00WWD XXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXX XX, 2011

Slim ShadyShady

The men’s dress shirt market is experiencing a resurgence

as slim fi ts and hues in shades of blue, like this one from

Gitman Bros., lure customers to update their wardrobes.

Although the rising cost of cotton is causing some

concern and increasing the retail prices of shirts in the

mid-single digits for fall, most companies believe they

will face little consumer resistance at the cash register.

For more on dress shirts, see pages MW8 and MW9.

BOYS’ NIGHT OUT BY JESSICA IREDALE

Tattoo Who?

WIDENING SCOPE

Haggar’s PlanTo Attract Younger MenVenerable men’s pants manufacturer to launch two new labels for fall.

by JEAN E. PALMIERI

HAGGAR CORP. has some big plans for the fourth quarter, when it will unveil a dual-pronged product launch that will signifi cantly expand its position within the nation’s depart-ment stores.

First up is Life Khaki, a new, higher-priced line of men’s khaki pants designed to appeal to a younger customer. In addition, the Dallas-based manufacturer will launch Haggar Heritage, an exclusive collection for Macy’s that will bolster the store’s dress pant assortment. Both labels will be introduced at the end of the year and roll out in 2012.

“This is a great opportunity to broaden the core Haggar brand and expand into square foot-age we’ll never occupy with our core Haggar product,” said Tim Lyons, president of sales for Haggar Menswear.

These initiatives come two years after Paul Buxbaum took the helm as chief executive of-fi cer of the fi rm. Buxbaum, whose experience has been in liquidation and restructuring of distressed companies, stressed that it was never his intention to dismantle Haggar. “I came here because I thought there was an opportunity,” he said. “Haggar is an iconic brand, and I thought it had great promise and upside. It’s sort of like the Good Housekeeping seal. It just needed to be cleaned up, redirected and put back on the highway to health.”

The company, which was founded in 1926, was publicly held until 2005, when Perseus LLC, a merchant bank and private equity fund man-agement company, along with Infi nity Associates LLC and Symphony Holdings Ltd., bought the brand for about $212 million.

Its primary customer is a man over 45, but Haggar is targeting a thirtysomething guy with these new products. “We feel very strongly that we have the Baby Boomer covered with our his-toric Haggar programs,” Buxbaum said.

Lyons said that in a recent survey, the label had an 87 to 90 percent awareness level. “And we spoke to thirtysomethings and found there’s no aversion to the Haggar brand,” he said. “They just have a very neutral position.” The research company said that although Haggar didn’t have to overcome any negative perceptions, “we didn’t do anything that appealed to them either.”

So Life Khaki was conceived.“The guy over 45 today thinks differently than

the same demographic 10 years ago,” Lyons said.

{Continued on page MW5}

Gitman Bros.’ cotton shirt and Thom Browne’s wool suit.

Gucci tie; The Tie Bar tie bar.

April 14, 2011

PLUS: Big & tall brand Willis & Walker aims to go lifestyle. Page MW2

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Scott Campbell has the designer label of skin art—ask Kanye, Marc and Orlando. Page MW12

Men’s Week

Willis & Walker Preps for Expansion

Colombia’s Arturo Calle Plots ExpansionMan of THE WEEK

by JEAN E. PALMIERI

KEvIN WILLIs hAs KNoWN from an early age what it’s like to struggle with fit. Now, the 7-foot-tall former NBA star is ready to help other large men who can’t find stylish clothes in their size.

Willis, who played basketball professionally for more than 20 years and retired in 2007 at the age of 44, has had a men’s big and tall brand since 1988, when he and his for-mer Michigan state teammate Ralph Walker formed Willis & Walker. The Atlanta-based brand, which is now focused primarily on premium denim, has operated a retail store since its inception, and a 3,400-square-foot flagship opened in the trendy Buckhead neighborhood two years ago.

But Willis is ready to take the brand to the next level. For fall, Willis & Walker will expand into a full lifestyle collec-tion, offering everything from suits, sport coats and dress shirts to knitwear, nondenim bottoms and shoes.

Marcraft Apparel Group, the company’s tailored cloth-ing licensee, is constructing a showroom for Willis & Walker at its Trump Tower offices in New York, which is slated to open this month. And Willis is preparing for a launch event in New York during market week in July.

Willis, whose mother was a seamstress, actually stud-ied fashion and textile design at Michigan state. “It start-ed out of necessity,” he said. “I couldn’t go anywhere and buy anything. In high school, my buddies and I shared clothes and shoes, but I grew six inches in one summer and so the sharing was done.”

Willis left college to turn pro, “but four years later, I broke my foot and said it was time to delve into the fashion world again.” Knowing that his basketball ca-reer could end at any time, he immersed himself in the NBA’s internship program to learn every aspect of the fashion business, from choosing fabric to learning about washes, manufacturing and distribution, and then launched Willis & Walker. “This market is so underserved,” he said.

The label offers sizes 34 to 52 in talls and up to 58 in bigs. And although athletes are part of the target audience, the idea is to at-tract a wider audience. “We want to offer guys between 6-foot-3 and 6-foot-5 nice style and fit options,” he said.

Men’s big & tall is currently one of the hottest catego-ries within the men’s industry. Casual Male Retail Group, the market leader, operates nearly 500 stores around the U.s., and Men’s Wearhouse, which currently has a $300 mil-lion business in extended sizes, is testing freestanding big

& tall stores this year. Jos. A. Bank has launched a separate big & tall Web site, and next month, J.C. Penney Co is jumping into the fray when the first stores of a new concept, The Foundry Big & Tall supply Co., make their debut. The plan is to open 300 stores over the next five years.

It makes sense that retailers would see this as an opportunity. According to a recent study from the National health and Nutrition Ex-amination survey, 34.2 percent of adults over

the age of 20 are overweight, 33.8 percent are obese and 5.7 percent are extremely obese. This is a marked increase from 23 percent of the population who were categorized as overweight in 1994.

As a result, Willis is hoping to attract upscale retailers such as Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdale’s to the expanded Willis & Walker collection. Retail prices for the line will av-

erage $225 to $265 for jeans, $795 to $1,295 for suits, $175 to $225 for woven shirts and knitwear from $150 to $600 and up. shoes, which will be co-branded with helm, as well as accessories will also be offered.

over the years, the brand has been carried by retailers including Nordstrom, stanley Korshak and Rochester Big & Tall, Willis said, but now is only sold in the Atlanta flagship.

“I don’t want to saturate the market,” he said. “The goal is to partner with the right retailers. It’s a lifestyle brand so partners are very important.”

Gary Brody, co-president of Marcraft, said the company has already previewed the concept and shown samples to some retailers. “We’ve had requests for exclusives,” he said, adding: “I’ve never seen a niche grow this fast. how big can this business be? If guys in this size range are 2 to 3 percent of the population, we can sell 30,000 to 40,000 suits in this price zone.”

ARTURo CALLE, a men’s fashion chain based in Colombia, will add five additional stores by 2012 as it strives to maintain its lead in the country’s fast-growing men’s wear market.

The first two will open later this year in Bogota and Cali, followed by three more in Cali, Medellín and Armenia in 2012. This will bring the retailer’s network to 62 stores around the country.

In an interview with WWD, owner Arturo Calle said the com-pany is also eyeing expansion into international markets in late 2012, and is viewing the possibility of opening franchised units in south or Central America.

The chain, which was founded in 1965 and sells everything from suits and sweaters to T-shirts, jeans and underwear, is preparing to open its largest store to date, a 6,562-square-foot flagship in Bogota’s upscale Colina Campestre neighborhood, in June. The location will also house the company’s headquarters.

The privately held company declined to provide a volume figure but said sales should grow 8 percent to 10 percent annually by 2016, according to Calle.

Colombia’s men’s wear market is growing strongly as men’s purchasing power rises in a booming economy. Men’s sales rose 4 percent last year and now account for 44 percent of the country’s business. This year, the men’s market is forecast to grow 5 percent to $2.5 million.

“We have seen the market take off in recent years as Colombian men have become more attuned to fashion and are demanding more premium and lifestyle products,” said Paula Trujillo, director of com-petitiveness and internationalization at the Institute for Export and Fashion Inexmoda. “We have a very dynamic economy and rising con-sumer confidence and appetite for fashion,” she added. Forecasts put Colombia’s GDP growth at 4 percent to 5 percent in 2011.

According to Trujillo, Calle’s main rival, vestimundo, is also pursuing an ambitious domestic and international expansion, as is sportswear chain Tennis. — IVAN CASTANO

It’s a whole new day for fashion golfers and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel. Long gone are the colorful argyles, tweed plus-fours and sweater vests that can turn this sport into a Gaelic version of the Next Top Model competition.

Frames his face, and the size of the visor plays with the proportion of his ears, out of which he can

probably hear very well

Perfectly fitting black pants highlight his assets

Adding tonal stripes to the outfit provides the perfect balance of

sport and elegance

The design allows for total range of motion without losing the body-

conscious silhouette

Dress belt breaks the Nike logo dominance and provides

a finishing touch

The sleek black sneaks blend well with the pants, and the green sole shows a

hint of golf heritage

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Big & Tall line founded by NBA star Kevin Willis creating full lifestyle collection for fall.

The Atlanta flagship.

Kevin willis

MW2 WWD THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011

MW4 WWD Thursday, april 14, 2011 Men’s Week

Sean John Names CFOSean John haS tapped Mark katz as chief financial officer, reporting to Jeffrey tweedy, executive vice president.

katz, who started on March 28, was previously chief operating and chief financial officer at La perla north america, Inc.

earlier in his career, he held senior finance positions at Calvin klein, polo ralph Lauren and kenneth Cole. he was also cfo at Creative design Studios, the private label division of Lord & taylor.

“as we have changed our business model to a licensing model, we needed a strong cfo to analyze new deals and help select the best partners for Sean John,” said tweedy, who noted the position was vacant for the past two years.

Last year, Sean John licensed its men’s sportswear business to Li & Fung Ltd. and inked an exclusive distribution agreement with Macy’s for the category, which will be in more than 450 doors by yearend. Last week, Sean John signed a new boys’ sportswear license with Lt apparel Group. Its boys’ suits license remains with Fishman & tobin.

Sean John currently manages a stable of 19 licenses in total. the company is owned by found-er and chairman Sean “diddy” Combs and investment firm the Yucaipa Cos.

— D.L.

by davId LIpke

eddIe Bauer Invented the down-filled jacket, outfitted the first american ascent of Mount everest and even patented the bad-minton shuttlecock — and the 91-year-old company that bears his name wants consum-ers to know that.

“eddie Bauer has arguably one of the rich-est, if not the richest, heritage stories to be told today,” said neil Fiske, chief executive officer of the Bellevue, Wash.-based retailer that is undergoing yet another evolution of its stores, product lines and branding. the goal is to mine the company’s heritage and archives to add a shimmer of romance and luster to the brand — which has undergone two bankrupt-cies since 2003 — while at the same time up-date and modernize stores and merchandise.

“our strategy is anchored in the past but creating a modern interpretation of that past,” explained Fiske.

key to that effort, since the company was acquired by Golden Gate Capital in July 2009, is the addition of 150 employees at the com-pany’s corporate headquarters, including a doubling of the design team and the recruit-ment of nathan Laffin, previously senior vice president of global design at dockers, as se-nior vice president and creative director at eddie Bauer. the company has added pre-mium lines, focused on rebuilding its heri-tage as a pioneer in the outdoor performance arena and built stores in a new retail format.

“We have both an amazing performance heritage as well as a strong sportswear sensi-bility,” said Laffin, who will present the new-est incarnation of eddie Bauer product in a presentation at Milk Studios in new York on april 20. “We have huge retail, catalogue and online businesses. our delivery mechanism is in place and we already have an engaged con-sumer — now it’s about tightening our focus.”

eddie Bauer’s merchandising strat-egy is centered on two distinct platforms: expedition versus field and stream. the

former is apparel and gear related to cold-weather mountaineering and the latter is re-lated to hunting, shooting, fishing and other outdoor recreational sports.

the company launched a high-performance label called First ascent in May 2009, to drive home its stake in the expedition category. “It’s true mountaineering apparel and gear made for the harshest conditions. Before there was the north Face and patagonia, we were the ex-pedition outfitters to american’s greatest climb-ers,” said Fiske, taking a jab at two brands that have stolen much of eddie Bauer’s appeal in the hearts of consumers in recent years.

a ski line, called First descent, launched this past holiday, and an authentic hunting line will make its debut for fall 2012, said Laffin.

also adding to eddie Bauer’s premium offerings is a multiyear collaboration deal with British designer nigel Cabourn, who has created a line of outerwear that retails from $900 to $1,500 and will be available in September at select eddie Bauer stores as well as wholesale accounts like Barneys new York and opening Ceremony.

another collaboration with pendelton will hit stores this holiday season and the company is in talks with Filson for a poten-tial partnership.

eddie Bauer’s previous owner, Spiegel, had discontinued the brand’s focus on se-rious expedition gear and apparel. “they were really focused on growing the women’s business and everyday, casual clothes,” ex-plained Fiske. “they really lost sight of our outdoor heritage. But there’s a real merging of technical outerwear and sportswear in the marketplace today, and we are right in the middle of that trend now.”

eddie Bauer’s sales skew 60 percent in women’s and 40 percent in men’s. the com-pany forecasts those numbers will become 50-50 as the men’s business grows faster than the women’s.

eddie Bauer rings up $2 billion in sales a year at retail, including $800 million in

licensed product and $200 million in inter-national markets. Full-price retail is eddie Bauer’s largest business, followed by direct (catalogue and online) and then outlet stores.

eddie Bauer operates 352 stores, encom-passing 312 full-price and outlet stores in the u.S., 37 stores in Canada and three ware-house units (two in the u.S., one in Canada). the store count is down slightly from the 371 stores in operation when Golden Gate acquired the company in 2009 out of bank-ruptcy for $286 million in cash.

In addition, there are 54 stores in Japan run as part of a long-standing venture with otto Japan Inc.

over the past two years, eddie Bauer has opened nine stores in its new retail format, including units in easton town Center in Columbus, ohio; Fashion place in Murray, utah; aspen Grove in Littleton, Col., and rivertown Crossing in Grandville, Mich. the new format stores have sales trends 40 percent higher than existing eddie Bauer stores, said Fiske.

the format features the field and stream merchandise in the front of stores and ex-pedition product in the rear. the former ac-counts for about two-thirds of sales and the latter for one-third. to drive home eddie Bauer’s heritage and performance creden-tials, 65-inch plasma screens show videos of the most recent eddie Bauer expeditions from around the world.

“We are just in the beginning stages of rolling out the new format over the next three to five years,” said Fiske.

First ascent shop-in-shops have been installed in about 180 stores. the company has also invested in a new point-of-sale com-puter system to be installed this fall that will improve inventory management, customer data maintenance and the customer experi-ence at checkout.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, eddie Bauer same-store sales were up in the high-single digits and for the full year were up in the midsingle digits, said Fiske.

“We don’t have a retail presence in new York and we need a flagship store and a small, neighborhood Bleecker Street-type

store, to help people understand some of the cool stuff that we are doing,” added Laffin.

the company has tapped Carlos Quirarte and Matt kliegman, proprietors of hip noho restaurant the Smile, to consult on potential new York stores, as well as the overhaul of eddie Bauer product and branding.

online sales were up more than 20 per-cent in the fourth quarter and up in the high teens for the full year. “You will see a contin-ued evolution of the brand face on the Web and a series of staged improvements,” said Fiske. “the site will look updated and there will be incremental improvements in perfor-mance and functionality.”

In direct, the company sends out 70 mil-lion to 80 million catalogues a year. “We see the catalogues motivating consumers to go shop on the Web. So while our traditional phone-order business is getting smaller, Web transactions are getting bigger,” pointed out Fiske. “We will continue to refine who gets a catalogue and the catalogues themselves are increasingly targeted, with more specializa-tion, such as First ascent, home, men’s, women’s, holiday and gift books.”

at a peter J. Solomon Co. conference on Wednesday, kenneth Berliner, president and head of the mergers and acquisitions group at the investment banking advisory firm, said that eddie Bauer, a client, has been doing well recently due to the changes implement-ed under Golden Gate. he said to expect “something big in the next three-to-five years that will have attractive valuations,” suggest-ing either an initial public offering or sale of the company.

Following Golden Gate Capital’s sale of J. Jill Group in March, speculation abounded that it might sell off eddie Bauer imminently, as well. however, Fiske brushed aside those rumors.

“Golden Gate is investing aggressively in eddie Bauer and believes it has huge poten-tial,” said Fiske. “that investment is across a number of different areas and, if you look at that pattern, I think you’ll see they have a lot of excitement about the momentum we are creating and the potential that lies ahead.”

— WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM VICKI M. YOUNG

huGo BoSS is showing its love for america.the German apparel brand has signed on as the lead sponsor of the united

States pavilion at the Biennale in venice, opening on June 4. the american pavilion is being organized by the Indianapolis Museum of art and commissioned by Lisa Freiman, chairman of the department of Contemporary art. among the fea-tured artists will be Jennifer allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, who were nominated for the hugo Boss prize in 2006.

this is the fifth consecutive year that hugo Boss has been involved with the exhibition, although it has been an active supporter of contemporary visual arts for more than 16 years and works closely with more than 20 major museums around the world as part of its hugo Boss arts Sponsorship program.

dr. hjördis kettenbach, head of cultural affairs at hugo Boss, said: “Contemporary art has become an integral part of our corporate culture. We are especially pleased to be supporting this year’s united States pavilion — and with it Jennifer allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, whose work we know well. Based on past experience, we have every reason to be excited at the prospect of a further presentation of their art and a new interpretation of our modern-day world.”

Hugo Boss Continues Support For Contemporary Art Show

Eddie Bauer Strategy Aims to Recapture Outdoor HeritageInside Eddie Bauer’s new format store in Bellevue, Wash.

An ad from the upcoming fall campaign.

“They think like 35-year-olds. So we need to take care of our existing customer and aggressively bring something else for the younger guy.”

The label will be sold first at J.C. Penney, then at Kohl’s, Belk and Sears, Lyons said, launching in about 1,000 doors. Haggar is hoping it will be sold in more than 3,000 doors by Father’s Day of 2012. It will offer three fits: relaxed, straight and slim.

The company is also using all recycled product for its Life Khaki brand, another key talking point for the younger cus-tomer. Hangtags include slogans such as: “Live a great life”; “Life is what you make of it,” and “Life is comfortable.” “We just want you to feel good,” Lyons said. “The models are cool and the final pièce de résistance is that it has a great hand.”

Buxbaum said that when the label is expanded into a full lifestyle brand, “I don’t see why it can’t be a $100 mil-lion business.”

Although both lines will launch as bottoms only, the plan is to eventually add tops, Lyons said, in categories such as woven shirts, knits and sweaters. The company has licensees for knit and woven tops, leather, outerwear, sweaters and hosiery.

Heritage, which is based on archival elements of the brand and will include a new crown H logo, will be added to around 270 Macy’s doors for fall, Lyons said. “We wanted to give Macy’s a more fashion-forward aspirational line.” It will offer more detailing than traditional Haggar product, such as top stitching, ornamentation and updated pocketing details. “It denotes a cooler, hipper flavor for the brand,” he said.

Marc Mastronardi, group vice president and divisional merchandise manager for men’s sportswear, pants and big & tall for Macy’s, said that the exact plan for the launch has not yet been determined, but it will be tested in a limited way for fall in the classification dress pant department. “It will add another customer to our store,” he said. Haggar’s core dress pants sell well at the store, he said, but they’re “fairly basic. There’s an opportunity to get into more fashion dresswear. That’s something we didn’t see in our business today, so the future could be very big and very bright.”

Buxbaum said it was hard to come up with a volume pro-jection for the line, adding: “We hope to get as much out of it as possible. Maybe $20 million to $40 million? It’s hard to say.”

Haggar’s core product, which is sold in around 4,000 doors, generally retails for $30 to $40 out the door, Lyons said. Life Khaki will sell for $36.99 to $39.99, while Haggar Heritage will be $39.99 to $59.99. The Macy’s product will offer “more em-bellishment,” Buxbaum said.

Lyons said the marketing plan for the introduction of both labels is still being conceived, but traditional ads will be sup-plemented by initiatives under the “digital platform,” which is key to attracting the younger guy.

In addition to launching these two new labels, Haggar also recently acquired certain private label assets from Neema Clothing Co. “The acquisition will bolster our clothing busi-ness and will be a nice additive to the dress side,” Buxbaum said. “We’re looking to expand that side with retailers as well.

We have strong relationships with major retailers, get high grades for replenishment and have a good sourcing business. We can leverage that to help others.”

The company also produces Gramicci, an outdoors brand, and is the licensee for Kenneth Cole bottoms. “We have a very broad platform,” Buxbaum said.

Although he declined to provide a volume figure for Haggar — before going private, Haggar reported annual rev-enues of just under $500 million — Buxbaum said it is profit-able and on “very solid footing.”

He said that although Haggar is “lean and mean,” it’s open to adding to the portfolio. “Our goal is to look at opportunities and see what we can add to our platform that is accretive to our business,” he said. “So we’re looking for other deals.”

In addition, Haggar is looking at India and Asia as poten-tial expansion opportunities, Buxbaum said.

“Our view as a company is to continue to grow and be as profitable as we can,” he said. He declined to comment on the long-term plan for the firm, deferring to John Glazer, a manag-ing director of Perseus, for questions about going public again or being sold. Glazer said Perseus does not comment on assets within its portfolio.

Buxbaum said the last 18 months have been “very strong” for the company. “Even in difficult times, we’re blessed to be in value-priced product with the right fit.”

Lyons concluded: “It’s a good strategy — strong execution and divine providence.”

MW5WWD thursday, april 14, 2011Men’s Week

Haggar’s Two-Pronged Growth Plan

Mango Planning Large-Scale Global Expansionby ARNOLD J. KARR

COMING OFF A 10.9 PERCENT sales increase in 2010, Mango is planning to add another 550 stores to its global portfolio this year, including entries in six new markets that will give it a presence in 109 countries.

Through its own network and those of franchisees, the Barcelona-based retail and wholesale firm added 380 stores last year, lifting its total to more than 2,000. Included in the total store count are 113 units under its H.E. by Mango men’s wear banner, 39 of which are in Spain. Among the 550 stores to be added this year are 20 men’s stores. The company said that it eventually expects to have 500 H.E. by Mango stores.

In 2010, Mango’s revenues grew to 1.27 billion euros, or $1.68 billion, from 1.15 billion euros, or $1.6 billion, in 2009. These figures, converted from the euro at average exchange for their respective periods, represent both wholesale rev-enues and sales of company-owned stores, excluding value-added taxes.

The company said that sales in Mango stores, including those operated by third parties, grew 7.1 percent to 1.59 bil-

lion euros, or $2.1 billion, from 1.48 billion euros, or $2.06 billion, in 2009. Online sales expanded 79.5 percent to 21 mil-lion euros, or $27.9 million, from 11.7 million euros, or $16.3 million. Mango expects to double its sales on the Internet this year, both through its own Web site at mango.com and “by opening online corners on the best Web sites throughout Europe and Asia.”

The company said sales in Spain represented about 19 percent of 2010 revenues versus 81 percent for the rest of the globe.

New markets for Mango stores in 2011 will include Guadeloupe, Bermuda, Monaco, Cambodia, Angola, Ghana and Yemen. Expansion of the men’s wear division will be focused on several European markets, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

The company expects this year to invest 135 million euros, or $195.1 million at current exchange, principally in new stores, store renovations and logistics and IT systems.

MNG by Mango shops were opened in 77 J.C. Penney stores last summer. The concept has since been expanded to more than 300 doors and is slated to be in 500 by fall.

From Haggar’s core collection.

Mango

Haggar Heritage Life Khaki{Continued from page one}

www.gitmanco.com

MADE IN USA

MADE IN TAIWAN

MADE IN ROMANIA

MADE IN HONG KONG

MADE IN BULGARIA

MADE IN PORTUGAL

MADE IN VIETNAM

MADE IN POLAND

MADE IN MAURITIUS

MADE IN MOROCCO

MADE IN CANADA

MADE IN PERU

MADE IN TURKEY

MADE IN ITALY

MADE IN CHINA

www.gitmanco.com

SOLD IN CHINA

SOLD IN GERMANY

SOLD IN AUSTRALIA

SOLD IN SPAIN

SOLD IN SWEDEN

SOLD IN FRANCE

SOLD IN ITALY

SOLD IN DENMARK

SOLD IN UNITED KINGDOM

SOLD IN CANADA

SOLD IN JAPAN

SOLD IN USA

www.gitmanco.com

MADE IN USA

MADE IN TAIWAN

MADE IN ROMANIA

MADE IN HONG KONG

MADE IN BULGARIA

MADE IN PORTUGAL

MADE IN VIETNAM

MADE IN POLAND

MADE IN MAURITIUS

MADE IN MOROCCO

MADE IN CANADA

MADE IN PERU

MADE IN TURKEY

MADE IN ITALY

MADE IN CHINA

www.gitmanco.com

SOLD IN CHINA

SOLD IN GERMANY

SOLD IN AUSTRALIA

SOLD IN SPAIN

SOLD IN SWEDEN

SOLD IN FRANCE

SOLD IN ITALY

SOLD IN DENMARK

SOLD IN UNITED KINGDOM

SOLD IN CANADA

SOLD IN JAPAN

SOLD IN USA

00 WWD XXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXX XX, 2011 Men’s Week

Blue BloodBlue BloodBlue BloodShirt manufacturers are keeping up with the times by updating the traditional blue dress shirt with youthful oxford fabrics, workwear-inspired chambrays and darker blue palettes that transform this gentleman’s classic into a sleek, sophisticated must-have. —ALEX BADIA

Men’s WeekMW8 WWD THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011

Calvin Klein’s cotton shirt, Stone Island’s polyester and nylon jacket and Burberry London’s cotton pants. Salvatore Ferragamo belt.

Perry Ellis’ cotton shirt, Armani Collezioni’s

wool sweater and Louis Vuitton’s wool pants.

Ralph Lauren Black Label tie; Louis Vuitton

tie bar; A Peace Treaty scarf; Thomas Pink belt.

00WWD xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxx xx, 2011

Photos By jeffrey cohen

Men’s Week MW9WWD thursday, april 14, 2011

Joseph Abboud’s cotton shirt and Tommy Hilfiger’s wool pants. Armani Collezioni belt.

Tommy Hilfiger’s shirt and Kiton’s pants, both in cotton. Tommy Hilfiger tie; Armani Collezioni belt; Paul Stuart tie bar.

Individualized Shirts’ cotton shirt and Nautica’s wool pants. Salvatore Ferragamo belt.

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WWD thursday, april 14, 2011 Men’s Week

Slim Fit, Hybrids Drive Business in Dress ShirtsHigher cotton costs will impact market this year as manufacturers, retailers are forced to hike prices. by JEAN E. PALMIERI

ThE dREss shIRT MARkET is enjoying a resurgence, driven by a slimmer silhouette and hybrid models that can be worn with or without a necktie.

For the three months ending Feb. 28, sales of men’s dress shirts rose 9.7 percent, according to figures released last week by The NPd Group. Marshal Cohen, chief in-dustry analyst, said all the dress-up categories have been strong, with tailored clothing rising more than 30 percent and neckwear up 26 percent.

“Men are rediscovering the importance of ‘dressing for suc-cess.’ Whether it’s for social or career reasons, men are display-ing a desire to upgrade their wardrobes and use dressing up as a vehicle to demonstrate the importance of both,” said Cohen, adding, “keep in mind that the men’s wear market was the first to show signs of decline as the recession began and was one of the last to return, but now it’s coming on strong, primarily due to a high level of pent-up demand.” Men’s apparel sales overall for the three months ending in February rose 12 percent, after a 3.3 percent increase in 2010.

Although dress shirt manufacturers and retailers are en-joying the results of this rebound, the one big question mark is the rising cost of cotton, which is causing manufacturers to increase their prices in the single digits for fall, with another uptick expected for spring. Most of the higher-end brands are expecting little backlash from consumers, however, as prices of all commodities — fuel, food, etc. — are also on the rise.

“I just paid $4 for a gallon of gas,” said Mitchell Lechner, president of the dress shirt group of Phillips-Van heusen Corp. “how about you?”

he added that the increased cost of raw material has forced manufacturers and retailers “to work in a collaborative way in an effort to get higher AURs [average unit retails]. As raw ma-terials increase and AURs move up, this also challenges us to give the customer a reason to pay more. This can be in detail-ing of shirts, quality of fabric, updated trim and stronger point-of-sale [messaging] in stores. season to date, we have seen the consumer react favorably.”

Nevertheless, Lechner admitted to having had “a lot of angst coming into the season. But we’re beating plan. Newness is working.” he said season-to-date sales are “ahead of last year,” and he’s feeling good that the trend will continue, although “April is a little harder to read be-cause of the Easter shift.”

Lechner said new fits — fitted, slim and ultraslim — are what’s leading the growth, along with the hybrid shirt, which is “dressy enough for work yet still casual. You can go from day to night.”

In terms of fashion, Lechner said colors and patterns are now “bolder” and checks are “trending from micro to macro.” And solid blue continues to be “an essential element,” gaining in importance for fall and holiday. “Beyond the classic blue, in-digo and cobalt are key blue factors,” he said, adding that other saturated hues are also making a mark.

John Minahan, president of Gitman shirts, said prices were up around 6 percent for fall, and he is expecting to add “an-other couple of points for spring. Cotton prices are unstable and uneven.” however, for Gitman, whose shirts are made in the U.s., the vast majority of the cost of the product comes from its “artisanship, so when prices go up $1 a yard, it’s not as big a problem for us.”

he said the company “got our ears beat in a couple of years ago based on what it cost to make our garments,” but customers now appreciate a quality, American-made product. “That has become increasingly important to the customer,” he said. “The Internet viral generation wants to understand who made the product, where it’s from, everything. They scrutinize the prod-ucts before they buy them.”

These customers are also driving the fashion component of the brand, Minahan said. “We are selling the washed, closer-fitting dress and sport shirts in interesting seasonal fabrics with nonconventional ties.” This includes, for example, washed chambray shirts and wool gabardine striped ties. “The other part is the sartorial, firmer-collar business,” he said.

Minahan said that after the company lost the Burberry license in 2009, he wondered if Gitman could compete with brands “able to pay an extra $20 for marketing because they make everything so cheap,” but because of this new generation of “entrepreneurial dressers,” he’s bullish about the future.

Jim heiser, the president of Individualized shirts, characterized business as “quite good. We just came through a very nice quarter. We’ve had very respectable trunk shows across the board,” and customers are re-sponding to the company’s newly launched custom shirt

program, which made its debut at the end of March. “We’re seeing a nice uptick in luxury product,” he

said, adding that shirts retailing at $295 to $450 have been “received well.”

In terms of fashion, heiser said there is a mix of plaids, checks and stripes. “Blue seems to always be the leader of the pack, but we also have muted tones in checks with touches of purple and pink.” The company, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has released a group of 20 pieces based on vintage fabrics from back then. Retro broadcloth finishes, rich colorations and multicolored oxford tattersalls are among the offerings.

In addition, the company is introducing a new “white on white” fabric, which heiser expects to do well in major met-ropolitan areas.

Like the other manufacturers, Individualized shirts is also experiencing the trend toward slim-fit models. “They’re clearly here to stay,” he said.

Although slim-fit shirts may use slightly less fabric, that doesn’t mean the company is unaffected by rising cotton prices. “Clearly there is a price increase, but we hedged our bets with our buys nicely last year,” heiser said. Nevertheless, the com-pany was forced to raise prices about 4.5 percent in december, and heiser is unsure whether they’ll rise again in the future. “But we understand that the cotton yield will be better in 2012, so that may stabilize the market a bit.”

Even though prices are higher, heiser said most consum-ers are still buying. “There’s been so much pumped into their heads about inflation in the last six months, with gas, fruit, ev-erything, that they’re not surprised,” he said.

Trudi Roach, vice president of design and merchandising for dress shirts at Perry Ellis, has also seen a pickup in sales. “This is the most exciting area to be in,” she said, “because it’s one of the quickest ways for a guy to update his wardrobe.” she attributed it in large part to the popularity of the slim-fit shirt and an “overall cleaning up of the silhouette.”

At Perry Ellis, she said, the main model is the City Fit, which is slimmer and more modern than in the past and

sits on the sales floor with brands such as kenneth Cole and Calvin klein. And Roach revealed the company is working on an even more aggressively slim model for spring, Perry Ellis Premium slim Fit, that will also incorporate stretch fabric for movement and comfort.

Additionally, Roach said collars are getting smaller. “Five years ago, we saw this in Europe and it scared us, but now we’re redesigning the collars to work with the slimmer neck-wear and suits” that have taken hold in the U.s. market.

Roach also said that while “white and blue are always lead-ers, color is much more widely accepted.” The company is of-fering midtones and a desert sun-bleached range for spring for its hybrids, which can also be worn as sport shirts.

Turning to the pricing issue, Roach said the company is exploring raising its wholesale prices for spring as it battles the increased cost of cotton and labor. “What we’re hearing from some stores is that they already took a jump for spring ’11 of as much as $10,” she said. In some cases, retailers re-port this hasn’t impacted sales, she said, while others have seen a drop in units sold.

Michael smith, chief executive officer of the Custom shop, which operates five stores around the country, said his company has managed to hold prices, since it purchased fabrics far in advance. “But we will see the impact later this year,” he said, adding that he was expecting to implement single-digit increases. he said the company has seen the best unit growth in high-end shirts, ones that retail for $250 to $600, so there is “some elasticity there,” and he’s not expect-ing a backlash from consumers.

he said shoppers are gravitating toward hybrid shirts, interesting collar and cuff treatments and slim fits. “The cus-tomer today understands there are more options than just a blue button-down shirt and a pair of khakis,” he said. “The guy who wears a tie Monday through Friday is a rare bird, and too many guys have defaulted to blue button-downs. But it’s our goal to offer more options.”

Ari hoffman, ceo of Gant UsA, said the biggest ques-tion today is: “What’s beyond plaid?” That fashion trend is still hanging tough, although faded patterns have replaced the bright colors of the past. Ginghams are also doing well, as are solid blues. “Blue is the number-one selling shirt by far,” he said.

“But the key thing is the fit,” he added. “Just like guys who had pleated chinos who now want flat front, it’s the same thing with shirts. A more shaped body is driving the business.”

Gant will also be forced to raise prices in the second half as rising cotton prices take hold. Although the increases won’t be as much as in some of the heavier knit products in the market, hoffman said most shirts will see high-single-digit price hikes. “stores may not buy as much, but the good part is that they’re more focused on full-price selling today,” he said. “They’re not carrying the same inventory as before the crisis, so what choice does the consumer have but to pay the price? Initially, they may shy away, but when they come back a second or third time and see the prices are still up, they’re going to buy be-cause they need a shirt.”

John Varvatos Star USA’s cotton shirt and Salvatore Ferragamo’s wool suit. Bottega Veneta belt.

Dunhill’s cotton shirt and Ermenegildo Zegna’s viscose and rayon pants. Armani Collezioni belt.

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MW12 WWD THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011 Men’s Week

Needles: Scott Campbell’s Designer LabelOn a recent tuesday afternoon, every seat is filled in the waiting room of saved tattoo, scott campbell’s union avenue tattoo parlor in Williamsburg. they’re lining up to get what’s become the tattoo equivalent of a designer label, just like Marc Jacobs, Orlando Bloom, Olivier Zahm, Vera Wang, Helena christensen, Lily cole and erin Wasson before them.

the whole place is buzzing with the sound of electric ink-filled needles, like a room full of high-volume hearing aids. the decor is vin-tage upholstery and skulls, and feels like a Williamsburg hair salon. there are no catalogues of tattoos for patrons to leaf through but “portfolios” of each artist’s work. nine of them work there full-time. no walk ins — it’s strictly appointment only, if you can get one with campbell, who nowadays only tattoos when his schedule permits. He mostly works with repeat clients and referrals, and occa-sionally accepts requests via e-mail if they strike his fancy.

In what could be interpreted as veritable proof that campbell’s tattoos have become mainstream fashion cur-rency, in december he told nyMag.com that Kanye West, the ultimate fashion wannabe, had come by his studio. still, when campbell offers, it’s tempting to jump on a table and get what would be my first tattoo right then and there, thus becoming part of his collection, which is another way campbell romanticizes his work. “your heart and soul is poured out into all these pieces,” he says. “as soon as you finish, they walk out the door and they’re gone.”

If he has to credit someone with getting the ball rolling in the direction of the in-crowd, it’s dash snow, the new york artist-prince of the downtown party scene, who died of a drug overdose in 2009 at age 27. campbell started tattooing snow and his arty skateboard crew, including nate Lowman and dan colen, in 2004. that’s when things started to change. “Falling in with them was really, really motivating, because I come from a really blue-collar, working-class background, and even tattooing is a working-class trade,” says campbell. “I never imaged that I would find myself communicating with the art world. It felt like this very academic environment, and I didn’t know enough big words to communicate with. But then you see that these guys are just a bunch of skater kid f---ups.”

then came Jacobs, for whom campbell’s body art — spongeBob, M&Ms — was the cherry on top of his 2006 metamorphosis from shiny schlub to shirtless proof that a hard body can happen after 40. campbell estimates that he’s tattooed Jacobs at least 30 times. the two were con-nected through shelly Zander, Jacobs’s longtime fit model and a friend and client of campbell. now they’re boys. they have matching “Bros Before Hos” tattoos.

“yeah, I love Marc,” says campbell. “He could call me up and say he was thinking of opening up a car wash and I would be like, ‘cool, let’s wash cars!’ ” Jacobs could also call up and

say, “Would you be interested in doing something with Louis Vuitton?” — like he did last year when he offered campbell a men’s wear collaboration (tattoo-print bags and scarves, available now). this was after campbell had formally sworn off such projects rather than risk being considered a sellout. “I said out loud, ‘I’m not doing any more commercial or fash-ion stuff.’ and it was as if those words came out of my mouth and the phone rang, and it was Marc. I was like, ‘OK, except that.’ you know?” He goes on to put himself in the same sen-tence as takashi Murakami and stephen sprouse, whose past collaborations with Vuitton yielded cult status.

although campbell, 33, with his greaser hair and retro style, looks like he could have been cast on “Oz,” he’s a big softy. “I’m a sucker for the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing,” he says. “I’m the first one to be like, ‘F---it. do it.’ Like, who cares about next week. If you love them right now, love them right now as hard as you can.” His own body bears the scars of relationships past. “I wanna say I’ve gotten, like, five girls’ names on me,” he says. Instead of getting creative with cor-rections, he’s taken to just crossing a name out with a line.

campbell has a small studio in the back, which is just big enough for two assistants and a laser cutting machine. In ad-dition to his tattoo business, he’s found success in the fine art world with his laser-cut dollar bills that are shaped into skulls and plaques reading “I’ll start My diet tomorrow.” He also drains ostrich eggs, cracks them and then draws on them — when he can find them. campbell’s shown his work all over the world, most recently in Los angeles, where he has a show up at OHWOW gallery through the end of the april.

He changes, unprompted, into a short-sleeve shirt so that his arms, both fully sleeved in tattoos, will be visible for the camera. He seems pretty comfortable being interviewed and photographed — done it quite a bit, in fact, with recent stories in Interview and on endless fashion blogs — and has gotten better at it, thanks to tattooing. “When I was a kid, I was termi-nally shy,” he says. “tattooing forced me to interact with peo-ple, so that’s helped me out. doing press is OK, but campbell tries “to avoid the people with the textbook ‘make a list of all the famous people you’ve tattooed.’ I roll my eyes at that.”

Good thing I opened with questions about his art show!art, says campbell, is a way to escape the “ceiling” of

a traditional tattoo career. “I’m just realizing there’s more potential,” he says. But one has to choose his projects wise-ly. consider the tragic, cautionary tale of ed Hardy, a legiti-mate tattooing legend turned punchline by the line of tattoo t-shirts that bear his name and have inspired allegiance among the cheesy masses (e.g., Jon Gosselin).

“ed Hardy holds the pink slip to modern tattooing.”says campbell. “If anyone, he has the right to sell it. I don’t know why he did it, but he signed his name at the bottom of that contract with christian audigier and it ruined everything. that’s his legacy now, those f---ing sequin trucker hats.”

“We FILLed It,” said Paris review editor Lorin Stein, watching his guests stream into cipriani on 42nd street for the Paris review revel on tuesday night. “We filled it to capacity.”

a young woman pulled the editor away, but he bounced right back.

“One of our writers is telling me to offer drugs to another of our writers for tonight,” he explained. “can you catch me afterwards?”

the hall was filling up with rich donors and literary things, young and old, but mostly old. this was the Paris review’s annual fund-raiser gala to build the endowment that supports the magazine.

Marie claire editor Joanna Coles stood near the entrance to the banquet hall contemplating what life at Hearst will be like once Robbie Myers, and elle magazine, join the corporate family officially.

“I think that we have different readerships actually. elle is very much exclusively about fashion,” she said. “Marie claire is for readers who want fashion in their lives — but it’s fashion with a life. I think of Harper’s Bazaar and elle as exclusively fashion.

“I’m sounding quite earnest, aren’t I?” coles said.

she reconsidered: “I think I will be the pantomime dame!”

“do you know what that is?” chimed

in Barneys new york’s ambassador-at-large Simon Doonan. “It’s a whole weird thing english people do at christmastime — they do these commedia dell’arte abortions that are called pantomimes. My roommate used to play the back end of the horse.”

the comment incited an indecipherable game of one-upmanship between coles and doonan over each’s knowledge of different pantomime characters. “I’m happy to play dandini to either Glenda [Bailey] or robbie,” coles said.

“dandini’s a tranny character,” explained doonan, shrewdly. “It’s a tranny.”

coles spoke over him. “you really should be comparing us to

Joe Zee, not robbie,” she said finally as she tossed back her Bellini.

Further into the room, Terry McDonell, sports Illustrated group editor and the president of the Paris review’s board, bragged about the literary magazine’s endowment.

“the great irony is that from the year that George [Plimpton] passed away, it’s gotten stronger and stronger and stronger,” Mcdonell said. He laughed when a man nearby in a Paris review tie and suspenders asked if the endowment was a few million.

“It’s more than that,” said Mcdonell. “I don’t want to make us sound too rich.”

stein took the stage toward the end of the night.

“In just one year, our paid

subscriptions have gone up 32 percent,” he said. “Last month alone we sold 1,000 new subscriptions. In the last six months, our Web traffic has gone up almost 500 percent. Our Web site has reached more than 1.5 million in these last six months. the new york times has called it ‘the best party in town.’ they’re wrong of course — this is the best party in town.” everyone clapped. “But we’ll take it,” stein said.

after dinner, times executive editor

Bill Keller made a quick move for the coat check and headed for the door with his wife, Emma.

“Our night was great,” he said. “We had a good time.”

do the Kellers come every year?“no, this was our first time,” chimed

in emma with a big smile.“We had a friend with a table,” Keller

explained, ushering his wife away from a reporter. and, yes, Keller agreed, turning to the door: “It’s the best party in town.”

Paris Review editor Lorin Stein hosts the “best party in town.”

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Boys’ Night OutBy Jessica Iredale

Scott Campbell at

Saved Tattoo.

Lorin Stein

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“Yeah, I love Marc. He could call me up and say he was

thinking of opening up a car wash and I would be like, ‘Cool, let’s wash cars!’”

— SCott CaMPbeLL