Uptown Girls
ALL MAN LONDON COLLECTIONS: MEN SHOWED A NEW TAKE ON BRITISH STYLE, AS SEEN AT LEFT WITH ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, WHILE AT PITTI UOMO, OPTIMISM REIGNED. PAGE MW1 GRANOFF BECOMES CEO Vince Gets New Team Amidst Talk of IPO By LISA LOCKWOOD NEW YORK — Kellwood Co. is stepping on the Vince accelerator. The company said Wednesday that Jill Granoff, chief executive offi cer of Kellwood, will assume THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 2013 ■ $3.00 ■ WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY the additional responsibility of ceo of Vince, over- seeing the strategic growth and direction of the Los WWD Angeles-based contemporary brand. In addition, Granoff named Doo-Ri Chung creative director of Vince. Chung will relocate to Vince’s Los Angeles de- sign studio and will be responsible for design, prod- uct development and creative branding initiatives. The moves were spurred by the resignations Tuesday of Vince cofounders Rea Laccone, ceo, and Christopher LaPolice, president. Granoff plans to name a new president in the near future. Granoff said one of the reasons she was hired by Sun Capital Partners to be the ceo of Kellwood “was to accelerate the growth of Vince and unleash its po- tential as a global lifestyle brand.” There has been speculation Sun may do an initial public offering for Vince, but Granoff declined to comment. Kellwood is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs as it ex- plores an IPO or sale of Vince, although it couldn’t be learned if the investment bank has been offi cially hired to put together an offering. If there were an IPO, fi nancial sources believe it would be a partial spin off of Vince, which would leave Kellwood holding a signifi cant stake in that business, as well as its other, less profi table businesses, such as COLLECTIONS Rebecca Taylor, Sag Harbor and My Michelle.
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