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Get in Line Railroad-Striped Denim Has Been a Staple Since the 19Th Century, but for Pre-Fall, Designers Are fi Nding New, Ingenious Ways to Use It

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Get in Line Railroad-Striped Denim Has Been a Staple Since the 19Th Century, but for Pre-Fall, Designers Are fi Nding New, Ingenious Ways to Use It LeadingThe Holiday ’NetInside: Sites Pg. 10 INDUSTRY SHARES STRONG/3 THAI RETAIL HIT/14 WWD WWDWomen’s Wear Daily • TheTHURSDAY Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • January 4, 2007 • $2.00 List Sportswear Get in Line Railroad-striped denim has been a staple since the 19th century, but for pre-fall, designers are fi nding new, ingenious ways to use it. To wit: 10 Feet’s cotton denim overalls, shown here with Original Penguin’s cotton tank top. Bracelet from Isaac Manevitz for Ben-Amun and Stuart Weitzman pumps. For more, see pages 6 and 7. Web’s Expanding Reach: Amazon Launches Site For Shoes, Accessories By Cate T. Corcoran IANO.COM; STYLED BY KIM FRIDAY STYLED BY IANO.COM; dd Amazon to the list of companies Aaiming to tap into the growth of accessories. The Web giant on Wednesday opened its second online store, Endless.com, which sells footwear and accessories. The site offers more than 250 brands, HELLE COURSEY AT ARTISTSBYTIMOTHYPR HELLE COURSEY AT all bought by Amazon staff, and free overnight delivery. The site is the company’s attempt to compete with the likes of Zappos, Gap’s PiperLime and Nordstrom. Most of the shoes retail for less KATYYUNG.COM; MAKEUP BY MIC MAKEUP BY KATYYUNG.COM; than $100 and brands include Adidas, Kenneth Cole, Aerosoles, Jessica See Amazon, Page 11 A/NEXT; HAIR BY KATY YUNG AT KATY HAIR BY A/NEXT; PHOTO BY TALAYA CENTENO; MODEL: KARL TALAYA PHOTO BY WWD.COM WWDTHURSDAY Sportswear FASHION Designers are taking aboard train-inspired patterns with striped denim 6 looks that are a far cry from anything meant for working on the railroad. GENERAL Amazon.com opened a second store on the Web, Endless.com, selling 1 shoes and handbags, offering free overnight delivery and 250 brands. Declining oil prices and word that holiday sales might turn out better 3 than expected buoyed retail stocks on the fi rst day of trading of 2007. EYE: High-powered fashion fi gureheads have become regulars at Lotus, 4 where they’re learning to play poker — no-limit Texas Hold’em, that is. BEAT: Shopbop.com has picked up steam since being acquired by 9 Amazon.com and will be the exclusive e-tailer for Helmut Lang this spring. Michael Kors is joining the expanding fashion scene in SoHo and will 12 open a lifestyle store at 101 Prince Street in spring 2008. Retail traffi c plunged 40 percent and retailers sought to boost safety 14 after eight bombs exploded in downtown Bangkok on New Year’s Eve. Classifi ed Advertisements.............................................................15 To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is fi rstname. [email protected], using the individual’s name. WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2007 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. RIDE-ALONG ENCLOSED VOLUME 193, NO. 3. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one additional issue in January and November, two additional issues in March, May, June, August and December, and three additional issues in February, April, September and October) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by Condé Nast Publications: S. I. Newhouse, Jr., Chairman; Charles H. Townsend, President/ CEO; John W. Bellando, Executive Vice President/COO; Debi Chirichella Sabino, Senior Vice President/CFO; Jill Bright, Executive Vice President/Human Resources. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offi ces. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40644503. Canadian Goods and Services Tax Registration No. 886549096- RT0001. Canada Post: return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: P.O. Box 503, RPO West Beaver Cre, Rich-Hill, ON L4B 4R6 POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615–5008. FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADDRESS CHANGES, ADJUSTMENTS, OR BACK ISSUE INQUIRIES: Please write to WWD, P.O. Box 15008, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5008, call 800-289- 0273, or visit www.subnow.com/wd. Please give both new and old addresses as printed on most recent label. First copy of new subscription will be mailed within four weeks after receipt of order. Address all editorial, business, and production correspondence to WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. For permissions and reprint requests, please call 212-630-4274 or fax requests to 212-630-4280. Visit us online at 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 screened companies that offer products and services that we believe would interest our readers. If you do not want to receive 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 THE RETURN OR LOSS OF, OR FOR DAMAGE OR ANY OTHER INJURY TO, UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS, UNSOLICITED ART WORK (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DRAWINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND TRANSPARENCIES), OR ANY OTHER UNSOLICITED MATERIALS. THOSE SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ART WORK, OR OTHER MATERIALS FOR CONSIDERATION SHOULD NOT SEND ORIGINALS, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED TO DO SO BY WOMEN’S WEAR DAILY IN WRITING. MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND OTHER MATERIALS SUBMITTED MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE. In Brief ● ARNAULT HONORS: LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton chief Bernard Arnault has been elevated to Commander of the Legion of Honor by France’s ministry of economy, finance and industry for service to his country. The luxury magnate, who owns brands from Louis Vuitton to Dom Perignon, was previ- ously an Officer of the Legion of Honor, the merit system cre- ated by Napoleon Bonaparte. Arnault’s promotion was part of the government’s traditional New Year honors. ● GOLD MINED: Welsh gold, the most valuable precious metal, is expected to run out. Roland Phelps, managing director of Welsh Gold plc, the last remaining commercial miner of the material, said last week that supplies would be fully expended within three to six months. The metal, popular with royals including Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, the Princess of Wales, and the Duchess of Cornwall, has been scarce for the last 30 years, and was only available until recently by reworking surface tips at mines in North Wales. “It’s always been sought after,” said Phelps, who took over the mine in the Nineties, before closing it in 1999 due to dwindling supplies. The company is now moving its attention to the Irish project Galantas, which is currently de- veloping Ireland’s fi rst gold mine in Omagh, said Phelps. ● FAMILY AFFAIRS: Tobias Forster, chief designer and co-partner in the St. Gallen fabric house Forster Rohner, said he had sold his shares in the company to his eldest brother, Ueli Forster, to en- sure the business remains family-operated. Tobias Forster, who has been active in the firm for 43 years, also stepped down from the board and management. Simultaneously, Ueli Forster, who has been with Forster Rohner for 42 years, passed on the chief executive officer role to his son Emanuel Forster. Ueli Forster remains chairman of the board of Forster Rohner AG, the parent of the Forster Rohner Group. In his new role, Emanuel Forster continues to oversee marketing and sales as well as the executive management of the group. All changes were effective Jan. 1. Corrections The Accessories Circuit trade show at the Show Piers in New York runs Jan. 9 to 11. The dates were incorrect in the Coming This Week calendar on page 2, Tuesday. ● ● ● Anne Barge is the licensee for Badgley Mischka Bridal, which is designed by Mark Badgley and James Mischka. Her role was incorrect in a story on page 12, Tuesday. WWD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 2007 3 WWD.COM U.S. and Brazilian Offi cials Retail Trades Strongly Look to Revive Doha Talks easier for them to open stores abroad. On Opening Day 2007 By Whitney Beckett Launched in Doha, Qatar, in NEW YORK — Top government offi- November 2001, the global trade talks By WWD Staff cials from the U.S. and Brazil said on were suspended after a July meeting Wednesday that they remain committed in Geneva when trading powers — the eclining oil prices and the realization that holiday sales might turn out better than to reopening the stalled World Trade U.S., European Union, Japan, Australia, Dexpected buoyed retail stocks Wednesday — the fi rst day of trading of 2007. Organization-sponsored Doha talks. Brazil and India — failed to agree on Analysts were mostly bullish, at least in their short-term outlooks, on how the retail U.S. Trade Representative Susan lowering subsidies and tariffs in agri- sector would perform this year, after gaining about 10 percent on average in 2006. Schwab and Brazilian Foreign Minister cultural trade. Schwab went to Rio de For now, though, Wall Street has its sights set on December same-store sales, due out Celso Amorim, who also heads the G20 Janeiro in September to continue talks today. American Eagle Outfi tters, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, Kohl’s and Limited Brands group of developing nations, convened with Amorim. are expected to perform well. at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel here to dis- “We approached the meetings in a Trading Wednesday was robust and mixed. Out of the gate, trading volume was cuss the status of the Doha Development problem-solving, not a fi nger-pointing, heavy, and the S&P Retail Index leapt 2.1 percent to 509.67 in the midmorning session.
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