ART COOPER, RENOWNED GQ EDITOR, DEAD AT 65/3 Women’sWWD Wear Daily • The Retailers’TUESDAY Daily Newspaper • June 10, 2003 Vol. 185, No. 117 $2.00 Ready-to-Wear/Textiles Cool Running NEW YORK — What do you get when you cross Bob Marley with Babe Paley? “Babe Marley,” according to Michael Kors. For resort, the designer opted for the ultimate in chic island-hopping looks, splicing the laid-back Jamaican style of the iconic rocker with the ladylike cool of the jet- setter. Here, his tie-dyed rayon jersey and elastin top and suede miniskirt. For more, see pages 6 and 7. Prada’s Latest Glow: Luxury Group Unveils $83M Tokyo Landmark By Tsukasa Furukawa TOKYO — Prada has another eye- catching Epicenter. The luxury group last week opened a six-story, 28,000-square- foot flagship here that has a facade covered in hundreds of glass panels in a diamond-shaped grid. The store is located in Tokyo’s fashionable Aoyama shopping district and offers a new landmark in this sprawling city. Prada terms the building another one of its “Epicenter” stores, the first of which opened in SoHo in See Prada, Page21 PHOTO BY PHOTO THOMAS BY IANNACCONE 2 PPR, Artemis Deny Rumors WWDTUESDAY Ready-to-Wear/Textiles Over Exec Changes at Gucci FASHION Rule number one for the girl on the go is to travel in style, whether jetting off By Amanda Kaiser Gucci, is not contacting candi- “We both have an incredible 6 to a tropical locale or zipping out to the coast for a weekend. dates to fill the ceo and creative love and loyalty to the company MILAN — Pinault-Printemps- director slots at the Italian fash- and a desire to continue what Redoute and its parent, Artemis, ion group. we’ve been doing indefinitely, but GENERAL WWD, TUESDAY, JUNEWWD, TUESDAY, 10, 2003 denied a weekend press report A spokeswoman for Artemis, only if we are allowed to operate Prada last week unveiled a six-story, 28,000-square-foot landmark store in that it is mulling leadership the private holding firm that con- in the way that we have in the 1 Tokyo’s fashionable Aoyama shopping district. changes at Gucci and said talks trols PPR, reiterated the denial. past,” Ford said in an interview Suits are bustling again, as a number of sportswear firms have either made are ongoing to renew the con- The employment contracts of during Milan Fashion Week. big changes to their suit businesses or plan to start suit lines for next spring. tracts of Gucci chief executive both De Sole and Ford expire A PPR spokesman said 8 Domenico De Sole and creative next year. As reported, there’s Monday that contract discus- PPR denied a report that it is mulling leadership changes at Gucci and said director Tom Ford. been plenty of speculation in sions are continuing, but he 2 contract renewal talks continue with Domenico De Sole and Tom Ford. “There is no search for alter- the industry that one or both couldn’t quantify how much TEXTILES: The various sectors of the domestic textile industry are setting native solutions going on right men could choose to leave the more negotiating time is need- aside their squabbles over free-trade pacts to fight Chinese imports. now,” said a spokesman for PPR, company amid buzz that PPR ed. He added that PPR doesn’t 14 thus denying a report in The could encroach on Gucci’s man- feel rushed as De Sole’s con- OBITUARY: Former GQ editor in chief Art Cooper, who transformed the title Financial Times on Saturday that agerial independence. tract doesn’t expire until March 3 into the quintessential magazine for men, died Monday at the age of 65. quoted an unnamed source as PPR must buy all outstanding 2004 and Ford’s in June 2004. saying that Artemis and PPR shares in the company next year “One expires in nine months Classified Advertisements ..................................................................22-23 were considering “alternative so- — a move that will likely delist and one in a year,” he said. lutions” going forward and that Gucci from the stock market and Gucci was also mum on the To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is the talks with De Sole and Ford give PPR 100 percent control of state of play. “There is nothing [email protected], using the individual's name. regarding renewing their con- the company. new to report on the contract SUBSCRIPTION RATES tracts were making slow progress. Ford and De Sole told WWD negotiations,” a spokesman said. U.S. and possessions, Retailer, daily one year, $99; Manufacturer, daily one year, $135. The PPR spokesman said in March that the two will stay on All others U.S., daily one year $195. Canada/Mexico, daily one year, $295. All other foreign (Air Speed), daily one year $595. — With contributions from Please allow 6-8 weeks for service to start. Individual subscription information/Single Copy Sales : (800) 289-0273; Monday that the French retailer, board if PPR preserves Gucci’s Samantha Conti, London, outside U.S. (818) 487-4526; new group subscription information 212-630-4196 which owns a majority stake in current autonomy. Postmaster: Send address changes to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008. and Miles Socha, Paris 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. a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc., 7 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001-8191. WWD is a registered trademark of Fairchild Publications Inc.© 2003 by Fairchild Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc. All rights reserved. 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 expressly permitted in writing by the copyright owner. Editorial Reprints: (212) 221-9595 7th on Sixth Redesigns Venues Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and other offices. 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 Gertrude and Josephine tents. called Mercedes-Benz Fashion Printed in the U.S.A. By Eric Wilson All signed articles published in the paper represent solely the individual opinion of the writer and not those of Gertrude, named for the park’s Week, after the title sponsor WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY. NEW YORK — Gertrude’s back, statue of Gertrude Stein, will re- signed in 2001, but will include and so is Josephine. turn as an all-black venue seat- two new sponsors, Olympus, the For Web site access, log on and subscribe to www.WWD.com. Marking the 10th anniversary ing more than 700 and renting camera company, and Luxe of New York’s centralized fash- for $36,500. Josephine, referenc- Concierge, a high-end service ion shows, held almost consis- ing the Josephine Lowell for making reservations and ob- tently in tents built each season Fountain centered on the Sixth taining tickets to events. Re- In Brief in Bryant Park, 7th on Sixth is Avenue side of the park, is all turning sponsors are Shu planning several tie-ins to its white with a U-shaped runway, Uemura, Redken, W Hotels, decade of history, growing from room for more than 500 — with Style Channel, Ortho Evra, G TARGET SCHOLARS: The Council of Fashion Designers of an experimental response by 200 front-row seats — and a cost Vogue, The New York Times and America named the recipients of its 2003 Target/CFDA Design the nonprofit Council of Fash- of $26,500. A third venue, called Silhouette Eyewear. Initiative awards last week: Jennifer Daggy and LaToya LeFlore ion Designers of America to the Bryant, after the park, will have As part of its efforts to build will each receive cash awards and one-year employment with untamed expanse of showroom a white interior with black car- on the prestige of the event the design and development team of Target Corp. in presentations into a major mar- pet, a raised runway, seats for since being acquired in 2001 by Minneapolis, Minn. Daggy is a graduate of the University of keting event for New York’s 234 and a cost of $16,500. IMG, 7th on Sixth is also looking Cincinnati and LeFlore is a graduate of Parsons School of fashion industry, with corporate “I’m very proud of reaching into other promotions for the Design in New York. The five-year-old program is open to sen- sponsors and corporate owner- 10 years because we never knew 10th anniversary, such as relat- ior-year fashion design students, offering one or two recipients a ship, generating an estimated if it was an idea that would real- ed exhibitions and other spon- one-year, full-time scholarship at Target, including a salary, $253 million for the city’s econo- ly last,” said Fern Mallis, execu- sors that could launch their while 10 semifinalists are awarded cash prizes, selected by a my each year. tive director of 7th on Sixth, products before such a fashion- panel of CFDA members including Jason Bunin, Louis Dell’Olio, As part of the commemora- who has overseen its manage- conscious audience. The organi- Cathy Hardwick and Stan Herman, the organization’s president. tive spring 2004 season, sched- ment through an ill-fated season zation will also continue to pub- uled for Sept.