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$'9(57,6(0(17 WWDSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014 Q WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY Q $3.00 INTO THE THROUGH WHIRLWIND A LENS PARTIES UPTOWN AND COOKIES AND CLOTHES THE GIORGIO ARMANI- DOWNTOWN SPURRED SCOTT STERNBERG SPONSORED “FILMS OF OPENS A NEW YORK THE NEW YORK FASHION CITY FRAMES” PREMIERES WEEK SOCIAL SCENE FLAGSHIP FOR BAND OF AT THE TORONTO OUTSIDERS, WHICH IS INTO HIGH GEAR. FILM FESTIVAL. PAGES 14 AND 15 PAGE 4 MORE THAN A STORE. PAGE 4 NEW STUDY Wholesale and Retail: Both Better Than One By ARNOLD J. KARR ATTENTION FASHION DESIGNERS: It’s better to both wholesale and retail than to retail alone. Fashion brands that wholesale are generating stronger growth than the retailers they once depend- ed on — and in many cases they’re doing it at the ex- SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014 Q $3.00 Q WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY pense of those very same retailers. WWD A study of fi ve years of data on retail and wholesale performance by analysts at Wells Fargo Securities com- pared fi gures from 11 branded apparel and footwear companies with those of 42 retailers, from specialty stores to department stores, discounters and even gro- ceries. The branded fi rms included PVH Corp., owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfi ger; VF Corp., owner of Seven For All Mankind, Vans and Timberland as well as Wrangler and Lee; Nike Inc.; Hanesbrands Inc. and Ralph Lauren Corp. Among the retailers were Macy’s Inc., Kohl’s Corp., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Gap Inc., The TJX Cos. Inc. and Urban Outfi tters Inc. The study, led by senior analyst Evren Kopelman, found the wholesale group benefi ted more from ex- pansion into international markets and picked up market share as they developed and built their own retail operations and other direct-to-consumer initia- tives such as e-commerce. What were once suppliers are now competitors — and imposing ones, too. Plus, the wholesale brands, as they’ve become more vertical, have less exposure to the slowdown in mall and store traffi c in the U.S. Through their choice of product assortments, such as handbags, or lifestyle emphases, such as athletic or athletic-inspired prod- uct ranges, many have outpaced the performance of retailers with broader, less-focused offerings. “We wanted to see how well the conventional wis- dom held up that the wholesale group was generating more growth and even stock appreciation than the retailers and attach some numbers to it,” Kopelman, SEE PAGE 12 Gap Inc.’s Athleta American Steps Up Expansion By DAVID MOIN Beauty ATHLETA IS AT a tipping point. With competition heating up, Athleta, a division of “It’s a well-worn word, and perhaps SPRING 2015 Gap Inc., is accelerating store openings and product not the trendiest, but I’ve always innovation, and raising its profi le. Gap executives en- vision Athleta as going international, evolving into the been vocal about it,” said Jason Wu. NEW YORK corporation’s fourth global brand, along with Gap, Old The word in question: beauty. His COLLECTIONS Navy and Banana Republic. take on it borrowed a page from the On Wednesday, after 16 years in business, Athleta staged its fi rst fashion show, with models in neon American sportswear lexicon. Here, racer bras, striped and printed leggings, cropped his racy, beaded plunging dress offers hoodies and quilted tops somersaulting and break- just a hint of decadence. For more on New dancing across the stage. In the race to capitalize on athletic apparel as fashion, Athleta checked the York Fashion Week, see pages 6 to 11. boxes on the right trends: bright colors, muted neu- trals, prints and a little edge. “We are in a time when fi tness and fashion are con- verging,” Nancy Green, president and general man- ager of Athleta, told WWD. “Athleta is a brand a lot of people are just fi nding out about.” She said the chain will end the year with 100 stores and that another 30 are slated to open next year. Gap bought Athleta six years ago for $150 mil- lion, when it had no stores and sold only via cata- logues and online. Activewear is far outpacing trends in apparel generally, rising 6.6 percent for the 12 months ended June 2014 to about $33.7 billion in the U.S. or 16.3 per- cent of total apparel turnover, according to The NPD Group. “Activewear is booming, with sales growth PHOTO BY GEORGE CHINSEE SEE PAGE 4 2 WWD WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 6, 2014 Kors Prices Secondary Offering DIGITAL BRIEFING BOX The two purchased the company in the Nineties for FOR MORE COVERAGE, FIND US ON WWD.COM, SOCIAL AND MOBILE. By ARNOLD J. KARR a reported $100 million, and sold about $519 million worth of stock at the time of the initial public offering MICHAEL KORS Holdings Ltd. Friday priced Silas in December 2011. They also received an undisclosed Chou and Lawrence Stroll’s remaining 11.6 million portion of the proceeds from a private sale for about Fashion week: shares at $76.75 each — and investors promptly $500 million prior to the IPO. Since then, their firm has Runway, backstage, pulled the stock down below offering price. sold a 7 percent stake at $47 a share in March 2012, a front row, street Kors said on Thursday that Sportswear Holdings 9 percent stake in September 2012 at $53 and about a style, follow our New Ltd., indirectly owned by Stroll and members of 10 percent stake at $61 in February 2013, according to York Fashion Week Chou’s family, would sell the stock, constituting 5.7 Wells Fargo Securities analyst Paul Lejuez. coverage online and percent of the shares outstanding, in a secondary “Given that the stock is currently near $80, the on social. public offering. The two investors, who once held shares have performed well over the time period half of its equity, will resign their seats on the Kors that SHL has sold shares, so we do not think this board, reducing its membership to seven, all but two is a negative indicator of the near- or medium- of whom — chairman and chief executive officer John term state of the business,” he wrote in a note to Creatures Idol and honorary chairman and chief creative officer clients. “Longer term; however, we do believe that of the Wind Michael Kors — are deemed to be independent. SHL not wanting to retain at least a portion of the Shares Friday fell $3.58, or 4.5 percent, to $76.39. company may indicate something about their view That’s down 24.4 percent from their 52-week high of of the company’s longer-term prospects.” Although $101.04, set on Feb. 25, and 0.8 percent below their concerned about the potential for overdistribu- closing price on Aug. 4. The stock fell 5.9 percent tion and, with sales productivity at about $2,000 on the latter date after concerns mounted about a square foot, difficult sales comparisons, he said the outlook for the company’s margins even as it that, overall, “the risk reward is balanced.” reported a 50.2 percent increase in first-quarter net The analyst also believes that the sale might sim- income to go with a 43.4 percent gain in sales. plify matters if and when the company looks to buy The sale of Stroll’s and Chou’s stakes is project- back the licensed rights for Greater China currently ed to generate $892.6 million which, excluding $15.6 held by Far East Holdings, which is owned by SHL, million in fees to underwriter J.P. Morgan, would Kors and Idol. This way, he said, “there are fewer result in net proceeds of $877 million to the sellers. conflicts of interest and it seems less likely the price It is expected to close on or about Sept. 10. paid will be biased to be too high.” Peter Karlie Kloss backstage at Jason Wu. Som Quiksilver Shares Pull Back on Weak Q3 SHARES OF Quiksilver Inc. lost design at its headquarters. Overall revenues slumped 19 per- nearly a quarter of their value But the company’s transition cent to $395.7 million versus $488.3 Friday after the Huntington made it vulnerable to late deliver- million in the 2013 period. By Beach, Calif.-based beach-in- ies, particularly in the U.S., con- brand, Quiksilver fell 17 percent spired apparel and footwear firm tributing to a 30 percent reduc- to $143 million, Roxy was off 9 per- posted a deeper-than-expected tion in its wholesale revenues to cent to $119 million and DC con- third-quarter loss with only nom- $235 million. The news was better tracted 34 percent to $109 million. inal progress in its effort to rein- in its direct-to-consumer segment, Inventories were down 10.2 vigorate its wholesale operations. where store revenues grew 1 per- percent to $346.1 million while ERICKSEN KYLE Shares, which peaked in the cent to $123 million, including a gross margin contracted to 47.8 BY past year at $9.29 on Nov. 13, 1 percent increase in same-store percent of sales from 49.1 percent. pulled back 70 cents, or 24.7 sales, and e-commerce revenues Jeff Van Sinderen, analyst at B. percent, to close Friday at $2.13. rose 10 percent to $35 million. Riley & Co., maintained his “neu- Tavi Gevinson at Volume was 30.3 million shares, In the three months ended July tral” rating on the stock while low- Creatures of the Wind.