Lots of Luxe MILAN — at Many Houses, the Fall Season Was Marked by Toned-Down Styles
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POLO AT THE NET/4 COACH, LVMH DIG IN THEIR HEELS/2 WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • The Retailers’MONDAY Daily Newspaper • March 14, 2005 • $2.00 Accessories/Innerwear/Legwear Lots of Luxe MILAN — At many houses, the fall season was marked by toned-down styles. But some women will always prefer over-the-top glamour, and there were plenty of looks for them, too. Karl Lagerfeld’s audacious Fendi collection, for example, had a luxurious, power-woman vibe, and so did his accessories. Here, an example with a whiff of Russian mistress: a sizzling patchwork bag, shown with a body-hugging dress and vibrant fox chubby. For more fall accessories, see pages 6 and 7. J. Crew’s IPO Blueprint: Share Listing Planned, But Unlikely Until 2006 By Vicki M. Young NEW YORK — Preppy retailer and catalogue firm J. Crew is planning an initial public offering, but not until next year. An individual familiar with the plan said the IPO was likely to occur in the latter half of 2006. There’s been buzz in the financial market since the beginning of the year that an IPO was in the works, especially given the apparent turnaround of what was once a struggling business. The transformation began when former Gap executive Millard S. Drexler joined J. Crew as chief executive two years ago See J. Crew, Page5 PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI GIOVANNI PHOTO BY 2 WWD, MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2005 WWD.COM Coach-LVMH Resolution a Long Way Off WWDMONDAY Accessories/Innerwear/Legwear By Miles Socha Bernard Lew and Koji Hirano Arnault Frankfort GENERAL PARIS — The battle is on be- Preppy retailer and catalogue firm J. Crew is planning an initial public tween Coach and LVMH Moët 1 offering, but not until next year. Hennessy Louis Vuitton, but it It could take a year or more to resolve Coach’s claim of harassing and could be a long war. 2 anticompetitive behavior in Japanese department stores by LVMH. It could take a year or more for Coach to resolve its dispute FASHION: Many collections featured toned-down, somber looks this season with LVMH over what Coach de- 6 and completing them were dark, subtle accessories that played to the mood. scribes as harassing and anti- INNERWEAR: The changing dynamics of the lingerie and retail industries competitive behavior in Japa- 8 created a mix of anxiety and anticipation at last week’s fall-holiday market. nese department stores, accord- ACCESSORIES: The distance from runway to main floor is getting shorter, ing to the Japanese Fair Trade as evidenced by the Russian looks and upholstery fabrics in fall lines. Commission. 10 A spokesman for the commis- LEGWEAR: Legwear was back on the runway for fall and hosiery firms sion in Tokyo said Friday that 11 trotted out paisley prints and smoky metallic yarns at last week’s market. investigations regarding the Unrestrained in global trade for the first time in 24 years, China flooded the Anti-Monopoly Act in Japan 16 U.S. market with apparel and textiles in January. often take “more than one year.” At the end of the process, the commission makes a recommen- EYE dation to eliminate the illegal Talking with artist Josh Agle about his spin-off murder mystery “Shag with action, if any is found, and, “if it 24 a Twist”…The skinny from the authors of ”The Hookup Handbook.” is not accepted [by the offending Only hours before Coach an- view the fight as crucial to the company], it takes another one nounced the filing of its com- continued development of the Classified Advertisements ..................................................................21-23 or two years to finalize the deci- plaint last Wednesday, Louis brand in the booming Japanese sion,” the spokesman said. Vuitton chief executive Yves market. To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is Reached last week, execu- Carcelle was showing off slides On Friday, shares of LVMH [email protected], using the individual’s name. tives at major Japanese depart- of its just-renovated production inched up 0.2 percent to close at WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF FAIRCHILD PUBLICATIONS, INC. COPYRIGHT ©2005 FAIRCHILD PUBLICATIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. ment stores declined to comment facility in Asnieres, just outside 57.10 euros, or $76.51 at current VOLUME 189, NO. 53. WWD (ISSN # 0149-5380) is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one on the case. However, speaking of Paris, to attendees of the press exchange, on the Paris Bourse. additional issue in June; two additional issues in April, May, August, October, November and December, and three additional issues in February, March and September, by Fairchild Publications, Inc., a subsidiary of Advance Publications, Inc. PRINCIPAL on condition of anonymity, one conference to announce LVMH’s In research reports in the OFFICE: 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001. Shared Services provided by Advance Magazine Publishers Inc.: S.I. Newhouse, Jr., official noted that stores tend to results. With its high-tech archi- wake of LVMH reporting record Chairman; Steven T. Florio, Vice Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, C.O.O.; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice-President and C.F.O.; Jill acquiesce to demands from big tecture and skylights, the factory net profits in 2004 in excess of 1 Bright, Executive Vice-President_Human Resources; John Buese, Executive Vice-President_ Chief Information Officer; David Orlin, Senior Vice-President_Strategic Sourcing; Robert Bennis, Senior Vice-President_Real Estate; David B. Chemidlin, Senior Vice- brands since they generate such resembles an upscale boutique billion euros, or $1.34 billion, President_General Manager, Advance Magazine Group Shared Services Center. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at important sales. or shopping mall. analysts trumpeted signs of re- additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40032712. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 88654-9096-RM0001. Canada post return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3. To be sure, many big vendors A Coach spokeswoman on covery in the Japanese market POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008. FOR are said to have thrown their Friday, responding to LVMH’s re- and said Vuitton is well posi- SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WOMEN’S WEAR weight around in the past to grow marks about producing in China, tioned, given a recent price hike DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008; Call 800-289-0273; or visit www.subnow.com/wd . Four weeks is required for change of address. Please give both new and old address as printed on most recent label. First copy of new brands in Japan, where Vuitton said, “It’s disappointing that of 5 percent last January. subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production commands a dominant position. LVMH has resorted to making As for Coach, the company “is correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001. For permissions and reprint requests, And there are already signs comments intended to be dis- pretty much in the next phase of please call 212-221-9595 or fax requests to 212-221-9195. Visit us online: 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 the battle between Coach and paraging about Coach. Coach is its expansion in Japan,” said screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive LVMH is going to be a drag-out proud of the workmanship and Neely Tamminga, analyst at these offers and/or information, please advise us at P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008 or call 800-289-0273. WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSS, DAMAGE, OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO UNSOLICITED fight. Bernard Arnault, LVMH’s quality of its products, which are Piper Jaffray. “It had been fo- MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND chairman, is renowned for his made of the finest materials by cused on operating freestanding TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART combativeness, as evident in the skilled craftspeople around the stores, but now is looking at WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WWD IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE barbed war of words he conduct- world. By utilizing this global building out in-store shops in the ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED OVERNIGHT-DELIVERY RETURN ENVELOPE, POSTAGE PREPAID. ed with then-Gucci Group chair- sourcing approach, Coach pro- department stores.” man Domenico De Sole when vides considerable savings to She noted that LVMH and Tif- MONDAY: Toronto Fashion Week (through Saturday). LVMH bid for Gucci in the consumers in the form of afford- fany currently operate in-store D&A Lab, Tokyo (through Wednesday). Nineties and in the lawsuit able prices, providing the excep- shops, some even with separate LVMH filed against Morgan tional value that consumers in entrances to the retail space. “If TUESDAY: The Commerce Department releases the Stanley luxury goods analyst Japan have embraced.” you’re moving up to 1,200 square February retail sales report. Claire Kent over allegedly biased According to the company’s feet from an average of 300 research reports. most recent annual report, by square feet to 500 square feet, you WEDNESDAY: Material World, Miami Beach (through But Lew Frankfort, Coach’s shifting to lower-cost production definitely want to make sure Friday).