G G LOG ON TO OUR WWD.com PEOPLE FROM WEB SITE WHERE OUR NEW LOOK YOU’LL FIND: G WE THE TOP G EASIER NAVIGATION TO TOP SECTIONS G HEIGHTENED PRESENCE OF VISUALS KNOW DOWN G FASHION SCOOPS FRONT AND CENTER COTY’S MICHELE G BETTER ACCESS TO ALL PUBLICATIONS RAG & BONE CALLS ON SCANNAVINI OUTLINES FRIENDS AND FAMILY REORGANIZATION. FOR SHOW. PAGE 10 PAGE 3 GLOBAL STOCK TRACKER LAUNCHES Valuing the Brand: Fashion’s Foremost By EVAN CLARK BE BIG OR BE FAST. The most valuable and dynamic fashion and THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY beauty companies in the world are either one or WWD the other. That is one of the key takeaways of the WWD Global Stock Tracker, which launched on WWD. com Wednesday and puts 100 of the most impor- tant fashion, retail, luxury and beauty stocks in one place and — after a currency translation — on the same playing fi eld. Millions of investors vote every day — from New York to Hong Kong to Paris — collectively de- ciding who’s on their way up and who’s on their way down. It’s a never-ending distillation of every- Goddess thing that makes up a business, from branding and distribution to management and marketing. The verdict? Competition is fi erce and sheer size offers effi ciencies of scale and market might that helps the big stay big and grow bigger — albeit In the at a slower pace than some of their scrappier com- petitors. There are a host of companies that still have speed and momentum on their side, from Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. to Under Armour Inc., that are being richly rewarded by investors. By market capitalization — the value of all of Details a fi rm’s outstanding shares at the current price For their Valentino couture collection, Maria — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the most valuable Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli channeled a pre- company playing in the fashion sphere, weigh- Raphaelite goddess. That muse manifested ing in at $247.09 billion. Beauty giant Procter & Gamble Co., a big Wal-Mart supplier, ranks as many splendid looks, some that were utterly number two, with a market cap of $217.99 bil- plain and others decorated lion. Then there’s a big fall-off in terms of size. in intricately gorgeous L’Oréal SA comes in at number three at $104.33 billion. (Market caps of companies trading on motifs such as this SEE PAGE 8 embroidered tulle COUTURE gown, its bodice crisscrossed in American Apparel leather strips. For PARIS more couture, see FA L L 2 014 Latches on to Lifeline pages 4 to 7. By VICKI M. YOUNG AMERICAN APPAREL INC. is out of crisis mode. American Apparel and Standard General — along with company founder Dov Charney — have reached an agreement that would give the retailer up to $25 million in funding, provide for a reconstituted board and give Charney the temporary title of strategic consultant. Standard General’s aid would help shore up the retailer’s fi nances, as well as pay the $10 million owed to Lion Capital. Under the terms of the “Standstill and Support” agreement, the New York-based hedge fund — along with Charney — also agreed not to acquire any ad- ditional shares in American Apparel and limit their vote to no more than one-third of the company’s shares on any issue put to stockholders. Their re- maining shares would be voted proportionately to the vote of other shareholders. They also agreed not to solicit proxies in connection with the common stock or form or join any group with respect to the stock. The standstill agreement remains in effect until American Apparel’s 2015 annual meeting, accord- ing to a regulatory fi ling with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday. Further, an independent board committee will be formed to oversee the continuing investigation into the alleged misconduct by Charney. The SEC fi ling said the committee members will include cochair- man David Danziger, one Standard General designee and one joint designee. Charney will serve as consul- tant until the end of the investigation. His role after PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI SEE PAGE 2 2 WWD THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014 Diesel Sues Cybersquatters THE BRIEFING BOX they are buying a Diesel-quality product,” said IN TODAY’S WWD By ARNOLD J. KARR Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel and its parent com- pany, OTB. “In addition, these Web sites damage DIESEL HAS DRAWN a thick line in the granular the brand’s reputation and goodwill, hindering the sands of cyberspace. distinctiveness of authentic Diesel products’ trade- Backstage at The Breganze, Italy-based denim and sportswear mark quality and craftsmanship.” Elie Saab’s brand has filed suit in U.S. District Court for the In addition to injunctive relief, the plaintiffs are couture show. Southern District of New York charging nine de- seeking treble damages for all losses suffered by For more, see fendants with selling counterfeit Diesel products Diesel and all profits derived by the defendants, plus WWD.com. through a network of 83 different Web sites, all attorneys’ fees. Alternatively, Diesel is asking for using the Diesel brand in their domain names with- damages of $30 million per defendant, or $270 mil- out authorization and all but three of them using lion, and $2 million for each of the 14 trademarks al- the word “jeans” as well. legedly infringed, or $28 million, plus costs of the suit. Each faces nine counts ranging from trademark Diesel has recently picked up the pace of efforts counterfeiting, trademark infringement, trademark to combat counterfeiting and cybersquatting. Last dilution, unfair competition and violations of the fed- year, it said, more than 70,000 counterfeit Diesel eral Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. products were seized by Chinese customs and an- ACHARD The defendants are referred to as “John Does other 35,000 by European customs officials, who 1-9” as the identities of the individuals or entities withheld another 15,000 products during the first involved aren’t known. six months of 2014. DELPHINE But Diesel said that it engaged OpSec Security This year, an online brand protection program BY to untangle the vast network of Web sites and found has been instrumental in shutting down 120 infring- PHOTO nine “infringing families” behind them. The larg- ing sites, blocking more than 1,000 sellers and re- est, described in court papers as “Infringing Family moving about 400,000 items. 2,” controlled 45 of the sites while three of the nine In recent years, brands including Ralph Lauren, The most valuable and most dynamic companies in fashion supervised just two each. Some of the site names The North Face, Tory Burch, MAC Cosmetics, the and beauty are either big or fast. PAGE 1 were straightforward, such as buydieseljeansonline. Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., Coach, Gucci and Salvatore net, while others suggested geographic origins (die- Ferragamo have prevailed in cybersquatting suits, American Apparel and Standard General have reached seljeansoutletuk.com) or suggestions of the brand’s and True Religion Apparel Inc. was rewarded an agreement that would give the retailer funding and Dov heritage (dieseljeansclassic.net). Those still in oper- $863.9 million in damages in a case against 106 PAGE 1 ation made extensive use of Diesel’s logo and other Chinese cybersquatters in 2012. Charney the title of strategic consultant. trademarks, 14 of which were cited in the suit, al- While collection of damages is in most cases im- though court papers pointed out that, based on a re- possible, the suits have accelerated the shutdown Diesel has filed a suit charging nine defendants with selling PAGE 2 view by a Diesel USA employee, the products being of offending sites and at least slowed efforts by of- counterfeit Diesel products. sold weren’t authentic Diesel merchandise. fending parties to resume operations, even if under Diesel’s official Web site can be found at diesel.com. another brand name. Coty Inc. has begun to implement a massive reorganization “The unlawful use of Diesel trademarks to sell The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial in a case aimed at transforming the global beauty player. PAGE 3 counterfeit goods through various retail Web sites assigned to Judge Kimba Wood. around the world injures our customers who think Arent Fox LLP is serving as counsel for the plaintiffs. Apple commands about 53.3 percent of mobile smartphone orders, followed by Samsung at 30.5 percent, according to analytics firm Custora Pulse. PAGE 3 Ralph Lauren Corp. named Malcolm Carfrae global head of American Apparel, Standard Ink Pact communications, public relations and media. PAGE 3 {Continued from page one} vote either the new shares or the 27.2 percent he Kim Kardashian was reunited with Valentino Garavani, who in that will depend on the committee’s findings, and initially owned without the hedge fund’s consent. May hosted a pre-wedding brunch for her and Kanye West, at the committee will determine what capacity, if any, While investors appeared to be in agreement the Valentino couture show in Paris on Wednesday. PAGE 7 would be appropriate for Charney. with the new source of funding, it wasn’t immedi- In turn, the SEC filing said Charney has agreed ately clear whether all lenders were on board. Rag & Bone presented its spring men’s collection in not to “interfere with or attempt to influence the On Monday, American Apparel in a regula- PAGE 10 outcome of the investigation, or access the com- tory filing with the Securities and Exchange Manhattan in an unconventional manner. pany’s computer system.” As consultant, he will Commission said it received a notice of default continue to receive his base salary, but will have from Lion in connection with a credit-loan agree- Ovadia & Sons will launch Ovadia +, a new collection of no supervisory authority over any employee of ment dated May 22, 2013.