No- Holds Bold

CIVIL SOUNDS FOR FIT CIVIL TWILIGHT HAS FANATIC STEADILY BUILT A RABID CYNTHIA ROWLEY FAN BASE AND IS NOW SILVANA UNVEILS AN SET TO PERFORM AT THE FENDI UNVEILS A CAPSULE EXPANDED LINE OF SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST TRAVEL COLLECTION IN FITNESS APPAREL. FESTIVAL. PAGE 10 HONOR OF ITALIAN ACTRESS SILVANA MANGANO. PAGE 11 PAGE 9 FASHION WEEK BEGINS Japan’s Designers Adapt to Economy By AMANDA KAISER TOKYO — As the fashion pack barely catches its col- lective breath from the conclusion of the Paris shows, Tokyo Fashion Week starts today, with designers here voicing optimism despite the looming challenges of growing their small businesses and a domestic economy MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2015 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY that continues to sputter. WWD Future prospects look mixed. On the one hand, Japan is struggling to climb out of a recession and local consumers remain cautious about spending. On the other, tourists from elsewhere in Asia are fl ood- FIT FANATIC ing the country to take advantage of a weak yen and shop. While most Japanese designers still do the bulk of their business in their home country, the currency Cynthia Rowley unveils an factor stands to boost the nation’s fashion exports. expanded line of fi tness Designers are going to need all the overseas help they can get. Last week, Japan revised down its apparel. PAGE 9 fourth-quarter GDP fi gures to show that the economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.5 percent in the October to December period — the initial estimate pegged growth at 2.2 percent. Meanwhile, household CIVIL SOUNDS No- consumption in January fell 5.1 percent in price- adjusted real terms, indicating that consumers still Civil Twilight has steadily built have not fully recovered from last April’s historic sales tax hike. On a brighter note, consumer confi - a rabid fan base and is now dence in February rose 1.6 percent from the previ- set to perform at the South by Holds ous month to 40.7. Southwest Festival. PAGE 10 Takeshi Minami, chief economist at the Norinchukin Research Institute, said Japanese consumers are experiencing a squeeze thanks to the tax increase and a lack of wage growth. He said he ex- FOR SILVANA Bold pects consumption to remain weak until May or June, Céline’s Phoebe Philo used but he’s hopeful it will start to bounce back in the sec- ond half of the year as energy costs go down because Fendi unveils a capsule travel colorblocking to give a simple of lower global oil prices and companies fi nally give layered slipdress a dose of drama, in to pressure to boost wages. collection in honor of Italian Longer term issues remain, however, and these actress Silvana Mangano. fi nishing the look with ribbons that are likely to have a major impact on the consumption PAGE 11 trailed from the waist. Elsewhere on SEE PAGE 7 the Paris runways, designers played with contrast in equally creative ways — see pages 4 and 5. Brands Seek Payback Fashion Week Begins From Social Media Japan’s Designers Adapt To Economy COLLECTIONS By RACHEL STRUGATZ NEW YORK — Three little words — return on invest- TREND ment — are something any brand with a social media Brands Seek Payback FALL 2015 presence is after. From Social Media But how to get it remains the meta question — and it’s a topic most companies are reluctant to discuss because they just don’t have the numbers to prove there is any. ROI is diffi cult to track since most companies only receive data on last-click sales, making many brands and stores wary of sharing this information, according to Cannon Tekstar Hodge, a social media consultant. “Because it can be diffi cult to collect data and exact customer behavior leading up to a sale, companies prefer sharing numbers that are most fi nite, which typically is limited to engagement rates and estimations,” Hodge said. So fi rms are more than willing to spew out data on impressions or “likes” on their social media, but when it comes to ROI, they snap shut faster than a Venus fl ytrap. Facebook-owned Instagram — or fashion and retail’s go-to social medium — hasn’t made it easy for brands trying to sell their products. The platform doesn’t allow for linking out in posts or any sort of commerce, which makes it hard to track purchases it has infl uenced. Nonetheless, the vast majority of brands’ unpaid social efforts are focused here. The reason is that Instagram is the only social medium where engagement rates don’t dip as followings PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI grow for fashion brands, according to Scott Galloway, SEE PAGE 8 2 WWD MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2015 WWD.COM Diesel Reinventing Its Stores THE BRIEFING BOX By LUISA ZARGANI IN TODAY’S WWD MILAN — Diesel is extending its “Reboot” strategy from product to retail. A visual from the Taking a cue from creative director Nicola Frame Denim spring Formichetti’s goal to elevate and reinvent the brand, men’s campaign. the Italian fashion group is investing in an ambitious For more, see plan to renovate its store network with a new concept, WWD.com. aiming for more intimate and sophisticated spaces. The new strategy will fi rst be visible in New York, as the company has just closed its Fifth Avenue unit and is working on a new fl agship on Madison Avenue, on the corner of 59th Street, which is slated to open this fall. “We want to transmit Formichetti’s mantra to be creative, his return to the brand’s original spirit, and his ‘Reboot’ plan, from image to business,” chief execu- Diesel in Osaka. tive offi cer Alessandro Bogliolo told WWD. To this end, about Diesel’s reaction through innovative treatments the company is investing in opening and relocating and washes and its “brand elevation,” as well as its “ef- 120 stores, in addition to 30 to 40 refi ts each year, over forts to push the brand to be the coolest of the biggest, the next three to fi ve years. “Big was beautiful until a as we say internally. We are obsessed with coolness,” he few years ago,” contended Bogliolo. “Consumers have laughed. He noted that pieces that are more expensive changed a lot, now they are looking for a strong experi- with special treatments are the ones that sell the most. Tokyo Fashion Week starts today, with Japanese designers ence, but more elevated and personalized.” Bogliolo said Diesel is planning to remodel its remaining optimistic despite the country’s struggle to climb out Covering 3,240 square feet, the Madison Avenue other stores in New York and around the world. of a recession. PAGE 1 unit will be a “statement fl agship with great vis- Globally, the company has 370 stores, of which 120 are ibility, in a superprime area” a few steps away from directly operated, and 400 concessions in department Does social media maximize brands’ return on investment? the Apple store, said Bogliolo, who joined Diesel in stores. Japan is Diesel’s main market, accounting for It’s a question most companies are hesitant to answer because October 2013 after working at Bulgari and Sephora, more than 20 percent of sales, followed by the U.S., they don’t have the numbers to prove there is any. PAGE 1 and succeeded Daniela Riccardi. The Fifth Avenue with a little less than 20 percent of revenues. Canada, store, which covered 9,720 square feet and three where Diesel has a partnership with Hudson’s Bay, is Designers share what helped spark their inspirations — from fl oors, “no longer refl ected our objectives,” and was now part of the North American business, overseen French fi lm, “The Lovers on the Bridge” to the word “faint” — located, he added, on a street that is now home to sev- by the subsidiary’s ceo Tommaso Brusò. Diesel’s par- for this year’s Tokyo Fashion Week. PAGE 6 eral large entry-price stores. ent company OTB SpA will release 2014 sales fi gures “The clientele on Madison is different, more exclu- in April. In 2013, Diesel revenues totaled 1.1 billion Cynthia Rowley prepares to launch her new fi tness collection, sive and educated and looking for quality. The priority euros, or $1.45 billion at average exchange rates. which grew organically from the wet suits that she introduced is to be present where there is our core target of cus- In three to fi ve years, the company plans to open tomers, sophisticated and discerning.” 50 stores, mainly in China, where there are now 15 fi ve years ago. The line will simply be called Rowley. PAGE 9 The new concept is being developed with inte- units, and where there are plans to double the group’s rior and retail architect Masamichi Katayama and network. Diesel is developing this region, which was Elton John stated his intent to boycott Dolce & Gabbana his Tokyo-based fi rm Wonderwall. While it is still previously “more diffi cult” for the brand’s category, after the designers made controversial comments concerning too early to disclose details about the new blueprint, but where consumers “are now discovering the value children born via IVF treatment. PAGE 9 Bogliolo said it will “not be a revolution — we will of upscale casual,” noted Bogliolo. Last year, Diesel have an injection of modernity, but on our trademark opened a store in Shanghai, and in a month it will un- Fendi is launching a Silvana Mangano Capsule Collection mix of industrial and vintage, maintaining that spirit veil a unit in Chengdu.

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