NOrMALLy PrIVATE WIDOW DISCuSSES HEr LATE HuSBAND’S LIFE.By marCy mEdina

Elizabeth Segerstrom was married to Henry Segerstrom for 15 years, during which time she devoted herself to her husband, traveling with him around the world as he wooed retailers to his South Coast Plaza, and standing by his side as he opened cultural institutions at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Now, two years after his death, Segerstrom is continuing her late husband’s legacy as comanaging director of the

family-run company C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, pushing its retail, civic and cultural vision into the future on its 50th anniversary.

In fact, the PBS documentary that will make its East Coast debut this month is also called “Henry T. Segerstrom: Imagining the Future.” “I was pushing Henry to do it, but I think it’s the artists who did it,” she said of the film. “I think it is that relationship to the artists and the arts, that we can make a difference with. I don’t know any other retail center that does that,” she said.

Segerstrom is sequestered in the presi-dential suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel, hav-ing made a two-day trip up to Los Angeles from her home in Newport Beach for a 50th anniversary celebration in Malibu for Los Angeles friends of South Coast Plaza.

“You know, it’s nice to travel from Orange County. I love Malibu and Beverly Hills,” she said in her lilting Polish accent, which she jokes is so thick that “I hope they use subtitles for my parts in the documentary.”

The former Elizabeth Macavoy was a New York clinical psychologist when she met the recently widowed and decades-older Segerstrom in 2000. They had a whirlwind, three-week courtship, engage-ment and wedding in New York (she still wears her giant emerald Van Cleef & Arpels engagement ring).

Producer Maria Hall-Brown, who first met Henry in 1997 before making the documen-tary, observed, “He said in the oral history, ‘She is the love of my life and we promised we would never be apart a day,’ and they

weren’t. She gave me photographs of their wedding, which no one had ever seen. They were so sweet very casual. I asked her what was he like and she said, ‘We danced, we laughed, he was fun, he was funny.’”

Elizabeth came to California for the first time as the new Mrs. Segerstrom. “I think the driver who picked us up from LAX had a heart attack when Henry said, ‘Please John, meet my wife.’ And then he recuper-ated and Henry said, ‘Please John, get your-self together. Let’s go show Mrs. Segerstrom Segerstrom Hall. That was the first stop. And the second was South Coast Plaza.”

She didn’t know what to make of the con-cert hall. “I said, ‘What the…’ I’m not going to use any inappropriate expressions,

elizaBeth segeRstRom oPens uP aBout henRY’s legaCY

continued on page 24

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24 march 22, 2017

but I said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘It’s a hall’ and I said, ‘What type of a hall?’ and he said, ‘It’s an opera house. Do you know what defines an opera house?’ I said, ‘I think by how tall they are,’ and he said, ‘Very good answer. We kill Dorothy Chandler Pavilion [in Los Angeles] because we are 10 inches higher, and this is your hall.’ I said, ‘What else is mine?’ and that’s when we went to the Westin Hotel and walked through the Unity Bridge to South Coast Plaza. He called it his baby. He said, ‘There are many incredible things about South Coast Plaza you are going to find but the most important one is it’s powerful.’”

Indeed, the million-square-foot center is nearing $2 billion in annual sales. Apart from its revenues, the retail center and its adjacent cultural campus have turned the once sleepy suburb of Costa Mesa into an urban hub.

Noted Segerstrom, “Henry was a Stan-ford business graduate but one of the most incredible things to me was that he always studied all civilizations. He studied what made cities of the moment and capitals of the world survive, and it was always: the

arts had to be at the center. Henry always felt that whatever he could build commer-cially, that the arts had to be at the center. So that’s what makes that legacy special. We should realize how visionary he was about giving back to make sure there is a little cocoon of the world between art, fashion and philanthropy because they are all connected. The future has to be about the arts absolutely.”

Both Elizabeth and Anton Segerstrom, also comanaging director of the family com-pany, are next hoping to bring to fruition a fine arts museum on the campus, which is also currently undergoing a renovation of its plaza. She is building an online archive and putting up an exhibit in the old courthouse in Santa Ana, Henry’s hometown.

During their marriage, Henry would call Elizabeth “the perfect partner” to help him maintain relationships with brands, and she continues to do so. “Henry was all about the relationships. Every single time we were in Paris and London he would go to those stores he would leave his card and I would cringe. He would say, ‘Are you the

manager? Can I talk to the owner? Would you call them and please tell them that Mr. Segerstrom is sitting here waiting for them?’ And you know what? They could come and call. In the meantime, I’d be sit-ting outside like, ‘Oh my god, how the man can do it?’ But he did it with elegance, with grace, it was never honestly each sale in the end. It’s a give-and-take, never a grab. It has to work for all of us.”

She exalts the company culture, as well. “You don’t have too many companies in America where people stay for so many years. All those people are like Henry’s children multiplied. He groomed them. They would kill for Henry. I can fuel that fire, but I am just a humble messenger for my husband’s vision. I could not do it unless I had this family.”

She’s also realistic about the challenges all retail centers face. “I think retail is so diffi-cult. To be cutting-edge we look at what are new trends online. There are all those young 20 to 30 or whatever name you give them, and we study them,” she said of Millennials. “They don’t even want to go shop. They

want to leach off of their parents, take the phone date at night and have a good dinner, but we also need to be appealing to them, so whether it’s a mixed-use urban development environment, we keep them there so they can actually go to the store and touch the fabric and have the experience of luxury. We need to look into all those new things. It’s a little scary but if you want to be the best you need to reinvent yourself. We have to have the courage and guts and maybe we will fail but at least we tried.”

Segerstrom also travels the world to get inspiration from other cultures. “I think it’s very important not to get caught up in your head with my husband’s legacy and vision. I think Henry would want to make South Coast Plaza something people can come and enjoy no matter how many designers we change, because Gucci will have a fantastic designer this year, but it might change next year. But again, it’s the experience of being able to come in, have that little coffee, sip of drink, check the designers, meet your girlfriend and do nothing but have a wonderful look at the ocean and the air and just enjoy it.”

“henry was all about the relationships. every single time we were in Paris and London he would go to those stores, he would leave his card and i would cringe. he would say, ‘are you the manager? can i talk to the owner? Would you call them and please tell them that Mr. segerstrom is sitting here waiting for them?’”ElizaBEth sEgErstrom

Elizabeth Segerstom inside Richard Serra’s “Connector” sculpture at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

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South Coast Plaza 714.546.9377

26 march 22, 2017

AFTEr THE CArNEgIE HALL SCrEENINg, MArIA HALL-BrOWN’S PBS DOCuMENTAry IS SET TO AIr IN THE NEW yOrK MArKET ON MArCH 31 AND APrIL 2.By marCy mEdina

Timing proves serendipitous for most documentaries, and such is the case with “Henry T. Segerstrom: Imagining the Future,” the PBS SoCal film that is set to air March 31 and April 2 on PBS New York.

The portrait of Segerstrom, directed by PBS SoCal executive producer Maria Hall-Brown, began years before his death in February 2015 and made its premiere in late 2016 on the 30th anniversary of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and the 10th anniversary of the Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

“My mission was to tell a story for some-one who had never even heard of Henry Segerstrom, and someone who knew him intimately. It was always something I’ve wanted to do but the Segerstroms are a very private family so it took a while,” said Hall-Brown of the man who built South Coast Plaza and the adjacent cultural cen-ter known as SCFTA.

“He was very private,” confirmed his widow Elizabeth Segerstrom. “PBS approached us for years. When he hit his 90s, PBS again approached him but I think what made the difference was all those different artists and milestones in their lives — some of them passed away and they were aging — so how do you grab them?”

Segerstrom recalled, “When I had the big concert and celebration for him at Carnegie Hall in 2014, someone asked him, ‘How does it feel to be 90?’ and he said, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never been.’ It made him realize that documenting things or having the experience of talking to people who par-ticipated in the creation of the Segerstrom Center was important because they are aging in a project he wanted to preserve.”

Hall-Brown was grateful for the family’s help in supplying interviews, personal photographs and newspaper clippings in addition to the copious historical footage and oral histories gathered by other institu-tions, but she noted, “They had to give up all editorial control and didn’t actually see

it until everyone saw it. I have no doubt that was very nerve-wracking for [Elizabeth].

But Segerstrom said, “I’m very happy we did because they’ve been a fantastic partner.”

On Monday, Carnegie Hall hosted a spe-cial screening of the documentary prior to its New York air dates. After that, it will also be viewable on PBS’s streaming web site.

“I’m so nervous. I want everything to be perfect but I’ve seen only excerpts of the documentary,” Segerstrom said at

Monday’s screening at the Directors Guild of America. Friends, family, retailers and brand executives — 350 in all — attended the showing of the film, and the buffet dinner after at Weill Terrace Room inside Carnegie Hall, to honor Henry Segerstrom.

“I hope everybody learns something new about my husband. He was such a private man.”

“I began filming the documentary before Henry passed,” said Hall-Brown. “He was the most elegant man and it was so hard when he died that we felt we just had to stop filming for a while.”

What turned out was a poignant and impressive hourlong portrait of a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist replete with testimonials from family members, retailers like Terry Lundgren of Macy’s, who early in his career managed the former Bullock’s store in South Coast Plaza and became a friend. There was also Michael Gould, who opened Bloomingda-le’s in the mall and called Segerstrom a “mench” and Barbara Cirkva, formerly of Chanel, who cited Segerstrom’s knack for creating “the most perfect adjacencies.”

There were scenes with Mikhail Barysh-nikov and other artists at the center; Isamu Noguchi, who created the performing art center’s exterior park, and Richard Serra, who created a soaring 65-foot sculpture there. The ambitious bicoastal collabora-tions between Segerstrom’s performing arts center and Carnegie Hall were also

chronicled and there were photos of Segerstrom in uniform serving in World War II, where he was severely wounded in his arm and had a long recovery.

“South Coast Plaza is still the best shop-ping center in the U.S. and Henry’s cultural center literally changed the arts commu-nity of Orange County,” said Lundgren Monday night.

Hall-Brown, who first met Segerstrom in 1997, has made several films about the artists who have performed at SCFTA over the years. “He was tall, elegant well-spoken and intimidating to me because I was in awe of all that he did,” she said of Segerstrom.

Indeed, SCFTA has played a personal role in Hall-Brown’s life — her first date with her husband of 31 years was at a pre-opening tour of SCFTA and her daugh-ter pursued degrees in music and film in part because of her early exposure to the arts. “I’m from Arlington, Va., and I grew up going to the Kennedy Center and to have that experience available to my child was incredibly meaningful,” she said.

Of what struck her most about Henry Segerstrom, she said, “He’s the most persistent person I’ve ever met. Isamu Noguchi at first said no (to creating the sculpture garden at SCFTA), and Henry was on an airplane to go home when he said, ‘Wait a minute I’m going back’ and he did. He did it all the time whenever anyone said no. He said, ‘This is important to me and I’m gonna actually push a little harder.’”

His widow also appreciates that the world will get to see the more personal side of her late husband. “It’s important to have a human story, to have the war story of someone — and I am not biased — who is engaged, passionate, wounded [Segerstrom was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in World War II, where he lost a finger in a bombing] who can pro-vide a relevant, meaningful story.”

She continued, “Maria had a lot of mate-rial and I think she had her heart in it too. When Henry walks away at the cemetery and the ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ starts to play, I just cried. You know, we built that cemetery before he died…Everyone in my house cried at the same moment.”

Segerstrom described watching the doc-umentary “emotionally hard because my husband was not gone for a very long time, so I was flooded with those images. But I think she wanted to make it more person-able and I think it worked.”

‘henRY t. segeRstRom: imagining the FutuRe’ doCuments his PRivate side

Here, Segerstrom on his graduation day from Stanford university.

Here, right and below: Segerstrom in uniform (he served in World War II); as

a child at home in Costa Mesa, Calif, and at the opening of May Co. at

South Coast.

Henry and Elizabeth Segerstrom in January 2011 at the renaming ceremony of the Orange County performing Arts Center to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Gucci congratulates South Coast Plaza on 50 years of excellence

28 march 22, 2017

In addition to operating one of the world’s most profitable retail centers and endowing a world-class cultural center, the Segerstrom family has a foundation that gives back to charities nationwide. The Segerstrom Foundation was formed in 1987 and made its first gift in 1988. Since its inception, approximately 90 charitable organizations have received gifts from the foundation, including the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, South Coast Repertory and Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

“From birth, our parents and the family have always done something; just learned by doing,” said Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, a fourth-generation member of the family whose own charity, The Festival of Children, celebrates its 15th anniversary next year.

Segerstrom Daniels’ father was Hal Segerstrom, first cousin of Henry Segerstrom. The two men shepherded South Coast Plaza together until Hal’s death in 1994.

“Our parents were always leading Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and the marching band,” she said. “I’m the youngest sibling in my family, so I grew up babysitting and that’s how children became my passion.”

In 2002, The Festival of Children began an annual celebration at South Coast Plaza, during which 60 of some of its 480 orga-nizations across the country set up booths for people to learn more and get involved. The retail center puts on programming and events to draw customers. The Festival of Children’s annual fund-raiser is also unique; it takes place on a carousel and fund-raisers were not allowed to get off of it until they reached their goal.

“The way it started was we were doing a fund-raiser with the Orange Country Register at the time called The Possible Dream grant program. It was the year of the Recession and we were about $85,000 short of being able to fund all 10 of these charities’ dreams 100 percent. So we called up Orange County business and civic leaders we asked them to come get on the carousel and we wouldn’t let them get off until they raised $4,000 each calling peo-ple with their cell phones. Within an hour and a half we’d raised $85k and it only cost us about $30 for plastic cups because everything was donated,” explained Segerstrom Daniels.

The foundation has raised more than $2 million on carousels for 65 charities across the country. Since then, it has changed to a team-raiser format so the carousel ride is more of a ceremonial event. “We got in at Disneyland, which was my dream outside of the carousels at South Coast Plaza and Central Park in New York. Disney said, ‘We can do it but we can’t have riders on their cell phones because we don’t think it will be safe,’” she laughed.

Her next carousel event will be on Feb. 28 of next year, National Rare Disease Day, with a fund-raiser for GlobalGenes.org at San Francisco’s Children’s Museum.

One of Segerstrom’s goals has been to have the month of September officially ded-icated as National Child Awareness Month. She accomplished that nine years ago by lobbying the U.S. Senate, but she must work to have it renewed each year. “It was a great moment for South Coast Plaza one year when [former U.S. Representative] Loretta Sanchez was on the floor and she called me and South Coast Plaza out.”

She calls her family’s retail company “a very philanthropic company as well. There was a couple of years where we were short on funding for our Sharing the Spirit holiday party and I sent a company e-mail around and next thing I know I’ve got 20 kids sponsored.”

Segerstrom, like her relatives, isn’t always at ease talking about herself, but she does have a sense of humor. “Since we are the Festival of Children Foundation, we called ourselves the FOC-ers. I’m the mother FOC-er,” she laughs.

sandY segeRstRom daniels talks aBout FamilY’s PhilanthRoPiC Commitment

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THE FOurTH-gENErATION SEgErSTrOM FAMILy MEMBEr TALKS ABOuT gIVINg BACK.By marCy mEdina

wwd milestones

Louis Vuitton would like to congratulate The Segerstrom Family on 50 years of excellence with South Coast Plaza.

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30 march 22, 2017

THE PErFOrMINg ArTS VENuE HAS BECOME A DrAW FOr INTErNATIONALLy rENOWNED DANCE, THEATEr AND MuSICAL TALENT IN JuST 30 yEArS.By marCy mEdina

Segerstrom Center for the Arts, known as the Orange County Performing Arts Cen-ter until its renaming in 2011, celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, and it’s an example of the quick pace of West Coast development that took it from a lima bean field to one of the country’s preeminent performing arts complexes.

The two venues are situated in a 14-acre multidisciplinary campus that encom-passes two other major arts organizations, the Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory theater and the future site of the new Orange County Museum of Art.

In the Sixties, SCFTA, as it’s now known, was just a glimmer in the eyes of Orange County business leaders. In the mid-Sev-enties, the Segerstrom family donated a five-acre parcel of land adjacent to South Coast Plaza to begin its creation.

When the Orange County Performing Arts Center opened with Segerstrom Hall in 1986, its organization had been years in the making. Executive vice president Judy Morr has been there from Day One.

“I was at Kennedy Center before. The board was in search of the whole organiza-tion, and the president Tom Kendrick had

segeRstRom CenteR FoR the aRts Reels in ClassiCs and Cutting edge

Katherine Williams, paulina Waski and April Giangeruso

in “Whipped Cream” at the American Ballet Theatre.

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continued on page 20

Work commissioned for project

Bandaloop on the Arts plaza.

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m c k e n n a c a r s . c o m

McKENNA CONGRATULATESSOUTH COAST PLAZA ON THEIR

50th ANNIVERSARY.

While You Were Putting Top Fashion Labels In Our Closets.We Were Proudly Putting Top Automotive Brands In Your Parking Structures.

32 march 22, 2017

come from the Kennedy Center, and said to me, ‘I really need someone to operate the theaters. Would you be interested?’ When I first moved here 31 years ago, I could look out the window and see work-ers in the fields and know what season it was by what they were picking. There was South Coast Plaza, but there was not an urban feel like there is now.”

The first years were spent garnering local support for the center. “That’s what we did the first years, to get the commu-nity to believe a wonderful arts program enhances their lives,” Morr said. “It makes everything about living here even better. First, they don’t have to drive to L.A. any-more and secondly, the arts are essential. It adds joy to your life [and] changes how you perceive the world.”

Morr set to work scheduling perfor-mances by The Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Pacific Chorale and Pacific Symphony as well as cultivating a dance program that attracted companies such as New York City Ballet, American Ballet The-atre, the Kirov and the Bolshoi Ballet. The stage at Segerstrom Hall was specifically designed for ballet, and Mikhail Barysh-nikov even visited before its opening.

In 1998, the Segerstrom family deeded another parcel of land to the Center, and two years later, Henry Segerstrom provided the lead gift of $40 million to the Center’s $200 million campaign, dedicated to the purpose of constructing a concert hall, a multiuse theater, an education center, public restaurant and community plaza. It was the largest charitable cash gift in the history of Orange County.

The new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, designed by the late César Pelli, opened in 2006 and was named after the Center’s founding chairman and his late second wife. The adjacent 500-seat theater was designated Samueli Theater in recognition of the $10 million gift from the Henry Samueli Family Foundation.

In April of that year, “Connector,” a Richard Serra sculpture commissioned by Elizabeth and Henry Segerstrom uniting the Center’s original structure with the newer venues was installed on the new community plaza.

The new addition freed up Segerstrom Hall to have more dance programming and also bring in Broadway shows.

“It’s a jigsaw puzzle,” said Morr of the scheduling, which she does two to three years out. She pulls out her 2018 binder that’s thick with color-coded grids for dance, music and theater.

SCFTA president Terrence W. Dwyer noted that the Center puts on 450 to 500 performances a year for between 700 and 900 guests per show. “We’re not resting on our laurels and we’re constantly looking to find more ways and reach more members. The earliest vision was not meant to be static or preserving the status quo.”

When completed, the new Julianne and George Argyros Plaza will play host to free community performances and outdoor fairs with space for up to 2,000 people.

After 31 years, Morr is now spoiled for choice but choices do have to be made. “You don’t have space for everybody. I rarely do anything if I can’t find a partner because I’m also very cognizant of the expenses involved in bringing world premieres,” she said, referring to American Ballet Theatre’s debut production of “Whipped Cream” this month.

Like leasing retail space in South Coast Plaza, timing is also critical for arts troupes. ABT’s “The Nutcracker” is a perennial favorite, as is the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

“It’s the new work and contemporary dance that is often the most challenged to find an audience, especially with a 3,000 seat house. I think about how a company will look in that big house and aesthetics of the evening are totally different if you have half

or not full. Sometimes I feel bad I can’t do as much contemporary dance as I would like but if it won’t look or feel right on this big stage I can’t do it.”

The Broadway program is wildly popular, and a three-week run of “Hamilton” was just announced.

“We are fully aware of L.A. and the audience that it has so very often most of the shows play L.A. first then come here,

whereas with dance we are really a premiere house, so that’s a good balance in terms of the prestige and how we are seen in the community,” Morr said.

As most visiting dancers will say, they think of Orange County as their second, sunny home. “We also think of them as extended family. In New York people don’t receive guests as California people do. We are happy to see them back again,” she said.

Judy Morr

Terrence W. dwyer

continued From page 18 Stella Abrera and david Hallberg in

“Whipped Cream” at the American

Ballet Theatre.

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“that’s what we did the first years, to get the community to believe a wonderful arts program enhances their lives. first, they don’t have to drive to L.a. anymore and secondly, the arts are essential. it adds joy to your life [and] changes how you perceive the world.”Judy morr, SegerStrom center For the artS

Congrats on a very chic 50 years as an international shopping destination.

We like your style!

YOU’RE GOLDEN

SOUTH COAST PLAZA

34 march 22, 2017

While today South Coast Plaza encompasses 250 stores and restaurants spread across 128 acres, and is considered one of the world’s premier luxury shopping destinations,

it all had to start somewhere. Here, the original cluster of stores built on a lima bean field next to Interstate 405, the San Diego Freeway, under construction in 1967.

humBle Beginnings

CONGRATULATES SOUTH COAST PLAZA AND THE SEGERSTROM FAMILY

ON THEIR FIFTY YEAR LEGACY OF FASHION, LUXURY AND CULTURE

36 march 22, 2017

In Focus: Technology

● The study was conducted by urban Airship.

By WWd staff

Push notifications work. In a recent study, Urban Airship analyzed 63 million new app users that first opened an app in September 2016 through December 2016, and examined the first 90-days of usage within retail, media, sports and recreation and utility and productivity verticals.

The analysis showed that push notifi-cations increase retention rates for retail brands among opt-in mobile users.

According to the data, brands are more focused on app user acquisition than user engagement and retention. The report found that on average, this wastes 95 cents of every dollar spent by

marketers when new users are acquired and not messaged within the first 90 days of opening the app. Urban Airship calls this “APPathy” toward increased com-munication counterproductive, as the

high cost of mobile app user acquisition and the loss of future potential cus-tomer value quickly becomes costly and unsustainable.

Across Android and iOS devices, opt-in users receiving push notifications from retail brands have higher retention rates than opt-in users who receive no mes-sages: Rates are 50 percent higher on Android, and 36 percent higher on iOS. Also in the retail category, opt-in users retained 40 percent longer than opt-out audiences on iOS and 90 percent longer on Android.

The analysis also showed that app users who receive any amount of notifications in their first 90 days of usage have an average retention rate nearly three times higher than retention rates for opt-out and zero-send audiences. Of all four

categories analyzed in the study, retail had the lowest share of zero-send users, at 18 percent of all opt-in users.

Erin Hintz, the chief marketing officer of Urban Airship, said the “data study findings clearly show that many apps are missing out on the single biggest oppor-tunity to improve user retention by not messaging users that have opted in, which is incredibly easy to address.”

She added, “Once the basics are tackled, apps can zero in on custom-er-centric engagement strategies that produce optimal messaging frequencies for their industry to multiply retention rates, as well as take advantage of new machine-learning predictive capabilities to identify users at risk of churning while there’s still time to drive preemptive action.”

● Michael Colaneri is vice president of retail, restaurant and consumer package goods at AT&T Inc.

By kari hamanaka

Competing for consumer mind share has never required more ingenuity — digital convenience is now the price of admission. Retailers must find new ideas to compete as they pursue elusive consumers.

Consider the growth of online retail giants. Purchase of commodities and other basics has shifted. Shoppers can get whatever they need — clothes, books, paper towels and much more — delivered with just a few online clicks. Retailers that deployed loss leader pricing strategies to drive store traffic now must creatively deploy unique attractions. Anything that can interest or draw consumers into a store is sought after with near fascination. Further, consumers spend more time facing mobile devices. Every brand con-tinually needs new and better products to catch and keep consumers’ attention.

Retailers and shoppers seek a connec-tion — even if that’s just a quick stop. But the extent to which that connection cre-ates a link between the two may mean the difference between profit and loss.

I attended the largest global industry event for retail, the National Retail Feder-ation’s Big Show, in January. One theme prevailed: Retail is pivoting on technology and the consumer is the center of this digital universe.

People are price-comparing and

shopping on their phones. Retail is increas-ingly irrelevant without Wi-Fi. Implement-ing or upgrading Wi-Fi is a widespread 2017 initiative. Beacons, and other Blue-tooth Low Energy monitoring, have been around for years. This low-cost technology can provide valuable observations. It’s an entry to things such as consumer counts and merchandising effectiveness.

But while Beacons provide intuitions, they don’t engage the consumer.

If a consumer is in a store for less than 90 seconds to pick up a cola, they expect seamless connectivity. And they won’t download a “loyalty app” over their own data plans. If free Wi-Fi isn’t available, don’t expect participation. Without engagement, a retailer can’t recognize, reward or create incentive for repeat business. This can be more powerful than observing and best-guessing.

Stocking merchandise only sold on markdown is a strategy of the past. A retailer needs to know what will sell. It must stock the right amount — without under-over. And it needs to move inven-tory as quickly as possible.Beyond Beacons

Enterprise-grade Wi-Fi stood out at the NRF show. Cloud-based solutions can be managed off-premise. That makes them easier to manage than low-cost beacons. They can also deliver resilience, scalabil-ity and data capture other early solutions can’t. Managing solutions remotely and working across the enterprise removes the need to pay for IT support at the store level. And these solutions observe behavior patterns and produce business intelligence.

Few solutions exist that meet these requirements. The AT&T business Wi-Fi meets retailers’ requirements and focuses on the best experience — be it on desk-top, mobile, or over the phone. Retailers can access all enterprise elements over a single portal (ordering, management and configuration, changes, billing and report-ing, support and ticketing and more) with minimal on-site equipment.Adopting “Retailtainment”

Retailers are competing to create “retailtainment” — an experience that drives visits to their stores, like digital signage and dynamic merchandising. This “high-end” engagement trend started in luxury stores attracting affluent consum-ers, and in quick-serve restaurants, where rapid display changes throughout the day are common.

Signage is dynamic. Retailers can change promotions by time, language, weather or pricing. It can tell a story like material sourcing, production history or something creative about a product. It can also draw people to specific areas of the store, like deserted center aisles. Nearly any condition can become central to the merchandising; early results suggest this boosts conversion rates. It’s easier to adopt signage across every niche of retail. For example, showing promo-tions in alternating languages can reach previously elusive demographics.Personalization

Wi-Fi solutions are also becoming increasingly customizable. Book Cellar, a neighborhood bookstore and café in Chicago, uses an AT&T Wi-Fi solution to

enhance the customer experience. The solution goes beyond enabling customers to research titles, keep track of books they want to read in the future and work in the café on a highly secure connection. The owner can add a personal touch. She customizes the photo and message that customers see when they select her Wi-Fi network. If there’s a book reading or local event being hosted at her store, she can share the news with her customer.

Digital signage also lets retailers customize marketing if synced with a personal device and a store’s Wi-Fi. Once a consumer engages (“allows” a retailer to include the consumer’s data), signage can “speak” to or target those groups of customers within that location.

Imagine it. You’re walking near a dis-play that suddenly starts to promote the designer, color, flavor or tools you prefer. A retailer who knows what their shoppers prefer and who’s nearby so they can visu-ally engage and promote high-margin stock keeping units — that’s a retailer’s dream come true. Dynamic signage with creative content plus consumer authenticated engagement (Wi-Fi and loyalty apps) creates unobtrusive yet more relevant engagement.

NRF showcased several examples. And retailers swarmed to incorporate these tools into their strategy. As retailers are adopting Wi-Fi and consent-based person-alization to attract customers and increase sales, it’s essential to ask: How are you using these tools in your growth strategy?

Michael Colaneri is vice president of retail, restaurant and consumer package goods at AT&T Inc.

business

Push Notifications Can Boost Retention Rates for Retailers

Mobile shopping expected to continue to grow.

think tank

Upgrade Shopping Experience With Wi-Fi, Digital Signage

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C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S T O

O N C E L E B R AT I N G 5 0 Y E A R S A S A G L O B A L L U X U R Y S H O P P I N G D E S T I N AT I O N

W W W. S T J O H N K N I T S . C O M

SOUTH COAST PLAZA

38 march 22, 2017

“i just swam, like, a mile,” said a breathless Catherine Baba, wrap-ping herself in her fur jacket at Colette’s 20th anniversary party. The Australian stylist had just emerged from the sea of clear plastic balls that filled the central nave of Les Arts Décoratifs.

The stark white ball pit, part of Brooklyn-based design firm Snarkitecture’s installation “The Beach,” had guests of every age taking the plunge. Among those spotted bobbing amid children and inflatable toys were LVMH’s digital honcho Ian Rogers, galler-ist Emmanuel Perrotin, artist JR and magician David Blaine.

Guests were asked to leave behind their drinks and don disposable shoe covers to enter the pristine white space at the museum, which will remain open to the public for free until Satur-day. Many confessed they hadn’t been near a ball pit since their children were toddlers.

Louis Vuitton men’s wear de-signer Kim Jones dutifully slipped the covers on his Nike sneakers but looked doubtfully at the expanse of plastic balls. “I don’t know if I’m going in. I’m feeling a bit delicate today — I’ve got a flu coming on,” he demurred.

Inès de la Fressange shook her head as she watched her daughters, Nine and Violette, fool around. “Look at my silly girls — 23 and 17,” she said with a mock sigh. “This place really makes you want to take pictures.”

The model, designer and Rog-er Vivier brand ambassador is a big fan of the Paris concept store,

founded by Colette Roussaux and her daughter Sarah Andelman. “The first time we ever agreed to sell Roger Vivier shoes outside our own stores was for a limited edition for Colette. For mother and daughter, you do things you wouldn’t do for anyone else,” de la Fressange said.

Andelman, Colette’s creative director and purchasing manager, had dyed her cropped hair in the store’s signature blue for the occasion.

In the entrance hall of the museum, the party continued as waiters circulated with trays of Mumm pink Champagne. Among those spotted in the crowd were André Saraiva, TV presenter

Mademoiselle Agnès, Vogue Paris editor in chief Emmanuelle Alt, Hermès artistic director Pierre-Alexis Dumas, L’Oréal heir Jean-Victor Meyers, jewelry designer Elie Top, Courrèges design duo Arnaud Vaillant and Sébastien Meyer, and DJ Pedro Winter.

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, looking dapper as ever in a suit and tie, was preparing to deliver a masterclass on art at Colette, part of a series organized in col-laboration with online publication twentymagazine.fr. “I dove in, but I lost my footing,” he said, taking a break on a deckchair. “I should have worn something more ap-propriate.” — Joelle diderich

Audemars Piguet Uproots Sebastian Errazuriz’s Sculpture “As an artist, you’re always a bit fearful working for a company,” says the New York-based artist.

Sebastian Errazuriz is ob-sessed. During a recent visit to the lithe Chilean artist's light-filled studio in Industry City (a warehouse complex located by the Gowanus Bay waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn), he was excited to point out and describe the minute details of his quirky and evocative works. His studio was brimming with the vestiges of his artistic explorations — a taxider-my duck with a lightbulb for its head, intricate wooden boxes that cascade open on a curved plane, wrist watches that don't tell the time, a wall mirror obscured by the handwritten phrase "YOU AGAIN?" The artist's casual dress of a black t-shirt and jeans was a simple presentation in juxtaposi-tion to his creative whimsy.

"It’s a more existential thing, you don’t do it for money, it’s not for attention," says Errazuriz, demonstrating the details on a miniature hand-carved version of his wooden "Boat Coffin" sculp-ture — which was complete with mini custom hinges and a mini propeller that spins — details that he notes add days to his process. "I mean, who’s even noticing? This is a model, and you only really do this sort of stuff if it’s out of pas-sion or love," he continues. "It’s the kind of stuff you only do if you’re really, really obsessed with it."

He's found a partner in the luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet, which commissioned him to construct a large-scale art piece for its 2017 Art Basel displays.

"As an artist, you’re always a

bit fearful working for a company, and the fact that they’re fami-ly-owned, they’re willing to take more risks and don’t have to re-port to a board all the time, which allows them to have bigger goals," Errazuriz explains. "In a way, we connect because we have this weird love for stuff, this obsession with mechanical things and how they pair together.”

His resulting work for the brand incorporates the concept of time, although in an oblique way: He created a wooden tree sculpture. "If everything had to be about watches, we lose maybe the common reasons why they do what they do and we do what we do," he explains. "The retail market’s having problems right now...people are going back to wanting to have a few things,

but of quality. And a few things that have a story that’s either personal, or a story they can connect with. And I think that’s also starting to happen in the art world — this notion of being able to experience beauty or being able to experience things that are more transcendental."

Errazuriz will debut "Second Nature" during Art Basel Hong Kong before taking it to Art Basel in Switzerland and Miami Beach later this year. The work will be sit-uated in the center of Audemars Piguet's booth, surrounded by watch displays and adjacent to a smaller room which will screen Chinese artist Cheng Ran's video short "Circadian Rhythm." As live trees are wont to do, Errazuriz's sculpture will "grow" new wooden features for each new season

and fair — buds for Basel, flowers for Miami. He modeled his tree after the spruce trees that grow in the Vallée de Joux region of the Jura mountains, which is the birthplace of Audemars Piguet. To drive the connection home, the sculpture was carved from trees that were grown in the region.

"The whole point was to get a tree, topple it over, shave it, turn it into planks, create these blocks that we could carve out," he explains. "And create a tree from scratch that could almost be at the level of detail of a tree that you would see [in the region]."

The sculpture was carved by robotic arms from a CAD draw-ing, and then finished by hand to realistically mimic the detailing, texture and all, of a tree, working to a scale of 0.1 millimeter.

If cutting down a tree to then turn the wood into a tree sounds counter intuitive — well, Errazuriz is the first to point out that it is.

"It’s a bit of a crazy process, it’s a little nuts," he admits. "It’s all this time and engineering for something that doesn’t serve a purpose, really. But, in a way, we’re trying to follow the obsession and craziness you would see if you went to see a watch fabricated by Audemars Piguet. It doesn’t make sense for you to buy a handmade watch," he continues. "You see a man who’s sole work is all day with a little magnifying [glass], and he’s tweaking two cogs, and that’s what he does all day. There’s something really odd and beautiful about it.”

One could call it going against the grain. – Kristen tauer

Guests Take Plunge at Colette PartyThe French concept store’s anniversary celebration drew Inès de la Fressange, David Blaine and JR.

Sebastian Errazuriz

Sebastian Errazuriz’s studio.

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Fashion Scoops

Memo Pad

Forbidden PlanetChaumet is bringing its 237 years’ worth of history to Beijing’s Forbidden City.

The Place Vendôme jeweler, which is closely associated with Napoléon I and Empress Joséphine, will exhibit some 300 works, jewels, paintings, drawings and objet d’art dating from the end of the 18th century to today at the National Palace Museum as part of the “Imperial Splendors” retrospective, scheduled to run from April 11 to July 2.

“Through a selection of works belong-ing to the Palace Museum, the exhibition offers an exchange between the Chinese and French jewelry arts, imagined around a mutual culture of excellence, to unveil shared inspirations and reciprocal influ-ences,” Chaumet said in a statement.

Under the scientific direction of Henri Loyrette, former director of the Louvre mu-seum in Paris, the exhibition will end with the presentation of the tiara of the 21st century, the product of a creative compe-tition at Central Saint Martins in London.

The show will feature items on loan from prestigious collections and prom-inent museums including the Louvre, the Château de Fontainebleau and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

They include the Bourbon-Parma tiara, made by Joseph Chaumet. It was worn by Hedwige de La Rochefoucauld for her marriage to Prince Sixtus of Bour-bon-Parma in 1919 but has since entered popular culture as a symbol of the house’s creativity. Stella Tennant donned it in an advertising campaign for Chau-met a few years ago, while it was used as inspiration for the tiara Anne Hathaway wore in “The Princess Diaries.” — Joelle diderich

Flying The Flag For Britainit’s not only the young royals who are making a grand tour of Europe this year: The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are also packing their bags in preparation for a trip early next month that will see them visit Italy, Romania, Austria and the Holy See.

During the Italian leg of the visit, Prince Charles will speak at an event at Palazzo Pitti in connection with The Campaign for Wool, the global initiative he founded that raises awareness about the benefits of the fiber.

The prince, the campaign’s royal patron, will speak about using wool in fashion. He will also be the guest of honor at a dinner to mark the centenary of the British Institute of Florence. The prince will be presented with a Renaissance Man of the Year Award, an annual accolade given by the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation.

On a visit to Naples, the Duchess of

Cornwall will visit the E. Marinella tie and scarf manufacturer, which sources its silks from Macclesfield, near Cheshire, England.

During their tour, the royal couple will meet Pope Francis, while the prince will travel to Amatrice in central Italy to meet residents affected by the earthquake that hit the region in August 2016. — samantha conti

Tipping His HandKarl lagerfeld will lift the curtain on his fashion jewelry tie-up with Swarovski this week.

It will be shown at the Baselworld fair, which begins Thursday and runs through March 30.

The collection — set to launch in stores for fall — has been split into three visual groups.

The Ikonic line boasts an edgier, rock-influenced aesthetic. It will include a charm “program,” ear jackets, asymmetri-cal necklaces and pendants. The Klassic Karl range uses Lagerfeld’s signature as a design feature and also includes odes to his famous pet feline, Choupette. The Essentials line includes more classic designs with crystalized chains and celestial pieces.

The tie-up will go on sale in Septem-ber at Swarovski Crystal Worlds retail

locations, Karl Lagerfeld stores, karl.com and select retailers.

Prices will range from 50 euros, or about $54 at current exchange, to 250 euros, or about $270 at current exchange.

The brand will offer two main col-lections per year, featuring necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings.

In January, Pier Paolo Righi, chief ex-ecutive officer of Karl Lagerfeld, said the tie-up was a logical fit for the brand, which has produced watches under license with Fossil Group since 2011.

“Karl is the man of accessorization and jewelry, it was therefore the next natural step for us to expand our product range with a fashion jewelry collection. Swarovski, with their significant exper-tise, makes the perfect partner for us and we look forward to launching the first collection this fall,” he said.

“We feel honored to be partnering with an iconic fashion house such as Karl Lagerfeld,” Markus Langes-Swarovski, a member of Swarovski’s executive board, said earlier this year.

“Reflective of the creative vision of Karl Lagerfeld, the collection was developed with cutting-edge design elements and superior quality, which perfectly complement the existing categories. We look forward to maximiz-ing our licensing partnership together,” he added.

The Lagerfeld tie-up — a multiyear licensing contract — is a new facet in Swarovski’s plan to elevate its fashion quotient. Last May, the firm hired Karlie Kloss as its face — with plans to chart double-digit growth in North America, stemming from sales in fashion-forward cities. — mistY White sidell

Small FragmentsKim Jones, men’s artistic director at Louis Vuitton, has been dropping a trail of digital breadcrumbs, releasing a few details of pieces from the French house’s latest collaboration with the Japanese label Fragment Design. The collaboration will be part of the Louis Vuitton pre-fall men’s collection, which is set to launch on April 21.

This week, Jones posted an image of a model wearing a white long-sleeve shirt bearing a typographic LV logo. The shirt is shown under a navy zip-up vest, its front pocket embellished with small charms. The model also wears a French sailor style cap emblazoned with the words “Paris Tokyo.”

Last month, Jones posted an image of a model wearing a khaki military shirt embellished with sewn-on patches. He’s holding a bag in the house’s monogram print. Jones has also posted an image of black leather boots and one of a LV-monogrammed bear resting on a guitar case. — lorelei marfil

digital PushBottega Veneta is building its market-ing and communications team as it plans to step up its digital commitment.

The Italian luxury company, following the appointment in February of Lisa Pomerantz as global chief marketing officer, has tapped Yannick Angel-loz-Nicoud as worldwide communication director, effective April 3. He will report to Pomerantz.

“A seamless flow of communica-tion between social and e-commerce activities is key for the future of luxury

and it relies on the right team,” said chief executive officer Claus-Dietrich Lars. “This is the right moment to channel our efforts in a site that will help grow interest in what the brand is about.”

Lars said the new version of the site will be ready in 2018. “The entire digital communication will be new and different and highly important compared with before and we had to make sure we have the right key members. We want to create fresh interest in a rich and exciting site incorporating new features to discover Bottega Veneta in a new way,” said Lars, pointing to an integrated and

omnichannel approach with a custom-er-centric focus.

Bottega Veneta will continue its “tight partnership” with the Yoox Net-a-porter Group, “but this does not mean we can-not modernize and update our site with more content,” he said.

Lars was upbeat about the “strong relationship” between Pomerantz and creative director Tomas Maier. “They have known each other for many years since the early stages, when Tomas kick-started the collection in 2001, and I am happy she is back at this exciting mo-ment in our evolution. She knows Tomas

and they have a strong level of trust and she is experienced and knowledgeable in digital.” Her deep understanding of the brand, “combined with her extensive understanding of consistent storytelling across all touch points, is a necessity in today’s fractured and complex marketing landscape.” Pomerantz was previously senior vice president of global commu-nications and marketing at Michael Kors. Before this, Pomerantz was in charge of global communications at Bottega Veneta for nine years.

Angelloz-Nicoud joins from Hugo Boss, where he has been senior head

of global public relations, events and celebrity. He joined the German firm in 2013. “Yannick has global press relations and experience with globally relevant events and with celebrities,” said Lars, who was previously ceo at Hugo Boss. “I am more than convinced that with their backgrounds, we have a strong team to grow in the future,” said Lars.

Lars joined Bottega Veneta in October, succeeding Carlo Alberto Beretta at the helm of the luxury label. Beretta was named chief client and marketing officer at Bottega Veneta’s parent company Kering. — luisa Zargani

Karl Lagerfeld’s first collection for Swarovski.

Kim Jones and Hiroshi Fujiwara

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