Page 1 Tuesday s EXCLUSIVE: Balenciaga MILAN MEN’S: More opens men’s store reviews including in Paris, page 10. s Gucci and ermenegildo Zegna, pages 6 to 10. FASHION: Resort from Jean Paul Gaultier, (right), Chloé, s EYE: Catching up Viktor & Rolf and with actress Julia s akris, pages 4 and 5. Jones, page 16. MILAN men’s collections/spring 2011 Women’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • June 22, 2010 • $3.00 WReady-to-Wear/TextilesWDTUESDAY Bar Code MILAN — Robust, textured sweaters have been all over the runways of Milan, as designers focus on clothes for leisure rather than work. In the collection she showed Sunday night, Miuccia Prada delivered her own take on chunky knits, with thick, candy-colored bands married to marine stripes. For more on the Milan men’s collections, see pages 6 to 10. Digital Versus Print: Brands Rush to Web, Just Not to Advertise By Lisa Lockwood The WoRlD is oNliNe — yeT fashioN brands are still reluctant to advertise there. ad experts say that even as fashion brands shift more of their marketing spend online, they aren’t clamoring to place their ads on the Web as much as they are using it for e-commerce, blogs, posting news about their brands and building social networks. among the reasons are: • impactful fashion imagery doesn’t translate as well online. • There is too much clutter on the Web and their ads don’t stand out. • it’s debatable whether online fashion ads actually move merch. “look at the initial forms of advertising online — window ads and banner ads, they’re See For, Page12 photo by davide maestri davide photo by 2 WWD, TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 2010 WWD.COM Retailers Buoyed by Strong Father’s Day By Jean E. Palmieri fifth avenue, reported, “over father’s day, we sold buy-now, wear-now and pre-fall well. top WWDTUESReady-to-Wear/TextilesDay ShopperS turned out for father’S day, categories were dress shirts, knit shirts and lifting the spirits of retailers and affording them men’s accessories. our own brand, Saks fifth FASHION the opportunity to meet or exceed plan. tailored avenue Men’s Collection, led the way, and we clothing and dress shirts, along with knitwear, were very pleased with new categories of busi- 6 The Milan shows are more about casual pursuits were among the bestsellers for most stores, stok- ness being rolled out, most recently shoes and than power suits, with the runways offering up ing further confidence that the upcoming fall accessories. We expect the trends that have leisurewear, denim, sweaters and informal takes season will be healthy. emerged thus far in spring to continue for fall on tailored clothing. “It was a little better than we anticipated,” — with particular strength in tailored clothing, GENERAL said Lou amendola, chief merchandising offi- shoes and accessories.” cer for Brooks Brothers. “Business was strong Jonathan Greller, senior vice president and 1 Ad experts say that even as fashion brands shift during the week leading up to father’s day and general merchandise manager of men’s wear more of their marketing spend online, they aren’t much stronger than in the past when it has been for Lord & taylor, said, “the total men’s busi- clamoring to place their ads on the Web as much a friday to Saturday event.” the bulk of the ness continues to see positive growth. however, as they are using it for e-commerce, blogs, posting business came from the stores rather than the this past week we saw midsingle-digit growth news about their brands and building social networks. Internet, he noted. through Sunday versus the double-digit increas- Shoppers turned out for Father’s Day, lifting the among the top performers, he said, were es we had been seeing.” although the volume 2 tailored clothing and neckwear, both of which remained strong, the final percentage gain was spirits of retailers and affording them the opportunity posted “nice increases over the previous year.” “less than we would have liked.” to meet or exceed plan. although ties are an expected gift item, the he noted the consumer continues to look for Balenciaga this week unveils its first freestanding strength of clothing was unusual. “It was a bit of a value, with the biggest increases coming from 10 men’s boutique, a 650-square-foot unit on the Left surprise,” he said. Knitwear was also a standout. short-sleeve ts, short-sleeve sport shirts and Bank here with a graphic and otherworldly decor although its semiannual sale kicked off Monday, shorts. also strong were Black Brown 1826, tommy meant to evoke a submarine. Brooks Bros. ran some one-day specials in the Bahama, casual and tailored contemporary and weeks before father’s day to draw traffic. “It denim collections. however, the store was less EYE wasn’t about the item that promotional than last year, Time was when donning the same — or a was on sale,” he said. “It which was a positive. “We s 16 similar — dress as another partygoer, even a was more of a way to draw won’t sell merchandise few weeks between outings, was a serious breach them into the store.” and the below cost,” he said. “We of social etiquette. Clearly, such concerns are strategy worked. “Customers have to stay the course. We Samantha no longer relevant. did come out and shop,” feel positive that we can get Rosen amendola added. “We ex- the momentum back.” ceeded plan, and in this day although he remains Classified Advertisements.................................................................................................15 and age, that’s exactly what cautious in this “volatile” To e-mail reporTers and ediTors aT WWd, The address is we want.” environment, Greller said [email protected], using The individual’s name. as a result, he is opti- he was “excited for fall to WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2010 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. mistic about the future. “It come. the merchandise VOLUME 199, NO. 130. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except for Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one tells me consumers are in- looks great and we know additional issue in January, May, June, October and December, two additional issues in March, April, August, September and terested in shopping again. we can do better. this past November, and three additional issues in February) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast: they’re still uncertain, but week was just a blip.” S. I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President/CEO; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice President/COO; unlike before, when they Accessories from the Saks Fifth Avenue Men’s neal Black, chief execu- Jill Bright, Executive Vice President/Human Resources. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional were unwilling to shop, tive officer of Jos. a. Bank mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration Collection performed well for the holiday. No. 886549096-RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: P. O . Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, now, when it comes to the Clothiers, said promotions Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6 POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P. O . Box 15008, North 11th hour, they’ll get out and shop.” are fueling sales right now. “I think things are no Hollywood, CA 91615–5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: for fall, he expects some new items and cat- longer getting worse, but they are not getting bet- Please write to WWD, P. O . Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289-0273, or visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. Subscribers: If the Post Office alerts us that egories such as the back-to-college collection, ter yet,” he said. “We’re at the bottom and it is your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obligation unless we receive a corrected address within one year. If to lure customers to the cash register. “our in- still taking a lot of aggressive promotional activi- during your subscription term or up to one year after the magazine becomes undeliverable, you are ever dissatisfied with ventory levels are so low and in control, there’s ty to motivate the customer to buy. I don’t see that your subscription, let us know. You will receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S no reason to panic. We’ve been able to predict changing before the end of the year. Customers WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions and reprint requests, please call 212-630-4274 the business and we’re on plan. our fall projec- are cautious and they want good value and they or fax requests to 212-630-4280. Visit us online at www.wwd.com. To subscribe to other Fairchild magazines on the World Wide Web, visit www.fairchildpub.com. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened tions are not overly optimistic, so they should be want their purchases to be a good investment. companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive these achievable,” he said. We’d like to be a little less aggressive, but I don’t offers and/or information, please advise us at P.