Daily EDition january 4, 2017 1

Fashion. Beauty. Business.

New York-BoundParis brand Zadig & Voltaire will show during New York Fashion Week.

Page 4

Picking PharrellPharrell Williams will appear in an ad campaign for Chanel handbags.

Page 4

Rick Owens SuitThe designer promised to fight a lawsuit filed by a former store manager.

Page 3

● The e-commerce giant appeals to the masses and outspends competitors with video advertisements that purport to promote its more high fashion offerings.

By Maghan McDowell

While Amazon makes its living on the web, it is clearly setting its sights on TV viewers.

This holiday season, Amazon outspent both Wal-Mart and Target on TV advertis-ing, spending more than $135 million — or 76 percent more than it spent over the same period last year.

According to advertising sales intelli-gence platform MediaRadar, which tracked retailers from October to November, Wal-Mart spent $119 million (down 10 percent) and Target spent $103 million (up 54 per-cent) on TV spots. Amazon had the biggest increases in digital advertising as well with its spending up 224 percent compared to the past year. The e-commerce giant eclipsed spending from Macy’s, Sears,

● President-elect Donald Trump’s trade agenda is shaping up as one more focused on trade enforcement than on trade liberalization out of the gate.

By Kristi ellis

WASHINGTON — Enforcement, not expansion.

That’s likely to be the focus of the next U.S. trade representative as Presi-dent-elect Donald Trump moves to fulfill his campaign promise to get tough on trade and punish those countries — and companies — that engage in unfair prac-tices at the expense of American jobs.

business

In Fashion Push, AmazonPuts Ad MoneyToward TV

business

New USTR:Trump’s TradeEnforcer

Continued on page 11

Continued on page 10

Victorian fashion got a modern and youthful update for pre-fall with evening attire that could also be dressed down with jeans. Puffy, dramatic sleeves appeared on gowns yet felt more unexpected and current on cropped tops, leather tops and jumpsuits. Here, Nicole Miller’s stretch satin jumpsuit worn over a 3.1 Phillip Lim silk top, Pearl Collective earring

and ring and a Sydney Evan bangle. For more, see pages 6 and 7.

Statement Sleeves

photograph By Josh Filauri

hai

r and

mak

eup

by a

man

da W

ilson

; Mod

el: d

om a

t Sta

te M

anag

emen

t; Fa

shio

n a

ssis

tant

: em

ily M

erce

r; S

tyle

d by

and

rew

Sha

ng

https://ads.bridgetrack.com/Invista/_redir.htm?BTData=LJC.B.gAB6f.DN.0W.cxPy.t49.L2Mn.GK.mm4.1.o*.BhA.E&utm_source=WWD&utm_medium=BannerCPM&utm_term=WWDDailyDigital842x1224&utm_content=WWD_AO_ORWM2017_DAILY_DIGITAL_FULL_PAGE_842x1224px.pdf&utm_campaign=ORWM2017

january 4, 2017 3

Political Agenda Holds Opportunities and Concerns for Fashion Industry● Several issues, ranging from tax reform to trade and copyright protections, will be in play in the political and legal arenas in the first half of the year.

● Queen Elizabeth Passes 25 Patronages to Younger Royal Family Members

● Gwen Stefani on Fashion, Beauty, Love and Her Latest Deal With Revlon

● Smaller, Faster, Better?

● The Inauguration, Parties, Restaurants and Actors

TOP 5TrendIngON WWD.cOM

NEWSMAKERSThis Week’s Most Talked About Names In Our Industry

Ruth Negga

Pharrell Williams

caitlyn Jenner

Beyoncé Knowles

How to Use WWD’s E-viewer

SleepNo More

SleepNo More

Tumi’s JeromeGriffith Gains Support As Lands’ End CEO

2. Double-tap to zoom in on a page.

1. Tap the headline to launch the text-reader

version of an article.

3. To print this issue, hover over the bottom right of your browser window and

click on the ellipsis symbol “…”. Choose the Print option

from the menu.

4. Like the e-viewer format for WWD’s Digital Daily?

Let us know. E-mail ddfeedback@wwd.com with

questions or comments.

SleepNo More

SleepNo More

Tumi’s JeromeGriffith Gains Support As Lands’ End CEO

SleepNo More

SleepNo More

Tumi’s JeromeGriffith Gains Support As Lands’ End CEO

● She was previously the trade publication’s senior business news editor.

By wwD staFF

PARIS — Joelle Diderich has been named Paris bureau chief of WWD, effective this week.

She was previously senior business news editor of WWD and has worked in the Paris office since 2010.

“Joelle’s news drive, writing prowess, broad-screen interests and stature in the French market make her an ideal candidate to lead this linchpin office and increase WWD’s profile and leadership,” said Miles Socha, editor in chief of WWD, who served as Paris bureau chief from 2000 to 2008 before being named the publication’s European editor.

Born in Luxembourg in 1972, Diderich was raised in Bahrain and London, where

she graduated with a French baccalaure-ate from the French Lycée. She obtained degrees in economics from University College London and journalism from City University in London.

She began her career covering Lon-don’s foreign exchange market and trea-sury news for U.S.-based agency Market News Service.

In 1994, she joined Reuters in London and during the following 10 years lived and worked in Madrid, São Paulo, Brasília

and Paris covering everything from gen-eral elections and forest fires to the 1999 Brazilian currency crisis. She fulfilled her long-held ambition to become a fashion journalist in 2000, when she started cov-ering Paris Fashion Week for Reuters.

In 2005, she left the agency to study photography at Gobelins, a leading Pari-sian school of visual arts. For the next three years, she worked on a freelance basis, combining fashion coverage for the Associated Press with concert pho-tography for news photo agency EPA.

In 2009, Diderich became editor in chief of trade publication International Cosmetic News, where she oversaw a daily web site, a weekly newsletter and a monthly magazine.

She joined WWD the following year and covered companies ranging from Hennes & Mauritz to Hermès, as well as retail; watches and jewelry, and enter-tainment news.

Her successor has yet to be named.

● The fashion house is vowing to fight a lawsuit filed in New York State court by a minority shareholder in the company’s U.K. business.

By evan clarK

Rick Owens is looking to defend himself in a New York legal fight.

Barbara Mariani, who helped establish the designer’s stores in Paris and London, sued FiftyFifty Inc. — which is owned by Owens and his business partner and creative director, Elsa Lanzo — alleging an attempt to wrongly squeeze her out of her 10 percent stake in the business unit used to set up the U.K. operation.

The suit, which seeks damages of at least $2.5 million and was filed in New York State court last Friday, charges “tor-tious interference with business relations and breach of fiduciary duty.”

But a spokesman for the fashion house noted to WWD that the action comes from a minority shareholder in the com-pany’s Paris store and that, “We believe this lawsuit is totally without merit and our lawyers will be filing papers to have the same dismissed.”

The suit claims Mariani, “an American,

single mother of three children” was key in opening the brand’s stores, first in Paris and then in London, receiving equity in both operations for her efforts as well as other compensation.

Mariani put in 18,000 euros, about $18,732 at current exchange, for a 9 percent interest in the Paris store, which opened in 2006. Two years later, she received a 10 percent stake in a company called Creature Development, which is controlled by FiftyFifty and was set up to establish the London store, which opened in 2009.

The suit said, “Mariani worked seven days a week, 16 hours a day, without holiday or respite, to ensure the success of the new London store opening, all the while maintaining spectacular sales in the original flagship store in Paris and traveling weekly between the stores to ensure both operations ran smoothly and to share and foster important client rela-tionships she had formed over the years.”

Mariani said she was asked to step away from the London store in 2011. The suit said, “She signed a termination of the consultancy agreement she had executed with Creature Development in June 2011, modifying her right to sell her 10 percent share at market value within ten business days, and held onto her 10 percent inter-est in Creature Development.”

She contends she was later asked to “gift” her stake back to the company “at a nominal fee.”

The suit said, “Lanzo’s demands that Mariani give up her interest in Creature Development were accompanied by a five-year relentless campaign to intimidate Mariani into turning over her shares.”

In 2015, Mariani received a letter from Lanzo claiming that Creature Develop-ment owed its controlling shareholder, the Owens and Lanzo-controlled Fifty-Fifty, $717,373 dating back to 2008 and 2009 promissory notes. The letter said that FiftyFifty applied for an allotment of shares to “satisfy the alleged outstanding loan obligations.”

“By the share allotment offer letter, defendant FiftyFifty sought to pressure Creature Development into offering an exorbitant number of new shares, solely for the purpose of squeezing Mariani out of Creature Development,” the suit said. “Such squeeze-out would allow FiftyFifty (and Lanzo and Owens and company) to increase their shares in Creature Devel-opment without requiring any additional input of capital from FiftyFifty.”

The letter indicated that Mariani would have to come up with 79,540 pounds to maintain her stake. She arranged to bor-row the money, but said she never heard back from Creature Development or FiftyFifty on the matter and that the loans have not been repaid nor have additional shares been allocated.

business

Joelle Diderich to Lead WWD’s Paris Bureau

business

Rick Owens Legal Battle Brewing

Joëlle Diderich

penc

e, M

cCon

nell

and

trum

p ph

otog

raph

by

Mol

ly r

iley/

ap/

reX

/Shu

tter

stoc

k; n

egga

by

Laur

en/V

arie

ty/r

eX/S

hutt

erst

ock;

jen

ner b

y Ka

tie j

ones

; Kno

wle

s by

Ste

phen

Lov

ekin

/reX

/Shu

tter

stoc

k

4 january 4, 2017

● The French advanced contemporary brand is celebrating its 20th anniversary and has several initiatives underway to strengthen its U.S. business.

By lisa locKwooD

NEW YORK — Zadig & Voltaire, the advanced contemporary firm based in Paris, is aiming to make greater inroads into the U.S. market.

The brand, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, plans to show during New York Fashion Week for the first time. The collection will be presented in a runway show on Monday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. at Skylight Modern at 537 West 27th Street in Chelsea. The brand has previ-ously shown on the Paris runways but had recently switched to a presentation format at its new headquarters in a townhouse on Avenue d’Iena in the 16th arrondissement.

Known for its clothing with edgy, rock-chic looks as well as sportswear, Zadig & Voltaire chose to show in New York for several reasons.

“New York is my second home,” said Thierry Gillier, founder and chief executive officer of Zadig & Voltaire, in an interview with his partner, Cécilia Bönström, artistic director, at The Mark Hotel here. Bön-ström said the fall collection shows how the Parisian woman is reborn into a New Yorker. “It’s a wink to my muse Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy,” she said.

The company’s fall show will feature a mix of new models and those who have previously worked with the house, such as Erin Wasson.

Zadig & Voltaire, which generates 350 million euros, or $364.5 million at the current exchange, in sales, has 318 stores worldwide in cities ranging from Paris and Los Angeles to Hong Kong and Melbourne, along with a robust wholesale business. The brand sells such retailers as Galeries

Lafayette and Printemps in France; El Corte Ingles in Spain and Portugal; Har-rods and Harvey Nichols in the U.K.; La Rinascente in Italy; Sogo in Hong Kong; Lane Crawford in Hong Kong and China; Globus in Switzerland, and KaDeWe in Ger-many. In the U.S., the brand is distributed to about 500 doors, including Blooming-dale’s, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, as well as Shopbop.

With four stores in New York City and 25 throughout the U.S., Zadig & Voltaire is getting ready to open a fifth unit at 453 Broome Street in Manhattan. That store, which has 3,000 square feet of selling space, is expected to open in April. The company recently unveiled a store in Australia, and plans 13 units there over the coming year. In December, Zadig & Voltaire opened a store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, joining existing Zadig & Voltaire doors on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, the Malibu Country Mart in Malibu and the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Zadig & Voltaire’s business is divided among several regions: 37 percent is generated in France, 29 percent in the rest of Europe, 18 percent in Asia, 13 percent in the U.S. and 3 percent in the Middle East.

Currently, accessories account for 30 percent of the business. The brand produces handbags, footwear, scarves and hats. It also has licensing deals for watches (Red Luxury) and sunglasses (Rigo Vision SPA) and has two perfumes — one for him (This is Him!) and one for her (This is Her!), licensed to Shiseido Group. It

launched its first fragrance, “La Pureté,” in 2009, which was developed in collabo-ration with Le Labo and is still available. Zadig & Voltaire’s web site, which was launched overseas in 2006 and in the U.S. in 2012, is the number one volume generator, said Gillier. The brand, which maintains an artistic bend, launched an independent music label, Zadig & Voltaire Music, in 2009, which is currently on hold.

To acknowledge its 20 year anniversary, the company has teamed with Parsons Paris The New School for Design students on the windows of its flagships in New York and Paris, where third year students were given carte blanche to decorate the windows. The Parsons’ windows are now live at the store’s flagship on Madison Avenue and in Paris. The second round of Parsons’ windows will be up at the end of February, and there will be a third round in September.

A collector of contemporary art, Gillier was born in Troyes, France. His mother was a stylist and his grandfathers owned factories. He followed a girl to the U.S. in the Eighties, got a degree from Bard Col-lege, where he studied painting and film, and also graduated from Parsons The New School of Design. He went to work for sev-eral designers, including Thierry Mugler, before starting his own brand in 1997.

Over the years, the brand has experi-mented with loose knits, washed leathers, digital prints on jerseys and putting gold in yarns. Zadig & Voltaire has established brand staples, such as the Tunisian T-shirt, The Rock Clutch and word-em-bellished knits such as “Mick,” “Love,” “Rock” and “Amour.”

fashion

Zadig & Voltaire to Show During NYFW

Thierry Gillier and Cécilia Bönström at

their New York home.

● The music star is to front the new Gabrielle style alongside Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne and Caroline de Maigret.

By Miles socha

Pharrell Williams wears Chanel neck-laces and tweed jackets with confidence and panache. He walked the runway at the Ritz Paris for the French brand last month and once composed a song for a Karl Lagerfeld-directed Chanel film, crooning that he wanted to “see, see (CC) the world.”

Now the music star has landed his first handbag campaign, WWD has learned.

Williams is to appear in advertising for Chanel’s new Gabrielle bag, recently pho-tographed by Lagerfeld, who conceived the style.

The designer also conscripted three powerful women for the spots: Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne and Caroline de Maigret. It is understood the personali-ties were shot separately, not as a group, and that this is the first time a man has appeared in a Chanel handbag ad.

The brand is keeping the visuals under

wraps until their debut on April 3, but con-firmed the four guests of honor on Monday.

WWD had already reported Nov. 3 that Stewart would appear in the Gabrielle campaign. A face of Chanel makeup, Stewart has appeared in fashion cam-paigns for Chanel’s Métiers d’Art collec-tions and appeared in a movie Lagerfeld directed for his “Paris in Rome” effort in December 2015.

The designer also photographed Stew-art for a handbag campaign in 2015 that featured Vanessa Paradis and Alice Dellal as well.

Delevingne and Williams have appeared together for Chanel in the past. The English model was featured in Lagerfeld’s short film that celebrated the Paris-Salzburg Métiers d’Art collection in 2014, in which he and Delevingne danced in the final scene.

Known for her androgynous, rock-tinged style, de Maigret started modeling for Chanel in the late Nineties and is now a brand ambassador. She also has a music label and is a producer, photographer and co-author of the book “How To Be Parisian: Wherever You Are.”

The Gabrielle bag was unveiled on Chanel’s spring runway — and it’s one of those simple yet ingenious designs at which Lagerfeld excels. The designer got

the idea from looking at virtual reality goggles and upending the shape. Cue a flat-bottomed, neo hobo with a dou-ble-chain handle that permits multiple

carrying options. It can be worn as a shoulder bag, across the body or with the chain going over one shoulder and then diagonally across the other.

fashion

Pharrell Williams Adds Handbag Campaign to Chanel Duties

Pharrell Williams

Zadi

g &

Vol

taire

pho

togr

aph

by M

asat

o o

noda

; Will

iam

s by

Sté

phan

e Fe

ugèr

e

Apply to The Workshop at Macy’s today.If your woman or minority-owned company is ready to grow and expand, then we invite you to apply for The Workshop at Macy’s – our free and exclusive

vendor retail development program in New York City.

Learn more and apply now at macysinc.com/workshop

6 january 4, 2017

Puffy sleeves were a key silhouette for pre-fall.

Modern Day Victorian

photographS By Josh Filauri

By anDrew shangTadashi Shoji’s chiffon and floral lace embroidered gown and Alena Akhmadullina’s silk top. Pearl Collective earring and ring (both worn throughout).

TrendsPre-fall

january 4, 2017 7

hair and MaKeup aManDa wilson For nars cosMetics

ModeL

DoM at state ManageMent

FaShion aSSiStant eMily Mercer

Josie Natori’s cotton and elastane top and 3.1 Phillip Lim’s cotton jeans (worn throughout). Anthony Dreyer x Pearl Collective choker; Sydney Evan bangle (worn throughout).

Tanya Taylor’s lambskin leather top and Alena Akhmadullina’s silk top.

Cinq à Sept’s jolie stretch dress and Sachin &

Babi’s polyester top.

Sachin & Babi’s polyester top. Dries Van Noten neckpiece.

TrendsPre-fall

8 january 4, 2017

● The brand’s Everlasting Flash program will premiere lip merchandise at sephora.com on the first Wednesday of every month at noon EST.

By rachel Brown

Kat Von D wants to determine her own schedule.

As fashion increasingly adopts a see-now-buy-now approach to the runway, the tattoo artist and namesake makeup brand founder is advocating for more fluidity in the beauty launch cadence, and she’s setting the example by mak-ing select lip products available online monthly before they enter stores.

Kat Von D Beauty’s so-called Ever-lasting Flash program will premiere the merchandise at sephora.com on the first Wednesday of every month at noon EST and is starting Jan. 4 with Sanctuary, a nude shade addition to the Everlasting Liquid Lip Collection that will be one of six new nude shades hitting retail in Feb-ruary. The sneak-peek or flash events run 48 hours or until supplies, which range from 5,000 to 10,000 units, last within 48-hour periods.

“When you look at fashion, beauty and all this stuff, there are kind of these forced seasons. Companies feel pressure to focus on these launches because the world and our schedule has evolved into that,” said Von D. “But I rather constantly create hero products. I don’t think we strategi-cally need to sell things only attached to the holidays or anything. We created a system that I think will be a lot of fun, not

just for stores, but for the client.”Kat Von D Beauty has been working

with Sephora since August on the flash initiative and has already mapped out the products that will get the sneak-peek treatment throughout the year. The brand is concentrating on a proven performer for the program with the Everlasting Liq-uid Lip Collection, a bestselling franchise. Kat Von D Beauty is owned by Kendo, a division of LVMH Moët Hennesy Louis Vuitton, also owner of Sephora.

“This is about great minds coming together, and it’s at the forefront of what’s next,” declared Kelly Coller, head of global marketing for Kat Von D Beauty. Elabo-rating about the products that will be fea-tured in the flash program, she said, “Each month is decidedly different whether it is a single [item] or multiples. The shades are wildly different.” Von D hinted that shades tied to her brand’s upcoming 10th anniver-sary collection, and its Saint and Sinner fragrance reintroductions could partici-pate. The flash program spotlights liquid lipsticks and extends outside of them in the lip category. It will be held in Canada at sephora.ca as well as the U.S.

In a beauty business driven by new-ness, the flash program gives Kat Von D Beauty at least two cracks at stoking demand for new products: connected to flash events and weeks later when they break into stores. Unlike apparel flash sales that were associated with the reces-sion and centered upon excess inventory at discounted prices, the brand’s flash program involves full-price items. The existing 29 liquid lipsticks shades in the Everlasting Liquid Lip Collection are $20, and so is the Sanctuary shade.

“It’s not the flash sale like what it was when it was first created. It’s actually the opposite,” explained Coller. “This is an entirely new way to shop. It is about giv-ing our beauty fans what they want when they want it without sacrificing integrity.”

Although beauty brands largely sold digitally such as Kylie Cosmetics and Colourpop have embraced a drop philoso-phy releasing products on their own terms to eager fans, brands relying on brick-and-mortar locations have had a harder time straying from standard launch cycles. Kat Von D Beauty’s strong ties to Sephora and the specialty retailer’s e-commerce site, and its avid digitally savvy audience makes it able to pursue its own calendar in ways many of its competitors can’t. The brand boasts 2.7 million followers on Instagram and Von D has personally accumulated 5.4 million followers on the platform, where she recently previewed 25 future liquid lipstick shades.

“Before we used to create these shade extensions and wait to launch them all at once and, I thought, ‘Why not be able to trickle in newness in a larger way?’” said Von D. “It goes against what a lot of com-panies do, but I’m a fan. I’m the client. As I’m developing these products, I get super excited. My team has to convince me to hold back on announcing them too early. I’m the beauty junkie, and if I feel like this, I feel the rest of the beauty junkies out there are feeling the same way.”

Sanctuary could sell out within minutes to mark the debut of Kat Von D Beauty’s Everlasting Flash program. “I wouldn’t be surprised if select shades start selling out quickly. It’s happened before and that’s my prediction. I could be totally wrong,” spec-ulated Von D. “I guess that’s the only down-fall. It feels really weird to complain about, ‘Oh my gosh, our brand is so popular, it’s hard to keep up.’” She has another predic-tion about her brand’s flash sale program, too. Von D prognosticated, “I wouldn’t be surprised if other brands started coming on board and doing the same thing.”

beauty

Kat Von D Beauty Drops New Lip Products Monthly

● The launch comes as the brand battles headwinds in its core U.S. market.

By rachel strugatz

The Jenners are making their mark on the beauty space — and quickly stealing the Kardashians’ spotlight in the sector.

Not to be outdone by daughter Kylie Jenner, who on Monday night teased an image of her new Royal Beach eye shadow palette to her 82.5 million Instagram followers, Caitlyn Jenner is gearing up to release a makeup collection of her own, MAC Caitlyn Jenner. The eight-piece makeup line will hit MAC counters and maccosmetics.com on Thursday with the dedicated hashtag #MACCaitlynJenner.

This is the second time Caitlyn Jenner has partnered with MAC Cosmetics. Last year she collaborated with MAC Viva Glam on the lipstick shade Finally Free, where $1.3 million in proceeds went toward the MAC AIDS Fund Transgender Initiative. This time, though, Jenner teamed with the The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc.-owned brand to do something a little more commercial.

The 15 stockkeeping unit range is comprised of two lipsticks, $17 each; two lip pencils, $17.50 each; three shades of Cremesheen Glass, $21 each; three eye shadows, $16 each; eyeliner, $17; a set of false lashes, $17; Mineralize Skinfinish, $33; a blush duo palette, $29, and an addi-tional lipstick shade to be sold exclusively online at maccosmetics.com for $17.

A MAC spokeswoman said Jenner would not be doing interviews at this time.

A source close to the company called MAC Caitlyn Jenner a “classic MAC collaboration.”

“It’s a diversity play and [is in line with] the long-standing brand position of All Ages, All Races and All Sexes,” the source contin-ued. “It’s part of conversation. There will be people who love and people who won’t love it. It will definitely be a little controversial.”

In October, MAC launched its MAC Selena collection, which sold out online in five hours. The range was restocked at the end of the December. In November, Mariah Carey for MAC debuted and sold out within 24 hours, and as of right now, there are no plans to restock it.

The launch of the Caitlyn Jenner line comes as MAC is battling headwinds in its core U.S. market due to lower foot traffic in midtier department stores and fewer shoppers in major cities where the makeup brand has freestanding stores, such as New York and Florida. In November, Estée Lauder chief executive officer Fabrizio Freda said to turn around the brand, the group would focus on product innovation, better services, new collections and a stepped-up social media presence — and the Jenner collection clearly ticks at least two of those boxes with her 8.3 million Instagram followers.

beauty

Caitlyn Jenner And MAC Team on Makeup Line

● The company expects to realize more than the previously announced $140 million in annualized synergies and cost reductions.

By allison collins Revlon Inc. is kicking off 2017 with restructuring moves.

As part of the company’s acquisition of Elizabeth Arden, which closed in September, Revlon is cutting jobs and streamlining certain operations as part of the integration. Revlon expects to cut 350 positions globally and projects integra-tion-related restructuring activities will cost between $65 million and $75 million by 2020, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The costs break down into an esti-mated $40 million to $50 million in employee-related expenses — including severance, retention and other contrac-tual termination benefits, $15 million in lease termination costs and $10 million in other charges. Revlon anticipates it will record an estimated pre-tax restruc-turing charge of about $30 million for 2016, with between $30 million and $40 million in restructuring charges for 2017, and that the remainder will be paid by 2020. The company said it will start noti-fying affected employees Jan. 3.

Revlon said the restructuring should

help the business realize “significantly” more than the previously announced $140 million in annualized synergies and cost reductions.

A Revlon spokeswoman said in a statement: “Today Revlon Inc. filed with the SEC a Form 8-K disclosing required information related to implementing certain restructuring activities associated with integrating the Elizabeth Arden and Revlon organizations. The filing discloses the expected charges associated with these restructuring activities and the number of employees that are expected to be affected by the integration plan over the next [three] years. The 8-K also dis-closes certain information regarding the previously disclosed expected realization of synergies and cost reductions. Among other things, the company disclosed that it expects to significantly exceed the pre-viously disclosed $140 million in annual-ized synergies and cost reductions.”

Revlon’s acquisition of Arden creates a beauty company that operates across the mass and prestige spectrums, with a larger, global stage.

“As we look at the synergies that we have, there are countries where we are both strong: the U.S., the U.K. and South Africa,” said Fabian Garcia, Revlon chief executive officer, when the deal was announced. “Then you have a bucket of countries where Elizabeth Arden is strong and we are not as strong: South Korea and China. Then you have another bucket

of countries where we are strong and they are not as strong: Japan.” Combined, the business was initially projected to have annual sales of around $3 billion.

The company has made a handful of moves since the deal was announced, including the Revlon brand announc-ing Gwen Stefani as its latest celebrity ambassador. She follows Ciara, who was appointed in late 2015 and existing ambassadors Olivia Wilde, Alejandra Espinoza and Halle Berry. At Cutex, which Revlon acquired the rest of in June, the focus of launches is on nail care, in line with several other brands in the market.

For its third fiscal quarter — the group’s first time reporting numbers since the Arden deal closed — Revlon reported a 28 percent gain in net sales to $604.8 million, coupled with a net loss of $4.7 million (that number includes some acquisition and integration costs). In its consumer division, sales were driven by Revlon beauty tools and color cosmetics, but offset by lower sales of Sinful Colors. Professional division sales were driven by American Crew men’s grooming products as well as the launch of Revlon Professional Be Fabulous, dampened by lower sales of CND nail products. At Arden for the quarter, num-bers were bolstered by fragrance sales of Juicy Couture, John Varvatos, Britney Spears and Curve, as well as higher sales of color cosmetics.

business

Revlon Restructures Following Arden Acquisition

Caitlyn Jenner will release a makeup collection with MAC Cosmetics.

january 4, 2017 9

● The industry wants to achieve exports of up to $10 billion by 2024.

By Daniel De carteret and su Phyo win

YANGON — At the Rising White Tiger gar-ment factory on the outskirts of Myanmar’s capital city, Hnin Su Hlaing checks the stitching on hundreds of pants and shirts each day, most of which are destined for lower-end department stores in Europe. The 18-year-old left school after the sixth grade and now works up to 10 hours a day, six days a week.

“I know that these clothes are for export, but I don’t know which foreign countries they are exported to,” she said, standing by her desk at the end of one of six factory lines, where 300 garment work-ers toil away, repeating the same menial stitch over and over.

Employees on this factory floor earn the minimum wage of 3,600 kyats a day, or about $2.75, making it one of the low-est-cost apparel-producing nations in the world. With up to two hours overtime avail-able each day, Hnin Su Hlaing takes home close to 10,800 kyats a month. She says the monotony of her job does not bother her.

“I’m happy here because all the people working here are my friends.”

Emerging from economic isolation after decades of military rule, Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi-led government is seeking to boost the country’s low-skilled workforce with policies that favor job-cre-ating industries.

The nation’s apparel sector, which has been buoyed by the recent removal of U.S. sanctions, is set to be a key beneficiary of this push. By 2024, the industry wants to achieve annual exports of up to $10 billion, employing as many as 1.5 million workers, a feat that would go a long way to building confidence in Myanmar’s fragile democracy.

The sector has recently seen a sharp rise in exports, but is also experiencing the growing pains that come with rapid maturity.

Barely a year since it won a landslide victory following its pro-democracy cam-paign, Myanmar’s inexperienced govern-ment is struggling to formulate policies that give businesses the confidence they need to make decisions, while industrial relations are a foreign concept in a country whose military dictatorship ran the econ-omy into the ground.

From April to mid-October this year, Myanmar’s apparel exports were valued at

$1.27 billion, already surpassing the total previous financial year’s (April to March) figure of $1.1 billion, according to the Min-istry of Commerce.

The 2016 numbers are more than double the $572 million the industry generated five years ago, in the 2011 to 2012 financial year.

“The garment sector is booming these days,” said Myanmar’s commerce minister Than Myint, whose ministry is working closely with the industry to try and open up new export markets through bilateral agreements that aim to give Myanmar pref-erential tax treatment on its exports.

“The sector is important for the country’s economy, in creating job opportunities and greater export income,” he said.

Japan, South Korea and the European Union make up the bulk of the export des-tinations today, with very few shipments to the U.S.

At its pre-sanctions era peak, in 2001, the industry was valued at about $868 million, according to a 2012 report from the Japan External Trade Organisation. At the time, the export sector was run by about 400 factories, employing more than 300,000 workers, the majority of which were women. Back then the U.S. was buying up 50 percent of the garments produced, but the industry shrank dramatically when sanctions tightened in 2003, following con-cerns over rights abuses perpetrated by the military, and access to the world’s largest consumer market came to a halt.

Today, factory and worker numbers have returned to their 2001 levels, with China and South Korea among the largest foreign investors in the industry.

Achieving duty-free access to the Euro-pean Union in 2013 aided the recovery and this trajectory was given a further boost in September when President Obama revealed the lifting of the remaining exec-utive sanctions, including the removal of individuals blacklisted for their close ties to the military. Dropping the restrictions is expected to give foreign investors and international buyers more confidence in the developing economy.

“It means a lot. It means investment,” said Khine Khine Nwe, secretary general of the Myanmar Garments Manufactur-ing Association, referring to the lifting of sanctions. “It provides a sense of security to the investors.”

Removing the blockade is also expected to free up the banking sector to allow for more trade financing with foreign banks, meaning factories could accept payment from international buyers for orders before they are fulfilled, which is critical for cash flow in a low-margin industry that imports all its raw materials.

Obama also made Myanmar eligible for the Generalized System of Preferences, allowing the country reduced-tax access to the U.S. for more than 5,000 products. To the dismay of the local industry, however, this does not cover run-of-the-mil gar-ments, but it is something the MGMA plans to lobby Washington to change.

“We know that there are ways, there are ways to work it out,” said a hopeful Khine Khine Nwe.

In October, a new investment law sailed through parliament giving Myanmar’s Investment Commission the power to offer tax breaks to investors in industries that the government wants to steer the economy towards.

“In the context of investment, resource-based sectors dominate FDI [foreign direct investment] in Myanmar,” said the commission’s secretary, Aung Naing Oo. “As you are well aware, foreign-earnings can be increased by exporting val-ue-added products. Therefore, priorities are given to attract more investment in the manufacturing.”

But there is much work for an inexpe-rienced government to do. Delays in gov-ernment policy are the main gripe among businesses, which say the industry needs to climb from the bottom rung of the garment manufacturing ladder to capture more of the clothing production, and in turn greater margins.

“There are a lot of laws that need to be amended because most of the laws are out of date,” said Sai Maung, the owner of the Rising White Tiger garment factory.

Reducing red tape would lure invest-ment into a local raw materials industry, he said, reducing the cost of imported materials for production.

Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the immature industry, however, is getting industrial relations right. Independent unions are still in their infancy and workers remain unsure of their rights. Employers are unfamiliar with workplace standards demanded by the international market, while the labor law is weak and lacks proper enforcement from an inexpe-rienced government.

“When you are in a suppressive environ-ment for so long, it is like you pump the air into the balloon, and the minute you release the balloon into the air, it goes crazy, it goes frantic — and that is the stage at where we are,” said Piyamai Pichaiwongse, deputy liaison officer with the International Labor Organization’s Myanmar Office.

Labor laws are being rewritten, but this process requires consultation with employ-ers and unions, something that is unfa-miliar in Myanmar’s longtime top-down

approach of governing, Pichaiwongse said. Understanding the responsibilities each stakeholder has to one another is still very much in its infancy, she added.

“So that is a very big concept that Myan-mar has to learn, everybody including workers, employers and the government all have to learn to walk anew,” she said.

ILO surveys show that one out of 10 chil-dren between the ages of age and 17 are in some form of child labor in Myanmar. The U.N. labor body defines child labor as men-tally or physically harmful work that inter-feres with schooling. Yet simply sacking every underage employee from every fac-tory in the country won’t fix the problem, said the ILO’s Pichaiwongse, as there is nothing for them to fall back on. The indus-try was taking steps to resolve child labor, but it will take time and requires a mix of responses — from removing children from the most dangerous working environments to getting factories to support youths with education and training possibilities — are required to deal with child labor, she said. Convincing factories that have spent time under the hard strictures of the military to come forward and talk to non-government organizations and the ILO on how best to manage child labor is part of the challenge, the ILO adviser said.

“That is a long-term investment for your company, in terms of corporate social responsibility.”

Labor groups are also having a differ-ent set of challenges with employers and workers often unfamiliar with indepen-dent unions. A recent survey of 200 workers by rights group Progressive Voice found that only 8 percent were union members and 35 percent were unsure if a union existed in their factory. The Confed-eration of Trade Unions in Myanmar is the country’s largest labor representative. It has 45 garment sector-related unions with about 19,000 workers registered with it. The CTUM came out of decades of exile to register with the government last year, but gaining membership numbers while educating workers on their rights has been difficult, according to CTUM assistant general secretary Phyo Sandar Soe.

“The biggest challenges facing unions at the moment is workers getting fired by factory owners once they know that the worker is a labor organizer for the union or a member of the union,” she said. “The main problem is the laws itself. We are trying to amend the labor organization law and the dispute settlement law, that can only make it better for unions to form.”

There is much riding on the prospects of Myanmar’s manufacturing sector. To create a sustainable job-creating garment sector that promotes workers’ rights and is business-friendly will be inextricably linked to the political success of the new government.

“With the lifting of sanctions and the new investment law, which I hope will be very attractive to many people all over the world, we think that our country is in a position to take off,” Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters during her September visit to the White House. “But for us, economic development is just part of the democratic process that we want to encourage in our country.”

For workers like Hnin Su Hlaing, who sends part of her pay back home to her family in rural Myanmar, there is no social security blanket to fall back on, and in an economy emerging from decades of dark-ness, the job opportunities are few.

“I have no idea what other jobs I could get. I don’t think most jobs are available to me, apart from this job as garment factory worker,” she said.

business

Myanmar’s Apparel Sector Seen Key to Growth

Garment workers sew garments destined for Europe at Rising White Tiger

garment factory in Yangon, Myanmar.

The Rising White Tiger garment factory in Yangon, Myanmar.

10 january 4, 2017

Trump’s primary focus seems to be on growing U.S. manufacturing rather than on negotiating new trade deals.

While retail and brand executives are on edge about the emerging paradigm shift in trade policy and the implications for their trade-reliant businesses, the U.S. textile sector is encouraged by Trump’s pledge to revitalize domestic production and hopeful it will lead to more favorable rules that help the industry expand.

But even as Trump moved Tuesday to fill out his trade team by naming attorney Robert Lighthizer as USTR, there con-tinues to be confusion over whether the president-elect will go through with his oft-stated, and even more often tweeted, vows on trade — and who actually will be leading the effort.

While the role of USTR will be that of a principal negotiator on trade deals, according to Trump’s chief spokesman, the president-elect also plans to rely on a wider circle of advisers to craft his overall trade agenda and policy, according to Sean Spicer, incoming White House press secretary. Many of these people could end up with more authority to set administra-tion policy than the USTR.

For example, Trump already has indicated that Commerce Secretary-des-ignate Wilbur Ross would have the lead in crafting broader trade policy, along with Peter Navarro, head of the newly created White House National Trade Council and a China hawk. The two men will “develop and implement trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand economic growth, strengthen our manufacturing base and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores,” Trump’s communica-tions office said.

That raises the question as to what Lighthizer’s role will be, given that in past administrations the point person on all trade-related issues was usually the USTR.

Already Trump has vowed to withdraw the U.S. from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership on his first day in office and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. He has also threatened to impose tariffs of up to 45 percent on Chinese imports and 35 percent on Mexican imports and separately impose a 35 percent tariff on imports from companies that move offshore. The first two proposals would severely impact the fashion and retail industries, which get most of their prod-ucts manufactured in China or elsewhere in Asia. Closer to home, many firms have sourcing agreements with companies based in Mexico.

As a result of Trump’s stated plans, uncertainty abounds over what his new agenda will mean for market-opening trade deals.

Right off the bat, as he revealed his USTR choice, Trump showed he will take a tough approach on outsourcing, sending out a tweet criticizing General Motors for producing its Chevy Cruz model car in Mexico and warning: “Make in USA or pay big border tax.”

It is unclear whether his previous warn-ings on outsourcing had any influence on Ford Motor Co., but the big auto manufac-turer said Tuesday it plans to scrap a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and invest in a Michigan factory for that production.

“We’re really excited we’ve got a team of top trade experts who are going to work together to bring American jobs home, which is what frankly the presi-dent-elect campaigned on — standing up to foreign cheating and standing up for

American manufacturing,” Spicer said on a call with reporters.

As for the tweet warning GM, Spicer said Trump has “generally made clear, whether it is Carrier [which recently decided not to move jobs to Mexico in exchange for significant tax breaks] or other companies, he wants to bring American jobs home. He doesn’t want companies in the United States to be able to go leave this country and sell back to the U.S., leaving American workers behind.”

For U.S. importers that produce the majority of clothing abroad and imported more than $110 billion to the U.S. last year, the antitrade rhetoric of Trump raises concerns about his team’s approach, but many welcomed news about Lighthizer.

An attorney specializing in international trade and a former deputy USTR in Ronald Reagan’s administration, Lighthizer, who will have to be confirmed by the Senate, was praised by many for bringing political knowledge and government experience on trade to the table.

He played a key role in developing trade policy in the Reagan administration and negotiated two dozen bilateral inter-national agreements, ranging from steel

to grain, that were “uniformly tough and frequently resulted in significant reduc-tions in the shipment of unfairly traded imports into the United States,” according to Trump’s transition team.

“He understands how the process works, unlike some of the folks on the team who have never been in govern-ment,” said Julia Hughes, president at the U.S. Fashion Industry Association. “He does bring to it an understanding of what USTR can do and cannot do. From that perspective, we are not dealing with an unknown entity.”

Hughes said there are still questions and concerns “as we look at the rheto-ric from a lot of the team that has been pretty totally negative on what our relationship with China is, what our relationship with NAFTA is and the tweet today [about GM]. All of that obviously raises concern, but we are still waiting for the opportunity to talk with the team and share some of our views.”

Hun Quach, vice president for inter-national trade at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said of Lighthizer: “Obviously he is someone who is familiar with USTR, with the building, employees

and the mission, having served as deputy USTR. There is great comfort in knowing he is skilled and knowledgeable on trade policy issues.”

But Quach noted that retailers are watching closely how he will work with Trump’s trade team to implement the trade agenda. “We’ve heard everything from increased tariffs on Chinese and Mex-ican goods” to a border adjustability tax that has been proposed by House Republi-cans, she said.

For the U.S. textile industry, Trump’s new trade team and pledge to bring jobs back to the U.S. are encouraging, said Augustine Tantillo, president and ceo of the National Council of Textile Organizations.

Tantillo said he has known Lighthizer for 30 years.

“He has dedicated his career to further-ing the interests of U.S. producers and U.S. companies, and shown a commitment to manufacturing here in the U.S.,” he said. “Bob is an expert on unfair trade prac-tices. He has represented the domestic side of [unfair trade petitions] throughout his career. So we are excited about his nomination….He understands interna-tional trade law.”

Tantillo said he does not believe Ligh-thizer will have a “diminished” role at USTR, even if the Trump administration is not launching new bilateral trade negotia-tions out of the gate.

“I see all of this activity as actually an upgrading of trade policy within the broader mix of issues for first time in 30 years,” Tantillo said. “[Trump] is bringing Commerce back into a prominent role on trade policy.…Lighthizer will be one of three major players in that team. It will be well-defined and well-structured, which is again an unprecedented approach to this. Who can name the last Secretary of Commerce who actually played a promi-nent role in trade?”

He added that the template for what is considered a “good” trade agreement is what will be different in the new adminis-tration. “The dynamic has changed. The shift is toward a new set of policy objective goals, but certainly not a lower level of activity,” Tantillo said.

Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Eco-nomics, said Lighthizer’s views are consis-tent with those of Ross and Navarro.

“The overall view is that the U.S. has had bad deals on trade agreements, especially with NAFTA,” Hufbauer said. “The emphasis is not on new agreements, which involve mutual opening of markets. That has been the parable in past trade agreements since the end of the Second World War. Reciprocal opening has been the flavor of trade policy. This [Trump’s trade policy] flavor is quite different, because the flavor is other countries should open their markets, and if they don’t the U.S. should close its markets. That’s a very different approach.”

In addition to his role as deputy USTR under Reagan, Lighthizer served as chief of staff of the Senate Finance Committee that passed Reagan’s tax and spending cut proposals and helped in the passage of legislation that implemented the Tokyo round of trade negotiations.

He has also represented the U.S. at meetings of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, as well as at meeting at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which preceded the World Trade Organization.

Lighthizer has been in charge of the international trade law practice at Skad-den, Arps Slate, Meagher and Flom for more than three decades. While there, he represented U.S. manufacturers in signif-icant trade cases during the last 25 years, including the key steel safeguard case in the early 2000s under then-President George W. Bush.

New USTR:Trump’s Trade Enforcer CoNTiNuED fRoM PAGE 1

Robert Lighthizer

Robert Lighthizer served as chief of staff of the Senate Finance Committee that passed President Reagan’s tax and spending cut proposals and helped in the passage of legislation that implemented the Tokyo round of trade negotiations.

january 4, 2017 11

Kohl’s, Nordstrom and J.C. Penney.In its push to promote its fashion

segment, Amazon Fashion had a holiday TV spot in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Austria with models carrying Amazon boxes to various locations with the tagline “Now Delivering Fashion,” which ran from September through November. In Europe, it tapped Olivia Palermo for an online-only video ad promoting its fashion segment.

But while the ads suggest a more high fashion offering, the positioning is discor-dant with where Amazon shines — which is in basics and mass-market, low-price apparel.

“Amazon is continuously looking for new streams of revenue and while TV ads are one of the least effective marketing channels for e-commerce brands, they have likely maxed out digital channels,” said Stephanie Horbaczewski, who is chief executive officer and founder of fashion video network StyleHaul. “Given that high fashion is closely associated with print advertising, the choice to use TV alludes to a strategy to build credibility as another retail alternative alongside the likes of Macy’s or Target.”

Indeed, Amazon decreased its print ad

spend this season by 10 percent. Accord-ing to a MediaRadar spokeswoman, in the past, Amazon achieved success without much reliance on traditional TV advertis-ing. This year, however, Amazon placed ads on every major broadcast network and almost every cable channel, a total of 103 outlets in the final weeks of the year, she said. “As Amazon goes completely mainstream, their marketing too has cast the widest possible net.”

While the U.S. commercials didn’t include a celebrity — something that Amazon does not traditionally do — its use of Olivia Palermo overseas is an effort to leverage her socialite, street-style-star quality. In the spring, Amazon EU enlisted The Blonde Salad’s Chiara Ferragni as the brand’s European ambassador and the face of its spring 2016 campaign, after working with Suki Waterhouse.

Changing perceptions of its fashion segment is a challenge, said Toth+Co presi-dent Zack Toth. “The influencer campaign is a smart one for them. Fashion is defi-nitely a stretch outside its core capabilities and competencies.” He pointed out that Palermo is also the new face of Banana Republic, which might explain why her segment is not running stateside.

He added that perhaps the U.K. is easier to bridge the divide from mass appeal to luxury, as Amazon “doesn’t have the stigma it has in America.”

“It could have a really great basics or middle market program, but it’s not going to be a high-end luxury fashion destination.

Fashion is about trends and Amazon doesn’t have those trend capabilities as part of their brand DNA, but it’s definitely an opportunity to service middle America.”

Toth suggested that Palermo is both well-known and might appeal to the more aspirational customer. “Every human being has an innate desire for finer things, so how do you spark curiosity and engage-ment and drive an awareness? It will be interesting. Amazon can track analytics

and UX and fulfillment, but creating demand in terms of fashion and apparel and trends is a big step for them,” he said.

Still, in a September segment of Ama-zon’s fashion channel Style Code Live in which Palermo discusses her fashion and beauty advice, she admits the items most likely to be in her Amazon cart are black velvet hangers and inflatable pool toys. Meanwhile, the top apparel brands on Amazon are Hanes, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Carhartt, Fruit of the Loom, Dickies, Columbia, Champion, Gerber and Rubie’s, according to e-commerce data measure-ment firm One Click Retail.

“Amazon has struggled with luxury goods. It has been described as the ‘mall of mess’ and its actions to influence and brand policing policies have fallen short — but are getting better,” said One Click Retail man-aging partner Spencer Millerberg. He said that, like Wal-Mart, Amazon has struggled to move beyond basics in apparel. “Amazon has the brand clout and the funds to make a major departure from Wal-Mart. The invest-ment in TV advertising signals that this is an initiative critical to Amazon, as TV advertis-ing is traditionally reserved exclusively for Jeff Bezos’ pet projects — things like Kindle, Prime and Fire TV.

“The addition of a prominent American socialite further reinforces Amazon’s most recent strategic moves such as making changes to their site, adding increased brand protection and gating, etc. — all posi-tioning them for a better chance at winning the elusive fashion battle,” Millerberg said.

In Fashion Push, Amazon Puts Ad MoneyToward TV CoNTiNuED fRoM PAGE 1

An Amazon fashion TV ad from fall 2016.

● The company surpassed its first month’s sales goals in the first three days of business.

By lisa locKwooD

Rockets of Awesome, seasonal subscrip-tion boxes filled with on-trend, direct-to-consumer children’s apparel, has raised a Series A funding round of $12.5 million. The money will be used to attract new talent, develop and introduce products and grow the brand’s customer base.

The round was led by August Capital with returning investors Forerunner Ventures and General Catalyst. As reported, the brand, which launched last summer, raised a seed round of $7 million in funding with participation of LAUNCH, Forerunner Ventures and General Catalyst Partners.

The company, which is headed by Rachel Blumenthal, founder and chief executive officer, surpassed its first month’s sales goals in the first three days of business. It has shipped 100,000 units to date and has a wait list of 3,000 cus-tomers. Revenue in 2017 is expected to grow tenfold. Zia Taylor is the company’s senior vice president of design and mer-chandising. Previously she led teams at Gap Kids, Baby Gap, Oshkosh B’Gosh, J.C. Penney and 77kids by American Eagle.

Blumenthal also founded Cricket’s Circle, an online site with recommen-dations and curated content for parents and before that founded Rachel Leigh, an accessories firm. She is married to Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-ceo of Warby Parker.

The way Rockets of Awesome works is customers register on the site and create a style file, answering questions about what their kids love or hate, such as polka

dots or stripes, or skinny or straight jeans. The company compiles data from customers’ behavioral patterns with their kids’ preferences. With every interaction, the experience becomes more personal-ized, resulting in a highly curated delivery of outfits each season — four times a year. Each box contains 12 Rockets of Awesome items, ranging in price from $12 to $46. There is no membership fee and cus-tomers only pay for what they keep. The average box is between $200 and $250, depending on the selections. Customers can also order between shipments for fill-ins and to buy things they like.

The collections, designed for boys and girls sizes 2-14, are a mix of classic and on-trend pieces.

business

Rockets of Awesome Raises $12.5M Series A

A look from Rockets of Awesome.

● An ICSC survey found holiday shoppers spent $711 last year, $27 more than in 2015.

By evan clarK

When shoppers hit the stores this holiday season, they ended up spending a little more than they planned.

The International Council of Shopping Center’s Post-Holiday Shopping Survey found that consumers spent $711 on gifts and holiday-related items. That’s $27 more in holiday spending than consumers planned on in October and a 16 percent rise from a year earlier, when consumers spent $611, according to the shopping center trade group. Half of holiday shop-pers made a purchase in the apparel and footwear category.

Overall measures of holiday sales predict steady, but much slower, gains in holiday sales, in the neighborhood of 3.5 to 4 percent. The ICSC’s online survey was conducted by Opinion Research Corp., which polled a total of 1,030 adults on Dec. 27 and 28.

In October, the ICSC projected a 3.3 percent spending increase for 2016 and a spokeswoman on Tuesday said the group continues to expect a final result close to that.

“Consumer confidence continued to improve into December and we saw this optimism reflected in the holiday spend-ing numbers,” said Tom McGee, president and chief executive officer of the ICSC. “The strong holiday shopping season suggests a positive environment for retail sales overall.”

Including dining, movies and other mall and shopping center diversions, consum-ers spent an average of $897 this past holiday, the survey showed.

Gen X was the top-spending demo-graphic, shelling out $1,000 on average, while Baby Boomers spent $875 and Mil-lennials spent $867.

Experiences accounted for 20 percent of expenditures and appealed most to Millen-nials, who spent $220 in the area.

While shoppers are more digital than ever, they continue to spend most of their dollars in the stores. The ICSC found that 91 percent of holiday spending happened at physical stores, the same percentage as in 2015.

“The convergence of physical and digital continues to be important as consum-ers have come to expect an integrated experience allowing them to buy products through a variety of channels,” McGee said. “The survey data proves that omni-channel retailers are the real winners this season as they offer purchasing options that satisfy the shopping behaviors of all generations.”

The survey found Millennials were using technology to augment their shopping.

Of those who used a device while shop-ping in a store:

• 52 percent compared prices.• 40 percent checked availability/

inventory.• 37 percent got digital discounts or

coupons.• 33 percent read reviews/ratings.While brick-and-mortar retailing

remains important, it’s also become a less profitable proposition since much of the overall growth in sales is going to the dig-ital channel, where returns and shipping squeeze margins.

Debt watchdog Fitch Ratings predicted that U.S. retail sales this year, excluding automobiles and gasoline, would grow 3 to 4 percent, with more than half of that growth going on web players.

business

Holiday Shoppers Spend More Than They Planned

Paris/New York Men’s FashionISSUE: January 25CLOSE: 01/11 · MATERIALS: 01/16

Men’s Fashion Weeks

An Advertising Opportunity

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT PAMELA FIRESTONE, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER AT

212 256 8103 OR PFIRESTONE@WWD.COM

january 4, 2017 13

The Palm Springs Film Festival Awards Gala 2017Octavia Spencer, Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman and more attended the annual event.

WWD Postcard: Devon Windsor’s Holiday VacationThe Victoria’s Secret model spent the holidays with her family in St. Louis.

as the sun set in the desert, the starry Palm Springs Film Festival Gala 2017 attracted Natalie Port-man, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and more honorees to the Palm Springs Convention Center for the Chopard-sponsored soiree.

But with the schedule run-ning 30 minutes behind, most attendees used the delay as an excuse to bypass chatting with press. Luckily, returning honoree Tom Hanks knew the drill. “Palm Springs is the most magical night of nights,” the “Sully” star called out without even being asked a question, as he ran straight inside.

Kidman lingered a second longer. “It’s lovely to be here, you know?” she said. “I came here 12 years ago with my dad and to be back again now is emotional.” She later elaborated onstage

while accepting her International Star Award. “Even though my father is not here now, a lot of great things have happened in my life over the last 12 years,” she told the crowd. “I met the love of my life and I got married to him and I grew my family with him. I’m incredibly blessed.”

Meanwhile, her presenter and “Lion” costar Dev Patel told the audience what he’s learned from Kidman. “I’m a painfully awkward individual,” he said, “and all these red carpets and live talk shows and award ceremonies put me in a constant state of panic and fluster and Nicole just takes my hand and tells me to take a few breaths and not to take it all too seriously.”

Musician Pharrell Williams was on hand to present Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, Aldis Hodge and the cast

of “Hidden Figures” with the Ensemble Performance Award. “It’s Day Two of the New Year and we’re snapping up an award,” said Hodge. “I’m just a small cog in the machine here, but I’m lucky to be a part of it.”

As Portman and Adams posed for photos, their re-spective plus ones Benjamin Millepied and Darren Le Gallo wandered the red carpet, where Milliepied snapped his own pics on a small personal camera.

“I have lots of love, but no time,” Adams said, running by. But “Moonlight” star Mahershala Ali was happy to share what his Breakthrough Performance Award meant to him. “It’s pretty phenom-enal,” he said. “It’s not something I expected to happen, but I’m embracing it with open arms.”

He later told the crowd, “I’m

not accustomed to receiving individual honors. The more I’ve given it thought, the more I ap-preciate having spent 23 years of getting to put in the work essentially unrecognized.”

“La La Land” star Ryan Gosling paid tribute to the late Debbie Reynolds. “I wish I could have said this to her in person. She was an inspiration to us every day. We watched ‘Singin' in the Rain’ for inspiration. She was an unparal-leled talent.”

As Adams accepted the Chairman’s Award, she told the crowd: “I came out here with my daughter,” she said. “I’m a mom first and foremost.” Meanwhile, Portman thanked her presenter Tom Hanks. “I think I can retire now after getting Tom Hanks to say all those nice things about me,” she said. — Lindzi Scharf

following last month’s Victoria’s Secret fashion Show — and a gen-erally busy year — model devon Windsor has been enjoying some r&r before gearing up for what is certain to be an equally hectic 2017. Windsor spent the holidays with her family at home, followed by a new Year’s trip with her boy-friend. She sent WWd a postcard detailing her recent downtime.

***This year, like every year, I

went home to St. Louis, for the holidays. My parents still live there, so my sister Alex and I always come home.

Every year around Christmas and Thanksgiving, I buy a bunch of toys for the sick children in the oncology center at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital. I really love giving back and putting a smile on their faces, especially during the holidays.

My sister, cousin and I went to the hospital to set up in their family center. Everyone was able to come down and pick anything they wanted and if the children were too sick, their parents or siblings came to choose. It was an amazing experience and

definitely the highlight of my time home for the holidays.

Another highlight of my holiday at home was baking. My sister, mom and I always make holiday treats like Christmas cutout cookies and red and green chocolate chip cookies. Since my mom’s birthday falls on Christmas, I also made her a lemon cake with lemon butter cream frosting.

On Christmas Eve, my whole family went to Mass and then headed to our country club for a big buffet dinner. We went home to watch the “Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” On Christmas morning, we always prepare a big brunch with cinnamon rolls, eggs Benedict casserole, bacon, fruit salad and hot chocolate. Fol-lowing brunch, my family swaps gifts before our extended family comes over for the evening. For the remainder of the week, my family and I relaxed…a lot of games, puzzles and movies!

For New Year’s, I went to Mexico with my boyfriend and his family. It was a supernice and low-key holiday and I’m looking forward to what 2017 has to bring! — deVon WindSor

Devon Windsor with her sister and cousin at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Benjamin Millepied with Natalie Portman in Dior. Nicole Kidman in Dior.

Joel Edgerton with Ruth Negga in Valentino.Kirsten Dunst

palm

Spr

ings

gal

a ph

otog

raph

s by

Mat

t Bar

on/B

ei/S

hutt

erst

ock

and

rob

Lato

ur/V

arie

ty/r

eX/S

hutt

erst

ock

AT T E N D : PAT R I C I A R E I D Y, P R E I D Y @ W W D. C O M , 6 4 6 . 3 5 6 . 4 7 2 4 S P O N S O R : A L E X I S C O Y L E , A C O Y L E @ W W D . C O M , 6 4 6 . 3 5 6 . 4 7 1 9

s u m m i t s . w w d . c o m

men’s wear summit M A R C H 2 1

B R O O K L Y N

1 HOTEL BROOKLYN BRIDGE • OFF ICIAL VENUE PARTNER

ANNUALPARTNERS

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Tim CoppensT I M C O P P E N S & U N D E R A R M O U R S P O R TSW E A R

Joëlle GrünbergL AC O ST E

N O R T H A M E R I C A

Aaron LevineA B E R C R O M B I E & F I TC H

EVENT SPONSOR

P R E S E N T I N G S P O N S O R • F I R ST I N S I G H T

january 4, 2017 15

Fashion Scoops

Memo Pad

A Melania FanWith inauguration Day less than three weeks away, Melania Trump has made a point of keeping a low profile — but the first-lady-to-be’s choice of a Dolce & Gabbana dress for New Year’s Eve in Palm Beach at Mar-a-Lago has kicked off an online firestorm.

After Trump — a longtime client of the Italian brand — wore a black Dolce & Gab-bana cocktail dress with bows on each shoulder, Stefano Gabbana thanked her via Instagram with “#madeinitaly” and called her a “DG Woman.” Gabbana’s post had generated more than 13,000 likes and 1,129 comments as of Tuesday afternoon. Among other things, the designer called her “a beautiful woman,” and chided her critics as “ignorant.”

In response to one Instagrammer’s comment — “No! Whether she’s beauti-ful or not, would you be proud to dress Eva Braun? So wrong,” — an apparent reference to Adolf Hitler’s longtime com-panion and wife for 40 hours. Gabbana responded with “Who is Eva Brown? Sorry....” perhaps mistakenly translating “Braun” from German to mean “Brown.”

A spokeswoman for Dolce & Gabbana declined to comment Tuesday and a spokeswoman for Trump did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Thus far, such enthusiastic endorse-

ments of Melania Trump’s sartorial selections have been scarce among de-signers. That could all drastically change of course once the first family is installed (regardless of when they are ensconced together at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). With former New York Fashion Week and Costume Institute gala frontwoman Stephanie Winston Wolkoff playing an instrumental role in orchestrating the inaugural festivities, the Jan. 20 celebra-tion is expected to be very different than in years past. — roSeMarY feiTeLBerG

The games People PlayMichael Kors has developed his own sport of sorts — the Glamour Games, launched in 2015 with Kors and Gigi Hadid playing Pictionary. For the second round in 2016, he played “Guess the Fashion Icon” with Lily Aldridge. Now, for the third installment of the Glamour Games, Kors faces off with Kate Hudson in the “Fave Game,” in which they guess each other’s favorite breakup song, outrageous red-carpet ensemble, TV show, etc. in a race against the clock.

“Kate and I have worked together for a long time, most recently on my philan-thropic campaign Watch Hunger Stop, and we’ve been friends for even longer,”

said Kors. “Glamour Games gave us the opportunity to do something more light-hearted. She’s Hollywood royalty, loves pop culture and is a California hippie at heart so she gets all of my references, plus she’s smart and competitive, which I love. I think the game will make people laugh — we certainly did.”

Hudson seemed to have a leg up on Kors’ faves. During the second round, he didn’t have to speak for her to guess his favorite “Sex and the City” character, his-torical era and romantic comedy. Spoiler alert: Kors is a Carrie. The video breaks on Kors’ YouTube channel and Destina-tionKors.com on Wednesday. — JeSSica iredaLe

On the Prowlless than two years after shelving plans to sell Agent Provocateur follow-ing a strategic review, 3i is again on the hunt for an investor — or an outright buyer — for the luxury lingerie brand, which has fallen on hard times.

According to industry sources, 3i has begun talking to potential investors, including trade buyers, high net worth individuals and sovereign wealth funds, to help breathe new life into the brand, which rapidly expanded its worldwide retail network just as luxury sales began to slow and big-spenders — including

Russians — stopped traveling.As reported in November, Agent

Provocateur plans to shutter 30 percent of its retail network, reduce headcount at its headquarters by 30 percent and phase down its diffusion line, L’Agent, which is designed by sisters Penélope Cruz and Mónica Cruz Sánchez.

Private equity firm 3i, which acquired a majority stake in the racy lingerie brand in 2007, is also grappling with ac-counting irregularities at Agent Provo-cateur that made the company appear more successful than it was.

The company posted revenues of 62 million pounds, or $94.8 million at aver-age exchange, and earnings before in-terest and taxes of 10 million pounds, or $15.3 million, for the year ended March 28, 2015. The company cannot file its

latest accounts with Companies House, the official register of U.K. businesses, until the irregularities are sorted out.

In the meantime, 3i has hired invest-ment bank Rothschild to handle a possi-ble sale or fresh investment, while new chief executive officer Fabrizio Malverdi steadies the ship.

As reported, he plans to ramp up Agent Provocateur’s footprint in Asia and China, where it has a marginal presence, and offer the main line — which had only ever been sold through the brand’s own stores — to wholesalers starting with the fall collection. The brand has five fragrances with partners InterParfums.

Spokespeople from 3i, Agent Provo-cateur and Rothschild have all declined to comment. — SaManTha conTi

Cutting The WireWired’s longtime editor in chief Scott Dadich is out at Condé Nast, where he spent 11 years.

Once viewed as a kind of digital gold-en child at the company, Dadich, who helmed Wired for four years and served as Condé’s vice president, editorial plat-forms and design, before that, will start his own strategy and design firm with Patrick Godfrey, dubbed Godfrey Dadich Partners. (Godfrey is the chief executive officer and founder of Godfrey Q, an advertising and strategy firm whose cli-ents include Dolby, Intel, Splunk, NetApp, Symantec, Veritas — and Wired). As a result of the new venture, the existing Godfrey Q organization will transition to Godfrey Dadich Partners on Feb. 1.

At Wired, Dadich will be succeeded by Nicholas Thompson, the editor of Newyorker.com. The move marks a re-turn to the magazine for Thompson, who served as a senior editor from 2005 to 2010 before he joined The New Yorker. Thompson will start his new job on Jan. 30 and relocate to Wired’s editorial headquarters in San Francisco.

Condé Nast said New Yorker editor in chief David Remnick is in the process of looking for Thompson’s successor, but would not comment further on Dadich’s departure. While Condé Nast is in the process of reorganizing the company and cutting costs, sources told WWD that Dadich has been looking to pursue other opportunities.

It is believed that the editor did not seek a new contract, but it could not be determined if one was offered. Either way, the editor had his next move in motion in time for the announcement — perhaps he saw the writing on the wall at Condé Nast or he realized there were big bucks to be made in Silicon Valley. Recently, Wired’s creative director Billy Sorrentino left the magazine to join Apple’s design team.

“No one can see the future, but I know I’m happiest when I’m chasing it — that’s

why I’ve loved creating a new Wired every single day,” Dadich said via his Instagram account. “Covering the worlds of business and technology, however valuable, is watching from the sidelines. I felt it was time to get in the game with my own company.”

In his new job, Thompson will oversee Wired’s editorial content and is charged with expanding the brand’s digital and video presence across all platforms and formats, and furthering the reach of Wired’s tech authority. Additionally, he will work closely with Kim Kelleher, the brand’s chief revenue officer and publisher, on business innovations and brand exten-sions, including new consumer experienc-es and products at Condé Nast.

“Nick is an accomplished editor, and his leadership at The New Yorker speaks for itself — he helped expand their digital, video and social presence and signifi-cantly grew their audience, especially among younger readers,” said Anna Wintour, Condé Nast artistic director. “Nick’s return to Wired, combined with his impeccable journalistic skills, will give the Wired team a tremendous advantage in covering the world of technology.”

For his part, Thompson offered: “Wired focuses on one of the most important issues in the world: how tech-nology is changing our lives. I couldn’t

be more excited to return, engage with the readers, and work to add to Wired’s extraordinary history of reporting, story-telling and design.”

The choice of Thompson was per-haps an easy one. After all, Wired.com and The New Yorker’s site usually pull some of the best web traffic at Condé Nast. From November 2015 to Novem-ber 2016, ComScore said Wired aver-aged 11.1 million unique visitors, hitting a peak in October with 15.6 million views. For the same period, The New Yorker av-eraged 13.2 million uniques and it posted a high of 20.3 million visitors in Novem-ber, due to its strong election coverage, which was buttressed by Remnick’s editorial, “An American Tradgedy,” and his interview with President Obama.

In print, The New Yorker’s total paid & verified circulation totaled just over 1 million with total single-copy sales amounting to 18,164 for the six months ended June 30, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. A year earlier, the weekly magazine’s circulation was flat, but total single-copy sales were 31,493. At Wired, total circulation was 870,101, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, as total single-copy sales for the monthly equaled 21,678, marking a 51.4 percent drop from a year earlier. — aLeXandra STeiGrad

A Camel Walks In MidtownKate Spade New York brought a taste of Morocco to Midtown Manhattan for its spring campaign with the help of a live camel.

In the campaign, the label’s spring collection — which president and chief creative officer Deborah Lloyd infused with a festive North African flair — was modeled by the 20-year-old Chinese-Australian model Fernanda Ly, known for her powder pink locks. The im-ages show Ly leading the camel across a busy crosswalk by a leash. Kristen Naiman, senior vice president of brand creative, said passersby were whipping out their phones to capture the moment, while others — true to Manhattanite form — barely flinched.

“The chemistry between Fernanda and the camel was magical,” Naiman said. “It was palpable to passersby and created a spontaneous moment of joy throughout the shoot....It made people’s day.”

Ly, repped by DNA Models in New York, has previously appeared on the covers of Vogues in Japan, China, Aus-tralia and Italia as well as Teen Vogue, among several others. “Her strong sense of individuality and the combina-tion of her self-expression through her personal style speak first,” Naiman said on what drew the team to Ly. “As much as she’s a model, she’s an interesting woman. She has a subtle and exuberant joyous quality, which we love.”

— KriSTi Garced

Hutton’s TurnBottega Veneta has tapped Lauren Hut-ton for its spring advertising campaign.

Photographer and contemporary artist Todd Hido, who is known for his pictures showing urban and suburban houses across the United States, shot Hutton — along with models Joan Smalls, Vittoria Ceretti, Hannes Gobeyn and Morten Nielsen — inside New York’s “Modulightor Building.” Designed by late modernist architect Paul Rudolph, the townhouse, located on East 58th Street in the heart of Manhattan’s Decorative Arts district, features an intricate intersection of horizontal and vertical spaces.

“I am a great admirer of Todd’s work; his images speak quietly yet extremely suggestively in a subtle way and his use of light and color creates moods that are unique,” said Tomas Maier, who in Septem-ber celebrated his 15th anniversary as creative director of Bottega Veneta. “We have a similar approach and sensibility. I like his sense of delicacy and intuition.”

In the colored images, Hutton, who walked the brand’s spring catwalk in Milan, as well as the models wear some of the key pieces from the collection. Hutton and Smalls also carry “The City Knot,” a new bag style, featuring a metal-lic chain, introduced for next spring.Hido joins the portfolio of Bottega Veneta’s collaborations with prestigious artists and photographers, who have included Ryan Mcginley, Nobuyoshi Araki, Nan Goldin, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Pieter Hugo, Peter Lindbergh and Juergen Teller.

– aLeSSandra TUrra

Kate Spade’s spring 2017 campaign

featuring fernanda Ly.

Michael Kors and Kate Hudson in Glamour Games.

Bot

tega

Ven

eta

phot

ogra

ph b

y to

dd h

ido

Bottega Veneta’s spring 2017 campaign.