The Inside: Pg. 12 H&M NET SOARS 43%/3 JUNIORS’ SPRING HITS/8 Caught WWD in the Web WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’THURSDAY Daily Newspaper • March 27, 2003 Vol. 185, No. 62 $2.00 List Sportswear Going in Style NEW YORK — The golden age of the jet set may have come and gone, but it still lives on in fashion. That’s especially true at the moment, when movies and books are rediscovering the iconic look of the Sixties and Seventies stewardess. And the junior market offers many an option for young wannabes seeking new heights. Here, a cotton and Lycra spandex corduroy jacket from Lix Jeans with a polyester and rayon satin skirt by Spacegirlz; bag by Kiki Pearl; shoes from Marc by Marc Jacobs. For more, see pages 6 and 7. CRIOUT What Price Luxury? Brands Go High, Low To Spur Tough Market By Miles Socha PARIS — If the designer fashion business were a game show, it would definitely be “The Price is Right.” That’s because many of today’s biggest players have been fiddling with their tags, with some introducing accessibly priced items for so-called “aspirational” customers and others raising the bar with exclusive, hyper-expensive baubles. All the changes are stirring sharp debate among retailers, manufacturers and industry consultants at a time when no one See Luxe, Page5 PHOTOGRAPHED BY ROBERT MITRA AT WESTCHESTER COUNTY AIRPORT; MODEL: TAYLOR WARREN/NEW YORK MODELS; STYLED ROXANNE BY ROBINSON-ES MODEL: TAYLOR WESTCHESTER COUNTY MITRA AT AIRPORT; PHOTOGRAPHED ROBERT BY 2 WWDTHURSDAY Sportswear GENERAL Fashion has taken inspiration from the high-flying world of flight attendants ™ 6 — and vice versa. Here are some looks and a mini-history on the subject. Many of today’s biggest fashion houses have been fiddling with price tags, A weekly update on consumer attitudes and behavior based 1 but it’s stirring a sharp debate in the luxury market. on ongoing research from Cotton Incorporated The WWDList: Designers ranked by the number of page views received 12 during the first two weeks their collections were posted online at Style.com. WWD, THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2003 WWD, THURSDAY, KEEPING IT CASUAL Helped by reduced losses in the U.S., net profits at Swedish behemoth The new rules for dressing in today’s corporate climate 3 Hennes & Mauritz vaulted 43.1 percent to $118.7 million in the first quarter. EYE: Zandra Rhodes gets set to open her British museum, and parties from Once in a while an acquired privilege finds itself they don’t want to look too comfortable. They 4 Los Angeles to Miami, plus Madonna’s big shoot. curtailed by those in a position of authority. That’s want to look confident and professional, not Classified Advertisements ..................................................................13-15 not the case with corporate casual dressing. Far frumpy.” Because of this, Gilmore often walks a To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is from the days where dot-com millionaires fashion tightrope. This spring, for [email protected], using the individual's name. strolled into office spaces wearing wind- instance, she offers denim dresses and SUBSCRIPTION RATES U.S. and possessions, Retailer, daily one year, $99; Manufacturer, daily one year, $135. breakers and sneakers, today, a growing suits as well as cotton/linen blended All others U.S., daily one year $195. Canada/Mexico, daily one year, $295. All other foreign (Air Speed), daily one year $595. Please allow 6-8 weeks for service to start. Individual subscription information: (800) 289-0273; number of employees are choosing to pantsuits (displayed with white T-shirt outside U.S. (818) 487-4526; group subscription information (856) 786-0963. Postmaster: Send address changes to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008. spruce up their usual work wardrobes in shells) in bright, sherbet colors. WWD (ISSN #0149-5380) is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue every month except July, and two additional issues in April and August, by Fairchild Publications, Inc. an attempt to appear more professional. Part of Gilmore’s job also consists in a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc., 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001-8191. However, that does not mean they are bringing back the sheep that may have WWD is a registered trademark of Fairchild Publications Inc.© 2003 by Fairchild Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc. All rights reserved. willing to give up the comfort of corpo- wandered from the flock. “People here No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be rate casual dress that they’ve grown to love are confused by business casual. Is it jeans expressly permitted in writing by the copyright owner. Editorial Reprints: (212) 221-9595 Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and other offices. – instead, they are reinterpreting it to fit a or a pantsuit? Khakis and a sweater? I Mailed under Publications Mail Sales Agreement No. 517054. Canada Post Returns to: P.O.Box 1632, Windsor, ON N9A 7C9 GST # 88654-9096-RM 0001 Canada Publications Agreement # 40032712 new economy and an altered world. convince them they don’t have to do stan- Printed in the U.S.A. All signed articles published in the paper represent solely the individual opinion of the writer and not those of According to findings by the Cotton dard business casual anymore. They can WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY. ™ Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor , the trend dress up and still look feminine.” For Web site access, log on to www.WWD.com toward dressier casual apparel has had an Although many women may be happy impact on consumers’ attitudes “Casual dressing in the workplace to cast aside the über-casual about what is acceptable to is nowhere near dead, look of the dot-com era, how wear on casual days. But will but it is evolving.” formal they choose to dress is In Brief American offices be seeing a often a function of their age. Ira Livingston LUCKY SHOES: Vernon, Calif.-based Lucky Brand Dunagarees – Cotton Incorporated return to power suits and Jennifer Kasper, marketing is stepping into footwear. The line of denim-driven activewear pantyhose any time soon? Not manager, Federated Merchan- has inked a licensing deal with South River, N.J.-based quite. In fact, according to the Monitor, only 36.4% dising Group women’s ready-to-wear brands, sees a Steinweis Jacobson LLC to produce women’s and men’s of women feel people have begun dressing too casu- difference between younger shoppers and those footwear. Lucky Brand footwear will hit department and special- ty stores for the back-to-school season, featuring five men’s and ally on casual days (down from 42.4% a year ago). who are more established in their careers. six women’s athletic-looking styles in leathers and suedes. The So while dressing up is on the rise, it is not neces- While the latter group is reverting to conserva- looks will also be carried at Lucky’s stores and Web site, lucky- sarily in response to a workplace gone casually over- tive looks from the company’s Alfani line, brandjeans.com. Retail price points will range from $60 to $100. board. Linda DeFranco, creative trend forecaster the former may never have experienced a formal G HARRODS NIXES CHICAGO PLANS: Chicago, apparently, is for Cotton Incorporated, sees women in the work- work environment—and never wants to. “INC. not Harrods’ kind of town. The London department store has all force as having more options than men in terms of [Federated’s line of sportswear aimed at women in but scrapped plans to open a unit in the Windy City — what what’s acceptable to wear. “There haven’t been very their twenties and thirties] is becoming more laid would have been its first in the U.S., a company spokesman said. back,” she explains. “This customer’s work He said Harrods’ owner, Mohamed Al Fayed, failed to see eye-to- many guidelines in terms of what’s appropriate to eye with developers for Chicago’s historic State Street shopping wear to work,” she points out, leaving women the wardrobe is probably not suits five times a week. area. Al Fayed had wanted to take on a larger role in the devel- freedom to dress in almost anything from slacks to She’ll buy a denim jacket over gabardine,” says opment — in the form of a proposed hotel and real estate proj- sundresses—something they quite appreciate. Kasper. “Denim is blowing out of the stores.” Also ect — but was offered a “fairly modest retail proposal,” in the end, the spokesman said. “Further involvement in the project As DeFranco points out, women also dress up for at the top of her shopping list: “great black pants” looks exceptionally unlikely,” he added. “The developer seemed occasions outside of work citing the popularity of that she can wear with a variety of tops. “This unaware of the fundamental brand value associated with clothing that does double duty from going to the customer has an expectation that her wardrobe is Harrods, and this was reflected in [the proposal].” office to going out at night. “In the summer you go going to be versatile.” G ITALY ON MADISON: The Italian Trade Commission plans to out more so you’ll wear something a little dressier to In fact, 86.5% of women still find casual days kick off an 11-day promotional program with retailers on upper work.” A simple way to make an impact without appropriate in American workplaces, according Madison Avenue in Manhattan tonight.